by H G Lynch
“I hope you’re including me in that statement,” Hiro spoke up unexpectedly.
Liandra glanced at him, and beamed, quite convincingly too.
Hiro’s position hadn’t changed, but somehow, his folded arms and raised chin now looked defiant and unwelcoming. Maybe it was the cold gleam in his narrowed eyes.
“Oh, of course. I don’t think I’ve met you yet, though. I’m Liandra, but you can call me Lia.” Liandra held out her hand elegantly to Hiro, who eyed it with distaste. Lia pulled her hand back slowly, her smile tight.
Ember hid her smirk by taking another sip of her mocha.
“I’m Hiro. Like your hair, by the way,” Hiro said in a bland tone.
Ember couldn’t tell whether he meant it or if he was mocking Lia. She hoped it was the latter.
Liandra grinned, though, and twitched one of her moss-green plaits self-consciously. “Thanks. I like yours too. I tried dying mine red once, but it came out orange instead.” Lia giggled.
Hiro’s mouth quirked, but it was a sarcastic smile that didn’t reach his cat-like eyes. “I didn’t dye mine this color,” he said emotionlessly. He was examining Lia with a sort of detached fascination, like a scientist who’d discovered an interesting, if disgusting, new species of insect.
“Oh.” Lia paused, then shrugged and turned back to the others.
“Tell Reid and Ricky about that prank you pulled at your last school, the one that nearly got you expelled,” Sherry insisted brightly.
Liandra launched gladly into some story, making hand gestures and jokes, and all the while, sneaking flirting comments to Reid into the mix whenever he said something. Ember gritted her teeth, and cast a helpless glance at Hiro, who returned her gaze with narrowed eyes and a slight shake of his head. Clearly, he wasn’t sucked in by Lia’s charisma either. Ember felt a kind of guilty relief at that. At least it meant that there was one person she could rely on here where Lia was concerned. Even if it also meant that she didn’t think she could rely on Sherry anymore.
“Oh my God, you are so funny, Reid. Where can I find another of you?” Liandra laughed, covering Reid’s hand on the table with her own.
Her long, painted fingernails looked like claws, claws she used to hook guys and drag them back to her nest. And Reid didn’t seem inclined to move his hand away either. He just laughed along with everyone else. Furious, Ember didn’t realize she’d crushed her coffee cup until hot coffee spilled over her hand and dripped onto the table. She hissed and jerked her hand back, dropping the bent coffee cup onto the wet table and splashing drops onto her jeans.
“Oh, whoops. You should probably go get cleaned up. I’ll get some napkins and clear the table,” Liandra offered helpfully.
“I’ll help. Really, Emz, you’re so clumsy sometimes.” Sherry shook her head, and stood up to go get napkins with Lia.
Ember bit her tongue again, this time hard enough that she tasted blood, and stood up so abruptly that her chair made a horrible scraping noise across the floor. She turned and stalked away to the ladies bathrooms, wondering if, by the time she got back, Liandra would be sitting in Reid’s lap.
Ember barged into the ladies’ room, the door swinging open and hitting the wall before slamming shut. Angrily, she blinked against the harshness of the white lights reflecting off the white tiles of the walls, and went to the sinks. Thankfully, nobody else was in the ladies’ room, so Ember could mutter curses and spit insults at the mirror above the sink without anyone thinking she was crazy. Blasting the hot water, she stuck her hands under the stream and splashed away the sticky coffee between her fingers, all the while growling to herself unhappily. Stupid Lia, stupid Sherry for inviting her, stupid Reid for being so—
“Ugh!” With a grunt, Ember savagely twisted the hot water tap, and the metal bent with a whine. Realizing what she’d done, Ember just stared at the mutated piece of metal atop the white china sink, and leaned over it. She was breathing hard, and she squeezed her eyes shut. “Breathe, Ember, breathe,” she whispered to herself. It helped a little.
Finally, she was able to stand up again and look at her reflection in the mirror. She didn’t look murderous anymore, but she did have hectic red spots high on her cheekbones, and her hair hung over one black-lined eye, making her look dangerous. Slightly amused, she sent her reflection a smirk, and thought to herself, Lia is no competition. You could kill her with a snap of your fingers. The thought did make her feel much better, and by the time she stepped out of the bathroom, she was wearing a genuine, if cold, smile.
To her slight surprise, Lia was not, in fact, sitting on Reid’s lap. She was, though, leaning forward with her elbows on the table, giving Reid a very good view down the gaping collar of her top. Only, Reid wasn’t looking down Lia’s top; He was grinning at Ember. Ember grinned back, despite the fact that she’d been mentally bitch-slapping him a minute ago. Turning, Lia’s bright smile faltered, and something icy flashed in her hazel eyes. It only made Ember grin more.
Ignoring Lia’s stare, she walked past the chair she’d been sitting in before and paused next to Reid. He pushed himself back from the table and spread his arms, knowing what she wanted. Happily, Ember climbed onto Reid’s lap, and he wrapped his arms around her waist to hold her there, placing a kiss on her temple.
Lia’s responding glower would’ve been lethal if looks could kill.
“So, my little demon, we were just discussing Kara. Or rather, we were saying how we haven’t seen her around much lately. Care to add something to the conversation?” Reid brushed a lock of hair from her face, and proceeded to twirl it around his finger playfully. It was a habit he’d picked up when they’d first started going out, and Ember always thought it was cute the way he played with her hair.
“I thought we were done with that nickname? I thought it was ‘Firefly’ now? Anyway, I’ve got a dozen things I could contribute to the conversation on the topic of Kara, but I think I’ll keep my mouth shut. We’re in a public place and there are children around.” Ember snaked her arm around Reid’s neck, and deliberately slid her fingers into his hair. She felt him shiver a little in response, his arms tightening around her briefly. His eyes, when he looked up at her, were darker than their usual azure blue, closer to sapphire, which meant that – whether there were children around or not – he really wanted to kiss her. And she wanted to let him, if for no other reason than it would piss Lia off. But there really were children watching – Ember glanced at them over Reid’s shoulder, and the two little girls giggled behind their hands before looking away.
“Pretend they’re not looking,” Reid murmured in her ear suddenly, obviously knowing what she was thinking.
She rolled her eyes at him. “And I suppose I ought to ignore the rest of the occupants of the room as well?” she asked, tilting her head as she arched one brow at him.
Reid grinned dazzlingly, showing a little bit of fang. “Yes. That’s exactly what you’re supposed to do,” he said slowly.
“Um, do they do this a lot?” Lia’s voice shattered the hot tension.
Ember wanted to snarl as Reid looked away, dropping the lock of her hair that he’d been playing with. Ember glared over at Lia, who was watching them with a look of false innocence. It made Ember want to slap her.
“Oh, yeah. You’d be surprised,” Sherry said, laughing.
Ricky had his arm around Sherry’s waist, and was watching everyone else with a look of calm amusement, as always. Hiro, on the other hand, was glancing between the people seated at the table with narrowed eyes, his expression unreadable. Ember wondered if he were getting irritated, but he had a perfect poker face. Whatever he didn’t want Ember to know he was feeling, she wasn’t going to pry.
“Don’t expect me to apologize if our burning passion is too hot to control,” Reid commented, deliberately sliding his hand over Ember’s thigh.
Lia’s eyes tracked the movement with a vicious kind of hunger, as if she wanted to snatch his hand off of Ember and put it on herself. The idea made E
mber sick, and she made a short huffing noise as she slid off Reid’s lap. She’d had about enough of Lia for one day.
“Whoa, where’re you going?” Reid asked, surprised and sounding a little stung by her sharp dismissal.
Ember turned, and saw his brow furrowed in confusion, his mouth tilted vulnerably. Yeah, he was stung. A pang of guilt went through Ember, and she ignored it as she zipped up her hoodie, pulling on her gloves. Reid slumped, clearly hurt that she was getting ready to leave. “Oh, come on, why are you leaving? Is it ‘cause I—”
“No. No, it’s not because of you,” Ember said quickly, feeling more guilt rise up. He just looked so…wounded. “It’s—I just remembered I’ve got homework for Biology. It needs to be in tomorrow and I totally forgot about it. I should go do it just now, before I forget again,” she lied, forcing a smile.
Reid frowned for a moment, and Ember thought he wouldn’t believe her. But then he sighed and rolled his eyes. “Fine, go do your homework, bookworm. You’re such a swat sometimes,” he snorted.
Ember gave him a swift kiss on the cheek, and brushed out the door brusquely. The chimes over the door jangled as she left, the noise tinkling like the sound of Lia’s false laughter.
Chapter Three
** Brandon **
Brandon frowned, impatiently pushing his dark hair out of his eyes. Something wasn’t right here. He could feel it. He was standing by the bank of the lake where boys had been going missing, staring out at the rippling silver water. The trees around him groaned as the wind whined through the branches, the water making faint splashing noises as it lapped at the muddy banks. The clouds above threatened rain, and Brandon tugged the hood of his grey jumper up over his head. Perry was wandering the circumference of the lake, searching for anything out of the ordinary. They both knew, though, that the odds were they wouldn’t find anything. When dealing with the supernatural, mostly, you didn’t find anything unless the creature wanted you to.
The wind whispered across the water, and Brandon cocked his head, listening hard. Sometimes, the voices of the wind weren’t just imagined; sometimes, there really were words being whispered, songs being sung. Often by sylphs, or dryads, but he’d known the occasional ghoul or wraith to hang about where someone had died, howling in the breeze just to scare people. As he listened, his senses tuned up to the highest notch of his vampiric ability, he heard something, a noise, a voice, running below the whistle of the wind. It wasn’t words, though. More like…music. A soft, almost inaudible music, as fine and delicate as chimes. Closing his eyes, he tried to listen harder, tried to pinpoint where the noise was coming from…
“Hey, dude, what’s up?” Perry clapped a hand on his shoulder.
Brandon flinched in surprise. He hadn’t noticed Perry approaching. Looking up at the taller boy, Brandon shook his head mutely. “I thought I heard something,” he said, looking around as if he might spot a hidden jukebox in the bushes.
Perry tilted his head up and half-closed his eyes, obviously listening. After a moment, he shook his head, grinning. “I don’t hear anything, man. Maybe you were imagining it. You know how the wind plays tricks on vampire hearing.” Perry chuckled, his brown eyes amused. Perry was nearly always amused, but never really amused by anything. He just seemed to be laughing at his own existence.
Brandon sometimes wondered if Perry was alright in the head; he was a little slow sometimes, didn’t really think for himself. He was a good researcher, though, could apply himself to reading dusty old books for long hours. But he did enjoy, like Reid, the company of many girls, and had a fondness for beer. Brandon was surprised, on occasion, that Perry had chosen to stick to him instead of going off with Reid. The two might’ve gotten on like real pals if it hadn’t been for Perry’s inexplicable appreciation for the rules.
“We gonna stand here all day or what? I’ve got things to do.” Perry slugged Brandon in the shoulder, turned and started to slouch away through the trees.
Brandon turned to follow him, pausing to listen one last time. Nothing. The music under the wind was gone. Sighing, Brandon followed his friend through the trees, leaving the creepy lake behind for now.
*****
** Ember **
“I don’t want to go. Please, please don’t make me go,” Ember begged.
It was Friday, and she was sitting on her bed with her arms folded sulkily. She’d decided that she really didn’t want to go the party, whether or not Lia had goaded her into saying she was going. Ember figured not going was better than watching Reid get hit on all evening by girls wearing mere scraps of clothing.
“Oh come on! You were the one who wanted to go in the first place! You can’t back out now.” Reid scowled at her. He was leaning against the wardrobe with his arms crossed over his chest. Dressed in dark jeans, a sapphire-blue shirt, and his black leather jacket, he looked astonishingly attractive tonight. His hair was stylishly mussed, making him look more dangerous than normal. And that was part of why Ember had decided she really didn’t want to go to this party anymore; if girls drooled over Reid on a daily basis, what would they do when they saw him looking like this? They’d probably throw their underwear at him like fans at a Justin Bieber concert.
“I changed my mind. I’m not going,” she said stubbornly, folding her arms over her chest, mimicking him. She knew he knew she meant business when she did that.
Reid narrowed his eyes to glare at her.
For a long moment, they stayed like that, stubbornly glaring at each other. But eventually, Reid sighed, knowing he wasn’t going to win like this. He moved toward her and sat down on the bed next to her. She pulled her legs up to her chest and leaned her chin on her knees to continue glowering at him.
“Why?” he asked softly, “Why did you change your mind? What are you worried about? Come on, it’s only a party. And I’ll be right there with you the whole time. Sherry and Ricky will be there, too. In fact, they’re probably already there now. I’m not going without you, Emz.” He grinned abruptly. “So if you were thinking of getting rid of me for the evening, it isn’t happening. You might as well go get ready.”
Ember scowled at him and shook her head. “I don’t—”
“If you say ‘I don’t want to’ one more time, I will haul you off that bed and toss you out the window,” Reid warned playfully, and she smiled despite herself. Reid grinned, pleased. “There. See. You’re not totally miserable. Now, if you don’t go and get ready right this minute, I’m going to pick out your outfit and dress you myself. And I can guarantee you won’t like what I pick out.” He sauntered back to the wardrobe and swung open one of the doors. Turning back, he arched a brow at her, and she sighed.
“Fine! God, you are so annoying sometimes,” she growled. Bouncing off the bed, she went to the wardrobe and shooed him away as she picked out what to wear. Staring into the wardrobe, she realized that she really didn’t have much in the way of party outfits. Most of her clothing consisted of black t-shirts and jeans and the odd hoodie. As she dug through the clothes, her hand lingered on something she’d pretty much forgotten about. It turned out there was one thing she could wear. But she wouldn’t be particularly comfortable wearing it in a crowd of so many people… Well, she thought, maybe you need to be pushed outside your comfort zone. Maybe it’ll at least keep Reid’s eyes focused on you for the night.
So, reluctantly, she pulled out the daring clothing and hesitated, chewing her lip. Her eyes fell on her dresser. If I’m going to be bold, I might as well take it all the way. Throwing Reid a glance over her shoulder, seeing he was absorbed in flicking through the book she’d left on her nightstand, she slid open the top drawer of her dresser and hastily palmed an item she’d never had occasion to wear. Quickly, she slipped into the bathroom to change. Yeah, it seemed a little silly, seeing as Reid had seen her naked at least a half dozen times, but she still didn’t like letting him watch her change – much to his disappointment.
Stripping off her casual clothes, Ember frowned at the pile of leat
her she’d hooked out of the wardrobe. Then she lifted off the floor the thing she’d pulled out of the dresser…and mentally kicked herself. I cannot believe I’m going to wear this.
Dressed, she stepped out of the bathroom, dumping her other clothes in the wash basket.
Distracted with her book still, Reid didn’t look up at her as he spoke. “Ember,” he said, his eyes glued to the page, his eyebrows raised in surprise. “This is…” He hesitated, swallowed, faint color touching his cheeks.
It took Ember a moment to understand what was wrong, and then she remember precisely which book she’d left on her nightstand. Embarrassed, she bit her lip and felt her own face warm. Whoops. She hadn’t meant to leave that one lying around. While she did enjoy Charlaine Harris’s Sookie Stackhouse novels, she didn’t enjoy having her boyfriend know what kind of books she read.
Reid cleared his throat, shutting the book. “Um…If I’d known that was the kind of thing you read, I might’ve taken an interest in your books,” he said, placing the book back on the nightstand and finally looking up at her. Instantly, his eyes widened, and his lips parted.
Amused, Ember remembered the last time she’d worn this outfit – the leather jeans and waistcoat Sherry had given her for her birthday, along with the coolest high-heeled boots she’d ever seen. The first time she’d worn this, Reid had promptly vanished for a long, cold shower. Right now, having just read what was presumably a very steamy scene, and with her standing in front of him in skin-tight leather, he looked like he might be in need of an ice-bath.
Nervously, Ember shifted from foot to foot. “Uh, Reid?” She waved a hand in front of his gaze, but he didn’t seem inclined to blink, much less look elsewhere. His blue eyes were so dark they were almost black with desire, and she could practically feel the immense effort it took him to simply sit there instead of throwing her down on the bed. “Reid, hello? Party, remember? I thought you wanted to go to the party.” Secretly, Ember was quite chuffed with his reaction. She’d hoped this outfit would keep his attention on her, and now she was fairly certain he’d be drooling over her all night. Perfect. If only he knew what I’m wearing under the leather.