* * *
When we entered through the foggy stone archway to The Lion’s Den, we were confronted by a large guy with purple and black bed-head hair. He stood beside the huge claw mark ingrained in the round wooden door, taking people’s tickets. He wore a silver hoop in the side of his nose and brow. Thick black liner rimmed his hazel eyes. Nathan handed him our tickets. I noticed the guy was checking me out. Blushing, I smiled at him.
He returned my smile and waved us on. “Enjoy yourselves. They just made their introductions and should be starting soon.”
We thanked him and went inside where I was completely amazed at the club’s dark, gothic transformation. It totally rocked.
“Check that out.” I pointed to the elevated pipe organ on the back of the stage, looming above the band members like a devil over his minions.
“Wicked,” Nathan said as we went to get our lockers.
The round stage was lined with gray broken stones and enclosed in a thick, metal fence. Inside looked like a graveyard with tombstones and fog blanketing the entire floor. There were spider webs hanging off the two keyboards that stood at each end of the stage, and the two large amps were encased in a mausoleum type structure. The four band members were all guys, each one looked like he belonged to an underground world of vampires, zombies, and mad hatters.
I glanced around for Carrie and Tree, but didn’t see them in the sea of faces. I did see quite a few of my classmates, including a couple jocks, which astonished me because most of them called this place The Loser’s Den, preferring country to this type of music.
As we were putting our stuff in the locker, my ears rang in that high-pitched sound I was now accustomed to. Nathan and I turned our heads to the entrance and saw Carrie and Matt handing over their tickets. Matt said something to Carrie, making her laugh. Nathan stepped in front of me, turning his back on them.
“Remember to keep your wits about you,” he told me. “I don’t know why he stopped by your house, but I don’t like it.”
“I think he likes to antagonize you since he knows who you are,” I commented.
He frowned. “I think he does, but I don’t care. He can’t get to you through me, and he knows it. I’m sure it vexes him, so you’re probably right.”
I noticed Tree waving at us, indicating a spot next to him on the dance floor. At the same time the mad hatter looking guy grasped the microphone.
“Is everybody ready to have their auditory nerves destroyed?” he asked in a deep, haunting voice. His ice-blue eyes were wide with a promise to release us from our shells.
“Yeah!” The crowd screamed, bobbing their heads, throwing their arms in the air.
Nathan and I wove our way through them to an open space next to Tree. I looked for Carrie and spotted her across the dance floor, glaring at Kylee, an Asian girl in our class, standing next to Tree. Matt had his attention on the zombie behind the keyboard, so he didn’t see me watching him.
“Are you ready to be polluted by darkness, and then purified through magic?”
Another round of screaming exploded.
“We are Alchemy. A paradox in our own right.” He took the microphone off the stand and stomped around the front of the stage, working the crowd. “We will submerge you into darkness, only to bring you up shiny and new through the magical waves of sound.”
For some reason the talk about being submerged into darkness frightened me. I clutched Nathan’s hand. He was staring at Matt, but when he felt my fingers intertwine with his, he kissed them.
The lights darkened. A big puff of white smoke blew from behind the organ, making me jump. Red and orange lights flashed around us, pulsing with the beat of the electric keyboards. I took a couple breaths to calm myself.
“This song is called ‘Resurrection!’” The mad hatter hollered.
Everybody started dancing when he broke into song. Nathan placed my hand on his shoulder. He had a playful expression on his face, daring me to make the next move. I slid my hand down his chest, swaying my hips to the floor while his eyes held mine with an intimacy only we shared.
When the electric drums began to beat faster, and the techno sounds of the keyboard echoed around us, I threw my hands above my head, moving my body to the beat of the music.
Taking my hand, Nathan twirled me around, pressing my back against him. With his arms around my waist, we gyrated to the thumping beat of the electric drums. He twirled me, facing him, and we continued to swing in time with the music.
We danced like that through their first four sets of songs. When the singer announced they’d be back in twenty minutes with another set, we followed Tree and Kylee to the juice bar.
“They totally rock!” Tree said, wiping the sweat off his forehead as we stepped behind a huge line of people who were animatedly talking in excited voices.
“At first I couldn’t understand why they called themselves Alchemy, but now it makes perfect sense,” Kylee said. “They turn something dark into something magical, like turning lead to gold. That’s why their music starts out dark, then changes into beautiful melodies.”
An image of a dark, ghostly figure standing in a doorway between good and evil entered my mind. Behind him was darkness, but laid before him was a bright, beautiful world full of peace and love. All he had to do was to step over the threshold to bring back his magical essence, but he turned his back on that world, choosing darkness instead.
Pushing that depressing thought aside, I turned to Nathan.
“Can you get me a peach-mango protein drink?”
“Sure.” He paused, then tilted his head to the side, regarding me. “Why?”
“I need to go to the restroom.”
“I’ll come with you.”
I glanced around, spotting Matt and Carrie on the platform talking to a group of people. A spasm of guilt pierced my heart for not hanging out with Carrie tonight. I frowned, promising myself I’d talk to her before we left. I didn’t want her to think I’d been avoiding her.
I jerked my chin toward the platform. “You don’t have to.”
He looked at them while bending his head next to mine. “I think I should still go with you.” His voice was deep and rough. I knew if I didn’t make a quick exit, he’d shadow me, which was something I didn’t want or felt I needed.
“I’ll be fine.” I kissed him before he could disagree. “I’ll be back in a few minutes.” I hurried off, hearing Tree asking Nathan where I was going.
After I did my business, I found myself alone in the restroom. Out of curiosity, I looked to see if there were any feet in the stalls. There were none. That’s odd. A few minutes ago there were people packed in here. Maybe the band was about to start their next set and everybody rushed out to get a good spot on the floor, I considered, sticking my soapy hands beneath the faucet, rubbing them together in the warm water. I wondered if Nathan was freaking out by now. I hated to worry him, but in my defense, I didn’t know how busy it would be in here.
As I dried my hands, my ears began to ring. The door flew open, bouncing off the wall like a rubber ball.
My stomach dropped.
I stood there paralyzed by the trash can as a husky, dark-haired butch girl walked in. Her black eyes locked onto mine. A beam of light swiped across them.
Oh, crap.
How in the hell was I going to get out of this one? Running or fighting her wasn’t an option. Her strength and speed alone would overpower me. Think, Paige.
Wait.
Nathan told me earlier to keep my wits about me. Maybe I could outsmart her.
“So, you’re the girl some of my brothers and sisters are whispering about,” she said, sizing me up like a piece of cattle she wanted to buy.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” I kept my voice firm and leveled, playing dumb. She made a face, clearly not falling for it.
Despite her bulk, her movements had a feline quality that carried her to me. She stared mockingly at me. The beam of light swiped across her iris again. He
r eyes wobbled back and forth in her head until they landed where my hands were clutching the trash can.
“Liar!” she half shouted in my face, making me flinch.
My heart was slamming against my chest, but I refused to back down. If she was going to kill me, fine, but I’d fight her till the very end. And yeah, she was way stronger, but so what? I’d rather die standing than cowering on my knees and could probably whack her a good one before she killed me. But hopefully it wouldn’t come to that. I had to stick to my plan.
I released the trash can and stood erect. “What do you want?”
She took a step closer and crossed her tattoo arms over her chest. “You’re a little spitfire, Ms. Paige Reed.” She said my last name as if it was the foulest word in the world, her eyes flashing with hatred.
I blinked a couple times, as if she slapped me across the face, dumbfounded she knew my name, like the guy in the restaurant did.
“But I like that about you,” she continued. “The brazenness that is.”
I hugged my arms. “What do you want?”
Her thin lips turned into a hideous grin. “I want to make you a deal.”
“What?” I said, bewildered. At first I didn’t think I heard her right, but when her face turned serious, and she said it again, I became speechless. Why would a dark spirit want to make a deal with me?
“I want you to find the ring and give it to me.”
“What ring?” My brows furrowed. What the hell was she talking about?
She looked at me as if I were a disgusting insect. “I’m sure your superhero boyfriend out there told you about The Seal of Solomon.”
My heart sank, and I covered my mouth. Omigod.
Her eyes turned to slits, and the tone of her voice rose to a pitchy, spine-numbing sound. “That’s right. I had a feeling you knew about it.” She looked pleased with herself.
“Why do you think I’m the one who can find it?”
“Many reasons,” she said. “We know you’ve been marked for immortality and have–abilities. We also know the ‘old one’ can snap your neck like a baby bird, but he won’t. Hell, we all can for that matter.” She let out a peal of laughter that ricocheted off the black tile walls, turning my blood to ice.
“Why won’t he?” I asked, despite my fear.
She leaned forward, moving her face around mine like a snake ready to strike. I stepped back into the trash can. It made a loud knocking sound against the wall. She reached out and flicked a lock of hair off my shoulder.
“Because he likes you, and you’re an enigma he’s determined to figure out. I personally think he wants you to become immortal, so he can see what you can do.”
“What’s the deal?” I asked, willing myself not to shake under her stare.
She clapped her hands together. “The deal is this. When you find the ring, you give it to me. If you promise to do that, I’ll let you live, and you can become immortal.”
Summoning every bit of courage I had, I decided to play along to see how far I could get her to talk. Pretending to ponder it, I placed a finger on my lips. A slow smile crossed her cruel face.
I scratched the side of my head. “Do I have to find it while I’m mortal? Because I don’t think I can. I still have to go to school, and I might die before I find the ring.”
“No, you do need to be immortal. Otherwise, you probably would die. No. Take that back.” She waved a hand in the air, her face turning vicious, threatening. “You will die.”
“Is that why the ‘old one’ hasn’t killed me?”
Her heartless eyes moved suspiciously across my face, and then she answered, “One of the reasons I think.”
“What about the ones who want to kill me?”
“They don’t like you because you’re a threat to them.”
“But what if they kill me before I become immortal? If they do that, I won’t be able to find the ring and give it to you.” I tried to appear relaxed, but in my head I was screaming for Nathan, wondering where the hell he could be and why nobody was coming into the restroom.
“I’ll see if I can get them to leave you alone.” She was getting excited at the prospect of obtaining the ring.
“Can I think about it?” I swear my heart was going to bust out of my chest. I mean, the spiteful look that was on her face made me wonder if I made a mistake asking her that. “I need to make sure I can find it,” I quickly added.
She glared while she considered my request. I debated whether I should try to make a run for it, but she was blocking my view of the door.
“I’ll give you six weeks,” she finally said, “to think about it and do some research, since I have reasons to believe you won’t become immortal until after then. And I’ll know if you lie to me, so don’t even think about tricking me because I’ll kill you.” She paused, cocked her head to the side, and slowly ran a finger across her chin. Her eyes latched onto mine–black ice, reflecting a putrid being full of malice and self-righteousness. “If you agree, then change your mind once you become immortal, I’ll find and shackle you away from those you love until you succumb to my demands.”
I shook.
Her face knotted into ugly pleasure.
“That’s right. You should be shaking in your Mary Janes, because if you cross me, I will hunt you down, then kill or torture you.”
“But why do you think me of all people can find it?” I asked.
She let out a long, boring yawn. “Because I believe your father might have known where it was. For years I didn’t think so, but now I think he did know something. It’s too bad he died before we could find anything out. The poor bastard should have accepted immortality.”
As soon as she mentioned my father, hot tears stung my cheeks.
“What are you babbling about? My father had nothing to do with this,” I spat.
She shook her head. “Dear child, you need to do some research on your father. Why don’t you ask Anwar about it? Or, maybe even your boyfriend. He might know.”
Just then, Carrie burst through the door, stressed. The dark spirit looked at her admiringly before strolling out with an arrogance that frightened me.
“Are you okay?” Carrie asked. “Nathan told me to get to you fast.”
I buried my face in my hands and broke down, still feeling the dark spirit’s hostility, along with the bite from her venomous words. I couldn’t believe this was happening to me and what she had said about my father.
Carrie hugged me. “What happened? Did that girl say something to you?”
I held onto Carrie, glad she was here. All I could think about was my father and the possibility he had the choice of becoming immortal but didn’t take it. Why hadn’t he?
“Do you want me to kick her ass? I think I can take her. I’ll use some of Tree’s Power Ranger moves.” She stepped back and acted like Tree did when we were kids, jumping up and down, twirling in the air, making karate chops, kicking her foot up.
Despite the ache in my heart and tears, I giggled at her silliness, trying to do those moves in her fitted black dress, her skull and crossbones suspenders slipping off her shoulders.
She stopped and smiled. “I knew that would make you laugh.”
I went to the stall to get some toilet paper and blew my nose.
“I’m sorry if it seemed like I’d been avoiding you tonight.” I threw the toilet paper into the trash can. “That wasn’t my intention.”
“I know that now,” she said, pulling her suspenders over her shoulders.
I headed to the door, but she stopped me. The freckles around her nose bunched together.
“What is it?” I knew something happened by the anxious expression on her face.
“Tree, Matt, and Nathan got into a fight, and it’s a mess out there.”
“Oh, no!” I turned to the door, but she clasped my arm.
“Wait. Let me tell you what happened before you go storming out there.”
Sighing, I tapped my foot, grasping my elbows.
&nbs
p; “I went to talk to Tree,” she said in a rush, “and Matt went with me. Well, Nathan was about to go look for you, but then Matt had to open his big mouth.”
My eyes widened. “Are you serious? What did he say?”
She placed her hands on her hips. “He told Nathan by the way you were dancing with him, he could tell you’re now another mark on his bedpost.”
I gaped at her. “He said that?”
She nodded, her face covered in disgust. “Yes, he did. That dumb fuck.”
“What happened? Did Nathan hit him?” I thought about how hard Nathan could hit and imagined Matt’s face shattered into tiny pieces.
Carrie shook her head. “No. Tree grabbed him by the waist, threw him on the floor, and wailed on him.” She animatedly demonstrated Tree’s moves.
“Seriously?” I couldn’t believe Tree actually did that.
“Yes, but then Matt got the upper hand and hammered Tree. I never realized how strong and quick Matt was. But then Nathan jumped in and yanked Matt off of Tree. He threw Matt across the room like a rag doll. Everybody got out of the way when the fight started, so when Nathan threw Matt, he landed at the other end of the club by the stairs to the platform. I thought Matt was strong, but Nathan had him beat by a long shot,” she said with an impressed smile.
“Then what happened? Is Tree okay? What is everyone saying?” My mind spun.
“The vampire dude in the band saw everything, and stood up for Tree and Nathan when security came. So they’re not in trouble.”
“Thank God. But what about Tree?” I hoped Tree was okay.
“He has a bloody nose, but he’s fine, and everyone is talking about you.”
“Me?” My voice squeaked.
“Yeah. They’re saying Matt should have never said that to Nathan. They think it’s cool how Tree and Nathan defended you like that.”
I covered my face and groaned. “Now it’s going to be all over school.” This totally sucked. I hated being the center of attention. Why was this happening to me?
“Yeah, well, Nathan is really worried about you, but can’t do anything because security is detaining him and Tree for questioning, so he told me to get you.”
“But I thought you said everything is fine, and they’re not in trouble.”
“They’re not, but they still need to question them. Matt didn’t even press charges,” she added.
“But Matt started it,” I said, wanting to punch him myself.
She shrugged and shook her head. “That doesn’t matter. Tree attacked him first.”
I flexed my hands in irritation. “Please tell me you’re not going to still date him.”
She raised her hands. “Oh no, I’m through with him. He crossed the line tonight.”
I gave a sigh of relief. That was one less thing I had to worry about now, and one good thing that happened tonight.
“So, what did the girl say to you?” she asked when I turned to leave.
I stared at her, her face becoming one big blur. My throat tightened. “Um, she …” I couldn’t tell her what actually happened, so I told her the harmless part, the part bothering me the most. “She knows something about my father, but won’t tell me.”
“But how could she know about your father?” She was just as perplexed as me.
I wiped my cheeks with the back of my hand. “I don’t know, but I don’t want to talk about it right now. I need to see how Nathan and Tree are doing. I’m sure Nathan is jumping out of his skin right now.”
“You’re right. He was already doing that earlier,” Carrie said.
We stepped out into the club and dodged the people standing in groups, talking about what happened. Even though they were too busy talking among themselves to notice me, I kept my head down to avoid being seen.
“Why isn’t the band playing right now?” I asked Carrie. The band members were standing on the stage in a tight circle. They were probably talking about the same thing everybody else seemed to be chatting about. The fight my dumb ass caused.
Her gaze followed mine. “They’re waiting until everything gets cleared up before they start their next set.”
This was all my fault. If only I had danced like a normal person, none of this would have happened. I mean, honestly, I gave Matt the ammunition to piss Nathan off, and he used it. But then Tree had to get involved, shifting the attention off of a band, struggling to make it into the music industry, onto a fight I could have prevented. God, I felt guilty. And yeah, I was sure Matt would have eventually made another stupid comment to Nathan, like he had the other night, but I wished it wasn’t under those circumstances, all because of how I danced. I should have realized how inappropriate my moves were. I ruined everything.
As we walked around a group of people, I saw Nathan sitting on the leather bench near the front entrance, his elbows on his bouncing knees, his head bent as if in prayer. Tree was sitting beside him, his nose stuffed with cotton, talking to the security guard standing to his left.
When we approached them, Nathan’s head snapped up. Relief flooded his face, but then he took a closer look at me. Jumping to his feet, he immediately embraced me. It felt good to be in his arms.
His hand went to the back of my head, stroking it. “Paige?”
I trembled, thinking about the dark spirit in the restroom and all the things she said to me. I tried not to think about my father in fear of crying again. This wasn’t the time or place to do that, and I didn’t want to make things worse. I knew if I allowed the tears to flow, I wouldn’t be able to stop them this time.
“Mr. Caswell,” a bored voice said from behind me. “We need your signature on this form.” When Nathan didn’t move, he impatiently cleared his throat.
Nathan’s chest heaved against mine, an annoyed sigh escaping his lips. He reluctantly released his arms and went over to the beefy, blond security guard. I stepped in front of Tree.
Carrie was sitting next to him with her hand on his knee. I took that as a good sign.
“How are you?” I scrutinized the round red mark on his right cheek bone.
“I’m great.” He inclined his head to Carrie and smiled.
I nodded and looked over at Nathan. He was holding a brown clipboard in his hands, reading the form. I then realized Kylee wasn’t around.
“Where’s Kylee?”
“She went home,” Tree said. “She’s mad about the fight and told me I needed to grow up.” He pushed air through his lips and rolled his eyes.
I placed a hand on my hip. How dare she talk to Tree like that. “Well, I’ll talk to her on Monday and–”
“You won’t have to,” Carrie said. “I already told her like it is.” She had a proud smile on her face. I imagined she said more to Kylee than a few choice words.
Tree curled his arm around Carrie and grinned. “She defended my honor.”
I smiled, thinking how cute and perfect they were together. Carrie’s face was glowing, and Tree was in heaven. To him this was his best night ever. He got to hit Matt and get his girl back.
“If I see her, I’m still going to talk to her though,” I said, “and by the way, thanks for defending my honor.”
Tree waved a hand like it was no big deal. “He had it coming to him a long time ago, and he shouldn’t be talking about you like that anyway.” He paused. “Carrie told me about the girl in the restroom who knows something about your father.” I caught Carrie sticking her elbow in his side before my eyes fell to the floor. “Sorry. I’m just curious,” he added. “But how could she know about your father? That was almost fourteen years ago.”
I heard Carrie say something to him in a harsh whisper, but I didn’t catch what she said. It sounded like she told him to shut up, not now. I couldn’t tell though, but I did everything in my power not to cry, which included mentally chanting: don’t cry, don’t cry, don’t cry.
“Yeah, she did,” I confirmed, staring at my feet. “But I really don’t want to talk about it.” I lifted my head and bit my bottom lip.
> “I’m sorry, Paige,” Tree quickly said when he saw the look on my face.
I glanced at Nathan at the same time he glanced at me. The frustration and anxiety he felt showed in his face. He turned his head to the security guard, appearing interested by nodding, and then ran a hand through his hair, sneaking a peek back at me.
“I’m going to go outside and wait for Nathan,” I told them.
“Do you want me to come with you?” Carrie asked.
“No,” I said when she started to rise. “I need to be alone for a few minutes.”
“I’m really sorry,” Tree apologized again. “Sometimes I have a foot-in-mouth disease.”
“That’s okay. Remind Nathan to get our stuff before he leaves.”
“We won’t have to. It looks like he’s getting it right now.” Carrie pointed past me.
I turned and saw Nathan walking toward the lockers. I thought how frustrating it would be to have to act human at a time when you really wanted to use your speed to hurry things up.
My superhero boyfriend, faster than a speeding bullet, or pretty damned close to it.
My superhero boyfriend. That was what the dark spirit called him, and told me to ask him and Anwar about my father. She seemed confident Anwar knew things about my father, but did Nathan?
I swallowed against the thickness growing in my throat.
“Then tell him I’ll be outside,” I said to their guilty faces, feeling everything closing in on me at once. What if Nathan knew things about my father all along, but hid them from me?
I rushed outside and stopped beside the entrance near where the bouncer was and where people were coming and going. I didn’t want to be completely alone in case a dark spirit decided to bother me again.
Resting against the brick building, I bowed my head and took a couple deep breaths to stop the tears that threatened to spill and also to control my anger for Nathan’s possible betrayal. I told myself I was a strong, independent person, and if I had to end things with Nathan again, so be it. I was done.
Chapter Eleven
Searching
Beyond the Eyes: YA Paranormal Romance Page 27
