Sweet Temptation

by Wendy Higgins

  Things are not adding up. This plonker’s words, plus what Rocker Girl said, and Anna’s friendship with Jay—what Neph chooses the “Unpopular” role? Especially when they’re as gorgeous as she is?

  “Have you kissed many guys?” Creepy-Dopey is asking.

  I’m at the top of the stairs now, heart slam-dancing against my ribs. I don’t feel right.

  “I’ve never kissed anyone,” Anna says. I nearly snort with laughter at the lie, as sincere as she may sound. There’s no possible way she’s never been kissed.

  “Not even Jay?” he asks.

  “No way. He’s like my brother.”

  I’ve found their door and I’m standing in front of it.

  “How long will this last?” Anna whispers. “This feeling?”

  “About four hours. Then it takes a couple of hours to come down.” She makes a sad sound at his answer, and he says, “Anna?”

  “Huh?”

  “I want to be your first kiss.”

  I grit my teeth and grip the door handle.

  “Okay,” she whispers.

  First kiss or fiftieth, doesn’t matter—this guy’s not getting any satisfaction under my watch. I wrench the handle down and kick the door open. They bolt upright on the bed.

  “What the—” Creepy begins, shielding his face from the hall light, but I’m only looking at Anna, feeling a strange sense of relief. She squints at me.

  “Ah, there you are, luv. Let’s go, then.” I motion her toward me with the flick of two fingers.

  She stares, mouth open.

  “Can you walk, or will I have to carry you?” I ask.

  The guy finally sprouts a tiny pair of balls. “What are you doing, man?”

  “I need a chat with Anna.” I’m watching her. She sort of smiles, dazed, then slides off the bed to stand.

  “I’ll be back,” she says to him.

  Like hell she will.

  “I wouldn’t count on it, actually.” I enter the room and take her by the hand. We leave the bloke sputtering and red-faced with anger. He shouts at me, and I give him one hard-ass glance to shut him up before I slam the door behind us.

  I hold her hand and lead her down the hall, down the stairs, through the party, onto the back deck, and down the steps leading to the dock and the water.

  I am confused.

  I don’t enjoy being confused.

  I pull her faster down the dock, where we can be alone. But when we get to the edge of the dock, I’m at a loss. I sit, and she carefully sits next to me. I can feel her eyes browsing me, and I let her. I stare out at the moon’s reflection on the water.

  I’ve never met a Neph who doesn’t act like one. She doesn’t hide her colors. She is kind to people, even when they’re deceptive to her, and there seems to be nothing in it for her. She appears to have a true friendship with a human, Jay. She says and does things that no Neph would dare say or do. And then there’s the part about her having no money, which can’t be true. Either she doesn’t know what she is or she’s got the most twisted and ingenious working profile I’ve ever seen. To have two completely opposing possibilities is mind-bending.

  A breeze blows across the water and Anna shivers.

  “Who are you?” I ask, just as I did when we first met.

  She pauses. “I don’t know how you want me to answer that.” It’s almost like she feels bad about this. Then very suddenly, she gasps violently and her hands curl around the edge of the dock.

  “What is it?” I ask.

  “I think . . . It feels like it’s starting to wear off. But he said four hours!” She stands on shaking legs and begins to pace, hugging herself around the middle and hunching over.

  It takes me a moment to realize she’s talking about the drug. She’s coming down from the high, but she seems almost panicked about it. I stand and block her exit down the dock so she can’t run. I need her to focus on me. Perhaps she’ll be more open while she’s still high.

  I grasp her chin and lift her eyes to mine. We’ll start with Neph basics. We never get ill.

  “Have you ever been sick?” I ask.

  She holds herself tighter. “Sick . . . ?”

  “The flu. Tonsillitis. Anything?”

  Her eyes grow larger and for that second she stands a bit straighter as she stares at me. Then her body spasms and she bends at the waist, grabbing her knees. It seems as if she’s in true pain, but if it’s an act I will not play the fool.

  “Maybe this little sweet will help you.” I hold up the pill Raj gave me, and Anna swipes for it, fast as a damn cheetah. But I’m quicker. Her eyes are flashing and eager with need. “Answer all of my questions first. Any illnesses in your lifetime?”

  “N-no,” she stammers.

  Good. We’re finally making progress.

  “How far back can you remember?” I ask.

  She stops shaking and stares up at me. Her mouth opens, then closes. She’s afraid to answer. I step closer, my heart beating uncharacteristically fast. I feel as if I’m on the edge of a discovery.

  “Answer the question,” I say.

  Her hands grip her sides and she drops her eyes as if embarrassed. “Fine. All the way back. My birth and even before that. Happy?”

  I’m never happy, but I’m at least satisfied she’s finally admitting to her Neph traits. Our memories are vast and clear from the moment our souls entered our bodies.

  “Now for the important part.” I step closer. “Who is your father?”

  I’ve never seen a Duke’s badge of that color—dark yellow amber—and I definitely haven’t seen white—that’s an angelic color.

  Her jaw quivers. “I-I don’t know. I was adopted.”

  “Bollocks,” I say through gritted teeth. “You must have some idea.” I raise my arm so that my hand with the pill is above the water.

  She gasps and raises her hands in horror as if I’m threatening to drop a baby.

  “There was this one man . . . ,” she says. Finally, some bleedin’ answers. “I remember him from the day I was born. Jonathan LaGray . . . he’s in prison now.”

  Holy shit. “Yes, of course.” I’d completely forgotten about the Duke in prison, as I’ve never met him. The Duke of Substance Abuse—addiction—hence Anna’s desire for more of the drug. “I should have guessed from your behavior tonight.”

  She closes her eyes and I stare at her. She knows she is different. From the way she is shaking and battling this drug lust, I can only guess this isn’t something she deals with often. As if she’s never been trained. But of course, if her father’s been in prison . . . but wouldn’t he have gotten someone else to train her? Neph are taught to control themselves, not lose themselves to their sins this way.

  Anna sticks out her hand. “My pill.” Her face is pale and drained. There’s no way I’m giving it to her. If her reaction is this bad coming down from the first pill, it will be worse after the second.

  “You mean this one?” I ask. I know I’m cruel, but she comes across far too kind. I want to force her claws out. “Sorry, luv, just an aspirin,” I lie. I toss the pill into the water with a plunk.

  “No!” She damn near dives in after the stupid pill, and I grab her by the arms. I need to calm her before she does something stupid.

  “How long ago did he give you the pill?” I continue holding her tightly.

  “What?” Her eyes dart around as she tries to focus. “I don’t know. Maybe thirty, no, forty minutes?”

  “It should be out of your system very soon. You’ll be fine. Just sit here and try to calm yourself.”

  When I let her go she sits obediently and grabs around her knees, burying her face and rocking back and forth stiffly. She looks tiny balled up like that, and her long, straight hair lifts and blows in the wind. A foreign tug of sympathy invades, and I look away from her.

  I want to believe her, but I’m still wary. I don’t want to be entrapped by the mystery surrounding her. I can’t afford to care.

  I sit down on the edge of the do
ck while she rides it out and sobers up.

  After ten minutes she scoots closer to me, watching my face with a newfound carefulness. Her colors are back: gray and orange.

  “Why did it come and go so fast?” she asks. I’m happy she’s worked up the nerve to open up and ask me something while she’s sober.

  “Our bodies fight anything foreign. Germs, cancer, disease, the whole lot. Drugs and alcohol burn through quickly. Hardly worth the effort. I tried smoking. Spent days coughing up black tar.”

  “That’s attractive,” she says, brushing something invisible off her knee.

  I snort with the irony of her comment. “Precisely. Can’t afford to be unattractive.”

  “So . . .” She’s still being careful. “Are you like me?”

  “Yes, and no, it seems.”

  Her head cocks to the side as she’s observing me. As if I’m the one who needs to be figured out. I want to ask her so much, but I don’t. There’s still a quiet, untrusting voice in my head warning me away from acting too interested. Neph are not supposed to give a damn about other Neph, or anyone, for that matter. In fact, we’ve probably spent enough time together tonight.

  I push my hearing up to the house to see if Raj is looking for me, but he’s not. He’s out in the car smoking a joint with Rocker Girl, no doubt after taking his hit of X, as well. He’d better take it easy or he’s likely to show Rocker Girl a poor backseat performance.

  Tut, tut.

  “Why don’t you have one of those cloud thingies around you?” Anna asks. She’s eyeing the air around me, and I shake my head. What on earth is she talking about? Then, I realize she must have just turned sixteen and gained the ability to see guardian angels.

  “Cloud thingies?” I sputter. “You can’t be serious.” Surely, surely she knows that humans have guardian angels. That is the most basic of Neph basics.

  As I’m pulling my hearing in I stumble upon a scuffle inside the house—shouting.

  “Do you know what I’m talking about?” She sits up straighter, and looks like she might grab at my shirt. “You do, don’t you?!”

  Inside the house, Jay and Scott are fighting. Seems as though Jay is drunk and defending Anna’s honor. Brilliant.

  I stand up, asking, “Are your senses back now?”

  She opens her mouth, clearly wanting to know more about the “cloud thingies,” but I’ve thrown her off and she blinks.

  “I think so,” she says.

  “There’s a fight in the house. I think you’d better listen.”

  She stands up and closes her eyes, looking pained as she strains to hear. Then her eyes pop open. “Oh, my gosh, Scott and Jay!” Yep. Jay just landed a nice-sounding crunch and Scott is howling.

  Anna takes off running and I watch her go. She’s got nice form. And a great arse.

  And she’s still a possible enemy, although it’s taking more and more effort to convince myself of that. If this girl has been sent by the Dukes to test me, I cannot let myself be reeled in by her spectacular act.

  I take my time walking back up to the house and going in. I listen, further baffled, as Anna defuses the situation and gets the drunken Jay to her car. She cares for him with patience and tenderness. The only Neph I’ve ever seen act like that is the twin Marna, but she’s only like that with the few of us Neph who are her friends, never with humans.

  I stand in the nearly empty kitchen—everyone has made a mass exodus to the front of the house for the fight. As people filter back in, I hear Anna whisper something in her car, seemingly to herself.

  “I’m not finished with you, Kaidan Rowe.”

  It’s like a puppy threatening a cobra. A grin flashes across my face and I quickly wipe it away before saying to the air, “Likewise.”

  Two seconds later Rocker Girl is standing in front of me with her hands on her hips, looking unamused.

  “Uh-oh,” I say. “Has Raj overindulged?”

  Her eyes narrow in annoyance. “He says his hands weigh a thousand pounds and he can’t lift them.”

  We stare at each other for two beats, and then we burst into laughter. Rocker Girl covers her mouth until her mirth subsides.

  I twist the strands of her pink hair in my fingers, and she looks up at me with a tough face, pretending she never showed that moment of humor. Then I lean down and whisper into her ear. “You’re fucking sexy when you laugh, Mandie.”

  I’m not sure if it’s my words or my breath against her skin that makes her shiver. She hooks her fingers into the belt loops of my black jeans and looks up at me.

  “What’s your name, anyway?” she asks.

  “Kaidan Rowe.”

  Her mouth drops open and she bats her eyes. “Shit. Wow. I totally didn’t put two and two together when Raj said he was in the band. You’re the drummer. Kai.”

  I nod.

  Her fingers tighten on my loops and she pulls me closer. “Your reputation precedes you.”

  “Oh, yeah? And what reputation is that?” I slowly back her against the counter, amidst all the people.

  Her voice goes even huskier. “I’ve heard you’re a very, very bad boy.”

  I shrug. “Good. Bad. It’s all subjective, right?” I grind my hips against hers, and her eyes flutter back. I lean down to her ear. “You have two choices. There’s a room upstairs or the empty boathouse.”

  “Boathouse, all the way,” she says breathlessly.

  I take her hand and say nothing more, but as I’m opening the back door to the deck the hairs on the back of my neck stand up. A dark whisperer swoops in and snarls with glee at the partygoers. I tense for half a second, glad Anna is away from the party now. When the demon spirit flies my way, I acknowledge the savage being with a nod, hoping it will leave off, but it doesn’t. It cackles and dives toward Mandie, whispering harshly in her ear as her guardian angel pushes and fights it. She’s unaware she’s being whispered to, but her aura darkens and I squeeze her hand. A pit opens in my gut at the thought that I’m on the same team as that evil thing.

  It finally leaves off and I pull Mandie outside. She looks away from me purposefully and reaches across to scratch her wrist. In the porch light I see the silvery reflection of scars up her arm. Cut marks.

  Fucking whisperers.

  I won’t ask about those lines. Nor will I stick around to chat about it afterward. But tonight I’ll try to take her mind off it, even for a moment. What happens afterward is up to her.

  CHAPTER FOUR

  Meeting Daddy Dearest

  “You’re way too young to play these games,

  But you better start, but you better start.”

  —“I’m Not The One” by 3OH!3

  Anna has me turned completely around, arse about face. It’s been days since I saw her, and I feel as if I will not be able to tell up from down until I figure out if she’s for real.

  Am I naive to think she’s genuine? I cannot figure out why she would lie about not knowing her heritage, other than to entrap me for the Dukes’ dark purposes, to question my loyalty.

  While I’m out of Father’s hearing range, I call Blake, the son of Duke Melchom, demon of Envy.

  “Ever heard of a Neph called Anna? Daughter of Belial?”

  “Huh?” he asks. “He’s Substance Abuse, right? I don’t think he has any kids.”

  “Yeah,” I say. “Neither did I.”

  “What’s going on, brah?”

  I shake my head. “Nothing. Take care, mate.”

  I know I roused his curiosity, but it can’t be helped. I have trust in Blake, a rarity among our kind, but I can’t say too much over the telephone.

  The first knock comes from upstairs. My bandmates are spot on for our practice time. I hear the door open, and voices spill down the halls and stairs. Feet tromp down to my basement, where I sit at the drums, ready to go. Ready to clear my head. A group of girls comes down behind the guys, laughing and smelling of perfumes and hairspray. Raj and I bump fists, and Bennett slaps my palm before turning on the keyboard. Th
ere’s enough hair product between Michael, Raj, and Bennett to keep the gel companies in business forever.

  I sometimes wear an earpiece at large gigs, but in my basement I have to wear headphones to keep the sounds from echoing. It’s a relief to put them on, do our sound checks, and get started.

  We rock out for nearly two hours. I am refreshed and tired in the best way. The only thing I need to top off this feeling is a bit of soft skin against mine. I lock eyes with a redhead in a miniskirt who I hooked up with months ago. We haven’t had sex yet, though, and I plan to remedy that.

  I give her a nod. Poof goes her aura, as red as my shirt. I’m so in. I jerk my head to the side and she gives me a smirk like only hot girls can do. She comes to stand between my legs, eyeing me sexily.

  “Oh, so you’re going to give me the time of day now?” She tries for nonchalance in her voice, but her colors are screaming like a fireworks display.

  “What are you on about, babe? I haven’t seen you in ages.”

  “I’ve been at, like, a ton of gigs since that night.”

  I widen my eyes as if surprised, and lazily push the curls off her shoulders with the back of my hand, touching her bare skin. “You should have come backstage.”

  “See ya, Kai,” Raj calls. I raise my chin to say bye to the guys as they leave with a bunch of girls. One chick stays behind, the redhead’s friend. She sits in an oversized chair, texting.

  “They wouldn’t let me backstage! I tried and tried to catch your eye. And I’ve called you.”

  “Ah, my stupid phone,” I say. I widen my knees and take her by the waist, pulling her closer. But before we get started, I scan the property with my hearing. The voices I catch in a car outside make me freeze.

  “. . . want me to come with you?”

  “It might be better if I talk to him alone.”

  “That’s cool. There’s this instrument store . . .”

  Anna is here. Jay’s brought her. She’s come for me. I somehow know this is the moment of truth where she will finally show her true self. I have to be ready, because there’s a huge part of me that will be disappointed if she’s an enemy. I steel myself against it and prepare myself for the worst.