ARC: The Seers (10 page)

CHAPTER 10

“Read him?” The dead man? Ew. Ew, ew, ew.

“
Yes. Or at least try.
” He must have seen my eyes threaten to pop out of my head. “
Sorry, should have warned you.”

Luckily, a moment later we arrived at my room and were able to slip inside before I blew Alex’s cover with my barrage of questions. “H-how,” I stammered as I closed and locked the door behind us, “how is that even possible?”

“I don’t know much about it, but from what I understand it has to do with how…” he paused, making a face, “
much
of the person is left.”

“Oh God… we don’t have to dig him up, do we?”

“No, no, nothing like that,” Alex assured me, walking to the armchair and leaning against the back of it with his forearms. “He just needs to be nearby. The closer the better, but not
that
close.”

I shuffled over to the ottoman next to the chair Alex was on and slumped down in a somewhat disturbed haze. Sure, now that Alex brought it up, I vaguely remembered someone mentioning something once about how Jocelyn could read dead people, but at the time, it had only been an idea. A disturbing one to be sure, but also kind of abstract and far away – like someone telling you they’d been at a party where they’d had to eat monkey’s brains; it freaks you out, but from a safe distance. This on the other hand was a different story. Now reading the mind of a dead guy was not only an idea, but it was one that was quite possibly going to be demonstrated for me in the next few days, and honestly, it was creeping me out. Like the difference between the guy telling you he’d eaten monkey’s brains, and having him serve them to you. Same idea, but very different when it’s up close and personal…

“Now it’s my turn,” Alex said, coming around the chair and sitting next to me on the arm. “What were you and Jocelyn arguing about tonight?”

I wasn’t sure he could tell I needed to change the subject, or if he was truly curious, but if he had been trying to distract me, he couldn’t have chosen a better way. “You mean before my dance with Brian?”

“I think you mean Bastian.”

“No,” I huffed, “I don’t. That’s what Jocelyn and I were talking about, I know him. Bastian, I mean. I know him. He went to my high school for a year and his name was Brian.” I stood and started pacing, all my frustration resurfacing. “He was in every class that I had – which was weird in and of itself, mind you, as I was on a completely customized schedule because of my advanced placement – and yet Jocelyn is convinced I’m crazy.”

“He doesn’t believe you?”

“Oh he ‘believes me,’” – I wagged my fingers in sarcastic air quotes – “he just thinks I’m ‘remembering wrong’. He barely even heard me out.” I fumed, pacing faster. “How can he not see how serious this is? Not only are these people lying frauds, but they were spying on us! I mean, how did they even find out where we were? And why were they looking to begin with? They are up to something, I know they are.”

“And you’re sure it was him?”

“Positive.”

“So that’s why you asked him to dance? What did he say?”

I stopped pacing with a sigh, plopping back onto the chair. “Nothing. I kept trying to catch him in a lie, but he gave me nothing to work with. I even confronted him about it, and still nothing.”
The rat bastard…

“And…” he paused, looking up at me cautiously. “What if it’s not him?”

“It
is
him, I know it is! And just because he didn’t give me anything solid enough for me to call him out on doesn’t mean he’s innocent,” I insisted, then began counting off on my fingers as I continued. “He looks exactly like the boy I knew, his middle name is Connor which was Brian’s last name, and his eye twitched when I asked him to dance.”

“His eye twitched?”

“Yeah, like… you know, he was… nervous… or something…” I tapered off with a huff. Why, when I was so sure I was right, did all my undeniable proof suddenly sound so weak even to my own ears?

Alex hesitated a second or two before he took a breath to answer, and I knew him well enough to know it meant he was about to tell me something I wasn’t going to like. “Are you sure it’s not just a coincidence?”

I was on the defense before my mind even had a chance to admit to itself that it was a reasonable question. “You don’t believe me either!” I accused, standing and rounding on him. “You think I’m crazy too!” I knew I was being overly sensitive, but at that moment I couldn’t help it.

He stood and stepped toward me, placing his hands gently on my shoulders. “I do believe you,” he said earnestly, “or at least I believe that you believe it. But that doesn’t mean you might not be misremembering. Hey,” he guided my chin back toward him with his finger when I tried to turn away, “you look at me when I’m talking to you, young lady.”

I rolled my eyes at his mock-parental tone but smiled in spite of myself, just like he knew I would. The people who love us the most can always find a way to make us smile, even if we are dead set against it – a fact that was often as annoying as it was comforting.

“That’s better,” he smiled as I looked up and met his eyes. “I do believe you, but I think we both know you need a little more proof before you even consider taking this public.” I pursed my lips, but didn’t argue. “Right. So, maybe we can do a little digging – quiet digging – and see what we come up with.”

“You’ll help me?”

“I will do whatever I can to help you prove that Bastian is Brian, or…” He paused dramatically making sure I was looking at him before he continued, “disprove it. All I ask is that you keep your mind open to the possibility of the latter, OK?”

“OK,” I sighed, happy that at least he wasn’t shutting me down. “At least I’ll have some help.”

“Always,” he smiled. “Actually, I’m kind of glad to hear this guy might not be as perfect as he looks.”

“Please,” I said with a sneer, “
perfect
? Even without all the spying and lying, the guy is an arrogant, self-assured, ass. Clearly he thinks he’s God’s gift to the Earth, yet there doesn’t seem to be one thing about him that doesn’t scream either stuck-up brat, or… Why are you smiling?”

Immediately the small smile I’d caught on his lips and accompanying light in his eyes changed to a show of charming faux-confusion. “What?” he asked, raising his eyebrows innocently.

“You heard me,” I probed with a wry squint.

“It’s nothing,” he finally admitted as his ears visibly warmed. “You two just seemed to be having a good time dancing. And you were doing an awful lot of starring.”

“Wait, you were watching me stare at him?”

“No,” he huffed, crossing his arms defensively. “I wasn’t watching… but that doesn’t mean I didn’t notice…” He left his thought hanging as he glanced away, looking a bit sheepish.

I paused for a minute, trying to fill in the blanks when suddenly I saw the answer written in the chagrin on his face. “Oh my God…” I breathed, completely shocked. “Are you… are you
jealous?
”

“OK, first of all,” he said, with something between a smile and a grimace, running a hand through his hair. “Do you think you could say that like it’s
not
the stupidest thing you’ve ever heard?”

“I could if it wasn’t!” I said, pressing my lips together to keep from laughing. “Alex, how could you possibly be jealous of such a–”

“I’m not jealous,” he insisted, cutting me off, “at least, not of him, exactly…” He sighed and took a few steps toward the center of the room, scratching the back of his head the way he always did when he was nervous or embarrassed. “It’s just, I don’t know,” he shrugged, “the… situation, I guess. I mean, I’m barely allowed to act like I know you, while this Bastian gets to compliment you, and kiss your hand, and spin you all over the dance floor like some couple from
Gone with the Wind
. And then there was how good the two of you looked out there…” He trailed off, stuffing his hands in his pockets.

I could tell he was frustrated and probably a little ashamed, but what I couldn’t figure out was why. I mean sure, it made sense, and it explained why he looked a little strange when I’d come back after dancing, but it still seemed impossible that someone who I considered to be basically perfect and loved more than anything else in the world, could get jealous over, well… anything. Alex was a lot of things, but until that night, I’d never seen him insecure.

I smiled softly, taking the few steps over to him and took face between my hands. “Why, my dear,” I said, using his words from earlier, “I do believe you’re being silly. You have less than nothing to worry about, my love.”

He grinned, sliding his arms around my waist. “I know,” he nodded. “It’s just hard, that’s all. But you wouldn’t understand; you don’t know what it’s like to be madly in love with the most breathtaking woman in the room.”

“Yeah,” I laughed, rolling my eyes as I slid my hands down to idly straighten the green sash laying across his chest. “I hate to break it to you, but neither do you.”

“I just wish it could have been me out there with you,” he continued, ignoring my comment. “That is,” he added with a chuckle, “if I could actually dance.”

“Here,” I said, getting an idea.

When I stepped back slightly and took his hand, his eyes popped open. “What are you doing?”

“I think you know what I’m doing. I’m going to give you a dance lesson.”

“Becca, we’ve been over this. I can’t dance, and much as I appreciate it, I don’t think lessons can correct my second left foot.”

“For the record,” I said, ignoring his protests and physically squaring his shoulders and positioning his arms, “you are not the only one who wished it was you with me out on the floor tonight. You said you wanted to dance with me, so let’s dance. There is no one else here, and luckily for you I already know you’re a klutz, so no need to be shy.”

He looked like he might refuse again, but then suddenly a strange light sparked in his smoky blue eyes, and he smiled. “All right then, let’s dance.”

The sudden change in his tone sent a shiver down my back as I began to lead him in a simple box step. Despite his initial hesitation and my jab about him being a klutz, he did very well, and it was only a minute or two before we were waltzing in a slow circle in the middle of my room.

“See, I told you, nothing to worry…” but my thought died on my tongue as I looked up into the smoldering glow of his eyes. A glow that made my eyelids heavy and my neck hot.

As our gazes locked, he slowly slid his arm further around my waist, pulling me in closer and closer with each step we took. My veins began to flood with heat as every detail of the moment intensified; the smell of his cologne in my nose, the silk of his tux under my fingers, the warmth of his touch on my skin, every heartbeat, every move, every breath. Each one echoed within me like whispers through a microphone, haunting and enticing.

As our feet began to slow, Alex leaned down and gently rested his forehead against mine, allowing the tip of his nose to just barely brush against mine, teasing me with the nearness of our mouths. My lips began to ache with the need to feel his pressing into mine, hard and hungry. However this time, to my delicious agony, Alex was in no hurry.

He lingered against my forehead a moment before slowly bringing his lips up and placing a languid and far too light kiss on the space between my brows. Grazing my skin with a trail of languid kisses, he gradually made his way from my forehead, to my temple, then down to my cheek. As he reached my jaw, I felt his right hand move up from my waist and into my hair, his fingers threading themselves in deeply. With a gentle turn of his wrist, he tilted my head to the side, allowing him complete access to his favorite spot of all, the hollow under my ear. My desire spread like fire as his mouth caressed the sensitive patch, sending tingling waves of pleasure rolling over my skin like champagne bubbles rolling up the side of a glass.

“You know,” I said, trying to catch my breath, “you’re kind of derailing your dance lesson...”

I felt his lips grin against my skin as they slowly started kissing their way across my jaw, growing softer and softer as they neared my chin. “I’m sorry,” he murmured in a husky rasp, “would you…
(kiss)
…like me…
(kiss)
…to stop?”
(kiss… kiss… kiss…)

“No,” I whispered over a breathy moan.

My eyes rolled back as he placed one last kiss on my chin before bringing his mouth up to hover less than a finger’s width away from my own. My breath froze in my chest as his bottom lip ghosted over mine, causing my eyelids to flutter and my jaw to go slack. A tingle began to tickle the backs of my knees as his mouth opened and captured my bottom lip, and when I felt his teeth gently bite down and pull me toward him, I lost all control.

The shudder that ripped through me was so forceful it shook us both, and we fell headlong into the passionate desire of the moment. Our lips molded into one another, moving together in a dance of their own, unhurried but hungry and intense.

Finally able to take part, I ran my hands up his chest and took hold of his tie, pulling him even harder against me, deepening our kiss. Working my hands upwards, I quickly loosened the knot at his throat, freeing the silk tie of his collar and tossing it aside, followed soon after by his jacket. With those gone, my fingers had no trouble popping open the top few buttons of his shirt and slipping my hand inside his now open collar. I slowly slid my palm up to the side of his neck, relishing the low groan that rumbled from his chest and the feel of his pulse racing under my fingers. His hands began to explore me and mine did his, moving continuously at first, rubbing enticing circles up and down my back and across my ribs, but he soon grew bolder, holding me tightly against him as he grabbed and massaged any part of me he could reach.

Our chests rose and fell against one another as our breathing became more and more labored. The feel of his breath on my face, the taste of his mouth on mine, the sound of our mingled sighs and breathless groans…

It was intoxicating.

It was exhilarating.

It was perfect.

…for a moment anyway.

Unfortunately, all it took was the slightest familiar brush against my mind for the brilliant flower of our furor to begin to wilt. Like waking up right before the best part of a dream – immediately you are disappointed and you do everything you can to ignore that it happened and force yourself back to sleep, trying desperately to reclaim the adventure you were on or the discovery were just about to make, but all the while you know deep down that it’s no use.