Alejandra walked into school on Thursday, nervous. She was always nervous, but this time she could pinpoint why. The full moon was tomorrow. Ezekiel had a crazy plan that felt out there, but maybe it would work. From what she understood of Evelyn’s text, Ezekiel was sleeping as long as he could. The cleansing spell would start tonight with a lot of fasting and prayer. The full ritual lasted twenty-four hours. Once the moon rose, the final part of the ritual lasted thirty minutes. Everyone would be there in support and to make sure no one interrupted it.

So Akshi couldn’t interrupt it.

Alejandra sighed as she went to her locker to prepare for the day. So many things could go wrong, but they had to try. She hoped Akshi didn’t show up. Derek and Milo discovered a great place that was private and promised to take them tomorrow night. Alejandra didn’t want to know. She was almost too scared to attend. If something went wrong, if Ezekiel turned into a wererat, if Hraktar had to pick up a great axe to kill his friend in wererat form…

Alejandra closed her eyes, steadying herself. If that happened, Hraktar would not recover. That was what scared her so much. There was so much between Hraktar and Ezekiel’s history. Stuff Alejandra never talked about with him, because Hraktar was in danger of entering a depressive funk every time. She’d roleplayed it so much she could feel the depression herself. Hraktar had caused Ezekiel so much pain. It was almost a cruel irony to ask Hraktar to kill him.

“…and then Nick forced Rafael to resign from the football team,” someone said.

Alejandra’s ears pricked up. She wasn’t sure what happened, but she didn’t enjoy hearing people saying Rafael’s name. Rumors were always swirling around Elmwood High.

“Ugh, that guy will never get the revenge he seeks,” someone said.

“The question of how Evelyn still doesn’t have a boyfriend makes sense now. Who would ever want to date her when she’s got a psycho brother?”

Alejandra vaguely recognized some girls, most of them in drama. She shut her locker and walked through the halls, confused. She had a guess where Rafael was.

Her guess was right. He was with his football friends, holding Hazel’s hand. He glanced at her and smiled. “Hey, Alejandra.”

“Hey.” Alejandra glanced at Hazel, then back at Rafael. “Just to be clear… your decision to resign from football…”

Rafael waited, the smile on his face fading. She realized it was a touchy subject, and when she said it out loud, her ears pricked with heat. The more gazes that fell on her face, the more flushed she became.

“Oh yeah. I heard Nick threatened you,” one of his buddies said.

Rafael blinked, his face morphing to surprise. “What?”

“Did he?” someone else asked.

“No.” Rafael straightened. “No, it was my choice.”

“Your choice? Why would you do that?” one of them asked. Rafael gave him a dull stare, and the boy shook his head. “You can’t get rid of your guilt by self-inflicted punishment.”

Alejandra agreed, but Rafael folded his arms, glaring at the boy. “I don’t expect anyone to understand. But hell, if you go to a doctor with an infection and no one does anything about it, sometimes you’ve got to do the procedure yourself to survive.”

“You can be quite melodramatic, Rafael,” someone else said.

Rafael shook his head, pushing himself off the wall and walking away. Hazel frowned, then followed.

***

Rafael walked down the hall, hands in his pockets.

“Rafael, wait.” Hazel moved quickly to catch up with him. “Are you okay?”

“Just annoyed, that’s all.”

“Annoyed? With Jorge?”

“With… everyone.”

Hazel grabbed his arm, stopping him. “With me?”

Rafael let out another breath. “Sorta.”

She frowned, but didn’t look hurt. “What does sorta mean?”

“I did a horrible thing to Evelyn.”

“Yes, you did. Years ago,” Hazel said.

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“And everyone acts as though me placing any sort of barrier is strange and unnecessary.”

Hazel glanced at her fingers, shaking her head. “You did do a wrong thing, Rafael, but you’re fixing it.”

“Yet every time I suggest a boundary for myself, most of you act like I’m making an outlandish request. There are practically no boundaries for me.”

Hazel sighed. “You know that’s not what I meant. I completely support you in your decision, and I’m positive this will help Evelyn.”

Rafael shook his head, staring at her. “Why did you stick around, Hazel? I assaulted someone, and you’re still by my side.”

“It’s my decision too. It was three years ago, Rafael. You have done nothing to prove you’d do it again.”

Rafael touched his head, hearing the growl of the monster again. Terrified of that creature. Afraid it still wasn’t enough. “You don’t know. We haven’t even been dating for six months. You just assume I’m good, because that’s all you see in people. I thought it was admirable, but…”

Hazel looked genuinely confused. “Rafael, you won’t do that again.”

“Won’t I?” Rafael’s breathing got more erratic. “How can I know I’ll never do it again when I never thought I’d do it in the first place?” He flexed his fingers, trying not to curl them into fists. “I can’t trust myself, Hazel. And I’m… terrified too many people are trusting me, anyway.”

Hazel looked confused, and a little worried. She about said something when Rafael heard Derek coming down the hall. Heard was the best way to describe it. Derek was doing his fast shuffle, his feet scuffing against the ground. As he got closer, they heard his panicked breathing.

“Hey, hey Rafael, my buddy,” Derek said as soon as he appeared around the hall.

Rafael stiffened, prepared for some sort of fight. Derek was panicked. He was sort of dating Emma. If Pippa the part succubus came around the bend too, he’d need to be prepared. Ezekiel’s character sheet appeared, but he stopped from teleporting his cleric to his side.

Derek rushed up to him, breathing deeply. He had lipstick all over his face. “So good to see you, my friend.”

Hazel glanced at Rafael, nervous, before she pulled out a makeup remover wipe and pointed to… all over her face.

“Are you alright, Derek?” Rafael’s voice dropped in volume.

Derek sighed, eyes darting around as he wiped the lipstick off his face. “You know? I’ve had better days.”

“I think we all have,” Rafael said.

Hazel looked at him again, her face falling. Rafael wasn’t sure if he should acknowledge the look.

“I need your help. Desperately. You and Hazel Jones,” Derek said. “Please, go on a double date with us on Sunday. I can’t be alone with Emma, but she keeps begging to go somewhere.”

Rafael deflated. “Derek, are you sure you want to do this?”

“Yes. I’m positive I want to go on a date with my toxic used to be ex-girlfriend to make her think I’m falling for her, so a part succubus, part fae woman who almost murdered Milo last week doesn’t do anything worse.” Derek kept his eyes on the edge of the hallway.

Rafael sighed, rubbing his head. “Alright. We’ll iron out some details. Never be alone with her. Keep her off our tails, at least until after tomorrow. And… seriously consider breaking things off with her.”

“I’ll try, but…” Derek gave a defeated shrug. “If I do… will Pippa come after me?”

Rafael didn’t like it. Any of it. The thing he hated the most was that he didn’t know what to do. “Pippa… can’t hurt you. Not yet.”

“Not that we know of?” Derek asked.

“Derek!”

His friend physically recoiled, even though he had his back to Emma as she appeared from the hallway, heading for him. She hugged him around the back, gripping him, and Derek closed his eyes, trying to smile. Rafael winced. This wasn’t healthy.

Derek patted her hand. “Hey, babe!”

It terrified Rafael how smoothly Derek transitioned into complete and total control.

“Who are you talking to?” Emma peeked her head around to see Rafael and Hazel.

“My friends,” Derek said.

Emma’s eyes fell on Hazel before they narrowed. Out of instinct, Rafael took Hazel’s hand, squeezing it. She squeezed back.

“Ah, yes. Hazel Jones. I didn’t know you and Derek knew each other,” Emma said.

“Yeah. We do. You must be Emma. Weren’t you in The Little Mermaid a couple of years ago?” Hazel asked.

Emma smiled, straightening. “I was, yes.” She flipped her hair. “Ariel, in fact. I brought in such a crowd that they’re doing Beauty and the Beast this year so I can do the same thing.”

“Oh. Yeah, I’ll have to come see Beauty and the Beast. I wasn’t able to see The Little Mermaid,” Hazel said. Emma’s face dropped back into that dangerously narrow gaze. “So are you Belle?”

“I will be,” Emma said. “Try outs are next month.” She glanced at Derek, the narrowed eyes turning far more smirk-like. “And you’re trying out for beast, right?”

“It’s… up to Mr. Jensen, of course,” Derek said.

“Of course. But if he were smart, he’d put us in the leads.” Emma pulled out her phone. “Couple photo!”

Derek smiled, relaxed. Rafael was seriously worried about Derek’s acting ability. He looked fully invested in Emma, even as he was terrified of her moments before she arrived.

“Hey, Rafael and Hazel want to go on a double date with us,” Derek said.

“Mmm, yes.” Emma looked back at Hazel. “It’ll be so good to get to know you, Hazel.” Right at that moment, Emma’s eyes glowed a dangerous red color. Rafael cut the circulation to Hazel’s hand by how tightly he squeezed it, not daring to look around to search for Pippa. Hazel let out a tiny gasp, glancing at Rafael, but he didn’t look at her. He kept his gaze right at Emma, the redness in her pupils. They lasted for about three seconds before disappearing, and once they did, Rafael’s gaze shot toward Derek. Despite his acting, Derek tried desperately not to react.

“Great! I’m excited to get to know you on Sunday,” Hazel said.

Emma just smiled, then returned to her phone. “Yeah.” It was absent, as she brushed her hand through her hair and touched up her makeup. “It’ll be fun.” She walked away, holding Derek’s hand. Derek clearly wanted to stay and talk, but Emma had him, and he shot them an apologetic look as she dragged him away.

Hazel looked nervous, and Rafael felt obligated to ease her concerns. “We don’t have to if you don’t want to.”

She shook her head. “I won’t leave Derek to go on a date by himself.”

“Hazel—”

“I know. I saw her red eyes.” She watched Derek and Emma merging with the other students. “I doubt it had anything to do with me specifically.”

Rafael wasn’t sure he wanted to put that all to chance. He couldn’t help it, bringing her close to hug her. Hazel saw the mythical creatures, but she had no character to protect her. Rafael wanted to call the whole thing off. Despite his confusion about what he wanted from a relationship with Hazel, he knew if anything happened to her, it would rival the biggest mistake he’d already made in his life.