by Myers, AJ
“And people in hell want ice water,” he said, grinning when I glared up at him. “Besides, you have other plans.”
“I do?” I asked, arching an eyebrow at him.
“Yep,” he said, grabbing his stuff and winking. “Now get your stuff, we’re already late.”
I spent the entire ride home thinking about Charles and his Mary Beth. What if we couldn’t stop the demon and my premonition became a reality? There were so many things I hadn’t done, so many things I had never said to the people I loved. I started compiling a mental list, starting with Kim.
The perfect opportunity landed in my lap when we pulled into the driveway to find Kim sitting on my doorstep with a long white garment bag across her knees. I stared at it, feeling the blood drain from my face. I knew what was in that bag without even seeing it.
The dress I was going to die in.
“Took you long enough,” she said, grinning, when I hopped out of Blake’s truck and started toward her, “I’ve been sitting here for over an hour. Didn’t you get my text?”
“Nope, reception in the library sucks,” I shrugged, forcing myself to sound as normal as possible. I plastered a smile on my face and nodded toward the garment bag in her lap. “What’s in the bag?”
“Phase one of operation ‘Save Ember’s Love Life’,” she said with a wink. “Now, are you going to make me sit out here all day or are we going in?”
“Is that it?” Blake asked, joining us on the steps.
“Yep,” Kim chirped happily as I unlocked the door and led the way into the house. “Wait until you see it. It turned out amazing. Did you do what I asked you to do?”
“Yes, sweetheart,” he sighed, smiling down at her indulgently before stealing a quick kiss. “I’d say you have about ten minutes. I hate to miss the big reveal, but I’ve got to go pick up Tyler and run an errand. Take pictures of his face for me, would you?”
I opened my mouth to ask him who he wanted pictures of, but Kim grabbed my hand and towed me down the hall to the bedroom. Closing the door, she threw the bag on the bed and unzipped it with a flourish.
If I had still held out any hope the nightmare had only been my overactive imagination at work, it died right there. I had been wrong about the color, it was more ivory than white, but it was definitely the same dress. It had a pleated sweetheart bust line that made me really nervous considering the size of my chest and an almost pornographic slit that would end just short of the top of my thigh. The crystal band that ran just under the bust line of the gown and the sequined straps sparkled in the muted glow of the lamps. Seeing my stunned look, Kim turned the dress around and I saw that it was totally backless.
“I designed it just for you, but Mom made it for me since her sewing machine hates me on a level that’s a little creepy considering it’s a machine,” Kim said, looking really happy. When I just kept staring, though, her smile started to slip and I thought I saw a shadow of hurt in her eyes. “What’s wrong? Don’t you like it?”
“Of course I do, it’s beautiful. I was just stunned, that’s all,” I told her with a strained laugh. “I do have a question, though. Where’s the rest of it?”
She scowled at me and I laughed again, glad to hear it sounded a little more normal than the first one had. It was a real testament to my acting abilities that she didn’t seem to notice how shaken I really was by the gown. As beautiful as it was—and it really was beautiful—all I could see when I looked at it was Bastian standing over Nathan, sword held high.
“Just try it on,” Kim said, rolling her eyes. “You’re going to be stunning in this. Nate won’t know what hit him.”
Feeling martyred, I took the gown from her and walked into the master bath. I shed my clothes and slid the dress on, feeling like I was zipping up my own body bag as I jerked the short zipper up. I didn’t even glance in the mirror, afraid if I saw myself in the dress I wouldn’t be able to pretend anymore. Wanting nothing more than to be out of the thing—it was literally making my skin crawl—I arranged my hair to cover my mark and jerked the door open. I was careful to hold the skirt up so that I wouldn’t trip over it.
“Well, what do you think?” I asked without looking up.
The sharply inhaled breath I heard definitely didn’t belong to Kim, though.
Nathan was standing with his gorgeous body leaned in the doorway. He must have been talking to Kim, but at that moment he was staring at me with so much blatant desire in his eyes that I felt warm all over. Kim looked between us and smiled gleefully. Apparently that was the reaction she’d been going for.
“Turn around so I can check the fit,” she said, hiding her delight behind a businesslike tone.
I did as I was told, turning slowly on purpose to give Nathan the full view, and by the time I was facing them again he looked like he was ready to toss Kim bodily from the room so he could have me and my dress all to himself.
“What do you think, Nate?” Kim asked, smiling slyly. Like she really had to ask. Anyone who looked at him right then could have told you exactly what he thought—and what he was thinking about.
“I think it’s time for you to go home,” he told her, his voice husky, and my cheeks began to heat up. That was fitting I guess, considering that my whole body felt hot as his eyes raked me from head to toe again.
“Not a chance!” Kim cried, laughing. “We still have to go over hair and make-up. That means you need to go. This is strictly girl time.”
Nathan gave her a look that said he was seriously reconsidering tossing her out but then sighed and turned his eyes back to me for one more look. Suddenly, I didn’t hate the dress quite as much. If he liked it that much…
He actually backed out of the room, his eyes lingering on the curves the dress revealed until Kim slammed the door in his face. Our eyes met and we started to laugh at the same time. After the stress I had been under, it felt good to laugh with her like we used to. Of course, remembering those better times reminded me of my list and therefore reminded me why I hated the gown Nathan loved so much.
Using the excuse that I didn’t want to wrinkle it or anything, I practically sprinted back into the bathroom. I looked in the mirror for one second before I reached for the zipper and couldn’t help feeling a little burst of pride as I saw how great I looked in it. The color was slimming, making my waist look tiny while actually making my overabundant curves look amazing.
If it hadn’t been the dress I was destined to die in, I would have loved it.
I took it off as quickly as I could without ripping it and jerked my clothes back on. I had to resist the urge to ball the gown up and throw it in the corner as I blinked back the tears burning my eyes. Carefully, touching it as little as possible like it was something contaminated, I hung it back on the hanger.
I took a second to compose myself and then took the offensive garment back into the bedroom and immediately zipped it back up in the garment bag to keep it out of sight and hung it in the closet. It wasn’t until I closed the door of the closet with a deep sigh of relief and turned back to face her that I realized Kim had gotten very quiet. She was watching me, a slight frown on her face, and I knew I hadn’t fooled her. In fact, my little display with the gown had actually been a sure indication there was something very wrong.
“Don’t say you’re fine,” Kim said, her voice almost a whisper to keep Nathan from hearing her. He probably could anyway, but I couldn’t blame her for trying.
“I wasn’t planning on it.”
I hadn’t even known I was going to say that until I heard the words leave my mouth. How many times had I told her I was fine in my life? A million? Two? And how many times had she let me think she believed me?
This was my best friend, my sister in every way that counted, and I realized suddenly that I had never really been honest with her. I had done everything in my power to keep her at arm’s length. I had hidden my fear that I was a total freak. I had camouflaged my pain behind fake smiles and forced laughter. I had pretended to be happy when
it would have been obvious to a damn idiot that I wasn’t.
I didn’t want to do that anymore. I wanted to lay my head on her shoulder and cry and tell her I was terrified of dying. I wanted to tell her I didn’t know what the hell I was doing and that I probably never would. I wanted to tell her everything I had never told her and then some.
“Is it because I kicked Nate out?” Kim asked, immediately jumping to the wrong conclusion. “I swear, it was all part of the plan!”
“No, it’s not that.” I shook my head, staring down at my hands. “Kim, that dress…that’s the dress I was wearing in my premonition. It’s the dress I’m going to die in.”
All the color leaked from her face and she slowly looked from me to the closet where I had hung my death shroud. She swallowed, hard, just before crystalline tears dewed up on her thick lashes.
“Oh, God, I’m so sorry, Em,” she whispered, miserably. “I’ll get it out of here. Hell, I’ll burn it myself.”
“No, you won’t. It’s beautiful. If I’m gonna die, I might as well go out in style, right?”
I was stunned by how calm I suddenly felt. Two seconds before, I had been ready to run screaming from the room, but I found I wasn’t so afraid anymore. Maybe that old saying is true. Maybe the truth really does set you free.
Frowning again, she patted the bed next to her and I walked over and sat down. She studied me for a long moment before she spoke, and I got the impression she thought I had finally snapped under the pressure.
“You really think you’re going to die, don’t you?” she asked softly, her eyes filling with understanding and fear.
“Yeah,” I whispered. “Yeah, Kim, I do.”
We sat there for a long time, neither of us saying a word, and then she took a deep breath and reached for my hand. I held on tight, afraid to let her go. She must have sensed it, because her grip on my hand got so tight I was pretty sure she was cutting off the circulation to my fingers.
“We’ve been friends for a long time, Em. No, scratch that. We’ve been like sisters since the moment we met.” A tear slipped down her cheek as she spoke, but she didn’t look away. There was a determined gleam in her eyes that not even the tears could hide that let me know whatever she was about to say, she meant every word. “I will not let you die. Do you hear me Ember Leigh? I will do whatever I have to do to make sure that doesn’t happen. But, so help me, if you get blood on that dress, I will kick your ass.”
I started to laugh but it turned into a sob instead. Kim wrapped her arms around me and cried with me, because that’s what best friends do. Not the kind who are your best friend until someone better comes along, but the real kind who are there with you no matter what.
I heard the door open and the sound of quiet footsteps crossing the room. The bed behind me sank a few inches and then I felt Grams’ warm, soft, hand on my back, rubbing in soothing circles.
“What happened?” she asked Kim quietly, seeing as I was still sobbing uncontrollably.
“I-I messed up,” Kim hiccupped through her tears. “S-stupid d-d-dress.”
“The dress from the premonition?” Grams gasped softly, understanding immediately.
“It’s beautiful, Grams,” I defended Kim automatically, barely getting the words out through my sobs.
“I’m sure it is, sweetheart,” Grams said, smiling gently, her voice low and soothing.
“Ladies, could you excuse us for a few minutes,” Nathan said, from the doorway. “I think I would like a little time alone to tell my gorgeous girlfriend exactly what I thought of that dress.”
I closed my eyes as his voice washed over me, through me, wanting to moan in relief as the silky sound of it soothed some of the panic and misery making it feel like my chest was collapsing in on itself. I don’t remember making a conscious decision to move, but I was suddenly across the room and throwing myself into his arms. They came around me in a crushing hold and I buried my face against his chest, continuing to cry.
When I thought I was calm enough to speak again, I turned to look at Kim and Grams. Kim gave me a watery smile that said everything we would never have to say. Grams was holding her close, smoothing her hair as she tried to stop crying. Kim’s gaze flickered to Nathan and something passed between them and she nodded and smiled through her tears before getting to her feet and hauling Grams up with her.
Patting my shoulder, she slid past us, taking Grams with her. Grams gave Nathan a pointed look, but didn’t protest. Nathan moved us just enough to close the door behind them and then leaned back against it to insure we wouldn’t be interrupted and just continued to hold me. After another couple of minutes, I was finally able to pull myself together enough to look at him.
It was like getting hit by a speeding train. His eyes were so full of fire and love that it took my breath away. My body started to tingle with that electrical sensation only he had ever made me feel, and my heart alternated between skipping and pounding so hard that I was sure he could hear it. He leaned down and captured my lips in a kiss that seared every single thought I had from my mind, leaving behind a warm, exhilarated feeling.
“I’m sorry, Nathan,” I whispered when I could finally talk again. “I didn’t mean what I said. I didn’t.”
“No, baby, I’m the one who should be sorry,” he said, cupping my face in his hands. “You were right, trust is earned. I haven’t given you many reasons to trust me, have I? But I plan to change that. Nothing is more important to me than your trust, Ember. I’ll do whatever I have to do to deserve it.”
“So are we friends again now?” I asked, wrapping my arms around his neck.
“No,” he murmured.
His hand slid beneath my hair to cradle my skull and my entire body hummed in anticipation of what I knew was coming. I couldn’t look away from his eyes. His voice was barely a breath against my lips when he spoke, but it couldn’t have had a more powerful impact on me if he had shouted.
“We have always been so much more than that.”
He kissed me then and it was so sweet, so gentle, that it brought tears to my eyes again. When he finally drew away, I felt like I had lost something. For a second he just looked at me. The heat behind his eyes had my insides melting in no time flat. I didn’t look away to distract him. I wanted it. I wanted another taste of him. I wanted to hold on to him any way I could.
I don’t know if he saw it in my eyes when he looked up or read it in my thoughts, but he moaned and pulled me closer, his lips crushing mine again and sending searing heat through me from head to toe. It was like he had never kissed me before. He wasn’t holding back even a little. His hands gripped my hips and pulled me even closer, something I didn’t even think was possible. We were so close now that we were practically melded together.
His lips left mine to trail a line of kisses along my jaw to my neck and I had to bite my lip to hold in my own moan. He followed the column of my neck to where my pulse was pounding wildly. The moan won the battle when his tongue flicked out to taste my skin.
“Ember, now would be a good time to stop me,” he groaned against my neck.
“Mmm hmmm,” I breathed. “In just a minute. Please continue.”
He leaned slightly away from me, his eyes heavy lidded and wicked sexy, and I realized I wasn’t the only one having a hard time breathing. He held my gaze as his thumb feathered back and forth across my bottom lip.
“So beautiful.” He leaned down to place a kiss on my collarbone, his hands sliding beneath my fleece and t-shirt in search of bare skin.
“So passionate.” Another kiss, this one lower than the first, following the neckline of my sweater, which was still unzipped.
“So strong.” His hands slid around to my back, his fingers trailing up and down my spine sending a shaft of blazing hot desire shooting through me.
His lips had gone as far as they could down one side and they started their way back up the other. With each touch of his skin on mine, a series of miniature explosions went off all over my body so th
at by the time he made it back to my neck, I was gasping for air.
I lost myself in him, in the feel and taste and scent of him, because that was the only way I felt safe anymore. If I lost myself in Nathan, I didn’t have to feel the fear that had been slowly eating me alive for the last week. If I lost myself in Nathan, I could forget what was coming for us.
When we walked out of the room a short while—and a lot of hot, drugging kisses—later, it was to find that the rest of our elite demon research team had been busy. The living room had become a cardboard box obstacle course that overflowed into the kitchen and halfway down the hall.
“Casper was as good as his word,” Blake said as I stood there and stared, walking in with still more boxes followed by Tyler who was toting a load of his own. “What you see here is just the stuff that was marked ‘Demon’. You should see that attic. When we first teleported in, I thought we had landed in an episode of Hoarders.”
“Yeah, someone put a lot of work into this little collection,” Tyler agreed, winking at me. “I don’t know whether to admire such dedication or be completely terrified.”
Looked at that way, it was kind of scary. Given the amount of research stacked around me it looked almost like Charles’ mom had been…obsessed. With demons. That was just creepy.
“And where did all of this demonic research come from?” Nathan asked, giving me a narrow-eyed look.
“I made a new friend today,” I told him, smiling at the fruits of my bargaining abilities. “His mom was a witch, but she also researched everything. We made a deal. In exchange for me helping him out, he gave me all of his mom’s demon stuff. It’s a win-win!”
“Yes, but what, exactly, was your part of the deal?” he asked, sounding exasperated.
“Oh, my part’s easy. I just have to tell the girl—well, I guess she’d be, like, almost sixty now—he was madly in love with that his death wasn’t her fault. He gets to move on, she gets peace, and I get free demon research that doesn’t include mold and dead bugs. Do you even know how many bugs crawl into books to die?”