Breaking Emma (A Divisa Novella) (Divisa series 2.5)

by J. L. Weil

  “What?” Angel feigned outraged. Not that I blamed her. Chase Winters was an overbearing asshole on a good day. Imagine him on a bad… I got the shivers. “Are you going to follow me into the girls’ bathroom?” she asked.

  I snickered to myself. At least this girl had spunk, which again made me wonder what she was doing with the likes of Chase.

  “If I have to,” he shot back. I could hear the annoying smirk in his voice. No doubt he would have enjoyed that.

  “Be serious, Chase,” Angel said.

  “I am actually. Look, last week Lexi and I sort of talked with administration,” he said.

  Oh no. I knew where this was going. The infamous Divisa eye rape. The one where they played scrabble with your mind. “We rearranged our schedules so that one of us will be in each of your classes.”

  It was just like Chase to implant himself into every aspect of what he felt was important.

  I waited for Angel’s response, hoping to get some more dirt. She just sighed.

  “Come on,” Chase said. “We need to get to class before we’re late. I wouldn’t want us to spend your first day back in detention. I have plans after school.”

  I bet he did.

  Still slumped in the front seat of my SUV, I grinned. Guess I knew what I was doing after the final bell.

  Trailing the suspect.

  Chapter 5

  The damn half-demon drove like a bat out of hell. I thought for sure, on more than one occasion, that I had lost sight of his car, which by the way just screamed, Look at me; I’m hot shit. For someone who wanted to stay under the radar, I didn’t think driving a car the price of a small house was the way to do it.

  But hey, what did I know? I wasn’t the one with demon blood.

  Following as far as I could without being detected was a lot harder than it sounded, especially when you were trailing a supernatural with bitchin’ abilities. It made it next to impossible, but I wasn’t just any yahoo. I had skills. Just a different set of skills, like normal ones.

  When he stopped at a lovely brick house on the outskirts of town, I wondered what he was up to. It looked like your average family home. Neat manicured yard. Two and half garages. A swing set in the back. But I smelled mischief. It was my God-given duty to find out what kind of dealings Chase Winters was into.

  I should have known that the low-life had ulterior motives.

  Shortly after a quick beep of the horn, out walked a girl with flaming red hair, four-inch spikes, and deadly cherry lips. I would have known that face anywhere. It wasn’t one easily forgotten.

  Sierra.

  That home-wrecker.

  Wow. It was like a two-for-one special.

  Wasn’t I the lucky one?

  The passenger side door opened, and Sierra slinked in like a feline in heat. I couldn’t even repeat what she had on. It was for rated X ears only. I actually had to fight to cover my eyes when she had walked out of her house. Did she not have an ounce of self-respect? Obviously someone was looking to get lucky.

  I’d always pegged her for a slut.

  Sometimes it was nice to be right.

  I half expected the windows to start fogging any second, and it made me wonder if poor little Angel knew about her boy Chase’s extracurricular activities.

  My guestimation…she was clueless.

  Good thing for her, I was going to do all the ladies who had fallen for Chase’s devious charm a favor. And soon. Maybe right now.

  Shifting lower in my seat, I was thankful for my tinted windows. My fingers fiddled with the blade in my hand, itching to make a move. I played it out in my head. Play by play. The facility manufactured its own weapons. It took a lot more than just any iron and silver to kill the supernatural. Like my blade, it was made from rubies and would work beautifully on Chase and his whore, provided I got close enough. Just a nick was plenty to cause searing pain, the distraction needed to issue the killing blow.

  I was parked a few houses down in some random person’s driveway. Hopefully Mr. and Mrs. Jones were still at work. Otherwise, this might have been an awkward situation to explain. Time ticked by, and the two half-demons did nothing but talk. Whatever it was they were discussing, it appeared to be important. I caught Sierra waving her arms like an octopus.

  What I wouldn’t have given to be a fly in the back seat of that atrociously gaudy car.

  I was already getting tired of staking out. It was time for some action. My muscles were screaming for me to get out of the SUV, so I scanned the area, preparing to make a move, and then the passenger door opened. Out slithered Miss I-wear-next-to-nothing. She leaned down giving the neighbors a peepshow and said something to Chase before closing the door.

  Damn it.

  There were just too many human eyes around. It surprised me that Sierra’s half-demon family lived in a suburban setting. Most Divisa like to live away from civilization, like the Winters. The fewer people they had to deal with the better.

  I waited until Chase pulled out and gunned his racecar engine down the road before I put mine in gear. It crossed my mind to follow him, but I didn’t want to push my luck for one day, so I headed home. Not that I was all too keen about going there either. It wasn’t exactly…inviting.

  The house smelled like meatloaf and mashed potatoes. My stomached growled in hunger pangs, and I salivated. I couldn’t remember when I had eaten last.

  My mom might not be the world’s greatest chef, but when you had been living off prison food, it tasted like five-star quality. Her meatloaf was more like one giant meatball with string cheese in the middle and spaghetti sauce drizzled on top.

  It was to die for.

  I shoveled a huge helping of potatoes into my mouth.

  “How was your day, honey?” Mom asked as she passed me a roll.

  I swallowed the lump of mash potatoes, afraid they might get lodged in my throat. “Umm, it was…” What the heck did I say? That I spent the whole day keeping tabs on half-demons? It just didn’t seem like appropriate dinner talk. “Kinda boring. I was in the car most of the time.”

  “Oh,” she replied, clearly as uncomfortable as I was.

  Awkward.

  No one wanted to bring up what it was that I really had been doing during my time home. It was apparently a touchy subject, so we avoided it like a bad case of the flu.

  Would I ever feel peace again in my own home? Or would there always be this weird vibe circulating in the air when I walked into a room? I wasn’t sure that my mom and Abi would ever really know me again.

  It was depressing, but I was just going to have to accept it. I struggled for something else to say, to keep the conversation flowing. “This is really good. I haven’t eaten a home-cooked meal in forever.”

  Fail.

  Dead silence.

  The silverware stopped clanking.

  Mom’s fork stalled halfway to her mouth.

  And Abi starred at me with those huge green eyes.

  There I went again, bringing up uncomfortable topics and shoving my foot in my mouth with the mashed potatoes. I had blundered the whole evening. Casting my eyes to my plate, I fought with a response to erase the tension. “Sorry,” I mumbled.

  A beat went by, and then my mom carried forth like that last few minutes hadn’t occurred. “Abi, why don’t you tell Emma what you did in ballet class today?” There was pride in her eyes.

  Abi played with the peas on her plate, making a funny face at them. She looked up when she heard Mom say her name. “A Tour en l’Air,” her soft voice said from across the table.

  I smiled gently at her, getting the feeling that I scared her. “Wow. That is impressive.”

  Encouraged, she continued, her peas forgotten. “I’m the only one in my class who can do it.”

  “She is a very advanced student,” Mom bragged.

  In this family, nothing less than perfection was accepted, and there was a time when I had been the apple of Mom’s eye. “Runs in the family. Do you remember that I used to dance before…�
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  Ugh. There I went again. After that I just shut up. I somehow couldn’t get out two or three sentences without bringing up the fact that I had been gone for over a year.

  Monkey nodded her head. “You were the best dancer.”

  Holy cow. This was the most Abi had said to me since I’d gotten home. She remembered. My throat got thick with emotion. Please, Lord, don’t let me embarrass myself further by crying. I didn’t want Abi to think me any weirder than she already did.

  The rest of dinner had been no less awkward than it had been the other night, and I retreated to my room the first chance I got. I flirted with the idea of going for a run to clear my head, but dismissed it as I let out a yawn the size of Nantucket.

  Behind closed doors, I exhaled. That had been exhausting. I felt like I had expelled more energy at dinner than I had all day glued to Chase’s rear end. After a quick, efficient shower, I sat down and began the process of detangling my long hair. Tossing the smooth strands into a ponytail, I pulled the covers back and got into bed. I hiked the blankets up to my chin and hugged Mr. Snuggles the bear to my chest.

  Sleep was a long time coming. My thoughts raced around in circles with the information I had learned today about Chase. There was more than meets the eye with him and his new neighbor. I felt it in my gut and something told me that I needed to find out what secret the two of them had. It might prove to be useful intel for the facility and maybe even in bringing down the infamous Chase Winters.

  Tomorrow was a new day. Possibly the day I killed him.

  Chapter 6

  Shopping used to be a pastime that I loved. Retail therapy, that was what I had called it. Whenever I had needed a pick-me-up, I went to the mall, such endless possibilities to cheer me up. Now, I did push-ups, ran a mile, or practiced with my longbow. They all soothed my mind in one way or another.

  I pulled the black hood down lower on my face as I trailed behind Lexi and Angel. The dynamic duo was engaging in Halloween shopping.

  I rolled my eyes under my hood.

  Lexi, as far as I was concerned, didn’t need a costume. She was already something scary.

  Today I decided to see what I could unearth about Angel, Chase’s obsession. Fine, so obsession might be a tad strong, but there was definitely something steamy going on between those two.

  After two stores, I thought maybe this had been a bad idea. I was already bored to tears, and I remembered how much Lexi loved to shop. There was an obsession for you. Lexi had an unhealthy fixation with filling her closet with more overpriced clothes than she could possibly wear in a lifetime.

  But then again, half-demons do live longer than we do. Maybe she was looking ahead to her future. I hated to be the one to disappoint her. All that money and time flushed down the toilet, because when I was finished with Spring Valley, there wasn’t going to be a demon infestation.

  I sighed in glorious relief when they got in line to check out. Lexi had some kind of Grecian getup draped across her arms. Shifting near the registers, I listened to them chat about going to some fabric store, and I groaned—maybe a little too loud.

  Angel scanned the waiting area as I feigned interest in a pair of glitter socks that lined the aisle near the registers. Who was I kidding? I didn’t look like the kind of girl that bought glitter anything. I looked more like I was on military leave.

  Lexi pulled Angel’s attention back to her as she went into full-out Lexi-chatter-mode. I actually felt sorry for Angel. Well, just a little bit. I had to stifle a snicker as I watched Angel fight to follow Lexi’s lively babble. Her head looked ready to combust. Apparently, I wasn’t the only one who wasn’t thrilled at Lexi’s shopping escapades. Chase’s girl looked like she was ready to blow this popsicle stand.

  And I was right there with her.

  Today might have been a bust, but I had something fun planned for the drive home. I thought this sleepy town needed a little action. A warning per se. Something to let Chase Winters know of things to come.

  As casually as possible, I dropped the glittery socks back on the shelf and headed for the exit. Having no interest in following those two knuckleheads to a fabric store, I pushed open the door. The cool air of October washed over my face as I shook the hood off my head. For the most part, I had tried to be invisible around town—always wore sunglasses, a hat, or something to conceal my identity. I wasn’t yet ready to make my debut back from the missing person flyers.

  It really wasn’t hard to slip by everyone unnoticed. I was a different person even without the disguise.

  Inhaling everything that I loved and missed about country air, I hopped into my car. There was only one way in and out of town. Main Street. Roaring the engine to life, I put the SUV in gear and headed out.

  A mile or so down the road I pulled over to the shoulder and drove my dark blue SUV as far into the overgrowth as possible, concealing it from the road. I hopped out of the car, grabbing my bow along with a sheath of arrows. I was dying to get in some target practice. The last thing I wanted was to let my skills get rusty, and I had just the perfect mark.

  There was nothing more serene and beautiful than the woods during autumn. The colors exploded before my eyes in apricot, garnet, and lemon. Pinecones littered the ground. I knew many who feared the woods of Spring Valley and rightly so. Stories and rumors about this placed swirled in the schools and in the community. Now with Halloween so close, I could feel the evil coming to life, like it was rising from the graves.

  But that didn’t scare me. Actually, I was excited.

  Totally twisted.

  I wouldn’t have minded a good kill. A lower demon would have been a welcomed sight as I stepped into the trees, my boots crunching on pine needles. Following the road, I hiked down the tree line looking for the ideal spot. It was all about location, location, location.

  I found a pack of bushes with thick piney branches close enough to the road. It was just what I needed, with enough coverage to hide me and still get a precise shot off. I really only had one chance to make this count. Removing the bow from my shoulder, I set it on the forest floor, preparing to take a few practice shots.

  A swarm of gnats circled my head, and I swatted the air. Damn bugs. I never minded the waiting game. It gave me time to sort through my thoughts or go over the plan in my head. Eliminate factors that might deviate or disrupt my line of fire.

  Kneeling on the ground, I lined up my bow with the road. Through a tiny break in the bush, I aimed my ruby-tipped spear. Everything I had on me was made from the stuff. Worked wonders on anything with demon blood.

  The first arrow soared through the air, landing on the other side of the road in the ditch. It felt amazing, powerful, having the bow in my hands. There was a burning in my forearm, letting me know that I’d gone too long without shooting.

  For the first time since I had stepped into Spring Valley, I felt at peace, in my element. I didn’t have to worry about saying the right things. I didn’t have to worry about anyone recognizing me here in the wild. The squirrels and birds didn’t care who I was, or what I was, as long as I wasn’t hunting them.

  In the distance, I heard the sound of tires crunching on the road and I stiffened. Locked and loaded, I held steady, waiting. Disappointment speared through me as a green Nissan something-or-other zoomed by. The tires kicked up a wall of dust as they skirted the side of the road. I thought about pelting the car with one of my arrows for driving like a maniac-douche-bag.

  Shaking my head, I centered myself and huddled in for the wait. Even with my hoodie on, there was a chill moving in with nightfall. Soon there wouldn’t be any light left, other than the silver of the moon.

  Ugh.

  I was starting to think this was going to be as much of a waste as my whole day had been. Hunkering at the sound of a fresh set of tires, I decided if this wasn’t the two chuckleheads, then I was going to call it a night.

  Someone upstairs must love me.

  A small white compact car came into view, and my heart kicke
d in my chest. Game time. Pulling the bow back taut, I aimed at the exact point I had calculated. I held my breath, and then as I released the rush of air from my chest, I let the arrow fly, seconds before her car was in my line of sight. The arrow swooshed through the air in a perfect executed arch, and I watched as the tip thunked into the back tire of her little white car.

  Bull’s-eye.

  My lips twitched in a half smile. The Fusion made a clunking noise as the rim of the wheel scraped against pavement. From my hiding spot in the woods, I crouched down lower behind the bushes. All too well I could imagine Lexi squealing like a girl. Angel still had me stumped, but I got the impression she was pretty levelheaded.

  From behind the cover of the bushes I saw Angel hop out of the car looking frazzled and extremely put out. “Shit,” she mumbled, staring at my masterpiece.

  Lexi popped out beside her and surveyed the damage. “I’ll call Chase. And Angel…” She glanced at her with alert eyes, knowing that the arrow was a sign of trouble. “Get back in the car.”

  Lexi had always been the bright, calmer one of the family, but it was no surprise at whom she immediately ran to at the first sign of danger.

  Chase. He was a savior in their eyes.

  Those two girls needed a reality check.

  They scurried back into the car, and I heard the doors lock. I didn’t need to see what was going on inside. They were without a doubt calling their back up, and I knew it was only a matter of minutes before he got here to save the day.

  Gag.

  It was so damn pathetic how they ran to him. I tried to hide my disgust and the urge to snort. The sun had started to descend darkening the woods at my back. Chase made an entrance. I didn’t think he could ever walk into a room and not have every eye glued to him. It was part of having demon blood, but even without that as a factor, Chase would turn heads.