His gaze drifted down, unable to look me in the eye. He swallowed sharply and looked lost for words.
At school, he usually was the center of attention, spinning tales. Not Awkward and shy. Right now he was acting like I usually did.
“I saw the game last week,” I lied, mustering some enthusiasm.
I'd been in bed, healing a broken arm, three broken ribs, and a bruised tushy. But I had heard about the game. The school had been abuzz with the victory our team had pulled from the jaws of defeat all morning.
Hockey is a big deal here. Kind of like football in the South.
“You were amazing.” My voice came out two octaves higher than usual, shrill and fake to my ears.
His lips broke out in a huge grin, pride lighting up his face and adding a sparkle to his eyes. The effect turned him from someone you’d only notice because of his size to someone it’d be hard not to notice.
His smile was infectious. This time it was me that looked away, my cheeks heating up. I wasn’t used to male attention. I kind of enjoyed the butterflies in my stomach.
Immediate guilt dragged the good sensations down into a pit of cold reality. It didn’t matter that he was growing on me. Nothing could happen. Relationships based on lies seldom work out, Elena being the exception. So far, at least.
I wiped the smile from my face and turned to look out the window, giving him a literal cold shoulder.
Better not to lead him on.
Lucas cleared his throat. “Did you get your paper done, Lex?”
“You sound like my brother.”
I didn’t hide the irritation in my voice. Garret’s feelings I could protect by being a bitch. I was the one who needed protection from Lucas.
“Lanie told me your brother raised you. What happened to your parents?” Lucas flinched as soon as the words were out of his mouth. At least he recognized what a douchebag thing it was to ask.
Garret rescued me from having to answer.
“I’m adopted. I get that question all the time,” Garret said dryly. “People don’t think before blurting out crap.”
“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean—”
“You passed it.” I watched us drive past Olive Garden. I could already imagine the heaps of pasta smothered in creamy white sauce and warm breadsticks to mop up remnants of calorie dense goodness.
“Sorry, Lexi,” Elena said, not sounding the least bit sorry. “Lucas is gluten-free, so we’re going to St. Rodizio’s.”
Steak? I couldn’t afford steak. Looked like it was a side salad and water for dinner.
“Nice bait and switch there, Lanie,” I said, lightly, refraining from letting the rest of the car hear my annoyance.
“Why don’t you eat gluten?” Garret asked.
“Celiac.”
Lie. Nephilim are immune to human diseases, just like I am. I wondered what his beef with bread was really about.
He was probably worried about his figure.
As soon as Lucas put the car in park, I was out the door. Outside, I could breathe again, no longer suffocated by Lucas’ overpowering aura. I was never going to get through dinner and a movie until I got a hold of myself.
You would think having lived with Damian for eighteen years I would be used to it, but there were subtle differences between them. Damian’s presence soothed while Lucas made me feel like an agitated cat. I couldn’t explain why.
I rushed to the front door of the restaurant, ignoring Elena’s call behind me. The more distance I had the better I could regain my focus.
“Excuse me,” I mumbled as I brushed past hungry patrons still waiting to be seated.
I stopped abruptly when I realized I was heading the direction the bathroom would have been if we were at Olive Garden as promised.
I had no idea where the bathroom was here.
I looked around, feeling like I was in one of those horror movies where the heroine is being hunted by the indestructible serial butcher, and she has no idea where to go, but you already know she’s going to bite it in five minutes so really whatever she does is pointless.
Garret hurried through the door, taller than anyone else in the room. He waved so I would know he was there. I pointed to my left and my right, mouthing the word bathroom.
He shrugged and mouthed back sorry.
Apparently, he wasn’t a steak guy either. I bet he loved pasta.
Elena and Lucas entered holding hands. I tried not to gag.
Maybe Garret and I could ditch the lovebirds and walk over to Olive Garden. It was only down the street.
And maybe I should suck it up and not lead the human on.
I turned around, went right, and stumbled my way past servers and busboys. One harried woman, arms stacked with heaps of food I couldn’t afford but that my belly wanted to eat, pointed me in the right direction.
I burst into the bathroom and rushed over to the sink. Gripping the porcelain tight, I bent my head down, closed my eyes, and tried to steady my breathing. In. Out. One, two, three in. One, two, three out.
I turned the cold water on and splashed two heaping handfuls of water on my face, cooling my fevered cheeks. Even half-way across the restaurant, I could feel him. A siren call. Tempting me to paradise. Promising me a life of no worry and no regret. A place to belong.
I’m not stupid. I know how that ends. I’ve read the Odyssey.
I looked at myself in the mirror and cringed. My pseudo bath had smeared my makeup, droplets of foundation and black mascara running down my cheeks.
I looked like a sad clown.
I grabbed a handful of towels and scrubbed the makeup off my face.
My blotchy, red face made me look like a train-wreck addict but who cared? I wasn’t trying to impress anyone.
My chest tightened. Maybe I shouldn’t lie to myself. I knew who I had dressed up for. It wasn’t my date.
I was such a shitty friend.
I splashed more cold water on my face, practiced a few more deep breaths, and went back out into the lion’s den.
The scent of ripe oranges and lemons hit my nose before the door even shut behind me. Lucas leaned against the wall, eyes focused on the girl’s bathroom, apparently waiting for me.
His arms were crossed, a bewildered expression on his face like he had no idea why he was stalking me, and it was somehow my fault.
“What do you want?” I asked, intending for the words to come out cutting. Instead, I sounded more wistful, dreamy even.
I disgusted myself.
He pushed himself off the wall and came inches from my body, close enough that I could feel the heat radiating off his body.
He was part angel. I was part demon. We should have repelled each other like two opposing magnets. Why was there this pull between us then?
He brushed the back of his hand against the sleeve of my blouse. I held my breath, waiting for what he’d do next.
I stared at his hand, still pressing lightly against the fabric. I couldn’t raise my eyes to meet his. I didn’t know what I’d see in their depths.
The moment stretched as if we were stuck in an infinite loop of awkwardness.
One of us had to break the spell before someone noticed. I chanced a glance up. His eyes narrowed, lips set in a hard line.
He saw me as an enemy. A threat.
My flight instincts kicked in and I pulled away, not wanting to start a fist fight in the middle of the steakhouse.
He grabbed my arm. “I know what you are.”
“Yeah, pissed off. Take your stinking paws off me, you damn dirty ape.”
He tilted his head to the side, a dumbfounded look crossing his face. “Did you just quote Planet of the Apes?”
I sighed. Demons and angels. Eternal enemies. Why can’t we all just get along?
I tried to pull my arm from his grasp, but he only tightened the hold. I was trained to defend myself against demons, sentinels, and whatever else was stupid enough to pick a fight. For some reason my fist refused to flatten his face.
&
nbsp; “Let go,” I said, making the threat of what I would do if he didn’t unspoken but unmistakable.
“Stop trying to run away and I will.”
“You’re hurting me, asshole.”
He released my arm. At least he had the decency to look ashamed.
“Sorry.” His fingers ran through his hair. “It’s important we talk.”
I gestured around the busy restaurant. “Here?”
“Not here. Somewhere we won’t be overheard.”
I snorted. Like hell was I stupid enough to go anywhere alone with him. Curious eyes kept him from trying to kill me.
“No reason for us to talk. Elena is the only connection we have.”
“This isn’t about Elena.”
No shit. I narrowed my eyes hoping that my blotchy face didn’t cancel out the menace I was trying to project. “You don’t want me as an enemy, Lucas.”
He looked taken aback. “Huh? I thought—”
“Thought what? I wouldn’t put up a fight? I ain’t going to lay down and show my belly, but I’d prefer not to hurt Elena by breaking every bone in her boyfriend’s body.”
A look of wry puzzlement came over his features. “I think you’ve got the wrong idea, Lex. I don’t want to fight you.”
My heart leaped into my throat. Nausea gleefully rolled in my stomach. I’d rather face down a dozen frog demons than this one, confusing boy.
“What do you want?”
“To know you,” he said, his voice a sultry purr.
A chill swept across me. They needed to turn up the heat in this place.
“What does that even mean?”
He licked his lips, insatiable hunger in his blue eyes. “I’ve never known anyone like me before.”
I scoffed “I’m not like you.”
“I can feel your essence as intimately as I can my own.”
“That’s creepy.” I raised my voice. “Leave me and my essence alone.”
He rolled his eyes. “Keep your voice down. We don’t need any attention.”
“Do you think before you start quoting from the creep handbook?”
“Why are you so difficult? I’m just trying to connect with someone who should get where I’m coming from.”
“Angels and demons don’t mix.”
He cocked his head to the side. “I’m not an angel.”
“You may as well be. My half-otherness repels your half-otherness. We’re like an acid and a base.”
He smirked. “So we neutralize each other?”
“Okay, it was a bad analogy, but my point stands.”
“I’m not repelled by you.”
He needed to stop with the suggestive tone in his voice. It would give a girl the wrong idea.
“Then your nephilim sense is broken.”
“I thought maybe we could be friends.”
The way he said friend sounded like being pals was the furthest thing from his mind.
“I don’t want to be your token cambion friend.”
“You won’t even give me a chance?”
I swear he pouted. He must not have been used to rejection. Looking at him, I wasn’t surprised. A girl would have to be blind to be uninterested. Even then, his scent was as intoxicating as his smile.
I bit my lip, looking away from him. I don’t hate nephilim. I mean, how could I? Damian was a nephilim, and he was the best person in the world.
Lucas didn’t seem like a threat anymore. It would be nice to have someone, anyone, who understood what it was like hiding who they are every day. The appeal of having someone I didn’t have to pretend with was strong.
My loyalty to Elena was stronger.
“I’m not interested.”
He was still standing too close like he didn’t realize what a personal bubble was.
“I’m not giving up, Lex. You’ll find I can be very persistent.”
“There are laws against that.”
He smirked. It was dangerously sexy on him.
“What’s going on?” Elena’s words cut through us like a samurai sword.
Shame set my cheeks ablaze. “Nothing.”
I inched away from him. I didn’t know what Elena had seen, but it was evident by the harshness in her voice she was displeased.
Lucas turned his smile to her. “Lex and I were just arguing over what would have happened if Rome had remained a republic.”
He really did have an obsession with the ancient world. I wondered if he knew Cleopatra had been a succubus and Marc Antony had been a nephilim, the first forbidden love story. I ignored the obvious parallels to our current situation. Especially considering how that story had ended.
Elena’s body visibly relaxed once his attention was back on her.
I tried not to be too green.
He strode over to her and whispered something in her ear that had her giggling like a two-year-old. He kissed her on the temple and left the two of us staring at his back as he strode away. An uneven mixture of anger, hurt, and longing twisted in my gut.
Once he was out of sight, Elena turned to me. “I like him, Lexi.”
The guilt was strong with this one. “I know.”
“Tell me what’s going on. I feel like I walked into a lover’s quarrel.”
“Nothing is going on. He took offense when I told him what I’d do if he hurt you.”
She looked unconvinced. “Don’t lie to me.”
“I have no interest in Lucas. And I promise he has no interest in me.”
Never in the history of the universe had a guy liked me over Elena. Lucas was no different. If I had been human, I wouldn’t have even been on his radar.
She closed her eyes and rubbed her temple. “Are you sure? He hasn’t shut up about you since yesterday.”
I cursed the thrill those words sent through my body.
“You’re my best friend. I would never do anything to hurt you.”
She gave me a weak smile. “I know. He makes me a little crazy.”
I walked over and hugged her. “Besties for life?”
She half-heartedly hugged me back but said nothing. Despite our physical closeness, the chasm between us stretched for miles.
All over a stupid boy.
Chapter 9
Both Elena and Lucas ignored me the rest of the date. I was all right with that. I picked at my salad, sulked during the movie, and avoided a hug from Garret as I rushed out of the car when it was finally over. No more double dates for me. Hell, no more dates period.
Lucas didn’t wait to see if I made it inside the house before speeding off. Good freaking riddance.
I unlocked the front door, hoping Damian was still gone, so I could just go up to my room and sleep. As soon as the door closed behind me, I could breathe normally again. No more choking on nephilim aura. No more pit in my gut because my best friend was probably not my best friend anymore. No more burden on my shoulders about saying the wrong thing and giving Garret the wrong idea.
I was home. My haven. Nothing could touch me here.
I didn’t even make it up two steps before a familiar head popped up behind the corner.
“How was your date?” Wes asked.
He’d taken off the suit jacket, leaving his unwrinkled, black dress shirt untucked from the waistband of his pants, the top two buttons unbuttoned and his tie half undone. His normally perfectly coiffed hair mussed like he’d either just woken from a nap or had spent the last hour rolling around in bed. I knew from experience that the disheveled look was almost as effective as the professional faux billionaire persona. I also knew it was intentional.
He looked ready to go out and woo the ladies. So why was he still lurking around in my living room at ten pm?
“Don’t you have a home to go to?”
He shrugged. “There’s food here. Stop changing the subject.”
“Why do you care?”
“That bad?”
I reached into my purse and threw the unused condom at his face. “Still a virgin.”
H
e caught it and stuffed it into his pocket, laughing. “Good. Don’t just give it up to the first guy to show interest.”
Ouch.
I glared at him. He still gave me that damn smug smile. I intensified the glare.
“I get that Sheol still treats their women like it’s the eighteen hundreds, but here it’s the twenty-first century. A woman’s virginity isn’t a currency, something to be traded for a good bit of land or a goat.”
His smile faltered. “I just don’t want you to make the same mistakes I did.”
“What mistakes?”
I didn’t believe Wes thought his horn-dog ways was a problem.
“You never answered my earlier question. How was the date?”
I sighed and plopped down on the step. I was too worn out to keep up the attitude.
Wes came over and sat next to me. He reached his arm around my shoulders and pulled me in close. “Tell Uncle Wes all about your terrible date.”
“You’re enjoying this, aren’t you?”
“Nah. I just want to help.”
He was the last person I should take dating advice from. “How’s the case?”
“I’m not supposed to tell you.” There was a mischievous twinkle in his eye. “But if you give me all the dirty details of your first date, I might be more open to letting a few things slip.”
Bastard. “Making me an offer I can’t refuse, huh.”
He grinned knowing he had me in his trap. “Spill, sunshine.”
“Ugh.” He had me right where he wanted me.
I gave him an abridged version that didn’t mention Lucas was a Nephilim. I also avoided admitting how he made me feel. Without those two rather important facts, it only took a couple minutes to spit it out. He looked unsatisfied once I finished.
“That’s not juicy at all. You holding back on me?”
He scrubbed the five-o-clock shadow on his chin. I liked the scruffy look. Made him look less uptight.
“So where are we on the case?”
He raised an eyebrow, still smirking. “We? Last time I checked you were off the team.”
“Temporary setback.”
“There’s not much to report. No sign of the kid.”
I mulled it over in my head. “If the sentinels have him, they would have informed his parents and moved them all to the safe zone.”
Nephilim Falling (Trenton Investigations) Page 5