Pawn (Nightmares Trilogy #1) (32 page)

“Where’s your necklace?” he
whispered.

“My dream catcher?” I asked, surprise
causing me to pull back. “Devon said it didn’t go with my
dress.”

“You should be wearing it,” Kannon
said, sounding like he was scolding a naughty child.

“I’m awake,” I pointed out. “I don’t
need a dream catcher when I’m awake.”

“Humor me, Endora. Promise me you
won’t take it off again. I don’t know if it works, but it can’t
hurt.”

“Okay, sure. I promise,” I said,
unnerved by the intensity in his request.

When Kannon leaned in this time, he
did kiss me. Gentle and light as a feather, his lips skimmed
mine.

“Let’s go somewhere quiet,” he
mumbled, pulling back just enough so his mouth moved without
touching mine.

“I don’t want to take you away from
the game,” I said, nodding towards the big screen that held some
forty-odd boys captive.

“I would rather watch you than ten
sweaty guys run up and down a court.”

The McCallisters’
backyard was a sprawling maze of tennis courts, a
putting green, and pool house. Kids were gathered around the pool
watching four girls riding on the shoulders of four
boys chicken fighting
.
All eight appeared to be fully clothed. Kannon led me past the pool
to a gazebo decorated with green and pink Chinese lanterns. Inside
the gazebo was a wraparound bench covered in
cushions that matched the lanterns.

“How are you holding up?” Kannon asked
once we were sitting side by side on the bench.

I shrugged. “Okay, I guess. I made it
out of the house without seeing my mom this morning, so that’s
good.”

I’d intentionally stayed in my room
until I heard her leave for work. She’d left me a note telling to
have a good day at school and wishing me luck at the game. She’d
also texted and called several times to check up on me, but I sent
her to voice mail and only responded to one text to let her know I
was alive. That seemed to mollify her.

“I put in some calls to the other
Egrgoroi I know; I’m waiting to hear back,” Kannon told
me.

I shuddered, thinking about the two
Egrgoroi I’d seen in the mall.

“Are you cold?” Kannon asked,
concerned. He scooted closer and wrapped his arm around my bare
shoulders. The initial contact stung before giving way to pleasant
warmth. I snuggled closer, resting my head in the crook of his arm.
I wasn’t cold, but the physical closeness was nice all the
same.

“No, it’s not that,” I said. “When I
was shopping with Mandy last night, I think there were two Egrgoroi
in the food court.”

Kannon’s muscles tensed and his whole
body went rigid. When he spoke, his voice was strained. “Did they
try to talk to you?” he wanted to know.

“No. They just stared at me. It was
really creepy.”

“But they got close enough that you
felt them?”

“Yeah, they were only like five tables
away and the food court was practically empty.”

“Who was there first? You or them?”
Kannon pressed.

I took a moment to think
about that. I couldn’t recall whether the boys had been there when
Mandy and I first sat down or not. “Don’t know,” I said with a
shrug. “But once I did notice them, I literally ran,” I admitted,
slightly embarrassed at the memory
of
dragging
Mandy through the mall at
breakneck speed.

“Running away was the right to thing
to do,” Kannon assured me. “If you see them again, if you see any
Egrgoroi again, get somewhere safe and call me.”

“Are we dangerous?” I
asked.

“Some Egrgoroi are,” Kannon replied
evasively.

“The ones who work for
Tartarus?”

“Particularly the ones who work for
Tartarus - they have nothing to lose. But even the Egrgoroi who
serve Kronos can be dangerous. Good and evil, right and wrong;
well, they aren’t as clear-cut as you might think.”

Before I could ask him how Egrgoroi
already judged and determined to be worthy of Elysian Fields could
possibly be dangerous, my cell buzzed in the pocket of my dress. I
groaned, assuming it was my mother. It wasn’t.

Devon: Party’s lame. Let’s go. Where R
U?

“I’m sorry,” I apologized to Kannon.
“Devon is ready to go.” I held up my phone so he could read the
message.

“Are you going back to your house?”
Kannon wanted to know.

“Nope, Devon’s. Mr.
Wentworth is taking us to see my dad’s place in the morning, and I
don’t want to get the third degree from Mom
when we leave at 7:30 a.m.,”
I
explained.

“May I come?”

Kannon’s question caught me
by surprise. Then again, Kannon did have a vested interest in my
father’s
research as well.
He’d been eighteen since late December, only
about four months; and while he knew more than I did about the
Egrgoroi, he was by no means an expert.

“Sure,” I agreed. “We’re meeting at
the Moonlight at eight o’clock.”

“The Moonlight?” Kannon laughed. “You
sure are a fan of that place.”

I felt myself blush. “It was Mr.
Wentworth’s idea. He said Dad’s place is pretty close to the
diner.”

“I’ll be there.”

I replied to Devon’s text,
telling her to find Elizabeth and meet me in
front of the McCallisters’
so we
could head out. Kannon guided me back across the plush back lawn
and through the house, now bursting at the seams with teenagers
from
both Westwood and St. Paul’s.
Devon was already waiting impatiently when we
finally made it to the front door.

“Liz says she’ll get a ride home with
Cynthia,” Devon called. She hooked a thumb towards the Bug, parked
halfway down the block, to indicate she would wait in the
car.

I nodded before turning to Kannon to
say goodbye. He gave me another one of his sweet, soft kisses that
I loved so much. With all of the people milling about the front
yard, I knew the chaste kiss was all I would get, but I was still
disappointed. I wished we were alone for just a few moments, so we
could enjoy one of those long, lingering kisses that I was also a
big fan of.

Kannon trailed one finger
across my collarbone, not quite touching my skin but close enough
that tiny sparks illuminated my bare flesh. A pleasant shiver ran
down my left arm. “Promise me you’ll stop by your house and get
the
dream catcher
,” he said in a husky voice.

“Okay,” I said dreamily. I would have
promised him the moon just then.

“I’m serious, Endora. And don’t take
it off again. Not to shower, not for practice, not ever.” All
traces of humor were gone from Kannon’s face; his green eyes were
dark and deadly serious.

“I promise. The dream catcher and I
are like this,” I crossed my middle finger over my index finger and
held them up for him to see, “from this moment on.”

“Good,” he said, visibly relieved.
“I’ll see you in the morning.”

I began to walk across the lawn to
where Devon waited at my car, feeling his gaze trailing behind me.
In a daze from being near him, I almost missed Kannon’s parting
line.

“Dream well.”

Chapter
Twenty-One

“Only Devon would meet a
guy in the morning and convince him to take her to prom that
night,” Cooper said. He took a long pull from his flask before
offering it to the rest of us congregated around the punch
bowl.

“Please, he didn’t even
have the decency to come to dinner or ride in the limo with us,”
Cynthia replied, accepting the flask. She took several quick sips
then passed it to Elizabeth.

“I think it’s romantic.
She must have made quite an impression,” Elizabeth said. “How
exactly did she meet him anyway?”

“On Main Street. Somewhere
between the tailor and her car they ran into each other,” I
replied.

When Devon called me
earlier that day and said she’d found a date to prom while picking
up her gown from Andrea’s Alterations, I’d been ecstatic. I’d been
so proud of her for refusing to back down and forgive Rick for his
latest indiscretion, and finding someone to occupy her time was
even better. But the more I thought about it, the less I liked the
idea of my best friend taking a complete stranger to prom. Just as
Cynthia had said, he told Devon that he couldn’t make dinner or
pictures and would meet her at the country club. Now, an hour into
the dance, he’d finally made an appearance ― sort of. He’d texted
Devon saying he was outside and asking if she could come meet
him.

“I’m sure she’s fine,”
Kannon murmured in my ear. “Just relax and try to have a good
time.”

His assurances not only
didn’t make me feel any better, they made me feel guilty. Instead
of paying attention to Kannon, my date, I’d spent the evening
obsessing over the mysterious guy Devon was all of a sudden
enamored with. Asking a complete stranger out on a date was
uncharacteristic for my best friend. She was suspicious and
inquisitive by nature, and preferred to do a complete and thorough
background check on any potential suitors. So this departure from
her normal personality bothered me.

A slow song started to
play, and my friends and their respective dates began moving
towards the dance floor. I didn’t follow immediately. I wanted to
make sure Devon was okay.

“She’s fine,” Kannon
repeated. “Let’s dance, and if she hasn’t returned by the end of
the song, we’ll go look for her.”

Only the fact that I’d
basically ignored him all night made me agree. “One song,” I
prefaced. “Then we go make sure she’s okay.”

“Deal.”

I took Kannon’s offered
hand and let him lead me to the dance floor. He wrapped his arms
around my waist and I wrapped mine around his neck. But my
attention was still on the main entrance. Devon was nowhere in
sight.

Beside us, Cooper dipped
Elizabeth backward until her long hair swept the floor. She giggled
and sang along with the song, butchering the words. Mandy and
Matthew moved in small awkward circles, neither of them
particularly coordinated dancers.

“Are you having a good
time?” Kannon asked, pulling me from my thoughts.

“Of course,” I replied
automatically.

Kannon bent down so his
face was inches from mine. The concern in his eyes was evident,
making me feel even worse for being such a crappy date. “You only
get one senior prom, Endora.”

I smiled and kissed him
softly on the cheek. “I’m having a great time.”

A head of blonde curls
laced with baby’s breath caught my attention over his shoulder. I
exhaled a long sigh of relief. Devon was back. I almost laughed at
how worried I’d been. All this nonsense about Egrgoroi was making
me paranoid.

The relief quickly morphed
to unease. Devon wasn’t alone, and the guy, her mystery date,
wasn’t a stranger. I’d seen him at least once before. He’d been
dressed in jeans and a sweater that accented his midnight blue
eyes. At the time I’d thought his frosted blond highlights screamed
high maintenance. Now, in his immaculate white tuxedo with black
piping, he looked like a heavenly creature. But the energy he
exuded felt anything but angelic. Dark, dangerous power radiated
from his body.

The boy walking hand in
hand with my best friend was the same boy who’d suggested I jump
off the rock at Caswell Lake.

“Eel? What’s wrong?”
Kannon asked, following my gaze to Devon and her date. His body
tensed when his eyes landed on the boy.

“Do you know him?” I
demanded.

Kannon took a moment to
compose himself, allowing his muscles to relax and his features to
return to neutral. “No. Why? Do you?”

He was lying. Kannon
definitely knew the boy, or at least recognized him. My pulse
quickened. Something was off. I pulled free from Kannon’s grip and
started towards where Devon and her date were standing by the
finger foods.

“Eel, wait!” Kannon called
after me.

I ignored him. Nothing was
as important as getting to Devon.

The song ended and a
faster, more upbeat one took its place. More of my classmates began
filtering onto the dance floor, obstructing my view of Devon and
making it harder for me to fight through the crowd.

Kannon caught up to me,
grabbing my upper arms to stop me in my tracks. I struggled to free
myself, but Kannon’s grip was firm.

“Stop, Endora.”

I didn’t heed his command.
The crowd around us had parted, and I could see Devon again. She
was starting down a hallway off of the main ballroom, still holding
hands with the boy.

“Who is he?” I demanded
without turning to face Kannon.

Kannon said
nothing.

“Who is he?” I repeated
through gritted teeth.

Kannon said
nothing.

Irritation and anxiety
spiking, I screamed my question a third time. “WHO IS
HE?”