by J. N. Baker
I shot her a look but did as she said. Much like William, I assumed Jade wasn’t one to repeat herself. Plus, I figured if I didn’t comply, she’d just dress me herself. It wasn’t like I didn’t normally take care of myself. But when I was rushing to get the hell out of my apartment, I’d been more concerned with getting Josh and myself to safety and figuring out my next move and less concerned with packing fashionable clothing. Hell, Jade should be happy I took the time to pack clothes at all.
I stomped over to my bag and snatched up a pair of underwear and a clean bra and dropped my towel. A blush crept up Annie’s neck and spread across her alabaster cheeks as she quickly spun away from me. Innocent might have been an understatement with that girl. Once I was fully clothed, Jade dragged me back into the bathroom with a bright red Annie in tow. Jade flipped the blow dryer in one hand and snatched up her hairbrush with the other, descending upon me with her weapons ready. When she finally stepped away again, she nodded with satisfaction. “That’ll do.”
I looked in the mirror and my jaw dropped.
My hair hung perfectly over my back and shoulders, every tangle tamed and smoothed. Copper eyeshadow highlighted my uniquely colored eyes, framed with a thin layer of mascara. The shirt was a bit tight on me. It was cut too low in the front and too short on the bottom, revealing a few inches of my midriff. I had a feeling that was the intended design. I’d become so accustomed to wearing layers of clothing to hide my markings, it felt almost strange to see my exposed skin. I did a slow turn. I looked like a Lara Croft wannabe on Halloween. I tried to pull the shirt down just a tiny bit but Jade swatted my hand. I thought I heard Annie snicker behind me.
I rolled my eyes. “You guys are going to Hell for this,” I said as I exited the bathroom.
“We’ll see you there,” Jade sneered. Annie looked truly terrified at the thought. She had a lot to learn.
When I walked out into the common area, Ryuu and William were nowhere to be found. Cody had planted himself in front of the TV, his long body sprawled across the sofa. Alec and Josh sat calmly at the small dining table, a woman standing behind Josh, her arms draped over his broad shoulders.
Tiffany.
I took her in, trying not to focus too much on all the ways I could kill her. She was tall, about Jade’s height, golden blond hair falling in loose curls around her shoulders. Her eyes were blue, darker than mine, more generic. She wore a pair of red heels, skinny jeans, and a blouse that hung low off one shoulder, revealing her smooth ivory skin and perfect collarbone. Even during the end of the world, she managed to look perfect.
I was curious how I compared. Her body wasn’t much different from mine, aside from her obviously larger breasts, which I attributed to silicone. I came to the hasty conclusion that she was a bottle blonde—and that I didn’t like her.
When I stepped into view, Cody looked up from the TV and gave a long whistle, his eyes dancing playfully over my body.
Alec and Josh scrambled to their feet as I walked into the room and I bit back a smile. I might have to thank Jade later. She did good work. The woman I assumed was Tiffany scowled at me and I wondered if I intimidated her. I sure hoped so. She straightened and took a step in my direction.
“Oh, you must be Zoe, the girl my Josh talks about all the time.” She added extra emphasis to the “my.” She looked me up and down once. “Well, I’m not so worried now.”
“You should be,” Jade said under her breath as she entered the room.
“What was that?” Tiffany snapped.
“I said, you should be a model, sweetie,” Jade replied without missing a beat. There was so much sincerity in her voice that anyone who didn’t know her would’ve fallen victim. Hell, I probably would have.
“Oh.” Tiffany’s cheeks turned bright pink. She giggled girlishly. “Thank you. Why would you suggest that?” she asked, running five perfectly painted fingers through her dyed locks and propping her left hand on her narrow hip. It was like watching a train wreck. The poor girl didn’t even see it coming.
Jade shrugged. “You just have that ‘I-throw-up-after-I-eat’ look.” She flashed Tiffany a wicked grin before turning on her heels and heading over to the sofa to sit beside Cody, snatching the remote from his hand. I was liking Jade more and more. She had outstanding people skills.
While Tiffany released a how-dare-she huff, Alec stepped behind me, running his hands along my bare arms, all the way down to my fingertips and back up again. “You look stunning,” he whispered into my ear. He bent over my shoulder, kissing the soft skin under my jaw, and I trembled. I couldn’t help it; he had that effect on me.
Josh cleared his throat.
“I’m so glad you came back,” I said, retreating from Alec’s arms. I coiled my arms around Josh’s neck, burrowing my face in his firm chest. It was so warm, so familiar. I set my chin on his shoulder, watching Tiffany squirm behind him as I ran my fingers through the back of his tousled hair. I smiled when goose bumps raced across the surface of his skin. “I’ll protect you,” I promised. “Always.”
Alec and Tiffany cleared their throats and I pulled away from Josh. It looked like it was going to be an interesting night.
“Tiff,” Josh started, turning to his irritated girlfriend, “this is Zoe. Zoe, Tiff.”
“Nice tattoos,” Tiffany sneered.
A moment of awkward silence marked the theme for the remainder of the night.
Annie accepted the role of entertaining Tiffany. She didn’t have much of a choice in the matter, being the bottom of the totem pole and all. I felt bad for her, but she seemed more than willing to be “Barbie-sitter,” as Jade so eloquently put it. She found some sort of reality fashion show playing on the TV that grabbed Tiffany’s attention.
Jade was sitting on the patio, smoking her second cigarette and staring absently into the darkness while Cody shamelessly flirted with her. I didn’t think he realized that he was playing with fire. As for Josh, he was far too busy bickering with Alec to pay attention to his girlfriend, let alone me. They discussed anything and everything that could possibly end in an argument.
I watched the minute hand round the clock on the wall, counting down until the end of the world. At five minutes till two, I’d had enough. I left without a word and headed back into the empty bedroom. Before I even had a chance to sit down, someone tapped on the door.
“Who is it?” I called.
Alec walked into the room without answering. I was surprised he’d even knocked at all. He shut the door behind him and locked it, leaving the bedroom lights off, for which I was grateful.
“What are you doing in here?” he asked.
“I just needed a minute alone,” I said, keeping my eyes glued to the floor. “Go on, I’ll be back out in a little while.”
Alec didn’t leave. Instead, he walked over to me, wrapping his hand around mine and twirling me into his arms. He placed his other hand at the small of my back and swayed with me, dancing to the rhythmic sound of the rain against the window.
“What are you doing?” I breathed.
“Do you remember how we use to dance in the woods?” he whispered into my hair, his lips grazing my earlobe. His long fingers stroked the exposed skin on my back, making it hard for me to remember my own name, let alone anything else. “Whenever you had a tough day of training with William, I would take you out into the woods late at night and we’d dance under the stars until a smile finally returned to your beautiful face. I never gave up, not until I got that smile.”
I looked up into those rich, golden eyes. “Alec…”
He framed my face with his hands, brushing away stray hairs. “The truth is, I need that smile as much as you do, Zoe. So, what do you think? One last dance before the world ends?” I sighed as he finally pressed his lips to mine, melting into him.
My mind raced back to when we’d first met—to the time we’d spent together during my training. There was always something about Alec, something about his touch, his kiss, his very presence. It was as
if there was some sort of unspoken bond between us, pulling us together. Jade’s words flashed through my mind once more. Mate.
I slipped out of his arms and put some space between us. I needed a clear head for what I was about to ask him. “Is it what we are that makes us so attracted to each other, Alec?”
“What do you mean?”
“Jade called you my ‘mate,’” I said. “Is that what this is between us? Some sort of weird, mystical bond because of what we are?”
Alec took a step toward me, taking my hands in his. “I’d like to think it’s more than that,” he said, his thumbs rubbing over the backs of my hands. “But, yes. Our kind do tend to be drawn to each other by nature.”
“If that’s true, then how am I supposed to know if this is real or not?”
“Zoe…” He placed my palms to his chest. “This is real. What I feel for you—what I know you feel for me—it’s real. I have been alive for over half a millennium and I have never once felt a pull like this to another Chosen. It’s you. It is only you.”
I let out the breath that I didn’t know I was holding.
“I believe that God created us as men and women to have the opportunity to be together,” he continued, “a chance to spend our long lives with someone who understands us, someone who is like us. Forever is a long time, after all.”
“So I’ve heard,” I mumbled. And then a thought occurred to me. “But there are only seven of us on Earth at one time. That isn’t exactly an even number.”
Alec chuckled, pulling me back into his arms. “No, it isn’t. I guess it just goes to show that God has a twisted sense of humor.”
I pressed my cheek to his chest and breathed him in. “And what happens to those who don’t find themselves in a mated pair?”
“Usually, they find comfort with one of the shifts. Or, in my case, they wait around long enough for their mate to become one of the Chosen.”
“Or they turn into Baldric,” I added, so quiet that even Alec didn’t hear me.
“You and I, we are destined to be together, Zoe,” he said, his hand tipping my chin so our eyes would meet. “I never should have let William push me away. When I met you, it was like everything in my long life finally made sense. I know you say you need space, time to rekindle what it is you think we lost. But nothing was lost, Zoe. This is us—this is right.”
His mouth crashed into mine once more, as if he could no longer resist the gravitational pull between us. I leaned into the kiss, my fingers plunging into his hair and pulling him in for more. He was right—this was right. His hands pressed into the small of my back, coarse fingers slipping beneath the hem of my shirt. They rounded my waist and slid up my ribcage, his thumbs stroking the underside of the lace bra I wore. It fueled the raging fire within me.
His lips met mine kiss for kiss, stating their lustful intentions. They traveled over my jaw and down my neck, before trailing over my collarbone. His permanent five o’ clock shadow scratched at the sensitive flesh and I whimpered. He must have taken that as a sign, because his body began pushing mine toward the bed.
It was the splash of water I needed. I hit the brakes.
“Alec, no.”
It took everything in me to push away from him. I was thoroughly intoxicated with his body, his masculine scent, the taste of his lips, the way his kisses set fire to my skin. His caresses awoke things in me and I found myself believing with complete certainty that we were indeed destined to be together. I didn’t care how Alec knew that. Santa Claus could’ve told him and I’d still believe it.
“What’s wrong?” His breath was hot on my face as he reproached me, his hands slithering back around my waist.
You will look at me. I want to see those pretty eyes of yours.
“Stop!” My voice echoed against the thin walls. Alec dropped his hands, watching me with wary eyes. I covered my face with my hands, shaking my head. “I’m sorry. I-I just can’t.”
“Zoe…”
I turned away from him, my flesh still tingling where he’d touched me. I didn’t trust myself to look at him. “I’m not ready,” I whispered. My voice sounded so small, so human. “Please, just go.”
“You’re far from the monster you think yourself to be, Zoe,” Alec finally said. “You’re the light of this world and I will see to it that you never burn out.”
As he headed for the door, I forced myself to turn and watch him go, wondering if I’d made a mistake turning him down. We’d been here before during the nearly half a year we’d spent together in those woods. I’d almost taken that step with him a handful of times before he left me, but the “accident” always seemed to get in the way. It looked like not much had changed. Some “mate” I was.
As Alec unlocked and opened the door, Josh was there waiting for him with clenched fists. He grabbed Alec by the shirt and shoved him up against the wall. “What did you do to her?” he growled.
Before he knew what hit him, Josh was on his back, Alec hovering over him.
“Leave him,” I ordered, grabbing hold of Alec’s flexed arm.
Alec and Josh stared off, nostrils flaring. Alec finally stood, straightening out his shirt. He kissed me hard on the lips, like he was trying to prove something. “Watch yourself, human,” he said as he stepped over Josh and headed into the living room.
I dropped to Josh’s side. “What were you thinking?” I hissed. “He could’ve killed you.” I offered a hand to help him up. He didn’t take it.
Josh pushed himself off the floor and grabbed my wrist, dragging me back into the bedroom. When the door clicked shut, he turned on me. “Are you all right? I heard you shouting. What did he do to you?”
“Josh, I’m fine.”
He stared at me for a long while, blue eyes searching my face. Dark circles under his eyes told of his own exhaustion. His clothes were crinkled and his hair was messy in all the right places. Something was bothering him and I didn’t think it had anything to do with Alec and me being alone together. I plopped down on the edge of the bed, patting the spot beside me. He took his cue and sat.
“Protect me from what?” he finally asked, his eyes never straying from my face.
“What?”
“When I got here, you said you’d protect me. What did you mean?”
“You don’t want to know.” I tried not to think about all the people who would soon die. Cindy and Cody, even Josh—they could just as easily be next. But not me—I’d survive. I’d always survive. “Trust me,” I breathed.
“Silence isn’t protecting anyone,” he pointed out. That was true, it hadn’t done much good for me thus far. In fact, silence was what almost drove Josh and me apart.
“You’re right. You deserve to know,” I started, choosing my next words carefully. “The world is going to be changing. I guess ‘changing’ is kind of an understatement. It will be unrecognizable. A lot of people are going to die, and I mean a lot. The incidents on the East Coast and in LA and around the globe are nothing compared to what’s to come.” I paused, taking a deep breath. “I’m talking total apocalypse.”
His face paled as he digested the information, silence consuming us once more.
“Here,” Josh finally said, digging into his pocket.
I reached out and took the photograph from his hand and exhaled, resisting the urge to hug it to my chest.
“I found it in Cody’s jacket after you left,” he said. “I thought you might want it still.”
I stared into our young faces before carefully folding the photo and tucking it into my back pocket. “Thank you,” I whispered, my voice barely audible.
“I should have told you about Tiffany. It wasn’t right the way you found out and I’m sorry.”
“You have no reason to apologize. You were right, you don’t have to tell me every detail of your life if you don’t want to. I haven’t really been forthright with you the past few years.”
“I still should have told you. You’ve been the closest person in my life for as long as I can
remember. I should have told you, I just…” He trailed off.
“I can’t die,” I blurted, looking down at my hands as they smoothed out my pant legs for the tenth time.
Josh shifted on the bed, his hand reaching out and grasping mine. His eyes were on me, I could feel them. “You don’t have to worry about that, I won’t let it happen. I can protect you. We’ll keep each other safe, just like we always have.” He got quiet. I peered up at him and I saw the pain etched into his handsome face. “I’ll never let anything happen to you again,” he whispered.
“No, Josh,” I sighed, “you don’t understand. I literally can’t die. My kind, we’re immortal. I haven’t aged since I was eighteen, since William took me away.”
Josh went stiff, his shaky breath the only thing letting me know he was still alive. “And those other people?” He stumbled over his words, jabbing an unsteady thumb at the door.
“They’re like me. William’s over a thousand years old. Alec is well over five hundred. Jade’s been blessing the world with her presence for three hundred years, and Ryuu two hundred. And Annie, well, she’s new. Our kind, we don’t die easily.”
“And Cody?”
“Don’t get me started on Cody.”
Josh put a hand around my waist and pulled me into his body, my head resting perfectly against his solid shoulder. I could feel each breath he took, the sound of his heartbeat. He didn’t say anything because there was nothing to say. He just held me. He held me the same way he did six years ago in a lonely hospital room, whispering that everything would be all right. Only, I wasn’t sure it would be. I didn’t know if things would ever be all right again.
There was a strict rule that night in the hotel room. Guys would stay in the living room while the girls slept in the bedroom. As much as I hated the idea of sleeping in the same room as Tiffany, it was better than the idea of her sleeping with Josh.
The roar of thunder shook me from my sleep, or lack thereof. The unfamiliar hotel room lit up rhythmically with flashes of light. Flash. One-one thousand, two-one thousand, three-one thousand. Rumble. After each bolt of lightning electrocuted the night sky, I counted seconds until the thunder rolled. The storm was damn near on top of us. Another crash of thunder sounded, rattling the window. I’d never seen it storm so hard before.