by Weil, J. L.
The ghost of a smile lurked on his lips. “Doesn’t hurt to try.”
I stood as still as possible with the wall pressed to my back and tried with all my might to not be effective by his close proximity. My teenage hormones had other ideas.
I hated them.
A moment passed between us and he must have seen it in my eyes, because he took a step back. “How about a truce? For Devin and your mom. What do you say?” A brow arched.
It was a dirty trick to play the mom card. He knew I wouldn’t do anything to upset her. “Like I have a choice, but this doesn’t mean I forgive you.”
His hand reached out and twirled the ends of my hair. “What exactly am I supposed to be forgiven for?” The sound of his voice was like dark silk.
I socked him in the chest.
He grinned, not budging an inch. “I’ve missed you Angel Eyes.”
My eyes flashed to his. I knew that he said it offhandedly, jokingly, but that didn’t stop my breath from hitching. I fumbled with something smart to say. “Devin seems a little on edge. What gives? Did you piss him off too?”
He snorted. “You wish. Actually, he is worried about what is between us now that he is shacking up with your mom.”
I cringed. “Do not ever mention shacking and my mom in the same sentence.”
He grinned, his eyes dancing with mischief. Someone was in a playful mood, a complete turnabout from the other day. He made my head spin. “My uncle is afraid that we will either get too close or have the explosion of the century. Both in his mind are not good outcomes.”
I relaxed into his body without realizing I was doing it. His fingers played with mine as we talked. “He should stop trying to knock her up and spend more time worrying about our current hunter pollution.”
He chuckled. The sound hit me straight in the gut. “Whether you believe it or not, Devin has your mom’s best interest at heart. Yours too. He wants to protect her from all this. He doesn’t want her to be touched or tainted by the dealings of the underworld.”
Like me, I thought. And so did Chase. I could see the guilt and blame reflecting in his smoky eyes still. It was in his voice. He still believed everything that happened to me was his fault. I sighed. “We should get back before someone notices we’re both missing.”
“They probably think we’re kissing and making-up.”
“In your dreams.”
“I know I’m in yours.”
“Do you always have to have the last word?”
His face was expressionless. “Is a frog’s ass watertight?”
I groaned. This was going nowhere fast. Pushing off the wall, I brushed past him. “Jerk,” I muttered under my breath, but grinning inside.
“Brat,” he countered just for my ears alone.
By dinner we had waved the white flag – a ceasefire. Well, at least through the holiday. After that it was fair game again. Dinner was loud, boisterous, and chaotic. Everyone talked over everyone. Chase and Travis ate enough to feed a small country. There was so much laughter that I actually swore water came out of my nose once. The muscles in my mouth were sore from grinning so much.
It felt normal.
Seeing my mom that happy was worth putting up with Chase. It was worth every horrible, painful, and scary thing that had happened to me since moving to Spring Valley. When dessert was served, I was positive I couldn’t stuff another bite in my gorged belly.
“You going to eat that?” Chase asked, eyeballing my piece of pumpkin pie piled with cool whip. Just the way I like it.
I shoveled a heaping spoonful in my mouth, looking like a chipmunk.
He chuckled, sneaking a fork full of my pie. I slapped at his hand. “Do you want to lose a finger?” I threatened my mouth still full of pumpkin goop.
Moving closer to me, he pushed aside a fallen piece of hair behind my ear. The intoxicating scent of him fluttered over my face, overriding the sweetness of the pie. From across the table, my mom raised an eye, and I quickly swiped at his lingering hand.
“Knock it off,” I scolded, only to be rewarded with one of his dazzling smiles. Pushing my plate in his direction, I knew that if I ate another bite, I would hurl. He ate the whole darn thing. Bottomless pit.
Lexi and I retired to the couch after dinner in a practically comatose state. Food does that. I played with the sleeves of my cardigan. “What are you doing tomorrow?” I cringed even as I asked. Tomorrow was the biggest shopping day of the year. Duh. Lexi was going to be riding high on caffeine and start shopping before the sun even cracked.
From the other side of the couch, she looked at me over the pages of Black Friday ads. “Probably check out the sales.”
“So, I was thinking of tagging along.” I regretted the words even as they tumbled from my mouth. I wanted to be a good friend, best friend, but this was just going too far. If it had been Travis, none of this would have even been an issue. But Lexi was my best friend, so…
“I’m sorry, what did you say? You want to shop? With me?” she echoed in disbelief.
I nodded and swallowed, knowing I have already dug my own grave.
A mile wide grin lit up her face. Sparkling blue-green eyes the color of the sea shined at me with genuine glee. “Pedi,” she shrieked in delight. My poor ears rang, even as I found myself engulfed in a giant smothering Lexi hug.
Who said anything about getting my nails done? I thought she would drag only my butt to every store known to man.
Chapter 17
Black Friday.
The biggest shopping day of the year.
Most people spent the day getting up at the butt crack of dawn, fighting crowds and long lines trying to find the deal of the century.
The whole concept made me cringe.
Me, I spent the day running for my life. Well, first I’d gotten a pedi and mani with Lexi, a fat wad of good that was going to do me now.
The morning started out normal, as most mornings do, if you could call this morning. The sky was black as night, the air was brisk and crisp, and the woods surrounding Spring Valley were sleepy and quiet. Lexi drove us into the city as my eyes were unusually droopy. I couldn’t think this early. It was unnatural.
I pulled my pink hoodie closer around me, letting the ends fall over my chilled hands. “Need. Coffee,” I demanded like a zombie with bloodshot eyes and blood thirst.
“Hold your horses,” Lexi grumbled. “If I had known you were such a crabass in the morning, I would have left you at home. Jeesh.”
“Please, you live with Chase. Nobody can be worse than him.”
“True, but you come in close second.” Lexi’s aquamarine eyes glinted off the passing headlights as she quickly pulled into a 24-hour Starbucks.
I could have kissed her. Taking a sip of my raspberry mocha I burnt my tongue, but I didn’t care. I sighed in heavenly appreciation. “So where is our first target?” I asked as the caffeine started to pump through my system.
“You are going to love this. And it’s a BOGO.”
The pirate smile on her lips said all I needed to know. I was going to hate it.
When she pulled up to a nail spa, I just about died. “Please tell me this is a joke.”
“I would never joke about my nails.”
That’s what I was afraid of.
Getting both pedicure and manicures was the pits. I don’t get how girls enjoy it. Sure the soaking was relaxing, but once they broke out the file, I was as wiggly as a puppy. The coffee wasn’t helping. I felt sorry for the tech who worked on me. She kept giving me the stink eye. I really couldn’t blame her. I was totally being a pain the buttocks. In my defense, this was my first time, and I wasn’t the girly girl type. Painted nails were a luxury I just didn’t have the tolerance for, or a steady hand. My nails usually looked like they were hacked by a chainsaw.
I stared down at my fresh glossy black cherry chutney (who makes up these names?) nails. “These will be demolished by tomorrow,” I announced.
Lexi tsked her tongue and lead
us onward to the next stop – a boutique. She sighed beside me. “You must lack a female gene, the one that gives you fashion sense.”
That should’ve offended me, but it didn’t. “I have fashion sense,” I argued, thumbing through a clothing rack as if I knew what I was looking for. One glance at the price tag and I dropped it like hotcakes.
“Umm, maybe for a ten-year old. Face it Angel, jeans and converse aren’t exactly fashionable.” Her fingers expertly searched through the rack, knowing exactly what she wanted, the complete opposite of me.
“I beg to differ. Fashion is subjective.” Okay, so high fashion wasn’t my thing and yeah, maybe I only wore the bare essential of make-up, but that didn’t mean that I didn’t like to look hot. Lexi was going to give me a complex, on top of the ones I already had.
“Here, try this.” She handed me a midnight blue top with a cutout in the back. “This will make your eyes pop.”
Did I want my chameleon eyes to pop? Turning the tag around, I gasped. “No. Thank. You.”
She rolled her eyes. “You need to use your womanly wiles and get Chase to spoil you once in a while.”
“Why would I do that? I don’t want his money.”
She snickered. “Just his body.”
I gave her a dry look and screwed up my nose, absolutely uncomfortable talking about Chase’s magnificent body with his cousin.
“Because dummy. Chase is swimming in a trust account. The last thing he needs is another car or another toy.” She shrugged. “I am sure he would be plenty happy to spend it on you.”
“Lexi, I couldn’t do that. I don’t want a sugar daddy.” Lexi never failed to throw me for a loop. “Is that what you want? A sugar daddy?” I asked.
She shrugged. “It beats being alone.”
Even though she was acting like it wasn’t a big deal, I could see that under the surface there was old pain and uncertainty about her future. Being a senior in high school could do that to you, even the ones who look like they have everything together. Being a half-demon that most humans outcast was…lonely and sad. That was what I saw lurking behind those startling aqua eyes. “Lexi, you’re beautiful. Any guy would be lucky to have you. Money isn’t as important as your happiness.”
“It’s easy for you to say. You have Chase.”
“I don’t really have Chase. And anyway he’s been…weird lately.”
“Weirder than normal? I find that hard to believe.”
I snorted. “I know right? He just seems to be pulling away.”
“I know my cousin. If he is putting up walls, then he thinks he is protecting you somehow. Smash the wall down. Look…” She turned toward me, forgetting all about the racks upon racks of clothes. “Chase thinks he always knows best and sure most of the time he does, but he hardly ever put his feelings first. He is always battling everyone else’s fights. Chase needs you, whether he likes it or not. You are the first real good thing that has ever happened to him, and I don’t think he knows what to do about how he feels for you. He is exceptional at keeping people safe. He is not so good at expressing himself. It might take him forever to tell you that he loves you, but I am telling you that he does. Don’t let him slip away. You’ll regret it.”
“Just because our souls are bound doesn’t mean–”
“That is the worst copout. You were crazy for each other before that. It never would have happened if he wasn’t in love with you. Chase would never make himself vulnerable like that for just anyone.”
“I’m not so positive that what he feels for me is love,” I replied, feeling too exposed.
I watched her eyes spark in annoyance. “I’ve never met two more clueless people. It is obvious to everyone that you guys are absolutely gaga over each other. So why don’t the two of you see it? I know you feel it.”
I wanted to deny, but I couldn’t. But I also wasn’t ready to admit it to myself, and I surely wasn’t ready to say it out loud. “Maybe.”
“I get that bearing your heart is scary. Giving your heart to someone like Chase is probably terrifying. Rejection sucks. But the reward is so much greater. It just has to be. Love is power, not that he needs anymore power, but you get what I am trying to say. When he takes a step back, you take two forward. Eventually he will have nowhere to go but to you.”
“Did you ever think about writing poetry, because that was some seriously beautiful stuff? It brought a tear to my eye.” I pretended to wipe at my eyes.
She bumped me playfully with her hip. “You’re so lame.”
“You aren’t the first Winters to say so.”
Her face softened. “But I am the one that matters.”
It had been a long and exhausting day when Lexi finally called it quits, but I had expected nothing less. I sunk into the cushiony fabric seat of her car with every inch of my body aching. How did she do this? I felt like I just finished boot camp.
While I looked like I had been wrung through the trenches, Lexi looked fabulous. “Thanks for coming with me. It wouldn’t have been the same alone. I’m really glad we’re friends.”
“Best friends,” I supplied.
She gave me a smile bright enough to light the galaxy. I met hers with one of my own. We might not share the same taste in clothes, hobbies, or dating expectations, but somehow it worked.
Split-seconds passed from the time I looked from Lexi to the road. Literally seconds, but here in Spring Valley, seconds was all it took for trouble to find you. When I glanced back up my eyes clashed with a black and furry something, a highly unwelcomed sight. There smack dab in the middle of the road, was a hound. I couldn’t suppress the gulp or the fear that quaked through me.
On the brink of my seat I waited, breath held, poised to see those horrible blood-red eyes. All I could think of was that I didn’t want to die on Black Friday. It was too ominous. Lexi hit the brakes in a knee-jerk response, bucking us against our seatbelts. Her brakes protested against the asphalt in an ear-piercing scream.
The dog, at the shattering sound of her car coming to a screeching halt, turned its head. All I saw was crimson. I stopped breathing. I stopped thinking. My eyes locked on the black dog, frozen in terror.
“It’s not a hellhound,” Lexi said, but the roaring of pure panic in my head made it impossible for me to comprehend her words. In my book, hellhounds only ever meant more evil and dangerous things from the underworld were close on its heels.
My mind was clouded, living my own private nightmare. I blinked and rubbed my eyes, trying to coax myself from going into a full-freak-out. It took many deep breaths before I saw the chocolate eyes, innocent and lost staring at me through the glass shield.
Just a dog. A normal dog. Nothing demonic in its eyes.
Fido gave one short bark and then paddled off the road, its tongue lolled to one side. I slumped all 125 pounds of me into the seat, shaken. “Christ, I think I just shaved a decade off my life,” I said as Lexi regained her composure much faster than me and hit the gas.
“You don’t have to tell me. I think I just got my first gray hair,” she stated.
Just when my heart rate was almost normal and I could breathe sweet air again, I heard the roar of a powerful engine, like one of those monster truck sounds. I half expected to see a giant truck with teeth painted on the grill behind us.
If only.
God, now what?
Lexi’s eyes darted to the rearview mirror, her knuckles tightening on the steering wheel. A SUV pulled up beside us driving like a bat out of hell. What a maniac. It was people like this guy who caused accidents. The SUV rumbled its engine as it rode alongside us on the wrong side of the tracks. At first I thought they were just going to pass us by obviously in a hurry, but they didn’t. Steadily, the SUV kept pace with Lexi’s little car. Every now and then it gave a roar of the engine.
My blood pressure went through the sunroof as the knowledge that this SUV wasn’t friendly sunk in. I watched as Lexi’s eyes melded in gold, making every hair on my body stand up. Normally Lexi was t
he epitome of control. If she lost it, then we were in some serious dog poo.
“Oh shit,” I said under my breath.
Lines of concentration creased on her mouth, and I could tell she wanted to be anywhere but trapped in this car, unable to tap into her demon strength. And then she had me to worry about – the frail whatever I was. Gripping the edge of my seat again, I prepared myself for the absolute worst, and my mind was very imaginative.
I watched stunned as the blue SUV jerked toward us. Lexi’s eyes got huge. “Angel, call Cha–”
Her voice was broken off. Like something from the Dukes of Hazard, the monster truck sideswiped her car. It caused quite a chain reaction.
Her poor car crunched under the impact, metal screeching against metal.
Lexi’s car fishtailed, swerving out-of-control.
And we screamed bloody murder.
Chapter 18
By the time I cleared my rattled brain, the SUV had recovered and was coming at us again. My eyes adjusted just in time to catch a view of the lunatic driver. She was female and had hair the color of strawberries and spun gold.
Emma.
That skankbag. I should have known.
Leave it to Emma to be a buzz kill. What looked to be the perfect end to an exhausting day was ruined by none other than my newest enemy. And the sad part, she wasn’t even supernatural. What she was becoming was a nuisance, extremely bothersome, and a giant pain in my arse. And I don’t think I needed to mention that she was also life-threatening.
You’d have thought I would have been prepared for the second impact. I wasn’t. I knew it was coming and there was nothing I could do about it. Bracing myself, with my feet against the floorboards, I prayed we wouldn’t spin off the road and end in the ditch. I had no desire to be flipped in a car. Again. It wasn’t that I didn’t trust Lexi’s demon abilities…it was that I thought Emma would finish what she started. Kill us while we were incapacitated by shards of car parts.
On the second hit, my skull crashed into the passenger side window, spidering the glass. My head split in blinding pain, and I felt the sticky substance of blood drip down the side of my forehead. Black stars colored my vision and I heard Lexi call my name through the tunnel of blackness. When the fuzziness cleared, the nightmare wasn’t over as I had hoped.