Free Beautifully Unnatural: A Young Adult Paranormal Boxed Set by Susan Hatler, Amy Miles, Veronica Blade, Ciara Knight Page A

him back?”
    William glances at the four-eyed nerd he will be sharing his bedroom with and sighs. “I think Mom might frown on that idea.”
    “Figures.” Sadie scoots her seat as far away from Nicolae as she can.
    Roseline watches as he darts a glance in her direction. She knows exactly what he sees— unveiled beauty. The hitch in his breath betrays him. He obviously knows what she is, at least to the extent of the rumors that are passed from father to son. “And you are?” Nicolae asks with forced politeness.
    “Leaving,” Roseline says; her voice trembles slightly as she slings her bag over her shoulder.
    “Aren’t you going to eat that?” William calls as she leaves her tray of untouched food behind. She does not wait to see if Sadie is following her as she rushes from the cafeteria.
    The moment she exits the room, Sadie falls back against the wall and throws a hand tragically across her forehead. “I’m doomed. This was supposed to be my year. My dreams of a hot live-in boyfriend are ruined.”
    Roseline clamps her hands tightly on her bag strap, stilling the tremor that threatens to spread to her extremities. Does he know who she is? Surely, he has heard stories of her kind, but does he know her exact identity?
    Even if he does, who would he tell? Chances are the kid is wetting himself right now. His parents probably thought it would be safer in America with drive-bys and gang wars as opposed to living in “Dracula’s” hometown. Boy were they wrong!
    Her stomach coils on a new thought. What if he has been sent here to spy on her? No, that is ridiculous. He’s too young to be a hunter.
    “Where are you going?” Sadie calls as Roseline stumbles down the hall, away from him, away from humans. She needs to be alone.
    “Bathroom,” she manages to say just before she ducks inside the bleach-soaked room. The smells that inundate her nose do little to still her stomach. She throws open the handicapped stall door, locks it behind her, and embraces the porcelain throne. When the contents of her stomach have been forcefully expelled, Roseline sits with her head back against the cool tile wall.
    At some point, the bell rings ending lunch. Voices come and go as the next period begins. Roseline makes no move to leave. What does she care about skipping class? It is not as if these teachers can teach her anything she does not already know. She has lived through the wars, gone to the parties, and studied her way through the entire library at Bran castle. Roseline is well educated, impeccably so.
    A couple hours pass in a blur of fears and doubts as Roseline silently rocks, cradling her knees to her chest. Could one boy ruin an entire year’s worth of planning? If Vladimir finds her here…
    Roseline wipes the tears from her eyes. No, she won’t let some stupid boy steal away the life she’s trying to make for herself. She will wait and watch. She’s not above threats of dismemberment to keep his mouth shut.
    When she can no longer stand the eye-burning chemical smell, she emerges from her stall.
    She vaguely remembers the bell ringing two more times. Judging by the empty halls, it must be the middle of last period. She breathes a sigh of relief. The risk of running into Nicolae has diminished.
    Roseline dreads trying to explain her actions to Sadie. No doubt, she looked like a complete nutcase as she dashed into the bathroom. Knowing Sadie, she will ask too many questions that Roseline will not want to answer.
    “Watch out!” The shout rings out through the deserted hall.
    A football whizzes through the air, heading directly for her face. Roseline’s hand snaps up just in time to save her nose from being rearranged. Heavy footfalls announce the arrival of the football’s owner.
    “I am so sorry about that—” the boy’s words choke off as he finds Roseline staring back at him. “Hey, it’s you.”
    Her eyes narrow. “Pardon me?”
    “No, I mean…I saw you at the game a couple days