Ascending Darkness

by J. L. Weil

In sauntered the bitch of the hour.

  Brooklyn Kendall.

  Would she really do that? Yes, although it didn’t explain the bird flying into my window. But the other birds dead on the ground? I wasn’t sure. The whole thing smacked of some devious plot Brooklyn would concoct.

  The devil herself was giving me a mad case of the stink eye as she crossed the cafeteria with Leena and Cora in tow.

  “Is this feud between us ever going to end?” I muttered.

  Beck’s sparkling gray eyes trailed the nymph squad. “I hope not.”

  I playfully smacked him on the arm. “Dude, that’s not funny.”

  He rubbed at the spot on his bicep, grinning. “I can’t help it. Things have been so much more . . . colorful since you moved in.”

  My head tilted to the side while I regarded him. “What’s the name of your therapist again? I think it might be time to switch your meds.”

  He laughed, throwing back his blue head and gaining the attention of a few tables surrounding us. “See, this is what I’m talking about. This school needed you, Mal.”

  I wasn’t so sure about that. Brooklyn blamed me for ruining her life. Her ex-boyfriend was derailing me from my life plan. Mom put on a brave face, but I could tell something had her worried. And I had unruly magnetic powers. None of these were things I construed as good.

  Chapter 2

  Storms never really bothered me. Maybe it was my connection to water that offered calm during the howling of the winds, the crash of thunder, and the spears of lightning slashing across the black sky. Beck had been right. Havenwood Falls was in for a helluva storm, and for the end of November, ice was definitely in the forecast. For now, the sky was putting on quite the show.

  I raced across the parking lot to my car, my bag jostling behind me. The last place I wanted to be caught was on the road when the mixture of rain and ice decided to fall. My steps faltered at the sight of Torent leaning against my Chevy Malibu, and dammit if the car never looked so good. He had a way of making everything around him hotter.

  Sighing, I walked around him and opened the backseat door, tossing in my bag.

  “What are you doing?” I asked, spinning to face him.

  He boxed me in with his body, pressing his palms on either side of the car. My breath hitched at his sudden nearness. Don’t think about how close he is or how wonderfully intoxicating he smells.

  I sank into the cold metal of my car, but it didn’t help. My senses went into overdrive. I hadn’t been exactly avoiding him, but more or less evading temptation. Damn him and his sexy demon dimples.

  “I missed you,” he replied in a deep and rich voice that melted over me.

  Be strong. You can resist that smirk.

  “Torent,” I groaned, making the mistake of putting my hands on his chest. They were supposed to push him away, yet ignoring the command my brain sent to my hands, they rested over his beating heart. When was I going to accept that I didn’t want to avoid Torent or only be his friend?

  He grinned, tugging on the end of a frazzled curl. “I love it when you say my name.”

  I leveled him with a stare that did absolutely nothing to wipe the wickedness from his violet eyes. Tiny flecks of gold were sprinkled in those irises—his demon. I’d only seen Torent lose control once, and although it had been scary, I hadn’t been frightened of the darkness that lived within him.

  “You’re never going to give up the chase, are you?”

  “Not when I want something,” he crooned.

  It was a thrill to hear he wanted me. I couldn’t deny the rush his silky words gave me, but I wasn’t impulsive or reckless. I’d thought of little else the last few weeks than what my life would be like if I dated a demon.

  “What happens when you get bored?” I challenged, although this wasn’t the first time we’d had this conversation. It seemed we were doomed to spin circles around each other.

  His nose brushed over the tip of mine, bringing our lips too close for comfort. I only had to tilt my head an inch up and I’d be doing the very thing I longed for—kissing the shit out of Torent Stark. One of his hands lifted off the car and trailed down my arm to lace our fingers together. I shocked myself by letting him. In fact, I wasn’t sure I could let go.

  “Never going to happen, crash car. There’s something between us not even I can explain.”

  “That doesn’t make it right.”

  A gust of wind blew in from the south, and thunder struck over our heads.

  “How do you know unless you give us a chance?” His other hand tucked a wayward strand of hair behind my ear, and I shuddered. His body pressed into mine. “I don’t know why you insist on resisting this.”

  This being the irrational feelings between us. He was wearing me down. I no longer seemed to remember why I was fighting so hard against what he made me feel. It was exhausting working each day to stay away from him, to not give in to the urge to wrap my arms around him or kiss him brainless in the middle of math class.

  He was a distraction.

  And there it was. The reason Torent was bad for my health. If I spent all day staring at his gorgeous face, I’d fail all my classes. I’d be stuck in Havenwood Falls with Brooklyn breathing fire down my neck. I’d probably run off and marry him straight out of high school and end up with a dozen equally gorgeous little demon babies.

  Sparks lingered at the places his fingers had touched my cheek. Torent, being part demon, could produce a light he called hellfire. I hadn’t seen its full potential, but the bits I’d been exposed to were mesmerizing.

  “You make me lose myself,” I admitted softly.

  His focus was completely on me, which was more than a little unnerving. “Why do you see that as a negative thing?”

  I angled my face closer to his as if compelled. “I have dreams, plans for my future.”

  “It doesn’t have to be one or the other,” he said softly.

  Maybe not, but I was afraid of how much I would be willing to give up for him if I let myself, because I knew with certainty that I would fall head over heels in love with him.

  This conversation was getting too deep. It was time to divert. “Don’t tell me you need a ride. Again.”

  Torent had used every creative excuse and then some to find time alone with me. It was impossible to not be flattered by his ingenuity . . . or his lingering looks and charming smile.

  He gave me a lopsided grin. “The Jeep is in the shop.”

  “Uh-huh. You need to come up with new material.”

  His shoulders lifted in a shrug. “Why? This one works so well.”

  “Get in,” I grumbled. I was going to regret this.

  He lingered, keeping me pinned to the car with his body. “We’re not done talking about you and me. Not by a long shot.”

  Strolling to the other side of the car, he opened the passenger door.

  I exhaled the breath I’d been holding and slid into the driver’s seat as he folded himself into my compact vehicle. He made it seem tiny.

  Lifting his glorious tush up to one side, he pulled out my brush. “Is this yours?”

  I winced, taking the hairbrush he dangled in the air. “Sorry. It was a hectic morning.”

  Torent relaxed back into the seat. “I heard you were late again.”

  I tossed the brush into the back of the car and stuck the keys into the ignition, waiting for it to kick over. “Are you keeping tabs on me, Stark?”

  His lips twitched as he buckled his seatbelt. “I wouldn’t dream of it.”

  I shifted the car into reverse. “Liar.”

  He leaned over the center console, fumbling with the radio as I pulled out of the parking spot.

  “Are you going to tell me what has you on edge today?” He sounded like he was asking about the weather. “Or am I going to have to seduce it out of you?”

  I smacked at the hand that had landed on my thigh. “Don’t you dare. I’m driving. Do you really want me to get into an accident?”

  He looked so
adorable with his jet-black hair disheveled from the wind. “What I want is for you to admit you’re enamored by me.”

  My mouth dropped open. The gall of him! Snapping my mouth shut, I put the Malibu into drive.

  “Or . . . you can tell me what’s going on,” he prodded, as he was so good at doing.

  I maneuvered my car in line behind the mass of vehicles trying to exit the parking lot, the weather delaying traffic more than usual. Someone’s ball cap flew over the hood of my car and out to the field. I sighed, biting on my lower lip. What could it hurt to tell him the crazy conspiracy theories? It was likely I was worried for nothing. And the worst that would happen was Torent would laugh or tell me I was being silly. I could handle both.

  “Beck is convinced I’m cursed. I think Brooklyn is still trying to get revenge on me.”

  Torent waved at Seth Cooper crossing the parking lot before his eyes ran over me. “Why would you think that? Has something happened?” When I didn’t immediately respond, a glint of ominous suspicion sprang into his eyes. “Mallory,” he growled so low it caused goose bumps on my arms.

  “Geez. Don’t get all demon on me. I’m sure it was nothing. I found a bunch of dead birds outside my window this morning.”

  His fingers brushed at the tiny stubbles under his chin that I found so appealing. The shadow of hair gave him an air of darkness I was clearly attracted to. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

  Shrugging, I flipped the wheel hand over hand, moving with traffic onto the main road. “I didn’t think it was a big deal, but you and Beck are starting to freak me out over it.”

  Not entirely true. I had already been upset by it this morning, but for some reason, I didn’t want to appear weak or superstitious. I didn’t want to be that girl who ran to a guy every time she had a problem. I wasn’t a damsel in distress who needed to be saved. I had every intention of saving myself.

  “Birds often don’t die in mass suicides, not in Havenwood Falls.”

  “I’m learning nothing happens in this town without a reason. I swear, if Brooklyn is still tormenting me because she blames me for taking her powers, I’m going to staple her ass to a chair.” The thing was, with my abilities, I could very well carry out the threat.

  The muscle along his jaw worked. “Let me talk to her.”

  “No!” I shouted, nearly swerving off the road. “Don’t do that. It would only make things worse. I can deal with her on my own terms.”

  Torent scowled, either at my driving or at my refusal of his help. “Do you remember what happened the last time you faced off with Brooklyn?”

  Did I ever. She nearly killed me. “How could I forget?”

  “All the more reason you need to let me find out if she is behind this,” he insisted.

  “Do you think that’s a good idea? You know how touchy she is about us. I don’t want to push her and have crap escalating.”

  “So you’re saying there is an us?” Torent’s eyes twinkled.

  How did our conversations always derail so quickly? It was an impressive skill. My lips formed a straight line. “Focus. We were talking about Brooklyn.”

  Some of the humor dried up, and he got serious. “Go out with me on Saturday.”

  Oh, my God. I give up. I was done fighting him. “Why would I do that?”

  He leaned closer, and his fingers twirled a strand of my hair. “Because it would be fun. You remember fun, don’t you, Mal?”

  Okay, so Torent wasn’t the only one with creative excuses. Mine just happened to always revolve around me studying or doing homework. But he had a point. I hadn’t gone out in weeks, not even for coffee, and that was just a sin in my book. Locking myself up in the house was not me—it wasn’t how I wanted to live. “If I say yes, will you stop asking? One date and that’s it.”

  His lips twitched into a half smile. “One is all it will take.”

  I shook my head, trying to keep my eyes on the road.

  “You really need to work on your confidence,” I said dryly. The sky chose that moment to open up, letting the icy rain pour. It plummeted from the black clouds, hitting my windshield with a pattering force that made visibility dodgy. “What is this, the apocalypse?” I’d lived in Wisconsin. I was no stranger to winter, but this was nasty to the tenth degree.

  “Maybe we should pull over until the storm passes?” Torent suggested, his eyes narrowing at the ominous clouds above us.

  My fingers clenched on the steering wheel. “If I didn’t know better, I’d swear you planned this.”

  He chuckled. “Controlling the weather is unfortunately not one of my skill sets.”

  I was slowly inching the car along the road and was seriously considering pulling over as Torent had advised. “But you have friends—”

  What the hell?

  A dark shadow was sailing straight at me, and I had no time to react, only brace myself for impact.

  Whack!

  I gave a yelp, my heart roaring in my ears. Something had hit the windshield. I stomped on my brakes, hitting a patch of black ice, and my car spun in a circle. Talk about déjà-freaking-vu.

  Chapter 3

  I don’t know how he did it, but Torent took control of the wheel as it spun. It felt as if the car would never stop. A scream lodged in my throat just as he was able to straighten out the wheels and land us in the ditch, narrowly avoiding a massive pine tree.

  Torent quickly turned to me, his fingers sliding under my chin to glance over my face. “Are you okay?”

  My hands were attached to the steering wheel in a death grip. “I will be as soon as I swallow my heart back down to my chest.”

  “You’re not hurt?” he asked again.

  “I-I don’t think so . . . but my car,” I groaned, staring at the massive spider crack that fissured over the entire windshield in a jagged pattern.

  “It’s nothing that can’t be fixed,” he said, trying to downplay the situation.

  I failed to mention I had no money, and I hated to ask my Mom. She just started a new job, and there were bills that had to be paid, thanks to her latest divorce. I killed the engine, needing a few moments to collect myself and figure out what I was going to do next. The icy rain was still coming down in buckets.

  He surveyed the damage.

  “There’s a reason I call you crash car,” he said, sounding amused.

  My head hit the back of the seat.

  “Not funny. Did you see what it was?” I asked, unclear what I’d hit or what had hit me. The details were fuzzy.

  Dark brows furrowed together. “It looked like a small dog.”

  “What? I hit someone’s dog?” I shrieked, my heart dropping into my chest. Had I killed a family’s dog? I couldn’t live with that. This was turning out to be the day from hell.

  “It could have been a fox,” he added, changing his initial guess, probably to make me feel better. It wasn’t working.

  “You’ve got to be shitting me.” Unease spread through me like a weed choking the life out of me.

  Torent lifted up in his seat, scouring the area surrounding us. “Whatever it was, it’s gone.”

  But was it hurt? Bleeding? Dying alone in the woods?

  “You’re shaking,” he said, gruffness moving into his voice.

  I hadn’t even realized it until Torent brought it to my attention. Light tremors racked through me. He took my fingers in between his, and a yellow-orange light emitted from his palms, warming up my skin.

  “Twice in one day is not a coincidence,” I muttered.

  “No, it’s not.”

  “What’s happening?”

  “I wish I knew, but we’re going to find out. I’m not going to let anything happen to you.”

  And I believed him. No one made me feel as safe as Torent did, and that spoke more about my feelings than I was ready to admit. Leaning on him would mean he had the power to hurt me . . . to leave. But facing this problem alone would be stupid. I knew so little about the supernatural world. This was his world.

&n
bsp; “I’m glad you needed a ride.”

  The smirk I anticipated spread over his lips. “Good, because I’m picking you up tomorrow.”

  “I can drive myself to school,” I insisted. The aftereffects of shock were slowly starting to wear off.

  He glanced at the shattered windshield. “Not in this, you can’t.”

  My head angled left and right, trying to see around the spider crack that splintered over most of the driver’s side window. He had a point. It was definitely not safe to drive.

  He held out his palm. “Hand me the keys. We’ll drop it off at the shop, and I’ll grab the Jeep.”

  What would I do without him? The question scared me.

  “Thanks,” I said, putting the pink puffball attached to my car key in his hand.

  He glanced down at the soft poof and then met my eyes with a raised brow of cynicism.

  The corner of my lips lifted. “Pink suits you.”

  “You suit me.”

  I swallowed. He had to stop saying things like that. “What am I going to do with you?”

  “I could think of a few things.” The pitter-patter of rain hitting the roof of the car became the only sound as we shared one of those long heated glances that were becoming far too frequent lately.

  I could feel myself getting sucked in. It was a spear of lightning that jolted me from the spell of Torent. “All right, Romeo, let’s go before a deer or a bear decides to have a wrestling match with the rest of my car.”

  “I’d pay to see that.”

  “You’d pay with your life,” I countered, reaching for the door handle.

  His raspy chuckle was the last thing I heard as I stepped out of the car to switch places with Torent. I squealed at the first drop of freezing rain on my face. Laughing, we passed each other at the front of the car, headlights beaming over the gravel, and made a mad dash to get back inside the comfort of my Malibu.

  Inside the car, Torent cranked the heat so we didn’t freeze to death.

  “I can’t believe there are people who actually love winter,” I chattered, shaking out my wet hair.

  “Are you telling me you’re not a snow bunny?” he asked, adjusting the seat to fit his long frame.