Never (The Ever Series Book 2) (23 page)

“I never said I was going to dance,” I shrug. “And if you don’t go spend time with your fans, I
will
hurt you.”

Alex nods.

“I’ll be back for you.”

I shiver at the way he peers down at me when he says that. The first few songs the DJ plays make me want to escape. Music can either make or kill the moment. Right now, it’s killing it.

“Hey.”

I look up as Kayla’s secret admirer sits down next to me with a dejected sigh.

“Hey,” I say back with next to no enthusiasm.

I’m not sure whether I’m relieved or annoyed to have Chris for company. I guess unrequited love makes people obnoxious to be around. I mean, Romeo seemed like a depressed head case before he met Juliet. And Josh. … I miss Josh, and Taylor. And everyone else in Portland. The truth is, if Chris had been even moderately friendly the first time I tried talking to him, I would be more motivated to chat. I might even be sympathetic. Tonight, though, I’ve got problems of my own. Actually, I’ve got a problem, singular. Alex. I
can’t
fall for him. I just can’t. Part of me knows that I’m already dangerously close, but I have to cut off my emotions now … or risk getting hurt so badly that I never recover. I pull out my phone and look down. My mom’s probably at work, but she still hasn’t texted me back.

“So, how come you’re not going out with what’s his face?”

I turn and look at Chris indignantly.

“Alex? Are you kidding me? I barely know the guy!”

He snorts.

“Not what it looks like to me. He’s seriously obsessed with you.”

“Uh, huh. Right. And that’s why he’s dancing with Kayla,” I shoot back.

Then I feel bad for rubbing it in Chris’s face.

“No, he’s not,” Chris says, pointing.

I turn and I watch as Alex approaches our table. Kayla and a few other couples are trailing behind. As Alex sits down next to me, Kayla sits on his other side, and Chris glares at me like Alex’s presence in his life, combined with Kayla’s fixation on him, is somehow my fault. I shoot him a look back, not feeling as bad about my earlier crack. The dance floor has started to fill up, and I don’t mind the next song so much. When a slow song comes on, I turn reluctantly to Chris.

“You wanna dance?”

I was hoping to sound at least slightly enthusiastic, but probably not. Chris looks confused for a second. Then he shrugs. As I walk toward the dance floor with him, I can almost feel the heat of Alex’s stare at my back. As we walk out onto the dance floor, I turn toward Chris and hold up my arms awkwardly before placing them on his shoulders. I’ve never actually done this before, and it feels way more awkward than it looks in the movies. It takes Chris a few seconds before he grips my waist limply. Most of his attention is still on the back of the room where Kayla’s sitting.

“Chris,” I say in a sharp tone that causes his eyes to focus on me. “I hate dancing. Hate it.”

He frowns and throws up his hands.

“Then why—”

“You’re trying to make her jealous. When this song is over, we’re going to go back over to that table, and you’re going to ask Kayla to dance. Got it?”

He nods uncertainly and puts his hands back on my waist. He winces when I step on his foot by accident. I hope Alex saw Chris cringe in pain and now realizes how bad for his health dancing with me would be.

“Thanks,” Chris says.

I think he might
actually
be grateful, but probably more so because the song is ending soon, and I won’t be stepping on his toes with a sharp heel again. By the time we return to where the others are sitting, Kayla is talking to one of her friends—not Alex, who’s sitting there looking less than happy. Before I leave Chris, I give him a meaningful poke in the side. His abdominal muscles, I notice in embarrassment, didn’t feel nearly as rock solid as Alex’s did. Then again, the fact that I’m even comparing them is bad.

I sit down next to Alex and watch as Chris summons his nerve and asks Kayla to dance. She looks over at Alex once and then gets up and follows Chris. I smile. Good. Maybe Kayla will snap out of it. I think of Josh and Taylor again. I virtually had to hit Josh upside the head before he noticed the fact that Taylor was in love with him. The difference there is that I actually like both Josh and Taylor. Chris and Kayla, meh.

I’m lost in thought until the next song starts playing. I’m surprised to hear it, since it’s really old—from one of the albums my mom’s had since I was a kid. It’s one of my favorites, even though it’s always made me a little sad. Tonight, though, I don’t know if I can handle it. I’m about to stand up and hobble as fast as I can in these stupid heels toward the bathroom for a full-on cry fest again when someone touches my shoulder. I turn and see Alex. I hadn’t even noticed him stand up.

“Dance with me.”

I try to smile, but it comes out crooked.

“I told you. I don’t—”

“Not good enough. Try again.”

I smirk at him.

“I hate this song.”

“No, you don’t.”

I blush.

“What are you? A human lie detector?”

When he takes my hand and pulls me up, I don’t argue. What would be the point? To prove I’m stubborn? After only a week, I’ve proven that a million times. What he doesn’t know is that every time he touches me, it feels like there’s an electric current running through my entire body.

As soon as we reach the dance floor, Alex takes my hand and slips the other around my waist. The heat from his skin radiates through the satin at my back and makes me feel like I might burst into flames at any second. When he pulls me in closer, my breath catches, and I look up into his startlingly blue eyes. I can’t read his thoughts, but I suddenly recognize the intensity of his expression. Desire. Hypnotic and drugging. His hand on my back tightens and pulls me closer as the other comes up, his fingers brushing my bottom lip. The sudden jolt of pleasure stuns me.

We’re barely moving on the dance floor, but I don’t care. My brain is screaming at me to say something light and dismissive. Then he slowly bends toward me, and I stop breathing altogether.

“You two clearly didn’t read the dance contract!” a voice barks from my side. “You’re going to have to back this up at least six inches!”

Jumping like I’ve been scalded, I turn and recognize Mr. Brummel from my independent study class. Free of my trance, I turn to Alex and see him glaring, not at the teacher, but at someone else toward the back of the room. I follow his gaze, and my pulse spikes when I recognize the person who’s glaring back at Alex. I gasp. It’s the guy he was in a fight with … the same one from my
dream
.

How do I know this guy?

Reaching down, I slip off my heels, hike up my dress, and bolt off the dance floor. By the time I reach the back of the room, the stranger is gone. Desperate, I run through the doors, and then outside, sprinting toward the grassy field at the edge of campus. I assumed he was headed toward the parking lot, but there’s no sign of him. Breathing heavily, I stop and spin around in the darkness. This stranger is starting to seem like the White Rabbit from
Alice in Wonderland
. Always disappearing.

I look around one more time, scanning the darkness, and then flinch when I find him right in front of me. I take a step back, suddenly realizing that I’m standing alone in the dark with some stranger I’ve dreamt of.

“Why are you following Alex?” I demand with as much fearlessness as I can muster.

“
Wren
!”

I look over my shoulder uneasily, afraid to turn my back on the stranger. An instant later, Alex is right behind me, having covered the distance faster than any of the sprinters on the track team at Pali could have. I turn back to where the stranger was standing a second ago, but he’s gone. Like magic. Disappeared. When I shiver, Alex puts his jacket over my shoulders. Looking up at him, I feel my anger boil over. I’m more than a little bit freaked out. I’m afraid I’m really beginning to lose my mind.

“Alex, what the hell is going on?! I feel like I’m going crazy. Who was that guy? Why is he following you?”

“I told you,” he says seriously. “He thinks I took something from him.”

“Well, then give it back! Whatever it is can’t be worth getting stalked, right?”

I laugh nervously when he doesn’t say anything.

“You know what?” I continue. “Next week we’re starting Truth and Honesty Tuesdays.”

He takes my hand in one of his.

“Why not start now?” he asks softly.

When he reaches up with his other hand and tilts my chin, my eyes widen and my pulse jumps. I watch, locked in place, as he leans toward me. All I can think is:
This can’t be real
.

The hand holding mine drops to my hip, and I hear myself gasp. Anchored in place, I watch him breathlessly as he leans closer. His thumb grazes my lower lip once and then again just before his mouth comes down on mine. I shiver as electricity hums through me. His skin is unnaturally hot, like he’s burning up from fever. My knees weaken, my eyes closing automatically. I feel his smile against my lips as his other hand comes around my waist and lifts me. Reaching up, I let my fingers sink into his hair. Suddenly his lips part mine, causing a spike of desire so sharp that I whimper.

“Yes,” he murmurs.

I pull free, trembling from the sensation. I try to slow my breathing.

“What’s wrong?” Alex says softly against my ear.

“I’m scared.”

My cheeks are still flushed, and I wince at how silly it sounds, but it’s true. I feel like I’m falling headfirst, and if I don’t pull up fast, I’m going to be lost. Alex lowers me to the ground.

“Wren, tonight means more to me than you could possibly begin to imagine.”

I smile uncertainly.

“You’re teasing me again.”

He takes both my hands in his, his blue eyes shining unnaturally in the moonlight.

“I meant every word. And I will not risk everything I’ve gained by pushing you.”

He puts his arm around my shoulders, and we begin walking back inside. Before we’ve reached the double doors, Alex stops and stiffens. It’s absolutely silent. No music, no voices. He grabs my arm just as several people begin walking out the door toward us. When I see their eyes—black and empty, every single one of them—I stare, unable to move. Alex’s voice snaps me back to reality.

“
Run
.”

Terrified, I jerk my dress up to my knees and start running. Only steps later, I lose hold of the dress, and it falls around my ankles again. When I slow down, Alex reaches over, lightning fast, and tears the material above my knees. Free of the dress and heels, I sprint with Alex’s hand gripping mine tightly. As soon as we reach his car, he pushes me into the passenger seat and slams the door after me. Then, with inhuman speed, he appears behind the wheel and has the engine running in an instant. I turn and I see figures approaching out of the darkness.

And that’s when I realize what’s happening. This is a dream. It
has
to be a dream. I’m going to wake up, because what I’m seeing can’t be reality. When I laugh, it’s strangled and unnatural sounding.

“Wren? Are you all right?” Alex asks as the car flies out of the parking lot at full speed.

I look over at his uncharacteristically nervous expression.

“If this is a dream, then yeah.”

He frowns and returns his eyes to the road. Moments later, he takes a sharp right onto the coast highway. His cell phone buzzes, but he ignores it, which is good since he’s driving like a crazy person.

“Alex?”

He looks over at me.

“Am I going to wake up strapped to a bed and whacked out on Thorazine in some mental hospital?”

He laughs, but it’s in a surprised, humorless sort of way.

“How do you even know what Thorazine is?”

“My mom works in a hospital,” I whisper blankly.

My heart thuds. What wouldn’t I give to see her right now? Tears spring to my eyes.

“Wren, I’ve made a number of mistakes—things you may hate me for very soon—but I will not let anything hurt you. I swear it.”

“You’re really scaring me. If I haven’t gone completely crazy, then what the hell is going—”

His hand shoots out, gripping my arm as the car swerves. The last thing I see as I’m thrown sideways into the door is several figures standing in the middle of the darkened highway.

A
t the sound of voices, I open my eyes, and dizziness rolls through me in waves. The first thing I want to do is throw up. But at least I’m lying on a cool surface, which sort of helps with the nausea.

“She’s awake.”

Summoning the very last thing I can remember—spinning out of control on a blackened highway—I panic. Where’s Alex? Am I in the hospital? With every last shred of strength in me, I push myself up and see tile floor beneath my hands. I rise shakily into a standing position. At first glance, it looks like I’m in an unfurnished Mediterranean villa, not a hospital, but I don’t take the time to study my surroundings too closely. Barefoot, I run full speed across the room before colliding with a hard surface. The force of impact almost knocks me to the floor until an arm grips mine. When I look up into the glowing green eyes of the angel from my dream, I scream.

“Undo this.
Now
,” he snarls.

Hearing him speak, I immediately stop screaming. His fury is not directed at me, but at someone behind me. I swing around when I hear Alex’s voice.

“Do you truly believe that’s our best strategy with a potential legion coming for her?” he asks the furious angel I just smacked into.

Running over to Alex, I throw myself into his arms as I try to piece together what happened. I reach up and touch his face.

“What happened? Are you okay? How did we get here? What’s
he
doing here?” I gasp unevenly.

Alex strokes my cheek gently, and suddenly I feel a vibration of pure hatred licking at the edges of my consciousness as if it’s barely being contained. I shiver as I realize that it’s emanating from the flawless being watching us from across the room. I swallow. The fact that I can pull anything from his mind without any eye contact scares me.

“You said you would keep her safe,” the stranger says venomously to Alex. “A week later, an entire army descends, and you were oblivious—”

“As were you,” Alex snaps.

“Know this. If anything had happened to her, I would have gladly sent you back to hell.”

I step between them, afraid they’re going to get into a fistfight—and I’m never going to get any answers.

“
Hey
! Either you guys are
both
crazy, or I’m having this little hallucination in a mental hospital. Which is it?”

“Wren, there are a lot of things I haven’t told you about myself, but I’ve put you in danger—”

The golden-haired angel grunts.

“Finally, a grain of truth.”

Alex smirks and puts his hands on my shoulders. I glance at the stranger and feel the same tremor of absolute loathing—like a physical presence—directed at Alex.

“There are some friends waiting in the other room,” Alex says. “They will take you somewhere until I can make sure you’re safe—”

“What?
No
! I’m not going anywhere with strangers. Now, one of you—I don’t care which one—is going to tell me what’s going on …”

Someone glides into the room, and I stare blatantly at her otherworldly beauty.

“You’re going to have to make it a quick story,” she says to Alex and the stranger, who looks like he could be this girl’s beautiful brother or cousin. “More of them are coming—and we don’t have the numbers to hold them off.”

When yet another person walks in, I flinch. If I had thought Alex was the only godlike creature roaming Southern California, I was so wrong. Broader than Alex and the angel, this newcomer has hands that look capable of crushing skulls. And his copper eyes are just as fierce.

“Ever, let us take her. We won’t let anything happen to her,” he says.

Ever
. The name echoes in my head, causing my eyes to dart to the tall golden-haired angel. I have a gnawing sense that I
should
know who he is, but I don’t.

“I’m going with Alex,” I say, staring at the three strangers and Alex in determination. “If things are as bad as they seem—and I’m not crazy—then someone can explain it later, if I’m not dead.”

The same sickened expression hits Alex and his golden-haired opponent, like I physically struck them both at the same time. When Alex’s arm tightens around my shoulders, the angel steps forward menacingly.

“I will not let you take her again,” he hisses at Alex.

He reaches out with incredible speed and grabs my wrist, causing my skin to burn at his touch. Instantly terrified that I’m about to be pulled apart by the two of them, I push back, my fury overwhelming me and pouring outward. And just like that, both of them release me. The three strangers are staring at me like I’ve just sprouted a second head. Alex, on the other hand, is gloating.

“Interesting trick she’s picked up, is it not?”

“Who are you people? What’s happening to me?” I demand.

“Go
now
,” the girl says with an edge to her voice.

I grab Alex’s hand.

“We go together or not at all,” I warn.

The smile I’m used to returns to his face.

“I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

The tall, angelic stranger steps forward.

“I’m coming with you, and we travel as fast as
humanly
possible. If we shift, they’ll lock onto our trail, find us again, and we’ll be forced to shift until she’s too weak to move. … Of course, you’ve done that before, so perhaps that’s your plan?” he asks Alex accusingly.

I look back and forth between Alex and the stranger. They’re
both
insane. And I want to scream until someone tells me what this nightmare is that I’ve just woken into. But Alex is already hurrying me out of the room and down an expansive hallway. Opening another door, he steps ahead of me and offers his hand as the lights flicker on. I look behind me and see that we’re not alone.

The stranger’s eyes stay on me until I turn and step into an enormous subterranean garage with a startling number of vehicles. Alex walks quickly with me in tow toward the most militaristic-looking of the transportation options. When he wrenches open the passenger door and lifts me into the seat, I crane my neck and see a motorcycle behind us, the rider already revving the bike’s engine.

As the steel door ahead begins to rise, the ground quakes as the monster we’re riding in powers forward. A minute later we come out on a darkened road before passing through a wrought-iron gate. When we reach the highway again, I sit silently for several minutes trying to come to grips with how far my life has spun away from reality. Assuming this
isn’t
a dream or a psychotic episode, then I’m guessing there’s a lot more at stake than just me.

“Alex?”

He looks over at me.

“All those people back at the dance … what happened to them?”

“I imagine they’re having a better time than we are right now.”

The tightness in my chest loosens a bit.

“Then … they’re okay?”

He nods.

“What was wrong with them?” I ask, shivering as I remember the blackness of their eyes.

“Someone was using them to find you.”

This stops me cold.

“
Using
them? To find
me
? What? Why?”

“That is a very long story.”

Reality hits me starkly in the chest.

“Wait. So this past week—meeting you wasn’t an accident, was it? Of course! I’m such an idiot!”

How could I have thought that some flawless, well-read, muscles-like-stone super-man just appeared out of nowhere to rescue me from thugs and trade opinions on
Ivanhoe
? I wish it didn’t hurt so much to learn that the only person to show any interest in me this week had ulterior motives, but it does. This—well, not something
this
crazy—was the reason I was so afraid to feel anything for Alex. And I was right. I feel tears stinging my eyes when Alex suddenly grabs my hand. I want to wrench free, but his grip is like iron. I turn to face him, less angry with him for lying to me, than with myself for falling for it. Right after considering myself to be so skeptical and impervious.

“Wren, this past week with you, I stole it from someone else, and I don’t regret it for a moment. Whatever happens to me, it was worth it just to have you look at me with fresh eyes.”

I frown, even more confused. Then, I’m momentarily distracted by a glowing green freeway sign. We’re on the 405.

“Where are we going?”

“Somewhere safe.”

“Care to be a little more specific?”

“It’s better if you don’t know.”

“Alex, no offense, but if I hadn’t just seen an entire dance zombified, I’d be ready to jump out of this vehicle.”

I glance at the speedometer, which reads over a hundred and thirty miles an hour.

“
Whoa
!
Slow down
! You’re going to kill us!” I yelp. Looking behind us, I see the beam of a single headlight right behind us. “Are you both out of your minds?!”

The vehicle swerves, and I’m pressed into the door as we fly off the next exit. Gripping the armrest in terror, I begin to wonder if these people really are crazy. Like cult crazy. I look over at Alex. I don’t remember him mentioning taking a spaceship to Heaven or anything like that. The vehicle slows suddenly, and I look around. We’re parked in front of the same airport I flew into a week ago. My door jerks open, and before I can protest, Mr. Golden-Haired Angel grips me around the waist and pulls me onto the sidewalk. That’s when I see the black motorcycle parked just behind us. Alex, who’s already on my other side, grabs my hand and propels me forward so that I’m safely wedged between the two of them. That, or I’m being kidnapped, and I should scream. I haven’t ruled out that option yet.

“
Hey
! You can’t leave those vehicles there!”

Over my shoulder, I get a glimpse of a police officer stepping out of his car and waving, a furious expression on his face. Ever gestures to Alex, who disengages from my side and approaches the officer with his hands raised in a conciliatory way. When Alex rejoins us a few moments later, I crane my neck and watch as the cop gets back into the cruiser.

“What just happened?”

Neither of them says a word as we walk in lockstep past the ticketing counter toward the gates. As we approach the security checkpoint, Alex goes ahead, and I stare as he begins speaking quickly and quietly to the agent, whose expression has gone blank. Ever ushers me past them, and I look up at him fearfully.

“What are you people?” I mutter.

My tall escort looks down on me with such misery that I almost feel bad for him, and it occurs to me that I know nothing about these people with whom I’m entrusting my life—including Alex. But based on what I saw at the dance, which seems like a million years ago now, I have no choice.

Alex rejoins us, and I notice people glancing nervously in our direction. I look down, remembering my hastily torn dress. Then I look over at Alex. Dressed in a suit, he looks like a super-spy. Our shadow is dressed the most normally in jeans and a long-sleeved shirt. In spite of my torn dress and tear-stained cheeks, I doubt I stand out against the two of them. Actually, with every passing second, they seem more and more surreal to me. By himself, Alex was remarkable but still somewhat normal. Now that I’ve seen three more beings whose beauty rivals his, my assumption that he was ordinary—in any way at all—seems plain nuts. As the two of them usher me toward a door requiring a keypad code, I shy away.

“What are we doing?” I whisper urgently to Alex.

“Catching a flight,” he says with characteristic dryness.

I turn and watch as Ever reaches for the metal doorknob. I’m expecting him to be unsuccessful, but the door opens easily under his touch. When he walks through, Alex gestures for me to follow. Looking over my shoulder, I catch a glimpse of a half dozen police officers and security agents just before Alex shuts the door after us. Ever holds his hand toward the door, and my eyes widen as the metal seams of the door suddenly glow a bright orange like someone just took a blowtorch to them.

“Hurry. Carry her if you have to,” Ever says to Alex.

“I can run!” I shoot back before remembering that I’m not wearing any shoes.

As we rush across the darkened tarmac, I watch nervously as jets land and take off in the distance. We should
not
be out here. And if I didn’t believe that there was something seriously wrong, I would have sat down in the terminal and refused to move. Up ahead, there’s a small jet in front of the hangar we’re approaching. When I see flashing lights in my peripheral vision, I turn and watch half a dozen emergency vehicles speeding in our direction. Some men who had been working on a nearby plane look over at us and begin approaching.

“Go!” Alex says to Ever. “We’ll be there shortly.”

Ever nods and takes off into the darkness faster than my eyes can track him. Suddenly Alex scoops me up and begins running so smoothly that it doesn’t feel like his feet are touching the tarmac. Within another few seconds, he’s flown up the air stairs, and when he deposits me inside the plane, I stare around the small cabin. I see no sign of our third party, and when Alex secures the door himself, I get nervous.