Evanescent (10 page)

“You don’t say?” He chuckles into the
phone.

I shake my head as I hit the door to my
room.

“Well, it was nice knowing you, kid.” He
breathes heavily into the receiver. “Look, what do I have to do to
knock some sense into you?”

I flick the lights on to find a very naked,
and amply endowed, Kresley Fisher on my bed with a red velvet bow
tied snug around her waist.

“Shit,” I hiss into the phone. “Look, I
gotta run. I’ve got a girl in my bed I’ve got to deal with.”

“Laken?”

“No.”

“Good. Keep it that way.” The line goes dead
as I toss my phone on my desk.

“Aren’t you going to shut the door?” She
purrs, stretching out her long, tanned legs. Kresley pushes her
hips from side to side, slipping her thighs open just enough to let
me see the promise land.

“No need. You’re leaving.” I pull off my
coat and shoes, plucking a fresh pair of boxers from my dresser
before turning on the shower. “I said,
leave
.” It charges
from me a little harsher than intended. A few guys poke their heads
into the room and break out into a fit of laughter before heading
down the hall.

“You bastard.” Kres hustles her sweater back
on. She jumps into her jeans with that stupid bow still hanging
from her belly like some unwanted Christmas present. “What’s got
your balls all twisted up in knots? Did you find out Laken did the
walk of shame last night? And, let me guess—you weren’t the one
unlucky enough to degrade her body all night long.” She gets in my
face with her dark mane, wild and knotted up as if she were waiting
for hours. “I bet it hurt like hell to have your heart ripped out
while it was still beating. I should know—you did it to me.” She
hawks a fresh one into my eye before bolting out of the room.

Shit.

I pull my shirt up and wipe the spit off my
face. It’s not the first time she’s hurled a live one at me. The
way she spits on a regular basis, you’d think she were part
camel—part devil is more like it. I know better than to incite the
witch that lives inside her, but she caught me on the wrong
night.

What the hell was she babbling about—
walk
of shame
? I snag my phone and send Laken a text.

Hey beautiful. I need you.

All night long I wait for Laken to respond,
but my phone lays silent.

Laken

On Wednesday, the shadowed evergreens stretch like
skyscrapers at this late hour under a cobalt sky. It’s a magical
night—a night for dreamers, for lovers—not for quasi-Satanic
rituals like the one I’m about to partake in. It goes against the
entire principle of what this pristine beauty was designed for.
Typical Counts behaving like morons.

It’s just minutes before the bizarre ritual,
that Flynn compared to a Girl Scout meeting, and I pace nervously
outside of Austen House.

“You have to hurry, or we’ll be late,” Jen
hisses while trying to herd me toward the demonic thicket.

“No one said anything about those haunted
woods,” I say, snatching my wrist from my apparently deranged
sister.

Jen’s blonde hair whips around like a white
flame as she tries to secure her grasp over me.

“You’re going to be late. And, trust me,
they hate it when you’re late to these kinds of things.”

“Have you done this?” My body seizes in the
cold night air. “I mean, are you a member?” If sweet, innocent Jen
managed to pass initiation, I’d feel a hell of a lot better.

“No, I chickened out.” She sinks a frown
before successfully snatching me by the wrist. “But that was
because I believed the only thing I needed was Blaine. I was too
afraid if I went through with it, he might see me as a strong,
independent woman and leave me.”

“God, Jen, you make no sense whatsoever.”
Everything is off kilter with her. The entire world revolves on a
separate revolution in her head. “Just what the hell is wrong with
being strong and independent?”

“Nothing.” Flames light up in her eyes, and
I’m thrown for a moment only to realize the house lights were just
turned on from behind.

The hint of a thumbnail moon lingers up
above like the barely-there smile of the Cheshire cat. The woods
pulsate in the distance like a heartbeat, and the wind calls my
name in whispers like a lover who’s already damned.

A chill runs through me. The arctic breeze
whips around my bare ankles and stiffens me from moving along with
her.

I should have known better than to let Jen
dress me for the evening. This ridiculous silver gown with the
goddess sleeves—paired with heels dipped in multicolored glitter is
better suited for Halloween. I didn’t dress this way when I was
four, I don’t know how I let her talk me into dressing like this
now. Nothing Jen suggests ever turns out to be a good idea.

“Look, I know for a fact Fallon and Carter
will be there,” she says, easing me onto the cobblestoned path.
“Kresley and Grayson, too!” She shouts their names as if they were
some kind of a grand social prize that I should automatically flock
to. Little does she know those silicon sisters are hardly a selling
point.

“Okay.” I take a deep breath. “Let’s go,” I
say, following her down the dark winding road. The forest
approaches, large and looming. Its branches extend like knives, the
dark trunks press against the purple night like corrugated
cutouts.

We crest the hill, and to my surprise, we
head away from the woods. Oddly, this does little to quell my
nerves.

“Where are we going?” A whole new panic sets
in as we approach a series of boulders washed a pale blue from the
moonlight.

The granite gleams as the boulders warble in
and out of existence like water. An unnatural shimmer glosses the
air as Jen pulls me through the stones, and we emerge through a
tunnel where a bright orange fire with long baroque tongues extends
to greet us.

“Don’t be afraid.” Her voice resonates like
the hum of a motor.

A series of walls appear as an expansive
space takes shape around us. The fire bleeds out in an enormous
circle as if we were in the eye of some demonic hurricane.

“Shit,” I say it low. Jen must have got her
wires crossed, and morphed us into middle earth. A blue glow
emanates from the right, and Jen pulls me along until we hit a
rectangular walkway. From the other side, a blazing fire stretches
high and wide as the eye can see.

The heat prickles over my body. The flames
are far too close. They make this dress feel like one too many
layers of clothing, and my face starts to singe.

“We need to get out of here,” I shout over
the dull roar of the flames.

“
I’m
getting out of here,” she says,
shoving me toward the wall of fire. “You’re staying. This is where
Wesley said to bring you.”

I just stare at her stupefied for a
moment.

“I don’t care what Wes says, I’m not going
in there.” I point to the room ablaze like an inferno. “In the
event your blonde brain hasn’t picked up on the smoke signals, the
room is on
fire.
”

“Don’t be silly, Laken.” She gives me a hard
shove through the door. “Every good girlfriend does what her
boyfriend wants.”

“Your ex-boyfriend wishes!” I scream, as a
stone rolls over the entrance and seals me into the room of
doom.

The flames move and dance in a circle,
forming a large ring of fire with its inferno-like walls as high as
the eye can see.

“Laken.” My name sings from behind, and I
turn to find an entire slew of familiar faces staring back at me.
Fallon and Carter with their warm smiles. Kresley and Grayson with
their stone-cold stares—standing beside them are a few other girls
I remember from the slice and slaughter.

I speed over to Carter, and she hands me a
long velvet robe reserved for unholy midnight gatherings such as
this.

“He’ll be here soon.” The words escape her
lips sweetly enough, but I’m betting something wicked this way
comes.

“Who’s that, Satan?” I ask, slipping the
robe over my dress. Oddly, I suddenly feel cool and comfortable,
not at all like I’m about to be served up grilled and crispy.

“No, you goof,” she laughs while adjusting
my hood. “Wesley. He’s the guest of honor on your behalf. He’ll be
officiating the ceremony tonight.”

Wesley. He mentioned he would be here early
to help set up.

I chew the inside of my cheek, a nervous
habit I’ve taken to doing ten times a day since I’ve arrived, and
now I’ve permanently deformed the inside of my mouth.

The girls around me break out in a choir of
“Hallelujah.” I’m shocked I can actually recognize the hymn for
once, so I decide to sing along to make it look as if I actually
want to be here.

A dark-hooded figure emerges from the fire.
I recognize those sea green eyes, those dimples pressed in without
a smile. Dear God. It’s Wes. He just walked through a wall of
flames like a god, and I suddenly have the urge to bow before
him.

As if everyone in the room shares my
longing, every knee curtsies to him as he passes through our circle
and settles in our midst.

Wes doesn’t take his eyes off mine as he
proceeds in my direction, and it’s only now I notice he’s cradling
a gilded bowl in his hands. There’s something erotic about the way
he keeps his eyes over mine. The way he demands for me to do the
same. A prickling feeling comes over my skin, and I have the
intense desire to rake off his clothes and have my way with
him.

A strange series of thoughts riffle through
my mind—Wes and me with our limbs locked over one another, rolling
around at the lake, the two of us on his bed in a compromising
position, his mouth fused to mine while experiencing one lush
hormonal exchange. It’s electrifying, intoxicating.

Wes stops just shy of me, the bowl still
extended from his person.

“Kresley.” He pulls his lips in a line,
disappointed he needed to call out her name at all. But his eyes
remain over me. His focus is completely mine from beginning to end.
“As the chapter leader, I ask you to conduct the initiate’s
birthright.”

Kresley steps forward. Her wicked brand of
beauty sparks a rise of adrenaline in me. I’ve never seen her look
so sharp, so well hewn from the pages of a magazine. I’m sure any
casting couch in Hollywood would be thrilled to have her.

I glance past her at Grayson then the girls
from school who look vaguely familiar. They all look exquisite
here—far more so than the pall reality casts upon them. No, there’s
definitely something in the atmosphere down here that gives the
ripe delusion of ultimate perfection. It’s covering our flaws,
sealing us with an unnatural allure, but it’s all a lie. Just like
whatever bullshit is about to fly from Kresley’s lips.

“Sister Laken,” she says it bored, averting
her eyes like a seventh grader. “It behooves me to ask if you’re
here upon your own will and without the coaxing and coercion of
others?”

“Yes.” I nod. “I want to be here.” I give a
private smile to Wes. “I want nothing more than to be one of
you.”

Kresley makes a face like she’s going to be
sick. “Do you solemnly swear to never breathe a word of what you
are privy to outside of the circle of Treasures? Should you break
the words of your covenant, you will be cast out into darkness,
forever lost to the world and must suffer the fate of the enemy. Do
you comprehend the consequences and accept the punishment should
you be found wanting?”

“I do.” I so am going to rat this whole
psychotic meet and greet out to Coop as soon as I’m given a
get-out-of-hell free card. Only something tells me I’m not getting
out of here without paying a very steep price. I get the feeling my
soul is the exact currency required if I ever hope to exit.

“Welcome, Sister Laken,” she says, lack
luster. “It is a
pleasure
”—she rolls her eyes—“having you as
one of us. Our Ensign, brother Wesley, will proceed with the
ceremony.” She sticks her finger down her throat before making her
way back to Grayson’s side.

Wes takes a step in my direction, lifting
the bowl midway to his chest.

There’s something murky swilling around in
there, looks like soot—and
holy shit.
I do believe that
sanguine surprise is also known as blood.

“You’re a Treasure now, Laken.” Wes presses
out a wide-eyed smile. “Once you’re sealed, you’ll forever be a
select possession.”

I glance down at the bowl of blood he’s
cradling, fragile as a newborn. I’m pretty sure I’m not going to be
anybody’s possession let alone the devils’ that run this twisted
body-smuggling operation.

“There’s one more thing.” Wes gazes into me
with all of the tenderness he can muster. “This, Laken, is my
offering. I’ve poured my own blood into this bowl. I’m sealing you
for myself as well. That is, if you’ll let me—if you want to be
with me, and with no one else, forever.”