by Gwen Hayes
He’d done what he could to harness his attraction. At times, he just wasn’t strong enough to drive her away. Especially when he realized that it wasn’t the Lure that drew her to him.
That, in truth, the Lure actually repelled her.
He didn’t deserve her trust, though. And she didn’t deserve the heap of destruction that would accompany any relationship they tried to forge.
And yet, her small soft hand quieted him now.
They were doomed.
If he were smart, or at least strong, he would finish this tonight. Once his dark deed was accomplished, at least one of them could rest easy.
He vowed to find the strength to end this. Tonight would be the night he’d forget about Theia Alderson and follow the path he’d been born to. Tonight would be about taking what didn’t belong to him in order to claim what did. His inheritance, as it were.
But if this was to be his last night on earth, if he must sacrifice everything—shouldn’t he at least get a taste of what he must leave behind forever? Did he not deserve one moment to call his own before he damned himself to hell for an eternity?
The day trudged along. We did indeed have a touchy-feely assembly after homeroom. And each student was given an appointment in the gym for hearing tests and an appointment in the library to speak to a counselor. Therefore, all classes were truncated and there was no trig test. There was also no Haden in history. I’d endured the sly looks and hushed whispers from our classmates alone.
The story of the infamous kiss on the school lawn traveled quickly and, like most juicy morsels of gossip, had been embellished so much that even I started enjoying it. His disappearance from campus only added flavor to the dish. Apparently we’d been secretly in love for years, living on covert e-mails and texts. We tried to pretend we didn’t know each other, but it was obvious to anyone who had paid attention to us in class or in the library that we were like Romeo and Juliet.
Or so the story went.
It was why I never talked to boys, the school had decided— because I was already spoken for. That morning in front of the school, I’d had some kind of breakdown and couldn’t stay away from him one moment longer.
Romeo and Juliet . . . That wasn’t very comforting, considering how that all worked out for the two of them.
I had no way to get in touch with Haden. I didn’t even know where he lived or what his phone number was. Donny sent me strange looks all day after I’d told her that. After school, she handed me a photocopy of his registration card from the admin office.
“This is highly immoral,” Ame said, eyeing the flagrant invasion of privacy in my hand. Not one to let that get in our way, she added, “So, where does he live?”
“Park Place,” answered Donny. “Get in the car, girls. We’re doing a drive-by.”
There really wasn’t a Park Place in Serendipity Falls. However, there was a Parkerhouse Hotel. His floor number indicated penthouse.
“He lives in a hotel? That’s kind of weird.” Ame looked at me pointedly, the glitter from her mascara shimmering in the sun.
“Maybe his parents are building a house,” Donny answered for me.
“Maybe,” I mused. Or maybe demons have a hard time getting mortgages. I shrugged. “Like I said earlier, we never talked about where he lived.” I didn’t want to drive by his hotel. It seemed obsessive. Which I was, but I didn’t want to appear that way. “I’ll get in the car if we can go someplace else.”
“Beach?” Donny and Ame answered simultaneously.
I nodded quickly. “Yes, please.”
We loved our beach. When it was the three of us alone, the sand and rocks pulled secrets from us. We planned our lives and spilled our fears on the jagged coast. We also drank a beer there once, before Donny had her license. Her father had dropped us off for three hours, and it had taken that long for the three of us to share the one can. It seemed like another three hours before I could get the taste out of my mouth.
We settled on a log, and I could tell by the way they stared at me that they were waiting for me to begin spilling the details I’d been holding in all day. They had been patient during school, enduring the rumors with a pretty good sense of humor considering they didn’t really know the true story either. The fact that I had kissed Haden in front of everyone at school and yet had no idea how to call him was more than odd. Stranger still, the last time they’d seen us together, we were smiling shyly over cookies—not even close to kissing. They weren’t aware of the trips I’d made to Haden’s Under, especially last night’s when everything changed. It was probably time to trust them. But would they believe me?
“Haden isn’t exactly a normal boy.”
Ame and Donny shot knowing glances at each other, but didn’t interrupt me.
“Remember the stuff . . . the . . . bad juju that Varnie told us about?”
Ame leaned closer and Donny leaned back, crossing her arms over her chest and visibly closing down.
“Haden is from someplace else, someplace darker. Varnie was right—the things happening, the cards, the weird things . . . he was right.”
Donny didn’t believe me, but she didn’t say it out loud. I could tell just from the expression on her face. Ame looked at me like I had just read five winning numbers of the six on her lottery ticket and she was waiting eagerly for the last.
I tried again. “Remember the dream I had about Haden before I saw him? That was really him. We sort of meet up in his realm, he called it Under, when I’m asleep. It’s like Oz or Wonderland or even Narnia—only it’s the other side of dreams, I guess, and he comes to this realm when I’m awake.”
“Sweetie”—Donny covered my hand with her own—“Oz, Wonderland, and Narnia are fiction. You get that part, right?”
It was okay. I expected her to be difficult to convince—the whole story sounded ridiculous even to me. “And we sort of made out last night in his world. It’s all very complicated and I don’t really understand much more than that. Except that . . . well, he is supposed to abduct a human girl for a wife.” I kept going quickly, so they wouldn’t have a chance to launch hard questions yet. “I tried to visit Varnie—”
“Oh, God,” Donny muttered.
“But he’d already moved on. He left me a note, though. He said I needed a talisman and that you would help me with it, Ame.”
Instead of being excited about the talisman, Ame surprised me with, “Did you say ‘abduct a human girl’?”
“I don’t think he really will. We haven’t had a chance to discuss it.”
“Are you even listening to yourself?” Donny, no longer able to contain her . . . Donniness, exploded off the log. “Some creepy stalker is threatening to kidnap you!”
“No,” I answered. “I’m pretty sure he doesn’t want me.”
“Theia, he’s dangerous. As in not-quite-right-in-thehead, psycho dangerous. I don’t believe this realm stuff, but if he’s threatening to abduct someone, you need to tell the cops.”
“Well, since he told me in a dream that you insist isn’t real, maybe I’m the psycho here.”
“This isn’t like you. I mean, I’m glad you finally found a guy that greases your wheels, but this seems like a really unhealthy way to start a relationship.” Donny wasn’t the type to talk about healthy relationships. “I mean, I get that he’s really hot and has that building-a-mystery vibe about him. But all this talk about—”
“He’s a demon,” I interrupted. “Well, half demon. His father was a human. And he’s one hundred and seventy years old, give or take.”
Ame inhaled sharply. “His father is one hundred and seventy?”
“No, Haden is. They age slower there. He says he’s seventeen, but he was born one hundred and seventy years ago—in our years, I guess.”
“Are you listening to yourself? Thei, you’ve totally gone one French fry short of a Happy Meal here.”
“Did he fang you?” Ame asked.
“Stop encouraging her,” Donny demanded.
“H
e’s not a vampire.” It just seemed wrong to bring up the sex demon stuff right then. It was a lot to process, and Donny would latch on to the sex part and not listen to another word. “I understand that this all seems very convoluted right now—”
“You think?”
“Haden doesn’t want to hurt anyone. He wanted to experience being human.”
In a falsetto Donny cried out, “He wants to be a real boy.”
I shot her a look I learned at my father’s knee and continued. “He doesn’t want to bring me to his world.”
“So, who’s he going to bring? And by ‘bring,’ we’re talking ‘abduct,’ right?”
“I don’t know.” The breeze felt a lot colder then.
“Why did Varnie leave you a note?” Amelia asked.
“Because he knew I was coming over.”
“So he really is a psychic?”
Nobody spoke for a minute, letting the waves provide a calming sound track.
“He really is, Ame.”
She watched the water for another minute. “Did you find a talisman?”
I tugged the pendant out of my shirt. “It was my mother’s. Do you know what to do?”
The wind lifted some loose wisps of hair around Amelia’s face. “I’ve read about talismans. They store supernatural energy—sometimes protection. We should say a blessing over it. For protection.” Her normal exuberance relaxed into something that felt wise—reassuring. “Why did you pick this piece?”
Why had I? “My mother . . . she was very strong. She . . . she trusted her heart.”
Amelia nodded. “I’m not like a real witch, you know—I barely even dabble. I mean, I read a lot of metaphysical books, so I’m not . . . I just, sometimes I feel like I just know things. But that might be wishful thinking—”
“Ame.” I stopped her. “I trust you.”
She nodded. “Okay, I know some words—kind of like a spell—that I read recently, but you have to believe the words have power or it won’t be worth anything.”
Donny snorted, but I said, “Okay.”
I took the pendant off and tried to hand it to Amelia, but she shook her head. “Only you should touch it right now.”
I squinted at her. “Why?”
“It will concentrate your energy to it.”
I held it in the palms of my hands in front of me, and Amelia put one hand on my shoulder and one on Donny’s. Donny rolled her eyes, but closed the circle. Amelia closed her eyes and this really peaceful look crossed her face. The wind picked up her dark hair, and I realized that if I believed in all the crazy things that had happened to me lately, I also believed in that moment that my friend was transformed by something really powerful. Ame opened her eyes and told us to repeat after her:
Though in the shadow, darkness hides,
This spell protects and thrice provides.
For whom I trust the dark divides,
But whom I love my will decides.
We did it three times. Donny may not have believed it, but I felt the pulsing of the amulet in my hand. Varnie warned it wouldn’t protect me—but I surely felt stronger.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
Dinner with Father had been as if nothing had ever happened. I tried to introduce conversation; he tried to deflect. Oddly, in its own way, it was comforting. He didn’t suspect I’d gone out Saturday night, nor did he seem to have an inkling I’d had a houseful of people over the day before. We certainly didn’t discuss anything about Friday other than that my hearing test came back fine.
He went into his study to catch up on work he’d had to put off because of his impromptu business trip, and I went to my room with the idea of practicing.
Don’t be scared. There is a boy in your room.
The slightly ominous text stopped me short in the hall outside my bedroom door. I didn’t recognize the number or I’d have reasoned it was Donny playing one of her games. There had never been a boy in my room before, so it would be just the thing she’d like to tease me about. Except that now it wouldn’t be funny anymore. Donny hadn’t yet decided whether I was crazy and Haden was a perfectly harmless crush or I was sane and in terrible jeopardy.
I opened the door cautiously, deciding that if there indeed was someone in my room, which I doubted, why would he warn me before I entered? I flipped the light as I closed the door.
“You really have no self-preservation skills at all, do you?”
My heart expanded in my chest, filling the cavity to overflowing, as Haden turned around slowly from the window, the devil in his eye and a naughty grin on his lips.
“None at all.” I crossed the room as if I were floating to him, as if finding boys in my room were a common occurrence. “I’m a damsel forever in need of a saving. I suppose you’ll have to do.”
Haden chuckled and hooked his arm around my waist, bringing me up against his solid form. “I’m a wicked sort, lamb.”
“I missed you today,” I answered as he dove for a kiss.
His lips fit perfectly to mine. I don’t know how I’d made it seventeen years without kissing. It was the finest thing I’d ever known. Like stumbling into heaven. He framed my face in his hands and treasured me with soft yet firm caresses with his mouth. I sighed, the pleasure of this new dance swept over me, and I pushed myself farther into him, a silent entreaty for more. His body was so different from mine, all hard planes where I was soft, and it made me feel safe and endangered at the same time.
Haden groaned, the sound filling me with awe that I was able to elicit it. But he pushed me away and inhaled deep, raspy breaths. “We need to talk,” he said finally and sat me on my bed, switching on some music to cover our voices before he sat next to me.
“Where were you today? I thought . . .”
“I had to think. I needed to find a way to keep you safe.”
“Safe from what? You? You keep telling me about this danger, but I don’t see it. You told me never to touch you, but I did and I’m fine. You’re fine.”
“You are certainly not fine. I was afraid if I touched you, I wouldn’t be able to stop myself from partaking of your essence.”
“And you didn’t, did you?”
“My hold on my demon side is tenuous at best. You’re still in very real danger.”
“I don’t understand you, Haden.”
“I hope you never do. This is the last time I’m going to visit you, Theia. I’m leaving.” He reached for my cheek, then snaked his hand away. “I’m trying to save your life.”
“Where are you going?” I had just found him. Loneliness clawed inside me as I thought of him gone. Just gone. Because I knew if he left, it would be like he had never been here.
“You can’t know what it’s like. I’ve wished I could walk away from you—even stop thinking of you for an hour, a minute. But I can’t. I’ve tried. I need you with a longing that will surely kill me if I don’t give in to it—but it will kill you if I do.”
That got my attention. Fear pulsed through me at his words.
His jaw ticked. “Finally you’re afraid. Let’s hope it’s not too late, shall we?”
“Why do you want me to be afraid of you?”
“To save you. To save us both, because if you aren’t, we are both damned.”
“I don’t want you to go.”
As if we were bound to the same string, something pulled us closer together. He had never looked so vulnerable, so lost. “You need to let me.”
I angled my chin, willing him to kiss me. I didn’t think he would, so I whispered, “Please.”
Haden groaned and thrust his fingers into my hair, pulling me to him, as if I’d have fought him. I went willingly, throwing my arms around his neck, desperate to touch him and feel him against my skin. His mouth sought mine and my soul caught on fire.
This kiss was so different from our others, fueled by desperation. As if he’d struck a match to me, I was ablaze in a sweet heat that seared me from the inside. We clutched each other tighter and my lips opened to his insist
ent tongue. I slipped further into the flames, knowing I dragged him with me, but all I cared about was being close to him, keeping him. I wanted so badly to keep him.
As hungrily as he’d begun, he pushed me away with equal power. There was anger in his features, and it hurt to look at him.
“You don’t have the sense to protect yourself. Everyone around you could tell you I’m no good for you. The danger is very real. I’ll hurt you and doing so will be my undoing too.”
I groaned. “Why are you saying these things to me?” I felt like a yo-yo.
He held my face in his hands, forcing me to look into his eyes while his voice rose and shook. “What I feel for you could boil the ocean if I let it. I push you away because I’m evil.” He shook his head to stop me from interrupting. “I am evil, trust me. I’m afraid I can’t stop it. The closer I get to you, the more control I lose.”
“I don’t understand.” Except, truthfully, I just didn’t want to understand.
Pain shadowed across his face. “Darkness lives in me, Theia. Inside of me. Like a sickness. And right next to it, intertwined with it, are my feelings for you. If I act on one, I’ll act on the other. The darkness in me wants you the way a black hole eats stars. I dream of tasting you, devouring you.” His eyes darkened terribly.
“Haden, stop trying to frighten me.”
He carried on as if he hadn’t heard me. “This isn’t a crush; it’s an obsession. You are never not in my thoughts. Your scent carries across a room and paralyzes me with longing. I don’t want to hold your hand. Part of me wants to set you on fire and hold you while the flame consumes us both, to eat your heart so I know that only I possess it entirely. Are you scared now? Does your human mind comprehend the danger at last? I’m not like you. I’m not human, not completely anyway.”
