Toxic

by Jus Accardo

  Stunned silence filled the room. Ginger, happy to be the center of attention again, turned to me. “Deznee, you’re telling us that Alex advised you to take Cross up on his offer? Please, tell me, what are the side effects of this poison?”

  Alex had never suggested going to Dad. I’d imagined the whole thing. “Intense pain and…hallucinations,” I replied a little sheepishly.

  That’s what Able had said at the restaurant. What else hadn’t been real? Jade had already confirmed the ice cream place—thank God—but what about the kiss I saw?

  Of course that’d never happened. Kale wouldn’t do that to me. It all made sense. The fuzzy, erratic feeling I’d felt just before it’d happened. It was similar to the way things warped during my conversation with Alex. The whole thing had been one big, horrific hallucination.

  Ginger nodded and pointed to the door. “Everyone out except for Kale, Deznee, and Sue.”

  Once the door closed, she turned to Kale. “You will not be going back to that place.”

  He started to argue, but she snapped her fingers and turned to me. “And neither will you.”

  Kale let out an audible breath and leaned back against the wall.

  “We will arrange a trade. Deznee will tell Cross she is willing to go with him if he cures her, but he must bring the cure with him. We will be lying in wait and ambush him.”

  “The cure is a person—Able’s brother, Aubrey. Able poisons, and Aubrey heals.”

  “Even better. Much easier to find than a small vial.”

  “What about the Supremacy cure?” Kale asked as Ginger made her way to the door.

  “We must go through one door at a time, Kale. If Deznee doesn’t survive the poison, then the Supremacy side effects won’t matter.”

  And she was gone, followed by Mom, leaving me alone with Kale.

  Kale took my arm in his hand, taking care to let the fabric slid back down over my skin. “He knew about this, and I didn’t.”

  He meant Alex. “Yeah.”

  “Because I hurt you. Because you know it would hurt me?”

  “Sorta—I mean, not really… It’s comp—”

  He was glaring at me.

  Then his words really sank in. The bottom fell out from my stomach, and my newly formed, oh-so-fragile puff of hope disintegrated. “Wait—hurt me?”

  “When I kissed Jade. I hurt you.”

  I didn’t answer right away—I couldn’t. My tongue felt heavy, and my throat was dry. It was like watching it happen all over again. In slow motion.

  He understood my hesitation. Expression pained, he said, “You thought it was a hallucination.”

  “Guess it wasn’t.” Taking a deep breath, I answered his question. “And yeah, you hurt me, but I didn’t tell Alex to hurt you back. Actually, I didn’t tell Alex. He found out on his own. He saw it a few days ago, before it got this bad.”

  Kale’s face darkened. “He saw it? How did he see it? Did you—”

  It took me a minute to figure out what he was hinting at. “Oh, God! No. How could you even ask—” Then it really hit me. “And whoa—that reaction? Wrong on so many levels after what happened with Jade, Kale. You know, that thing that wasn’t a hallucination?”

  He was quiet for a minute, so I decided to keep talking before I chickened out.

  “It’s one or the other.” I swallowed. The pain surged, and a wave of dizziness swept over me. A rush of heat, then an arctic chill, followed by a dull, all-over ache. “I tried to warn you this might happen. That once you were able to touch—”

  He growled and stepped away. “You make me want to scream. It’s very strange.”

  “Right back atcha.”

  His expression softened. “I have no feelings for Jade.”

  “You kissed her. Hell, you even asked first. And at the ice cream place—Jade’s hand. You said it was different. Good different.”

  He smiled. “It was. It didn’t come close to the feeling I get when I hold yours. I kissed Jade so you could stop worrying. About me. About us. About her. I had no intention of hiding it from you.”

  Time stopped. The air stilled, and the music downstairs quieted. “You—”

  Carefully, he reached across and placed my hand over his heart. “My heart only beats like this for you. No amount of touching, no other girl, nothing will ever change that. I knew you didn’t believe me. After what happened on the crane, when Jade took my hand in the conference room, I saw it in your eyes. Doubt. It was hard for me to deal with that—having you feel so uncertain. I wanted you to feel as sure about me as I do about you.”

  I felt like there was an entire bag of cotton stuffed inside my mouth. “So you thought kissing her would get rid of my doubt?”

  Kale took a step back. “Of course. I kissed her and have no desire to do so again. It fixes everything.”

  “So you’re saying it was a bad kiss?”

  “Bad,” he mused. “Not bad. Enjoyable, actually. Although she’s rather pushy. She kept trying to take her shirt off the other night.”

  “You’re not winning the argument here…”

  “I kissed her to prove to you that no one else matters. I’ve spent time with her. Held her hand. I’ve had something to compare you to, and it changes nothing.”

  Kale logic. Unique, and totally innocent. I was an ass for not realizing it from the start. “So you don’t want her?”

  “You thought I did? Is that why you’ve been avoiding me?”

  “Losing my immunity to you, it screwed things up. I ran off like an idiot that night and dug myself a huge hole—only I didn’t realize it at first. Then Jade got here, and she so obviously wanted you. By the time I realized I was in serious trouble, you and Jade seemed cozy with each other. I wanted to tell you, trust me. I wanted more than anything for you to hold me and tell me things would be fine—but you couldn’t. Instead, I’ve been running around, terrified and alone.”

  He unzipped his hoodie and shrugged it off. Draping the hood over my head, he wrapped it around me from behind and wound his arms tight around.

  “Everything will be all right,” he whispered, his breath tickling my ear. “I swore nothing would ever make me go back to that place, but it was a lie. I will make sure you get better no matter what it takes. No matter what I have to do.”

  31

  When we finally emerged from the room, Jade was waiting at the end of the hall.

  She looked me up and down, eyes lingering on Kale’s hoodie, and snapped, “What took so long?”

  I stuffed my arms through the sleeves and pulled the fabric tighter. I knew it was over seventy in here, but according to my internal clock, it was going on forty. “Didn’t realize we were on a time schedule. It’s Friday, and we’re at a party. No school till Monday.”

  “Whatever.” She turned to Kale. “Shall we?”

  He stared. “Shall we what?”

  Clearly Jade was confused. “Go? I was thinking we could head downstairs. Maybe grab a drink and dance a little before we head back to wherever it is we’re shacking up for the night.”

  “I’m not practicing tonight. I’m going to stay with Dez.”

  “Stay with—I don’t understand.”

  If I hadn’t felt so crummy, I would have laughed at her. Wiggled my ass in its spectacular leather low riders, thrown an arm around my guy, and sauntered off while she drooled all over herself. I mean hell, I was literally knocking on death’s door, and I still looked awesome. The way I felt, it just annoyed me. “Seriously? You thought he was in there breaking up with me?”

  Kale glanced back at the door. “Breaking up?”

  “Saying you wanted her instead of me,” I supplied. “Stepping out permanently.”

  Kale shook his head. He even looked a little apologetic. “No. I’d never step out on Dez.”

  “But—the ice cream place—my hand. You told me things you never told her! You trusted me. You kissed me!”

  Kale tilted his head, confused. “I would tell anyone who asked what I t
old you. It was because I didn’t care what you thought of me. And the kiss wasn’t for you, it was for Dez.”

  Jade’s jaw dropped.

  “There you are.” Mom turned the corner just as Jade twirled on her heel to leave. She watched her go, trying to hide a smile. “I take it you two are fine now?”

  “Now that little Miss Porn Star has been put in her place, yeah.”

  “Good. Kale, can you take Dez back to Meela’s? She doesn’t look well. Ginger thinks stress might be helping the poison spread faster.”

  Kale nodded, and I couldn’t help but laugh. “Very good! That was a total mom thing to say! See? You’re getting it.”

  She hesitated, then smiled. “There are a few more things to do here. After we’re done, Dax will drop me off on the way back to his place.”

  “So, Dax?” I said as soon as Mom was out of earshot.

  “He was holding her hand earlier. It made her smile.”

  “Well, then, good for them, I guess. Will you—are you staying at Meela’s, too?”

  His smile faded. “Do you want me to stay someplace else?”

  “No,” I blurted. “It’s just—the last few nights you didn’t exactly push to stay close…”

  “At first Ginger didn’t think it was safe for me to stay so close. She didn’t think we could—keep our hands to ourselves?”

  I snickered. “Valid point.”

  “Then she said she wanted me close to Jade so I could safely be around people.” He shrugged. “She said spending all my time with you wasn’t teaching me how to properly interact with others and that I was bound to pick up bad habits.”

  I snorted.

  He draped his arm around my shoulder and steered me toward the stairs. “Sue is right. You need rest. How do you feel?” Palm pressed firmly into my shoulder, he frowned. “You seem warm. You have a fever.”

  “At the moment? Fine. It comes in spurts.”

  We made it down the stairs, people moving aside to give Kale a safe berth. When we reached the bottom, we wove around to the edge of the room. The dance floor was packed with bodies, all enjoying the music. In the far corner, several guys were scaling the rock wall. Someone had turned the surface to ice, and those climbing were forced to use their gifts to make it to the top. I knew we should go, but I couldn’t help stopping to watch them for a moment.

  One had it easy. I couldn’t remember his name, but I knew he was an animal shifter who could shift specific body parts—kind of freaky. He’d shifted his hands into claws and was easily taking the lead.

  The second, I couldn’t remember seeing before. He was trailing just behind Shifter Guy, using some serious muscle to punch holes through the ice and grab the grips beneath.

  The third—well, I had no idea. His gift obviously wasn’t helpful in a situation like this because he was stuck on the ground, staring up at the other two. Every now and then he’d try to dig in a foothold, slipping back to the ground to a symphony of laughter.

  I was just about to turn and head for the door when I saw Alex weaving through the crowd. I started forward but wasn’t fast enough.

  “Leaving?”

  “Looks that way, doesn’t it?”

  He gave Kale a dismissive wave. “With him? Didn’t you catch him trying to suck the tonsils out of Porn Star Barbie?”

  It bothered me that news of the kiss had apparently made the rounds—Sixes were skilled in the game of telephone—but I merely rolled my eyes.

  Alex shrugged. “Whatever. Keep forgetting you’re into that weird shit now. Hang on, just lemme grab my jacket.”

  I stopped him. “Um, why?”

  “’Cause I’m going with you.”

  “No, you’re not.”

  He flashed me a wicked grin and pulled free. “Yeah, I am. Ginger insists.”

  “Bullshit.”

  His smile faded. “Look, I’m not trying to hassle you and the cheater—though pissing him off is a major perk. Since Denazen wants you both, it’s safer to take along an extra body. Ya know, just in case.”

  Kale didn’t try to hide the disdain in his voice. “You want to come to ensure both of us are protected?”

  Alex straightened and squared his shoulders. Taking a step closer to Kale, he smiled. “No. I want to ensure that she’s protected. Don’t give a dead rat’s ass about you, brother man.”

  Kale stood tall. “I am all the protection she needs.”

  “And who’s gonna protect her from you? Or did you figure out how to pet puppies without murdering them?”

  “Come just a little closer,” Kale growled. “We can find out.”

  Shoving Alex, I grabbed the back of Kale’s shirt. “He wants to tag along, fine. Whatever. Let’s just go.”

  And with that, I left the party wedged uncomfortably between my boyfriend and my ex.

  …

  They went at it the entire way to Meela’s house. Never came up for air. Before we even got off the block, I considered touching Kale so I’d have some peace and quiet.

  “If you continue to push me, Alex, I’m going to touch you. I’ve counted to three hundred. Twice.”

  Alex snickered. “Counted to three hundred? What the hell is that supposed to mean?”

  “It means you need to knock it off.” I glared at Kale. “Both of you.”

  “Fact is fact. I knew what was going on. You didn’t. She didn’t tell you, brother man. What’s that say?”

  Kale stopped walking. We were standing in front of Meela’s house now. The lights inside were off, but someone had left the one over the front door on.

  “It says,” Kale said in that dark, deceptively calm way of his, “that you are an annoyance. I don’t deal well with annoyances. But it’s a very simple fix. No one will miss you. Your kind are like vermin. Everywhere.”

  “I disagree. I think Dez would miss me.” Alex winked. “A lot. And my kind? Dude, we’re the same kind.”

  Fists clenched, Kale leaned closer. “We are nothing alike.”

  Alex lost his grin. Jaw tight, he nodded in my direction. “We’re exactly alike. We both hurt her.”

  “Wow. And there it is. Your inner asshole just bled through.” I turned away from them and stalked up the walkway.

  I managed to get the key into the lock and turn the handle without strangling either one of them. As soon as I stepped through the door, I heard a muffled voice.

  “I don’t care. It’s only a matter of time. I’m done. Get me the fuck out.”

  “That sounds like—”

  Alex put his hand over my mouth. Eyes wide, he shook his head and pointed to the hall. Silently, we crept along the wall, stopping right outside the room. Kiernan was sitting on the couch, feet kicked onto the table, and talking into her cell.

  “Does it matter who you get first? One pretty much guarantees the other—trust me. It’s kind of pathetic.”

  “This isn’t what it sounds like…,” I whispered.

  Kale’s hand was on my shoulder, urging me back. “Dez.”

  Kiernan continued talking, oblivious to our presence. “No. There was no party tonight. The old lady said it was canceled.”

  And that’s why she hadn’t been at The Rockies. She didn’t even know about the party because Ginger knew about her. I was guessing she and Jade didn’t get a list of people to notify. That’s what Jade had meant about wasting their time. Random errands. Ginger had kept them busy and out of the way.

  “Okay, fine. One more night.” A pause. “Okay. Night.”

  Alex tapped my shoulder and pointed to the door. I shook my head and pointed to the living room. “Not a frigging chance,” he mouthed. “Need to go.”

  I put my hands up in surrender. Turning like I was about to head for the front door, I whispered, “But just one thing first.”

  Before either of them could stop me, I flew around the corner and charged. Knocking her back against the couch, I pinned Kiernan down. “Lemme guess—ordering pizza?”

  She dropped the cell. It bounced off the cushion
and landed on the floor. “It’s not what it sounds like, Dez! I can totally explain.”

  “Oh, so you weren’t on the phone with Denazen?”

  “Denazen? Those tools? Of course not. I was on the phone with my dad.”

  She kicked up, catching me off guard. I toppled to the side, allowing her to jump up. “Who just happens to work for Denazen. Oh. Wait. I guess it was what it looked like.”

  “It would be foolish of you to think you could fight both of us,” Kale said, stepping up beside me. With a chuckle, he added, “It would be foolish to think you could fight Dez. Me, well, that would be ridiculous.”

  I rolled my eyes. Poor guy didn’t have any idea how insulting that sounded…

  “Fight you? I don’t need to fight you.” She snapped her fingers—purely for show—and disappeared. “I can do this.”

  “Shit.”

  Something slammed into my left side, knocking me to the ground. Vision blurred as my eyes watered, and I struggled to catch my breath. A few seconds later, the front door swung open.

  “Oh, and Dez? There really is a cure for the Supremacy side effects—and it does work. They gave it to me first. Daddy always did like me better.”

  32

  “Dax will be by to get us in fifteen. We’re all going to shack up at his place.”

  I cringed, wrapping both arms around myself. I had the chills again. They were almost bad enough to take my mind away from the pain, which had gotten significantly worse in the last few hours. “Dax’s apartment? That’s insane. There probably isn’t enough floor space.”

  Alex shook his head. “Not the apartment. The house.”

  I blinked. “He has a house?”

  “He’s got, like, four of them, actually.”

  “If he has four houses, why the hell is he living in a crappy apartment in the Parkview dumps?”

  Alex shrugged and pushed aside the curtains to keep watch. “It belonged to a friend of his.”

  I sank onto the couch, pulling Kale’s hoodie tighter. “I can’t believe this. It’s getting to be a seriously freaky trend.”

  Kale kneeled in front of me, hand resting on my knee. I almost wished I’d kept the jeans on. The warmth from his fingers didn’t make it through the leather pants. “What is?”