Taste a Thousand Deaths (Marionettes of Myth #3)

Chapter Thirteen

Elliot had never been so close to a high school before, human or nonhuman. He had been on campus at Penn State University to speak to a man about the Seneca Nation and what creatures the people had known to live in the forests, and he clearly remembered walking past different groups and niches of people, some obvious, some more interesting combinations.

He'd expected high school to be the same.

How wrong he was.

When Ave parked alongside the curb and climbed out to help Rosette put her crutches into the trunk, he stared at the throng of kids who couldn't possibly have been any more obnoxious. And they were certainly trying, shouting obscenities to one another just to get a reaction from bystanders, gliding in front of busses on skateboards to scare the driver, when really any of the scrawny boys could have been made into paste by just a single tire.

Few things awed Elliot.

He heard Ave and Rosie coming up along his side of the car. His fingers curled around the handle, stopping their conversation as he climbed from the passenger seat and into the bitter cold. Rosette looked right at him with big question marks in her soft brown eyes. She had hardly bothered with more than a little smear of shadow and a few quick dabs of mascara, highly unlike her, even on her worst days, and she hadn't styled her hair in the slightest.

She had no need to play any parts today.

Elliot could understand that.

He stooped and yanked on the seat latch, folding the chair so he had access to the back. "I was in your seat, wasn't I?"

Behind her, Ave raised her eyebrows.

Rosette appraised him silently, keeping a hand to the car to steady herself on her cast. "I don't mind changing things up. I like surprises." A smile tickled her lips. A mischievous one.

"And what a surprise that is." He cocked a single eyebrow.

She turned her smile away from him, seemingly satisfied with herself, as she wobbled up closer. "Thank you, Elliot," she said as he crawled into the back and snapped the chair into place again, "for keeping my seat warm." She eased herself into the car with her own powers.

"Don't worry. You're returning the favor." He reached past her chair and closed the door.

The backseat wasn't meant for a man of his stature. His legs had little room and his spine bent to keep the crown of his head from brushing against the roof. The vinyl seatbelt had been crafted to choke a man.

Ave quickly rounded the car to her throne. In order to leave the curb, she had to battle for a spot between two overly-polished SUVs. She made a noise in her throat, and the distaste in her voice was not something she expressed every day. Usually she picked up Rosette later, once rehearsal had been completed.

Rosette would not be attending rehearsal tonight.

Once Ave had finally made it safely onto the street, gliding at her usual speed along the natural rises and falls of the hills, Rosette said, "Slow down, Ave." Ah, here it came. Rosette's last effort. "I still think I should be there."

Ave's foot eased off of the gas pedal. She looked to Rosette with many daggers protruding her chest. "It's pretty selfish. We're doing this for ourselves more than we are for you, since we've already seen you get hurt."