Deadly Darlings (October Darlings Book 2)

by Wendolyn Baird

  Sabrina has a harder time getting through the door than I do, pulling at her short skirt as she edges under in her cumbersome boots. With three-inch heels and laces going halfway up her calves, they’re nowhere near her usual breaking and entering clothes, and I’m happy I stuck to my regular jeans and Docs.

  “Okay,” Tomas sighs as he pulls the door shut behind us, leaving us in the dark beside the ineffective lights from our cell phones. “Ground rules. Don’t accept drinks from anyone, and don’t go off by yourselves. These parties are supposed to be safe, but there’s never any telling what kind of trash might try to slip in. If you need anything, let me know.”

  “That’s awfully protective for a guy we just met,” I point out suspiciously. His pale grey eyes look blue in the faint light, and there’s a dangerous glint to them I didn’t catch in the hall. He may be playing nice with us, but something tells me Tomas can be dangerous when he wants to be.

  “You met my sister earlier. I’ve spent my whole life looking after her and keeping others from her destruction. At this point, it’s second nature to protect anyone I can. Even a stranger.”

  My heart skips as he talks, his gaze causing an uncomfortable shiver to wriggle up my spine. He’s deadly serious and there’s something about him I can’t place my finger on.

  “Tour guide and a bodyguard,” Sabrina jokes. “I’m almost glad your rotten sister knocked into my best friend.”

  I roll my eyes and stomp down the stairs. “You’re not the one with the scratched-up hand.”

  The masses of people, music, and drinks are indeed sequestered behind two more darkened doorways, and I shudder as we slink past dust covered portraits of old deans and class photos. The tiles beneath our feet are slick with dirt, and more than one room is roped off for renovation. No wonder we aren’t supposed to be down here.

  Staying on the edge of the crowd, I pull my camera out from under my jacket where I’ve had it hanging off a lanyard and adjust the lens. Wherever Sabrina goes, I keep my attention in her direction, sometimes photographing her, other times catching shots of the people around her. Bright, fuchsia lights bounce off their heads, and the bass of the music reverberates through my body in a way that makes my soles shake against the hard ground.

  “Having fun?” Tomas shouts as he winds back through the crowd. Half an hour in, and besides getting flushed from the body heat around me, I feel pretty much the same as I did trekking down here. Tired and on edge.

  Sparing my vocal cords, I merely shrug and aim my camera at his face, catching a very candid, and not particularly flattering photo. Since Sabrina found a group of her friends from her history class, if I faded into the wall behind me, I doubt she’d notice. I wish Ellis was here.

  “Parties aren’t your thing, are they?” Tomas tries again.

  Is my face that much of a giveaway? I shrug again and avoid his peculiar eyes. They’re gleaming even more in the obtrusive, flashing lights, and this time I squint at his frame scrupulously. It’s difficult to pick out any true violet hues in this lighting, but like anything else supernatural, if I try hard enough, I can find them.

  If there’s any regrets or secrets clinging to him, I’ll find them.

  “You okay?” Oblivious to my intent, he moves closer, apparent concern wrinkling his face. Splashes of water inch up the cuffs of his jeans and a swooping bird orbits his head as I stare, invisible to everyone but me. I’m used to finding obscure regrets, but I’ve got to admit, these are new ones to me, and I have no idea what they represent.

  “Yeah!” I holler over the heavy rock rolling from the speakers propped up in the corners. “Headache.” I lie.

  Picking out Sabrina in the crowd, he disappears without another word and leaves me on my own. If I’m lucky, I just scared him off.

  Snapping a few more photos, I move on, always brushing along the wall.

  “You lost?” A hulking guy smirks down at me as I reach the exit, and his friends laugh raucously. Ugh, not the kind of jerks I want to be stuck dealing with. Tomas’ warnings echo in my head as a shifting movement at my wrist tells me Frank’s stirring into consciousness. Great. If the scorpion’s awake, I know there’s a problem.

  “She’s with me.” Tomas clasps his hand on my shoulder after showing up out of seemingly nowhere, Sabrina at his side. Despite the wide difference in numbers and height, the losers grunt wordlessly and move out of the doorway.

  Leaving the party behind, I should feel better. But with the ringing in my ears and Sabrina’s complaints echoing through my head, all I can focus on is the feeling of complete wrongness. Even Tomas seems to pick up on the fact that something isn’t right, edging closer to us and glancing behind his back every few seconds. It’s not until we’re nearly to the tiny door again, that I catch sight of the lavender mist creeping through the darkness.

  My fingers twitch towards my wrist. Frank is my protector, a charmed piece of iron my mother left behind for me. Carved from what was originally a door knocker at Nix House, he’s a guardian creature that hangs onto my wrist disguised as a bracelet... unless I need him. Right now, he’s snapping his claws in warning, and while I’m fairly positive Tomas can’t hear the noise over the ringing, I assume is plaguing his eardrums as well, I’m also pretty sure things are about to get ugly.

  A draft of wind sweeps through the air, lifting my hair from my face and stopping my breath for a second. Shivers race from my shoulders down, and I grab Sabrina’s hand instinctively. Between my worried glance and the way I motion to Frank, she catches on immediately.

  “Hey, Tomas? Do you think we can hurry it up through here?” She prompts him. “It’s actually a little creepy.”

  “Yeah, that’s cool. The door is right through here, and then we can split up again.”

  Except when he reaches for the door, it doesn't want to budge. Predictable and infuriating. Whatever entity is closing in on us is seriously trying to force my hand.

  The prickles at the back of my neck beckons fear to the forefront of my mind, but I can’t drive the spirit away without outing myself!

  Shoving the others out of the way, I press the whole of my back and my palms against the door and shut my eyes. I can hear it now; the ghost headed our way.

  It’s a slow, shuffling creature with something metallic at its side. The metal scrapes against the bricks as it edges closer to us, and my gut is screaming that this is no lonely soul. This is something out for blood.

  Pressing harder, I squeeze my eyes tighter, swallowing against the lump in my throat and wishing Frank could somehow read my thoughts.

  I’m a clairvoyant, not a witch. But my mother knew magic, and I’ve used magic, at least once before. Maybe I can do it again.

  If only the door would open.

  The scraping grows closer, this time accompanied with unhinged laughter that sends chills up my spine. Every hair on my arms is raised, and my heart is thudding so loudly, I’m surprised nobody else can hear it.

  “Screw this!” Tomas curses and pulls me away from the door. With one fluid movement, he shoves his entire body weight against the exit until it crashes open, sending a wide berth of moonlight into the stairwell.

  Hissing takes the place of the scraping, and dragging Sabrina with me, I crawl out, falling over Tomas on the way. He kicks the door shut behind us while we scramble to our feet, moving in tandem with my frenzied panic and Sabrina’s second-hand alarm.

  Gasping for air we run down the hall until we’re out of the building, and with the leaves crashing wildly around us, I’m certain Blackwood College was the wrong place to go to hide from ghosts.

  Chapter Two

  “WHAT WAS THAT ABOUT?” I wheeze. My hand is burning, and my legs are weak, but I’m in better shape than Sabrina. She’s hanging onto my sleeve, her skirt ruffled and her golden tassel earrings tangling around the studs lining the rest of the way up her ears.

  “Nothing. What was up with you?” Tomas throws back at me. Sweat is pouring down the sides of his face. His hands, pre
ssed so tightly against the knees of his jeans, are trembling.

  Sabrina’s head jerks up, and her grasp tightens around my arm. Unable to see or sense the things I can, she goes off my warnings unless a haunting is severe enough to make physical objects move and allow her to see them. I’m hoping more than anything, that’s not the case here.

  Raising my chin, I close my hands into fists, ignoring the stinging that shoots up my arm as I move. “I asked you first.”

  “Then I guess you’ll never know.” Tomas clenches his jaw tight and levels his gaze at me. Again, there’s that glint in his eyes that makes me certain I don’t want him as an enemy. From protective to dodgy, he’s a mystery edging under my skin, and the more he does, the less I like him.

  “What’s going on?” Sabrina interrupts. “What did you see?”

  Drawing to my full height, I snap my teeth shut, waiting for Tomas to answer her himself.

  Nothing. Great.

  Forcing myself to roll my eyes, I shake my head and throw my words in Tomas’ direction as I answer her. “I didn’t see anything. Maybe he did.”

  “It was dark,” he shrugs angrily. “There was nothing to see. Like y’all said, it was a creepy space. That's all.”

  He glares right on back at me, and the howling wind breaks through my frustration enough to reawaken anxiety.

  “Fine,” Sabrina huffs. “Then I want to go back to the dorms. We shouldn’t be out here.”

  Tomas nods in agreement, and with a chill creeping up around my ankles, I couldn’t agree more.

  Huddled together, we turn our backs on him and kick past the scattered leaves flying along the sidewalk. The branches overhead creak as the rustle in the wind, and the left archway into the courtyard is swirling with hazy violet smoke. Mist, shadows, and silhouettes I’ve seen before, but smoke? That’s a new one.

  Hurrying along, I’m almost too distracted to worry about Tomas’ quick footsteps keeping pace with ours, but there he is, plodding along.

  “We can get back to our room on our own,” I call back. Sabrina elbows me in the ribs and pulls at me to slow down.

  “I like him walking with us,” she hisses. “Who knows what weirdos are out here?”

  I’m more worried about Tomas being one of those weirdos, but before I can whisper that back to her, he speaks up.

  “That’s cool. My dorm is actually this way too though, so unless you want me to take the long way across campus...”

  “She doesn’t,” Sabrina answers for me. Twisting around, she stops, allowing him time to catch up. “She just hates it when anyone seems like they’re anywhere close to doing anything helpful for her. Opening doors, giving her presents,” Sabrina shrugs, “forget it.” Outwardly, she’s calm, but her fingers are still wrapped around my forearm like a vice, slowing the circulation to my hand.

  “Shut up,” Tomas says abruptly. “Both of you.”

  Shuffling Sabrina and I to the edge of the sidewalk, he maneuvers us behind a tall hedge against the closest building. My heart stutters into action, sending shaking waves of adrenaline through me as I feel Frank lift his head beneath my sleeve. My first instinct is to push Tomas away, but the urgent way he moves me isn't threatening... he’s defensive. I’m not the only one scared.

  “Shh,” he urges.

  Sabrina’s glasses are squashed against my cheek, we’re standing so close, and Tomas has one hand on my waist, holding me still. Squeezing my eyes shut, I don’t know whether I should be reaching for Frank for help, or texting Ellis to let him know where I am. The brick is hard and cold behind my back, and its rough texture pulls at my hair, tugging tiny strands from my scalp every time I turn my head.

  The same hissing from the stairwell resounds, this time unaccompanied by the sensation I associate with ghosts. There’s no swooping in my stomach or prickle at my neck. Nothing but the bone chilling dread that whatever noise I’m hearing is caused by something deadly.

  Sabrina’s shoulders pull up as she presses herself more tightly against me. The pressure of Tomas’ fingers curl around my waist, as though he’s ready to run off with me at a moment’s notice.

  Ghosts generally stick to one area, and most are locked into the physical barriers that existed when they were alive. They also trigger my notice far before any other mortals notice them. But whatever this is, Tomas caught it first, and it’s nothing like any ghost or demon I’ve met before.

  Shuddering in place, I cringe as the harsh scraping continues across the pavement. It’s growing closer, like a person dragging a shovel or pickaxe near our hiding spot. Imagined murderers with their weapons at their sides flash through my head, and despite myself, I lean into Tomas and hold my breath.

  Before the sound reaches us, it’s interrupted by a loud popping noise, similar to a lightbulb bursting. We flinch as one, ducking our heads even lower behind the hedge. The dark leaves obscure my vision, but approaching footsteps drown out any sign of the unnatural.

  “Did you see that?” A low voice is asking, rasping, and concerned.

  “No.” Their friend has a lazy, unbothered drawl, and from the gaps in the branches, I can just make out two tall figures striding by. One of the speakers shoves his hands into the pockets of his leather jacket before shaking shoulder length hair out of his face.

  I lean forward, inhaling the scent of rosemary. Of all the plants to hide behind, this one offers protection in more ways than one. Sliding my attention onto Tomas, I wonder if he knew that. His profile is still and sharp, focused as he is on the passerby.

  The two guys appear to be in their twenties, and as the first speaker pulls out a cigarette, his companion frowns. Both appear to be at ease, and while I’d like to assume their stance means the danger has passed, we also can’t just jump out of the plants towards them. I mean, we could, but we’d probably scare the hell out of them and look like freaks.

  “Yeah, yeah,” the smoker complains. “I know how you feel about nicotine.”

  Tomas’ fingers twitch at my side, but Sabrina, at my other shoulder, is breathing more easily despite the smoke starting to waft through the leaves. I swallow against my urge to run back to my dorm and shut my eyes until the sound of the young men walking fades away.

  “Are we done being weird now?” Sabrina whispers. “No more creepy-crawlies or like, randomly hiding from other people?”

  God, I’d love to be as oblivious to supernatural crap as she is. Except if I was, I’d be dead by now, and she probably would be too.

  In response, Tomas steps out onto the sidewalk with a confident stride I can almost believe in. Only the twitch of his mouth tells me otherwise. Patting his pockets, he sighs heavily, until at last, he retrieves a pack of cigarettes and slaps them against his palm.

  “Oh, gross,” Sabrina comments as I scan the area for any bits of violet light or apparitions. Nothing but a bunch of buildings and flickering lamp posts beneath a dark grey, October sky.

  “I’m calling Ellis,” I mutter. “My boyfriend,” I add, glancing at Tomas, who’s currently lighting up. If he’s not giving away what his talent is, neither am I. But could it be possible I’ve stumbled upon another clairvoyant?

  My hands tremble as I search for Ellis’ name in my contact list, and the ringing that separates me from him is as rattling as the jerking adrenaline still sending a whooshing noise through my ears.

  “Hello?” Ellis picks up on the third ring, distracted, but calm and so overwhelmingly normal, I could cry.

  “Hey.” I sigh, my shoulders dropping as relief sweeps through me. Thank god he ended up cancelling on us tonight. Worrying about Sabrina getting caught up in this stuff again is bad enough. “I miss you.”

  “You just saw me a few hours ago,” he laughs. The sound of papers rustling sifts through the phone, and shutting my eyes, I can imagine him as he is now. Lounging in his room with his desk laid out with outlines and his guitar waiting mournfully on its stand behind him.

  “Uhm, yeah. But still.” Glancing around me, I watch for any c
hange in the air, but everything seems perfectly ordinary. “Hey, can you do me a favor?”

  Sabrina is waving her hand in front of her face, despite Tomas having the courtesy to step downwind. Tendrils of smoke wrap around his face, and in the dark beneath the lamps, his eyes are now stone grey.

  “Sure,” Ellis agrees. “What’s up?”

  “Are you busy? Would you mind maybe meeting Sabrina and I down by the history building.”

  “Uh oh. This request has a very Nix feel to it.”

  Nix, as in ghostly and peculiar. Just. Like. Me.

  “You have no idea,” I admit reluctantly. “Anyway, I just wanted to see you. Maybe you could walk us back to our dorm.”

  “Ah, Addie. You know I’d do anything for you, but I’m kind of in the middle of something here. Maybe I can just meet up with you earlier before the movies?” A clicking noise accompanies his words, like he’s fidgeting with a pen, and I know he wants to know more, but his roommate is probably at his side.

  “Yeah, uhm, no I get it. You do your work. I’ll, uhm, see you tomorrow.” I hang up the phone and look up to find Tomas standing by an ashtray.

  “Are we good to go? Or do you have any more phone calls to make?” He asks.

  “Hey, nobody said you had to wait for us,” Sabrina butts in.

  Shooting her a grateful smile, I spare one last glance over my shoulder, and step forward. If there’s one thing I need to do tonight, it’s get some advice.

  True to his explanation, Tomas waves goodbye two buildings before ours, but as we walk the rest of the way to the girl’s dormitory, I swear I can feel his eyes on us. Which is impossible, and silly. Even with the buildings positioned as they are, nobody can see so well in the dark, least of which behind the tinted glass that makes up the windows.

  “Well tonight was a complete failure,” Sabrina pouts once we're safely in our room. Kicking her boots under her desk, she starts the process of removing each of her dozen earrings and sighs heavily. “Like all I wanted was to have fun and, I don’t know. Maybe meet someone.”