by Elodie Colt
Her carefree laughter evoked a memory. Chris was right. Her smile was beautiful, and this was the first time I was the initiator.
“What if I don’t learn to control it in time?” she whispered, all humor gone, and voice layered with fear.
“In time for what?”
“Before I hurt someone. You saw what happened when it gets activated. Sometimes it’s harmless, but other times…” She trailed off, not needing to explain.
“Don’t worry. Now that we know what we’re dealing with, we can work with it.” I hoped. “You’re stronger and more self-restrained than most students here. You will make it.”
“But none of you know of anyone with this kind of ability, right? Who’s supposed to train and show me how to control it if there is no one with experience?”
“We also didn’t have a clue about Jenna’s ability, and she learned to wield it.”
Haylie’s eyes sliced into mine in sheer disbelief, her brows shooting to her hairline. “Are you serious?”
Okay, wrong thing to say. Jenna had died in the end because of the opposite reason. Pain stabbed through my heart, but I repressed it.
“Jenna was fighting with psychological issues. Mentally, she wasn’t strong enough and feared her power too much.” And Jenna hadn’t reached the Awakening, but I didn’t want to delve into this yet. She would learn about this biological process soon enough, and in no case would I be the one to explain it to her… neither in this lifetime nor the next.
“I’m afraid of my power, too,” Haylie exclaimed, her voice rising.
Trembles started to shake her, and her breathing became faster. I foresaw the Flare before it occurred and rushed over to her. Her knees buckled, and I grabbed her shoulders. My touch brought her out of her uncontrolled state, and she steadied immediately, her questioning eyes darting up to me.
“You’re stronger than that. You’re stronger than Jenna would have ever been. We will get through this. Together,” I emphasized.
Her jaylior eyes were still locked on mine in doubt, and it was the first time I didn’t feel any negative emotions toward her—no reminders of Ricky, Jenna, or Shawna.
Just her. Haylie.
A young woman who was my responsibility.
I wouldn’t fail her, no matter the cost.
~~~
Jimmy gave me an approving clasp on the shoulder. “Well done, Dylan. I knew I could count on you.”
I snorted. No idea what I’d done to make Haylie open up to me, but whatever it was, it worked. I felt strangely at peace. Despite my efforts to scare her off and put a wedge between us, she’d confided in me. She trusted me and counted on my help.
“So, how are we going to handle this? This is new to all of us,” Chris threw in.
“I think additional training with Lisa would be the best for her,” Jimmy suggested. “Haylie needs to get to know what power is residing inside her, and Lisa will help her achieve that. The more stable she is mentally, the better she will be able to control it.”
“I fear her power is more developed than Jenna’s was when she first discovered her ability. She’s not only able to manipulate her own gravity but can also direct it at others, as she did with the Hunter the night of the attack. I think her power is more complex than we can imagine,” I spoke my thoughts aloud.
“Lisa will get to the bottom of this. Scott, I want you to do some research on the physical matters of gravity. She will need to learn about the scientific aspects.”
“Yay…” was Scott’s unenthusiastic reply. He earned a scolding look from Jimmy, so he added in defeat, “I’ll see what I can do.”
“I talked to her today, and she seems… I don’t know, restless. I guess she needs a break. Would you mind if I go out with her sometime?” Sarah asked Jimmy, who was already shaking his head vehemently.
“Too risky. Now that we know about her ability, we need to be more careful than ever. Besides, the Hunters expect her to come out of hiding. They will be mingling everywhere.”
“You already allowed her to go on a mission,” Sarah reminded him.
“That was different. She was in a hospital and not roaming the streets in the middle of the night. And she had Dylan for protection.”
“I’ll join you. I’m dying to get out of here, anyway. I could use some fun,” Chris suggested. I ground my teeth. Slowly but surely, my patience with Chris was wearing thin.
“Since when do we allow Freshmen to leave the compound after such a short time? She’s the most dangerous of us, and you want to let her out there? You’ll play her directly into Dorian’s hands,” Cassie interjected, being against everyone and everything, once again.
“Haylie isn’t just any Freshman, Cassie,” Sarah countered, rolling her eyes. “We can’t treat her like everyone else. She’s not a teenager anymore with parents waiting for her at home. She’s older than every student here. She misses her friend, Lauren, and wants to meet with her. If Chris and I join her, it should be protection enough.”
Jimmy moaned, as usual struggling with denying sweet Sarah anything. “I don’t have a good feeling, guys.”
“We’ll go to a crowded place. Somewhere far away where they won’t expect us to go. No Tracer will be able to track her down, and the Watchers won’t catch us either. And if she uses her contacts, she won’t be recognizable to them from afar. She needs the distraction, Jimmy. She’s been here for how long now? One month? Two? If you want her to be mentally strong, you need to loosen that leash of yours a little bit. She’s training hard to catch up, and honestly, she doesn’t look healthy. She’s tired and worn out. She won’t be able to get a hang on her ability in this state. We all know it’s risky, but have you ever thought that maybe we overdid it with Jenna?”
A growl formed in my stomach. Sarah was skating on thin ice, and I threw her a sharp glance in warning, which she chose to ignore.
“Despite our intentions to keep her safe, maybe we’re strangling her. Letting off some steam will be good for her.”
“I’ll go, too. I can keep an eye on things,” Phil suggested.
“I’m in,” said Josh and high-fived Phil with a grin.
Chris threw me a questioning look. Going out was exactly what I needed but with Haylie in tow? We’d come to a truce the night before, but we were still far away from friendship or any other stable relationship. Too many things were unspoken, too many barriers still standing between us. Could I forget all this for one night?
Then, I glanced at Chris wearing a crooked grin. Who knew what Chris would be up to when alone with Haylie?
“I’m in. Two Fighters are enough bodyguards, don’t you think, Jimmy?” I said, never removing my eyes from Chris who stared back at me with a challenging smirk.
“Fine. But I expect you all to keep your eyes open, okay?”
“Where are we going?” Cassie asked, and all eyes switched to her, raised eyebrows everywhere. “What? Do you think just because your precious Natural is going, I’m going to stay here missing all the fun?”
“This is ridiculous,” Haylie muttered for the third time, blowing the black bangs of her wig out of her face in annoyance. The motion, along with a little pout, looked so cute, my lips secretly curled into a smile.
“You can take it off as soon as we’re inside,” Sarah said.
“I just don’t understand how me changing my appearance makes any difference. If they have Watchers out there, they would recognize you all, nevertheless. They know most of you.”
“Yeah, but they wouldn’t have a reason to attack us if they don’t know you’re with us, so stop complaining,” Sarah snapped and slapped Haylie’s arm away to stop her from ruining her fake hairstyle.
Phil and Josh got into the car waiting for us at the southern entrance, and the others followed. Haylie got sandwiched between Chris and Sarah in the middle row, while I had to share the back row with Cassie. Although we had plenty of room for two people, Cassie deliberately pressed her body to mine. I couldn’t scoot away, though, as I wa
s already sitting as far to the edge as possible.
We drove for about ten minutes when Cassie rested her hand on my thigh. I was close to slapping it away but thought better of it. I didn’t want to make a scene in the car.
A long queue was already forming in front of the club when we arrived. Hell’s Trial was a famous club and bursting full every weekend. Phil parked the car opposite the building.
“Your turn, Josh,” Cassie urged him on.
“It’s not so easy, there are too many people. I need to get closer,” Josh answered and stepped out of the car.
“What is he doing?” Haylie asked curiously.
“Watch,” Sarah replied with a grin on her face.
We all waited, watching Josh who pretended to stroll down the sidewalk. A few minutes later, he walked back to the car.
“The password is ‘Zombie.’ Seems like our lucky day, you’ll get three for two,” Josh informed us.
“Yes!” Sarah exclaimed, and we all stepped out of the car. When she noticed Haylie’s quizzical look, she explained, “Josh was listening for the password needed for the VIP area. We won’t have to wait in line and, as you heard, tonight is Zombie night!” Haylie’s look grew even more irritated as Sarah dragged her along.
“Don’t worry, we won’t be attacked by flesh-eating creatures. It’s a cocktail,” Chris enlightened her, draping his arm around her shoulders. I suddenly felt the urge to make the same wrist-twisting move with Chris’ arm I was teaching my students.
“Sounds deadly.”
Cassie took the lead in front of us, her five-inch heels clicking in a staccato on the ground. To be in line with the dress code, all of us wore dark clothes, but Cassie was flamboyant, as usual. She wore tight, black leather pants with loose threads on the sides and a ridiculously short leather jacket covering only half of her glittering top. To add to the gothic look, she’d changed her straight blonde hair to long, black curls.
“Zombie!” Cassie whisper-blurted out in front of the big security guy who stayed completely unfazed by her enthusiasm. He gave us a quick once-over, nodded shortly, and opened the door at the side entrance. We all earned jealous looks from the partygoers who were freezing their asses off waiting to get inside.
The club was exactly like I remembered it. Everything was painted black or covered with black fabric. Pentagrams and other satanic symbols decorated the area, most of them illuminated in shades of orange and red. Fake mist floated over the ground giving the club an eerie glow. The VIP area was on the upper level and made a U-turn around the club. Balustrades made of glass fenced the top floor, giving the VIP guests an unobstructed view of the main floor below.
“I’ll go get changed,” Haylie shouted over the music, and Sarah followed her to the restroom while Cassie went to the coat check to hand in her jacket. I wore the only pair of black jeans I owned, a black t-shirt with a faded rock logo, and a wristband overlaid with metal studs.
“We’ll go fetch some drinks,” Josh announced and strode off with Phil to the bar where two male bartenders with devil’s horns on their heads were mixing drinks. Meanwhile, Chris and I strolled over to the glass balustrade to take in the scene.
Dancers crowded the main floor, all of them hypnotized by the vibrating bass and the blue and red spotlights. The song faded to a rock song, and the crowd went crazy to Metallica’s ‘Enter Sandman.’
The people below wore all kinds of costumes—most of the girls barely covered by pieces of fabric, leather, and latex showing off tattoos and piercings of all kinds. A few even wore flashing contact lenses in yellow or red.
I was glad to see the female waitresses still stuck to their corporate wardrobe. Usually, I wasn’t a fan of stockings and preferred bare skin, but the fish-net style covering long legs and tight corsets wrapping the upper bodies left little to the imagination. I wondered if Haylie would feel comfortable in a place like this, considering she’d been working in a run-down biker bar with an entirely different clientele.
A hand snaked around my shoulder, and I turned to see Cassie grinning up at me, her glossy lips reflecting the spotlights. I didn’t miss her accidentally pressing her breasts against my upper arm.
“You still owe me a dance from last time, remember?” she purred seductively in my ear.
Oh yeah, I did remember. I’d given Cassie a poor excuse about not feeling well and left the club early, only to ditch her because of a sweet brunette I’d screwed in the emergency exit later—twice. If Cassie only knew how many women she’d had to share me with…
“Maybe later. Let’s have our… drinks… first…” The words died on my tongue when I saw Sarah coming out of the restroom, followed by…
Black, ankle-high boots strapped with overlapping metal buckles. Dark low-rider jeans layering long legs and hanging on perfect hips. A wine-red leather top, tight as a second skin, corded in the middle from top to bottom and giving view to a plunging neckline. It left a nice strip of bare skin around the sexiest hipbones I’d ever seen.
I didn’t need to look up to know whom that gorgeous body belonged to.
But I did look up. Needed to.
And in that exact moment, as if she’d rehearsed the scene with the DJ, the intro from Pop Evil’s ‘Boss’s Daughter’ started to blare from the sound system, and the lyrics couldn’t have been more fitting:
That girl, she’s a loaded gun
Gonna take ‘em out take ‘em one by one
She knows when she’s dressed to kill
She’ll put a bullet in your heart just to feel the thrill
Her boots hit the floor in time with the rocky beat, and a few guys whipped their heads around to check her out. No, not a few… all of them. Even the ones flirting with the half-naked waitresses got wide-eyed as Haylie glided past them, seemingly oblivious to her effect on the male population. I didn’t miss Chris straightening beside me as she approached us.
And the song reached the chorus, the main singer’s rough voice roaring through the club:
She’s hell on heels
She turns my wheels
With her devil smile and her angel eyes
And she’s got me all hypnotized
Just as Cassie was about to turn around to see what had captured our attention, Josh and Phil came to a halt in front of us with a tray full of cocktails in their hands and obscuring my nice view.
“Party time,” Josh exclaimed, handing out the cocktails in glasses with glowing red bottoms.
“Just in time,” Sarah said. We took the cocktails Josh offered.
“Oh, I forgot, you aren’t allowed to drink tonight,” Haylie said to Phil who held a bottle of soda in his hands.
“It’s okay, alcohol doesn’t agree with me. I’ve been drunk once, and believe me, it’s hell when you’re a Watcher and get dizzy. So, I’m always on driver duty,” Phil explained, and Haylie smiled in return.
“Alright, let’s have fun tonight, guys!” Josh shouted, and we all raised our glasses in a toast.
Yeah, I had mixed feelings about how much fun the night would bring. Cassie barely glanced at Haylie when they clinked glasses. I had a hard time giving Haylie a nonchalant glance when we clinked ours, not wanting to be caught checking her out.
“What’s in there?” Haylie asked suspiciously after taking the first sip and licked her lips. The movement immediately caught my attention, and for a second, the only thing I could think of was clamping her lower lip in between my teeth before licking those luscious lips myself. “It tastes as if it could power my car,” she added in a tight voice, trying not to cough.
“Orange juice, lime juice, and grenadine syrup,” Chris informed her with a grin, and Haylie shot him a dark look. “What? It’s true,” Chris mocked.
“In addition to rum and cherry brandy,” Sarah clarified. “It can disarm you pretty fast, so drink slowly if you’re not used to alcohol.”
Haylie chuckled. “In case you forgot, I’m a bartender. Becoming resistant to alcohol is part of the job. Granted, I’m more f
amiliar with shots and the simple cocktails rather than the exotic ones.”
“Well, I won’t say no to a tequila or two, later.”
We enjoyed our drinks for a few more minutes. It was funny, though. Cassie stood next to Haylie, both making a gorgeous sight. I dared to admit that I wouldn’t say no to a threesome with them.
On the left was Cassie who could barely walk straight in her tight leather pants and pointed, pencil-sharp heels. Her breasts were nearly spilling out like a stamp with Come, Take Me on it. Thick, black eyeliner outlined her eyes, and she sucked on her straw awkwardly to avoid messing up her gloss. Her hair, which she’d changed to a deep jet black with her Shifter ability, contrasted with her pale skin and was stiff and coarse from tons of hair spray.
And then there was Haylie on the right side. Her stance was casual, one of her hands buried in her pockets. She wasn’t showing off her breasts as Cassie did, but she didn’t need to, as hers were at least one cup size bigger… probably two, and another reason for Cassie to loathe her. Her luxuriant hair was again held in place by her hair clip, only lower and more disheveled, escaping strands part of the frayed look and giving her a tinge of wildness. She’d highlighted her eyes with smoky eye shadow, transforming her innocent face into a darker one and giving it a mysterious look. She removed the straw and drank from her cocktail glass, not needing to take care of lip gloss. Her many bracelets clinked with the movement. It was funny how accustomed I’d grown to the sound.
So, there was the one who was trying desperately to be the center of attention, and the one who didn’t try at all. The sex appeal Haylie exuded was unconscious and innate, whereas Cassie’s was practiced and superficial.
Chris must have thought the same because he couldn’t take his eyes off of Haylie. If he stared one second longer, I’d be forced to grab his straw and poke his eyes out.
“When will your friend arrive?” Chris asked, leaning dangerously close to her.
“Should be here any minute. I texted her the password,” Haylie answered with a flick of her hair. Josh and Phil only had eyes for Cassie. Unfortunately, she didn’t have any eyes for them and snuggled closer to me, attaching herself to me like a monkey.