“Damn everything to hell!” I whirl around and head for the door.
“Where are you going?”
“After her.”
Outside in the hallway, I hear several pops and the shattering of glass. A second later, Bryce is by my side. I could say several things to provoke my brother now, but no comment from me would make him suffer more than he already is.
Remorse is a bitch.
15
Phoenix
As soon as the first droplets of rain hit my face, I question my reasoning for coming out. Water is falling down so fast and furious that I’m drenched to the bone in a few seconds, yet here I am, looking for Daisy, a Norm who could very well be working to destroy us all. Besides lusting for her more than is normal, I’m not whipped like Bryce and Rufio are. Morpheus’s motives are still a mystery to me.
But I know why I’m out here in the storm. If Daisy can kill an Idol, she can maybe set me free. I’d betray my entire race for that.
Morpheus takes the path leading to the gym building, but if I were trying to get the hell away, that’s not the direction I’d go. I glance at the forest skirting the path and tap him on the shoulder, halting him.
“Yo, maybe she decided to take cover in there.”
Morpheus nods and wordlessly changes course. We scout the perimeter closer to the curb and leading toward the gate, but there’s no sign of Daisy.
“Maybe she went back to the treehouse,” Morpheus says, not waiting for me to follow.
This could possibly turn into looking for a needle in a haystack, especially with this storm. The problem with Daisy being a Norm is that she doesn’t have a gift signature. Her lack of power is working against us now.
When we arrive in the clearing, Rufio and Bryce are coming down from our secret spot.
“She’s not there,” Rufio states the obvious.
“You decided to join the hunt, huh?” I smirk at him despite the grim look he’s sporting.
“Shut up, Phoenix,” Rufio barks, then turns to his brother. “Are you sure you can’t sense her at all?”
“Why would Bryce be able to sense her when we can’t?” I ask.
“Maybe because he saved her life,” Morpheus replies.
Okay, that’s a stretch and, based on Bryce’s expression, obviously not the case.
“Damn it. She could be anywhere.” Rufio glances around. “Fuck!”
“Why are you here?” I ask Bryce, which in hindsight wasn’t the smartest decision to make. The guy is about to blow.
I’m proven right when he lets out a roar and releases an electric bolt, zapping a tree nearby. The smell of charred wood immediately fills my nostrils.
“What the fuck, Bryce! Now is not the time to throw a temper tantrum,” Morpheus yells, but then he seems to freeze. His expression turns from aggravated to anxious.
“What is it?” I ask, taking a step closer him.
“I don’t kno—aargh!” He presses the heel of his hand against his forehead.
“Fuck! Is the god back in your head?”
Morpheus’s eyes fly open. “Rufio, watch out!”
In that moment, a lightning bolt shoots from the sky, straight where Rufio was standing. Only it doesn’t hit him but Bryce instead. He must have pushed his brother out of the way. Vises of electricity wrap around his body. All his muscles go tight, his face twists into a scowl of pure agony, and his hands are curled into fists as he absorbs a helluva lot of raw energy.
The electric current vanishes after a few seconds, sending Bryce to his knees with a loud grunt.
“Holy shit!” I run to him, ready to help, but Rufio holds me back.
“Don’t touch him unless you want to fry too.”
“What?”
Bryce lifts his face, still showing signs of pain. “This is not the first time I’ve been hit by lightning. Touching me will be like sitting in an electric chair.”
“How long until you’re safe?” I ask.
“A minute or two.”
“That wasn’t ordinary lightning.” Morpheus approaches us.
“Let me guess, our asshole god struck again,” Rufio replies.
“No. It wasn’t him this time.”
We all trade worried glances.
“If it wasn’t him, then who?” Bryce slowly gets back to his feet.
“I don’t know who, but definitely another powerful god.” Morpheus’s face is solemn.
“Are you fucking kidding me?” I throw my hands up in the air. “Wasn’t dealing with one jerk deity enough?”
“That doesn’t make any sense. The gods left this plane many millennia ago. It was already strange that we met the one on the island of horrors, but now there are two? Does that mean they’re all coming back?” Rufio poses the question that’s also on my mind.
“If it was another god, why did it want you dead?” Bryce grits out, bracing his hands on his knees.
Another lightning bolt lights up the sky, but at least it didn’t hit anywhere near us.
“We really have to find Daisy. If one god wanted her dead, this one must too,” I say.
“Let’s split up. We can cover more ground faster,” Morpheus suggests.
We all go in different directions, and I decide to return to the area closer to the road. She was sick out of her mind the last time I saw her. She couldn’t have walked far.
When I near a tall bush, I stop. Morpheus and I came through here, but we turned right instead of left.
Visibility is horrible, and I see nothing but the shape of a tall tree a little ways ahead until my eyes catch something red sticking out from the mud. I walk faster toward it, and then I hear a loud scream.
“Daisy!” I run in her direction, only to be stopped by a lightning bolt that strikes right in front of me, missing me by a hair.
I jump back, adrenaline kicking in. Daisy continues to scream as if she’s in unbearable pain. Fuck. I need to get to her. My legs tense to run, but a succession of lightning strikes blocks the path to her. Damn it. Whoever is behind them doesn’t want me to help Daisy at all. But it also doesn’t want me near her. What’s going on?
It doesn’t matter. I won’t let Daisy suffer alone like that.
I prepare to make a run for her when I’m hit. I cry out while the most excruciating pain ravages my body. It seems all my nerves are frying at once. Before I can recover from the blow, a vortex of light surrounds me, making me dizzy as fuck. I’m lifted off the ground until I don’t know which way is up. I close my eyes as the spinning intensifies, then black out.
“Phoenix, what the hell. Wake up!” someone shouts in my ear as they shake me.
My eyelids feel like they’re glued together, but with some effort, I manage to peel them open. Morpheus is glaring at me.
“What?” I grumble.
“You fucking bailed on us last night.”
I sit up, feeling light-headed. Shit. I don’t remember how I got back to my room.
“Did you find Daisy?” I ask him.
“No, asshole. We didn’t find her. We searched for her the entire night. Rufio and Bryce are beside themselves, and when they found you passed out in your bed, it took a miracle to keep them from kicking your ass.”
I run a hand through my hair, finding bits of dried mud stuck in them.
What the fuck happened to me?
“We have another problem, Morpheus. I can’t remember how I got here,” I admit.
“What do you mean? Did you get drunk somehow during Daisy’s search party?”
“I don’t know.” I rip at my hair. “Shit, there’s a big black hole in my head, as if part of my memories was scrubbed.”
Morpheus arches his eyebrows. “Scrubbed on purpose by someone?”
“Yeah.”
He looks away, tenser than before. “This is bad, Phoenix. Really bad. Daisy is MIA, Rufio and Bryce are both about to blow, and you can’t remember a thing.”
“Aren’t you getting any visions?”
“No, and you shouldn’t as
k for them. Rarely do I see something that’s not disastrous.”
I stand up and the room begins to spin. Pinching the bridge of my nose, I close my eyes for a second.
“What time is it?” I ask.
“A little past seven.”
“Shit. I need to get dressed.”
“Wait. Are you going to class?”
I look Morpheus in the eye. “Damn straight. We looked for Daisy everywhere, right? And we couldn’t find her. That means it’s possible she made it off campus after all.”
Doubt shines in Morpheus’s eyes, but in the end, he lets out a resigned sigh. “You’re right.”
He heads for the door but stops in the threshold and looks over his shoulder. “Is it me or are you also feeling a heaviness in your chest like you can’t breathe right?”
His question catches me by surprise. Morpheus has never been one to talk about personal shit.
“Nah. I’m good.”
A big fat lie, but no one will ever know that. I’m the master of deceit, after all. I’ve being doing it my whole life.
16
Daisy
When I open my eyes, the air is dry and the sky is clear. I left my room in the afternoon, so by all accounts it should be nighttime, unless….
Holy shit. Did I spend the night in the forest?
I sit up fast, immediately noticing the dry mud caked all over my clothes and in my hair.
What happened to me? I had a fever and then the relentless pain that leveled me completely. I don’t remember how long the torture lasted, but oddly enough, I’ve never felt more refreshed and full of energy than I do now.
I spy my backpack, discarded nearby with Rosie’s cowboy boots. My heart sinks when I take in the state of the footwear. No leather can withstand so much water dumped on it. The last thing I spot is my cell phone, which is now completely useless. Cursing, I collect everything and head back toward the dorm building.
Yesterday, Bryce scared me enough to make me want to run away, fever and all, out in the rain. Today, as strange as it sounds, there isn’t an ounce of fear left in my body. Instead, the only thing coursing through my veins is determination. I’m Daisy Rodale. I won’t allow any Idol to intimidate me.
With chin lifted high, I enter the dorm through the main door. It’s early, maybe not even seven yet, and the common area is quiet. I don’t take the stairs this time, aiming for the elevator—just because I’m not trembling in fear doesn’t mean I want to come across anyone.
As I near my room, I have a mind to continue on and knock on Bryce’s door to demand my father’s diary back. But I don’t want him or the others to see me in this state, so I slip into my room and head for the shower.
I take my time under the hot jet, and the water runs brown around my feet for several minutes. I have mud in places I didn’t know could get dirty. Yuck.
Half an hour later, I finally get out. The mirror is completely foggy. I wipe it off and stare at my reflection. There’s no visible difference in the way I look. I expected to resemble a wraith after the ordeal I went through, but no. I actually look healthy.
Whatever. It’s time to get ready for school.
***
The Daisy from before would have made sure to arrive before anyone else. Today, I spent extra time getting ready. I even blow-dried my hair and put makeup on. Garnering plenty of stares as I walk toward class, I honestly feel like I’m in a romantic comedy where the underdog character receives a makeover and her peers can’t believe she’s the same person.
I don’t think the red lipstick I’m wearing qualifies as a makeover. And I know they aren’t staring because of that.
That’s right, assholes. You can’t get rid of me that easily.
Taking my time to get ready paid off. When I enter math class, Phoenix, Rufio, and Morpheus are already there, looking worse for wear. The corners of my lips twist upward. My amusement grows by leaps and bounds when they see me standing in the front of the room.
I look each one of them in the eye, but my gaze doesn’t linger. They aren’t worth my attention. It’s like my protective shield got an upgrade.
No sooner does my butt hit the seat than Phoenix leans forward. “Where the hell have you been? We’ve been looking for you all night.”
“I went out.”
“Bullshit. You didn’t leave the campus grounds,” Rufio pipes up.
“Why do you care where I went? Didn’t Bryce tell you what he found in my room?” I keep staring straight ahead.
“Yes, he did. We thought you had run away,” Morpheus replies.
I’m tempted to glance back so I can level the three assholes with a glare. But the girl who sits in front of Cherise’s old chair enters the room and balks at my presence. It’s comical to witness her expression go from surprised to furious in a matter of seconds. Fuming, she strides toward me.
Pointing an angry finger my way, she says, “What are you doing here? Haven’t you learned your lesson?”
I open my mouth to put the bitch in her place, but Rufio beats me to it. “The question is, haven’t you learned yours? Where’s your friend Cherise?”
The girl switches her attention to him, her face becoming paler before she juts out her chin in defiance. She swallows hard before she replies, “Are you her knight in shining armor now? I thought Bryce was the one screwing her.”
I sense Rufio’s fury roll out in waves toward the Idol girl. I haven’t had the chance to figure out what level she is or what she can do, but she clearly thinks she can take Rufio. Or maybe she’s like Cherise and lacks in the brain department.
Mr. Atkins enters the room in that moment, interrupting what I’m sure was going to be a showdown. Throughout class, the magnificent trio tries to get my attention, but I ignore them all. I wonder what they’re planning. No way they’re just going to brush aside the fact that my father was part of a conspiracy to get rid of all Idols.
Aware they’ll try to corner me the moment class is over, I prepare to bolt as soon as the bell rings. Unfortunately, I had forgotten that Phoenix has telekinesis powers, so while the students file out of the room, he keeps me glued to my seat.
“Let me go,” I say through clenched teeth.
“Not until you tell us where you went,” Phoenix replies.
“I don’t owe you an explanation.” I struggle against the invisible hold.
Rufio and Morpheus walk around my desk, blocking Mr. Atkins from my view. They tower over me, each sporting a different expression. Morpheus seems curious, whereas Rufio is downright pissed, if his scowl is any indication. He crosses his arms and stares hard at me.
“Where did you spend the night, Daisy?” His voice is low and dangerous, but all it does is send a lick of desire down my spine. Stupid hormones.
“Fine, if you must know, I spent the night under a tree.”
Phoenix takes the position right in front of me with eyebrows furrowed. He doesn’t say a word, just keeps staring as if he’s trying to read my mind.
“You slept in the forest? We searched every inch of it,” Morpheus retorts.
“Must have missed a spot,” I reply.
He narrows his eyes and says, “You look different.”
“I feel different. You got your answer. Can I go now?”
“No,” Rufio says at the same time I manage to get up. Did Phoenix simply let me go?
Mr. Atkins is still in the room, and when our gazes connect, he asks, “Is everything okay there?”
“Yup, peachy.” I stride toward the door.
Before I’m out of earshot, I hear Rufio say to Phoenix, “Why did you let her out?”
“I didn’t,” he replies.
He’s lying. He must have released his power over me or I wouldn’t have been able to move at all. I’ve witnessed firsthand what he can do.
Thanks to their impromptu interrogation, I’m late for class. The hallways are already empty. Fucking great. I break into a run. The class is on the third floor. This feels like déjà vu. Two days ag
o I was also running, but at least my reason is different.
Before I can reach the stairs, someone grabs my arm and pulls me inside the janitor’s closet. I let out a yelp and that’s quickly muffled by a large hand covering my mouth. My heart leapfrogs to my throat, getting lodged there.
It takes me a few seconds to recognize Bryce’s scent, but the knowledge doesn’t comfort me. It makes me even more nervous. The light turns on at the same time Bryce lets go of me. I whirl around, but in the confined space, that only brings me flush against his chest.
“What the hell, Bryce!”
“You’re still here.”
“Really? You almost gave me a heart attack to make that idiotic observation?” I step back, which only makes me hit my shoulder blades against the metal shelf behind me. I’m still too close to him.
His eyes drop to my feet and then travel up my body until his stormy eyes meet mine again. “You’re in one piece.”
“Yes, no thanks to you. But if you want to obliterate me, now’s your chance. Go ahead.”
Bryce narrows his eyes to slits. “I was worried sick about you.”
A bubble of crazy laughter goes up throat. “You’re something else, Bryce Kent. You’re the one who kicked me out in the pouring rain while I was running a fever!”
Rage fills his eyes, colliding with the worry I also see there. “And look at you now, hotter than a California summer day.”
My heart does a backflip at the compliment, even if it was said with venom. Stupid organ.
“Something is different about you,” Bryce continues.
I throw my hands up in the air. “Oh my God. Not you too. I’m wearing makeup. Big fucking deal.”
He steps forward, crowding my space. “Who noticed the change?”
“Morpheus. Now if you excuse me, I’m already late for class.” I try to push him out of my way, but it’s like trying to move a boulder. He won’t budge.
Ruthless Idols: A Paranormal High School Bully Romance (Gifted Academy Book 2) Page 9