We escaped the rest of our class when the fire alarm "went off" and went to my room. Caleb was still pressing the ring deep into my finger as he held my hand and kept pushing harder and harder until he got the satisfaction of me crying out. Then he finally let go and sat down on my bed.
"So, wifey, how about you tell me the truth about Reid?"
I gaped at him. "Excuse me?"
"I know you two have been sneaking around. That's why you wouldn't marry me before. But when I threatened to kill you, he didn't matter anymore, did he?" He smiled with contentment on his lips.
"I don't know what you're talking about!"
Caleb's eyes turned black for the second time in front of me that day. No wonder he was looking older. A lamp on Kate's side of the room flew against the wall behind, causing shards of glass to fall over me like piercing rain. "Tell me the truth!" When I still said nothing, he took my left wrist and slammed it against the wall. From somewhere, a knife appeared in his other hand and pressed against my ring finger. He didn't cut me but pressed it down far enough for it to hurt. "You say you want to marry me and yet you lie to me like it's nothing!"
"I didn't do anything!" I cried.
"Bullshit!" Caleb let go of me then stormed out of the room.
Seconds later, Reid was walking into the room. "I heard noise."
"YOU!" I screamed. "You did this! Plotting it all along weren't you! 'Hey, let's screw around with Sarah. Maybe Caleb will kill her.' How dare you!"
He stared blankly at me. "You. Think. I did…this to you?" His fists clenched at his sides. "You think you're the only one?" Reid spoke so softly and calmly, it was impossible to tell he was angry. "I just…whatever." He kneeled down and started cleaning up the shattered glass.
I pushed Reid aside. "I'll do it myself."
"Fine." And he left. I didn't want his help.
Instead of cleaning the glass, I took a large piece in my hand. I held it to the light and looked through it. The sun glinted off of the glass and sent a light onto the wall like my ring did. I placed it against my forearm but dropped it instantly. "How can I do this to myself," I whispered, barely audible to myself.
Then I spotted it. The knife he was planning on using. I looked at my finger then back at the blade. No, I wouldn't do it. Hurting me would not stop Caleb.
Tyler and Pogue cornered me after class a few days later. Once again, Caleb had stopped speaking to me. Maybe they were coming to give me a message from him. How should I know?
"We don't like you," Pogue said.
Delightfully, Tyler added, "We don't trust you, but you know things that you shouldn't."
I nodded and Pogue continued. "When I broke up with Kate, we took a vote. Would we allow her to leave, still knowing what she does, or would we have to kill her? You know what happened with her."
"As leader of the coven," Tyler sustained. "Caleb counts as two votes so we had a tie when it came to you. We took the easiest option and he's going to continue to be with you and watch to make sure you don't tell."
I nodded and watched as Tyler walked away, but Pogue didn't move from his spot. "I just want to let you know," he said quietly. "Caleb actually asked you to marry him before this came up. He might have just been angry. I don't know."
"What was his vote?" I asked.
Pogue hesitated before answering. "Caleb? He wanted to…kill you."
I did the simple math over and over in my head. If Caleb was like two of them and the Pogue and Tyler voted against him, where was Reid?
"I know what you're thinking. Reid."
I nodded.
"He hasn't yet ascended and his vote doesn't really count until he does. We're having another vote in a week, on his birthday." He said. "Caleb really did love you. Maybe he still does, but he needs some time. You rejected him, remember?"
"Yeah, thanks."
It was such an odd feeling, having your life in someone else's hands. Reid would vote for me to live probably, but I wasn't so sure about Tyler. What I was feeling was like getting in a car with a bunch of drunken kids that I barely knew. But why didn't they trust me?
