Luminescence Trilogy: Complete Collection

by J. L. Weil

  I frowned. I was probably being overly twitchy about this whole thing. I had nothing to fear from Lukas, never had before. “Let’s just forget about it.”

  “Under one condition,” he replied, stretching his long legs.

  Great. I was almost afraid to find out what his one condition would be. I eyed him warily.

  He smiled at me with his Lukas award-winning grin. “You share dessert with me. We need chocolate.”

  I snickered. “You’re right. Chocolate makes everything better.” At least if you were a girl.

  He ordered a triple chocolate cake. Just one. And like that, there was a weight gone from air again. I could breathe. Gone was the weird tension; he was the Lukas from my dreams. My golden witch. My friend.

  I missed him.

  “Here.” He forked a bite of chocolate cake, holding it suspended over the table. “You’ve got to try this.” He stretched across the table, the college T-shirt he wore spreading across the muscles on his chest.

  Yum. And I wasn’t just talking about the cake.

  My mouth watered.

  I kept my expression blank, knowing I was close to crossing a line, but it wasn’t like I was kissing him. The candle on the table flickered, and I rubbed my hands on my jeans, leaning over the table. I took the bite he offered, the chocolate literally melting in my mouth. “God, that is good,” I said after I swallowed the sugary goo.

  “You bet your sweet ass,” he said, his emerald eyes twinkling.

  “Your way with words is staggering.”

  “I’m just getting started.”

  “That’s what I’m afraid of.” I seriously hoped that was a metaphor for something else, or I was going to find myself in a precarious situation with more guys than I could handle. Breaking hearts wasn’t my forte.

  Friends, I reminded myself. We are just friends.

  Who would have ever imagined that at the brink of eighteen, I would find myself in such a mess? Certainly not me.

  Chapter 10

  ANOTHER WEEK WITHOUT GAVIN.

  Depressing.

  This was getting ridiculous. How was he going to keep his grades up to graduate? It wasn’t like he could just spell his way through high school. Okay, he could, but he wasn’t learning anything that way.

  Enough was enough. I got that he was mad at me, that he refused to answer my messages, but there had to be a way we could co-exist in the same school. Of course, I wanted to do more than co-exist, but I would take anything I could get at this point, even a few glimpses passing in the halls.

  To make matters worse, Rianne decided today was the day she was going to make me her target.

  Goody gumdrops.

  Between periods, she snuck up on me at my locker. I should have been able to smell her skanky scent. She gave me an evil grin, flanked by two of her cronies. “Well, if it isn’t the school mutant. Where’s your boy toy? Don’t tell me he got tired of you already?”

  I tried counting to ten in my head. It was a waste of ten seconds, and did nothing to lessen the mounting anger within me. The more words she spat, the more intense the tingles ran through my body. I was going to burst. Or worse.

  I clutched my fists at my sides and moved past her, trying the ignore route. It wasn’t going so well.

  “Wait,” Rianne rambled on, like I gave two shits. “Let me guess.” She caught up beside me and tapped her blood red nail against her lip. “He found out what a freak you are and ran for the hills.” The smirk on her face was almost enough to make me lose it.

  She had it coming; she really did. In my book, Rianne must be glutton for punishment. There really wasn’t any other explanation I could fathom, but I’d reached my limit with her, my fingertips surging with magic.

  How much more damage could I possibly do? If she was already hell bent on slandering my reputation, then what did it matter what everyone else thought of me? Why not add more fuel to the flames? In reality, it was not the best idea, but I couldn’t think straight. I wasn’t rational.

  “Don’t screw with me today.” My whole body was shaking with the need to hurt her, and a haze of darkness swarmed behind my eyes.

  “Ooh,” she taunted, holding her hands up. “What are you going to do?” she sneered, the two insignificant girls behind her giggling.

  I could smash her like a bug, crush her under my Uggs. “You could stick around and find out,” I snapped.

  There was just the tiniest flicker in her golden eyes. Fear. Under all that bravado, Rianne was afraid of me. I was small enough to admit that pleased me. She could say whatever evil thing came to her mind, spread all the nasty rumors she wanted, just as long as she knew, there was nothing she could do to destroy me. I wouldn’t give her the satisfaction.

  Hell-to-the-no.

  Not today. Not tomorrow. Not ever.

  A wicked gleam lit her eyes. “I just wanted to see your face when you found out I was banging your boyfriend.”

  That was it!

  I was going to gouge her eyes with my short, chewed nails. “He wouldn’t dare,” I professed, barely keeping my cool.

  She pursed her sultry cherry lips. “Maybe not yet, but I will.” Leaning in close to my ear, she whispered. “I’m on to you, freak.” She spun her stilettos, strutting away like she owned the runway, leaving me gaping after her.

  Rage pulsated in my blood. “Bitch.” A crack of thunder split outside with a violent wall-shaking-sound.

  There was a hum simmering under my skin, not at all satisfied that it hadn’t been unable to unleash its full wrath on the beast. Reining in the energy was harder than summoning it had been.

  On a shaky breath, I wondered if I would ever get used to the direct connection between my emotions and the weather.

  I had let Rianne get to me, playing right into her little game. She wanted nothing more than to hurt me. Unease snaked around my belly as I thought about her finding out what I really was.

  Utterly terrifying.

  The more I pondered over the idea, the more enraged I became. Dark thoughts floated through my head. She was really no match for me. I had the kind of power to destroy her, to silence her verbal assaults. Tendrils of shadowy magic coursed through my blood. It wasn’t the heady kind, but more addictive, like a drug, enticing me to strike out now, while I still had the back of Rianne and her groupies in sight.

  “Brianna.”

  Hearing my name, I whirled around. The edge of power still glowing in my violet eyes, I could feel them radiating.

  Tori stood in front of me, watching me curiously. She looked like one of those private school brats gone wild, dressed in a plaid skirt, black knee highs and a tied white button up. Tori looked upon me with confusion, as if she didn’t recognize me. “Are you okay? You look ready to commit murder.”

  Sadly, that was almost how I had felt. I nodded. “Rianne.” Don’t know how she found about my falling out with Gavin, but it was the only explanation I could come up.

  The one word was enough for Tori to understand why I was upset. “What a bitch. Someone really needs to pull the G-string out of her ass.”

  My lips twitched. “I‘d been thinking the same thing.” But much more violently.

  And that scared me.

  Who knew what I would do next?

  Sophie caught me at the end of lunch, after everyone had left. I had been unusually quiet, and by the look on Sophie’s face, she knew what was nagging me. What she probably didn’t know was that I was more worried about my almost actions than I was at Rianne insulting me.

  She shifted her books under her arm. “By the way, I heard what Rianne’s been saying about you and Gavin. It’s not true,” Sophie said, her all too perceptive blue eyes studying me. I could only image what my aura revealed.

  Rumors could be ugly and spread faster than the chicken pox. I shrugged, trying to downplay what I was really feeling. Mortified. “Yeah, well, she is Satan’s spawn. If she isn’t spewing verbal diarrhea about someone, her life would be useless. Better me than one of my fri
ends.”

  “That’s not fair,” she argued. Tiny blue flames sparked into her eyes.

  When was life fair? “It’s no big deal.”

  “I don’t think Gavin would agree.”

  “Sophie,” I growled. “Don’t even think about it.” The last thing I needed was for him to go all macho like he had that night in Wilmington. Nothing good would come of it, I was certain. The warning bell rang overhead, cutting our conversation short. “I’ve got to get to class. Just drop it. For now,” I added, when she didn’t appear convinced not telling Gavin was the best solution.

  “For now,” she agreed. “But it would better if he heard about it from you than the grapevine.”

  And that wouldn’t be a problem if I could get the guy to acknowledge me. Or show up to a class. She had a point though—I didn’t want to put anything between us again, and most certainly not Rianne.

  Sophie laid a soft hand on my arm. “Brianna, you need to talk to him. And I don’t mean just about the Rianne thing. He hasn’t been himself. I’m worried about him. We all are. His aura has been dark, filled with jealousy and hurt. I think you’re the only one who can break through to him. I am afraid of what he might do.”

  Every line in her face showed her concern, and that concern cut straight through me. My stomach sunk all the way to my toes, and anxiety buzzed inside. Nodding, I agreed. “I’ll try again.”

  I needed to talk to him, even if I had to use unusual methods.

  At the end of school, I was kidnapped by Tori and Austin. Okay, not exactly kidnapped, but more like taken hostage for a girl’s night.

  Looping his arm through mine, Austin gave me his million- dollar smile. “Babygirl, you’re in need of some serious fun. We got just what you need.”

  Tori mirrored his action on the other side of me, securing me in their clutches and leading me to the parking lot. “Something to get your mind off Gavin.”

  “Off boys in general,” Austin piped in.

  I laid my head on his shoulder. He smelled like Giorgio Armani. What were best friends for? Mine apparently thought I needed some sort of intervention. They were probably right. I had been moping around for far too long.

  Rolling my eyes, I could only imagine what these two conjured up. Someone shoot me now. “Guys, I appreciate—”

  “Nope,” Austin cut me off. “We’re simply not taking no.”

  Oh Lord. “Fine,” I muttered, managing a small grin. They were just trying to help, after all.

  “Hell, yes!” Tori screeched.

  I scrunched my nose. “That was my eardrum you just ruptured.” I guess I could always talk to Gavin tomorrow. How could I say no to Beavis and Butthead?

  Chapter 11

  SHUFFLING INTO TORI’S LITTLE VOLKSWAGEN beetle, complete with eyelashes on the headlights, I sat in her car, praying they weren’t taking me to an underground rave. Or worse, a nudie joint. With these two, I never knew what I was getting myself into.

  Tunes cranked, the three of us sang at the top of our lungs, off-key, to an indie punk rock band. The elderly couple in the car beside us shook their heads in disgust.

  We burst out laughing.

  I needed this, a night out with my besties. There weren’t two other people in the world that could drag me against my will into some outlandish scheme and I would actually enjoy myself.

  “I’ve been thinking about dying my hair turquoise,” Tori stated, fussing with her long, caramel strands. Tori driving one-handed was dangerous. She needed to keep both hands at ten and two at all times.

  I tried to ignore the fact that her front tire just skimmed over the yellow line. “Seriously?” I asked.

  “Sure, why not?” she shot back, overcorrecting the little car. It tossed me to the other side of seat.

  I frowned at her in the rearview mirror.

  Austin turned in his seat so he could see us both. “I say go for it. I am all about freedom of will, be who you are, and all that blah, blah, blah.”

  I hit him from the backseat. “Knock it off. Don’t you dare encourage her. You know she will do it.”

  He smirked. “Isn’t that the point? Besides, she would look posh in turquoise. It would complement her complexion.”

  I groaned in the back, thumping myself on the head. “Great,” I muttered. “Next, she’s going to be covered from head-to-toe in piercings and run off with a drummer from Oz.”

  “Whatever you say, Mother Goose,” Austin smirked.

  I glared at him. “Funny.” How he could even think with all that gel in his hair was beyond my comprehension. There should be some kind of limit on use of hair products.

  “I live to entertain,” he said, grinning over his shoulder.

  Five minutes later, my destination was revealed.

  They had hijacked me to the zoo.

  I embarrassed myself by getting a little misty. My emotions were on overdrive today, and it wasn’t even that time of the month.

  The zoo was in every childhood memory I’d had of Tori and Austin. For as long as I could remember, we’d spent multiple days of our summer vacation at the zoo.

  Stepping through the iron gates with Tori on one side and Austin on the other was like traveling back in time. It had been so long since the three of us had been here. Too long.

  “You guys, this is awesome. Seriously.” I couldn’t help but think that life before boy troubles had been so much simpler.

  “B, you know you can count on us to pull you out of your boyfriend blues,” Tori vowed, pushing her light brown waves out of her face. The three of us stood in a circle just inside. “Let’s make a pact. Today there will be no mentioning of boys. Period. Just us,” she spread out her long arms. “And the wildlife.”

  On cue, a ferocious roar ripped over the massive grounds.

  “Deal,” Austin and I echoed, grinning.

  I eyed Austin in his Michael Kors jeans and Dior shoes. “Are you sure you are dressed appropriately for the zoo?”

  “Please.” His hand touched the top of his dark head. “Don’t you think animals appreciate quality too?” The lens of his round glasses glinted of the fading sun.

  He really was something else—one in a million. And that was putting it nicely.

  We strolled from exhibit to exhibit, talking about nonsense, laughing at the animals, but mostly giggling at ourselves. I was having the time of my life, and hardly thought of Gavin. Well, just a little.

  As usual, venturing into the snake house gave me the willies, and it had nothing to do with anything unnatural, just my aversion for creepy, scaly, slithering things. They freaked me out.

  “God. This place still gives me the creeps,” Tori said.

  Amen sister.

  A huge python stared at us through the glass, and I couldn’t help but think of Harry Potter. I was a witch; did that mean I could talk to snakes?

  Hey, it was worth a shot.

  Staring intently at the colorful python, I tried to get the creature to do something. Minutes past.

  Nothing.

  “What are you doing?” Austin asked.

  I broke my awkward staring contest with the snake and glanced at my friends. They were both eyeing me with twin smirks. “Nothing,” I muttered, casting my gaze to the ground.

  “BS,” he called me out. “You were wondering the same thing we were. If you could speak parseltongue.”

  My violet eyes widened. Holy shit.

  “Admit it.”

  I glanced to Tori. She nodded, her perky nose wrinkling. “Yep.”

  I grinned back. “I will admit to no such thing.”

  “Liar.” Austin bumped my shoulder with his.

  “I guess you’ll never know.” It drove them bonkers when I withheld anything, even something as stupid as talking to a python, which I couldn’t do.

  My mind leaped from Harry Potter to Gavin and the smile on my face slowly faded.

  “I know we said we wouldn’t, but you are my best friend, B. So I have to ask. Do I need to kick Gavin’s glorio
us ass?” Tori volunteered, reading the crestfallen expression glittering in my eyes.

  A short laugh escaped my lips at the image of Tori going up against a witch, her with her designer jeans and manicured nails. She meant well. “I wouldn’t go that far,” I assured, leaning against a railing.

  Her hands went to her hips. “It’s obvious he hurt you, and in my book, that calls for a good ass whooping.”

  “So this fight is pretty serious?” Austin asked, his face sobering.

  “Serious enough for douche to skip school. What?” Tori asked when Austin poked her in the ribs and I scowled in her direction. “He hurt you. Anyone who causes you pain is an automatic douche. It’s like girl code. B, you couldn’t hurt a fly.”

  “Tori, I am not a saint. Trust me. This isn’t his fault.” That belonged mostly on my shoulders.

  Austin put his arm around me. “Whatever it is, babygirl, we still love you. That will never change.”

  I was counting on it. When and if they found out about my secret, I was really counting on that devotion.

  I needed it.

  “By the way…” Tori nudged between us. I could tell by her grin that I wasn’t going to like this. Not one bit. “Since we are getting all mushy, I need a favor.”

  I groan. Whenever Tori started a sentence with “I need favor”, I either end up taking the blame for some harebrained idea of hers or…she was having a party.

  “I’m throwing a Christmas party at my house after Thanksgiving. I expect you there,” she finished, ignoring my extreme protest.

  Bingo. Called it.

  Ugh. Just once, couldn’t she have a different kind of favor?

  Tori could throw epic parties. No matter how stellar they might be, I hated parties. Just the thought of all the crowds, loud music, and the amount of groping that went on in the dark, made me shudder. Oh, and don’t forget the dancing. An act of God couldn’t get me there.