Van

"There. It's pretty cute, actually."

Van touched the ends of her hair that now stopped just below her jawline. Hailey had evened out the damage inflicted during the fight, and she had to admit, the former Slayer had a future in hair if she wanted it. The blunt bob highlighted her angular features, giving her an edgy look she quite liked. She was sure it would piss her off later when she went to pull it back in a ponytail, but for now she was grateful for a cute cut by a friend she'd almost lost.

"You okay?" Hailey asked, putting the scissors on the nightstand by the bed. "Sorry. That was a dumb question. Of course you're not okay."

Van shifted on the mattress. It was so thin she could feel the springs under her hands, but this had been the only hotel within fifty miles of the vampire town. She imagined most humans went through this area as quickly as possible considering the rumors of missing people, but personally, she felt the vampires had really missed out on an opportunity.

"I'm fine, Hailey. You don't have to worry about me."

And oddly enough, Van meant what she said. Life had been a shitshow since—well, since her mother faked the death of herself and Walker.

Today wasn't really all that different, but for the first time since coming out of the coma, Van didn't feel like a fragile human. Without her abilities and quick thinking, she would be a hostage and Hailey, Livy, and Bane would be cold corpses in that house.

Hailey huffed and dropped onto her bed, the frame protesting loudly at the abuse. "I love how you think you can say that, and that means I won't worry. It's like a man telling a woman to calm down."

"We all went through the same mess today. How are you?"

She hadn't told the others what she had stopped. Mostly because she'd passed out once they were in the car, but also because she wasn't sure how they would take it. No one—not even Luca—knew about that ability. The first time it had happened had been in the crypt under the Helsing Estate, and Van had fallen into a coma afterward. She'd forgotten about it until it happened again today.

"But Luca—"

"Was your friend long before I ever met him."

Hailey pursed her lips and fluttered her lashes as tears welled up in her blue eyes. Only a few months had passed since Van met the girl in Wanda's and almost dismissed her because of her revealing clothes and angelic face. Now she knew the truth. Only an idiot would underestimate this girl. She was a force, and it made Van glad to be considered a friend.

"It's hard, you know. I grew up thinking those collars were necessary. Even when I started questioning if there was a better way than the Slayer way, I still struggled with acknowledging the humanity in shifters. Until I met Luca. How could someone as kind and noble as him be bad?"

"He's the best person I know," Van whispered.

Hailey wiped her cheeks. "He is. Still is. Seeing him like that today... Those collars are evil, and I'm going to make it my mission to see that every single one of them is destroyed."

"We'll all make sure it will happen."

She nodded, scrunching her nose the way she always did when thinking hard. "Van, why does Gabriella want you?"

Van shrugged. She'd thought about it while Hailey cut her hair. Her father's warning played in her head over and over. 'They'll come for you.' The answer likely had to do with Van's Protean blood, but she didn't want anyone making that connection for fear they would do what her mother wanted to do and lock her away in the house to keep her safe and out of the hands of the enemy. But she was done being locked away.

"Who knows? I can't believe she lived under everyone's nose for as long as she did." Bright spots of color appeared on her cheeks, and she laughed out loud. "Do you think Abe knows? God, what I wouldn't have given to figure that out before he went nuts. Just to see his face when I told him he was screwing a vampire."

Hailey clapped her hand over her mouth and shrieked, drumming her heels on the bed. When she spoke, it was in quick gasps of laughter. "That alone would have ended the Slayers. We could have avoided the hostile takeover just by telling everyone the Supreme was banging a vamp."

The girls fell over in their bed, clutching their stomachs. Van laughed. The comforter grew damp under face, and when she finally sat back up, she found tears streaming down her cheeks. They didn't stop even after the giggles did, and when Hailey crossed the small gap between their beds to draw her into a hug, she went willingly, shocking the both of them by wrapping her arms around the girl to offer comfort in return.

Thirty minutes later, they laid in the dark room, neither one of them sleeping. With her enhanced eyesight, Van could see Hailey's face turned toward the window. A sliver of garish blue light cut across her bed, and it flickered whenever someone passed their window. Each time, Hailey tensed, her eyes darting to the door, and only after several seconds went by did she calm again.

"We're safe," Van insisted. "Livy is keeping watch. Then Bane."

"I know. It's not that."

Punching her pillow in a vain attempt to soften it, Van frowned. "What is it then?"

"I slept with Bane."

"Oh." That wasn't what she expected to hear at all, but it honestly didn't surprise her. In fact, now she thought she understood the tension between her, Livy, and Bane, since she was fairly certain something was going on between Livy and Bane.

"And Livy kissed me."

"What?" She popped up. Scratch that. Clearly, she had no idea what was going on between her friends.

Hailey dropped her pillow on top of her face and screamed. She sat up and dropped the pillow on her lap, her blonde hair hiding her face like a golden curtain. "I know."

Van chose her questions carefully. "Are you upset Livy kissed you?"

"It's not that I'm upset." She released a long exhale. "I'm afraid."

"I know Slayers are homophobic, but you're not a Slayer anymore. I'm sure your mom—"

"Van!" Hailey threw her pillow at her. It hit Van in the shoulder with enough force to knock her over. "It's not that. My mom will be totally cool with it. Livy isn't the first girl I've kissed. I'm afraid because I really, really like her, but I also really, really like Bane."

Van nodded. That was a dilemma. "Bane doesn't seem like the type to share."

"You might be surprised, and here's the other thing. Bane likes Livy, too. They connect on a level I can't because of the shifter thing, and until Livy kissed me, I would've sworn she had a thing for Bane."

"Well..." She rubbed the back of her neck. It wasn't often in her life that she found herself speechless, but she had absolutely no advice to share. This was a legit love triangle. All parties involved were interested, and someone was going to be very hurt when a decision was made.

"I promise we won't let it get in the way of finding Luca."

"Hailey... I know you mean that, and I believe you. But there's no way you three can avoid dealing with this while we're on the road together. Jealousy can really mess things up."

Van hated how she sounded because if they were anyone else, she would tell Hailey to do what she needed to do to figure things out. The girl deserved to live her life and love who she wanted to love. But right now, they had to work together as a team.

"I know. I've been avoiding Livy since the kiss, but I'm going to talk to her. At the very least, we can pretend like it didn't happen until we get Luca home."

"Maybe you ought to talk to her now? You won't get many opportunities to be alone together, and it's better than laying there thinking about doing it." Van settled back under the blankets. Hands under her cheeks, she considered the wisdom of kicking the anthill, but knew she was right. "We don't always get tomorrow to say things."

"You're right." The blonde threw her covers back and dressed quickly in the shadows. Cold air filled the room when she opened the door. With a quick glance back at Van, she swallowed hard and hurried outside, the door shutting with a clang that echoed in the room.

"Oh, Luca," Van whispered when she was alone, letting herself dwell on those last moments with him at last. Clinging to the hope she found when he came back to her for just a few minutes, she finally fell asleep.