Free JINXED: (Karma Series, Book Two) by Donna Augustine Page B

spotted her.
    “Wait up,” I yelled, and hurried after her, wanting to catch her before she made it into the office.
    Once I caught up, and she got a good look at me, the instinctive smile she naturally wore dropped into something closer to concern.
    “What's wrong?”
    “How much of the story did you tell people about what happened with me and Fate?”
    She looked skyward, as if trying to recall all the details. “Well, you know I warned Murphy about the Cupid thing—”
    “No, I mean about how it went down. Like the specifics of things said after the act happened.” Even though I knew the truth, I was still hoping she’d tell me she held back.
    “Oh, yes. I told Murphy about that too.” She smiled, like it was the most natural thing in the world.
    It took a second before I could get the word to unstick from my tongue. “Why?”
    “Why what?” Her face was pure confusion.
    “Why would you do that? Tell him?” The words flew out of my mouth.
    “Isn't that what you're supposed to do? You were upset about it, so of course I got upset for you. Well, obviously then I needed to confide my emotional hurt. You weren't in any shape to comfort me, so I talked to Murphy. That's what besties do. I've studied them.” She nodded her head through this whole explanation.
    I covered my eyes with my palm for a few seconds. It was hard to remember she'd never been mortal and didn't really understand the concept of a human friendship. She hadn't meant to be a complete blabbermouth.
    Dropping my hand to see her confused stare, I explained, “This is the thing, besties tell each other secrets. But, they aren't supposed to repeat them to anyone.”
    “Yes, but Murphy is my bestie, so then it’s okay to tell him,” she said, quite confidently, as if she was filling me in on some inner workings of human friendship that I’d skipped over.
    She seemed so proud of herself I almost felt bad about having to explain the finer details, but I had to do it. “It’s okay to tell him your secrets, not mine.”
    She started to fiddle with the chain on her neck. “When I watch the humans, they repeat everything.”
    She was shifting from one foot to the other, moving out of confident territory and into flustered. I was afraid if I didn't let her off the hook, I was going to send her into a complete tizzy at any minute. “It's okay. Just no more repeating secrets.”
    She looked very solemn as she nodded in agreement but was staring down at the floor now. “Does this mean we aren't besties anymore?”
    “No, we're still besties.” How did I become the one who was feeling bad?
    She kicked out a toe, making an arc pattern on the floor, still looking down. “Does this mean I can be in the manual?”
    “Murphy already told you about the manual?” This confirmed it. The entire office had a huge mouth. I wasn’t really trying to keep the book under wraps, but this had to be a record.
    “Yes. Can I help?” She was looking at me now and smiling, clearing excited at the possibility of being included.
    “Sure,” I said, having known from the beginning she’d want to be included.
    She leaned in closer and whispered, “It's against the rules right? I've always wanted to be a rebel.”
    “Hey, Karma!” Jockey, usually fairly reserved, was sprinting down the hall toward us. “You're making a manual?”
    I shot Luck a look that said, this has got to be a joke? The whole office must know. 
    “Why?” Luck asked Jockey before I did. Her enthusiasm made me look a bit closer at her. Why was Luck so excited?
    “Could I help?” Jockey asked.
    “Well, that depends. She'll need full access.” Luck stepped forward, partially blocking me and obviously looking to be the negotiator.
    “What do you have to do with this?” Jockey looked pointedly at Luck and then tried to see past her to me. Luck simply moved with him, blocking access again. If I'd been human, I might've tried to diffuse this but I'd since learned to let them do their crazy