OALN

by Jennifer L. Armentrout

  Daemon inched closer, his knee brushing my thigh. “Does it matter?”

  I bit back a string of curses. “Not really.”

  His body angled toward me. “You shouldn’t go with someone just because he asked you.”

  I glanced down at the keys, wondering if I could stab someone in the eyeball with them. “I don’t see why this has anything to do with you.”

  “You’re my sister’s friend, and therefore it has something to do with me.”

  I gaped at him. “That is the worst logic I have ever heard.” I started around the car, but stopped at the hood. “Shouldn’t you be more concerned with what Ash is doing?”

  “Ash and I aren’t together.”

  A stupid part of me liked the idea of them not being together. Shaking my head, I went for the driver’s door. “Save your breath, Daemon. I’m not backing out because you have a problem with it.” Cursing under his breath, he followed me. “I don’t want to see you get into any kind of trouble.”

  “What kind of trouble?” I yanked open my car door.

  He caught the door. One dark eyebrow arched. “Knowing you, I can’t even begin to imagine how much trouble you’d get in.”

  “Oh yeah, because Simon’s going to leave a trace on me that attracts killer cows instead of killer aliens. Let go of my car door.”

  “You are so frustrating,” he snapped, eyes flaring with irritation. “He has a reputation, Kat. I want you to be careful.”

  I stared at him for a moment. Could it be that Daemon was genuinely concerned about my well-being? As soon as that thought popped into my head I pushed it out. “Nothing is going to happen, Daemon. I can take care of myself.”

  “Fine.” He let go of the door so fast that I yanked it back. “Kat—”

  Too late. The door caught my fingers. I yelped as pain shot over my hand and up my arm. “Ouch!” I shook my hand, trying to ease the pain in my fingers. The pointer finger was bleeding. The rest would definitely be bruised and look like sausages by morning. Tears were already streaming down my cheeks. “Christ! That hurt.” Without warning or saying a word, his hand shot in, wrapping around my palm. A flash of heat went through my hand, tingling, spreading to the tips of my throbbing fingers and down to my elbow. In an instant the pain was gone.

  My mouth dropped open. “Daemon?”

  Our eyes locked. He dropped my hand as if I’d burned him. “Shit…”

  “Did you…is there another trace on me?” I wiped the blood away from my finger. The skin was pink, but already sealed up. “Holy crap.”

  He swallowed. “It’s faint. I don’t think it will be a problem. I can barely see it, but you might—”

  “No! It’s faint. No one will see it. I’m fine. No more babysitting.” I drew a shallow breath. Knots formed in my belly. “I can take care of myself.”

  Daemon watched me for a moment. “You’re right. Obviously you can as long as it doesn’t involve car doors. You’ve lasted longer than any human that’s known about us.”

  …

  Daemon’s parting words hung over me like a thick, foreboding cloud the rest of the night and well into Saturday. I’d lasted longer than anyone else that had known the truth about them. I couldn’t help but wonder when my time would be up.

  I left with Dee, and we picked up the girls after lunch. It didn’t take long to get to Cumberland and find the dress shop they’d wanted to go to. I’d expected there to be nothing left to pick from when we walked into the Dress Barn, but their racks were full.

  Carissa and Lesa already had an idea of what they wanted: something tight. Dee seemed to navigate toward the pink and frilly. I wanted a dress that didn’t look like it’d been bedazzled by a grandmother or swallowed by a bow factory.

  Dee ended up picking out a red Grecian-style dress for me that cinched under the waist and hung loose around my hips and legs. It had a scallop neckline, a little daring but nothing like what Lesa and Carissa strutted out in.

  “What I wouldn’t do for a chest like that,” Lesa muttered, looking disgusted as she stared at Carissa’s chest spilling out of her dress. “It’s not fair. I have an ass and no boobs.”

  Carissa eyed herself in the wall mirror while Dee tried on a pink knee-length dress she’d found. Twisting her hair up off her shoulders, Carissa grinned at her reflection. “What do you guys think?”

  “You look hot,” I told her. And she did. She had the perfect hourglass figure.

  Dee stepped out, looking absolutely stunning in pink. Her dress had tiny straps and hugged her willowy frame. She took one look at herself, nodded, and went back in to change.

  I exchanged a grin with Lesa. “Our opinion was not needed.”

  “Yeah, cause there isn’t anything in this world that Dee doesn’t look good in.” She rolled her eyes, grabbing her dress to try on.

  When it came my turn to try my dress on, I had to give it to Dee. She had a remarkable eye for style. The dress fit my body like it’d been made for me. With its built-in bra, it also made me feel like I could stand beside Carissa and not feel like a little girl. I twisted in front of the mirror, checking out the back. Not too bad.

  “You should pull your hair up,” Dee said, appearing beside me. She reached up, artfully twisting my long hair atop my head. “You have such a long neck. Show it off. I can do it for you if you like and your makeup, too.” I nodded, thinking it would be fun. “Thank you. I would’ve never thought I’d look good in this dress.”

  “You’d look good in any of these dresses.” Dee let go of my hair. “Now you need shoes.” She nodded over to the shoe racks. “Anything red or clear would work. The more strappy the better.”

  I poked around the shoes, thinking of a pair of strappy heels I had at home. God knows this dress was going to cost every last cent my mom had happily handed over this morning. I picked up a pair of red heels, though. They were divine.

  A skeevy feeling coursed over me as I stood there. I glanced around. The girls were in the back, looking at clutches, and the clerk was behind the counter. The door opened, making a wind chime sound. No one was there.

  The clerk looked up, frowning. Shaking her head, she returned to reading her magazine.

  I shivered as my gaze crawled past the door to the windows in the front of the store. Beyond the garbed mannequins, a man stood on the sidewalk, looking in. His dark hair was combed back from his pale face. Most of his features were covered with a pair of oversized sunglasses that seemed out of place on such an overcast day. He was wearing dark jeans and a leather jacket.

  And he gave me the creeps.

  I moved behind the racks and pretended to be checking out another dress. Causally, I lifted my head and peeked over the rack.

  He was still there.

  “What the hell?” I muttered. Either he was waiting for someone in here or he was a total creeper. Or an Arum. I refused to consider the last one. Glancing around the near-empty store, I was going to go with creeper.

  “What are you doing?” Lesa came out, tugging on the zipper to a pink trumpet dress that gave her boyish figure curves. “Hiding behind racks?”

  I started to point out the stalker, but when I looked at the window, he was gone. “Nothing.” I cleared my throat. “You guys ready?”

  She nodded, and I darted back to the dressing room and quickly changed. The whole time we checked out, I kept glancing at the window. That eerie feeling was still there, following us back to where Dee had parked. I expected the dude to jump out and scare the living crap out of me at any moment.

  We folded up our dresses carefully and placed them in the trunk while Carissa and Lesa climbed in the backseat. Shutting the trunk, Dee turned to me. A small smile was on her face. “I didn’t tell you this because I’m sure you would’ve changed your mind about the dress.”

  “What?” I frowned. “Does it make my butt look big?”

  She laughed. “No. You looked stunning in it.”

  “Then what’s the deal?”

  Her smile turned
downright mischievous. “Oh, you know, just that the color red is Daemon’s favorite.”

  Chapter 22

  The night of the dance I was full of nerves. A huge part of me wanted to call Simon and beg off, especially since he nixed the whole carpool idea from the get-go, but my mom had bought the dress and Dee had done an outstanding job making me look pretty.

  My hair had been curled and twisted up, exposing my neck. A few strategically placed curls hung over my temples and rested on my bare shoulders. She even sprayed this vanilla-scented glittery stuff in my hair, so when I turned, my hair shimmered. My eyes were a warm brown due to the smoky outline she’d given them. I was also pretty sure she’d applied fake eyelashes, because my lashes had never been this long or thick. Her final touch before she rushed off to meet up with Lesa was the gloss she painted on my lips, turning them a perfect shade of ruby.

  I inspected myself in the mirror before I went downstairs. It was like staring at a stranger, and I made a mental note to wear makeup more often.

  Mom started crying the moment she saw me. “Oh my God, honey, you look so beautiful.” She went to hug me but stopped. “I don’t want to ruin anything. Let me grab my camera.”

  Even I wouldn’t begrudge her this moment. I waited until she returned and took a dozen pictures. Dressed in her nursing scrubs, she looked kind of funny snapping pictures.

  “Now this Simon guy,” she started, her forehead wrinkling. “You never talked about him.”

  Oh Lord. “We’re friends. Nothing more, so you don’t have a thing to worry about.”

  She gave me a motherly look. “Whatever happened with the boy next door—Daemon? You were hanging out with him a couple of times, right?”

  I shrugged. That was a conversation I couldn’t even begin to broach with my mom. “Uh, we’re frenemies.”

  “What?” Her brows puckered.

  “Nothing,” I sighed, glancing at my hand. There wasn’t a single mark on my fingers. There was a trace though, still lingering faintly, he said. “We’re friends.”

  “Well, that’s a shame.” She reached out, smoothing down an errant curl. “He seemed like such a nice boy.”

  Daemon? Nice boy? Um, no. A loud engine from outside ended our conversation. I moved over to the window, peeking out. Good Lord. Simon’s truck was the size of a submarine.

  “Why didn’t you two go to dinner like Dee was talking about?” my mother asked, gearing up the camera for another round of shots.

  Since Simon had nixed the carpool idea, I’d nixed the dinner. Simon was meeting me here, which I wasn’t too thrilled about, but meeting at the dance seemed stupid. Not to mention he had the tickets.

  I didn’t answer as I went to the door and opened it. Simon stood there, dressed in a tux. I was sort of surprised they had ones that fit him. His eyes, which seemed a little bleary, drifted down me in a way that turned my skin the color of my dress.

  “You look hot,” he said, thrusting out a corsage that went around my wrist.

  I winced, hearing my mom clear her throat. Taking the corsage, I stepped aside and let Simon in. “Mom, this is Simon.”

  Simon stepped forward, shaking Mom’s outstretched hand. “Now I see where Katy gets her looks from.”

  My mom arched a brow, turning into the Ice Queen. Simon had not made a fan. “Aren’t you kind.”

  I slunk over to his side as I slipped my corsage on, grateful it was not one that had to be pinned on. Simon took having the epic amounts of pictures taken good-naturedly, wrapping his arm around my waist and smiling for the camera.

  “Oh. I almost forgot.” Mom disappeared into the living room, returning with a lacy black shawl. She draped it over my shoulders. “This will keep you warm.”

  “Thank you,” I said, hugging it closer, more grateful for the coverage than she could ever imagine. The dress had seemed fine earlier, but now with Simon practically drooling on my cleavage I felt uncomfortable baring so much skin.

  Mom pulled me aside while Simon waited outside. “Make sure you call me when you get home. If anything happens, call me. Okay? I’m working in Winchester tonight.” She glanced out the door, frowning. “But I can leave if need be.”

  “Mom, I’ll be fine.” I leaned over, kissing her cheek. “I love you.”

  “Love you, too.” She ushered me to the door. “You do look gorgeous.”

  Before the tears could fill her eyes again, I fled the house. Getting in the truck required strategic climbing. I was surprised that I didn’t need a stepladder.

  “Man, you do look hot.” Simon popped a breath mint in his mouth before he backed out of the long driveway.

  I hoped he wasn’t planning to use those breath mints later. “Thanks. You look nice, too.”

  That was the extent of our conversation. Turns out Simon wasn’t a witty conversationalist. Shocking. The ride to school was long and awkward, and I was gripping the edges of my shawl like there was no tomorrow. Several times he glanced over, smiled, and popped another breath mint.

  I couldn’t wait to get to the dance.

  When we arrived in the parking lot, I found out why he was popping so many breath mints. Simon pulled a silver flask from the inside of his tux and took a long swig. He offered it to me next.

  He was drinking. This was already starting off great. I declined the offer, already making plans to find another ride home. Drinking didn’t bother me. Ending up with a drunk driver did.

  Seeming not to care, he shoved it back in his jacket. “Hold on. I’ll help you get down.”

  Well, that was nice of him, because I was wondering how in the world I was supposed to get down. He opened the door and I smiled. “Thank you.”

  “Did you want to keep your purse in here?” he asked.

  Oh, hell no. I shook my head and let the tiny clutch dangle from my wrist. Simon took my hand and helped me down from the truck. He pulled a little too hard, and I stumbled against his thick chest.

  “Are you okay?” he asked, smiling.

  I nodded, trying to ignore the icky feeling building in my stomach.

  Outside, I could hear the steady thump of music from the gymnasium. We stopped before the fogged-over doors, and Simon pulled me toward him in an awkward hug.

  “I’m glad you wanted to go to the dance with me,” he said, his breath minty and tinged with the harsh smell of liquor.

  “Same here,” I said, trying to mean it. I placed my hands on his burly chest and pushed back. “We should go in.”

  Smiling, he slid his arms away. One of his hands slipped down my back, over the curve of my hip. I stiffened and told myself it was an accident. It had to be. He surely didn’t just cop a feel like that. We hadn’t even danced yet.

  The gymnasium had been converted over to an autumn-themed dance. Strings of fall foliage hung from the ceilings and covered the doors. There were pumpkins and cornucopia horns full of leaves stacked in the corners and lining the stage.

  As soon as we stepped inside, we were surrounded by Simon’s friends. Some of them looked me over and gave Simon a not-so-discreet high five or clap on the back. It was like now they could tell I had boobs, I was suddenly cool. Boys could be so juvenile. While they passed around the flask Simon had brought in, I exchanged strained greetings with the other guys’ dates. They were all cheerleaders. Yawn.

  I scanned the crowd, spying Lesa with her date. “I’ll be right back.”

  Before Simon could stop me, I darted off toward her. She turned when her date nodded in my direction. I smiled. “You look gorgeous.” I had to yell to be heard over the music.

  “So do you!” She gave me a quick hug and then pulled back. “Is he behaving himself?”

  “So far. Do you mind?” I placed my shawl and clutch on their table when she shook her head. “They did a nice job on this.”

  Lesa nodded. “Still a gym, though.” She laughed. “It has that smell.”

  That was true. Carissa quickly joined us, tugging both of us out onto the dance floor minus the guys. I didn’t
mind. We danced with each other, giggling and being plain-out stupid. Lesa danced like a double-jointed hooker, and I think Carissa did the running man at one point.

  I caught a glimpse of Dee talking to Adam near the stage. Giving the girls a quick wave, I made my way over to them. “Dee!”

  She turned toward me, her eyes glistening under the dazzling lights. “Hey.”

  I stopped short, my eyes bouncing between them. Adam gave me a tight smile before stalking off into the throng of dancers. “Is everything okay?” I took her hand, squeezing it. “Have you been crying?”

  “No. No!” She wiped under her eye with her free hand, using her pinky. “It’s just that…I don’t think Adam wanted to go with me, and I’m not sure I want to even be here. And it’s…” She shook her head and pulled her hand free. “Anyway, you look great! That dress is to die for!” My heart went out to her. It didn’t seem fair that she was limited to who she could go out with. Especially considering every male Luxen I’d met was a douche. Since they all grew up together, it must be like going to the dance with her brother. “Hey,” I said, getting an idea. “We can bail on this if you want. Go get movies and eat ice cream in our pretty dresses. Sounds like fun, right? We can rent Braveheart. You love that movie.” Dee laughed, eyes tearing up again as she pulled me in for a tight hug. “No. We’re going to enjoy ourselves here. How’s your date?”

  I glanced around, not seeing him. “Probably drunk somewhere.”

  “Oh no.” She brushed a strand of hair back. She’d worn her hair down and straightened it so that it fell over her shoulders like a wave of dark water. “Bad?”

  “Not yet, but I was wondering if I could catch a ride home with you guys?”

  “Of course.” She started pulling me toward the dance floor. “We’re probably going to the bonfire afterward. You can come with us or we can drop you off.”

  Simon hadn’t mentioned a party. Maybe I’d get lucky and he’d forget about me. Dee and I skirted the edge of the floor, hand in hand. I’d almost given up on spotting Lesa in the mess, but then I came to a complete standstill.