Don't Mess With Time

Chapter Twenty-Two

Amber wasn't good with emotions.

She just wasn't.

And that meant she ended up trying her best to ignore Theresa.

But the princess was now sitting beside her at lunch and giving her biggest grin.

"I heard Nicola and Sophie are making progress. How are your moms?"

Amber looked into her eyes and wondered for a moment if she was just messing with her.

But Theresa looked so genuine... and pretty... and Amber felt her face heating up.

"They're fine," she said gruffly and looked down at her food to avoid meeting those warm, inviting ocean blue eyes.

"That's good. I'd rather see you be born."

It wasn't even that nice of a sentiment, but Amber still found her heart beating three times faster than normal.

Felt her palms sweating and her face reddening.

She didn't respond to that, but Theresa didn't seem to care.

She launched into a conversation about this or that, her school life and her parents, her sword training and placement in school ranks (top of the new generation).

And Amber wanted to find that annoying.

She blissfully frustrating.

But for everything she would have said Theresa gloated about, she asked about Amber.

Her pristine blue eyes looked into Amber's black ones and she kept that somewhat playful smirk in place on her lips.

Amber tried her hardest not to stare at those lips.

Hilda seemed to be getting worried about her and sometimes glaring at Theresa as if her sister suddenly getting tongue-tied was her fault.

And it was, but not for the reasons Hilda seemed to think.

And for all she noticed about Amber, she seemed so cursedly ignorant about Milly.

The way Milly still watched her and would blush whenever Hilda talked about her evil schemes.

Amber was still waiting for Theresa to demand her jacket back, but she didn't even seem to remember it existed.

And so the Never kept it by her bed.

She told herself that she would give it back if and when Theresa asked for it, but she also knew that if she did ask she would just lie and say she threw it away or burned it.

Emotions were stupid.

~

Anadil was shooting Hester fervent glanced as they sat at their bench under their tree.

The tattooed Never didn't seem to notice the way Anadil kept looking at her, but another witch did.

Dot.

Of course she noticed.

Anyone who wasn't blind would have seen the way Anadil stared at Hester.

Or how Anadil would suddenly not be so pale when Hester would brush up against her as they sat.

Or when Anadil would wake up beside Hester in the morning (they'd been doing this ever since Dede had burned down the room they'd had and the three had started staying in theirs) and suddenly have a mini heart attack.

Dot saw it all.

And that's why she had pointed it out to Anadil as the albino was as blind as Hester was.