“Oh.” Darcie’s disappointment came swiftly. She composed herself immediately. “I appreciate that. I really do.”
“So you will join us?” Kevin asked, sounding hopeful.
“I totally would, but I already made plans with my dad for tomorrow,” Darcie lied. “Next time.” She honestly felt awkward by the idea of intruding.
“Okay,” Kevin replied. “I’ll see you sometime after. Maybe we can drop by your place after the movie. I’ll have Marie text you.”
“Sounds good. Talk to you later.” Before Kevin could respond, Darcie ended the call. She made sure to turn off the sound before dropping the phone in her lap. She resumed reading.
“Trouble in paradise?” A masculine voice questioned. Darcie looked up from the book in her hands. The stranger across from her returned her gaze and waited for her reply.
“Excuse me?”
The man gestured to the phone in her lap. “The phone call. You seemed excited by it at first, but towards the end your body language changed.”
So much for thinking he wasn’t paying attention.
“Usually means there is trouble in paradise,” he finished.
Darcie figured out what he meant and quickly shook her head. “No. No trouble in paradise. That was just a friend.”
“Good.”
“Good?” Darcie tilted her head.
“Good you aren’t having trouble in paradise,” the attractive man explained, revealing a blinding white smile.
Not knowing what to say, Darcie gave an awkward shrug and picked up her book again.
“You look familiar,” the stranger continued, once again pulling Darcie from her reading. “Have we met?”
Reluctantly, Darcie looked up and examined the man. “I don’t think so.” There was no way she would ever forget seeing that face.
“How odd.” The man’s eyes grew pensive as he continued to stare at her. It seemed like he was trying to place where he’d seen her. Darcie shifted uncomfortably in her seat.
“I’m Thane.” The stranger stood up and extended a hand. “Nice to meet you.”
Thane, she repeated in her head. Not a typical name.
Not knowing what else to do, Darcie leaned forward and shook his palm. “Darcie.”
Thane tilted his head. “Darcie? That is an interesting name.”
Not as interesting as yours.
“My mom had a thing for Mr. Darcy,” she explained. “She wouldn’t let me being a girl stop her from naming me after him.”
Thane laughed. “Well, good for her. I think Darcie is a nice name. Very unique.”
“Thanks,” she smiled, feeling a little less awkward. “Did you recently move here? I don’t think I’ve seen you before.” Darcie might have been gone for two years, but Brunswick was a small town. Marie would have mentioned if a hunky stranger moved in during her absence.
“I’m visiting,” Thane revealed, moving to sit back in his chair. “Here for the lobster and all that.”
“Not usually the most popular time of year for tourists,” she pointed out.
“I also have work,” he provided.
Darcie nodded, running out of conversational pieces. “How are you enjoying Brunswick?”
“Very much. The city has its charm.”
“I agree.”
Darcie’s phone vibrated. She looked down and read a text from her dad.
“Sorry,” Darcie didn’t know why she was apologizing. “I have to go.”
She stood and started gathering her things. “Nice meeting you. I hope you continue to enjoy your visit.”
Thane stood and gave her a slight nod. “Thank you, Darcie. Maybe I’ll see you around.”
With an awkward shrug and wave, Darcie walked past him and towards the main entrance of the library. She chanced a quick glance back and saw he had returned to reading in his chair. She observed the back of his head for a moment before quickly turning back around.
That was unusual…
“Dad,” Darcie called, pushing open the front door with her hip. She used her butt to swing it wider to fit the large pizza box through the door. “I’m home. I brought food.”
“In here,” her father called from the room down the hall. Darcie walked to the kitchen to unload her arms before moving towards the study.
She peeked into the room before stepping into the open doorway. “Hey, Dad.”
“There you are,” her dad greeted with his back to her, continuing to type on his laptop. “How’s my girl? What did you do today?”
Darcie resisted rolling her eyes. He knew she was at the library. At least, he should have known. Darcie told him when she left that morning. “I’m fine. I found some interesting books at the library. What are you doing?”
“Finishing up an email to a colleague back in Greece. I’m asking him to send me copies of a certain chapter from one of the books in his collection.”
Work… go figure.
“I brought pizza. We should eat before it gets cold.”
“You go ahead and start. I’ll be there in a few minutes.”
Darcie shook her head and returned to the kitchen. She took two slices for herself before putting the box of pizza in the oven. Knowing her father, he would be at least thirty minutes.
She grabbed the remote and turned on the television. Darcie mindlessly watched an episode of the latest crime show while eating her pepperoni pizza. When she finished, she grabbed one of the library books from her backpack and continued reading.
Forty-five minutes later, her dad emerged from his study. Without asking, he automatically walked towards the oven to retrieve his lunch. They both knew the routine.
Grabbing a tray, her father sat beside her on the couch. “What are we watching?”
“Crime Scene Investigators.”
“Mind if we watch something else?”
Darcie handed over the remote and was unsurprised to see her dad immediately turn to the History channel.
Professor Abernathy did not watch the History channel for any scholarly pursuits. The History channel was his version of crappy reality T.V. The alien news pieces were the middle-aged man’s favorite shows.
“What does the rest of your day look like?” He asked when the show on deep-sea fishermen went to commercial. “Anything fun planned?”
Usually, Darcie’s response to the typical questions would be “No. Just hanging around the house.” Her Saturdays, along with every other day, were not full of fun activities.
However, this Saturday was different. It was the day she was planned to join Marie and Josh at the twenty-one and up club.
“Nothing until this evening,” Darcie responded, trying to sound normal. “I’ll be going over to Marie’s tonight.”
“That sounds nice. Is her brother back from school yet?”
“Not until the morning I think.”
“Those are some good kids. I’m glad you kept in touch with them.”
“Me too.” Darcie did not know what she would do if she didn’t have Marie as a friend. Her life would be one hundred times more boring, if that was even possible.
“Well, make sure you have fun,” her father surprised her by saying. He even managed to remove his brown eyes from the screen and focus on her. “It’s not often you leave the house. I want you to enjoy yourself.”
Darcie stuttered. “Th-Thanks, Dad. I will.”
“Will you be spending the night with Marie?”
Darcie nodded. The girls figured out their story after the meal at Joe’s. The club did not close until 3 a.m., and it would be suspicious if Darcie returned home at such a late hour.
“Alright. I won’t wait up for you then.”
The reality show came back on and that was the end of the conversation. Darcie almost wished her father would ask more questions to make sure his teenage daughter wasn’t doing anything suspicious. She didn’t know if the lack of interrogation stemmed from complete trust in her or complete indifference.
Darcie knew the thought wasn’t fair.
/> Growing up, the only family Darcie knew was her father. Both of her parents were only children, meaning she had no cousins or any family remotely close to her in age. She did not have a relationship with any grandparents. Her paternal grandparents died before Darcie was born, and her mother’s family lived overseas. Darcie was ten the last time she saw her maternal grandparents. The free-spirited travelers seemed uninterested in keeping in touch with their only granddaughter.
Once her mom abandoned them, John Abernathy was the only family Darcie had. She never felt a lack of love or affection from her single father.
However, as she got older, Darcie realized just how out of touch he could be when it came to raising a teenage daughter. But she couldn’t be too upset with him for it. Darcie knew he tried his best. After all, he was supposed to have a partner to help him.
Naturally, Darcie’s mind roamed to the subject of her mother. As always, she wondered what could have possibly happened to cause the woman to abandon her husband and only child. Didn’t maternal instinct make such actions nearly impossible for women to take? If the issue was her marriage, shouldn’t she have tried to take Darcie with her? The thought immediately sent a pang of sadness through Darcie’s chest. She couldn’t imagine growing up without her dad.
With effort, Darcie forced the troubling thoughts from her mind. She would never come up with an acceptable reason for her mother’s abandonment. There was no acceptable reason.
Her dad laughed at something an actor said on the show, drawing Darcie’s eyes to him. She couldn’t help but smile watching him enjoy such a ridiculous show.
The truth was, no matter how much it hurt to be abandoned, Darcie would not have traded her life with her dad for anything.
Chapter 3
The house’s maroon door opened as Darcie carefully walked up the icy driveway. “Ow, ow,” Marie cat called to the thin blonde, who was no doubt blushing from her friend’s antics.
“Sshh,” Darcie hissed glancing around at the surrounding houses to make sure no one heard Marie. She didn’t want any of the neighbors to see her current outfit. “Do you know how hard it was to sneak out looking like this? Stop drawing attention to us.” If she were being honest, it wasn’t that difficult. But had her dad not been glued to his laptop, Darcie was sure he would’ve had objections to the ensemble.
Marie made a point to look around. There was no activity around them. “Oh yeah, everyone is looking. Come on people, take a look at Darcie in a mini-skirt.”
Darcie finally reached the door. She pushed past her friend into the cover of the house, shivering from the cold. Marie laughed and closed the door.
“Chill out,” her friend instructed with amusement. “No one saw you.”
Darcie pulled down on the tight, black skirt. She was unsuccessful in lengthening it.
Marie saw the motion and frowned. “Stop it. You look great. You wear shorts that are shorter than that skirt all the time.”
“Yes, but this is different.” Darcie felt so much more exposed in the skirt than any of her running shorts.
“You look great, I promise. You will fit right in at the club.”
Knowing her friend would never let her change outfits, Darcie forced herself to try and deal with it. She straightened and adjusted her tucked-in blouse. The flowy top was made of a light blue material, and it lessened the scandalous nature of the outfit in Darcie’s opinion. She could not have handled wearing a tight top and a tight skirt.
“Where are you girls going tonight?”
Darcie’s heart skipped a beat at the sound of the familiar voice. She turned and looked up the stairs. Kevin walked down towards them. His eyes were assessing and, based on his expression, appreciative of what he saw when he examined Darcie.
She tried her best to fight off the blush.
Thankfully, Marie addressed her brother’s question. “We’re going to a friend’s birthday party. We will be out late. Don’t wait up.”
It was clear from Kevin’s doubtful expression he didn’t buy the story for a second, but he restrained calling his sister out on the lie. “Just be safe,” he instructed first to his sister and then to Darcie.
“Hi, by the way.” Kevin stepped towards Darcie and wrapped her in a hug. Not anticipating his embrace, Darcie’s arms were pinned under Kevin’s, resulting in her giving him an awkward pat on the back. “Long time no see.”
Kevin released her, but remained close in front of her. “How have you been?”
“Good.” The word sounded breathless. “You?”
Kevin’s smile grew. “I’m great. College is great.”
He paused, his eyes roaming her face. “But it is nice to be home.”
Darcie didn’t know what to make of his gaze. She opened her mouth to reply, but Marie interrupted.
“Alright, you two can catch up later. We’re going to be late.” Marie grabbed Darcie’s hand and pulled her away from her brother. “Remember, don’t wait up.” The girl continued to pull her friend out of the door.
“Be safe,” Kevin called from the doorway. Darcie looked over her shoulder. The light from the house shadowed his outline.
“Bye, Darcie,” he said the words so quietly, Darcie wasn’t sure she actually heard them.
Before she could think of a response, Marie was pushing her towards the Toyota Corolla and jumping into the driver’s seat. Marie backed out of the driveway like a madwoman. Kevin stood on the porch and watched as they drove away.
Darcie’s heart did not resume a normal beat until they drove out of sight.
The loud music gave her a headache.
Darcie followed Marie and Josh as they weaved their way through the crowd. She felt the bass push against her skin as the trio passed a speaker. She resisted the urge to cover her ears.
Josh stopped by a tall table with four stools. Instead of sitting, the three teenagers stood and looked out into the sea of people.
“Isn’t this great?” Marie shouted over the music, leaning closer to Darcie. “I’m glad the IDs worked.”
Darcie nodded. “Me too.”
The club’s muscular bouncer barely took one look at the fake IDs before letting Marie and Darcie in. She was surprised, fully expecting her evening to end in the back seat of a police car. While she didn’t enjoy the blaring music, Darcie figured it was more agreeable than jail.
“Having fun?” Josh leaned in too, putting his head between Darcie and Marie. Darcie didn’t miss the flash of irritation cross her best friend’s face.
“Tons,” Marie replied. “Why don’t you go get us a drink?”
Darcie’s eyes widened. “Drinks? No way.”
“Relax, Mom,” Marie rolled her eyes. “I meant a soda or something. We need to have something in our hands to blend in.” Her friend gestured toward the crowd in demonstration.
Slowly, Darcie realized what Marie meant. Nearly every single person in the club had a beverage in hand, including the people dancing against one another on the dance floor. Darcie watched multiple liquids slosh and land on the ground.
Josh quickly agreed, eager to please his girlfriend, and made a bee-line for the bar. Marie’s demeanor instantly lightened.
“Why don’t you put Josh out of his misery?” Darcie asked after watching her friend give a flirtatious smile to a stranger across the room.
Marie sighed and turned away from the cute guy. “I know I look like a jerk right now. I like Josh, but I’m not sure he is the one for me. I don’t want to hurt his feelings, but I also don’t know how to end it.”
Darcie had to strain to hear what her friend said. It really was too loud.
“Sooner would be better than later.” Darcie gave a pointed look at the guy still smiling at Marie. “It isn’t fair to string him along.”
A lull in the music occurred, relieving some of the pressure in Darcie’s ears. She sighed in relief. Marie looked like she was about to say something but was distracted by something behind Darcie.
Darcie rotated and noticed two attr
active men heading right towards their table, one leading the pair with a purpose as the other trailed behind. She was in the middle of figuring out a way to make them turn around when she recognized one of the men. It was the guy from the library –Thane.
Feeling less threatened, Darcie straightened and gave the man a kind smile as he took the last steps to the table.
“Hey,” she greeted. “Thane, right?”
Marie’s head snapped to Darcie, completely taken aback by her friend’s greeting.
“You remembered,” Thane grinned. “Nice to see you again, Darcie.”
Marie’s head continued to swivel between her and the stranger as she tried to figure out how Darcie knew him.
“You too,” she returned genuinely. Remembering her manners, Darcie turned and motioned toward her friend. “This is Marie. Marie, this is Thane.”
Thane extended a hand. “Pleasure to meet you,” he said to Marie, gently shaking her hand in greeting.
“N-nice to meet you.” Marie stuttered, clearly thrown by the interaction occurring before her eyes. The knowledge made Darcie grin; it was hard to make Marie speechless.
“Let me introduce my brother,” Thane said as he released Marie’s hand.
Remembering two men approached their table, Darcie moved her eyes to the figure standing behind Thane.
The breath flew out of her lungs and the room around her blurred as her eyes landed on the newcomer.
The young man behind Thane was tall. Darcie guessed he was at least 6’ 5”. He was also the most attractive man she had ever seen. He was even more attractive than the man in front of him, and Darcie remembered being struck by Thane’s looks when first meeting him at the library.
Her eyes, greedy for more, continued to roam and take in the stranger’s form. His shoulders were broad, his muscles clearly outlined by his form-fitting V-neck. His legs were long and fit well in the dark blue jeans. Everything about him was perfection.
During her blatant perusal, Darcie began to feel an undeniable pull towards the stranger’s face.
While his physique was definitely something to admire, it was his eyes that left Darcie breathless. A piercing green color met her gaze, unmoving as they bore into her own.
Enlightened (Immortal Chronicles Book 1) Page 2