When I finally woke up the next morning around 9:00, I could vaguely remember Jason coming in through my window in the ungodly early morning hours to say goodbye before he left. My dream had really thrown me. My dreams of fire had always been unnerving, but this one caused me to wake with a solid cold knot of fear in my stomach. I rolled out from underneath my dark green bedspread, hating everything while trying to push my fear aside. I glanced out my large bedroom window to see that the miserable weather matched my mood. Dark grays and blues swirled ominously, promising snow. It was going to be a white Christmas . . . yippee.
I took a shower and got dressed in a deep red cable-knit sweater, and faded, holey jeans shoved into dark brown, low-heeled slouchy boots (courtesy of Allison’s annual wardrobe cleansing). Not bothering to do anything with my hair, I clunked downstairs in search of coffee.
I caught sight of my mom sitting at the dining room table dressed in a royal blue sweater dress and black boots. She sipped coffee while carrying on a jovial conversation. My day darkened exponentially when I came around the corner and saw that she was talking to Chase, who looked quite comfortable in his forest green sweater and jeans. He was drinking coffee out of my usual coffee mug. It was oversized and had an illustration of a dejected looking Edgar Allan Poe on one side. It was my tried and true favorite.
I walked into the kitchen to find a completely empty coffee pot. I grumbled to myself as I ground some beans and got a fresh pot going. I grabbed a store-bought blueberry muffin and stomped back into the dining room, taking a seat on the far side of the table, away from my mom and Chase. They interrupted their conversation to turn their attention to me.
I regarded my mom, ignoring Chase’s presence. “No work today?”
“No,” she answered, a big, fake smile plastered across her face. “I’m feeling a bit tired,” she went on, her smile crumbling around the edges.
I nodded, understanding that she still wasn’t ready to discuss things further. She gave me a genuine, if small, smile in return.
“So,” my mom began awkwardly, “I found your friend on the porch and invited him in to wait for you.” She smiled warmly at Chase, but I could sense her wariness underneath. “I don’t know how he didn’t freeze to death out there.”
My smile for Chase was more of a snarl. “He’s not my friend,” I corrected, making eye contact with Chase as I said it.
“Oh,” my mom hesitated. “Well, um, I have a lot of gift wrapping to do, so I’ll leave you two alone.”
She stood and hustled out of the dining room. I caught her glancing back at us with motherly concern before she turned to hurry up the stairs. I had a feeling the days of my mom prying were at an end. She could never be sure what information she might pry her way into.
I turned my attention to Chase. “You got a car?”
He smiled pleasantly at me despite my earlier rudeness. “I can get one,” he answered simply.
I nodded and stood to get myself a cup of coffee. Chase stood as well and immediately let himself out the front door, presumably to “get” a car. I hadn’t felt the need to let him in on the fact that I just wanted him to take me to the mall to finish my Christmas shopping. He might not have deemed it important enough.
I sat back down at the table with hot coffee and my muffin and couldn’t help my mischievous grin. Messing with Chase had made me feel infinitely better. I would have to continue doing so. My thoughts went to Jason, and I immediately redirected them. What else did I need to buy for Christmas . . . oh who was I kidding? I stared down into my coffee cup and wallowed.
By the time Chase returned, I had finished my coffee and muffin and was leafing through a catalog while I waited. I grabbed my keys and wallet to throw into a plain cloth purse I had recently bought and went outside to meet him. The cloudy sky had made me expect miserable weather, but the air felt cool and calm. I still expected snow, but maybe it would be the pleasant, soft-falling snow that’s so popular in Hallmark commercials, rather than the harsh, blizzardy snow that was more often the reality.
Chase was leaning against an ancient gray, rust-speckled pickup truck. I had serious doubts that it would even make it to the mall. He stepped away from the truck and swung his arms out to pose like a model on a game show.
“Your chariot awaits,” he said dramatically.
I raised my eyebrows. “Lovely,” I replied sarcastically.
Chase smiled and went around to get in the driver’s side. I yanked the passenger door open and climbed into the ancient seat. Chase shut his door and started the ignition. I squirmed as I tried to find a position where the seat springs wouldn’t poke into me through the seat’s flattened padding. I finally settled in with a disgruntled expression.
Chase, misreading my expression of distaste asked, “Did you want to drive or something?”
I paused a moment in confusion, then seeing an opportunity, quickly hoisted my nose into the air, as if offended that he had assumed the role of driver without asking me. “Yes, yes I do.”
He didn’t even argue. He just got out and went around to the passenger’s side while I slid across the small middle seat into the driver’s seat. I couldn’t help but be pleased. My driving terrifies my mom, so since I don’t have a car of my own, I didn’t get to drive often. I was practically bouncing up and down with excitement by the time Chase finished buckling himself into the passenger’s seat.
Taking in my maniacal glee, he looked at me nervously. “Something tells me I’m going to regret this.”
I took the time to flash him a quick grin, then slammed my foot on the gas.
The truck peeled out of my driveway, kicking gravel up in its wake. The old clunker had a lot more power than my mom’s little car. I eased off the gas just a little bit as we wove through my neighborhood toward the highway.
I spared a quick glance at Chase. “Mind if we take the long way?”
“Sure,” he said weakly.
I drove a short way on the small highway that leads through the middle of town, then turned onto a street that would take me to the back roads. I was mainly going this way to avoid the graveyard, but I’d let Chase believe that I just wanted a chance to drive the truck on the long, curvy back roads. Heck, he’d be partially right to believe so.
As soon as we reached the start of the narrow road that curves out into the woods on the outskirts of Shelby, I let my foot fall down on the gas. Chase was beginning to look a bit more relaxed, so I rolled down my window and hit the gas a little bit more. The wind blowing in through the window pummeled me, making my hair swirl around my head. Since I hadn’t done anything to my hair that morning anyways, I wasn’t about to worry about it.
Chase cranked up the ancient radio, then started flipping through the few stations that we get in Shelby. He settled on a station that was playing Living on a Thin Line by the Kinks, then leaned back against his seat.
As we made our way down the deserted road, partially shaded by the surrounding trees, I eased my foot off the gas a bit. For the first time in days, a feeling of relaxed contentment came over me. Driving that old truck, I felt in control. Chase may not have been my first choice for company, but the wind in my hair felt good, and we were in little danger of being attacked or confronted by anyone or anything. My thoughts wandered to Jason, and the fact that I didn’t even know where he was going or what his “job” was. I quickly stifled the irritation that bubbled in me, not wanting to ruin the peacefulness of the moment.
Thinking it was as good a time as any, I turned down the radio and rolled my window up partially so I could talk to Chase. I waited in the relative silence for him to turn his attention from the window to me. When he didn’t I cleared my throat.
He turned to me, startled out of his thoughts.
Keeping my attention on the road, I asked, “Now that we’re alone, are you ready to explain to me just how you know my dad, and why he chose you to protect me?”
He was silent for a moment, then answered softly, “I owe your dad a favor, re
ally, I owe him my life.”
I raised my eyebrows at that, and spared Chase a quick glance to assure myself that he wasn’t messing with me. “Seriously?”
“Yeah.”
“And . . . ?”
He cleared his throat. “And . . . that’s it.”
I let that line of conversation drop, not that I was done with it, but I could stand to postpone it until he was feeling slightly more sharing. “So . . . ” I began, “Jason said that you smell like me, like a demon.”
“Yes,” he replied, not elaborating any further.
I pinched my lips in frustration. “What gives? You said you would explain things to me once we were alone.”
He sighed loudly. “Yes, I’m a demon too. My mom was a full demon, and my dad was a half demon.”
“So you’re more demon-y than I am?” I interrupted.
He smiled. “In an inconsequential kind of way. Demons have different bloodlines. The more powerful the bloodline, the more powerful the demon. The more powerful the demon, the more traits they will pass on to their offspring. Your dad comes from a very powerful bloodline. My parents were both from mixed bloodlines.”
“So . . .” I prompted.
“So,” he went on, “though I have more demon blood than you, you’re slightly more ‘demon-y’ than me.”
“How demon-y are you?” I pressed. “What can you do?”
He resigned himself to our line of conversation and began to explain, “I’m told that my dad was a necro-demon, he could speak to the dead and create zombies, and my mom was a Naga.”
I pursed my lips in stunned thought for a minute. And here I was thinking that nothing could shock me anymore. “Okay, first, necro-demon? And second, what the heck is a Naga? And why do you say ‘I’m told’?”
He smiled bitterly. “First, yes, necro-demon. Second, a Naga in the most simple terms is a snake person. Third, I say ‘I’m told’ because my dad abandoned me when I was young. I was raised by my mother.” He said everything as if it was very matter-of-fact, with no emotion whatsoever.
I decided that I probably didn’t know him well enough to question him further about being abandoned. It could be a sore subject. I should know. “So what can you do?”
He seemed relieved that I had taken my questioning in this direction. “Well,” he began, “working with the dead is mostly beyond me. I can occasionally see glimpses of ghosts and spirits, but that’s about it. I have the regular demon traits: extra strength, sharpened senses, better healing. I’m probably stronger in those areas than you, just because of the amount of demon blood I have. It’s the actual powers I’m more lacking in. Also, from my mom’s side, I’m poisonous.”
Oh ick. “In what way?” I asked.
He turned to me and grinned, showing teeth. Two tiny fangs appeared at his gum line and slowly extended over his canines. I almost swerved off the road watching them.
He laughed then looked back out the windshield. “In that way,” he answered.
“Oh,” I replied, feeling a major case of heebie-jeebies. Enough of that subject. “And why do you owe my dad your life?”
He cringed, then glanced at me nervously. “Another time?” he asked.
“Sure,” I conceded, “another time.”
He slumped down in his seat, as if giving me all this information had cost him a great deal. Who knew? Maybe it had.
By the time we finally pulled up to the mall, I had gone into full relaxation mode. I know it was a bit odd, that I was only able to finally relax in the presence of a stranger, one who I should have known better than to be relaxed around, but there it was regardless. It was nice to be away from responsibilities and expectations.
I manually rolled up the window, and Chase and I both stepped out of the rickety truck. I had to slam my door twice to get it to latch, then we both headed toward the mall. Chase walked casually by my side, holding the door open for me with a slightly mocking smile. I walked through nonchalantly, not bothering to catch the door on the interior to hold it open for him. I was instantly bombarded by the chaos of a shopping center a week before Christmas. I sent a brief, angry thought to my dad, blaming him for the fact that I had to come to the mall twice in one week.
The only person I had left to buy for was Jason, and I was still at a loss as to what to get him. I figured Barnes & Noble was as good a place to start as any, and made a beeline for the store with Chase hot on my heels. Once in the store, I began browsing the shelves with the idea that I could simply buy him a bunch of books, and hopefully equal, but not outdo whatever he got for me.
Chase leaned in over my shoulder, his face uncomfortably close to mine. His shampoo smelled like oranges. “Who ya shopping for?” he asked in a sing-song manner.
I sidestepped to put some space between us. “None of your business,” I grumbled.
Chase made a hmmf sound in his throat, then held up a finger, as if experiencing an epiphany. “Aaah, shopping for the vampire, are we?”
I glared at him. “Yes, if you must know. My dad interrupted my shopping the other day. Jason’s was the only gift I didn’t get.”
Chase simply nodded and strolled away to a different shelf of books, hands clasped behind his back casually. My relaxed ease officially crushed, I turned my attention back to my task. I was beginning to think that the bookstore was a lost cause, because I couldn’t be sure what Jason had or hadn’t read. Then my eyes were drawn to a collection on an end-cap. I walked closer to investigate, realizing that the collection was a boxed set of fifteen classics. Bingo. I swiped up the box, not bothering to check the price, and headed to the register.
After I payed, I started looking around for Chase, who was nowhere to be seen. I deduced that he wasn’t anywhere in the store, so I walked out into the crowded concourse to look for him. The place was a madhouse, and I resigned myself to the possibility that it could be awhile before I found him, and I had stupidly handed him the truck keys. Not that I would strand him at the mall. No . . . neeever.
Just as I was about to park my butt on a bench to wait, Chase came striding toward me with a coffee cup in each hand. As he approached he extended one out to me. “Peace offering?” he said with a smile.
I switched my shopping bag to my left hand and took the offered coffee with a glare. “You make it very hard to dislike you.”
Chase’s smile grew as he rocked back and forth on his heels. “Then I suggest you stop trying.”
I smirked at him, then turned to walk back toward the closest exit.
Chase caught up to walk shoulder to shoulder with me. “You’re done already?”
I nodded. The exit was in sight. Eye on the prize, eye on the prize. I’d be away from the bustling crowd soon.
“Did you get anything for your dad?”
I stopped and spun on Chase. “Are you kidding?”
Chase raised his dark eyebrows at my reaction. “Why would I be kidding? He has afforded you your very own bodyguard,” he said, putting his arms out and looking himself up and down.
I let out a harsh breath. “And that’s supposed to make up for not being around my entire life?”
“No,” Chase said apathetically, “but it’s a start.”
I just stared at him, at a loss for words.
He made a calming gesture with his free hand. “Sorry, sorry. I concede to your point. Now drink your coffee.”
I took a sip, more to cover up how flustered I was than anything. Creamy deliciousness poured down my throat. Delighted, I asked, “What on earth is this wonderful concoction?”
“Breve,” Chase responded, laughing at me. “It’s like a latte, but they use half-and-half instead of milk.”
I smiled. “You are fully forgiven. Let’s go.”
We went.
Chapter Nine
It was already 3:00 pm when we got back to my house. My mom’s car was missing from the driveway again. I went inside, grudgingly inviting Chase in with me, and learned from my mom’s note that she was indulging in more retai
l therapy. She had probably been at the mall when we were, but it was so crowded, I wasn’t surprised we hadn’t run into her.
I walked to the machine and pushed the button below the flashing red light. The first message was from one of my mom’s coworkers and I skipped over it after a few seconds. Lucy’s voice played out of the machine next. “Xoe, it’s Lucy. We can’t find Lela. She was supposed to meet me and Max hours ago. Call me back.”
Lucy’s message clicked off and I jumped when my dad’s voice began to play. “Alexondra, stay near Chase. We need to talk.” Click. Ominous, very ominous.
I turned toward Chase, who had been listening over my shoulder. It was lucky that I reached those messages before my mom. I really needed a cell phone.
“Any idea what he wants?” I asked.
Chase shrugged. “Not a clue. Lela was one of the werewolves we met at the pizza parlor, right?”
I nodded as a sick feeling sunk into my gut. Something was very wrong. My skin started to prickle with an electric sensation. A moment later, there was a knock on the door.
“It’s your dad.” Chase stated.
I went to answer the door, figuring the prickle had been me sensing my dad’s peculiar form of teleportation. Maybe I could learn that one too. Now that would be nice.
As soon as I opened the door, my dad came striding in, looking expensive in black slacks and a dark blue, cashmere sweater. “A witch was abducted in Bear Creek,” he stated, anger tinting his words. Bear Creek was another small town within an hour of Shelby.
“They’re getting closer,” Chase observed.
“Well duh,” I added. Then turning toward my dad I asked, “I take it we should be worried?”
The Xoe Meyers Trilogy (Xoe Meyers Young Adult Fantasy/Horror Series) Page 23