Blood Cruel (Gods of Blood and Shadow Book 1) Read Free

kids used it as a make-out spot, but not in the winter. Now everyone hung out inside. Only crazy people like them would brave the cold to talk in private.
    “So,” Jaden said, leaning against the tree. “How bad was it?”
    “A three,” Katie said.
    “That’s not terrible. I have plenty of threes.”
    “You barely speak the language,” Katie said. “And even then, you use that American accent of yours to charm the teachers.”
    “I can’t help it if I sound like Matthew McConaughey.”
    “More like Elmer Fudd.”
    Jaden grinned. “Be vewy quiet.”
    “I don’t know what I’m going to do,” Katie said. “You think NASA take people who flunk science?”
    Jaden shrugged. “You could always switch to sports, like me.”
    She shook her head at him. Sometimes he seemed not to realise what he was saying. She was short and clumsy; the last thing she should be doing was sports. Although, if her grades kept plummeting, she wasn’t cut out for anything brain related either.
    “You should talk to your father,” Jaden said. “Get him to help you study. He must see how important your grades are to you.”
    He didn’t offer to talk to Aidan, not anymore. Katie had warned him often enough that he knew not to mention it. Her home was off limits.
    “Maybe,” she said, knowing she couldn’t.
    “Or I can help you study,” Jaden said.
    Katie nodded, but that was out of the question too. The school closed after hours. “Where? Your house?”
    He shook his head and turned away for a moment. She regretted bringing it up. She’d never seen his house, just as he’d never seen hers.
    A part of her suspected his father was abusive. Jaden had bruises sometimes that he claimed were from walking into a door. However, from the way he moved on the basketball court, Katie doubted he’d ever be as clumsy as that.
    Sometimes she dreamt they both revealed their secrets and were both Godchosen. As soon as they said it, they fell into each other’s arms. As if that was the only thing holding them apart, instead of how different they were. He was tall and handsome, where she was short and mousy.
    It wasn’t just her curse that kept her from telling Jaden how she felt, though. It was the risk of losing the only friend she had at the school. Jaden was friends with almost everyone he’d ever met, but chose to spend time with her instead. She suspected it was just out of loyalty. She’d spoken to him on his first day of school, five years ago, before anyone else felt comfortable talking in English. And he’d stuck by her side ever since.
    “Speaking of home,” Jaden said. “I should get back. It’s getting late.”
    She knew it wasn’t late, but the sun was sinking and he never seemed to want to be out after dark. Maybe he was a werewolf, and he’d turn into slavering beast? The bruises could be from his victims, trying to fight him off. She dismissed the thought. Jaden wasn’t the monster, his father was.
    “Meet me before school tomorrow?” Katie asked. “We can talk then?”
    “Sure,” Jaden said. “And don’t forget about my game on Saturday.”
    “I wouldn’t miss it,” Katie said. She was Jaden’s moral support. His father wouldn’t be there. Just as her own wouldn’t.
    Leaving him, she walked through the school to her locker, leaving any books she could there. Her bag was still heavy as she hurried for the bus that would take her home. She needed a lot of books with her. She had to try to study, at least.
    There were other teenagers on the bus, but they ignored her. Instead, she found a seat on her own, put on her seatbelt, and sat with her bag clasped across her stomach.
    The sun dropped quickly as the bus drove into town. By the time it rolled over the bridge to Kråkerøy, the island she lived on, it was dark enough for all the streetlights to have come on. She didn’t remember too much from Ireland, but she knew it didn’t get dark at four in the afternoon. If she missed anything, it was a few extra