by Sedona Venez
I smiled smugly when he shrugged Kaydee’s hand off his shoulder. “You do see Stormy standing here?”
With an air of forced nonchalance, Kaydee mumbled, “Unfortunately.”
He was pissed; I could tell by the way his voice rumbled like a freight train. “What did you say?”
She jammed her hands on her narrow waist. “You know how I feel about her, Knox. And I would take pleasure in making her”—she stepped forward—“disappear.”
“Don’t even dare.” His voice boomed as he pushed me behind his wide, muscled back.
Outraged, I tugged on his shirt, trying to step around him as he clutched me against his back with arms of steel. I wanted to scream that I was more than capable of defending myself against her.
Kaydee sneered, speaking in that acidic tone that I despised. “You won’t always be there to protect her, Knox. Look at her? She’s nothing but a weak—”
Oh, hell to the no. “Please let me go, Knox. I’ll show her weak,” I hissed.
I swore that his wolf tattoo rippled before he responded to Kaydee, totally ignoring me. “If you even breathe on her, I won’t be responsible for what I do to you.”
Kaydee’s mouth formed a big O of shock as she held up her hands and stepped back. “Don’t you see what she's doing? She's destroying everything. She's not worth it.” She pointed at me with her ugly finger. “Plus, she's playing you with that boyfriend of hers. I've seen them together.”
I sputtered. “What? That's a damn lie.”
I could tell he was furious by the way his body shook violently as he tried to get his temper under control, and it didn’t help that we were drawing an interested crowd.
“Stop, Knox. She's not worth it.” I pressed my face against his back, wrapping my arms around his waist, relieved when I felt his anger ebb away.
He hissed. “You are fucking close to being dropped, Kaydee.”
She let her cool mask slip, showing the real Kaydee. The cruel, spiteful Kaydee. “You won't. You can't. Not after what I've done for you.” Her body was vibrating violently as she stamped her feet like a spoiled child throwing a tantrum. “You fucking owe me, Knox.”
I looked from Knox to her, in shock. What the hell? He owed her what?
His fists clenched and unclenched. “I don't owe you shit. My debt was repaid in blood years ago. So don't even think for one second that I won't walk away from you.” His stance widened. “There are managers who would be more than happy to take your place. Don’t ever forget that.”
“Look, I'm sorry.” Kaydee swallowed nervously. “We've come too far, Knox. For years it was just us.” She gave me a look filled with raw hatred. “Then she comes along and you lose sight of what we've worked so hard for.”
“You mean what I've worked so hard for.” His voice was hard as ice.
Kaydee's eyes looked desperate. “Come on. Let's close the deal. Knock this shit out tonight.”
“You answered my cell.” It was a flat statement.
Her voice squeaked. “You were busy.”
“I determine when I'm busy. And I'm never too busy for Stormy. Get it?”
I smiled. He really did care about me in his own way.
Her jaw tightened. “Yes. Got it. Now can you get ready?” She just stood there looking at me like she expected me to walk away like some scared little girl.
He shook his head with disgust. “Bye, Kaydee. Go do your job and get out of my face.” He spun around, pushing me against the wall, his wide back blocking her view.
I peered around him. She was still standing there, staring, her eyes doing some weird creepy thing. I blinked, swearing that they turned dark gold before flipping back to brown. I looked at her pointedly. “Uh… can you go away now? We were in the middle of something here.”
If looks could kill, I would be fucking dead. She huffed, stomping away in a cloud of skank.
Opening my black, fringe-studded bag, I reached in and pulled out my good luck gift. It was something that I saw him eyeing at the pawnshop for a while. “Open your hand.” I shoved the wide, silver skull ring into it.
He scowled. “I can buy my own shit, Storm.”
My breath caught in my throat at the raw anger in his voice. “It’s for good luck. Nothing more, okay? Please just take it. And have fun out there.”
Hesitantly, he slipped it on his finger and flexed his hand. “Thank you. This means a lot.” He grabbed my face, plunging his tongue into my mouth.
I practically hummed with satisfaction before breaking it off. I trailed my fingers across his cheek before kissing my hand and pressing them against his lips. I was overwhelmed and terrified of the rush of feelings that made me lightheaded. “I’ll be the girl in the front, screaming at the top of her lungs.”
I was blinking back the tears, struggling with the words of raw emotions sitting at the tip of my tongue. But my mind wouldn't let me tell him. Not tonight… not ever. I quickly walked away before I did something stupid, like telling him how I felt. I pushed through the crowd and skirted around the corner. I was anxious for this whole night to be over. I sensed someone watching me from the shadows. It was Kaydee, who stalked toward me with eyes laced with deadly intent.
“So are you done filling his head with bullshit of happily ever after?” she said, prowling toward me.
I tracked her movements with my eyes, not trusting her one bit. “Okay, are we really doing this?” I took off my earrings, sliding them into my jean’s pocket, getting ready for anything.
Her eyes widened with shock. “So the rich girl is tough, huh?”
I wanted to laugh. She just didn't know how tough. The one thing that Mom prepared me for was to be able to protect myself under attack. She wasn’t taking any chances with her only daughter and the last of the Credence bloodline. Others were dangerous and took weakness as an invitation to maim or, worse, kill. And killing witches, especially rare Fae-witch hybrids, would be considered a trophy kill. So, the prerequisite for granting me permission to move away from home and getting access to my trust fund was my promise to continue my bi-weekly defensive training sessions with Noah. He was the enforcer for Alpha Ronan Alfero, leader of the largest and toughest New York wolf-shifter pack.
Noah was a young, hungry, ruthless wolf-shifter who was a newbie enforcer in the pack with a lot to prove. And despite my initial resentment at being forced into training, I never missed our training sessions. In fact, I enjoyed the raw ruthlessness of them. It was cardio without all of the sappy music. It was all brute force with a little blood thrown in for good measure. Something I admit I enjoyed entirely too much. Just thinking about handing out a well-deserved ass kicking made my pulse race.
“Don't let the pretty clothes and the smile fool you.” I let the blood thirst creep into my voice as I strolled around her. “It's really not my style, fighting like a couple of classless backstage groupies.” I stopped, strategizing how far I could lodge my foot up her skinny ass. “But I'm not opposed to finally having a reason to kick your ass. If you want to take it there, then let's go. If not, step out of my way. I have to get ready to cheer on my man.”
Her strange, dark eyes filled with suspicion as she actually spit on the floor. My eyes widened with disgust. Who the hell does shit like that? You could take the girl off the streets, but not the street out of the girl, and Kaydee was a straight-up street urchin.
She flashed her perfectly bleached teeth. “Not as soft as I thought you were.” She wrinkled her nose. “I wonder if Knox knows that his pretty little trophy girlfriend is a street fighter?”
I shook my head with disbelief. She was truly a piece of work. I saw the way she bullied Knox’s groupies. It bordered on straight-up abuse. No, Kaydee was dangerous. A woman who grew up on the streets like Knox, she was used to doing anything and everything to get what she wanted. Unfortunately, I grew up around a lot of women like her. Most of them witches who were rotten to the core and had no qualms about using their body, beauty, and powers to manipulate people around them
like pawns on a chessboard. And that's what Kaydee was, a master manipulator.
She flicked the strands of my hair with a taunting glare. Swatting her hand away, I snapped, “Stop stomping those man-sized feet encased in cheap-ass shoes and get to the fucking point, Kaydee.”
She smiled at me with eyes saturated with pure hatred. “It won't last.”
I didn't try to act coy about what it was. “It? Believe me, my relationship with Knox will last as long as I want it to. And neither you nor Liam have the balls to chase me away. Trust me on this.” I stepped in her face, trying not to gag when I smelled a sweet, sickly scent wafting around her. A scent that was eerily haunting and clingy. “When will you finally get it through your bleached-blond head that Knox belongs to me and I won't go away just because you still want him? He—doesn’t—want—you. So stop being so pathetic because I'm not letting him go without a fight.”
Kaydee's face flushed with anger. The air was so thick with rage and tension I could almost taste it like a bitter pill. “You are not one of us, Stormy. And we only stick to our kind.”
My eyebrows rose. “Kind? Are you serious? What does that even mean?”
She sneered. “You have no idea what and who you're messing with, rich girl.”
My stare-down was unwavering. “Exactly what type of prescription drugs are you on? Because you sound totally deranged.”
She just stared at me silently. Frankly, it was unnerving. “There’s something about you that doesn't make sense, but I can’t put my finger on what it is,” she spat.
Seriously? Kaydee was mentally warped and I had enough of the cat-and-mouse game. “Okay, so are we done here?”
“For now,” she responded before pushing past me wildly.
I shook my head with disbelief. “Truly insane,” I mumbled under my breath, marching from backstage and immersing myself into the throng of drunk, gyrating bodies. One of them was Light, at the bar as usual, holding court to an entourage of men circling her like sharks as the boom of the music filled the club.
I walked behind her, flicking her hair. “I'm here. Now the party can begin,” I said, giving her a wink. The sharks stopped mid-swim, focusing on me with interest. I gave them a cold smile. “Not going to happen.” I waved at them. “Bye now.” Leaning over, I smiled at the bartender, screaming over the noise. “Two beers.”
Light smirked, grabbing her cup of beer as soon as he put it down. She sloshed her drink, pointing over at the two menacing-looking guys. One with blond hair, the other black. They eyed the crowd with disdain as they bulldozed through the people that were heading backstage.
“Storm, check out the pretty auras on those two.”
Odd, I'd seen them before. They were hanging outside of Knox's apartment, just watching. When I told him about them, he shrugged it off but got eerily silent.
“I saw the skank known as Kaydee stomping away in a plume of anger. You two got into it again, huh?” Light stated flatly.
I responded with a smirk. “Yep. This time I almost ripped her head off. That girl is loca in the cabeza.” I grabbed my cup of beer, pulling Light through the crowd toward the front of the stage. “I'm getting weird vibes from her. From all of them.”
Light looked at me sharply. “Weird like what? Other?” she whispered.
“Maybe. I don't know.” I responded with frustration. Not willing to concede yet that my uncertainty was a crippling result of my adamant decision to have limited interaction with Others. As usual, totally ignoring the seriousness of the situation, Light swayed to the music, completely in her own world. Not that she would be able to provide any earthshattering insight. She was a fumbling mess when it came to anything that didn't involve partying, alcohol, or shopping. No, if I wanted help with this Other question, I’d have to eat crow and call Mom for a quick tutorial on identifying Others, which was a lesson that she insisted was necessary years ago. Shit! I hate when she's right.
A spine-tingling warning ran down my spine, a sure sign of trouble on the horizon. “There's something going on. It could be plain paranoia, but I don't think so. Call it woman's intuition, but she's up to something.”
Light leaned in close to avoid being overheard. “You know the solution to this, right?” She pointed her finger like a gun. I grabbed it quickly, looking around nervously.
“Don't do that, Light,” I hissed. “We don't cast dark spells.” Well, that was technically true. We could. Well, I could. Light's spell-casting abilities were lacking at best. And mine, well, I've been told from birth that my potential abilities were up there with the very few gifted witches, which was something I chose to deny. There would be no using of witchcraft for me—ever.
Light rolled her eyes. “Well, you need to do something about her. There are rumors circulating. Very nasty rumors that those two are not exactly over.”
“So you're saying they’re still sleeping with each other?” I asked furiously.
Light popped her hands on her curvy hips, giving me the stare-down. “You want to hear the truth, or get all pissed off like someone stole your fucking bike?”
I sighed heavily. “The truth.”
She touched me on the shoulder. “I think he's still fucking her.” She pulled my hair away from my face. I tried to pull away, but she held me still. “You asked for the truth. But there's one thing for sure; he really needs to cut her loose. She's dead weight.”
I blew out with frustration. “I agree, but he has this ridiculous loyalty to her, something about her saving his ass.” I snorted. “I can’t imagine her saving anyone’s ass but hers.” I shrugged. “Anyway, she knows way too many of the music players. I hate her, but she's a fucking beast when it comes to the music business. If anyone can get him a deal, she can. The problem is that she wants him on a personal level too.”
Light looked at me with concerned eyes. “And it doesn’t help that they’re fuck buddies. Damn, I hate when girls refuse to move on.” She took a sip of beer and winked at me saucily. “Her desperation can only mean one thing… that his sex game must be simply unforgettable.”
I rolled my eyes. “Put it this way, he's really talented.” Well, as far as oral sex went. We hadn't gotten to the real down and dirty sex stage—yet.
Light clapped her hands, sloshing beer all over her jeans. “Hot damn, I knew it.” She kissed me soundly on my cheek. “When you didn't come home last night, I was hoping that you finally uncrossed those sexy legs and gave it up. Jeezus, he's been sniffing around you like a wolf in heat. It's cute in a pathetic kind of way.”
I shook my head. One of the drawbacks of having a best friend who is also my cousin is that she is a shameless, prying witch. “Are we really having this conversation now?”
She shimmied against me. “Don't get all uptight.”
“I'm not getting uptight. I just don't want to talk about it in the middle of a party,” I responded. Light raised an eyebrow. “Okay, should I dance to celebrate the luck of finding a guy with a mean tongue game?”
“Oh, hell yeah! It’s a miracle, like striking gold—eureka! Now get past oral and move to the real thing, baby. Call it a parting gift.” She winked, dancing around me.
I gave up and danced with her. “You're truly crazy. You know that, right?”
“The craziest witch you know, baby!”
We danced with wild abandonment, forgetting for a minute all of the troubles of our world. College was our reprieve from reality and our overbearing mothers who were reason enough to make us do a happy dance. It was like a four-year hall pass. As soon as we graduated from high school, we were plotting to get away from our mothers. We were thinking states and miles away but had to settle for going to an Ivy League university in Manhattan. There were safety risks, according to our mothers, that the long-distance logistics wouldn't allow. Again, the last of the Credence bloodline paranoia reared its head.
So the second we moved out, we literally never looked back, acting like we were miles away instead of minutes. No going home for the holidays and
no guilt about it. Our mothers didn’t celebrate holidays anyway. They spent it in Europe with their latest boy toys while Light and I traveled in the opposite direction to ensure no awkward mother-daughter moments.
I actually blossomed while being away from the pressure of trying to live up to the Credence name. It was like a breath of fresh air. I dated and flirted without a care in the world because I had no intention of falling in love. The guys were fun. And when they started wanting to become serious, I cut them off and moved on to the next one in line. I was so sure that the Credence Curse wouldn't get me here—that was before I met Knox.
Light’s voice brought me out of my thoughts. “That reminds me, the cackling hens called last night from Vegas.”
I almost choked; they rarely called, respecting our need for independence. “What did our mothers from hell want?”
Light pointed at me accusingly. “Your mother had a premonition, something about a bird—no, an eagle. Then she babbled about how you need to watch your back and that the Credence Curse is about to rear its ugly head again.”
I stopped dancing, my heart pounding nervously. “What?”
Light’s eyes were a little dazed. “Huh?”
“Light, did it even occur to you to mention this earlier?”
She blew a strand of hair from her forehead. “Why? You're not stupid enough to fall in love…” She sloshed her beer. “Oh, hell no! Tell me you didn't fall for him!”
My eyes widened as a feeling of near hurl status gripped me. “No! I know the Credence rule…” I took a sip of beer, staring into space. Shit, I was truly fucked. I wanted to go running out of the club in sheer terror.
Her eyes narrowed. “Do what you do, Storm. Keep it simple.”
I swallowed nervously before the lights flickered. The music lowered. Yeah, right. The time for simple was over the minute I met him. Happy for the distraction, I pointed to the stage. “It's about to start.”
