Hidden Heart (9 page)

“She didn’t
say
anything—she just shot you the death glare as you two drove off. I’d watch my back around her.”

Bonnie nodded. “Yeah, she is pretty scary. She told us to think of her like a big sister, but she seems more like a warden or something.”

“Are you thinking about going home?” I asked.

Bonnie looked at me like I’d suggested she try to suck her grilled chicken entrée through a straw. “God no. I’m living in Nox Knight’s
house
. This is my chance to get to know him and go to amazing parties and have the life I’ve always wanted. Nothing and no one could make me leave.”

“Me too,” Gigi agreed.

“Me three,” Kim added.

I was about to say something to inject some doubt, but at that moment, Nox stood and lifted his hands. “Ladies. Ladies, if I could get your attention for a minute.”

A hush fell over the dining room.

“I want to thank you all for being here and for your support this morning at the show. You made it really fun for me and the band. And even though we’re only getting started, I have to say… I think I have the best fan pod out there.”

The room erupted in applause and screams of delight. Nox smiled and left his table, crossing the room to a table of six girls toward the front. I couldn’t hear what was being said, but it looked like he asked their names because each one of them spoke in turn, red-faced and beaming. After about a minute, he lifted a hand to a pretty blonde in an apparent invitation.

Her spread palm went to her chest. It wasn’t hard to read her shocked expression or her lips. “Me?” she gasped.

He smiled and waited until she rose from her seat and made her way around the table to take his hand. An odd hot sensation twisted through my belly when his fingers wrapped around hers. I averted my gaze from the two of them as they left the dining room together.

Where were they going? What would they talk about? What would they do together and for how long? And why in the world did I care?

I finally lifted my eyes from my untouched plate. My tablemates were staring at me.

“Are you okay?” Gigi asked in a hushed tone.

What should I say?
Glancing around at their expectant expressions, I considered it. How would a
real
fan podette, under the influence of powerful Elven glamour, react? Should I be blasé… or pretend to be jealous?

Maybe I didn’t have to pretend. The strange sensation had spread from my belly to my chest where it burned hotly, serving as rocket fuel for my accelerated heartbeat.

I lifted my shoulders and let them fall, keeping my eyes trained on the plate of unfinished food in front of me. “Whatever,” I bit out, allowing the venom I tasted to leak into the word. “It’s not like we’re
together
or anything.”

Gigi reached over and patted my back. “At least you’ll get to see him at the Hidden’s show tomorrow night.”

I shrugged away from her consoling touch. “I’m not going.”

“What?” Bonnie said. “But… you have to. We all have to. That’s what we’re here for.” The look in her round blue eyes reminded me of the dazed, vacant expression on the face of Emmy’s mother on the day she disappeared.
Glamoured.
Right. I’d have to watch myself or my new friends would start wondering why I was so different. Worse, I’d draw the attention of those who
weren’t
my friends.

I glanced toward the head table where Amalia now sat alone. She scanned the room, and to my relief, her eyes passed right over me. I was invisible on her radar. For my own good, and for Emmy’s, I needed to keep it that way.

Amalia sent us out to the beach the next morning. I guessed it was good for Nox’s image to have a bevvy of bathing beauties decorating the shoreline outside his home. If they sported freshly sun-kissed skin—even better.

Like the other girls, I wore a bikini, though mine was comprised of considerably more fabric than most. Fortunately, I’d packed a good supply of sunblock. While the air felt cooler, the California sun seemed stronger than Mississippi’s summer rays. Maybe because here the UVA and UVB weren’t fighting through so many layers of humidity to get to my skin.

The day was bright and crisp. I’d never seen a sky so blue and cloudless. Settling onto a beach towel, I attempted to read a paperback but couldn’t keep my focus on the story. A nearby conversation kept hijacking my attention. The curvy blonde who’d been
chosen
by Nox last night was recounting her evening to her suitemates.

“He was
so
sweet. And his room is
amazing
. Oh my God, you should see the size of his
bed.
”

Suddenly sweltering under the midday rays, I leapt to my feet. No doubt spraying sand from my digging strides, I went to the water’s edge and charged into the surf, diving under the sparkling blue surface.
Oh dang this is cold.

I’d never swum in the Pacific before, having grown up much closer to the sugar sand and turquoise waters of Florida beaches. While the Gulf of Mexico was like a warm bath, this was more like a cold shower. Which was perfect. I
needed
a good shock to the system to clear out all the crazy images going through my head.

After a few minutes of wading deeper and deeper, my body acclimated to the bracing water temperature. I began swimming laps perpendicular to the shoreline, glancing back every once in a while at the huge beach home to get my bearings. The blonde’s story seemed to have drawn a crowd. A group of girls sat in the sand around her, no doubt fascinated by the details of her night with the Rock God.

I plunged my face back into the water for one, two strokes, determined not to let myself speculate on those details, on what might have occurred in Nox’s room, in his reportedly enormous bed.

What is the matter with me?
I could care less what Nox did with the other girls, beyond concern for their well-being as brainwashed glamour victims, of course.

“Having a nice swim?”

I stopped mid-stroke and choked on a mouthful of salt water I’d suddenly inhaled at the sound of the silky male voice beside me.

Nox laughed and pounded my back with a warm fist as he treaded water and supported me with his other hand. “Sorry, didn’t mean to startle you. Guess you were pretty focused on your laps there.”

I coughed again, finally expelling enough seawater to respond. My voice was scratchy and annoyed-sounding. “Where did you come from?”

“I got in down the beach there.” Pointing toward a rocky outcropping in the distance, he smiled and rolled his eyes toward the horde on the beach in front of his house. “Wanted to get in a swim before facing the feeding frenzy.”

I nodded. “Probably wise you didn’t walk out your back door in a Speedo. You might never have made it to the water.”

He laughed out loud. “If you ever catch me in a Speedo, you have my
permission
to feed me to the sharks. So, how are you this morning? Sleep well last night?”

“Fine,” I lied, unwilling to admit to the dreams that had plagued me throughout the night. Dreams where Nox’s dark head bent over a small platinum one and the scene progressed from there.

“Well, that’s good, because the show’s gonna go pretty late tonight. It’s at the Viper Room, and things don’t even get
started
there until around ten.”

I treaded water in front of him, both of us bobbing with the swell and ebb of the ocean. When the current pushed me toward Nox, I fanned the water with my arms to force my body back and prevent our limbs from tangling. “I told you already—I’m not going to any more of your shows.”

“Ryann.” He sighed in exasperation. “What if I promise not to use my glamour?”

I narrowed my eyes. “I don’t think so. You’ve already admitted you’re not in control of it. You said it happens naturally.”

“Well… I might have
some
control…” he said with a sheepish grin. “You know what I mean. You must feel yourself exerting your Sway. Can’t you dial it up or down when you want to?”

“My
sway
? What are you talking about?”

“Well… you’re part Elven. You must have
some
glamour. And I’ve seen how the other girls in the house react when you make a suggestion. I think your glamour must be persuasion—we call it the Sway. All of us have it to some degree, but certain Elves have a special gift for using it.”

I shook my head, squinting against the glare of the sun’s reflection off the water around us. “No. I don’t feel anything. And if I did have any glamour, wouldn’t it be the same as my grandma’s? Lad said it comes through family lines. If I had to guess, I’d say Grandma Neena’s glamour is empathy. Mom seems to have it, too, although she doesn’t even know she’s half Elven.”

“Are you especially aware of others’ emotions then?” Nox asked.

“I never thought so—not any more than most people are. But then I guess we don’t really know how other people experience things. Maybe they’re
not
sensing as much as I am about people’s feelings. I don’t know.”

“Well, you should try to figure it out—ask your grandmother—being in touch with your glamour abilities might come in handy out here.” He gave me a wicked smile. “Want to try out your empathy on me? What am I feeling right now?”

His expression told me whatever he was feeling—I was better off not knowing. I splashed water at his face, making him blink in surprise and then laugh out loud. “So you
can
read my feelings, huh?”

“We’ll
both
be feeling hypothermia if we don’t get out of this icy water soon,” I growled.

“
This is nice.
You should feel it at night—I wouldn’t swim out here after dark if you paid me.”

“Well, I’m freezing. See you back on shore.” I knifed one hand then another through the ocean, aiming for the beach and
away
from Nox and his too-loud feelings.

A swirl of water rushed over my legs as his powerful kick propelled him past me. “How about a race to warm your blood?” He called back over his shoulder.

Kicking harder, I gained on him but there was no out-swimming him. Nox emerged from the ocean a few yards ahead of me and right onto the most populated part of the beach. He was not wearing a Speedo, but a pair of orange board shorts, slung low on his hips and revealing an expanse of tanned skin across his wide shoulders and well-formed back.

Damn these Elven guys.
Did they really have to have glamour
and
be gorgeous? The human race didn’t stand a chance.

I couldn’t see the front view, but the girls on the beach could, and it was obvious from their expressions the scenery was impressive. Literally every one of them stared at Nox as if they were starving and he was made of chocolate. And yes, at that moment, I was pretty sure I
could
read emotions—pure 100-proof desire swelled from each pair of feminine eyes.

Glancing back over his shoulder at me first, Nox plopped down in the sand next to a cute Latina girl and her blanket mate. They giggled and said “hello,” but that’s all I heard of the conversation because I kept on walking, going to the stairs and up to the back patio of Nox’s house.

I’d had enough of him and his particular brand of
Sway
for one day. And if he thought I was going to the Viper Room to hear him play tonight, he had another thing coming.

Pushing open the French doors to the house, I stepped inside, wiping my feet on the mat to remove any traces of sand and water. I hadn’t stopped to grab my towel and didn’t want to leave drips along the path from the back door to my room.

“What are you doing?” The chilly female voice emanated from the kitchen.

I whirled to face Amalia’s sternly beautiful face. “Uh, coming in?”

“This is beach time.” Her tone told me “beach time” had been an order not a suggestion. An order I’d unwittingly disobeyed.

“I know. I needed to uh… use the bathroom.”

“There’s one in the pool house you could have used.” She studied me through a narrow gaze. “Where are you
from
, Ryann?”

I began to sweat, though the house was pleasantly cool inside. Was Amalia’s glamour lie-detection? If it was, if there even was such a thing, I couldn’t lie to her. But if I told her the truth, would she read anything into the fact that I’d come here from the same town where Nox had been living for the past five years?

I opted for honesty. “Mississippi.” And added a little something extra. “I hope I never have to go home—I love Los Angeles.”

“And Nox, too, I assume?” Her eyebrow lifted in a challenge.

“Oh yes,” I gushed in my best approximation of my fan pod sisters. “He’s so perfect. I almost died when I saw him out there on the beach. He’s in a swimsuit, and his body is so—”

“Go straight to the bathroom,” she snapped, cutting me off. “Don’t dally or wander around the house. And then get back outside with the others—and
stay
with the others unless Nox or I direct you otherwise.” I turned to go but her voice stopped me. “And Ryann? I have my
eye
on you.”

A chill chased down my back as I nodded and padded to the hallway bathroom in my bare feet. Something about the way she’d said it made me believe there was more to her last comment than making sure I didn’t wander through the house or get separated from my podmates.

She was suspicious of me. Could she tell I wasn’t glamoured, that I was here not to worship Nox, but with my own agenda?

Standing at the sink a few minutes later, I washed my hands and studied my sunburned face in the mirror. “Dang it,” I whispered as it hit me. Thanks to my untimely bathroom visit, Amalia had noticed me. She knew my name. She would in all likelihood notice if I wasn’t there tonight.

Ugh. There was no way out of it. I’d have to go to Nox’s show.