by T. G. Ayer
I'm so dead when I get home. Maya's dad had the nostrils of a shark - he could smell lies, fear and alcohol within a five mile radius.
So dead.
Half-walking half-carrying Joss, Maya made it to her car, maneuvering her semi-conscious friend into the back seat. She almost dropped Joss twice as her fingers began to lose all feeling. Thank goodness for the old blanket she kept in the car. Usually fulfilling its purpose at the park or beside the river, it now covered her silly, intoxicated friend, hiding her in darkness and shadows.
Maya straightened.
Too quickly.
Blood rushed to her head, and the world continued its spinning even though she was pretty sure both feet were still on the ground. Maya swallowed several times, gulping, hoping to hold onto the contents of her stomach. She suspected that, in itself, wasn't a good idea considering the contents of her stomach were causing all her problems.
She had one foot inside the car, about to get in and drive Joss home when strong fingers dug into her arm, the points of sharp nails driving their vicious edges into her bare skin.
"Where are you going, Maya? You just got here," Amber said, her voice sweet and cloying, the black ringlets of her hair glistening in the garden lights. Her almond eyes gleamed, and Maya wondered where in the ancestry Amber proudly traced all the way back to the wilds of Kenya, had there been an injection of Asian eyes.
"So, where is Joss?" Maya blinked as Amber’s voice simmered, so mellow and so gentle Maya would have missed the pure deceit if it weren't for the slightest tightening of the girl’s dark eyes, and the strength of her grip on Maya’s arm.
"No idea. I couldn't find her." The lie flowed, so smooth and believable, off Maya’s tongue. Amber’s gaze flicked to the passenger seat then back to Maya’s face.
Maya took a breath to steady herself and caught a whiff of the strangest scent she’d ever smelled in her life. Something between warm blood and spices. The rich coppery odor churned her stomach again, and this time it threatened to free its contents. Ugh! The stink of rotting meat clawed at her gut. Maya was no vegetarian, but this stench, this concentration of raw-flesh scent, lodged at the back of her throat and filling her nostrils, made her dizzy with nausea.
Fear doused Maya’s hope of getting Joss home. Strange. Why was Amber objecting to her leaving? Maya, the unimportant kid, who went ignored most of the time. Instinct told her to pull away from Amber's grip, but a weird heat filtered through her. The alcohol, no doubt.
Maya blinked. A tingling warmth spread from Amber's flesh into her own body. And suddenly Maya wanted to laugh at how ridiculous she was being. It occurred to her how judgmental she was being of Amber. I'm so incredibly lucky to be invited in the first place. Joss would be okay sleeping it off in the car, wouldn't she? While the world righted itself inch by painful inch, Maya smiled. Amber might actually be a very nice person after all.
Maya blinked again- struggling with thoughts in her head that didn’t seem right. What is wrong with me?
She swallowed again. Hard.
Maya squeezed her eyes shut, then snapped them open when everything around her began to spin while her stomach spun in the opposite direction.
Okay, eyes wide open is the safest bet.
She let Amber walk her back into the house. And smiled a fake smile at Amber, still wondering at her sudden change in attitude. Then Maya admonished herself. She shouldn’t be so ungrateful; the girl had welcomed her into her home after all. Hadn't she just furthered Maya’s position in the popularity stakes with her generous invitation?
Of course, going with Amber wasn’t a bad idea.
Chapter 4
Maya stepped into the foyer, swallowing a bubble of nervous excitement. Nik leaned against a wall near the stairs, dark hair curling onto his shoulders. His nonchalant slouch didn’t fool her. His black eyes stared right through her as if he knew something she didn’t.
Her Nik-based musings were short-lived as Amber tightened her grip, steering her to the left. Maya avoided Nik’s gaze and turned, submitting to Amber's direction. And found herself staring right into the brightest blue eyes she'd ever seen. Electric blue and purely predatory. She knew him from school. One of the kids who always hung around with Amber. Someone's boyfriend or ex-boyfriend or something. He had those searching eyes that made her want to take a long, long shower.
Amber pushed her toward the guy. "Maya. Meet Byron. Byron, Maya's going to entertain you this evening." Her words and her tone sent shivers up and down Maya's spine. Byron grinned. Yeah, definitely one of the guys who always gets what he wants. The gleam in his eyes spelled a whole lot of danger.
He snaked his arm around Maya’s waist. She drew on her inner strength just to control the urge to shudder. His hand lay cool, serpentine against the stress-induced heat of her own skin.
Skin which crawled at the contact.
He felt venomous. Even his blue eyes seemed unnatural. All wrong. And he was also under the mistaken impression he had the right to touch her, hold her. A ripple of fear skittered up her spine, soft thunder, ominous and unrelenting.
"Come on, baby. Why don’t we go outside? A little fresh air?" He had to shout over the music blasted from various speakers dotting the living rooms on either side of the foyer. He squeezed Maya to his hip. A message. He was simply not taking no for an answer.
"Listen, bud. I don’t think so." Maya stepped away from the odious boy, shrugging him off even as he reached to pull her back, his fingers closing around her arm like talons, digging sharp and deep. She stared down at his fingers but his hand was just a hand. Yet her skin screamed with pure agony as if five knives dug their way into her flesh. She shook her head, swaying on her feet.
Hallucinations? Not good. Not good at all.
"Maya, Maya. Come on. Why are you acting like a kid? This is a big kid's party." Amber still stood beside her, watching them with steely grey eyes. Cold and metallic, they shone a dull silver. How had she never registered Amber's strange eyes? She’d thought they were dark, but she must have been mistaken.
Amber leaned closer, the meat and smoky, spicy scent engulfing Maya. The stench drowned her thoughts and stole her senses, leaving her to deal with another wave of nausea.
Amber spoke into her ear, loud but not so loud anyone else would be able to hear. An island of privacy within a crowd. "Why don’t you keep Byron company? Or I might have to go search for Joss. She’s missing all the fun. I know a few guys here who think she’s pretty hot."
Maya stared back into Amber's metallic eyes. The subtle threat lurked beneath her innocent words. Clear enough.
Go with Byron.
Or Joss is in deep shit.
Whatever happened tonight, Maya couldn’t leave without endangering Joss as well. Blood thundered in her head. A waterfall of rapid and terrifying reality, so loud she barely heard Amber’s coy giggle as a trio of cheerleaders passed by, whispering into Amber’s ear as they went. Barely registered Amber bump into her as the girls hugged each other and moved on.
Maya's heart tightened when she understood the silent warning in the flirtatious sound, the steely threat in Amber's eyes as they held hers for the barest moment. Have fun or else.
Then, Byron's cold arm snaked around her waist for the second time. His fingers sank into the soft skin at her hip, with just a hint of super-sharp penetration. Maya looked down at her hand, now red from Byron's grip. The surface intact, not broken, not bleeding as she'd expected. Fear was making her imagination go wild.
This time she couldn't shrug him off. Couldn't run. Terror ensnared her. No point even trying to defend herself against the cold creep. No point going over all the moves in her mind. Heel into instep. Punch to groin. Gouge eyes. Whatever.
None of it mattered.
Maya’s breath came in small puffs. Standing in the hall, being groped by Byron, she scanned the two rooms, left and right. Nik was gone. Would he have saved her anyway? This was his crowd, and she was the outsider.
"Come. Let’s go outs
ide," Byron spoke in her ear. His voice loud and cutting. His breath moved across her cheek, hot and fetid. Worse than alcohol. Like something had crawled in there and died a long time ago. Maya shuddered and winced as his lips touched her temple.
The cold softness freaked her out.
He pulled her through the dark, crowded room, jostling dancers and couples in various stages of making out. Maya tensed, but the lack of light wasn’t the reason for the sense of darkness creeping into her bones. Perhaps it was the intense spicy bloody odor still coiling around her, but something was wrong. Maya’s heart pounded harder. She knew Byron had felt her pulse race when he threw her a knowing smile that curled at the corner of his lip, and said volumes as his thumb dug into her waist, then drew small circles on her skin.
Outside, the air bathed Maya's face, welcoming, and fresh. But she still smelled spicy blood with every breath she took. Byron pulled her to a lounger at the pool and sat, tugging her hard to sit beside him. His silence rippled along her spine sending slivers of fear into her bones. Fear that intensified when he smiled. He placed his hand on her knee and Maya jumped.
She shot to her feet.
Had to make an excuse. Anything to get out of there. Am I seriously contemplating going through this for Joss?
"Er . . . I think I need to use the bathroom." Maya turned to walk back into the house when Byron grabbed her arm, digging deeper into her flesh. Hard enough to surely leave bruises.
"There’s a bathroom in the pool-house. It’s closer." He knew. He stared at her, eyes flat. Maya was stumped. No way out, so she trailed after him.
What now?
Safely inside, Maya lowered herself to the edge of the large bathtub. Her hands and knees shook. Maybe if she called her dad or her mom. She considered the possibility of permanent grounding a better choice than what surely lay ahead of her. Maya dug in her bag for her cellphone but came up empty. Where had she left it? The damned phone had definitely been in her bag the entire time.
An image flitted through her head. Amber bumping into her when the cheerleaders had passed them in the hall. Amber pressing close to her, as if they were best buddies. Maya’s heart plummeted.
Amber had taken the phone.
Byron banged on the door, scaring the living crap out of her. Maya gripped her handbag within stricken fingers.
"What’s taking you so long? Do I need to call Amber?" Byron growled.
Maya stalked to the door and flung it open. She had every intention of shoving past him and getting the hell away. Joss would still be in the car so if she ran fast enough she'd get there before Byron.
Byron was ready for her.
Maya tried to run past him, but he slammed his palm into her chest. She stumbled backward, her hip hitting the basin with a solid thwack. Her body ached but her gaze remained on Byron. He kept his head down, looking at her out of the top of his eyes. Like a bull, readying himself to charge straight at her. She expected smoke to rise from his nose soon.
The scent of blood and spice floated thick on the air. Cloying. Maya felt like she was drowning just on the odor. Her heart beat faster than anything she'd ever experienced. Sweat beaded on her forehead. Her hands shook and burned with an inexplicable, spreading heat. And the strange and unfamiliar sensation coursing within her veins? Adrenaline or fear?
Byron closed the distance between them in the blink of an eye. His hand spread around her neck before Maya could move. Before she could think. Even before she realized there was nowhere to go. He lifted her by the throat, her feet dangling at least a foot off the floor.
He was so strong, so frighteningly strong. His fingers dug deep. Maya tried to cough.
Tried to breathe.
Darkness enveloped her, thick smoky darkness shrouded her. Hazy. She kicked her useless feet. Ragged jerky movements. She was going to pass out. Then she'd be at Byron’s mercy. No way. Not happening. But the flickerings of unconsciousness began to seep into the edges of her vision.
Fear streamed through her and then, with the last reserves of energy, she kicked hard at Byron's knee. Hard enough to break it. A satisfying crack echoed across the tiled bathroom. Byron hunched over his knee, releasing his grip on her throat. Maya gasped, sucking air into her starved lungs, stumbling away from him, but he growled. Like a rabid animal.
Fear spun Maya around on stricken feet. Facing her attacker, she could see his next move. He barreled straight at her. And for all her training, she did the one thing her dad always said never to do. She ducked her head and hid her face, hands out, as if she could fend off this vicious attacker merely with her bare palms.
Maya sensed the heat on her skin before she saw it.
Byron was on fire. A living column of shimmering orange flames. She couldn't breathe. Was afraid to breathe. How did that happen? She glanced around the bathroom as panic filled her veins, her fear taking on a whole new level of hysteria. She had to put the fire out. She edged around Byron as he clawed at the melting skin of his face. She reached the basin and hesitated. Was water really the best thing to douse the flames? Would I do him more harm than good?
She turned to the faucet and froze. In the mirror, she watched the burning reflection of Byron disappear. He was there one moment and gone the next, only a few burnt shards of fabric left to say he'd even existed.
Maya gasped as she remembered the last thing she'd seen before Byron became nothing: brilliant blue eyes turning a frighteningly blood-red.
And Nik, holding the doorknob, staring at the empty space on the floor behind her.
Chapter 5
Before Maya could think of a good excuse, Nik grabbed her shoulder giving her a rough little shake, his eyes tight with concern. The room had begun to take on a nice fuzzy darkness, while little spots of starlights sparked at the edge of her vision. Perhaps he was more observant than she was. It was probably a bad idea to faint here in the pool-house bathroom; right after Byron disappeared in a column of fiery flames. Nik seemed to know this too.
Maya’s clothes hung in tatters where Byron had grabbed at her, her face swollen where he’d hit her hard enough to knock her into next Tuesday. She winced at the pain lancing through her ribs. Had Byron cracked them where he’d slammed his beefy forearm into her? He certainly hadn’t felt the need to hold back.
She frowned. Wanted to figure out what the hell just happened. Why Byron had attacked her was easily answered. But why he’d disappeared wreathed in flames still remained a mystery.
Nik’s warm arms offered comfort, but Maya rejected him, shoving at his hands, needing her space, needing air. He shook her again. And at last, she started to breathe.
"No time for you to hyper-ventilate or go hysterical on me okay?" Nik spoke softly in Maya’s ear, keeping her upright with a firm arm gripping her waist. He leaned her against the washbasin, shrugged off his jacket and wrapped the warm leather around her shoulders. "We have to get you out of here as quickly and quietly as possible."
"You followed us here?" Maya frowned, her brain foggy from near asphyxiation. She blinked and concentrated on Nik, pretty sure she hadn't seen him creeping around after them. And maybe she was concentrating on him too much because suddenly all she wanted was to rest her cheek against his oh-so-inviting chest.
Get a grip Maya.
Nik’s voice broke through her forbidden thoughts. "I was trying to keep an eye on you. Then you both disappeared and I had to search the house. It took me too long to get here. I’m sorry."
He fingered the bruise on her throbbing cheek. Good thing her dad’s shiner remained well hidden beneath layers of makeup or she’d have a matching pair. One of these days she just had to stop this habit of getting punched in the face.
"Can you walk?"
Maya stared at Nik not sure if her legs would hold her, wanting to ask for help, but wondering why Nik even bothered. Was this another con to take advantage of her, another trick a la Amber? Right this minute, she refused to accept his kindness, if that’s what it was. Maya stiffened within Nik's grasp.
"You have to try. It would attract too much attention if I had to carry you. And we really need to get moving. Amber could be looking for the two of you even now."
The heated urgency in Nik's voice seemed too real, too visceral to be an act. He ran his long fingers through his hair, making it stand up at all angles. And even though her heart hammered because of Byron’s attack, she had to tamp down the urge to run her own fingers through Nik’s hair and fix the mess.
What the hell is wrong with you, Maya?
"I’m sure I can manage," she finally responded, her voice dry and dead. No way was she letting him carry her. And the thought of Amber chilled her to the bone. The girl had deliberately set her up. What kind of person does something like that? Maya didn’t want to think about what could have happened if Byron hadn't turned into a six-foot wall of flame.
She pushed Nik back, standing upright, forcing her gelatinous muscles to bear her weight. She stared down at the ruined fabric of her top. One strap hung broken, ripped at the seam. Beads had unraveled everywhere, turning the beautifully intricate patterns into a mess of bare fabric, partial patterns and random blobs of the remaining beading. She'd left her jacket in the car and she’d have to accept Nik’s if she intended to make it out of the house without drawing attention to her state of disrepair.
Maya scanned the bathroom for her handbag, then retrieved it from where it had landed beside the toilet, pulled the strap over her shoulder and gave her reflection a cursory glance. She ran her hands through her thick straight black hair. There, now she was presentable. Sort of.
If she moved quickly, maybe nobody would see her. Maybe. She turned and marched out of the room, out of the poolhouse. Nik remained by her side, keeping up with her.
"Smile," he said, as his eyes flicked to the door to the living room still packed with music and dancers. "You’re supposed to be having a good time here."
He threw an arm over her shoulder. Maya pasted a grin on her face, knowing she probably looked quite maniacal, and not caring in the least. She didn’t feel much like smiling. Not after the whole Byron thing. Not while Nik’s arm remained around her, so close she breathed in the scent of him.