Livy

Livy's entire being vibrated as she hurried through the unusually quiet corridors of the manor. Like every cell was shaking and threatening to separate, the way it felt just before a shift. Normally, it lasted for a single breath, so short and quick shifters stopped noticing after a while, but it had started the moment she watched Isaiah clamp a collar around her cousin's neck. It had only grown stronger since running into Van, but now hope fueled it instead of sorrow.

"Hailey." Livy stopped short as the blonde stepped out of a room.

The former Slayer glared at Livy with one blue eye. Bruises and swelling hid the other, but no matter how they insisted, the girl refused treatment. Not because she was afraid of magic, but because she refused to waste someone's time with what she deemed trivial. It certainly hadn't felt trivial when Livy watched a vampire drive its rotting, gnarled fist into the girl's face.

"Hey, wait," she called out when Hailey brushed by without speaking. This really wasn't the time, but the girl's dismissal stung far more than it should have . "What's wrong?"

Hailey took two more steps, hesitated on the third, and spun to face Livy. Chest swelling on an inhale, she looked up and down the hall before taking Livy and pulling her into a room used as storage.

"What's wrong? Do you really have to ask that?"

"Yes. We haven't spoken since we got back, and you weren't ignoring me then. I'll admit to being skilled at pissing people off, but I usually have to be present to do it."

Exhaling with great exaggeration, Hailey crossed her arms below her breasts, emphasizing her cleavage more than usual. Joining the rebel cause hadn't tamed Hailey's fashion sense. And Livy, despite years of teaching herself to look away, couldn't stop her eyes from traveling over the generous swells.

"Livy."

"Sorry," she blurted out. No better than a man.

"I was saying we had bigger issues to deal with when we got back with Brantley, so I wasn't about to tell you off. But things have settled. I'm not holding back."

Livy wracked her brain for anything she could have done to piss the girl off. If it was something involving Bane, it should be fairly easy to narrow down, but unfortunately, thinking about him only muddied the waters further. Along with her emotions.

"You have no clue."

"I'm sorry. We were fine while we were with Van during training, and then..." Then she and Bane had gotten into a pissing contest over who could keep Hailey safe. Shame welled over her. "Oh."

Some of Hailey's bluster disappeared, and she sagged against a shelf. Her golden hair fell in curls over her shoulder, and she toyed with it while she spoke. "Oh. I get it. And on some level, I appreciate it, but just because my DNA is human, it doesn't mean I'm weak. I was at the top of my training class. I know what I look like, and if you don't think it's not on purpose, then you're not nearly as smart as I've given you credit for."

"No arguments from me. We were assholes, and it won't happen again. At least, I won't do it again." It might kill her to watch Bane do it, but after living in a society that treated their women as weakling only meant for breeding, she would be damned if she did that to another woman. And Hailey was far from weak.

"Wow." Lashes fluttered over her good eye. "Bane mumbled a half ass apology and then accused me of overreacting."

"Sounds about right, but he's a boy. Dumb ass is in their DNA, regardless of the species."

That earned a laugh. A laugh that was cut short when something hit the door. The girls startled, leaping toward. Livy put her hands out to steady Hailey, her hands settling on her waist, just below the bottom of her crop top. When no one opened the door, they burst into hysterical giggles that had them stumbling toward the wall to stay upright.

When they stopped, Livy drew in a deep breath and brushed a strand of hair from Hailey's face. "You know... I–I only acted that way because I care about you. Never thought I'd lived to see the day I called a Slayer a friend, but I would be devastated if anything happened to you."

Hailey stared at her without speaking for a long moment, so many thoughts and emotions flickering in her expression Livy couldn't pinpoint what the girl was thinking.

"I thought maybe you didn't feel the same way since the incident in the hallway."

So much had happened in such a brief span of time that it took Livy a moment to remember what she was referring to. But now that moment came rushing back, sinking to the bottom of her stomach like a stone. Hailey and Bane. Bane and Hailey.

"I get it. If you and Bane had something going on, I'll butt out. It's probably nothing, just two people looking for comfort. I–"

Livy's kiss silenced Hailey. She nearly pulled away as the girl stiffened, but just as their mouths separated, Hailey threw her arms around Livy's neck and dragged her back down.

If she thought she'd been on the verge of coming apart earlier, now she thought she might combust as they clung to one another, lips and tongues sliding across each other in gentle caresses. Hands wandered under and over clothes, their discoveries thrilling even as they took in the similarities between them.

Hailey's lips were far softer than any boys Livy had ever kissed. Her body was more pliant and lush and warm. Livy moved her hand up Hailey's neck and to the back of her head, letting her fingers slide down the full silky length of Hailey's hair, tangling in the ends and tugging just enough that the girl's head tipped back, opening her up for a deeper kiss.

In the hallway, another door slammed, and the girls jumped again, this time apart. They stared at one another in shock. Livy's heart raced so fast, she felt faint.

"I-I need to go," she said, walking backward with her hand stretched behind her until her fingers brushed the doorknob.

"Livy, wait."

"We're going to go get Luca. Me and Van. You can come. We're leaving in an hour."

Without waiting for a response, she opened the door and bolted down the hall, unsure of where she was going or what she was supposed to be doing. All she could think was that she would never be the same, and she was a damn fool for asking Hailey to come because the forbidden was so much harder to ignore once it had been tasted.