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I
placed my hands on his muscular arm and said, “I’m sorry Ash. I don’t know why
he does that.”

“I do.”
Swiftly, he leaned over and tilted my face his direction. “Just listen to me.”
He looked hard into my eyes. “You’ve been cranky and melancholy for the last
few weeks. I’m surprised you managed to pass your finals. But the fact of the
matter is that your feelings towards Jason are still strong, and you need to
determine once and for all where you two stand.”

“But—”

“Shh!”
He shook his head furiously. “You need some sort of resolution, because
tomorrow,” he said firmly, gripping my chin tighter, “tomorrow we face the
Ray-pacs. And you,” he jabbed his finger into my chest, “need to be focused and
alert. And, if it’s definitely over between you two, and you and I somehow make
it through this, I’m not holding back anymore.”

I
shrugged. “Well…”

“Well,
can you at least try?”

I held
my own hands up and looked at him blankly.

“Just
do it. I know you want to.”

“Why
do you say that?” I asked suspiciously and stuck out my tongue.

With a
laugh, he swept one hand through the air in front of me and said snidely, “I
haven’t seen you this dressed up since…I don’t know when. Maybe the night we
went out for dinner on your birthday.”

“I’m
not all dressed up,” I grumbled and looked down at my high-heeled, black ankle
boots and Hudson Signature jeans. Although, underneath my black leather jacket
I was wearing a sheer, drop shoulder, red blouse with frilly sleeves. Ally had
coordinated my outfit for me.

Clicking
his tongue and making an exasperated noise, he said, “I wasn’t even talking
about your clothes. I was talking about the extra care you took with
straightening your hair and putting on make-up. You look fantastic, and I think
we both know why you went to all the extra effort,” he remarked with sarcasm.

“I’m
going to a New Year’s Eve party. Don’t you think that calls for a little
something extra?”

“Not
that much,” he objected, “unless you’re trying to impress someone. Besides, the
car smells all cashmere-vanilla with an oriental-floral twist. It’s hard to
concentrate. How much perfume did you spray on anyways?” he mumbled.

Huffing
loudly, I said, “What’s with the inquisition?”

He
turned off the heat and rolled his window down to the halfway point. “Just
calling it like it is.” But after a couple minutes of silence he said quietly,
“I’m just jealous, Lexi. Can’t you understand that?”

My jaw
dropped. “I don’t know what to say.”

“Please,
don’t say anything.” He changed the subject and gave me a pleading look. “Are
you sure you want to go through with this? There’s still time to change your
mind and bring your Guardian friends into this, let that huge group of them
take out the Ray-pacs as planned. We’d stand a much better chance, and at this
point who cares if they find out you’re a Dentelle?”

“I
do,” I said angrily. “I don’t want them to know. I don’t want anyone else to
get hurt, and I…” my voice faded. I gazed at his iridescent green eyes, which
lately had been completely green with only occasional hints of amber. “We can
do this. We need to do this alone,” I said adamantly. “Are you with me or not?”

He
sighed. “How is it that you always win?”

“Let’s
hope
we win
,” I said and glanced at the dashboard clock. “Okay, we’ve
got about ten minutes to finalize plans.” We hacked through the details, and I
ran through the names and descriptions of all the Ray-pacs. He’d insisted I
memorize as much about them as possible, because any extra knowledge could mean
the difference between success and failure.

“So in
the early morning you’ll pretend like you’ve received word from your parents
that one of your brothers is in the hospital, and you’ll ask to be taken back
to the mainland immediately. I’ll pick you up here somewhere between six and
eight in the morning, if all goes well,” Ash clarified.

“Yes.
I just wish Kieran had trusted you with our final destination before late last
night. Then we could have scouted out the area first.” I traced the steering
wheel with agitation.

Headlights
shined brightly through the window as a car drove through the parking lot.
Shading his eyes, he said, “I know. That info came a little too late to be
helpful. Melanie waited until the last possible minute to give me the address,
and the only reason she finally did was because she knew our link would break.”
He tapped his chin. “The one advantage we have is that the Ray-pacs are
planning on arriving in Bellingham late tomorrow evening. Even though my
instructions were to abduct you in the afternoon and take you to the cabins by
nightfall, we’ll get a head start and take off in the morning. Hopefully then,
we’ll have ample opportunity to explore the cabins and surrounding area before
they arrive.”

“Melanie
said the cabins were in Glacier, right? Way out in the woods?”

“Yep.
Apparently, there’s a lot of snow on the ground right now too. Glacier is
probably only about a 25 minute drive from the Mt. Baker ski area, so that
gives you a rough idea of how far out we’ll be.”

Turning
in my seat, I studied his face as a loud truck rumbled by out on the main
street. “We can’t let on that we know each other.” I smiled uneasily. “No
matter what’s happening to me. You need to follow my lead.” My eyes narrowed.
“Do you understand me?”

“I’ll
follow your lead, but only to a certain point,” he growled.

I
grabbed his arm and stared him down. “If this is going to work,” I said slowly,
each word growing sharper, “you need to keep your distance from me. I can’t
have you betraying our relationship, because I need the opportunity to try and
link with them, without them suspecting anything. Just so we’re clear, I plan
on starting with Kieran,” I added.

He
swore loudly, and his voice took on a tense edge. “I can only hold back for so
long. What if Melanie is beating you to a pulp or something? I can’t sit there
and watch that.”

Shoving
him hard, I said, “You’ll have to. Remember, I can heal myself. Even though I
might look bloody and bruised on the outside, my Essence will kick in. Jessica
taught me how to cut through the pain and repair my injuries. I can do that
with no problem.”

“I
don’t know,” he said warily. “Lately, you’ve had a hard time just getting your
headaches under control.”

“I’ll
be fine.” I didn’t tell him that I’d had a dull headache for two days and
hadn’t been able to make it go away. “I have a feeling this is gonna be more
painful for you than it is for me,” I said emphatically.

“This
whole thing is insanely stupid, ya know. And what if plan A doesn’t work?”

“We go
to plan B.”

“Which
is?”

“We’ll
figure it out if the time comes.” I pointed to the dashboard clock. “I’ve gotta
get down to the docks.” Grabbing my overnight bag, I opened the door and
stepped into the cold December night. He met me halfway around the car and
hugged me tightly. “Ash, thank you. I couldn’t do this without you.”

“Let’s
just get through this alive.”

As we
drew apart I kissed him on the cheek. “See ya in the morning.”

“More
like…I’ll see ya next year.” As I walked away he whistled and made some brash
comment.

I
glanced back. “Hey, watch it.”

“Couldn’t
resist,” he said, a cocky grin spreading across his face. “Maybe you shouldn’t
wear those tight jeans around me.”

I rolled
my eyes and waved before turning and walking towards the pier. When Shelby and
Trevon met me on the docks, I wasn’t surprised they were to be my only escorts.
As Shelby’s coat gaped open, I caught sight of a vintage, turquoise butterfly
necklace around her neck. In a mid-length, brown and royal blue dress with an
exaggerated v-neck she looked contemporary but still her usual beatnik self.

On the
ride out to the island Shelby talked excitedly about all the Guardians and
Amethysts that had been arriving over the last couple days. According to her, I
was one of the last scheduled pick-ups. As soon as they arrived with me,
Jason’s dad would gather everyone together to say a few words, and then the
rest of the night would be designated to mingling and ringing in the New Year.
Laughing with unusual liveliness, her face was alight with joy and her red hair
shined in the moonlight as she held Trevon’s hand. Dressed in dark slacks and a
white button down shirt, he looked more debonair than I’d ever seen him. Steering
the boat through the San Juan Islands, he also talked with enthusiasm and would
occasionally bend down and kiss her on the cheek.

Wind
chased the clouds across the sky, and occasionally the full moon would appear
and illuminate the waters around us. House lights twinkled from the surrounding
islands as we made our way through the waterways, and before I knew it, we were
approaching Towhead.

“Wow!”
I said. “The island is glowing all over the place. Looks like it’s inhabited by
giant fireflies.”

They both
laughed, and Trevon said, “Yeah, the yurts are all in use and the inside
lanterns make them look like giant glow bugs from a distance.”

As we
entered the Retreat through one of the side doors, voices and laughter drifted
down the hallways and soft music played from the surround sound speakers. We
passed several people I didn’t know but who greeted us enthusiastically, and
Shelby finally dropped me off at the Victorian room I’d stayed in before. Only
this time all the trundle beds were pulled out as the room would be shared by
her, Jessica, Laci, Madison, and me. Promising to find Jessica for me, and let
Mr. Walker know I’d arrived, she smiled and told me to wander out to the main
room when I was ready to join the party.

Shock
overtook me when I walked into the Centrum. The room was crowded with people
who were busy talking in groups, munching on food, or making their way through
the masses trying to reach another destination. For the most part, people were
dressy casual in jeans or pants. Classy blouses or chic tops appeared to be the
going trend among the girls while many of the guys wore button-down shirts or
sweaters. But there were a few attention seekers – girls who flounced around in
showy, low-cut dresses and absurdly high heels.

Metallic
stars and swirling streamers hung from the banisters above, and colorful flower
bouquets were placed strategically around the room. Clusters of balloons
floated above end tables and from the railings, while gold and silver oriental,
stretch lanterns hung from the ceilings. My favorite decorations were the
modern, luminescent columns that towered around the room. The corrugated
columns were illuminated inside from top to bottom and rose several feet above
the party-goers; they were awesome. Not to be missed, and hanging several feet
down from the center of the tall domed ceiling, was a large glass mirrored
ball.

The
room sparkled and dazzled as the guests mingled and talked loudly. The smell of
ginger teriyaki wafted under my nose, and I scoped out the kitchen. The granite
counters were covered with Hors d’Oeuvres. Next to each platter was a little
placard denoting each dish: teriyaki chicken skewers, garlic-basted prawns,
smoked salmon canapés, gazpacho shots in cucumber cups, wild mushrooms on
crostini, stuffed baby new potatoes, bacon wrapped asparagus…my eyes stopped
and went no further once I spotted the crab cakes.

I was
about to reach for one when something made me look up and glance across the
room. My jaw dropped and hung open in quiet disbelief while I stood paralyzed
in place. Located in a far corner of the crowded room, Jason stood talking to
an absolutely gorgeous girl with long, sickeningly blonde hair. Not only that,
but she was all over him. Leaning into him with both hands flat against his
chest, she would occasionally turn her head and scan the room.

She
was every bit as beautiful and curvaceous as Madison. In a skimpy, very short
and tight fitting, hot pink dress she looked more like she should be modeling
at a lingerie party rather than attending a New Year’s Eve party. Absolutely
and completely seething with jealousy, I realized I wasn’t anywhere near being
over him. I’d been so frustrated and hurt when he’d actually encouraged me to
develop my relationship with Ash, that I’d thought nothing but negative
thoughts about him over the last few weeks. I’d been confident I’d be
unaffected when I saw him again. I’d been so wrong. All I could do was wonder
what the dazzling blonde was doing with her hands all over my man. He might not
know it, and I might not have admitted it to myself, but I did now – he was
mine. My heart told me so.

“Looks
like you’ve spotted the infamous Carissa,” Madison’s cool, sardonic voice rang
in my ears as she came up behind me and placed one arm around my shoulders,
which freaked me out until I remembered it was a full moon and she wasn’t
linked.

“Carissa?”
I repeated with astonishment and looked over at Madison.

Her
piercing emerald eyes narrowed, and she raised one brow and scowled. “Oh yes,”
she said through tight lips. “Lucky for you, you’re not yet acquainted with
Jason’s ex.” We stepped to the side as a group of people walked by. One of the
girls exchanged greetings with Madison as she passed. As always, Madison looked
exotic and beautiful. In a lacy green, Babydoll blouse, a form-fitting ebony
skirt and some seriously high heels of her own, she at least presented herself
with class, which was more than I could say for Miss Bleach Blonde.

“His
ex. Of course,” I mumbled and gazed across the room again. “Hannah mentioned
her once. What’s she doing here?” I asked crossly.

Letting
go of my shoulder, but still leaning against me, she sneered, “That little
witch has apparently dumped her boyfriend – the guy she followed to Chicago
when she broke Jason’s heart, and now,” she nodded their direction, where both
Carissa and Jason were talking excitedly, using wild hand gestures, “that
little skank,” Madison continued with a hiss, “is trying desperately to get him
back.”