by Tee, Marian
Lucian, who had opened his mouth to speak earlier on, closed it and simply nodded. The gleam in his eyes had turned into a full-fledged twinkle, and by now, his gorgeousness had reached the eye-popping level.
My breath hitched but I quickly willed it back to a normal pace. Drat. I had to stop hyperventilating every time Lucian did something more than blink. With Evren hearing so good, I was sure one of these days, either Lucian or Dyvian would notice how my breathing tended to race when Lucian was around—add one and one, and come up with a hugely embarrassing two.
The thought was enough to make me shudder.
“Are you all right, Deli? You’re breathing rather fast.” Lucian’s perusing gaze landed on me with razor-like precision.
I choked on the toast and reached for my milk. I tilted the glass all the way up to cover my face and used all my power to stop my cheeks from reddening.
The last drop of milk vanished, and I lost my excuse for avoiding Lucian’s gaze. “I-I’m okay. Just—worried about the Australian thing.”
Dyvian settled his elbows on the table and clasped his fingers under his chin, his eyes narrowing. That wasn’t good. Of all the times for Dyvian to pay attention to something besides his self-indulgent pursuits, why did it have to be now?
“There’s something you’re not telling me here. I don’t believe that’s the only thing you’re worried about—”
“It is,” Lucian and I insisted at the same time, his voice curt while mine sounded defensive.
All three of us looked at each other in shock.
Incredible. Lucian had taken my side?
Lucian was the first to recover. His face took on its usual unreadable mask and he nodded to me. “If you don’t leave now, you’ll be late for school.”
A glance at my watch confirmed his words and I stood up quickly. “I’m off then.”
“You two are hiding something from me,” Dyvian muttered.
“It’s nothing,” Lucian and I once again responded simultaneously.
The three of us shared another moment of body-freezing shock, with a mixture of suspicion—Dyvian’s, confusion—mine, and irritation—Lucian’s.
“See?” Dyvian broke the silence as he stood up. “You two never agree on anything, and now you’re saying the same thing at the same time? You guys are officially keeping a secret from me, and I intend to find out what it is.” On his way out, Dyvian made a sudden about-face, and he slapped a hand on his forehead. “Damn. I can’t believe I didn’t think of this.”
He knows, oh, my God, he—
“You guys are secretly going out, and you don’t want me to harass you about it.”
“No,” I yelped while the word rolled out from Lucian’s tongue dispassionately. But we still spoke at the same time.
Dyvian’s grin widened. “I rest my case.”
“It’s not like that,” Lucian bit out as his brother turned away, whistling, but Dyvian didn’t even miss a beat.
I scowled at Dyvian’s back. If he kept teasing Lucian like this, there was no way Lucian would ever confess that he liked me. And he liked me, he did! I could feel it. But I was willing to concede that maybe he hadn’t accepted the truth yet.
Lucian faced me and I forgot all about my consternation with Dyvian as embarrassment surged forward. Was I being too obvious about how much I liked him?
“You’ll be late if you don’t start moving.” He cleared the table, scooping up the dirty dishes like a pro.
I jumped to my feet to help him but he waved me away. “It’s okay.”
Lucian moving around in the kitchen with impressive finesse that always seemed surreal, and I teased, “Tell me honestly. Have you never thought of yourself as uncool for always having to be the one to cook and do the housekeeping?”
“Dyvian would end up burning the whole house down if I left him in charge.” He began loading the dishwasher. “You’ll be late,” he said for the third time.
“Sheesh. I can take a hint when someone wants me to leave.” I grabbed my school bag, feeling ridiculously wistful at the thought of leaving Lucian. I hesitated, then grinning, I skipped to Lucian and tapped him on the shoulder. Dyvian teasing Lucian was bad, but me teasing Lucian was fun.
He twisted halfway and glanced at me questioningly.
I puckered my lips. “No goodbye kisses for your girlfriend?”
“I heard that,” Dyvian shouted laughingly from the living room.
“Out.” Lucian glared, pointing to the doorway.
Laughing, I left the house feeling much better. He liked me, he really, really did.
It was a normal—and beautiful—start for the day, like I told you. It’s probably why I never imagined that ten minutes later I’d be careening off the highway and fighting for my life.
T-Pain and Akon were singing from my car’s radio when a lunatic suddenly blocked the road.
I slammed on the brakes and held on to the wheel for life. Not the world’s most experienced driver—nor the best person to be with during emergencies—I could only scream and pray silently for rescue as the car spun out of control.
The seconds ticked off until I finally crashed against a tree head on. If not for the seatbelt, I’d have been thrown out of the seat at the ferocious impact.
A tearing sound of metal from above penetrated my badly jarred brain. I looked up and gaped as a pair of hands tore the roof of the SUV away.
This is so not normal. The words pounded my brain over and over, and I shakily worked on unclasping my seatbelt. But then again, how could I ever let myself think that being Evren was normal? I threw the door open and fell out of the car just as the roof of the SUV made one last ear-splitting shriek.
Never, ever look back. It was the one thing I learned from watching horror flicks. I ran as fast as I could but someone—something—gripped my hair painfully, pulling me back, and I screamed, struggling wildly.
A man with flashing red eyes—the lunatic who thought standing in the middle of the highway was a safe mode of entertainment—grinned at me, a long curling tongue striking out from his parted lips. He saw me shudder and tightened his hold, making me cry out involuntarily.
“It’s nice to see you again.”
Again?
“The pleasure’s all yours.” Ignoring my thudding heartbeat, I struggled to remember if I’d had the misfortune to meet him in the past.
He sniffed. “You smell different.”
Oh, God, how gross could he be? Couldn’t he be polite enough not to let me know he wanted me for lunch? Close to hysterics, I wondered whether he’d been raised to be a cannibal or if he was, like, a product of genetic mutation or inbreeding and no one ever taught him that it was bad manners to eat one of his own.
Another painful wrench of my head and then he was twisting my arms behind my back, followed by more disgusting sniffing.
I flinched and tried to push myself back against his hold to avoid the sickening contact of his wet, wrinkling nose.
“Different but familiar,” he continued in a terrifyingly conversational tone. Violence, apparently, was nothing new to him.
“Would you taste just as good, I wonder?” Whatever he was, he did have good diction, but it just made him scarier. He reminded me of Hannibal Lecter, only he was younger and uglier.
Bile rose in my throat when I saw the hunger and depravation in his eyes. This was one sick creature—no way could he be human with that snake-like tongue of his—and I had no idea if that hurt or helped my chances of surviving. But one thing was clear to me now—he didn’t know I was Evren.
He grinned in pleasure when he saw the revulsion in my face. “Don’t you remember who I am?” He leaned close and even though I tried my best to lean away, he held me immobile with his grip. Tears of helpless frustration and revolt stung my eyes at the wet swipe of his tongue on my cheek.
“Don’t you know what I am?”
His question broke through my haze of panic and confusion. A terrible sense of recognition mixed with fear gripped
my heart when I realized exactly what I was dealing with.
Zekan.
His cruel laugh filled the air, and he obviously rejoiced in seeing my horror. “Yes,” he whispered, flicking his tongue on my cheek again even as I renewed my struggles.
“The insects told you what we are, didn’t they?”
Insects? He was calling Lucian and Dyvian insects? Zekans referred to Evren as insects? Wait a minute, they were calling me an insect, too?
I laughed. I couldn’t help it, even though fear was still squeezing my heart.
The sound surprised and incensed him, and he slapped me hard on the cheek.
My cheek flamed in pain, but I kept on laughing. His anger revealed a chink in his armor. I had to provoke him more. It was my only chance to escape. “Insects? When was the last time you checked the mirror, worm?” Did he think he was the only one good at name-calling?
The redness of his eyes darkened in hatred. It made me pause because I couldn’t think of any reason he should hate me. Besides the worm thing, that was. But I pushed the distracting thought away almost as soon it occurred. Understanding was for later. Now was all about surviving.
The moment I had been waiting for all throughout our exchange came when he lifted his hand to strike me again. I closed my eyes and used all my effort to turn myself invisible like Lucian and Dyvian taught me.
Ice sheathed my skin, and I had never been so glad to feel cold. The Zekan cursed just as I jerked free from his hold. I had deliberately goaded him, hoping he’d be provoked into hitting me and leaving even just one of my wrists free.
“Lucian,” my mind cried out helplessly and I began running again. It was silly and stupid to cry for him, I knew, but my mind didn’t seem to understand that. “Help me.”
“What is it,” The Voice demanded. I almost stumbled in shock. But crazy or not, I was too desperate to mind that I was conversing with a voice inside my head. Who knew? It could have been an undiscovered power of the Generation X of Evren.
“It is,” The Voice didn’t hesitate to confirm for me.
“It is? Why didn’t you tell me sooner? Do you know how worried I’ve been about my sanity? Do you—”
“Delilah, concentrate. What’s happening?”
Oh, right. “A Zekan attacked me, I’m on the run, and I’m invisible.”
“Where are you?”
I told The Voice my location and tripped on a blasted cactus right after. A cactus. Its needles pierced through my skin. Blood slowly tricked out, and I gasped at the stinging sensation enveloping my legs.
Something hit me from behind, and I looked up just in time to see the Zekan trip on my invisible body and fall on top of me. I scrambled away but the Zekan was no idiot and his hands swiped and scratched, trying to take hold of whatever invisible limb of mine he could grab.
I kicked wildly, but he still caught hold of my leg.
The Zekan laughed at hearing my shriek.
“What’s happening,” The Voice demanded.
Unable to shake my leg free, I took a deep breath, then used all my strength to punch the Zekan in the face. It was enough to have his face snap to the other side, but not enough to loosen his grip. Damn, damn, damn.
The Zekan spit at me, and I almost groaned as a pool of saliva landed on my neck. It was official—Zekans were the grossest things on earth, and they fought dirty, too.
“Had enough?” he yelled, his arm clawing roughly in the air to take better hold of me as I worked on wriggling out of his grasp.
“Delilah,” The Voice growled, but I couldn’t answer. Taking another deep breath, I decided on another tack and bit my attacker on the wrist as hard as I could.
He tasted just as bad as I feared, and his skin had a slightly rubbery texture to it. But the ploy succeeded, and he grunted in pain and surprise, his grip loosening a bit as his body automatically reared back. It gave me the perfect opportunity to kick him where it would hurt most. I took the opportunity, of course.
He let go of me completely, and I got to my feet and ran again, this time making sure there were no life-threatening cactuses in my way.
“Delilah, focus on an image of Lucian, and he’ll know what’s happening.”
I focused on an image of Lucian right away, and even though I was busy running for my life, my fashion-obsessed brain couldn’t avoid lingering a little on choosing the clothes he’d wear. He’d look good in a pinstriped suit. And Italian shoes—
“That’s enough, Delilah,” The Voice said dryly.
I almost blushed until I remembered that The Voice wasn’t Lucian. It only sounded like him. And that, I decided, was something I really had to figure out later—among other things.
The Zekan’s curses were all I needed to hear to know he was still dangerously close behind me. Evren were fast, but Zekans were apparently just as fast. Their hearing was just as good, too, because even though I swerved in all directions to confuse him, the Zekan used the sound of my passage to follow my trail.
Common sense urged me to fly but my mind recoiled at the thought. I didn’t have enough confidence in my flying abilities. What if I took too much time adjusting my body mass? The Zekan might catch me before I could even lift myself an inch off the ground. And since neither Lucian nor Dyvian had taught me how to conjure my dragon, having the Zekan’s ass whooped by my inner Evren sidekick was out of the question, too.
My strength showed signs of flagging, warning me about the little time I had left before I wouldn’t be able to continue running. I definitely shouldn’t have acted weight-obsessed this morning and stuck with whole-wheat toast when there were so many protein-rich foods on the table.
But the moment I stopped running, the Zekan would catch me.
Should I just face him and hope to God I can fight him off till Lucian and Dyvian can come save me?
“No,” The Voice commanded forcefully, but it was too late. And even if it hadn’t been, I wouldn’t have listened anyway.
Lift leg, curl, and kick. I made the move just like they did in the movies, and it was brilliant. Caught by surprise, the Zekan was an even more vulnerable target for my second and more powerful kick. He toppled to the ground, and it would have been a TKO if only for one thing.
My skin heated up, shedding off my invisibility with it.
“Shit,” I whispered as I almost dropped to my knees. My Hollywood moves had completely drained me of energy.
It was too late for me to run away, but of course, I still tried. A stranglehold on my ankle was all it took to defeat me. I lost my balance, crashing face down on the ground, smashing my nose. A drop of blood trickled past my lips.
“You’re not getting away this time,” he snarled, throwing himself at me.
I rolled away and hastened to my feet. “That’s what you—” He flung himself at me again, and I twisted away, knowing all the while I had twisted a second too late.
Chapter Seven
I never considered myself bloodthirsty. When my ex-boyfriend, Michael, made me watch the last Rambo movie, I sobbed my eyes out while everyone else in the theater yelled as heads and limbs splattered the ground in the midst of war. Sure, the good guys had reason to kill, but I still didn’t understand how they could have stomached killing anyone. It was different now, of course.
The attack never happened.
I slammed into something hard, and I almost wept, certain that, somehow, the Zekan had been able to maneuver himself ahead of me. How could it end this way? I did everything I could do to be like those fighter chicks in the movie. Granted, I wasn’t resourceful like Lara Croft—that woman could turn a paper plane into an F-16 with a yard of copper wire—but I had done my best and it was unfair—
“Deli, it’s me. You’re safe now.”
“Dyvian?” I tried to look up, but he tightened his hold and kept my face hidden against his chest.
“Lucian’s fighting and when you’ve got a Zekan on the other side of the ring, it’s bound to be messy.” His voice was gruff with worry. “Are
you okay?”
I burst into tears.
“Deli.” Awkward helplessness lined Dyvian’s tone. The grip of his hold tightened and loosened, as if he was itching to set me away but he was valiantly determined to keep me close while the weirdly silent battle behind me raged on.
Endless minutes passed before Dyvian spoke again. “It’s over.” That made me start on another round of crying, prompting him to panic. “What’s wrong now?”
“Check the perimeter for any witness, Dyvian.” Lucian issued the command as he strolled into view, calm as you please. His slightly messed-up hair was the only evidence of what he must have gone through. But besides that, he was the Lucian I’d always known—aloof, powerful, and gorgeous.
“Sure thing.” Dyvian didn’t even bother hiding his eagerness to leave me and my tears, having ascertained I was physically fine. He walked away, and a gust of air was the only indication of his invisible take-off.
Lucian slowly looked at me.
I didn’t hesitate.
He caught me in his arms without a word and being that close to him brought about another wave of tears. The smell of charred flesh told me what had become of the Zekan and I shuddered.
He cupped my cheeks. The tension etched on his handsome face didn’t surprise me, but the pallor of his skin did. I couldn’t imagine Lucian being so worried about me.
“I was terrified something had happened to you,” he revealed. I was stunned to see his hand shaking.
My heart flipped. “I’m okay now. Thanks to—”
He shook his head. “No.” He disagreed so strongly I was taken aback. “I should’ve known this would happen. I should’ve thought—” He stopped talking and stared at me in frustration. “Deli, there’s something I should have told you. I—”
Another slight gust of wind blew past us and then Dyvian materialized into view. “The coast is clear.”
Lucian stepped back from me so quickly I almost lost my balance.
Dyvian raised a brow. “Am I interrupting something?”
“No.”
One glance at Lucian’s closed face told me I’d never know the rest of what he had to say. I suppressed a groan of frustration. Had he been about to confess to worrying because he liked me?