“Never mind,” Justin muttered, his voice thick with embarrassment. “Don’t worry about it.”
“No!” I rushed out. “Not never mind. I wasn’t thinking of ways to turn you down or anything like that. I was figuring out the best time.”
He gave me another warm smile, all straight white teeth and happiness. “Yeah?”
It was a grin I found myself returning. “Yeah.”
Of course, that’s when I ran into Cole. Literally ran into him. I had been looking at Justin, not paying attention to the path ahead of me, and plowed right into Cole’s solid chest.
His arms snaked around my waist, preventing me from ricocheting off him. I grabbed his shirt automatically, fisting the material. He was so strong, so steady, that he didn’t move an inch.
“I’m so—” Our gazes locked, my blue with his violet, and once again the rest of the world faded away. Only, this time we didn’t kiss. We—
—fought?
Night reigned, the full moon hemorrhaging from its overhead perch, practically dripping crimson into the sky. Trees surrounded us. Cole had his back pressed against mine. We were alone—except for the twenty or so monsters slowly stalking toward us.
Each had matted hair that was falling out in chunks, and sagging, pitted skin. Sunken eyes. Bloodstained cheeks. Dirty, ripped clothing. Each and every one of the monsters was moaning, creating a chorus of evil.
Violent tremors shook me, squeezing my lungs in a vise grip. Cole held two broadswords. How I knew they were broadswords when I’d never before heard the term, I didn’t know. All I knew was that I was freaked out. Those weapons were long, thick and sharp—and stained with black ooze, just like the monsters.
“On my count, go low,” he demanded.
“The count of what? Three?” My voice squeaked with hysteria. Monsters, monsters, so many monsters, here, there, everywhere. Were these the ones who had eaten my parents? Was I next? Was Cole?
“One,” he said.
Closer…closer still…
“Two…”
Oh, sweet heaven. This was it. The end of me, of us. There was no way we could fight off so many.
“Three!”
I fell forward, going as low as possible. In the vision, I watched as Cole twirled those swords, slashing two monsters across their throats. No blood flowed as those bodies twitched…twitched…and rose again.
I should be on my feet. I should be helping him. He couldn’t fight them on his own. Not all of them. I should—
“—Ali!”
The world whooshed back into focus. I stood in a hallway, kids all around me rather than monsters. Cole was still in front of me, still holding me, and horror filled his beautiful eyes. Black hair fell over his forehead, as if he’d plowed his hands through a time or twenty. No hat today. His cheeks were fever flushed, probably a mirror of mine.
Horrified, we jerked away from each other, both of us panting. A clammy sheen slicked over my skin, and a mix of acid and glass shards took up permanent residence inside my stomach. And why wouldn’t it? I wondered with a laugh bordering on the same hysteria I’d experienced in the vision. Strange crap kept happening to me. Every day, there was something new. Something worse.
Cole backed away from me, one step, two. That’s when I noticed Mackenzie. She’d come up behind him, had wound her arm around his waist. Was tugging him back…back, away from me.
How stunning she was, those dark curls cascading freely, her eyes glitter bright with rage as they pierced me. Despite the day’s heat, she wore another sweater and slacks. The business kind, making her look professional, like someone you’d see on TV, telling you about the newest world crisis.
Justin placed his hand on my shoulder, clasping tightly enough to bruise. “Are you okay?”
I couldn’t look away from Cole. Why was he frowning at me like that? Had he seen the fight, too? If so…how? Why? What did any of this mean?
Cole caught Justin’s action, though, and stopped moving away from me. Scowling now, he stepped forward, closing in on Justin. His hands curled into fists. Was he going to challenge Justin?
I couldn’t let that happen. Grabbing hold of Justin’s wrist, I spun us both and raced around a corner, leaving Cole behind.
“Are you and Cole dating or something?” Justin asked me, dark emotion in his voice.
“No.”
“Are you sure about that, because he—”
“I’m sure. Listen, I’m not going to make it to first block.” I couldn’t sit through an hour-long lecture. I just couldn’t. Already I verged on a panic attack. Those monsters…Cole… “I have to go.”
I rattled off my phone number to Justin, told him to call me this weekend, then left him in the dust. I searched for Kat. She’d say something hilarious and I would calm down. I needed to calm down. I couldn’t go on like this; I’d crack—and there was no telling what would spew out.
And maybe…maybe I’d tell her about the visions. She might laugh at me, she might refuse to talk to me again, but I had to risk it. There were too many unanswered questions. Plus, she knew Cole far better than I did. She might have information that would help me. As much as I needed to calm down, I needed someone to help me.
A few minutes later I found Reeve and nearly howled with a heady mixture of hope and relief. “Where’s Kat? I have to talk to her.”
“She’s not coming today,” Reeve replied, slamming her locker shut.
Hope deflated like a balloon. “Why? Is she okay?”
She flipped her hair over one shoulder, an action as natural to her as breathing. “She didn’t say. Just said she’d see me tomorrow, at the party. You’re coming right?”
“Yes. No. Maybe.” After that vision, I wasn’t sure of anything. Was it a warning? Kind of like the rabbit in the sky? If I ventured out at night, would I see more monsters?
“What about tonight’s game?” she asked.
“I have to go,” I found myself saying again.
I didn’t wait for her reply but kicked into motion. I had no car to take me somewhere else. I didn’t know the building well and had no idea where the janitor’s closet or an empty classroom was. I couldn’t call Nana to come get me, because I’d have to fake being sick—although, how fake would it be?—and she’d worry about being right—I knew you had pneumonia—and insist on taking me to the hospital.
Footsteps behind me. A hard arm wrapped around my waist. I curled both hands into fists, ready to do some damage to whoever the culprit was. Only, it was Cole, and for some strange reason that finally calmed me—even though he was the main source of my panic.
He forcibly switched my direction. “This way. You and I are going to talk.”
7
Out of the Chrysalis and Into the Abyss
Cole ushered me outside, through the sunny parking lot now devoid of kids—and witnesses—and into a brown Jeep Wrangler. Or maybe it was a white Jeep Wrangler. With all the mud caked on the sides, it was kinda hard to tell.
The top was off and the doors were gone. The inside had dried leaves on the floorboards, and specks of something dark. The backseat had been removed, creating a wide-open space.
I buckled into the passenger seat as he claimed the driver’s side. A quick scan of the sky proved—thank God—there was still no rabbit cloud.
“Dr. Wright will—” I began.
“She won’t care that we’re gone,” he interjected.
“How do you know? Did you ask her?”
Silence.
I’d take that as a big fat no. “So where are you taking me?” Whatever his answer, I wouldn’t be scared. Not even if he said “slaughterhouse” or the far worse “karaoke bar.” (I was a terrible singer.) We were going to talk!
He cranked the radio, Since October suddenly pounding from the speakers, and peeled out, smoke rising from the tires and wafting inside the open vehicle. O-kay. Message received. He wanted to play the quiet game first. Prepare to lose, Cole Holland!
As wind whipped through my
hair, I studied his profile. There was a slight bump in the center of his nose, as if he’d broken it more than once. The split in his lip had healed a little, and the bruise on his jaw had faded. His chin jutted stubbornly, and I felt sorry for everyone who ever challenged him.
About ten minutes into the drive, the mountains and trees whizzing by, he shut down the music and tossed me a quick glance. “What?”
See? I’d won. “Just looking.”
He popped his jaw. “That boy. Justin.”
When he said no more, I prompted, “What about him?”
“Are you dating him?”
The lunacy! Justin had asked the same thing about Cole. Throw in the reaction I’d gotten from Kat, Reeve, Poppy and Wren regarding my association with both Cole and Justin, and one thing became crystal clear: speaking to a guy at Asher High was the equivalent of picking out wedding bands.
“No, I’m not. Why do you care, anyway?” I heard the neediness in my tone, and cringed. Basically, in guy code, I’d just said something along the lines of, Please tell me how much YOU want to date me. Please. I’m begging you.
Thankfully, he ignored that and asked, “How’d you get home yesterday?”
“I walked.”
He threw me a look that was all kinds of dirty. “Don’t ever do that again, do you hear me? Those woods are dangerous.”
For a moment, all I could do was sputter. “First, you sound like my grandfather. Second, I think it’s absolutely adorable that you believe you can boss me around.” Forget feeling sorry for anyone who dared challenge him. He needed challenging! “Third, how do you know I went through the woods? For all you know, I live behind the school.”
“You don’t.” Confidence practically shot out of him like an arrow.
I had to ask, couldn’t stop myself. “Were you in my backyard last night?” There. Better to get the hard truth so that I could get over myself than to chicken out and obsess about the answer.
A beat of silence. Then, “Yes.”
Wait. What? “Why?”
He cranked the music back up. I considered turning it down myself, but in the end, I acted like Miss Manners, as my mother would have wanted, and kept my hands to myself. This was his car. He could do whatever he wanted. Outside the car, however…
A while later, he pulled into the parking lot of a twenty-four-hour grocery. A handful of other vehicles were there, and people were straggling in and out of the store. Cole removed the key from the ignition, cutting off the music for good.
He thought for a moment, then said, “I’m giving you my phone number.” He faced the front windshield with such a dark expression, I suspected that whatever had snagged his attention was gonna get murdered. “If you ever need a ride home from school, call or text me, and I’ll make sure you’re taken care of.”
Uh, what was that? Surely the bad boy of Asher wasn’t offering to chauffeur me. Me. The weird girl with the staring problem.
“Okay?” he insisted. “Got it?”
He was. He really was. “I had a ride,” I explained. “I simply chose not to take it.”
That dark expression leveled on me, eliciting a shudder. “First, that’s all you have to say to me?”
“Well, yeah.” What had he expected? That’s the sweetest gesture in the whole wide world, and right now I feel like I’m dancing across the stars? There was no way those words would ever leave my mouth. The fact that I was thinking them was enough to send me into a major shame spiral.
“Second, why didn’t you take it?”
“I wanted to walk,” I said, giving him the same partial truth I’d given my grandparents.
“You’d better not want to walk again.”
“Or what?” I asked. I wasn’t meaning to be facetious. I honestly wanted to know.
He was total animal—make that, manimal—as he snarled, “Has anyone ever told you that you’re the most frustrating person they’ve ever met, or have most of the people in your life been too polite?”
“Hey—”
He rattled off his phone number, and I had to scramble to keep up and program it into my phone. “Now give me your number.”
It took a moment for his words to sink in. What kind of bizarre world had I entered? “But Cole, I can’t ever give you a ride. I don’t have a car, so there’s no—”
“Are you trying to tick me off? Give me your number.”
I was torn between feeling delighted by his insistence—and peeved. Peeved won. “Ask nicely,” I said, a day I’d spent with my mom suddenly slithering into my mind.
You’re so not getting a Mother of the Year Award, Mom. You have yet to bake my favorite chocolate cake.
I’ve just been waiting for you to ask nicely, darling.
A wave of homesickness hit me.
“Nicely,” Cole gritted out.
“Well, how can I resist that?” I grumbled, tempted to give him a bogus number just to prove a point. But then he wouldn’t be able to call me, and, well, I really wanted him to call me—though I had no idea what we’d talk about.
“Still waiting,” he prompted.
I rattled off the numbers.
“Thank you,” he said, and if I wasn’t mistaken, there was a note of relief in his voice.
I had to be mistaken. Either that, or those violet eyes had reduced the points in my IQ.
“Stay put,” he said, and got out of the car. He walked around, and…helped me out. Wow. I never would have guessed he would exhibit the classic signs of etiquette. “Tell me you aren’t going to be this difficult for the rest of the day.”
“I guess we’ll find out together,” I said. His skin was warm against mine, his palm calloused and rough. I liked that, even shivered.
“Cold?” He pressed me up against the side of the Jeep, his arms caging me in.
“No. I mean yes. I mean maybe. I don’t know!” Was he going to kiss me? For real? Here, now, in front of strangers? I’d stop him. Right? (Before and not after.)
“I don’t think you’re cold,” he rasped, “I think you’re scared. You’re right to be scared.”
I gulped. “I’m not scared.”
“Let’s see what I can do to change that, shall we? We’re going on a little adventure, you and I. When I give an order, you’ll obey it. There will be no asking politely, no matter how much you bat your lashes at me.”
I opened my mouth to protest. I’d never batted my lashes at anyone!
He shook his head, silencing me. “It’s for your safety.”
Again I opened my mouth to protest.
Again he shook his head. “That’s the deal. Agree or I’ll take you back to school right now, and none of your questions will be answered.”
Peeved all over again, I ran my tongue over my teeth. He was underhanded, sneaky and manipulative, that was for sure. Too bad I still liked him. “What questions do you think I have?”
“Probably the same ones I have.”
No way. Not possible. “Fine, I’ll follow your orders.” Anything for answers. “Just as long as you realize that every time you issue one, I’m beating you up in my mind.”
“Realized,” he said, thrums of amusement suddenly evident. “But please refrain from mind-punching my pretty face. I like it just how it is.”
Now I was the one fighting amusement. Someone so egotistical shouldn’t have been so charming. But then, I loved Kat, so there you go.
His gaze zeroed in on my twitching lips. He leaned closer to me…so close I could feel the heat of his breath trekking over my skin.
“What’s going through your mind right now?” he asked, his lips hovering over mine.
Don’t you dare tell him! I scrambled for a winning reply. “Will Mackenzie be upset that you’re with me? Not that you’re with me. I’m just saying—” Shut up, idiot! That’s enough.
He straightened with a snap, the maybe-kiss moment completely lost. “She shouldn’t be. We’re not dating anymore.” I wasn’t given a chance to reply. “Come on. It’s time for our adventure
. I want to show you something.”
At the back of the building was the thick, thriving forest that wound all the way to my grandparents’ neighborhood. I frowned. The drive to the store had taken longer than it should have, then. I replayed the route and realized Cole had doubled back a few times, taken turns he hadn’t needed to take. There was no reason to do that—unless he was as paranoid as I was and had thought we were being followed.
“Are you walking me home?” I asked, not sure how I felt about that.
Displaying even better etiquette than before, he moved limbs out of my way. “Yes and no. Now, not another word out of you until I say it’s okay. You’ll distract me, and I have to make sure we don’t stumble on any trip wires.”
A lovely nonanswer sprinkled with supposed courtesy. Wait. “Did you say trip wires?”
“Distracting me,” he said in a singsong voice.
“Annoying me,” I sang back. But I bit my tongue and stayed quiet as we hiked the rest of the way through bushes, over thick tree roots and boulders, and up and down hills.
By the time we reached the fence to my backyard, my thighs burned and my heart galloped in my chest.
Note to self: start working out today. At least the air I was so heavily breathing in carried hints of pine and wildflowers, the rot all gone.
“See these tracks?” he asked, pointing to the ground.
Dread washed through me as I took in the very tracks I’d noticed two nights ago. I could even make out the indention of my own tennis shoes…but not Emma’s slippers. “Yes. I see.”
His gaze snapped to mine, slitted. “Do you know what caused them? Besides the ones belonging to you, of course.”
“No.” Maybe. I licked my lips. “Do you? And how do you know I’ve been out here?”
“Give me some credit. You’re an eight and a half, on the narrow side, and your shoes have a distinct zigzag pattern.”
That was not something a normal kid would notice. How—and why—had he?
He crossed his arms over his chest. “So you haven’t seen anything out here?”
“Besides you?” I asked, trying to figure out exactly where he was going with this.
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