The Onyx Talisman Read Online Free Page A

mustering up her courage before she annihilated me with a hard stare. “Don’t you see he’s dangerous? But I didn’t say anything and accepted your relationship out of respect, because you love him. And now that I’m in a serious relationship, I expect the same from you. It’s just common courtesy. I love Todd and I—” she gulped and puffed out her chest in pride, “hope to marry him someday.”
    I couldn’t believe my best friend, who’s always been so sensible and sweet, was actually telling me this. What had Todd done to her? A million cruel things bounced around in my mind to say but I bit my tongue and blinked in disbelief. I quickly scanned her finger for a ring or something and found nothing.
    I squeezed my arms tighter, partly due to the chill from the wind, but mostly because she’d chosen him over me.
    “No, actually it’s common courtesy when you plan a trip with your best friend to not invite your boyfriend to come along, too. Behind my back.”
    Her pain flared and I clamped down my gift. We looked at one another for a moment and I swallowed hard. All I wanted was for her to tell me she’d uninvite him. She’d made a mistake. She was sorry.
    “You’re making this harder than it needs to be, Julia. Don’t make me choose,” she finally said and turned to rejoin Todd inside the cafeteria.
    I stood outside, rejected and torn. How did this end so badly? And why, when I missed Nicholas so much, did I want comfort from Phil?
     
    I gauged the interior before entering the kitchen door of Nicholas’ house. Though I didn’t think I’d go to Disneyland after all, I didn’t want the group to give me a heaping dose of disapproval on top of my fight with Sam. The mood inside was the usual mishmash of Phil’s boredom, Scarlett’s annoyance, and Katie and Tyler’s infatuation with one another. I wanted to vomit.
    Why do I come here?
    Phil’s face lit up once he saw me. He vanished from the couch and reappeared at my side, taking my backpack from my shoulder before I could blink. “Hey, you … where you been?”
    “School.” And taking my time.
    “Thank God there’s only one more week of that. You stoked?” he asked with a mischievous grin.
    I raised my eyebrow. “Maybe?”
    “Big Senior on campus now.”
    “If I survive finals.”
    I glanced over at Tyler, who gave me a knowing look. Obviously, he hadn’t ratted me out yet.
    “And we’d be getting ready for Texas A&M,” Katie purred while wrapping her arms around Tyler’s waist. “You aren’t still going, are you?”
    “Well, yeah,” Tyler said with a shrug. “I have a scholarship.”
    I chuckled at her mistake. Of course he’d go. He had a human life to live, after all.
    A red puncture wound, just below his collar line, marred his neck—evidence of why he’d been ditzy as of late. I frowned at Katie. Though her sterile venom wouldn’t make him a vampire, she wasn’t supposed to be feeding on him, or any one for that matter. The unwritten tenant agreement for her to stay in Nicholas’ house required her abstinence from drinking blood.
    “Does that mean you’re going to be hanging out here more often?” Phil said in my ear, while Katie begged Tyler to stay home.
    “Yeah, I guess. I should try to get my job back.”
    I continued to eye Tyler’s neck, sickened she’d break our most cardinal rule. The urge to confront them burned on my lips, but I refrained for fear Tyler would retaliate and tell everyone about Disneyland.
    It didn’t matter. Everything was about to change anyway. Once I reunited with Nicholas, they’d all need to move out. And whatever Katie decided to do from then on would be her own business. She probably would go to Texas with Tyler and move into his dorm room anyway.
    Phil put his arm around me and pulled me into his shoulder.
    “Whatcha thinking about, Parker?”
    “Nothing. Just finals.”
    “Are you sure you’re not thinking about your trip to Disneyland next week?” Katie asked, her voice