The Shifting Storm (Book 4)

by Jeff Hale

  “Warren, that’s not a good idea,” I said, moving his hand, just as a wash of rage ran over me and Darien was right in Warren’s face, eyes blazing black, hands in fists at his sides. “Darien, no, he didn’t mean any harm by it,” I said firmly, placing my hand against Darien’s chest and sending an appealing look Matt’s way.

  Warren stood up, towering over Darien by half a foot, and probably half again as broad. “This is your boyfriend?” he asked me, somewhat disdainfully.

  “Yes,” Darien bit out, and I could tell he wanted nothing more than to wreak some havoc on Warren’s person.

  “Kinda puny, ain’t he?” Warren didn’t even bother to hide the insult behind the words.

  Fuck.

  I could feel the tension in Darien’s chest as his muscles bunched to strike, but Matt laid a hand on his shoulder, leaned in and whispered something in Darien’s ear that I didn’t bother to try to hear since I was too concerned about a potential dismemberment in the front yard.

  Darien stilled for a moment, and then a rumble of laughter actually came from his chest. “You are so right, Matt.” He gave Warren an appraising look that was cold and dangerous. “Just keep your hands to yourself from now on and I won’t be obliged to remove them, got it?”

  Warren just nodded, dropping back onto his stool. I sat the money jar on his clipboard.

  “They’re on the list, Warren, and I’m going in now. Just hold down the fort while I go let Brenda know it’s her turn out here.” He just nodded while I led Darien and Matt inside.

  I heard a low whistle behind me, then heard Matt mutter to Darien, “I gotta have Kat find Kris one of those uniforms.”

  Darien chuckled. “They are rather… attractive… aren’t they?”

  I blushed. I’d already known about Darien’s liking for my cheerleading uniform, but still. “Well, yeah, good luck with that, Matt,” I said over my shoulder. “Kris never has been too fond of cheerleaders. She thinks the only thing that redeems them is that they were wise enough to let me into their ranks.”

  I heard an exclamation of happiness and the person in question came pushing through the crowd, Celeste in tow right behind her. I could see Travis staring in our direction from the bottom of the stairs and he didn’t look entirely happy.

  Our two men looked rather tasty tonight. Darien was wearing dark blue jeans as usual, but he never had favored the baggy look that was all the style nowadays and his were tight across the butt and thighs, not needing the leather belt he had pulled through the loops. A black button up shirt was tucked into the jeans, and he was wearing his duster, despite the Las Vegas warmth. A pair of black Harley Davidson boots peeked from the bottom of the pant legs.

  Matt wore his usual of skintight black leather pants, paired with a loose, long-sleeved silk shirt that was so darkly green it was almost black. His shoulder length brown hair was pulled back at the nape of his neck in a ponytail and he was sporting a small hoop in his left ear. I couldn’t tell what kind of shoes he had on, only that they were dark and weren’t sneakers.

  Kris stopped her forward momentum with his chest, hopping up to plant a kiss on his lips while Celeste stood there and stared open mouthed. Kris and I had hung out with her on several occasions since the semester had started, but we had yet to introduce our boyfriends to her.

  “Celeste,” I said after she had hugged me, “this is my boyfriend, Darien, and this is Kris’s Matt.”

  She looked each one of them over, her green eyes sparkling. “Wow. A rock star an’ a cowboy,” she said, laughing. She extended her hand out. “Nice ta meet ya’ll.”

  I could see where she got the rock star idea on Matt; he did look like one despite the fact that I knew he had no inclinations in that direction. But cowboy? I looked Darien over again and decided that if you added a cowboy hat to his outfit, Celeste might be right.

  Matt shook Celeste’s hand, giving her a sultry smile that had Kris mock gasping. There was a brief flare of something else in Matt’s eyes, hunger maybe, but it was gone as quickly as I had seen it. Darien took her hand, brought it to his lips for a light brush and said, “Pleased to meet you, miss.”

  “Who are your new friends, Celeste?” Travis asked from behind me, a hint of unfriendliness in his voice.

  She pulled her hand away from Darien’s, almost reluctantly, and turned to give Travis a big smile, even if it didn’t quite reach her eyes.

  “Hey, babe. This is Darien an’ Matt, Kat an’ Kris’s boyfriends.” She slipped her hand into Travis’s, giving it a squeeze as though in reassurance.

  “Really?” Travis pulled his hand away from Celeste’s, stepped forward so that he was standing in between me and Kris, and draped an arm, casually, across each of our shoulders, giving us each a quick, tight hug. “I’ve heard all about you guys from these two,” he said brightly, making it sound as though both Kris and I were his close friends. We weren’t. We only talked to Travis because we both loved Celeste and he seemed okay, if a bit prickish at times. He dropped his arms and held out a hand. “Travis.”

  They returned the greeting, although I could tell that both Darien and Matt wanted to wipe the smug smile off of Travis’s face.

  Travis grabbed hold of Celeste’s hand and gave a sharp tug. “C’mon, babe, I need to talk to Kevin for a few minutes. Why don’t you go keep Erin and Tiff company for a bit?”

  “Sure.” Celeste bestowed another smile on us. “I’ll see ya’ll around later, ya guys have fun.” Then she followed Travis through the crowd of people and back to the kitchen.

  “I don’t like him,” Matt said softly as he and Darien moved closer to me and Kris.

  “Me neither,” Darien agreed.

  “Why?” Kris winked at him. “Because he touched us?” Not that either she or I really cared for being that close to Travis. He was a good looking guy, but neither of us really understood what Celeste saw in him.

  “That would have been enough by itself, but no, there’s something else. He’s hiding something, hiding his true personality,” Matt told us.

  I thought Matt might have been right, but I didn’t say anything more about it. They were here to have fun with me and Kris, not for the four of us to sit about debating Travis. It did, however, make me want to find out more about my suspicions of his treatment of Celeste.

  We spent the rest of the evening dancing and drinking, although only Kris seemed to be affected by the alcohol. Warren came in at some point and I caught him scowling in Darien’s direction several times, although it would turn to a grin when he caught me looking.

  But something was off with Kris and I couldn’t quite put a finger on it. She was laughing, having fun, but as she had a few more drinks in her, I would see the occasional sad or frustrated look cross her face. I finally made an excuse to visit the bathroom, dragging Kris along with me.

  “So, what’s wrong?” I asked when we finally had the room to ourselves.

  “What? What do you mean?” She ran her hands under the tap water, found a towel to dry them off, but she didn’t quite meet my eyes.

  “You’ve been mopey all night. Probably nothing anyone else would notice, but I know you, Kris.” I gave her my most determined look.

  She sighed and propped a hip on the edge of the counter. “Nothing big, just… well, there’s been some things that Matt and I haven’t exactly been seeing eye to eye on lately.”

  I prompted her to continue with a lift of my eyebrows.

  “I’m hoping he’ll back off, but if he keeps pushing, I don’t know, Kat. I love him, I do, but I can’t deal with it for much longer.” She bit her lip to keep from crying.

  “That doesn’t sound like ‘nothing big’, Kris.” I sighed. “What’s he pushing on? Sex? I thought you did that a long time ago?”

  She bobbed her head. “Yeah, we did. No, he just got real freaked out about the whole shooting thing, that I could have died.” She rubbed absently through her shirt at the small bullet scar on her chest. “And every time he sees this,” she tapped th
e spot, “he’s reminded again.”

  “So what’s he doing? Just lecturing you on safety? I mean—oh, crap. Is he wanting to…?” I let the sentence drop.

  She just nodded. “Yeah, he is. Doesn’t want anything to happen to me.”

  I thought about my mom, thought about the request she had made. I didn’t know if they’d found someone else to turn her or not; I hadn’t talked to her since her birthday. I gave Kris a half smile and shrugged. “So why not? Why not let him?”

  She laughed, short and humorless. “I thought about it, I did.” She tilted her head to the side and smiled wryly. “I like who I am, Kat. I like being human.”

  “But I thought you didn’t have a problem with AEs?” I asked, worried that something had changed that I had missed.

  “I don’t, or you wouldn’t still be my best friend and I wouldn’t be sleeping with one.” She pulled me into a quick hug. “But I’m me, and me is human, and I am perfectly fine with that, at least for now. Maybe someday I’ll change my mind, but not right now.”

  I would have talked to her more about it, especially since after fearing her loss myself, I was almost on Matt’s side of the argument, but the bathroom was suddenly invaded by a very drunk, very green faced guy who almost didn’t make it to the toilet in time, driving us out of the little room immediately.

  We found the guys, Darien and Matt both discussing banking security with one of the frat brothers whom I knew was a business major. They politely excused themselves when they saw us. We hung out at the party for another hour or so, although I didn’t see Celeste anywhere, then Darien and I made our goodbyes and headed home.

  It was a little after eleven when we got back. Alex was in the kitchen staring at the microwave as popcorn popped inside.

  “Hey, guys, you got back just in time, was about to put in the new James Bond movie,” he said, his mood cheery.

  I glanced around the apartment. “Nina not here?”

  He shrugged, retrieving the bag of popcorn from the microwave and shaking it. “Naw. She doesn’t come around as often anymore. I think she’s moving on, found other playmates.”

  “Wouldn’t surprise me much. I haven’t had much of a chance to talk to her lately.” I hadn’t talked to her in a couple weeks actually. “You don’t sound all that upset about it.”

  He poured the popcorn into a bowl, came into the living room and sat on one side of the couch. “I’m not. Not like she was my girlfriend or anything, and I don’t care how many people she fucks, I don’t think she’s ever going to quit loving Dave. It was fun for a while, that’s all.”

  Wheels were turning in my brain. “There’s this girl I know from school, sweetest little thing. She’s got a boyfriend, but well, I don’t know, maybe I should introduce you sometime.” It was worth a shot anyway.

  “Maybe, I dunno. I’m not so sure about getting involved with a girl who’s in love with someone else again, seems to be a losing proposition.”

  I stiffened a little at Alex’s words, but he wasn’t looking in my direction, had the DVD remote in his hand as he started the movie.

  Darien just gave a chuckle and sat down in the middle of the couch, reaching a friendly arm around Alex’s shoulder to give him a shake before pulling his arm back. “It doesn’t always have to be.” And he winked at me.

  “I’ll be out in a minute, just gonna go change out of the uniform,” I said, heading to my bedroom. I heard two sighs of disappointment from behind me but I ignored them.

  I settled in against Darien a few minutes later, dressed in a dark blue pajama set that had actually been a gift from Alex. The pants were covered in small versions of Tinkerbell, the top a single picture of the fairy with the word ‘Believe’ in dark pink lettering.

  I was starting to nod off, despite the sounds of explosions and gunshots coming from the TV, when there was a sharp and urgent sounding knock on the door, repeated rather quickly. I pushed myself up, gesturing to the two men to stay put while I answered the door.

  Celeste was standing there, still wet tear streaks marking her cheeks, her pale-blonde hair in a tumble around her face.

  “Oh, Kat, yer home!” she cried. “Can I come in, please?”

  “Sure, Celeste. What’s wrong?” I asked as I stepped aside so she could come in. For her to show up on my doorstep after midnight, something had to be wrong.

  “Travis and I got in an argument earlier,” she said through tears. “I guess he thought I was too friendly with yer boyfriend. Ya’ll know how jealous he can get. Anyway, he said some mean things and… and…” she paused, rubbing at her shoulder, “I was jus’ so hoppin’ mad, I took off and I didn’t know where else ta go.”

  Darien and Alex were both staring at the distraught girl now, Alex in a way as though he were trying to piece something together and finally getting the correct answer.

  “That fucker didn’t hit you again, did he?” Alex demanded angrily, standing up and almost overturning the popcorn bowl.

  Celeste turned a confused look on him. “How did—oh, it’s you!” To my complete surprise, she flung herself across the room, right into Alex’s arms, and began bawling against his chest. I thought I heard her sniffle something about watching his language.

  “Uh, Alex? Do you know Celeste?” I asked, bewildered. I cast a glance Darien’s way, to see what he made of this. I could see the play of anger across his face as he watched the tiny girl cry on Alex.

  “Well, no… sorta. I met her when I went to pick you up from that other frat party. I heard this guy she was with, her boyfriend I guess, hit her. He was going to do it again but I persuaded him not to.” One arm had gone around Celeste, steadying her, while his free hand brushed her hair back from her face. He froze, then tilted her head to the side, fingers gently touching something on the back of her neck. “Darien.”

  Darien got up, went over to look at her neck, and so did I. Dark purple bruises mottled the back of her neck, easily hidden by her hair if she so chose. They disappeared under the neckline of her shirt. Darien muttered a few graphic obscenities that made Celeste cringe, then grabbed the car keys off the end table and headed for the door. “Well, it looks like the sonofabitch needs to be persuaded again. Is he at the frat house?”

  Celeste twisted in Alex’s arms, her expression alarmed. “Oh! No! Please, jus’ let him be, he cain’t help it that I make him so mad. Maybe he was right, maybe I was too friendly, he can be real nice most the time.”

  “Celeste, I’ve suspected for some time now that he’s been hurting you, I just never had proof until now!” My voice was harsh with worry. “You need to break up with him, you shouldn’t stay with someone who does that to you!”

  “I love him, Kat!” she argued, but even to my ears it sounded like something she thought she was supposed to say. “I jus’… I jus’ cain’t!” Tears rolled down her cheeks again.

  Darien was waiting by the door, eyes on Celeste. “It’s up to you, Celeste. I am more than willing to go explain to your boyfriend why he shouldn’t abuse you, but I won’t do it if you don’t want me to.”

  “I don’t,” she whispered, eyes wide in fear.

  “So be it, but I do think you should take Kat’s advice. You can easily find someone who’ll treat you better.” Darien dropped the keys back on the table and leaned against the edge of the couch, expression grim.

  “I—I’ll think about it, I will.” She stepped out of Alex’s arms. “I should probably head home now, he’s probably gone there already and is waitin’. I don’t wanna make him any madder than he already is. Thank ya, and please don’t say anythin’ ta him at school, okay, Kat?”

  I sighed. “I won’t, but I’m not going to let this drop with you, Celeste.”

  She threw me a tired smile, then let herself out of the apartment. Alex was gathering up his own keys and I gave him a questioning look.

  “Reckon I’m just gonna follow and make sure he doesn’t do anything else to her tonight. Don’t worry, I’ll only hurt him if he hurts her again. B
e back in a little.” And he was out the door as well.

  “I wouldn’t suggest having me anywhere around that boy again, Kat. I’ll kill him if I ever see him again,” Darien said evenly, a dark edge to his tone.

  I smiled sadly. “Probably a good idea, ‘cause I might just end up helping you.”

  ___________________________

  I woke up early on Saturday, nerves sabotaging my desire to sleep in. I was going to Ms. Haid’s so that she could begin tutoring me in the art of magic. As I headed out the door in dark jeans and a green t-shirt, I told Darien a little white lie; I said that I was going to see one of my Professors to get some help on a subject I was having difficulty with. I just didn’t elaborate on the subject.

  Ms. Haid lived in an apartment complex in one of the nicer parts of town, down in the Spring Valley area. Her apartment was on the third floor and I had to be buzzed in by security to even get into the building. I knocked on her apartment door with one minute to spare and it was opened a moment later.

  I was a little surprised to see Ms. Haid in her home environment. At school she wore blouses, even if they were tight and sexy, and knee length pencil skirts, but in her own home it was much different. Her blonde hair was pulled up in a ponytail just messy enough to take the severity out of it, and she wore a hot pink, spaghetti-strapped short tank, along with well-worn denim shorts that weren’t overly short. On her feet were a pair of nicer flip-flops, showing off brilliant red polish on her toe-nails. Her face was make-up free, not that she really needed it. She looked really young, my age.

  “Is something wrong?” she asked me as she shut the door behind me then motioned that I should follow her into a spacious living area.

  “No. You just look so… normal,” I replied, laughing a little and waving a hand at her.