by M. Leighton
“Just trust me. You might get wet, but you won’t get caught.”
“You think.” Aidan stated doubtfully.
“I’m upgrading my confidence to ‘pretty sure’.”
“So you’re ‘pretty sure’ we won’t get caught.”
I nodded, still smiling.
“I’m in,” Jersey said, practically drooling over the prospect of some semi-dangerous fun, now that water-filled pranks were involved.
“You in?” I asked Aidan.
With a sigh, Aidan agreed. “I guess. Somebody’s gotta be there to keep us out of jail.”
It was on that encouraging note that we set off across campus for the student library.
CHAPTER NINE
When our trio arrived at the library, we stopped just outside to formulate a plan.
“Ok, so, Jersey, I’m sure you’ve got a lighter. You can be the one to go into the bathroom and set off the fire alarm. Aidan, you can—”
“Wait, wait, wait,” Jersey interrupted. “First of all, why do you assume that I have a lighter? I resent the implication. And secondly—”
“Jersey, come on,” I butted in, tilting my head and throwing her a derisive look from under my lashes. “Did you really think that none of us would ever find out that you’re the one who sets off the smoke detector in the bathroom every time there’s a James Bond marathon on televison?”
“What? I would never!”
I looked at Aidan and we both started laughing.
“Yeah, right. Nobody loves Sean Connery as much as you.”
Jersey’s mouth worked itself open and closed a few times in silent indignation before she dropped the pretense.
Her face crumbled into a pitiful mask and she whined, “I can’t help it. He was so hot. And those eyes, they just kill me. And his accent…” She trailed off, a dreamy expression settling over her beautiful, bronze features.
“My point exactly,” I said.
“Alright, I’ll give you points for the lighter, but,” she said, shrugging her shoulders and holding her hands palm up. “Why can’t I just pull the fire alarm? The one by the door doesn’t have a cover on it. Remember?”
“Because somebody will see you, goofy.”
“So? I can make it look like an accident.”
“Jersey, not even you are that good.”
“Bet’cha five bucks I can pull it off.”
I looked at Aidan. He shrugged, obviously having no strong opinion one way or the other.
“Alright. You’re on.”
Flipping her long sable locks behind her shoulder, Jersey started to walk through the front door, Aidan and I watching her go, when a deep voice boomed from behind us. She stopped in her tracks.
“What are you three up to?”
I jumped like I’d been shot when Jackson spoke. I spun around, looking every bit as guilty as I felt, I’m sure.
As soon as my eyes fell on him, I lost the ability to think and speak clearly. Getting caught nearly red-handed was enough to tie my tongue, but Jackson’s unnerving presence exacerbated matters tenfold. Rather than formulating a believable lie, I became instantly aware of what a bedraggled rat I must look like.
“We were just, um, we were going to, uh—”
“How about just telling me the truth,” he suggested, folding his long arms across his wide chest.
“Well, uh, you see,” I paused, my mind racing through all sorts of plausible scenarios and elaborate fabrications. But looking into the clear blue of Jackson’s eyes, disapproving though they were, I found myself unable to utter even the tiniest of lies. “We’re breaking into the Records Room.”
“Madly!” Jersey hissed, clearly shocked.
I cringed, waiting for Jackson’s inevitable explosion. But none came.
Slowly, one ebony brow rose. “For?”
“Records.”
“What kind of records?”
“The medical kind.”
“You know those are—”
“I know, I know, but I thought I might be able to find the Straus descendant so that we can keep an eye on her, maybe catch Wolfhardt when he awakens his descendant and makes his first move.”
Jackson said nothing, merely stared at me with those fathomless azure eyes. Finally, much to my surprise, he nodded.
“Ok, so what’s your plan?”
Stunned, I glanced over at Aidan, who was ashen beneath his tanned skin, and then returned my attention to Jackson.
“Jersey was going to set off the fire alarm so I could use the water to hide us. If they can’t see us—”
“You can just walk right in,” he finished.
“Right,” I said, smiling a nervous smile.
“Only here’s how this is going to work. You,” Jackson said, turning his hard gaze on Aidan. “You can bump into Jersey, causing her to ‘accidentally’ set off the alarm,” he said, using air quotes. “As soon as it goes off, the Librarians are going to be all over you. You two can stay and explain what happened while Madly and I sneak into the Records Room.”
Aidan was frowning. I could tell that he didn’t approve of some part of the plan, I just couldn’t be sure which part that was. The tight set of his lips told me that he wanted to argue, but I knew that there was not a chance in the Underworld that he would. At least not with Jackson.
Finally, he nodded in agreement, albeit grudgingly.
“Wait until we sit down at the table nearest the Records Room door and then do it.”
Jersey and Aidan both nodded.
Jackson looked down at me. “Let’s go,” he said, touching his hand to the small of my back where it set off a firework of chills that spread around to sparkle in my stomach.
Jackson opened the door for me, nudging me forward with his hand. As we snaked our way through the tables, I turned to look up into his handsome face.
“Why are you being so cool about this? I never figured you for a rule-breaker.”
Though he didn’t bother to look at me, Jackson answered, his deep voice sliding over my senses like dark velvet.
“Number one, we aren’t breaking our rules. Number two, this is more important than anything else right now. Besides, your plan isn’t half bad.”
I refused to dwell on how much pleasure I got from his backhanded compliment.
“How did you even know where we were?”
This time Jackson did look down at me, his blue eyes twinkling.
“Did you really think I was just going to drop you off at class and walk away? Give me a little credit for knowing you most of your life.”
“So you knew—”
“That you skipped class? Yes. And that you had some fun in the boiler room? Yes.”
“It’s not like we were doing anything wrong really.”
“What were you doing then?” he asked as he stopped at our table and pulled out a chair, indicating with a tip of his dark head that I should take it.
I sat, watching as he slid out the chair next to mine and sat on the edge, leaning forward to put his elbows on his knees.
The action put his face within a foot of mine, close enough that I could see the tiny silver specks in his eyes and count every long lash that ringed them. My mouth went bone dry, making it difficult to speak.
“I was practicing.”
“Hmm,” Jackson said, his eyes narrowing on me. “Practicing what?”
The way he said it made it sound dirty. That’s when it occurred to me what he was getting at.
“Not what you think. I was practicing using my bracelet. How do you think I plan to get us into that room?”
Jackson leaned back in his chair, his eyes boring straight into mine as if he was trying to see into my soul. He opened his mouth as if to speak, but the alarm sounded just then. Before I could blink, Jackson was on his feet.
“Ok, Princess, work your magic.”
Standing, I looked out into the room, blocking out the sound of squeals and yelps as a fine spray began to hiss from the sprinkler heads. I concentra
ted on the warmth of my bracelet, the smell of the water and, for better or worse, the man at my side.
I could almost feel Jackson’s piercing eyes on me, watching my face. Knowing he was so focused on me did strange things to my insides. They warmed as my bracelet warmed, hotter and hotter until I felt liquid lava rushing through my veins.
Closing my eyes, I pictured the water gushing harder and harder from the sprinkler heads, raining down in thick sheets over the entire room. When I opened my eyes, I saw my vision come to life.
The sound of water pouring from the tiny heads and splattering on every surface in the room drowned out the laugh that bubbled up in my throat. Closing my eyes, I turned my face up to the drops and let the joy of my accomplishment course through me.
And then there was an explosion, only it was contained behind the walls of my heart. Jackson’s fingers wrapped around my wrist and it was as if my body, my mind, my power were suddenly hooked up to jumper cables. A blinding light burst behind my lids, sending a shower of colorful sparks flying into the sky of my brain.
With a gasp, my eyes flew open. I turned to him and I was immediately lost to the world around us. My bones melted and swirled inside me, leaving me with nothing more than the electricity of Jackson’s touch to keep me upright. A feeling, a want, like nothing I’d never felt before squeezed my lungs and burned in my chest. It was primal and profound, and I knew that he felt it, too.
Jackson’s eyes were on fire. They screamed a desire that he couldn’t control. They cried a hunger that matched my own. I could see it all, everything that I felt, mirrored in the shimmering depths of the brilliant blue.
The force of gushing water began to pop the sprinkler heads off one by one, the metallic tink, tink, tink punctuating every heavy beat of my heart. Water flowed all around us, but Jackson and I stood beneath the bubble of my thrall—a bubble that drops could no longer penetrate, a bubble that contained only me and Jackson and the magic of our moment.
I don’t know how long we stood like that—Jackson’s fingers wrapped around my wrist, his eyes searing me with the intensity of his reaction, rain falling down all around us—but he was the first to move, letting go of my wrist and shaking his head as if to clear it of confusion.
I watched him, still in the throes of so much feeling, until his eyes met mine again. When they did, I couldn’t help but feel disappointed. They were cool and distant, empty of all the wonder and emotion I’d just seen.
Our moment was over.
“There’s gum on your hand,” he said blandly. “But it’ll have to wait. Everyone’s out. We’ve got to go.” With that, Jackson turned and made his way into the Records Room, leaving me to follow behind him.
Taking a deep breath, I urged my legs to move and I followed him into that room to learn of a girl, a girl who didn’t even know she was counting on us to save her life. She had no idea that a werewolf was coming for her, intent on finishing what he’d started hundreds of years before, or that we were the only ones who could stop it.
FOLLOW MADLY’S QUEST IN THE MADLY SERIES
BOOK ONE, MADLY & WOLFHARDT
COMING SOON
SUMMER 2011
Other books by M. Leighton
Blood Like Poison: For the Love of a Vampire
Blood Like Poison: Destined for a Vampire
Caterpillar
The Reaping
Wiccan
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