Instead of working on my online stock Thursday evening, I sat on a bleacher watching cars crash. In the shuttle on my way back from the Hospital, Barry had asked me to come to a demolition derby with him. Of course, I’d said yes, and the next day during study hall, I’d asked Lester and Lars out which was probably awkward, but they’d both said yes.
So now I was dating. And it was as awkward as the time with Viney and her two dates. Barry laughed and pointed at a car that rolled over and crashed terribly. When it lit on fire, I gripped the bench and held my breath until the driver got out of the car, sprayed the engine, then got in and kept going.
“Are they crazy?”
He grinned at me, his smile wild and ferocious. Wolf-like. “Don’t you love it?”
“Sure. It’s great.”
No. I did not like watching cars crash. It wasn’t quite as traumatic as riding in them, but the knots in my stomach grew tighter and more tangled with every screeching wreck. How could anyone do this for fun?
Towards the end of our enchanting date, Barry put his hand over mine on the bench. He stared at the cars like he didn’t realize that my hand was there, but his fingers curled over mine. Was he holding my hand? What was I supposed to do? I edged away and was about to subtly yank my hand away when a car got caught, smashed between two cars then rolled over so the roof completely caved in.
I jumped to my feet along with a lot of other people, staring at that car, the wreck, waiting until the guy got out, but he didn’t, and didn’t, until finally the door creaked open and the guy in a padded suit and mismatched helmet crawled out. He leaned against the car, like that had been too much for him.
“I need to help him.”
I headed down the bleachers, but Barry grabbed my wrist, pulling me up short. I stood there, frozen while darkness churned inside my chest. He dared to touch me? The anger was too close to the surface. It had been bubbling there ever since I’d gone to the hospital by myself then run into Drake at the end. I’d actually given him the chance to redeem himself, to give me a ride home, but he’d acted completely indifferent, like he forgot about me the second I wasn’t right in front of him.
I shook thoughts of Drake out of my head before I twisted my wrist out of Barry’s grip. I stared at him. “Is there a problem?”
He scowled, a petulant mage scowl that made me almost roll my eyes. “You’re on a date with me. Why are you running to another man?”
I stared at him. “He’s my lover. My secret lover, naturally, and I need to rescue him before Heloise sees him and…”
He came forward and put his hand over my mouth. He wanted to die. Desperately. How could I not grant that kind of wish?
“Penny, enough of that nonsense. You’re with me now. You don’t have to pretend to be ridiculous.”
Macaroons. Bon-bons. Ho-ho’s… Nope. I was going to kill him.
Something hit his wrist and then I was staring at Drake who had Barry in a headlock, arm twisted back so it was going to break. “Excuse me, Penny. I saw that you were going to decapitate the idiot, but I couldn’t help myself. Anyone who casts slurs on ridiculousness needs to learn a lesson. I’m going to drag him off now, and Pete can give you a ride home, unless you’d rather wait for me to finish with this piece of disrespectful trash.” Drake’s green eyes sparked neon green before he turned and dragged Barry out the bleachers and away.
I stared after him with a pounding heart before I turned and saw Pete with his usual manic grin. I walked over to him before I shook my head and went down the bleachers. The driver was struggling to walk, hand resting on the car. I could at least help him walk out of the area where he might get hit by cars before the derby ended.
“Can I help you?” I smiled brightly at the guy with the greasy hair and pimply face. “That was a bad crash.”
“Yeah,” Pete said. Apparently, he’d followed me down. “I’ll get this side.”
He grabbed hold of the guy under his armpit. I grabbed him on the other and the scent of sweat and pain filled my nostrils.
We dragged the guy to a lady who took over, fussing over him while he scowled at her and winked at me. “Mom, I’m fine. Hey, girl, do you want to go get something to eat?”
Was he talking to me? I glanced at Pete who only grinned at me.
“No, thanks. I’ve got to get back. Good luck with things, you know, hope you don’t have a concussion.”
“I could have won…” he began, but I edged away with Pete until we could turn and head back to the parking lot. I slowed down when we reached a dark green soccer mom car, but Pete’s car was apparently the hot yellow thing a few rows down.
“Does it have a backseat?”
I didn’t have to ask. He was already pulling the front seat forward and gestured me into the small space behind.
“Thanks.”
He only grinned. There was something psychotic about that smile. Lots of things.
I settled into the small back and tried not to notice how close I was to the windshield.
“Have you eaten?”
“I’m fine.” If I hurried back, I could eat in the Dining Room.
“You sure? We could stop somewhere.”
I shook my head and gripped the passenger’s seat headrest. I was going to throw up all over the back of Pete’s head.
I cleared my throat and tried to focus on the back of Pete instead of the windshield and the pavement beyond. “What were you guys doing at the demolition derby?”
“Zach insisted. Said that someone needed to stalk Barry, but he couldn’t do anything because of Viney.”
“Zach?” I glared at the back of his head. It wasn’t any of Zach’s business. Sending Drake and Pete seemed entirely against the whole spirit of the thing. Maybe she didn’t have anything really good on Zach after all.
He shrugged. “You know Zach. Or maybe you don’t. He’s persistent. If he doesn’t like Barry for you, he’s not going to change his mind.”
“He’s an idiot.”
Pete shrugged. “Barry is annoying too. I don’t know why you’d date him when you could have anyone else.”
I gripped the seat until my fingers turned white. No. Breathe. Relax. In, out, deep breaths. Focus on the moment. He pulled out on the highway so fast, I was thrown against the back then he kept going that fast through the winding hills. Yeah, kind of lost that moment. Macaroons and Bonbons, I wasn’t ever going to ride with Pete again.
I closed my eyes and whispered, “Gumballs, lollipops, macaroons, baked Alaska, gumdrops, Swedish fish…”
“Fireballs.”
I opened my eyes and Pete turned his head to wink at me before he refocused on the road. I closed my eyes again. “Fireballs?” I opened them. “What are you talking about?”
He reached in the dash and pulled out a handful of red candies wrapped in cellophane. He tossed them to me. I caught one, but the rest scattered across the upholstery. I unwrapped it and stuck it in my mouth, sucking on it. The heat made my tongue tingle and my cheeks feel weird. I couldn’t suck on it for long before I had to spit it out and hold it in my fingers, staining the tips.
“That’s a hot fireball.”
“Yep. They’re the hottest. Do you make hot lollipops or just the sweet stuff?”
“Not just sweet, but I haven’t done hot. I definitely should.”
He nodded. “Yeah. It’s hard to find a really great one. I like it so I can’t feel my face.”
“Why?”
He shrugged. “Everyone has a thing. Some guys like to beat the crap out of other guys, you know, the violence takes the edge off the strain. I like to burn off my tongue.”
“Drake?”
“Violence. But not the normal kind. He likes it when you don’t see him coming. Has to be subversive. Zach’s like that only more. You know, you should date me, Penny. We’re both into candy, and what more is there?”
“Your backseat is too small.”
He sighed. “I knew I was forgetting something. Drake’s got a nice and roomy backseat. You sp
ent a lot of time back there with him?”
I stiffened up. “Excuse me?”
He laughed, his grin more manic than ever. “You’re really cute. Drake really needed to hurt someone after yesterday. He didn’t mean to stand you up.”
I winced. “It’s not like we’re dating. We do Community Service together, not even really together because he has his thing, which I don’t know anything about, and I have mine. We aren’t together and I ride in the backseat while he drives.”
“Have a thing for drivers, huh? Like that Darksider?”
My nails curved. Signore Ludi wasn’t any of his business. I closed my eyes and named all the candies in the world.
When I got back to my room, I passed Zach without so much as a glare.
He sat beside Viney on the couch playing video games. She put down her controller. “How did the big date with Barry go?”
“Like you don’t know.”
She raised an eyebrow. “I’m sorry, am I supposed to be stalking you?”
“Drake and Pete grabbed him for Zach, so I assumed you would know all about it.”
Viney turned her glare of fury on Zach who shrugged. “Come on, Viney. I’m not responsible for siccing Drake on Barry. What did Barry do that you needed rescuing?”
I put the fireball in my mouth for as long as I could stand and then beamed at him, my teeth pink like they were blood stained. “Being a mage. Aren’t they all so lovely? Hopefully my date with Lester tomorrow will go better.”
It did and it didn’t. Thursdays weren’t for dating, but I had to find someone that didn’t irritate me too much so I could marry them. Barry was out. Lester wasn’t all that bad. We went to a movie. He held the door open for me to the backseat without my having to say anything, and he bought popcorn for two people so our hands wouldn’t accidentally touch. I thought he was a throbbing lover, but it turned out he was just quiet.
The movie was a documentary about bees. I didn’t think they had those, but apparently, yeah. Afterwards, he held open the door for me, and I got in. And that was it. I didn’t see Drake or Pete that time, but I spent the whole time in the movie looking for them. It didn’t make me the best company, not like Lester noticed.
So, after the drive, when he growled that he’d walk me to my room, I just smiled brightly and unwrapped a lavender and dirt lollipop to help combat the irrational fear of riding in cars, in spite of it being a gray old sedan from the seventies or something, lots of steel and a lot of space between me and the windshield.
At least I wouldn’t be going to the circus with Lars until Saturday.
We walked, him big and brooding, me cute and swishy, not talking until we got to the door to Lilac Stories common room.
“This is me. I had such a nice time.”
He gave me a seriously seductive glance as he leaned against the door. “Do you want to do this again?”
Not really. “Yeah. Yes. I mean, yeah.”
“Next Thursday?”
“Yeah.” Kill me. Now.
“Okay.”
Macaroons and bonbons. That had to be the world’s most exciting conversation. I stood there smiling, waiting until he slid out of sight before I went in and threw myself into a wingback chair. Zach and Viney once more on the couch. It was almost like they were waiting up for me.
“How did it go?” Viney asked.
“I’m going out with him again on Thursday.”
She looked surprised. “Why?”
“I don’t know. There’s something so sexy about him, and he really wasn’t all that annoying, but there’s something…”
“Psychotic?” Zach offered.
I glared at him before turning back to Viney. “Shy. I think he’s genuinely shy. It might take weeks to figure out what he’s actually like, and who has time for that? I don’t want to go months thinking he’s a sweet shy guy when he’s actually just putting on the whole big act to manipulate others. I mean, who needs that?”
Viney elbowed Zach in the face. “Yeah, she’s talking about you. Zach, spill. What do you know about Lester?”
Zach gave me a weird look. “She won’t believe me no matter what I say, at least she shouldn’t. She probably would though. She’s just that stupid.”
I threw the decorative pillow with purple grapes embroidered on it at his head. He let it hit him, only giving me a smirk afterwards. So annoying.
“I’ll pillow fight with you anytime, Penny Lane.”
“Shut up.”
Viney sighed and rolled her eyes. “Zach, tell me about Lester.”
He sighed. “But she’s so fun to mess with. I really love it. Okay. Lester is smart with spellwork. He’s not quite all there with things like ethics. He’s done experimentation on animals, seeing how often he can regrow the legs on spiders, that kind of thing. Really interesting.”
“He pulled the legs off spiders to see if he could get them to grow back?”
He nodded. “I don’t know if he used other animals or just insects. That’s what he’s interested in.”
“Wow.” Viney patted his head. “That was actually useful.”
Did I mind him experimenting on bugs for spells? No. To be perfectly honest, I’d killed a lot of animals hunting with Revere around the Old Lady, and it hadn’t ever bothered me. What would bother me was if Lester decided to experiment on my personal pets. You could call what I did with Señor Mort experimentation.
“I like that. It sounds like a useful skill, being able to regrow legs.”
Zach raised his eyebrows, surprised. “You don’t mind him torturing spiders?”
I shrugged. “No. He has a really restful presence. I don’t think he’s very annoying at all. I think I’d be able to ignore him for a really long time.”
Viney wiggled her eyebrows. “Then you should make out, see if you have chemistry.”
Zach elbowed her. “Don’t give Penny ideas. You’re going to traumatize Lester. The only reason he agreed to go out with her was because he was pretty sure that she wasn’t going to throw herself at him.”
“You know why he agreed to go out with me?” I stood and went over to perch on the back of the couch, threateningly over Zach’s head.
He shrugged and tried to look innocent before he gave up and grinned instead. “It’s common knowledge. Lester is afraid of girls.”
Viney sighed and patted my leg. “And you were so sure there was something sensual beneath that fall of unwashed hair.”
“His hair smelled nice. Like lavender and sage.”
Zach frowned. “You shouldn’t be smelling mages. It’s not polite.”
I got up and headed to my room. “I don’t think you have the slightest idea what that word means. Shut up. I’m not talking to you.”
I slept restlessly and woke up before it was light out, but I couldn’t sleep. I went to the bathroom and washed my face. I looked up at my reflection and froze. A shadow stood behind me, watching, waiting.
I grabbed my toothbrush and whirled around, holding it out like a weapon, but no one was there. I thought I heard the echo of laughter while the half circle in my chest burned. Pitch. My hands shook as I went to the window, looking out at the night, but all was still.
I thought I heard something from the Commons. I grabbed a handful of lollipops with the sticks through my fingers and paused before throwing the door open. All was calm. All was lilac. The screen above the rose quartz studded fireplace flickered, a death scene of Zach’s favorite guy over and over and over.
He sat on the couch, the back of his head outlined in the greenish glow. I crept over to him, put my face close to his hair and inhaled. Zach whirled around, barely not jabbing me in the eye before he pulled back.
“Penny?” His voice was hoarse, eyes wide and wild.
I just stood there, feeling like I’d been stabbed in the chest. Pitch. He smelled like Pitch, like darkness and pain. I pulled back and punched him in the face. An explosion of pain went down my arm as my knuckles impacted against his bones.
&nb
sp; I hissed and pulled back, my hand completely out of practice with things like punching faces. It had been technically perfect, but it would always hurt me more than someone with magic. I should have used a hammer.
“Are you okay?”
He grabbed my hand and I wanted to pull away, but he smelled like Pitch and his eyes were brimming with pain. I let him pull me down on the couch beside him while he twisted my hand around, examining my knuckles without looking at me.
Guilt.
I shuddered and looked away from him, from his bent head and the pain. “How long has she been coming to you?”
He didn’t look up, but his fingers tightened on my hand. “A few days. I’m sorry, Penny.”
I stared at his fingers before I pushed his hand off me and stood up. “It’s none of my business. I warned you. You’ve seen her and you’re not dead? She must like you.”
“Penny,” he said, grabbing my hand again. “She hates me. She wanted me to… I didn’t think that she’d want me to hurt you. I thought she was your protector, but if she wanted me to do that to you, she isn’t, is she?”
“Stop touching me.”
He let go of my hand and I rubbed my fingers, my fist where it still throbbed. “Penny, she knocked on my door and I knew she was there. I felt her and it was. She didn’t talk that first time, just fought me. All night, but she wouldn’t let me leave a mark on her. I took a beating. She’s incredible. And then the next time she talked to me while she hit me. Told me that she’s been watching me, that she likes what I did to you. Said it set her free. Then tonight she came and told me that she wanted me to make you love me, betray you, get revenge for Pitch.”
“Don’t say that name.”
He chewed on his lip. “I wouldn’t do it. She was so angry. I thought she was going to kill me. I…”
His face crumpled and he let go of me to put his hand over his chest, over the pain.
I stared at him. I sighed and sat back down on the couch, pulling up my knees. I was wearing my grandmother’s lace robe. It didn’t want to fall off tonight. Weird.
“She doesn’t hate you. She doesn’t let anyone else hurt me. What she did was probably a test. You passed. She filled you with so much pain because she likes you. If you’d agreed, you’d be dead.”
Dread Delight: Rosewood Academy for Witches and Mages (Darkly Sweet Book 2) Page 12