Predestined (25 page)

Dank bent his head and kissed my
temple. “I love you and I got this. No one else will die. Trust me.
Now I want you to go with Gee and stand back out of the way,” he
whispered in my ear.

I nodded but quickly threw my arms
around his neck and squeezed him tightly before Gee’s hand wrapped
around my arm.

“Come on you. There will be plenty
of time for that later,” Gee said tugging on me to come with her. I
let go of Dank and hurried to keep up with her before she pulled my
arm out of its socket.

“You took a soul that was too young
to defend itself. A soul that belonged to the Creator. You changed
fate and then decided to play with a world that is not yours. You
stepped out of your realm and took another soul not under your
rule. Now I give you a choice Ghede. We close this portal today as
well as the ones found in Africa and Haiti where the warriors are
now standing guard and we seal them for all eternity. Voodoo power
will end right here. Right now. You crossed a line.” Dank’s loud
commanding voice boomed over the streets. Even though I was over to
the side further away from the opening and where Dank stood I had a
clear view of the inside of Vilokan. Ghede’s amused smirk was
gone.

“Or you let Pagan’s soul go. Free
of any restitution. You stay clear of her and her family for all
eternity and remain as you are. But I warn you if I see your son,
you or any of your spirits again remotely close to Pagan I will end
this religion. There will be no second chances. It’s your
choice.”

Ghede turned and stared back at
Leif whose gaze met mine. His father was letting him choose. I felt
a small touch of sympathy for the boy who’d been in my life for so
many years. I knew there were memories I’d never remember where
Leif had come into my life when I needed someone. I was thankful
for those times. If only he’d been the honest, pure, sweet guy that
he’d seemed. But he was a product of evil. Nothing would ever
change that. He was selfish and weak. He would never be enough for
me. My heart could never love him. My soul could never want
him.

Then he replied, “Let her
go.”

Chapter Twenty-
Four

Dank

The wispy pink fabric
brushed against her legs as she made her way toward me. I enjoyed
the view of her entrance rather than going to her. Strappy silver
heels encased her small dainty feet. The hem of the dress brushed
her skin right above her knees. The waistline was high and the
chiffon was belted with a wide satin sash. Directly over her heart
the familiar filigree heart twinkled as the lighting hit each small
pink stone. There were no straps and the soft skin of her shoulders
were visible as was her elegant neckline. Normally, I enjoyed her
hair down but there was something to be said for having all that
mass of brown silk piled up high on her head leaving her neck and
shoulders bare.

When she was only steps away I
moved toward her and held out my hand. She slipped her hand into
mine and the connection of our palms sent warmth flooding through
me. The light charcoal that outlined her eyes caused the green to
stand out more. I was taken away by the depth of her beauty as she
gazed up at me. After taking in every perfect part of her
appearance as she entered the room it would almost seem impossible
for her soul to exceed her outward beauty. But as I soaked in the
beautiful soul I saw so clearly through the window of her eyes I
knew it did.

“Dank, we got to get on stage bro.
If she’s here then let’s go,” Loose, my drummer, interrupted me.
Scowling, I swung my gaze around to meet his. The long blond dread
locks the girls were so crazy about were pulled back in a ponytail
tonight. I was tempted to reach over and jerk one out of his
head.

Pagan had just arrived. Her mother
had dropped her off for me. She’d been spending extra time with
Miranda and her mother since her return. Both seemed to need
reassurance that she was in fact alive. When she’d “washed up” on
the shore a few miles away after her accident her memory had been
temporarily gone. Well, that was our story. Leif was believed to
have drowned. Although the memory of him would fade away soon
enough. Many people were already forgetting him.

“I’m just saying it’s time,” Loose
whined.

Pagan giggled beside me, “It’s
okay. Go on and rock the house.”

I slipped my hand through hers and
pulled her with me,”Not without you up there so I can see you.”
This was her prom too but I didn’t like the idea of other guys
dancing with my girl. She looked entirely too gorgeous
tonight.

“No complaints from me,” she
chirped and followed me backstage.

We stopped to the left of the stage
and I kissed her softly on the lips. I’d only meant to drop a quick
peck but her arms wrapped around my neck and she nibbled against my
bottom lip and I decided the crowd could wait.

Pulling her against me I enjoyed
the sweet taste that was only Pagan. Her soft lips molded under
mine and I fought to stay focused waiting on the moment her soul
would release. A soft moan escaped her throat and my blood began to
heat under each small lick and teasing touch from her tongue.
Concentrating was becoming more difficult.

Pressing her soft chest against
mine caused a shiver to run through me and a low growl began in my
chest. Why wasn’t her soul releasing yet? I couldn’t keep this up
or I’d completely lose all train of thought. Warm fingers grazed my
abs as she worked a hand underneath my shirt.

Panting, I pulled back and stared
down at her heavy eyelids and swollen lips. “Your soul, it isn’t
releasing,” I managed to croak out.

Sliding her hand up higher on my
chest she grinned wickedly up at me, “I noticed that too. Why did
you stop?”

Had Leif’s claim on her soul been
affected it? Shaking my head I decided at the moment I didn’t care.
I wasn’t going to turn down this unexpected gift. I reached down
and picked her up then began taking long strides toward the back
room where we’d left all the storage containers for our
equipment.

“What are you doing?”

“I’m going to enjoy a long overdue
make-out session with my girl. That’s what I’m doing,” I explained,
stepping into the room and closing the door behind me with one
shove of my foot.

“Oh,” she gasped before I pressed
her up against the wall, wrapping her legs around my waist and
feasting on her mouth for the first time ever with nothing crowding
my thoughts but how incredibly lucky I was.

Pagan

Dank’s band sung four
of their more popular songs and the Breeze High School graduating
class of 2012 was loving every minute of it. We only had two more
months until we walked across that stage and received our
diplomas.

“Hey gorgeous, you’re all kinds of
distracting,” Dank drawled in the dark smooth voice I loved so
much. Loose was telling the crowd they’d be back after a ten minute
break. I wrapped my arms around his waist and rested my head on his
chest.

“You guys sounded awesome out
there,” I told him then tilted my head back to stare at his
ridiculously perfect face.

“Les is a little off tonight but I
think it’s all the girls screaming out our names and the fact
they’re so close. Normally there is more distance between us and
them and seeing who the screams belong to is hard if not
impossible.”

“Hmmm, so you’re telling me Les is
checking out the chicks?”

Dank chuckled, “That is one way to
put it.”

“I could probably make a few
introductions for him if he is really interested”

Dank shook his head, “No, please
don’t. I want to keep these guys in a small section of my life. Not
around me all the time. The last thing I need is for one of them to
start dating a girl in Breeze.”

I liked that this part of his life
was off to the side in its own little box section. I already shared
him with... the dead. I didn’t want to share him with anyone
else.

“You want to dance... or maybe go
back to that storage room again?” he asked reaching behind his back
to take both my hands in his.

“Yes to the dancing and yes to the
storage room. In that order please,” I replied feeling my skin heat
up at the memory of having Dank’s hands on me again.

We didn’t walk down to the crowded
dance floor. Dank pulled me up against him and began to sing in my
ear as he twirled me around in our own little private spot, tucked
away backstage. This was by far the best prom any girl had ever
gone to.

* * *

“Haven’t we been to every store in
this mall already?” I moaned as my feet began to rebel.

Miranda glanced back at me and
frowned, “We need the perfect dress and shoes to wear under our
graduation gowns. We have to take them off and head to the party my
dad is hosting for us directly after the ceremony. I’d think with
your hot rocker boyfriend singing up on stage and all the girls
fawning over him you’d want to make sure you looked
hot.”

Dank had not only had Cold Soul
sing at our Prom he was now agreeing to bring them to our
graduation party. Of course I was more than positive Miranda’s
father was paying them well. Dank had to pay the boys something. It
was how they supported themselves.

I sank down on the nearest bench
and took a big whiff of the cream cheese pretzels in the bakery
directly across from me. It was the most heavenly smell on the face
of the earth. Or at least right at this moment.

“Okay, if you go get me one of
those yummy pretzels with the sweet cream cheese filling I’ll
continue to torture my feet in the search for
perfection.”

Miranda rolled her eyes, “Fine. But
you have to share. They smell incredible and I don’t need to eat a
whole one by myself. Last thing I need is a belly while trying on
dresses.”

Miranda had never even come close
to having a belly. It was my turn to roll my eyes. The girl was a
nut.

I shoved a ten dollar bill at her
and leaned back in the seat, “Please just go buy one. Heck, buy
two. I’ll eat one and a half.”

“No, you won’t. Remember you have
the hot sexy boyfriend you need to look incredible for. One and a
half of those one thousand calorie pretzels is not a move in the
right direction.”

“It’s mostly pretzel Miranda. Those
are fat free,” I reminded her.

She opened her mouth to argue then
snapped it closed before spinning around and marching off to the
bakery.

She was back to her old self. It
had taken awhile but she was definitely back. Some days she wanted
to talk about Wyatt. Other days she couldn’t bear to bring up his
name. I just felt her out and went with her mood. Watching her
stand with her hip cocked to one side and her hand placed on it as
she waited impatiently made me smile. Her spunk was
back.

An attractive guy turned around and
noticed her. He spoke to her and looked to be offering to let her
go first. But she didn’t budge and her posture remained stiff. The
guy looked a little let down that she’d blown him off and turned
back around.

She wasn’t completely back to
normal and maybe she never would be. The old Miranda would have
flirted her way to the front of the line. This one could hardly
stand the sight of the opposite sex.

“Is this seat taken?” a warm sexy
drawl asked and I lifted my gaze and smiled up at Dank.

“Yes. I’m saving it for my smoking
hot boyfriend,” I replied teasingly.

Dank slid in beside me and put his
arm around my shoulder. “Hmmm, well he should have got here sooner.
You snooze, you lose.”

Giggling, I snuggled up to his
side. “Save me from Miranda. She’s trying to kill me via
shopping.”

“Impossible. I happen to know Death
has a thing for you and you can’t be killed off that
easily.”

I pinched his washboard abs through
his t-shirt. It felt so good to be close to him and not have to
worry about anything but normal teenage stuff like a best friend
who has got part of her groove back and is now wearing me
out.

“You ever find out anything about
Wyatt?” I asked quietly peering up at him.

He nodded, “Yeah. Um, let’s just
say his death was an abnormal... er unique event. So his return is
just as unique.”

“What?” I asked sitting up so I
could read his facial expression better.

Dank reached over and tucked a
strand of hair behind my ear. “Just wait. You’ll understand soon
enough.”

“Ahem, excuse me lovebirds but this
is a shopping emergency day and I have our fuel. Now Dank, you need
to run along and go be all smoldering and sexy somewhere else. I
need all Pagan’s attention today,” Miranda had taken on a slightly
bossy tone.

Dank kissed my mouth softly then
cupped my face and whispered, “I love you,” in my ear before
standing up and leaving me in a puddle of mush on the
bench.

“See ya later Miranda. Don’t wear
her completely out,” Dank teased as he turned to walk away. I
glanced over at Miranda who was watching his butt in awe and I
swung my shopping bag to slap her in the side.