by Skye Genaro
Fiery heat buzzed across my forehead. My fingers throbbed. I took one step back, aimed my palm at Raquelle, and let a flash of yellow light arc from my hand and zap her in the butt.
"Ouch! Oh!" She slapped her hand to the rear of her sweats. The satisfying smell of melting polyester-cotton blend reached my nostrils.
I grimaced and shook my hand. It burned like crazy. Raquelle squeaked in shock when she realized what I'd done. The look on her face was part terror, part murder. "You…you!"
She took two generous steps back and pointed over my shoulder. "You saw it! You saw what she did!"
An inch at a time, I turned around. Becca stood right behind me.
Chapter 9
Becca's mouth gaped. Her hands hung limp at her side. Her lunch bag slipped from her grasp and fell to the floor.
"I'm going to the principal's office and you're coming with me!" Raquelle commanded Becca. "You're going to tell Mr. Lauer what you saw!"
Raquelle slammed her locker and tromped down the hall. The burn mark had obliterated the "C" on her sweats.
"Your pants say Party hick," Becca said. "I don't know how they got that way. Did you fart so hard you blew a hole through them?" She pulled out her camera phone. "Say Party hick!" She clicked a photo.
"You witch! Both of you are in big trouble. You're going to get expelled from school!" Raquelle yelled.
"What do you serve at that hick party? Hooch and possum stew?" Becca snorted.
Raquelle quivered from head to toe and stormed off.
The smile dropped from my friend's face. She gave me a long, silent stare. I responded with a sheepish grin that said I can explain everything. When Becca finally found her voice, it was low and perplexed.
"You lightning-bolted a person in the butt. With your hand." Her brows squeezed together. Her aura bounced all over the place. No telling where this conversation was going.
"Give me a chance and I'll tell you everything. The truth this time. I swear," I pleaded.
Her eye went into a spasm. "Normal people don't do this kind of thing! Are you a witch? You're the real deal, aren't you? Well? Well? Start talking!" She slapped her hand on the locker.
I held up my hands against her barrage. "Okay! Remember when I fell off the banister and went into a coma? I woke up with telekinesis, then it developed into other stuff, like I can change the color of your shirt and, well, now I can do the electric bolt thing."
She shook her head, giving my story time to set in. To her credit, she didn't shriek, pass out, or flee. "Connor knew, didn't he?"
I'd wanted to leave him out of it, but she watched me closely to see when the next lie would spill from my lips.
"Yeah. He knew."
"This is why you've been weird since the beginning of school. Man, oh man, I do not freaking believe this!"
"Becca…"
"How could you not tell me? I was your best friend," she said.
Oh no. "Are. You are my best friend."
"All this time I was making a first class fool of myself, mixing lame potions and you're all 'look at me, I can shoot electricity from my hand.'"
"I was afraid to tell you. I couldn't control it at first and I was scared."
Her eyes narrowed. "Who thinks paranormal activity is the coolest phenomenon ever?"
"You."
"Who has every episode of Supernatural on DVD and had them autographed at ComiCon? Huh?"
"You stood in line for six hours," I said.
"Who was Wiccan for two whole years even when half the school made fun of her? And who follows the moon phases and has been dying for superhuman ability?" She rapped her finger against my forehead. "Hello? Anybody come to mind?"
"You have. Becca, I'm sorry. If I ever thought…"
She cut me off with a dismissive hand. "Save the apologies. It's too late for that and I don't care, 'cause we are going to be famous! Do you know how much money kids will pay to have you zap their enemies? And then there's the entertainment angle. McKyla's parents hired Flaming Gristle to rock out at her birthday. You'd be way better than any band. You could charge a fortune for this!"
I squeezed her shoulders and looked her straight in the eye. "You cannot tell anybody what I told you."
Her face fell. "You did not just say that."
"There are people out there who will hurt me if they find out what I can do. You have to promise to keep this to yourself."
"You've got people after you? Dude, how much cooler can this get?"
"This is the absolute opposite of cool. This is serious. Who knows what will happen when Raquelle opens her big mouth."
"Oh pul-eeeez. She's not going to the principal, she's gonna keep her big yap shut. Can you see her trying to tell the Partychicks that you…with your…they'd dump her in a second, and then who would be the freak?" Becca bent over, laughing.
"Promise me, Becca."
"Oh, all right. But for real, you can change the color of a shirt? That I've got to see!"
*******
The sun was kissing the afternoon sky goodbye when I took Connor's phone from its hiding place under my mattress. I flicked it on and stared at his perfect face. For strength, I told myself. Looking at him gave me confidence.
He definitely would not approve of what I was about to do. If he knew, his aura would turn fuchsia with frustration. I could hear him lecturing me, even from a hundred and sixty years in the future. Did you not hear a word I said? Have you learned nothing from me?
"The girl from the bridge might be at The Asylum," I told his holographic image. "I have to go."
Jaxon said he'd meet me at the skatepark, but I wanted to take someone who would be firmly on my team. I'd recruited Becca in case our Mutila search went off the rails, or Jaxon didn't show up at all.
After dinner, my BFF and I skidded down icy streets to the southeast side of Portland. Most Portlanders stayed in when the weather turned icy, but I was hoping The Asylum would be packed regardless. Becca's knuckles were white from gripping the steering wheel. Her teeth had stayed clamped on her lower lip since we left the house, and I was reminded that she'd only had her driver's license for about a week.
"You want me to drive?" I asked. I had more experience on the road and didn't want to see her car wrapped around a telephone pole.
"No way. This is the ultimate freedom. It's us against the elements in a car that I'm driving! We could go anywhere! Tacoma. Olympia."
"Why on earth would we go all the way to Tacoma?"
"Just sayin'. The night is young. I'll drive you all the way to Seattle if you want, but you don't get the steering wheel."
I checked my seatbelt as the car fishtailed.
The Asylum sat across the river from downtown Portland in a warehouse district along the river. A heavy coat of paint blacked out its low windows. An awning covered a section of broken sidewalk. Beneath it, a dozen guys huddled around a flask. I spotted a bunch of neck tattoos and facial piercings, nothing out of the ordinary for Portland.
On the way to the skatepark, I'd explained Jaxon's role.
"He knows about your magicky talent, too? I really am the last one to find out," she said.
I finished telling her about the Mutila while she parked.
She huffed impatiently. "I don't get why you're even the tiniest bit afraid of them. You're a paranormal ninja. Nobody is going to mess with you."
"I'm not going to give them the chance. I'm only going in to find out if these are some of the people we're looking for, and I'm packing my aura in tight so they can't read who I am." God, I hoped this worked the way Connor said it would. If not… "But if anyone even looks at me funny, we're running for the car. Okay?"
"I'm on it, home girl. Then we race home like we're possessed by demons," she said.
"Why are you making a joke out of this?"
"Echo, look at these guys." She pointed at the group under the awning. "They're high school dropouts all sharing the same flask, and you can zap people with electricity. What's the problem?"
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I didn't expect Becca to understand.
I did a careful scan of the people hanging around the door as we got closer. Nothing resembling faction, there. I hooked my fingers onto the entrance handle.
"You're new," one of the guys said. He was Porta-Potty thick on stumpy legs. "You learning how to skateboard?"
"Are you giving lessons?" Becca asked.
"We're meeting someone." I linked her elbow into mine and moved to go inside. The guy blocked us with his arm.
"Skaters get in for free. If you're here to watch, you gotta pay," he said.
"What's the fee? I don’t see any sign," I challenged.
"Two swallows for dudes, one for girls." He held out the flask.
"If you insist." Becca let out an exaggerated sigh and reached for the metal container.
I ducked under the guy's arm and pulled my BFF into the building. "We'll have to owe you for it," I said.
"Hey!" she protested.
"You're my security sidekick. You need a clear head, and you're driving." I gave her a gentle rap on the head with my knuckles. "Anybody thinking straight up there?"
We walked past the gear store and rental counter. Fat, colorful graffiti style letters and graphics decorated the walls. Mattresses were stuffed into corners around the concrete skating bowl. The place was packed with kids waiting their turn to skate.
Skaters dipped in and out of the bowl, riding up half pipe ramps and skidding across metal railings. I picked up plenty of auras—lots of daredevil aggression that comes packaged with youth and testosterone, but nothing dangerous.
An emergency exit light on the far wall at the opposite end of the bowl caught my attention. Good, I thought, there's more than one way out of here. My attention drifted to the trio of skaters standing next to it.
Two of them were guys, and they couldn't have been more different. The bigger of them was over six feet tall. His short legs were out of proportion with broad shoulders that made him look like a squat WWF wrestling contender. The other guy was scrawny, the kind of kid who forgets to eat because he's too busy hacking into government computer networks. The girl with them was a pretty, copper redhead. Even from my spot across the bowl, I noticed her seductive quality.
They wore all the right clothes and flat-soled shoes, and each held a skateboard, yet they seemed out of place. Part of it was their aggressive stances, their glares daring anyone to land on the slab of concrete that they'd claimed as their own.
I didn't see Jaxon anywhere and was considering waiting for him in the car when my spine prickled. The trio at the far end was watching me.
"Omigod. That might be them," I said out of the corner of my mouth. This was the wrong time to be tense, but my insides were writhing.
Becca was at my back. "Okay, stay cool. Uh-oh. One of them is coming over here."
The bigger guy hopped on his skateboard and rode across the bowl toward us. My pulse shot north and I did a hasty check to make sure my aura was wrapped tight.
He struggled to maintain balance from the get-go. His hips jiggered side to side and his arms made odd circles as he tried to stay upright. His top-heavy body tilted too far forward. The board flew out from under his feet, and he did a face dive. His two friends laughed while he packed up his board and jogged back to the emergency exit.
"And fail," Becca laughed. "I don't think he's going to give you any trouble."
My muscles tightened as the smaller guy dropped into the bowl, expertly swooping across a pipe and straight toward me. One side of his face was disfigured with a burn mark.
"Becca, back up, head for the door." Even as I reeled to the far edge of the crowd, I picked up a dark, broken life force off the skinny kid. Mutila energy. It was light, but there was no arguing its poisonous residue. The girl came right behind him and together, they carved the lip and sailed back to the far side. My nervousness spiked into dread.
"Both those kids. I bet that's who Jaxon was talking about." I reached for her but found only air. She had gone to the concession counter with the guy we'd met at the door. Great, and Jaxon was still a no-show. I would have been better off spending my allowance on bodyguards than depending on those two.
I gave the space one final scan in case he'd somehow gotten by me.
I was wondering about the old mattresses strapped into the corners when a skater overshot a ramp and crashed headfirst into one of them. Not altogether a high tech way to prevent injuries, but the padding seemed to do the job. The guy bounced to his feet and I realized it was Jaxon.
He collected his skateboard, fastened his eyes on mine, and crossed the bowl. His downturned mouth was the closest thing to concern I'd seen from him. Behind him, the eerie trio watched me.
I grabbed his elbow, and discreetly nodded across the space. "Over there. Those are faction kids."
He wiped sweat off his face with his sleeve, sneaking a casual glimpse at the kids as he did. Then he put his hand on my shoulder and whispered, "Follow my lead."
Jaxon teased his fingers into my hair and put a hand under my chin. He cupped my chin in both hands and kissed me.
Chapter 10
Jaxon's kiss was deep and territorial, like he was claiming me. He released my lips and, as much as I hated his presumptuous kiss, my legs wobbled.
"What do you think you're doing?" I demanded.
"Getting you to relax. You look like a vice cop, giving everyone the evil eye."
"I do not. I was doing what you asked me to." I licked my bottom lip. It tasted salty. This, unfortunately, did not go unnoticed.
"If I didn't know any better, I'd think you enjoyed that," he said.
"Wow, you are arrogant."
He nodded at the far end of the bowl. "Whoever you saw is gone."
"There were three of them. They must have slipped out the back exit," I said. "The smaller guy and the girl are definitely in. I'm not sure about the bigger guy. Now what?"
"That's it for tonight. I can look into it more tomorrow." The corner of his mouth angled into a smile. "As long as you're here, how about a skateboarding lesson? I bet I could teach you to Ollie in ten minutes."
A crease formed between my brows. "I just had a close encounter with supernatural whack jobs and you're flirting with me?"
I tried hard to sound offended but my voice was croaky. I still felt the heat where his hand rested against my chin. This was all wrong. Jaxon was not my type. I was trying hard to understand why he affected me this way, and then a sinking feeling returned to my chest. For the few long seconds of that kiss, I'd stopped aching for Connor. Now the ache was back, stronger than ever.
"I gotta go. Homework. And stuff," I said.
"Good luck getting a ride. Looks like Becca's busy entertaining one of the locals."
Becca was still talking animatedly to the guy who'd tried to feed us alcohol on the way in.
"Thanks for checking out those kids," Jaxon said. "They're gone now, so why not stay and have a little fun?" His lids dropped half-mast. He twirled a section of my hair around his finger.
I frowned to hide my discomfort. "Stop looking at me like that."
"Me? You're the one who keeps licking your lips. Either you're hungry enough to eat the gloss right off them or you're waiting for me to kiss you again."
"I—I am not." Not much surprised me anymore, but that kiss had. It was sensuous and laced with a dark hunger I hadn't ever felt from a guy. It wasn't the kind of kiss I expected from someone as annoying as Jaxon.
His eyes surfed over me and I shifted my weight.
"You're supposed to have all this amazing power." His eyeballs found the ceiling. "What would you have done if one of those kids came up to you?"
I probably would have fainted. "Why do you keep asking about my ability?"
"Can't blame me for being curious. I'd like to see it for myself some time."
His expression was innocent but his aura had a sensual vibe. Given the chance, Jaxon could make my life complicated. Maybe in a good way. Probably not.
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br /> "I have to go home." I zipped my jacket.
He let out a sigh. "Do you want me to check outside and make sure they're gone?"
"That would be great, thanks."
He went outside, and I joined Becca at the concession stand, where she was snapping the lid onto her cup of soda. "No way. My boyfriend plays defensive back for our team," she said to her bulky new friend "The Cardinals can kick Panther butt any day of the week, right Echo?" Becca asked.
"Yes. Butt kicking galore." I turned to the guy. "Is your offer still open because I could use that flask about now."
Becca's brows shot up in surprise. I'd never cared for the taste of alcohol.
"The name's Tugg," he said as he tipped the flask upside down to show that it was empty. "And you're too late. You can have my soda, though. I work here, and I get free refills."
It wasn't what I had in mind but I accepted his paper cup and took a long drink. A mix of alcohol and soda burned the back of my throat. That was where the contents of the flask had gone, right into his cup. I drank all of it in a few gulps and winced. The bubbles made the alcohol hot and scratchy against my tongue. The cola left an acidic film on my teeth.
"Whoa," he said. "That was heavily spiked."
"Thanks." I handed back the empty cup. The drink swam straight to my legs, washing over my frayed nerves and coating them with a sugary elixir.
"Is everything all right?" Becca asked.
"On the way to getting excellent," I sang and snatched her cup from her hand. One sniff told me her drink was spiked, too. After a long, industrious slurp, I came up for air.
"You'd better slow down. You're going to get sick." She tried to snag her drink but I hid it behind my back.
"I'm not sure I care." The rubber bands in my neck released, and the iciness was gone from my legs.
Who cared about the stupid Mutila kids, anyway? They were nothing more than a bunch of skateboard punks. As for Jaxon and his stupid kiss, it still lingered on my tongue. I wanted to wash away the taste of it with the last of Becca's soda, but the walls began to sway. The fat graffiti letters ran together in a wreck of color. My eyes tried to track a skater as he flew up a ramp. His image split in two and my stomach went topsy-turvy.
