Awakened (26 page)

Whoa, he was intense. I could feel my face warming. “And I like you, too, Sykes… uh, what’s your last name?”

“Sykes.”

“First name?”

He shook his head. “Nah. Not even you can make me tell.”

I could read his mind if I wanted to. “Why not?”

“No one knows my first name. And those who do, don’t use it.”

“Not even Remy?”

“He’s an exception. We grew up together. And he knows better than to tell anyone, so don’t you try to charm it out of him. I don’t know what my parents were thinking, but I’m stuck with it.”

“Try mine. Lilith. Who names their kid
Lilith
?” I looked around to make sure no one was close enough to overhear us. “In the human world, it’s an innocent name. Beautiful even. In our world, after what I’ve learned these past few days, my mother must not have been thinking straight. I once googled ‘Lilith’ and you wouldn’t believe what I found.”

Sykes shook his head. “Googled? I heard your grandfather hates modern technology.”

“He doesn’t. He just has no use for it. I often use library computers.”

“Personally, I don’t think there’s anything wrong with being named after the first woman ever created, the other face of Eve, a goddess, a revolutionary thinker who believed men and women should be equal and refused to bow down to her mate Adam, a beautiful enchantress no man could resist.” His smile was so naughty.

I laughed. He’d twisted the tales of Lilith in every mythology to make her sound wonderful. “You’re forgetting one important title,” I reminded him.

“You mean Queen of demons? As long as
you
are on our side, we’ve nothing to worry about.”

Was that a dig at my relationship with Bran? “We’re not talking about me.”

“Aren’t we?” he teased.

I swatted his arm. “That’s not funny.”

“What isn’t funny?” McKenzie asked from behind us. Her gaze swung from me to Sykes, and locked on him.

“Sykes’ lame jokes. Were you looking for me?” I jumped down.

“Yeah. Let’s go dance.” But her wide eyes stayed on Sykes.

I shook my head and introduced them. He flashed a smile. She sighed, a dopey expression settling on her face.
Oh brother. I’d better get her out of here before she throws herself at him.
“Come on, McKenzie. See you later, Sykes.”

“Save a dance for me, Red.”

I dragged McKenzie toward the school entrance.

“He’s so hot,” she said. “How can you not want to kiss him?”

I glanced back and caught Sykes’ grin. I scrunched my face at him.

She wants me, Red. Jealous?

You wish.

Why are you dragging her away so fast?

Good question. I didn’t need to answer it now. I pushed the door, and McKenzie and I disappeared inside. I didn’t want Sykes, however tempting he looked. Bran was the one for me.

Still, I looked back at Sykes through the glass doors. Two girls had already taken up the spot I left a few minutes ago. As though he knew I was watching them, Sykes looked up. Our gazes met. He wiggled his eyebrows. What a flirt.

I turned and followed McKenzie to where Amelia, Zack and Nikki were dancing. Cade and Kylie had long disappeared. Maybe I should just go home. I was already tired, and my feet hurt.

“Ooh, someone is checking you out, Lil,” McKenzie yelled in my ear, almost bursting my eardrum.

“Who?”

“Over there.” She motioned with her head.

Five jocks eyed us from the dark corner near the vending machines. Wide chests, legs like tree trunks and baggy hip-hop attire, they looked like linebackers. They guzzled bottled drinks, which I hoped weren’t laced with alcohol or some weird drug.

“They’re hot. I’m going to ask the one with dark hair to dance,” McKenzie said.

I shook my head. McKenzie was boy-crazy. I didn’t like the predatory way they stared at us, or that Zack and Nikki were headed for one of the auditorium doors. “You don’t know them,” I warned.

“Who cares? It’s just a dance.”

As though they heard her, three of the guys detached themselves from the group and swarmed to our side. I didn’t catch their names, didn’t care to, but soon we were in a circle, Amelia and McKenzie flanking me, the three guys completing it.

The one opposite me, blond hair with dark roots, grinned. Something in his eyes bothered me. I tried to read his thoughts, but the music messed with my concentration. I pressed closer to Amelia, wanting to tell her the guys gave me the willies, but she was dancing with the guy beside her, a dreamy expression on her face.

Dark Roots crossed the divide between us and moved into my personal space. Panic surged through me. I stepped back. He followed, leering at my chest. Before I could stop him, he reached out and lifted my pendant from where it rested on the V of my top.

“What’s this? Ouch.” He let go. “It burned me.”

My gaze swung to the pendant. The hexagonal green core wasn’t glowing. I closed my hands around it. It was neither warm nor cold. The pendant only glowed and warmed when a demon was around, which meant this bonehead wasn’t one. But the pendant also caused demons excruciating pain. Why would it hurt this guy? I tried again to find his psi but was distracted by…McKenzie.

What was she doing?

She lifted her hands above her head and swayed her hips in slow, circular motion. Her dance partner took her hands, intertwined them behind his head then placed his hands on her waist. He drew her closer, locking their hips. He imitated her slow, sinuous dance.

I glanced over at Amelia. Her eyes were wide. Then McKenzie’s partner whispered something in her ear.

“I’ll be right back,” she mouthed to me and winked. She and the guy started toward the auditorium. The deejays chose that moment to replace the colored lights with strobe.

Bursts of white light and darkness blinded me, making it hard to see where McKenzie and the other jock were headed. I swallowed, my heart hammering with dread. Dark, tight places were my worst nightmare.

I strained to see and tried to find his psi. A flash of light and I saw his face. He nodded at someone. I followed his gaze to two of his friends who were still standing by the vending machines. The two threw their empty bottles in the trash can and started forward.

My heart dropped.

“We can join them if you like,” my partner whispered in my ear, dousing me with his foul breath, his hand gripping my arm.

“I don’t think so, pal.” I wrenched my arm from his hand and grabbed Amelia’s arm. “I think McKenzie is in trouble.”

“Not with all these chaperones.”

“The guy with her….” my voice trailed off when I realized Dark Roots was walking away, following his loser friends and McKenzie. I had to do something. “Amelia.”

“What?”

I pointed at her dance partner. “Don’t go anywhere with
him
. No, help me find one of the chaperones.”

“Why?”

Yeah, what would I tell them? The boys hadn’t done anything yet. “I have to find McKenzie.”

I looked at the undulating crowd. My irrational fear of tight, dark spaces, or rescuing my friend? That was a no brainer. I plowed into the crowd, my eyes on the retreating back of Dark Roots. Shadows from the strobe light skewed my vision, and bodies rolled onto my path, fueling my phobia. That I’d fail to help McKenzie wasn’t an option.

A hand brushed against my breast. I slapped it away.

Another dug into my waist. “Want to dance?”

I grabbed his hand and yanked. A howl followed.

Bodies bumped me, slinked around me and slowed me down. My height gave me added advantage, and I could see Dark Roots disappearing toward the western ramp. I barreled through the dancers, heading his way, pushing and shoving, but forward motion seemed impossible. The flashing lights weren’t helping. The shadows and bodies smothered me and made my skin crawl.

Can’t let panic control me…can’t stop now…must go on…

Heart drumming hard, ears ringing, I plunged forward. I had to do something. But what? I couldn’t blow out the stupid lights or cut off electricity. Pandemonium would follow. Asking the other trainees for help would have been nice. But I couldn’t focus enough to lock on their psi energies. That left one solution. I hoped it worked on humans the same way it worked on the
omnis
. I closed my eyes and focused hard.

Everyone freeze.

Nothing happened. I stopped walking, focused hard until my head hurt.
Freeze.
The bodies bumping against me stopped. I opened my eyes. Great! I did it again.

The dancers had stopped with their arms frozen in crazy positions, bodies contorted and faces grotesque masks of merriment. The flashing light washed over the frozen mob, giving an illusion of motion. Outside, I noticed students were still moving. If someone entered….

Doors…lock.

I weaved my way around the mannequin-like students, avoiding elbows and legs, praying I wouldn’t knock someone down and start a ripple effect. I burst out at the other end of the crowd, circled the western wall of the auditorium. More frozen students were in the slanted hallway.

I still couldn’t believe I’d forzen everyone in the building. How awesome was that? Dark Roots was about the enter the band room located near the end of the ramp. I tore down toward him, anger replacing my smugness. A wave of my hand and he flew across the broad hallway and hit the wall.
Hope he gets a nasty bruise.

I burst into the classroom and hit the light switch. Cold fingers crawled up my spine at the frozen scene. The guy McKenzie had been dancing with had one arm around her waist, his other hand covering her mouth. Facing them were the two other guys. They were pulling at her arms, their leering expression so disgusting I stilled the urge to knock them across the room. I couldn’t do that while they held McKenzie. I had to get her away from them first.

I rushed to her side. Fat tear drops were frozen on her cheeks and her legs hung in the air as though she’d been kicking back. I reached out for her and gulped. My pendant lit up like Christmas lights.

My eyes darted around the room, heart slamming hard against my chest. Nothing but chairs and us. Could one of the boys be a demon? I must take McKenzie to safety. I reached forward, pulled her captor’s hand away.

A familiar cold laugh rippled across the room. My eyes widened in disbelief as Gavyn materialized at the farthest end of the room. In a black tux, white shirt, vest and bow-tie, he looked like he’d just left a party. How could he be here when he was supposed to be in some demon jail?

Just as the thought crossed my mind, two dark-haired men materialized beside him. The Goetz brothers were alive? “You!”

“Yeah, me,” Gavyn mocked, misunderstanding. “Did you think I’d give up so easily? I want my brother.”

“He’s not here,” I yelled, my mind going in circles. Who could have lured Bran away from the valley with the lie that Gavyn was in trouble? Why? Nausea hit my gut.

“Don’t lie to me, Guardian!”

Gavyn’s frosty voice penetrated the fog in my head. “I’m telling you the truth. Someone told Bran the Goetz brothers disappeared, that you were being charged with their death. Bran went to L.A. to see you. But you’re here, and they,” I pointed a shaking finger at his men, “they’re alive. It doesn’t make sense.”

His gray eyes flashed. “Lies. You can’t fool me.”

“Listen—”

“No,
you
listen to
me
. You think you did well tonight saving your friend? Unless you hand over my brother, I’ll come after everyone you love and care about with everything I’ve got. You won’t see me coming, but you’ll know it is me. You can’t be everywhere every time, Guardian.”

Gavyn was too blinded by his hatred for me to listen to anything I said. And Bran. Who had him? Blood pounded in my temples, and my knees threatened to give out from under me as I imagined all sorts of scenarios. Did Coronis hear he was about to leave her breeding island and got him? She could be torturing him now. Maybe his mother was behind this treachery.

No, I mustn’t jump to conclusions. Bran was smart. He’d realize he was tricked. Or maybe he wouldn’t. I must try and contact him, tell Grampa what was happening. I closed my eyes, focused.

“Don’t you dare ignore me when I’m talking to you,” Gavyn snapped, breaking my concentration.

“Go away,” I yelled at him. “If you won’t listen to me, leave. And don’t come back.”

He smirked. “Oh, I’ll be back. And that’s despite the Council’s doubled security. Don’t you idiots know we always find a way? This time around, we’re winning this war.”

“Winning…winning…winning, is that all you ever think about? How about finding out who has your brother, you moron?”

“Your acting is pathetic, Guardian. I see right through…. What are you doing?”

I dangled a chair between us, courtesy of my telekinetic abilities. I lifted another and another.

Gavyn smirked. “What are you going to do with those?”

My eyes narrowed. “What do you think? So? Will you listen to me, or do I have to beat the crap out of you
and
your boys first? Bran…is…
missing
.”

He chuckled, exchanged glances with the Goetz brothers then sneered at me, his arms crossed. I waved my hand and the first chair sailed through the air.
Pow.
It hit the wall, right where the three of them had stood a second ago. The metal legs twisted then the chair crashed to the floor. Gavyn and his men reappeared to my right.

“Are you nuts to pick a fight with me?” Gavyn snarled. “Do you know who I am?”

“A bonehead who won’t listen to reason. If anything happens to Bran, I’ll hold you responsible.”

His eyes narrowed, and for a moment, I thought I got to him. “Try and hit me again—”

I missed him by a breath. Someone tried to stop the chair, but I was faster, my psi stronger.

“Let me get her,” one of the twins growled.

I smiled but on the inside, I wondered if I was getting in way over my head. There were three of them against me. No, Bran was worth it. “Bring it on, short stuff.”

Twin One locked on the still dangling chair and pushed. I resisted. The chair moved toward them. I felt the pressure in my head when his brother joined. Trying not to panic, I pushed some more. The chair kept moving toward them. Their eyes widened. I was stronger than both of them. If I wasn’t worried about Bran, I would have grinned. I wasn’t even exerting myself. I looked at Gavyn.