“Your turn on the wall.” Mark sounded more than a little reluctant. 

Of course he wouldn’t want to help me. No matter how much he might logically agree that Olivia was out of line, she was still an old friend, while I was the weird alien he met yesterday. He would always be on her side. 

“You and Vince work together. I’ll climb without a spotter.”

“I can’t let-” He shook his head. “I promised Celest-”

“What Celest doesn’t know won’t hurt her.” I moved to the side and started climbing. It was easier to start out climbing than it had been to start working on the obstacles yesterday. All I had to do was lightly hold onto the wall with my hands while my legs did all the heavy lifting. 

Vincent climbed up beside me with Mark spotting him. Vincent wasn’t much faster than I was, as he seemed to have trouble gripping the wall with his oddly large shoes and webbed hands. We steadily made our way up the wall until we reached where the wall started angling out into an overhang. Neither of us seemed confident enough to attempt that, so we went back down--Vincent belaying and me climbing. 

When I paused on the ground to catch my breath, I caught sight of several men in green and gold uniforms coming in with Olivia on their heels. She pointed me out and sat on a bench to watch. Kiara jogged around the men and over to us. 

“Liv reported Elva to security.” She rolled her eyes. “I told them Liv punched first, but they’re still going to kick her out.”

Mark sighed. “Let’s go.”

We met one of the guards in the middle of the room, while the other stayed with Olivia.

The guard addressed me. “We have a no tolerance policy to fighting outside of the combat rooms. Show me your ID.” 

Leah’s driver’s license had been lost in the crash. “I’m sorry, I don’t-”

“She’s my guest.” Mark pulled out his student ID and a temporary membership card.

The guard wrote down Mark’s ID number. “Since she’s your guest, you’re both banned from the gym for the next forty-eight hours. Don’t let this happen again, or you’ll be out for a week.”

“Got it.” Mark guided me toward the door. 

The guard escorted us out into the hall. 

Olivia’s voice sounded behind us. “Wait, what do you mean? I didn’t want to fight. She threatened me. I was afraid-”

“Cut it out, Liv,” Mark called over his shoulder. “Everyone saw you punch her first.” 

All three of us were escorted to empty our lockers and leave the building, Olivia arguing the whole way out. As soon as the guards went back inside, Olivia stomped her foot at us. 

“This is all your fault.”

Mark scoffed. “What part--punching someone without provocation or putting their life in danger by reporting them?”

She huffed. “It’s not like I told them what she is. I should have.” She touched the door. “I still can.”

He thrust his keys at me. “Wait in the car, Elva.”

I moved away but kept all four of my ears peeled.

Mark spoke in a hiss. “Do you really think I’m stupid enough to hang around a realm leech without taking Antifest?”

“Wha-” Olivia likely said something else, but I was already out of hearing range. 

As I walked to the car and waited for Mark, I skimmed Leah’s memories for what Antifest might be. She’d heard of it but wasn’t sure what it was, only that humans who went to the Otherealm took it before going. I charged my phone. It was old but in decent shape, and it had just powered on when Mark got in the car. 

He started driving without saying a word. I looked up Antifest. It was advertised as an oral medicine to deter and even kill Otherealm parasites. Extended use could ruin someone’s liver and cause a litany of horrible side effects. Apparently, I’d scared Mark so much that he was willing to hurt himself to feel safe. He could’ve refused to look after me, so I could only assume he’d been too afraid that I would hurt him if he didn’t do what I wanted. 

Why hadn’t he just helped me through the portal or at least let me try to find a way through on my own? He must’ve thought I would recruit other Arytas and come back with an invasion force or something. If he’d lied about wanting to help me, he must’ve lied about Vincent’s and Kiara’s feelings too. And Celest, what about her? Was she too afraid of me to let me go home? What if she actually did have access to the portal room but lied to keep me here? 

None of them actually wanted me here. All of them would be rid of me in an instant if they weren’t so afraid of retribution. Life wasn’t too pleasant in the Otherealm, but at least I knew what to expect there. At least people there didn’t manipulate my fears and desires like a nest of lying vipers. They might’ve been cruel, but they were honest. They spoke their mind, no matter how horrible their thoughts were. That was the world I belonged to. 

“Take me home.”

“We don’t have to-”

“I said, take me home.”

“Okay.” After a few moments, he turned the car off of the path he’d been taking. “You can’t let what Olivia says get to you. She doesn’t know what she’s talking about.”

More lies. I couldn’t stand any more lies. “Pull over.”

“What?”

I shoved my phone and its charger into my backpack. “Pull over, or I’ll jump out.”

“Give me a second.” He scanned the side of the street for parking spots. There weren’t any in immediate view, so he continued until he hit a stoplight. 

Slinging my backpack over my shoulder, I jumped out of the car before slamming the door shut. I didn’t have enough power in my phone to track down the nearest bus stop, but I didn’t care. I would walk until I ran into a bus stop or somewhere I could charge my phone.

Before I could get far, Mark pulled into a parking spot and jumped out to stop me. 

“What are you doing?”

“I’m taking a bus home.” I tried to dodge around him. 

He held out an arm to stop me. “I was driving you home already.”

“I don’t want to be around you anymore.”

He had the gall to look confused. “What did I do?”

“What does it matter? You’re never going to see me again.” I ducked under his arm. 

He grabbed my backpack. “Elva, cut it out. Just tell me what’s going on.” 

“So you can lie to me some more? Not interested.” I tried to yank my backpack out of his grip, but his arm strength was superior to mine.

“What do you think I lied about?”

Why couldn’t he just drop the subject and let me go? “You’re afraid of me. Everyone’s afraid of me. You’d all like me to keel over dead. Any of that ring a bell?”

“Oliva’s afraid of you. I’m not.” He nudged me toward the car. “Come on, let’s head home.”

Damn it. “Stop lying to me.”

He shook his head. “I don’t know why you’re so convinced-”

“You’re taking Antifest.”

“Oh. I just told Olivia that to get her to back off.” 

“Sure you did.” 

He sighed. “Can’t you tell I’m not taking it?”

“Not unless I taste your blood.”

“Then get in the car, and you can taste it.” 

This felt like a trap, but I wasn’t entirely sure what he intended to get out of it. If it really was a trap, I could always sting him and make a run for it. 

“Fine.” I got in the car with him. 

He bit his hand and squeezed out a drop of blood before the cut closed. “Here.” He held out his hand. 

I wiped the blood off with my finger, lifted my true head from the back of my host’s neck, and pressed my finger against my true mouth. The blood was rich with magic but didn’t have any of the bitter taste I would expect from poison. Perhaps Antifest was tasteless. Or perhaps he hadn’t lied to me at all. It didn’t make sense. I lowered my hand and my true head. 

“Why did you lie to Olivia?”

“To get her to-”

“That’s not what I meant. Why bother lying to her at all? Why drive a wedge between you and your friends for the sake of someone you just met?”

“Like I said, Olivia’s the only one with a problem.” He pinched the bridge of his nose. “I shouldn’t tell you this, but this isn’t the first time she’s acted this way with my female friends. The only reason she likes Kiara is because Kiara’s into--it’s not my place to say who, but she’s into someone besides me. Anyway, what I’m trying to say is, Olivia might’ve disliked you if you were a guy or an ugly girl, but she hates you because you’re a beautiful girl.” 

“That’s dumb. I’m not even human, and you think I look like a flesh pancake.” I snorted, but there wasn’t much mirth in the sound. “If she thinks ‘pancake’ is a term of affection, tell her what you really think.” 

He winced. “Sorry about that. I don’t really think you look like a ‘flesh pancake.’”

Even if he hadn’t lied to me before, he was lying to me now. “Look, I don’t know what you get out of helping me, but if you want me to be friendly with you, don’t lie to me. I’d rather be insulted to my face than lied to.”

He held up his hands in mock surrender. “I swear, I’m not lying. The ‘flesh pancake’ thing was a gut reaction. You look more like a stingray than a pancake, fleshy or otherwise.”

“Is that so?” I supposed a stingray was a marked improvement. 

“What good would lying do me?”

I shrugged. “A whole lot if you’re afraid I’ll hurt you for upsetting me.”

“True.” He paused. “But I’m not afraid of you.”

I wanted to believe him--of course I did--but if he could lie so easily to his “friends,” there was no reason to believe he wouldn’t lie to me if it benefited him. 

“Hey, how do you feel about going to the park?” he asked in a somewhat jovial tone.

“Ambivalent.” 

“You could work on your arm strength by climbing trees.”

That was an appealing prospect. “Fine.”