Forgotten (24 page)

“
Was there a point in you
dropping by, Jace? Or did you figure seducing me would be a piece
of–”

“
Do me a favor and shut
up,” he said and brought my arm above and behind me. It forced me
to roll onto my back. I clenched my mouth tight like it’d prevent
me from giving into temptation and kiss him. He leaned forward. His
arm rested next to mine. Our fingers intertwined. I couldn’t bear
it if he left me like everyone else in my life. I couldn’t stand to
lose anyone else that I cared about. I felt gutted as it was; Jace
could destroy me if I let him into my heart, and he stomped on it.
Even as torn as I felt, I still couldn’t breathe when he was this
close to me, and I didn’t care. I longed to be closer to him; I was
at war with myself. Raising our hands, he placed mine on his
chest.

“
Feel how your pulse makes
mine frantic, Gwyneth. I lean in close to you, and your body warms,
even though we’re barely touching,” he whispered. His strained
voice made me shiver with excitement. “You haven’t breathed since I
began speaking.”

I couldn’t deny any of it. He knew it.
He knew me. It terrified me just as much as I wanted to lose myself
in him. Sensing my hesitation, he pulled me upright so I was
sitting next to him. I heard myself gasp when the warmth emanating
from his body enclosed around me. He made a sound from his throat
that I didn’t know was possible. Tracing his nose against my cheek,
he merely breathed; the hot air hit my skin, boiling my blood. I
stopped thinking and stopped fighting. His heart pounded against
his chest, matching speed with mine. My skin burned like my
proximity to him would set me on fire. Everywhere his breath
lingered over my skin made it tingle with exhilaration. I bit my
tongue to keep from turning my head and kissing him.

“
You can feel my adoration
burning on your skin, can’t you? It warms you, doesn’t it?” he
said, and traced my skin along my arm with a finger. Everywhere he
touched, my skin absorbed his fervor. “Passion is in our blood,
just like humans. The difference lies in how we feel it. Both races
feel their own desires, but we can feel each other’s. When you lose
your breath, my lungs refuse to work. Your sexy little squeal
echoes in my ears for hours after, just like you hunger for the
sound of my voice. My skin lights on fire when you allow me to
touch your smooth, beautiful porcelain skin.”

I’d never been more terrified in my
life. Everything he was saying was true – which was utterly
impossible. I was human; he was human – right? We shouldn’t be able
to feel another person’s attraction. Who did he think he was, if
not human? A psychopath, that’s who!

“
If I was obsessed with you
Jace, I would’ve kissed you by now,” I said.

He pulled away like I slapped him. He
stood and cursed in his own language. My skin felt like a cold
shell and prickled with his frustration. He walked toward the
bedroom window but paused before leaving.

“
The resident who bought
the house where your family was murdered, requested a building
permit years ago. Before the remodel, there were four rooms instead
of three. The old blue prints indicate that the far right room and
the most southern room weren’t one and the same. There was more
than one person involved with your family’s deaths – I’d bet my
entire fortune on it. Have a nice life; I’ll stay out of it, since
you are incapable of accepting my intentions.”

***

The next day, I marched up to the only
white silhouette leaning against the lockers in the Senior Hall.
Jace was toying with me, giving me just enough answers to keep me
strung out. He dropped a bomb on me last night. I never thought
that there were multiple people involved in my family’s murder. It
got under my skin; he got under my skin. My ears, my skin, my body
– my very being – were obsessed with him.

I crossed my arms and waited for him
to acknowledge my presence. The headache that had diminished long
ago, accompanied him once again. A wave of dizziness enveloped me
when he turned around, but his shape was smaller, less imposing. He
didn’t smell like a rich cigar drenched in what I imagined lust
smelled like.

“
Well, it’s obvious you can
sense us. But it’s not proof you’re one of us.” A soft, angelic
female voice echoed in the halls, perfect to be the muse to any
musician.

It was beautiful, captivating, and
heavenly, yet I hated the very sound of it. Fury I didn’t think
anyone person could possess boiled in my heart. The unearned anger
I felt toward her was how I imagined the animosity an insane
serial-killer must feel before committing a murder. My jaw clenched
tight.

“
Do I know you?”

I cautiously closed my eyes to see if
she looked anything like the hazy figure Jace appeared to be in my
sight. Light glistened under her skin, illuminating her like a glow
stick.

“
Jace really hasn’t told
you much, has he?”

“
Who are you? Better
yet,
what
are
you?”

“
He was mindful of the
Scavengers, to not tell you what we are,” the female sung. “Perhaps
he’s not as dimwitted as I once thought. It’s clear you’ve had a
taste of him; you’re strung out. I hear the withdrawal from our
kind, can be murder. Literally.”

“
Are you taking notes on
Jace?”

“
You seem to be,” she
answered stiffly and chuckled.

I dug my fingernails into
my palms to keep myself from slapping her for making a comment like
that. The audacity that she’d have any inclination that Jace and I
were a
thing
was a
little presumptuous…even if I was going through a withdrawal of
sorts.

Conversely, I entertained a
thought. If I’d accept that I’d lost my mind, and everything Jace
said was the truth –
were these feelings I
experienced mine, or had I gotten a firsthand experience of what
she thought about me?
Judging from her
instant attitude toward me, I could only guess that we were enemies
– I just didn’t know why.

“
Why hasn’t he plucked you
from this meager life?”

“
Meager life?” I didn’t
bother hiding my annoyance.

“
A life without sight,” she
replied. “You’re not very bright, but then again, you never
were.”

I wondered if I was angrier
that she thought more highly of herself than me, or that I was
defending Jace. “He hasn’t plucked me from my life, because I
haven’t given him permission,
lady
.”

“
I don’t care if you
are
the Chronicler;
you’ll address me by Analee, or the Master,” she hissed. “And until
you find your precious sisters, you’ll treat me with the respect
that any human would.”

Ah-ha. Finally, some kind of an answer
– there was more than just a love-struck sap (Jace) searching for a
chick named Deino. There was a group of people hunting her down.
Surely, Marco belonged to them as well. Perhaps the people who had
an obsession with keeping my house windows open must have been in
this same group. Marco suggested Analee held power when I spoke to
him at the library. Jace referred to her often even though he
didn’t seem particularly enthusiastic about following her orders.
Whoever she was, Analee was important, and for the time being I had
some pull. They wanted me; I wanted answers. This was going to work
both ways, if anyone was going to get what they wanted.

“
Who’s your friend?” Bree
said, coming up behind us.

I’d been in an intense
staring-contest with Analee and hadn’t heard her approaching.
“Analee,” I muttered. I figured telling Bree Analee liked to be
addressed as
the Master,
would bring complications that weren’t
necessary.

Bree chuckled in a manner that was in
no way pleasant. She crossed her arms and leaned over, like she was
going to whisper something to me. However, there was nothing quiet
about the way she spoke. “And here I was worried that she’d be
pretty.”

Analee laughed. It sounded like a
fallen angel who’d escaped heaven’s doors only to be captured and
tortured by hell’s demons. Another white figure moved in closer. I
hadn’t noticed him approaching either. Either Analee was doing
something to block out everything else in the world, or I had a
bigger obstacle than Jace.

When the other one got closer, an
instant, pounding of a headache set in. For a moment, I thought it
was Jace, until I closed my eyes to make sure. In the orb’s place,
was a colorless ripple, looking much like a current in clear water.
He flicked his finger at me like I was a speck of dirt he was
trying to brush off. My ears rang. I opened my eyes as tears
gathered.

The young man whispered as he leaned
against the locker wall on the opposite side of the hall. He played
with a curl in his hair while he watched my reaction to the sound
of his voice. I couldn’t hear him, but felt the air vibrate around
me. My ear drums pounded; pressure formed around my skull. It hurt,
but was nothing like what Jace put me through. I wobbled but didn’t
have to lean against a locker to brace myself. I was stronger;
perhaps my tolerance to these insane people had improved. I
straightened my shoulders. I’d be damned to lose control in front
of Analee, whoever she was. Just when I thought she’d make some
snide comment, she turned away. The further they walked, the less
nausea I endured.

When she was out of sight,
Bree leaned over to me. “Well, that Barbie was a hoot - I hope she
and her friend don’t enroll in school here… Just FYI, I know you
don’t care, but she and her curly-haired Ken doll were
both
hot – like, plastic
surgery can’t even make you this hot-hot. He was unreal gorgeous,
Winnie. I bet his baby blue-eyes have dropped a few panties before
he hooked up with her.”

“
Were her eyes golden, and
did she have blond hair that was outrageously beautiful?” She
didn’t answer; I took the jaw drop to be a confirmation. “Listen,
if you see Jace wandering these halls, will you tell him I need to
talk to him?”

“
Should I tell him what
about?”

If an entire group of demented people
were interested in ‘plucking me from this meager life,’ we had a
serious talk in front of us. “He’ll know.”

***

The tardy bell rang for fifth-period
class. My table was empty. Both Jace and Ryker were no-shows. My
heart dropped.

Fifteen minutes into class, Jace
finally showed. He handed a note to the art teacher. She took it,
nodded, and told him to go to his seat. He walked right up to me
and told me to move. I frowned like I wasn’t exactly pleased to see
him – I didn’t want him thinking I was going to obey his every
word, now that he hooked me. I was concerned and scared, but that
didn’t mean I had to show it; I pretended I wasn’t absorbing the
warmth that covered my body the closer he was to me. Whether it was
my hunger for him or my resentment, I had strong feelings for
him.

“
Listen, Gwyneth, I only
showed up today because Bree sent me an SOS text and promised you
wouldn’t be your usual stubborn self. I’m doing you a favor, so
give an inch.”

“
Tell me why you insist
upon this seat, and I’ll move.”

“
Because it is closer to
the door,” he said and sniffed the air above me. “You smell like
jasmine. You must have met Analee.”

“
And her new squeeze. Name
every reason you want this particular spot, not just what you’re
willing to reveal.”

“
Closer to the door, means
I can better protect you.”

“
Then why haven’t you been
showing up to class?”

“
Well, the note I gave the
teacher was a doctor’s note saying I had mono.”

“
The real
reason.”

“
There are other ways to
keep tabs on you, since I don’t want to be around you right now,”
he said, and manhandled me to the chair next to me. “But if I’m
going to be in the same room as you, I’m going to use tactical
measures.”

He easily lifted me out of the chair.
I struggled against him for good measure, but I didn’t exactly hate
the way it felt to be wrapped up in his embrace. Just as the
thought crossed my mind, he dumped me in a vacant spot.

“
From Bree’s description of
Analee, I’m surprised you haven’t hooked up with her. She seems
like your type,” I said. She was the fallen angel from my vision;
she had to be. His silhouette blazed. Pin-pricks crawled over my
skin not in a good way, which meant my remark provoked
him.

“
I’ve never even considered
giving Analee a taste of what I have to offer, but compared to you
right now, I’d give her a shot if she wasn’t already with the
Zalen.”

“
The Rippler?” I guessed,
as he sat down next to me.

“
What do you want?” he
demanded after Mrs. Briggs was in full swing with her lecture. “I’m
busy trying to solve a sixteen-year-old murder for an ungrateful
child.”

“
We have an agreement. You
uncover my family’s murders, and I’ll let you heal me. However, you
never said anything about a bunch of people looking for Deino, the
Chronicler.”