All Chapters of My Arch Nemesis in my Bed: Chapter 61 - Chapter 70

I woke up feeling like I’d been wrung out and hung up to dry, which was probably what happened when you spent half the night alternating between guilt about fighting with your boyfriend and relief that you’d made up. The whole thing felt like emotional whiplash, but at least we were okay now.And now I was lying in bed trying to figure out how to face my parents after the mortifying conversation Mom and I were apparently going to have.The smell of pancakes was drifting up from the kitchen, which meant Dad was in a good mood. He only broke out the blueberry pancake recipe when he was feeling accomplished about something, probably still riding the high from successfully navigating Great-Aunt Millicent’s legal mess without anyone getting disinherited or arrested.I dragged myself downstairs in shorts and a tank top, hoping I could grab food and disappear before Mom ambushed me for round two of the most awkward mother-daughter talk in history.Luca was sitting at the kitchen table, scrol

I woke up the next morning in a good mood with that fizzy feeling you get when everything in your life seems to be falling into place. Luca had his scholarship, we had our plans, and for the first time I felt like we were actually going to make this work.I was eating a leftover pizza around noon, when an idea hit me from nowhere and scrolling through my phone. Luca would be finishing up with his afternoon group of kids soon, and he’d mentioned being too busy to pack lunch. Perfect excuse to show up with sandwiches and maybe steal a few minutes together before I had to get ready for my evening shift at the pool.I bought two turkey clubs with extra pickles the way he preferred them and walked the few blocks to the community center, already imagining how his face would light up when he saw me. Maybe we could sit on the bleachers during his break and watch the little kids attempt volleyball serves.But when I got to the outdoor courts, I stopped walking so abruptly that I nearly tripped

I’d thrown myself onto my bed and cried until I couldn’t anymore, until my throat felt like I’d swallowed glass and my eyes were so swollen I could barely see. The pillow was soaked and my face felt puffy and hot, but the tears had finally stopped coming. Now I just felt hollow.I kept replaying his voice saying those words. “You weren’t supposed to hear that, but since you did, I guess it saves me the trouble of figuring out how to bring it up later.”“The bet was Tyler’s idea.”I grabbed my pillow and screamed into it again, but no sound came out. My voice was completely gone.My phone buzzed on my nightstand. I reached for it without thinking, hoping maybe it was him calling to tell me this was all some sick joke, that he hadn’t meant any of it. But it was just Naomi.“Girl where are you?? Your coworker said you left work early and you’re not answering”I stared at the text until the letters blurred together, then turned my phone off.I rolled over and buried my face in the comfort

Luca What used to be a collection of simple buildings built into the mountainside was now something that looked more like a fortress. Glass and steel mixed with stone, solar panels and satellite dishes, landing pads and helipads scattered around the complex. It looked like someone had taken a tech billionaire’s compound and dropped it in the middle of nowhere. “Impressive, isn’t it?” Maya said quietly, apparently unable to help herself. I gave her a look that could have melted steel. “Did I stutter when I told you to shut up?” She flinched and looked away, but I caught the flash of hurt in her eyes. We landed on a private strip that definitely hadn’t been there when I was eight years old. The SUV that met us was armored and looked like it could survive a bombing, which was probably the point. Maya tried one more time as we drove through gates that were definitely designed to keep people out rather than in. “Luca, I know you’re angry, but you need to know there have been inc

“It was only a warning,” he said matter-of-factly. “We needed you to understand the stakes. Needed you to see what could happen if you stayed in the human world.”I stared at them both, feeling something cold and furious unfurling in my chest.“You sent that thing after her,” I said, and my voice sounded strange even to my own ears. “You could have killed her.”“But we didn’t,” my mother said quickly. “We made sure you were there, made sure you could protect her. It was controlled, calculated—”“You used her as bait.” The words came out flat and deadly. “You terrorized the girl I love to manipulate me into coming home.”My father’s expression didn’t change. “And it worked. You’re here, she’s alive, and now you understand what’s at stake. Every moment you spend in the human world puts everyone there in danger. Your foster parents, your friends, her. All of them.”I felt like the walls were closing in. “So what are you saying?”“Stay here and learn control. Accept your destiny,” my fath