Free The Nightmare Charade by Mindee Arnett Page A

the main lawn. As before, he seemed to single me out with his gaze. I shivered, the image of my dead body lying on that barge rising up in mind. It was just symbolic, I reminded myself, and kept on walking.
    Next Selene and I hurried to our ordinary living class where we received our CasterCards, complete with a MasterCard knockoff logo and a unique sixteen-digit number. We then spent a long, boring hour practicing how to swipe them.
    Afterward, I said good-bye to Selene before heading to psionics. This was by far my best subject. Not to mention it was taught by the best teacher at Arkwell—and the most handsome. Mr. Deverell flashed his gorgeous smile at me as I came in and sat down. I smiled back.
    â€œHow are you doing, Dusty?” he said, in his Southern cowboy accent that had a way of making me want to giggle.
    I cleared my throat, trying to stifle the blush rising up my neck. “I’m doing good, thanks. How are you?”
    â€œFine. Glad that school is back in session.” He studied my face for a second, his expression pensive. “We should set aside some time to talk soon. I’d like to hear how you’re faring after our private sessions last year.”
    â€œOh,” I said, my blush darkening. In all the excitement at Lyonshold and the long vacation afterward, I’d almost forgotten the crucial role Mr. Deverell had played in helping me deal with the mental block I’d developed last year. The cause of that block had turned out to be Bellanax, and it was gone now. But Mr. Deverell didn’t know anything about it. Feeling guilty, I said, “I’m sorry. I meant to e-mail but got a little busy.”
    He smiled again. It didn’t make my head fuzzy the way a siren’s would’ve, but almost. “No apologies necessary. Still, I look forward to chatting about it later.”
    He turned and wandered to the other side of the classroom where Katarina Marcel had just sat down. I groaned at the sight of her and then glanced around the room, hoping for a friend.
    Lance appeared in the doorway, a cell phone pressed to his ear. His face was flushed to a dark shade of red, as if he’d just eaten a raw habanero pepper.
    â€œI don’t care what you think, Dad,” he said taking the seat next to me. “I’ll see and date whoever I want.” There was a long pause. “Yeah, you go ahead and do that. See if I care.” He lowered the phone from his ear and pressed the end button. “Asshole,” he muttered.
    I winced, uncertain what to say. It wasn’t like I could pretend I hadn’t heard. “Is he upset about Selene again?” I asked, gently. Selene had told me that Mr. Rathbone’s prejudice against inter-kind dating was half the reason she and Lance had broken up the first time.
    Lance grunted. “If by upset you mean on the verge of disinheriting me, then yes.”
    I gaped, unsure if he was being serious.
    He turned an imploring gaze on me. “Please don’t tell Selene. It’ll only hurt her.”
    â€œI won’t.” Pity churned in my gut. Or maybe it was more like commiseration. “Looks like both of us are getting a hard time over who we want to date.”
    A scowl twisted Lance’s features until he resembled his pop culture hero, the Joker. “Screw that. We should be free to date anybody we want.”
    I nodded, but didn’t comment. Eli and I had it rough with the dream-seer curse, no doubt, but I had a feeling Lance and Selene might have it harder. There was no “we’re just looking out for your best interests” in their case. It was just prejudice, and that seemed a tougher war to fight.
    When the bell rang an hour later, I leaped up from my desk and practically ran all the way to the cafeteria. Lance kept pace with me. He was as eager to see Selene as I was to see Eli. I supposed, in light of all this new evidence of how much he adored her, how much strife he was