Free FORBIDDEN by Megan Curd, Kara Malinczak

arms crossed. He watched closely as he took in the fact that I was lying in Hannah’s arms. His sarcastic smile gave him away before he said a word. “Well, isn’t this a nice little turn of events. You save your Call from a Fallen, and she saves you from having to roam the Underworld as a rotting zombie. That’s true love, right there.”
    I tried to get out of Hannah’s embrace as I spluttered a half explanation of what just happened. “Look, Ethan, it’s not what it looks like – ”
    “It’s not, is it? From the way I see it, you’re pretty cozy with a human I told you not to get attached to, and you just took out a Fallen that came specifically for you.”
    We all looked at each other in silence. Ethan’s serious face suddenly erupted into a broad smile. “If I thought it mattered, I’d tell you that you’re insane. But I gotta give you props, that fight was pretty badass.”
    Only Ethan would say something like that after what just occurred.

 
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
    TWELVE
     
     
    Ethan came over and grabbed my forearm to pull me onto my feet. “You know you should have let her die,” he said before looking at Hannah and shrugging apathetically. “No offense, human.”
    She shot daggers at him, but directed her question to me. “Who’s that?”
    Ethan stepped in front of me to stand face to face with Hannah. “I would be Ethan, Levi’s best friend and literal wingman. You, on the other hand, would happen to be the little thorn in my side that has Levi here all up in arms.”
    It was almost physically possible to see Hannah puffing up. “I didn’t do anything, thank you very much. Personally, I think you’re a jerk and I haven’t even known you five minutes yet.”
    “Good. That means you’re at least a little observant. Now why don’t you run off and ruin some other Guard’s chance of getting moved up?”
    Hannah opened and closed her mouth like a fish. She craned her neck around Ethan’s shoulder, her eyes questioning me. “What does he mean?”
    Ethan didn’t stop. I knew he was just trying to be a friend in his idiotic way, but he was seriously screwing things up. “I’ll tell you what I mean; I don’t need a translation service. I mean if you hadn’t come along and gotten Levi all screwed in the head, he might have gotten out of being stuck in hell for eternity.”
    I stepped between the two of them, which was pretty hard considering they were toe to toe. “Ethan, shut up.”
    “You’re so blinded by this human that you one, broke the rule about telling her about her death. Second, you somehow managed to fight off the Fallen that came for her – early, might I add – because of you telling her about her upcoming trip to the other side. Finally, I find you on the ground and she’s cradling your head in her lap like a little lost puppy. I’m pretty sure there’s a rule about not physically touching your Call if I read the rulebook correctly. You’re three for three, dude. It’s a wonder the Fallen didn’t rip your wings out just now.”
    Hannah swayed. “He tried.”
    Ethan whirled around to face her again. “He what?”
    I answered. “It tried. I broke my wing.”
    Ethan spun me around and started tugging at my wings. “Dude, there’s nothing wrong with your wings. Are you sure he just didn’t claw your back?”
    “Hey, bird boy, I was here, that thing nearly ripped Levi’s right wing off,” Hannah said irritably. “I’m not blind.”
    “But you do have a weak stomach. I heard about you upchucking after meeting your first Fallen in Rome,” Ethan sneered.
    “Okay, that’s enough!” I interjected before Hannah had a chance to throw another punch. It was obvious these two were going to have to grow to love one another in a different capacity. I pointed at Ethan. “Why aren’t you with Angie?”
    He shrugged. “You jacked things up. She was supposed to die with Hannah in that car accident.”
    Hannah shoved me. “So that’s why you didn’t want