Something about her dazzling smile and equally dazzling red gown confused him. Her lips were painted extremely blood red—a shade he thought might belong to his sister, but looked completely different on Pax. Nodding and excusing himself from the ambassador, Thornton continued navigating his way toward the raven-haired beauty.
Thorn, buddy! came a voice to him telepathically. Stop and think about this. The whole event is televised. Press everywhere. If Medea walks in at any point and sees you dancing with Pax, she’ll probably leave…
He stopped in his tracks and gulped. His head swiveled around to look at Asher, who was frowning at him with concern. The blonde man nodded his thanks to his friend for the much needed situation-check. He looked back at Pax and wondered if he should approach her. Would she embarrass him by walking away or giving him a dirty look? No, she wouldn’t. They were friends again; they had never stopped being friends. She would cover for him if he was in a fix. They’d just had a comfortable conversation the other day.
Thornton reached into his purple tuxedo jacket for his phone. One more try, he told himself. He pressed the speed dial button for Medea, and brought the device to his ear. The phone rang once. Twice. Please pick up, Medea, he thought to himself. Then he wondered whether he really wanted her to pick up at all. Pax was just a few feet away from him, and the prospect of going over to the familiar woman and whisking her onto the dance floor had somehow become much higher on his priority list than getting in touch with Medea.
As the phone rang, Thornton noticed something odd. He removed the phone from his ear in order to concentrate better—but rather nearby to where he was standing, through the hustle and bustle and noise of the reporters and clicking cameras, Thornton could clearly hear a phone vibrating precisely in time with the rings of Medea’s phone. The voice message came on, and at the same time, the nearby phone stopped vibrating.
Thornton immediately began to frantically scan the room. Was it a coincidence, or was Medea in fact, already at the ball? Had she somehow escaped his notice? He was looking for a girl in a silvery-white dress, with creamy, pale magnolia accents. Maybe in her anger toward him she had opted to wear something different? He quickly dialed Medea’s number again, figuring that he could find where she was by using his deva hearing to follow the soft sound of the vibrations. The phone was likely in her purse, placed against a tube of lipstick or whatnot, and hopefully he could lock in on the sound.
When Medea’s phone begun to ring again, Thornton was shocked to hear the vibrations once more. He began moving toward them, and he found himself moving towards the wall of reporters that were surrounding Pax and Raymond.
“It’s been fourteen years since the loss of your wife, Mr. Burnson. How has your family coped with not having the murderer brought to justice?”
“This is hardly the time to discuss such things,” Raymond said firmly. “My wife was a special woman, and I still think of her every day.”
Pax squeezed her father’s hand, pulling him protectively away from the reporters.
“Mr. Burnson, have you ever considered remarrying?”
“Please,” she said sharply, glaring at the reporters as she ushered her father toward the rest of her family. As she moved through the crowd, Pax made eye contact with Thornton, and grew conscious of the fact that her cheeks were turning a shade of red to match her dress. She noticed that he was holding a cell phone to his ear, and she suddenly realized that he could hear the vibrations of the Para-phone in her purse.
Shit, thought Pax, and she immediately excused herself from her father’s side, flashing one last smile at the reporters before all but running away from Thornton. Once she was hidden in the crowd of partygoers, she fished into her purse and turned the phone off.
Amara, why didn't you tell me he could hear the vibrations of the phone? Pax asked her friend telepathically.
Sakra, Pax! This place is insane! There are so many people here. I can’t keep track of what everyone is thinking. I can barely get past all the thoughts of the men in a twenty foot radius around me who are all thinking about having sex with me in the most interesting ways. There’s this one guy who looks totally normal, and he’s here with his beautiful wife, but he’s imagining the freakiest…
Okay, I get it. Your telepathy is useless. That’s all you had to say. Thanks a lot. Pax groaned and continued through the crowd aimlessly. She spotted her grandmother and smiled. Safety!
“Grandma!” Pax called out in excitement, waving her arm as she approached the older woman. Amelia smiled and moved forward to embrace her granddaughter.
“Goodness, Paxie. Amara did a great job of fixing you up!” Amelia complimented approvingly. “I remember the days when we had gruesome battles to get you anywhere near a dress.”
Pax smiled weakly. “I guess I’ve just accepted the horrible fate that is being a woman.”
“Oh, honey, it’s not so bad,” Amelia crooned. “Why don’t you come over a little more often? I haven’t seen you in weeks.”
“I’m sorry, Grandma. Life has been hectic for me. I’ve been training.”
“Training, training,” scoffed Amelia. “What about your profession, Paxie? You studied so hard—you should be practicing medicine instead of magick.”
“I’ll get back to that soon,” Pax said, wondering whether she really would. She noticed her uncle sulking not too far away, and she ventured a small wave at him. “Hi, Ash.”
“Hey, cupcake,” he said, acknowledging his niece with a nod. “Excuse me. I’m heading up to the balcony for some fresh air.”
Pax’s eyes drifted after him with concern. “He doesn’t seem well.”
“With Amara smooching up that dashing young man on the dance floor, can you blame him?” Pax threw a glance over her shoulder to see Amara dancing seductively close to Cliff, and she sighed. Maybe Amara was taking it too far.
Raymond cleared his throat, and moved close to his daughter. “Pax, there’s something serious I need to talk to you about. Perhaps now isn’t the best time, but I hardly see you.”
“What is it, Papa?” she asked with alarm.
“Many of us have sensed something highly unusual. I know you have sensed it too.” Raymond pushed his glasses up his nose nervously. “Gordin has gone away to the mountains to train, and I’m thinking of joining him. I was wondering if you wanted to come along?”
“She can’t!” Amelia said harshly. “She needs to stop wasting her time on these divine ventures and get back to working at the hospital.”
“If Papa thinks I should train, then I believe I should go with him,” Pax said quietly. “I just need some time to finish up a few things first. Which mountains, Papa?”
“The Himalayas of course. Near Sakra’s Point.”
Pax began nodding, but she was cut off by a frantic Thornton appearing beside her quite suddenly: “I’m so sorry to interrupt. Raymond, Amelia, do you mind if I steal Pax for a while?”
“Actually, I do mind—”
“Thorn, what’s the big—”
“Thanks. I’ll return her soon!”
Pax felt herself being led to the dance floor and she frowned at her gentleman attacker. “I was having a conversation with my dad, Thorn. This had better be important.”
“It is important, hot stuff. I need you to dance with me.”
“What?”
“Please, just put your hand in mine, and follow the steps. We’ve done them a thousand times together, since you were barely able to walk.”
Pax stared at his outstretched hand skeptically. “Is this a joke?”
“Paxie, please. Look over there. My parents are going to kill me if you don’t dance with me.”
She followed his gaze and saw a very pissed off blonde couple, both with their arms crossed across their chests. Pax giggled at the sight of Vincent in a suit and waved at them. Rose waved back, but Vincent just extended his finger menacingly.
“It looks as though I’ve been commanded,” Pax mused, looking back at Thornton and h
is outstretched hand. “But what about your girlfriend?”
Thornton shrugged his shoulders, struggling to conceal his disappointment with Medea. “It’s not like she’ll be surprised to see me dancing with you. She knows I like you better anyway.”
Her eyes widened, but she felt oddly satisfied with this answer. She gazed coyly into his eyes and extended her arm to place her hand in his outstretched one and accept his invitation to dance. Right before they could commence, the press ambushed them.
“Miss Burnson! We understand that you and Mr. Kalgren used to be lovers? What happened to ruin your wonderful relationship?”
Pax turned toward the reporters with fire in her eyes. Thornton winced, preparing for the explosion, but none came.
“Mr. Kalgren and I dated for many years,” she answered calmly. “It just didn’t work out between us.”
Thornton sighed in relief. She had it together. He smiled at the reporters as they continued to ask far-too-personal and intrusive questions. He stood amicably beside Pax, resting his hand on the small of her back as she seamlessly, smoothly lied to the reporters through her teeth.
Was she lying? It was hard even for him to tell. The Pax he used to know; well, she was a devious little brat, but she would have gotten frustrated and run away, or punched someone in the face for invading her privacy. She was not a liar.
What was different about her? Was it something he approved of, or not? He couldn’t tell.
“Of course we’re still friends! We’ve been through so much together. You couldn’t imagine,” she was tactfully answering a reporter.
“What about his new girlfriend? Do you have any resentment toward her, Miss Burnson?”
“Absolutely not! I wish them both only the best.”
It scared him. For the first time, Thornton saw the first hint that Pax had changed. There were aspects of her that he no longer knew, and he didn’t even know what exactly they were. She used to be so forthright, frank, and innocent, but he could not seem to find a trace of that ancient candor. His gaze settled again on her crimson red lips which curled in a smile as they emitted profane lies in the voice which was sweeter to him than any other in existence.
Was his Pax becoming a femme fatale? She had always been a force to be reckoned physically, but she had never been emotionally malicious. He was struck by the sudden awareness that he could not survive such deep-seated and measured malice, if it ever became directed at him.
“No resentment at all, Miss Burnson? Didn’t Mr. Kalgren cheat on you?”
Pax’s shoulders raised a fraction of an inch in a subconsciously defensive maneuver. Thornton felt the subtle change in her body and moved closer to her, protectively. Well, maybe she hadn’t completely changed. She had just been trying to be strong and impervious to their words. She was cracking, and she was cracking fast. He cursed himself internally for putting her through this.
Although Pax’s body was tensing up, her lips remained soft and she answered without hesitation. “Thorn was a very loving and devoted boyfriend, and any girl would be lucky to have him.”
“Miss Burnson! Miss Burnson! How has your friendship with Mr. Kalgren been affected by the scandal? Any comment at all on Miss Medea Meadows?”
Pax’s large fake smile grew larger, and her shoulders rose even more. “I really do wish them the best. I only hope that she doesn’t break his heart.” Pax fondly punched Thornton in the shoulder as she said this.
He caught her wrist and smiled at her with a sad admiration. Was this really the way she felt? Was she really so forgiving and magnanimous? It didn’t seem like the Pax he knew.
“Miss Burnson! Did you have anything to do with Miss Meadows being shot?”
“Please,” Thornton harshly interjected before Pax could open her mouth, “show the lady a little respect.”
Thornton pulled Pax slightly behind him protectively. “In case you weren’t aware, Miss Burnson is a medical professional. She has volunteered her skills all over the world, helping people who are in need. She is a brilliant woman who was instrumental in finding a strategy for us to use to save the world from the super-comet. She is not the type to murder a woman over petty jealousy. Please, show her a little respect.”
Pax felt her chest suddenly very constricted at this vehement defense, and at the realization that she had actually murdered a woman over petty jealousy. Pax closed her eyes, having unknowingly tightened her grip on Thornton’s hand, which she was now somehow holding. She wondered briefly to herself if Thornton had ever considered that maybe she had been behind the attack on Medea.
“Mr. Kalgren, you and Miss Burnson still seem awfully intimate. Do you intend on continuing your physical relationship while...”
“No more questions. I owe Miss Burnson a dance. Please enjoy the rest of the ball.” Thornton turned and abruptly led Pax further onto the dance floor. “Damn them,” he said softly. “Damn them all.”
Pax was too distraught about the reminder of having murdered a (relatively) innocent woman to object, and soon she found herself held in two strong arms in the middle of the dance floor.
“Sakra, those people are fucking miserable to ask us questions like that,” he was saying through clenched teeth.
She looked up at him with concern and spoke in a low whisper. “Thorn, you do know I had nothing to do with your girlfriend being shot?”
He chuckled as he led her into a familiar dance, the steps of which she followed without even noticing. “Pax, I do not for a second believe that if you wanted someone dead you couldn’t easily accomplish the job.”
The tension dissolved from her shoulders, and she found herself relaxing and naturally smiling. “I don’t know why I find that to be such a flattering compliment.”
“It’s because you’re crazy.” He pulled her close as they moved across the floor, and felt a feeling of contentment spread through him. The ballroom suddenly felt warmer, and more comfortable. “I’ve missed this,” he said quietly. “Thanks for letting me have this dance, Pax.”
“Well, you were going to get killed by your parents if I didn’t.”
“You saved my life,” he told her seriously, with a small twinkle in his eye.
“Then we’re even. You saved me from the press. If they’re not drilling me about my mother, they’re attacking me about us. I’d rather face a thousand super-powered villains than the press,” she said with a shudder.
“Same old Paxie,” he said, almost with a sigh of relief. “I was worried for a minute that you were almost too smooth with them.”
“Too smooth?” she asked, raising an eyebrow.
“Yes,” he said, absent-mindedly brushing some strands of her hair off her bare shoulder. “You just weren’t acting like yourself.”
“And how do I normally act? Not smooth, I presume?”
“Not smooth at all,” he answered gruffly. “The little girl I fell in love with has always been far too rough around the edges. And that’s just the way I like her.”
“Thorn,” she said, a little breathlessly when she realized he was going to kiss her. In the middle of the extravagantly decorated ballroom floor, this was a fully-loaded moment she couldn’t resist. She found herself staring at him in pleased surprise instead of evading his advances.
Abort! Abort immediately, Pax! came a shrill shriek into her head. Kissing my brother is not part of the plan! This will ruin everything we’ve worked for!
“Sakra,” Pax whispered, ripping herself away from Thornton right before their lips could touch. She remembered the press immediately, and covered up her blunder by moving back to Thornton and giving him a chaste kiss on the cheek. She used the opportunity to send a telepathic message into his mind. Thorn, we can’t do this. Please stop trying. What we used to have is gone. With that, she turned around and quickly found her way through the ballroom. She didn’t make a dramatic exit, but a quiet and untraceable one that the reporters wouldn’t notice. Once she had exited the room she immediately took to the sky. Everyone who coul
d track her energy could detect that she was rapidly leaving the building, and the city. Thornton sighed, letting his arms fall loosely to his sides.
That’s why you should let me finish my conversation with my daughter before you scare her out of the state. Again.
Sorry, Raymond.
Amara, who had been dancing with Cliff not too far away, excused herself from her date and angrily approached her brother. “What did you do to her?”
“Nothing, I...”
“What did you say to her, Thorn?”
“It was just...”
“Don’t you understand that this is a really big event for Kalgren Tech?” Amara asked him quietly. “You’re not here to cause drama, you’re here to show the world that our family is wonderful and that they should feel safe investing their money with us. Can you forget about your penis for one night and do your job?”
“I shouldn’t have tried to kiss her.” He sighed, running a hand through his perfectly-styled hair. “Mara, give a break. I’m drowning here. It was mom and dad who wanted me to dance with Pax to make it look like I had a date. The girl I asked didn’t show up.”
Amara’s face softened. “No way. That’s not possible. No one stands my brother up. Why don’t you try calling her again?”
“I’ve called her about two dozen times!”
Are you in position, Pax?
Yes. Go ahead.
“Try again, Thorn.”
“She won’t answer.”
“I’m your sister and I have the wisdom of a woman and all that good stuff. Try again!”
He rolled his eyes, but he compliantly pulled out his phone and dialed Medea’s number. It rang once. Twice.
“Yes?” came a groggy voice from the other end of the line.
Thornton’s eyes grew wide with surprise and Amara smiled and nodded in satisfaction.
“Medea,” said Thornton quickly. “I’ve been trying to reach you for hours.”
“Why do I feel like I’ve been hit by a truck?” groaned the voice from the other end of the line.
“You’re just hung over. Ash gave you a boatload of scotch this morning...”
Thirty Minutes to Heartbreak Box Set (Books 1-3) Page 83
