by Myers, AJ
“Breaking and exiting, maybe?” I suggested. His eyes narrowed and I smirked. “Lighten up, Nathan. I was only kidding. By the way, who’s missing?”
“It’s just rumors,” he said with a negligent shrug, but I saw a flash of worry in his eyes.
“Then why are you so worried?” I asked, calling him on it.
“Because, as you’ve told me a hundred times, I’m paranoid,” he said with a slight smile on his lips.
I knew he wasn’t going to tell me what was going on, so I decided to change the subject. “Can I have one of those?”
I nodded toward the beer in his hand and he looked down at it, too, before shaking his head. “No, Em, you can’t.”
“Why not?” I pouted. “Is it because I’m underage? Because, really, I think dying and coming back kind of elevates my maturity level to drinking age.”
“No, because beer is full of sodium,” he said logically. “Sodium is salt, Em. Salt is bad for you, remember?”
“Okay, what about some ice cream?”
“Your system can’t digest it,” he said, shaking his head again. “Trust me, you don’t want to try it. You won’t like the results.”
“Then what can I have?” I asked, throwing up my hands and letting them fall down to the countertop with what I hoped was the appropriate level of frustration.
“Your shot.”
“Wonderful,” I grumbled, leaning back on my stool with a scowl.
For a long moment, he just stood there and watched me pout. I tried not to notice his incredible scent or the pulsing silvery aura around him, but they were kind of hard to ignore. Still, I was pleasantly surprised when I didn’t want to feed on him. I didn’t know if that was the Nexus finally starting to work, or just me not wanting to feel ashamed of my desire to feed on him anymore. Either way, I was grateful.
I was ready to start fidgeting from pure nerves, however, when he took another sip of his beer and swiped Tyler’s off the counter. He stopped next to me on his way out, and I wished with everything I had that he would do something. He didn’t have to hold me or kiss me if he didn’t want to. I would have been happy with any kind of contact. The feel of his fingers against my cheek or tangling in my hair would have been better than the total ‘No Contact’ rule he seemed to have put in place.
But what I got was something I didn’t want.
God, I miss her, Nathan’s voice said in my mind as the mark on my neck started to throb. I miss her so damn much.
“I know,” I whispered before I could stop myself.
“What?” Nathan asked, frowning down at me.
“I know what you’re going to say,” I told him, covering my slip. For some reason, I didn’t want him to know I could hear his thoughts. Hopping off my stool, I walked over to the back door and stared out at the dark night.
“Em—” he began, but I held up a hand to cut him off.
“It’s okay, Nathan,” I told him, not having to try to sound miserable all of the sudden. The unhappiness in my voice was more than real. “Just go back to your game. I’m fine.”
“What are you going to do?” he asked, sounding hesitant.
“I thought I’d just hang out here for a little while,” I told him, shrugging and forcing myself to smile as I turned around. “You know, a change of scenery and all that crap.”
“You sure?” he asked. “You’re welcome to come join us.”
“Nah.” I waved my hand airily. “I’m good. I just needed to get out of my room for a little while. Really, don’t worry about me. I promise to stay inside. Scout’s honor.”
“You’re not a scout,” he pointed out with a soft smile.
“True, but let’s just pretend I am for tonight.”
He looked like he still wanted to argue, but, to my surprise, he didn’t. Saluting me with the open bottle of beer in his hand, he turned and walked out of the kitchen. I waited with bated breath, figuring he’d send Tyler back in to watch me. Instead, the sound of gunfire resumed from the living room.
When it didn’t seem like anyone was coming to babysit me, I breathed a sigh of relief and resumed my mission to prove to the world that I wasn’t as dead as they thought I was. How many times had Grams told me I was special? That I could do things that other witches couldn’t? Well, if I could do things other witches couldn’t, I should be able to do things other darklings couldn’t.
With half of my brain monitoring the sounds of battle coming from the other room, I ran to the refrigerator and threw the door open. My positive attitude took a major hit when all I found inside was a bottle of ketchup, two tall black sports bottles full of Nathan’s favorite type O, and three bottles of beer. All my food was gone. Every carrot stick, every bottle of coconut water, every cup of yogurt, had just vanished. I found the same thing in the freezer. All my ice cream had disappeared.
“Fine then,” I muttered, forcing myself not to slam the fridge closed hard enough to make the beer bottles clink against each other. I wasn’t so bummed about the carrot sticks, but the fact that my Ben & Jerry’s had magically vaporized was sort of demoralizing.
Shaking it off, I started going through the cabinets. Unfortunately, they were as bare as the fridge had been. By the time I got to the last one, I was seething.
And that’s when I found it, a treasure in the form of a little red bag. You know, you have to face the fact that your life has really gone down the crapper when you get excited by a bag of Doritos.
I almost missed out on my snack altogether. I was closing the cabinet when the corner of the bag caught my eye high on the top shelf. I had to jump to get it, barely snagging the little bit of plastic with the tips of my fingers.
“Missed one, boys,” I muttered, grinning at the little snack-sized bag that fell to the counter.
I snatched it up and held it close to my chest, my eyes darting around like a mutant rat was going to jump out of the cabinet and fight me for it. Seriously, I expected to start calling it ‘my precious’ any second. When Nathan or Tyler—or the king of rats—didn’t appear out of the woodwork and try to take it, I relaxed a little.
Grinning like a lunatic, I hopped back onto my stool at the island and tore the bag open. The aroma that wafted up from that bag was the best thing I’d ever smelled, drugging me with the scent of fake cheese and tortilla chips. Before I could dive in, though, an even better scent filled the kitchen and I froze, my fingers still inside the bag.
“I knew I shouldn’t have left you in here alone.”
I turned my head to find Nathan standing there, his gorgeous body leaned casually against the doorframe, his eyes on me. Like he had all night to deal with me, he tilted his beer up and drained the last sip before pushing himself away from the frame and heading straight for me. I immediately jumped off my seat and ran, putting the width of the island between us.
“Ember, you need to give me those,” he said, his voice almost pleasant.
“No, they’re mine!” Apparently, that wasn’t the answer he’d been expecting. I yelped and ducked to the side when he tried to grab me across the counter. Instead of just giving up, he started stalking around the counter toward me. I backed up, the chips clutched to my chest again, and glared at him. “If you want some, go get your own bag!”
“Ember, give me those chips,” he said, giving the compulsion in his voice free rein.
I felt my mark start to tingle and knew he was using it to make me do what he wanted me to. My hand immediately started to twitch, wanting to do as the puppet master commanded. But, I didn’t have to. I could keep my chips if I wanted to. Really, what it came down to was him or my chips.
At that moment the chips were winning my love and affection by leaps and bounds.
Nathan repeated his order again, the compulsion in his voice literally making me lightheaded, his eyes lighting up with the slightest glow that should have been too mesmerizing to resist. I grinned at him and shook my head and saw the shocked look on his face.
“Not a chance, babe!”
>
Growling, Nathan dove for me. I tried to run, but he was too fast for me. He grabbed me around the waist and then reached for my chips. With my last chance quickly slipping away, I plunged my hand into the bag, ignoring the burning sensation on my fingers, and pulled out a handful of chips.
Tyler came to see what was going on and stopped cold, screaming at me to stop, but it was too late. The second the chips touched my tongue, I was pretty sure I’d just swallowed a liter of battery acid. It sure as hell felt that way. My mouth was on fire.
Nathan let go of me as fast as he’d grabbed me when I started to fight him like a wild animal. I ran for the sink and spit the half-chewed mess out. Whimpering in pain, I turned on the cold water to rinse out my mouth before my tongue could swell any more. When the first couple of mouthfuls didn’t do the trick, I just stuck my poor, burnt tongue out and let the cold water run over it until the burning sensation became bearable.
Any other bright ideas? a mocking little voice asked in the back of my mind when I slid down the front of the cabinet, my entire body trembling and my lips and tongue still burning like I’d stuck them to a hot skillet.
“Jordan, could you give us a second?” Nathan asked, stopping Tyler in his tracks when he headed straight for me, his expression a mask of sympathy.
Tyler gave me a ‘Should I?’ kind of look and I nodded to let him know it was okay. Really, I was going to have to hear the lecture that was coming eventually. It was better just to get it over with. Tyler turned on his heel and left the kitchen. A few seconds later, I heard the sound of gunfire resume in the living room again.
“Did you enjoy your snack?” Nathan finally asked, rubbing salt in my wounds—no pun intended—as he walked over and held out his hand to help me up.
“Oh shut up,” I muttered, grimacing when it came out sounding like, “Uh sthuth uf.”
Taking his offered hand, I let him pull me up. I pretended my heart didn’t break again when he put several paces between us once I was on my feet. Seeing the damage I had done to myself close up, he shook his head and sighed.
“Why do you have to make everything so hard, Em?” he asked softly, swiping the chip bag off the floor and dropping it in the trash can. I definitely didn’t try to stop him. “Hurting yourself isn’t going to make this any easier.”
His silvery aura flared a little brighter when he turned to face me again, filling the room with the incredible scent of his essence. He must have seen the sudden flare of hunger in my eyes, because he put a couple more feet of space between us and turned away.
I sounded like I was talking with a mouthful of rocks every time I opened my mouth, so I turned to leave the room without bothering to try to explain. I mean, what good would it have done? I had just made it to the hallway when Nathan’s soft voice stopped me.
“I’m sorry, Em,” he said sadly.
Me too, I thought, my head hanging a little lower.
Without another word, I half-ran down the hall and locked myself in my room again. I sank onto the bed and tried not to give in to the overwhelming gloom that felt like it was trying to crush me. But it kept beating at me, weakening me to the point where I just wanted to give up, as I buried another little piece of who I’d been.
Chapter 7: Sierra’s Story of Stasis Horrors
I had to force myself to leave my room the next morning. Seriously, hiding under the covers and pretending to be a corpse again had real appeal. I wasn’t looking forward to facing Nathan and Tyler after the Doritos Debacle the night before. And I sure as hell wasn’t looking forward to the smug, ‘I’m a better dead chick than you are’ attitude I was sure to get from Sierra once she saw my lips—which were still as cracked and blistered as they’d been the night before.
And wouldn’t you know it—because the Bad Karma Fairy is totally out to get me—Demon Barbie was the only one waiting for me.
“Good morning, sunshine,” Sierra said brightly from her place at the table when I wandered into the kitchen looking for Tyler. “Can I offer you some breakfast? Doritos, maybe?”
My eyes narrowed and, for just one breath of a second, I could have sworn my body got hot. Not just warm, but burning frigging hot, like it used to before I would burst into flames. I knew it was all in my head, but for that second I felt powerful. I felt like me.
“Well, it certainly looks like someone had their Bitch Flakes this morning,” I said, my tone as bright and syrupy sweet as hers had been. “Let me guess. Two bowls?”
Really, did she have to rub it in? Didn’t she think I felt bad enough without having to listen to her point out how stupid I’d been?
“Honestly, Ember, I don’t understand you,” Sierra said as I marched to the refrigerator and threw it open to get my shot. “You seem like an intelligent person. Why do you do such stupid things?”
I rolled my eyes, but refused to defend myself to her. I was so busy being pissed at Sierra that it took me a second to realize what was missing from the fridge. Thinking back, I realized it had been missing the night before, too.
“Where the hell is my Nexus?” I asked, frowning, as I stared in confusion at the shelf where my injections usually sat.
“In a safe place,” Sierra said calmly.
“Well I need it,” I snapped, slamming the refrigerator door and turning to glare at her again.
“Not today you don’t,” she said with a shrug, getting to her feet. “Today you’re going to learn about stasis. For that, you need to be hungry.”
For a second, I didn’t know what the hell she was talking about. Then, part of Tyler’s lecture on darklings that first day came back to me. Stasis was what happened to darklings that weren’t on Nexus when there was no energy source for them to feed on. Stasis could kill me—or worse.
“You’re out of your damned mind,” I said coldly, not willing to play her game. “Tyler told me what stasis is. As long as I take my shots, I shouldn’t ever have to experience it.”
“But you will,” Sierra said, as calm as always. “We all experience it at some point. It’s what usually tips the balance between darkling and demon, Ember. You have to know what to do when it happens. Otherwise, you won’t survive it. Most don’t.”
I just stared at her, my mouth gaping open. She really meant to starve me! She was just going to sit back and watch as I withered away or totally demoned out!
“Come on,” she said as she walked past me into the living room. “The boys have left for the day to make sure there are no accidents. I think it’s time you and I got to know each other a little better. Unless you were thinking of repeating last night’s exercise in stupidity…”
I watched through narrowed eyes as she flopped down on the end of the sectional and turned to beam at me, perfectly at ease. What was this? An all day slumber party? Were we going to tell stories and braid each other’s hair?
That wouldn’t end well for either of us. There was a good chance I would braid her hair and then strangle her with it. Since the heifer was planning on starving me to prove a point, I would have considered it justifiable homicide.
“What happens if I demon out and you can’t control me?” I asked when she had made herself comfortable.
“Oh, I wouldn’t worry about that,” she said, supremely confident. “Now, come on. Let’s have a little girl time.”
Though she was making it sound like a request, I had the distinct feeling that I really didn’t have a choice. I decided to give in with as much good grace as I could muster up. With my head held high, I walked over and joined her on the sofa.
“See, that wasn’t so hard, was it?” Sierra said cheerfully.
“You have no idea,” I muttered, rolling my eyes. “Okay, so we’re having ‘girl time’. What does that mean, exactly?”
“It means we’re going to sit here and chat until you start to go into stasis,” she explained with a dainty shrug. “So, Ember, what would you like to talk about? Politics? Religion? Perhaps the weather?”
If I was going to have to sit there
and play nice, I figured I might as well get everything out of the deal I could. So, as much as I might not want to know the gory details, I asked the one question that needed to be answered. The question I’d been asking myself ever since she’d shown up on my boyfriend’s arm.
“What’s your relationship with Nathan?”
“It’s not what you apparently think it is,” she said with a soft laugh. “Nate helped me once, a long time ago. If it wasn’t for him, I wouldn’t be here now. Helping you is just my way of returning the favor.”
“How did he help you?”
“I guess I need to start at the beginning,” Sierra said, sitting up and folding her legs beneath her. “Did Nathan tell you anything about me?”
“Just that you’re a darkling, and that you can ‘teach me to be me again’.”
My voice had turned bitter by the time I finished speaking. I wanted to erase them from my memory, but I couldn’t seem to forget those words. They whispered through my mind at the strangest times, bringing with them a stab of heartache each time I heard them. If he couldn’t see that I was still me, what chance did we really have?
“You have to make him see what’s in front of him, Ember,” Sierra said softly, a flash of sympathy crossing her face. “He’s angry right now, and he’s stubbornly refusing to see. He’ll come around.”
“Yeah, I guess,” I mumbled sadly. “Anyway, you were going to tell me a story…”
I let my voice trail off suggestively, hoping she would take the hint. I just couldn’t bring myself to talk about Nathan with Sierra—or anyone else, for that matter. Luckily, Sierra was perceptive.
“Well, first let’s get the shock factor out of the way,” she said with a slightly nervous smile. “Would you like to hazard a guess at how old I am, Ember?”