Nexus

by C. L. Parker

  “I believe this young lady belongs to me,” Dominic said, interrupting them. Just like that, the moment was broken and the world suddenly began to spin on its axis again. When neither of them moved, Dominic cleared his throat. Tori heard Dante’s growl of frustration as he straightened and turned her loose, but lucky for him, it was too quiet for her father to have caught it.

  Dominic wedged himself between them and then looked over his shoulder at Dante with an arrogant smirk. “Pretty good dancer, isn’t she? Taught her everything I know.” With that, he winked at Dante and then spun Tori away, leaving him standing alone.

  “That wasn’t very nice, you know,” Tori scolded her father.

  Dominic shrugged. “He was about to kiss you right in front of me. What was I supposed to do?”

  “He was not!” Tori smacked at his shoulder playfully. That was exactly what he was about to do, and she would’ve let him, but her father didn’t need to know that. “We were just dancing.”

  “Mmhmm . . . He’s got the hots for you.” Dominic waggled his brows.

  “Daddy!”

  “What? He does. Question is,” he said, pulling back to look at her as they swayed back and forth, “do you have the hots for him, too?”

  “First of all, nobody has the hots for anyone anymore, old timer.”

  “Hey!”

  Tori laughed. “And secondly,” she shrugged, “I don’t know. Maybe just a little?”

  Dominic cringed and his head fell back. “Oh, God, Tor. You’re killing me here.”

  “What? I said a little. Why? What’s wrong with him?”

  He sighed and turned her in a half circle. “He’s not good enough for you.”

  Tori rolled her eyes. “You’re never going to think anyone’s good enough for me.”

  “That’s because no one ever will be. And I reserve the right as your father to scrutinize any possibilities so that I can scare the shit out of them properly before they fuck up and make me have to hurt them. See? I’m doing Dante a favor.”

  Tori laughed. “Oh really?”

  “Yes, really.”

  “Okay, so tell me. In all your scrutiny of Dante, what is it about your godson that makes him unworthy?”

  “Dante likes to make up his own rules, and that makes him dangerous.”

  Tori drew back and arched a brow at him. “Really, Daddy? That’s a bit like the pot calling the kettle black, don’t you think?”

  Dominic lifted his chin indignantly. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

  “Ha! You do realize that thanks to a lifetime of being on a lockdown that wasn’t really a lockdown, I’ve heard every story there is to hear about you in your younger days, don’t you? So maybe Dante is a little rebel-without-a-cause. He hasn’t done anything to hurt me.”

  “And he better not ever.”

  “Besides, I totally kicked his ass when we sparred this morning, and I can do it again if he does something out of line.”

  Dominic beamed down at his daughter. “That’s my girl . . .”

  “Anyway, it really doesn’t matter. Dante and I are just friends. We’re only here for the summer, and I’m not looking for some fling. In fact, I’m not looking for anything remotely similar. There isn’t any room for something like that in my life, so you can stop worrying. Honestly, we’re just hanging out. Nothing more.”

  Even Tori could hear the disappointment in her voice, but it was the truth. She was the only one with her abilities in the entire world, and her duty to mankind would always come first. Still, it would be nice to have someone to share the burden, someone who could give her something like what her father and mother had. Their relationship was where the real magic lived.

  As the song ended, Dominic hugged his daughter close and pressed his lips to her forehead. “I refuse to believe there isn’t someone out there for you. You never know, Tor—he could be standing right behind you.”

  Tori turned, only to be met by Dante holding up tickets for the carnival rides with a broad smile on his face and his brows raised in question.

  “Go,” Dominic said, nudging her shoulder.

  “My turn now?” Kerrigan asked as she appeared at Dominic’s side. Tori watched as her father peered down at her mother, a deep-rooted love that almost felt intrusive for her to watch passing between a single, innocent look. Dominic wrapped his arm around his wife’s shoulders and gave her a chaste kiss.

  Tori loved to watch them together. It gave her hope, even though it was silly of her to dream she would ever have the same thing one day. She backed away, leaving them alone. When she looked back at Dante, he prodded her along with a wave of his hand. Maybe hanging out with him wouldn’t be such a bad idea.

  When she started toward him, Dominic yelled in his direction, “Hey, man! You better keep an eye on her, or I’ll be wearing your teeth around my neck as a souvenir.”

  Dante chuckled with a shake of his head. He knew Dominic would never really hurt him, but when it came to Tori, you just couldn’t be sure. Dominic was fiercely protective of his family, none more than his daughter and wife.

  “So, what do you want to ride?” Dante asked as they walked up to the thrillway.

  Tori shrugged. “It doesn’t really matter. This whole place is one big cliché anyway. I don’t think we’re in danger of too much excitement.”

  “Come now, Angel. How can you say such a thing? Doesn’t your inner child just light up when you see the bright lights of a carnival attraction?”

  “Not since I actually was a child.”

  “Look around you. There are just as many people our own age here as there are children. Couples holding hands, groups of girls giggling over a group of boys who just happen to be showing off for their benefit in hopes of stealing a kiss before the night ends and the park goes dark.”

  “Oh my God, Dante,” she said sweetly with her hand to her chest. “That is so sweet . . . Is that a tear I see in your eye?” Tori brushed his cheek as if she were wiping a real tear away from where there was none.

  Dante smacked her hand away much like he did Sinclair’s when she fussed over his hair. “Okay, enough of that, you. Let’s go ride the Ferris wheel, shall we?”

  “A Ferris wheel? That is so cliché.”

  “All right. How about if we go over to the midway and play some games? I can show off my manly skills and brute strength to win you the biggest prize in the park.”

  “Cliché,” Tori said in a singsong voice.

  “I don’t claim to be a dating expert, but I thought that was the sort of thing you women liked?”

  Tori gave him a look that said they weren’t on a date, and she wasn’t like normal women. She didn’t have to say the words out loud for either to ring loud and clear.

  Dante crossed his arms over his chest. “Fine. What would you suggest we do, then?”

  A piercing scream sounded and Tori craned her neck to look up at a platform attached to a tower. Red and yellow lights lit up a sign that read, Leap of Faith. “How about that?” she asked, pointing to the bungee-jumping mechanism.

  Dante arched a brow. “That? That’s what you want to do?”

  “Definitely isn’t cliché. What’s wrong? Scared?”

  “Are you challenging me?”

  “Only your courage. You’re supposed to be the knight in shining armor, remember? Courage should be your middle name.”

  “I never said I was afraid.”

  “You never said you weren’t either.”

  “I’m not afraid. There. Are you happy?”

  Tori gave him a satisfied smile with a snarky twist. “Yes, as a matter of fact, I am. ’Cause it looks like we’re bungee jumping.”

  “Indeed it does,” Dante said, and swept his arm out in front of him with a slight bow. “After you.”

  As they ascended the stairs leading to the platform, Tori noticed how other women openly gawked at Dante. Young or old, it didn’t matter; they all had goo-goo eyes for her companion. Not that she could blame them. Dant
e was a very handsome man. Okay, so he was drop-dead gorgeous, but their gawking was just plain rude. Some of them were even brave enough to flash him a smile and give him a look that left no question as to what they were offering. All while Tori was standing right there. Had they no shame? For all they knew, she and Dante were there on a date, yet they still flirted with him as if she was invisible. Tori had to hand it to Dante though; his only response was a polite smile and a hand wrapped around her waist from behind as if to tell the whole park he was taken.

  He wasn’t. He knew it. Tori knew it. But they didn’t.

  At the top of the long metal staircase, there were signs everywhere preaching instructions and safety precautions about making the jump. Apparently, there was a choice to either jump alone or with a partner.

  When it was their turn, Dante took his wallet out of his back pocket and pulled out a couple of crisp notes, handing them to the ride operator. “A tandem, please.”

  Tori huffed. “I can go by myself. I don’t need you to hold my hand.”

  “That much is very clear, but if the unthinkable were to happen and I’d stood by while you went plummeting to an early grave, your father would make me wish I’d gone with you.”

  “Nobody’s dying today, Dante.”

  “From your mouth to the angels’ ears.”

  “You do realize that I am part angel, don’t you?”

  “In that case, I’m definitely jumping with you.” Dante stepped into the harness and pulled her flush against his body with his arms wrapped around her tightly.

  “You’re such a chickenshit.”

  “Am not! I just don’t like to tempt fate. Plunging forty meters or so with nothing but a rubber band to keep from smashing my head into the ground is definitely tempting fate.”

  They listened as the ride operator gave them instructions on a safe jump while his counterpart did all the checks on their harnesses, pulling and tugging, checking locking mechanisms, and whatever else he needed to check and then double-check to make sure they were secure. Tori felt the need to watch as he did so, and then she realized she had been so preoccupied with making sure he was doing his job right that she hadn’t really been listening to the instructor at all. Did he say to go limp? How were they supposed to get down again once they were dangling in midair? What was that other rope for?

  “Understood, mate,” Dante answered, and then smiled down at her. Thank God he had apparently been listening.

  They were ushered to the edge of the platform, and even though she knew she shouldn’t, Tori looked down. Big mistake. The ground seemed like it was a million miles away, but oddly, still too close to believe she could avoid becoming a permanent part of the landscape. Suddenly, she was paralyzed with fear.

  She looked back up at Dante, barely hearing the countdown from the operator behind them. “I think you might have a point about the whole tempting fate thing. I change my mind. Let’s go get on the Ferris wheel instead.”

  Dante smirked. “Too late, Angel. Best hold tight.”

  With that, Dante teetered over the edge, taking Tori with him. Panic surged within her and she didn’t know if instinct was telling her to push him away or hold him tight. A rainbow of colors from the neon signs around them blurred into a kaleidoscope effect as a harsh gust of wind whipped at her body. She squeezed her eyes shut and buried her face into Dante’s chest, clutching him to her as if he could somehow save her from certain doom. All the noise and the hustle and bustle of the carnival goers below fell away until all Tori could hear was the rush of wind and Dante’s steady heartbeat beneath her ear. She focused on that sound, on his smell, on the feeling of being completely engulfed by him.

  The bungee cord pulled taut at her waist and then they were being propelled back up. There was that fraction of a second where the insides of her body got the message a little late, and gravity took hold and then released, temporarily suspending everything. Tori felt like her stomach had flopped into her chest and her heart had catapulted into her abdomen. Then that tug at the waist gave way and they were free-falling back toward the ground again, or at least she thought it might have been the ground. Her sense of direction had been distorted from the moment they had taken the first plunge. Dip, retract. Dip, retract. And then finally, they were swaying gently back and forth like the pendulum of a clock.

  Dante’s soft chuckle was at Tori’s ear. “That was certainly a rush. Want to go again?”

  Still frozen, she somehow managed to shake her head, eliciting yet another chuckle from Dante. “Now who’s the chickenshit?” His arms encased her tighter, but instead of fighting it, she melted into his embrace. “Don’t worry, Angel. I’ve got you.”

  A few moments later, Tori was safe and sound on the ground with Dante at her side. Her legs felt like jelly, but she faked her sure steps so as not to give him any more ammunition to taunt her.

  Dante nodded toward a concession stand across the way that was decorated with pale blue, pink, and purple fluffs of sugar-filled clouds hanging like eaves from the top of the mobile canteen. “How about some candyfloss as a reward for your bravery, Angel?”

  Tori nodded, doing her best to conceal her weakness for the sweet stuff. Like a Pavlovian response, her tongue peeked out to swipe her lips. Thankfully, Dante had been preoccupied with pulling out his wallet, and she was able to force it back into her mouth before he could spot her childlike behavior.

  “Be a good little girl while I’m gone, yes? And no talking to strangers.” Dante winked and patted her on the head as if she were a tot. Apparently, he had noticed.

  Tori swiped at his hand with a giggle and gave Dante a light shove to the back of his shoulder, sending him on his way. As he disappeared from sight, she turned to take a look at her surroundings.

  Just across from where she stood was a festively decorated funhouse whose sign boasted the world’s most confounded maze of mirrors. Tori’s feet moved of their own accord, guiding her toward the black, green, and purple tent while her head fell back to take in the sheer size of the gigantic, helium-filled clown that swayed forward and back in the breeze. As she got closer, mechanical laughter spilled from the microphone perched inside the clown’s mouth, drowning out the tinkling music of the miniature teacup ride that sat next to the tent. Thinking she’d surely have enough time before Dante returned from the long line at the concession stand, Tori ducked through the entrance and went inside.

  It took her a moment to adjust to her surroundings. Heavy metal music blared, adding to the chaotic ambiance of black-light bulbs in straight-line tubes bordering the tops of the walls and white neon strobe lights flickering at a pace that made every movement look robotic. Tori was greeted by an image of herself, distorted in the rolling waves of the mirror before her. Her fingers skimmed along the walls of even more mirrors and sheets of Plexiglas that surrounded her on three sides, leaving only one opening. She took it, traveling just a bit farther until she came to a fork in the maze. Right. She maneuvered a few more turns before she found herself in the navel of the belly of mirrors. What might have been sixteen or more reflections of her stared back.

  An eerie feeling washed over Tori, and she could feel the fine hairs on her neck and arms stand at attention. She looked around, not finding an air vent or fan to account for the reaction. Then, out of the corner of her eye, she saw a reflection in the mirror that was not her own. Just behind her was the image of a man with white-tipped hair. That was all she saw of him before the lights went dark and she was standing in pitch blackness. Tori spun around and crashed into a man’s chest. Gripped by fear, she froze.

  “Might want to watch where you’re going. Never know who you might bump into,” the man whispered into her ear. Tori knew that voice.

  The lights came back on, temporarily blinding her with a sharp white spotlight in her face. By the time her eyesight readjusted, she had barely caught the image of the man as he ducked out of sight. Tori took off after him, only catching a sliver of a glance before he rounded yet another bend. She
was turned around, unsure of whether they were headed toward the entrance or the exit, but she couldn’t stop to get her bearings because to do so meant she would lose sight of him altogether. And then finally, she found herself back in the center, surrounded by images of him.

  Tori’s mind raced as she thought back through every move she had made during the evening, all the way back to her morning meal, coming back to the conclusion that it was impossible that she had somehow managed to fall asleep. Which meant that it was impossible for him to be standing there with her now. Unless . . .

  “I passed out during the bungee jump, didn’t I?” she asked.

  His multiple reflections shook their head in answer. “I told you I’d be seeing you sooner than you thought.” Crystallized eyes glinted, the strobe lighting catching their color at the perfect angle and casting a prismatic rainbow on the surrounding walls like a disco ball.

  “Then how are you here?”

  “Does it matter? The only thing that matters is that I am . . . and you’re finally alone. I remember a time when you used to be happy to see me so you could tell me all your secrets. It wasn’t really that long ago, in fact. What’s changed?”

  An image of a younger boy with spiked hair flitted across Tori’s mind, the memory of her fourteenth birthday. She had been noticeably upset, and always willing to console her, the boy sitting across from her wouldn’t stop prodding her for the reason for her unhappiness. He never liked to see her upset. Her parents’ friends, Tyson and Olivia, had been visiting with their daughter, Sadie, who at only twelve years old had been bragging about her boyfriend and their make-out sessions. Twelve years old and she had been making out with boys, while at fourteen, Tori not only had never had a boyfriend, but hadn’t even had her first kiss. Having been homeschooled for all her life, she wondered if she ever would.