by Jena Leigh
“Hey, Toad-face.” Cassie’s reluctant greeting was anything but sweet. “Shouldn’t you be off enjoying a night of debauchery at the Senior Campout instead of creeping on my girl again? What, was Jessica not there for you to fool around with?”
Connor’s smile vanished.
“O-kay!” said Kenzie. “And on that note, I think it’s time for us to call it a night. We should go say bye to Cil. Come with me, Cassie.”
Kenzie snagged Cassie by the arm and dragged her forcefully across the room before the blonde could say anything more.
Alex turned awkwardly back toward Connor. “I’m sorry. Cassie’s just a little… tense lately.”
“You know what? It’s okay,” said Connor. “She’s just being a good friend.”
The girls had reached Cil and Grayson in the far corner. Kenzie’s congratulatory comments seemed to have been interrupted mid-sentence by Grayson. Whatever it was he was saying had caused the entire group to send a worried look her way.
What was going on?
“Is something wrong, Alex?” asked Connor, following her distracted gaze. He took a step closer and ducked his head nearer to hers. “You know you can always come to me, right? If you need to talk?”
“Thanks, Connor, I—”
You need to hear this, Alex, Kenzie projected.
“I appreciate it,” she finished. “Thanks again for coming. I’ve got to go see what’s going on… But I’ll catch you later, okay?”
“Of course.” Connor smiled. “I’ll be seeing you.”
When Alex reached the group, Cassie slipped an arm around her shoulders.
“We’re having a sleepover at your place, Alex,” Kenzie announced.
Alex looked nervously between the members of their group. “Uh. Not that I’m not thrilled to have you two over, but… why?”
Grayson cleared his throat. “It might be best if you weren’t left alone for the time being.”
“What? Why?”
Cil hugged herself around the middle as she slowly scanned the faces in the crowd around them. “Earlier today, Masterson was spotted in Bay View,” she said. “He’s back, Lee-Lee.”
“Masterson’s in Bay View?” Alex followed her aunt’s lead and began scanning the faces of everyone nearby.
He’d promised to return for good, just as soon as Alex’s school let out for the summer. Looks like he was planning to keep his promise.
With the way Masterson could mimic other people, he could literally be anyone. No wonder Aunt Cil couldn’t take her eyes off the crowd around them.
What if Masterson was here, masquerading as one of the guests, and they didn’t even know it?
A chill rippled across the back of her neck. What if she’d spoken to him when she was making the rounds of the gallery and not realized it?
Something tugged at her memory.
“Hey, Alex.”
Connor had called her Alex not once, but twice.
He hadn’t called her anything but Lexie since the day they met.
And, okay, there was always the chance that dropping the nickname was just a reflection of the growing distance between them, but… what if?
Across the room, Connor stood admiring a tall, twisted cement and tile sculpture that had been placed upon a low pedestal. He was smiling and speaking cordially with the owner of one of the other downtown galleries.
Nothing strange there. Connor always did have a knack for charming adults.
She reached out to locate his thought signature amongst the crowd before realizing that she couldn’t. She’d let the ability fade out the day before, and never got around to refreshing it.
“I don’t want you to worry, Alex,” Grayson was saying. “We already knew that Samuel must have been keeping an eye on you somehow. It was simply a fortunate fluke that he was caught on camera earlier today. Confirming his presence here in Bay View doesn’t change anything.”
“Oh, bull,” said Cil.
Grayson looked to be at the edge of his patience. This must have been what they were arguing about earlier.
“If he’s here, then we need to be prepared. I don’t want Alex alone for an instant.” Cil insisted. “The only problem is that I can’t possibly leave this opening gala early. Maybe she should stay a night at the beach house instead.”
That caught Alex’s attention. She looked quickly away from Connor.
A night at the beach house? With Declan around?
No flippin’ way.
“What’s wrong with the sleepover idea?” she asked. “I’ll be fine with Cassie and Kenzie.”
“And I’m afraid I’ll be catching a flight to Washington as soon as I leave here,” added Grayson. “She’s more than welcome to stay there, of course, but I’m not sure anyone’s actually home. The house was empty when I left. Even Brian is staying at a friend’s tonight.”
Cil sighed. “If that’s the case, I’d rather have her at home. Lee-Lee, you’ll just have to stay with me here at the gallery until this party is over.”
Alex grimaced.
“Are you sure, Aunt Cil?” asked Cassie. “We ought to be alright by ourselves for the two or three hours until you make it home.”
“I may not be home until one or two in the morning, Cassie. And, no offense to you girls, but I’d feel better if you three weren’t alone in that house.”
Alex held back a sigh of frustration. It was going to be a long night.
“That’s an easy enough fix, I suppose,” said Grayson. “Mackenzie, call Declan. He can stay with you girls until Cil can make it home tonight.”
Great. Captain Jackass to the rescue.
She’d be better off spending her night making small talk with the frightening waif.
Kenzie pulled a face. “Uh, about that…”
Grayson tilted his head back, as though searching for strength in the sight of the exposed ductwork high above his head. His eyes closed as he let out a breath. “Where is he?”
“Kilkenny. With Aiden.”
Kilkenny?
They’d gone to Ireland?
“What are they doing in—You know what? Don’t tell me. I don’t want to know,” said Grayson. “Call Nathaniel instead.”
As Kenzie stepped away from the group to make the call, Alex’s gaze returned to Connor. He’d moved on to another piece, but was staring over the top of it—directly at her. He smiled, seemingly embarrassed at being caught, and sent her a quick wave before looking away.
Alex slipped the cell phone from her purse and stepped aside to make a call of her own.
Someone answered on the third ring.
“Does this mean you’ve changed your mind?” The voice was nearly lost beneath the roar of music and conversation going on in the background. “Please, tell me that’s what this means.”
Alex looked toward the sculpture Connor had been inspecting mere moments before.
He was gone.
“Lexie? Are you there?”
Alex swallowed hard. Frantically, she searched the crowd for his dark hair and jet black suit—which, in this crowd, was like looking for a needle in a haystack.
“Connor, please tell me you just left the gallery and that all the noise around you is coming from one of the bars down the street.”
“What are you talking about? It’s senior campout. I’m down by Jackson Lake,” he said. The sound of music grew faint as he moved further away from the party. “Isn’t that why you’re calling?”
“Shit.”
“What’s wrong?”
Alex’s scan of the room came up empty. “He’s here.”
“Who’s there?” asked Connor. “What’s happening, Lexie? Are you in trouble? If you’re downtown, I can be there in ten minutes.”
Cassie broke away from the group and approached her. “What’s going on?”
“Masterson was here at the gallery,” Alex said, moving swiftly through the crowd toward the exit. Cassie followed a step behind her. “That wasn’t Connor we were talking to earlier—he’
s out at the lake. It was Masterson mimicking Connor’s appearance.”
Alex reached the towering double doors at the gallery’s entrance and pushed through them, stepping out into the muggy warmth of the evening.
“What?” Connor roared into the phone. “That asshole’s walking around with my face?!”
Cassie snatched the phone from Alex. “Keep your voice down, Toad. If you keep shouting crap like that in public, I will give your sorry butt the kicking it deserves.”
Without the phone to her ear, Connor’s reply was unintelligible.
The street was nearly deserted, with only a few girls milling around outside the entrance of a bar down the street. Masterson—or at least, Masterson as Connor—was nowhere to be seen.
“You too, sweetcakes.” Cassie’s voice was practically dripping with disdain. “Kisses!”
She ended the call and handed the phone back.
“Masterson must have figured out who it was I was calling,” said Alex.
Cassie took hold of her elbow. “Let’s get back inside.”
Alex didn’t budge.
“Move your feet, Lexie,” said Cassie. “We’re wide open out here.”
Why had Masterson shown up at the gala in the first place?
Was it a warning?
Any time he’d appeared before, it had been because she’d refused to use her abilities. Was that what this was about?
Or was this merely a sign of what was to come, now that he’d returned?
Currently, the only power Alex still possessed was her ability to jump. Everything else had faded out instead of being refreshed.
The odds were good that Masterson’s appearance here at the gallery was simply a reminder that she wasn’t doing what he’d told her to. It might even be why he’d allowed himself to be caught on camera earlier.
But why? Why was it so important to Masterson that Alex constantly maintain multiple abilities at once? What did he get out of it?
And what would happen if she continued to defy him?
“Don’t say anything to my aunt about this,” said Alex. “She’s worried enough as it is. And Grayson’s right—Masterson can get to me any time and any place he wants. If Aunt Cil knew he was here tonight, she’d freak. I don’t want to worry her any more than we have to.”
Cassie, surprisingly, didn’t argue.
They passed Grayson on their way back inside. He offered up a quick farewell before striding out the tall doors and into the warmth of the evening, in an obvious hurry to catch his flight.
There was another question.
What was it Grayson did during all those trips to DC? He seemed to be catching a flight there every few days. He was always back in Bay View within 24 hours. So what was he doing there that couldn’t be settled with a phone call or an email?
Cil had already returned to working the crowd, and was smiling politely at a small man with white hair and wire-framed glasses, while still sneaking the occasional worried glance at Alex.
Kenzie ended her cell call with a grunt of annoyance. “Nate’s not answering his cell.”
“Well, crap,” said Cassie. “At this rate, we’ll never convince Cil to let Alex leave this gala early. And I don’t know about you guys, but I’m about one snide comment away from snatching a cheese tray from the nearest attendant and smashing it over one of these faux artiste’s heads.”
“Actually,” Kenzie grinned. “I’ve got an idea… but Alex is not going to like it.”
— 26 —
“This was a terrible idea,” said Alex as they walked slowly down the narrow lane. “Do you even know where we’re going, Kenzie?”
“Of course I know where we’re going. My sense of direction is impeccable.”
Cassie wished she could read Kenzie’s expression, but the darkness surrounding them had made that impossible. It was just after one A.M. in this part of the world and a blanket of black clouds had turned the nighttime sky into an inky void. The only light they possessed shone brightly upon their feet as they carefully picked their way along the pockmarked road.
A low beep sounded from Cassie’s phone.
The flashlight app she was using to illuminate the camera light on her phone was rapidly draining her battery. If they didn’t find that town Kenzie was babbling about soon, her phone would die completely.
It figured.
First time in a foreign country and instead of taking in the sights, Cassie was going to spend the night wandering aimlessly down a path frequented by the local livestock, in a pair of stiletto heels.
And a short dress.
And did she mention that it was windy and damn near freezing out tonight? Because it was.
“So that wrong turn back at the pond was… what?” asked Alex. “The scenic route?”
“Now you’re getting it,” said Kenzie.
A white lie to Cil earlier had earned them their desired freedom.
They’d have their guardian for the evening—they just needed to pick him up first. When Cil wrongly assumed Alex and the girls would be jumping somewhere to pick up Nathaniel, they hadn’t bothered to correct her.
To say Alex was less than thrilled with the decision was an understatement.
She was still nowhere near ready to forgive Declan for kissing Jessica—even if he had been suffering the effects of mind control at the time it happened.
“Pothole!” chimed Kenzie.
Cassie stepped to the side of the road to avoid the massive crater, the toe of her red heels sinking into something she assumed had been left behind by a monstrously large beast.
Or maybe just a normally-sized sheep that was having a really bad day.
One or the other.
When Cassie learned about Kenzie and Declan’s former home in Kilkenny, Ireland, she’d assumed their old homeplace was located somewhere on the outskirts of the city.
As it turned out, she’d gotten that a bit wrong.
The O’Connell’s weren’t from the city of Kilkenny—they were from the County of Kilkenny. And near as she could tell from Kenzie’s description, this “town” in County Kilkenny was hardly a blip on the map.
It was, however, a blip with a bar. Which was what had drawn the two cousins here for a night on the town. According to Kenzie, this was something Declan did on a fairly regular basis, but Aiden usually passed.
“Kenzie, when was the last time you were actually here?” asked Alex, jogging forward to walk alongside her.
“Um,” said Kenzie. “A little over twelve years?”
Alex groaned. “Twelve years? No wonder we’re lost. And you said it’d be a quick trip! ‘Here and back and no one would be the wiser!’ Your words, remember?”
Cassie did the math. “You haven’t been here since you were five? How could you possibly know where it is you’re going?”
Kenzie sighed. “Okay, so maybe I haven’t been here in person since I was a kid, but I’ve seen it enough times in Declan’s head growing up to remember the way. The main road should be just on the other side of this hill.”
A shimmer of light caught Cassie’s eye.
The decorative buckles on Alex’s knee high boots were reflecting the moonlight as she moved.
Supposing they actually found the boys, Declan would be in for a definite surprise.
With her jade green dress that rippled around her as she walked and which stopped a rather attention-catching (yet still tasteful—this was Alex after all) distance above her knees, her short black blazer, and her black, high heeled boots, Alex looked amazing tonight.
Even more amazing than usual, which was definitely saying something.
The poor idiot wasn’t going to know what hit him.
Luckily for Cassie’s aching feet, Kenzie got the directions right this time.
As they reached the crest of the hill and turned a slight corner, there, stretching out before them, was the main road leading into town. It wound its way across an ancient stone bridge and toward the center of a small collection of build
ings.
Many of the structures were connected for two or three blocks at a stretch and the different sections were painted a wide array of colors, all now tinted a muddy yellow in the glare of nearby street lamps. A few unusual looking cars were parked along the curb—small, economy models that seemed completely foreign to Cassie—as well as a handful of aging work vans.
The town itself seemed strangely deserted for a Friday night. Where were all the people out celebrating the end of the workweek?
“What’s this place we’re looking for called, anyway?” asked Alex, scanning the names on the storefronts as they passed.
“Beats me,” said Kenzie. “But it shouldn’t be much farther.”
The windows they passed were dark, the street lamps reflecting off of the panes.
A sudden burst of loud music with an undercurrent of conversation broke the stillness of the night. It was coming from somewhere up ahead, just around the next corner.
Following the sound, the girls rounded the bend… only to plow headlong into a group of men walking in the opposite direction
Cassie—her feet already sore and her gait awkward from walking so far in the cutest (and therefore the most painful) pair of heels she possessed—promptly fell flat on her backside.
“You alright?”
A calloused hand took hold of her elbow and helped her back to her feet.
Cassie ran a hand through her hair, sweeping it away from her face to gain a better view of the man who’d just knocked her off, and then back onto, her feet.
The roadblock in question was in his early twenties, with dusty brown hair and a ruddy complexion. His plain appearance was sweetened by the embarrassed smile that graced his features.
“I’m so sorry, miss,” said the man. “Didn’t see you there.”
“Well now, lads,” said another man in the group. He was much burlier than his three companions—and he was leering down at Alex. “Seems tonight won’t be a total loss.”
Beside her, Kenzie tensed. Something about the large man set her friend seriously on edge.
“Excuse us,” said Kenzie politely, before grabbing both Cassie and Alex’s wrists and tugging them forward.
The giant and two of his friends closed in to block their path. The one with the pleasant smile didn’t move. In fact, he was now watching his companions with an expression somewhere in the neighborhood of concern.