“You can go now,” I tell him, grabbing on to the edge of the door and using it to back him off the threshold.
“Look, Grace, I’m really sorry,” he says right before I get the door closed.
I pause. “Did you bite me?”
“What? No! Of course not.”
“Then you’ve got nothing to apologize for.” I sigh as some of the rage drains away. “I’m not mad at you personally, Mekhi. I’m just mad…and scared.”
“I get that.” He looks hesitant. “Does this mean you’re not mad at Jaxon, either?”
“Oh, no. I’ve got all the anger stored up for Jaxon, so don’t you dare go telling him otherwise.”
“Believe me, I won’t.” Mekhi grins. “The last thing I’m interested in doing is getting in the middle of that argument. Besides, it might be time someone takes my boy down a peg or two.”
“More like twelve,” I answer with a snort. “Now go away. I have stuff to do.”
With that, I close the door right in his face. And now that it’s just Macy and me, everything suddenly gets a whole shit ton more real.
I take a second to gather my wits, to try to formulate what I want to say. But Macy jumps in before I can do much more than have an OMG moment.
“Grace, it’s not—”
I turn to face her. “I’m going to ask you one question, Macy. Just one. And I want you to be totally honest with me. Because if you’re not…if you’re not, I’m going to pack up all my shit and go back to California. I’ll stay with Heather; I’ll file for emancipation; I’ll do whatever I have to do. But I swear, you will never see or hear from me again. Got it?”
If it’s possible, she grows even paler. Plus, if her eyes got any bigger, they’d take over her entire face. But that doesn’t stop her from nodding and saying quietly, “Okay.”
“Are you a vampire?” I can’t even believe I’m asking the question.
“What?” She shakes her head vehemently. “No.”
The answer has me sagging with relief…at least until I realize one question isn’t going to cut it. I have dozens.
“Is your father a vampire?”
“No.”
“Was my father a vampire?”
“Absolutely not.” She reaches a hand out to me. “Oh, Grace, is that what you’re afraid of?”
I blow out a long breath as the biggest, tightest knot in my stomach unwinds. “At this moment, I don’t know what I’m afraid of, Macy. But since you’re not acting like I’m losing my mind for asking these questions—and I have a perfect bite mark on my neck at this very moment—I assume that means vampires are real.”
“They are, yes.”
“And they go to this school.”
She nods. “Yes.”
“And Jaxon is a vampire.” I hold my breath as I wait for her answer.
“I really think you should talk to him about that, Grace. I mean—”
“Macy.” I drop the anger, let her see the fear and frustration that are riding me hard. “Please.”
She just looks at me, her face miserable.
“I thought we were friends, not just family.”
“We are. Of course we are.”
“Then tell me the truth. Is. Jaxon. Vega. A. Vampire?”
Macy sighs. “Yes.”
I was expecting it—I was—and still it explodes over me like a grenade. My knees go out from under me, and I hit the floor hard.
“Grace!” Macy’s next to me in the space between one second and the next. “Are you okay?”
“I have no idea.” I close my eyes, lean my head back against the door, which is conveniently close to where I dropped. “That’s why he can be outside without a jacket.”
“Yes.”
“So that means Lia…”
“Yes.”
I nod. “Flint?”
“No, no. Flint’s definitely not a vamp.”
I close my eyes as relief sweeps through me, at least until she continues. “He’s a…”
“What?” I open one eye. “He’s a what?”
“I’m not sure you’re ready.”
“Will I ever be ready? Finish the sentence, please. He’s a…”
“Dragon.”
Now I open both eyes. “Say that again?”
She sighs. “He’s a dragon, Grace. Flint is a dragon.”
“Of course he is. You mean he’s got—” I hold my arms up and kind of flap them up and down.