Renegade (30 page)

He shrugged. “It’s a party. I like parties.”

“Well, stay away from the orange fountain inside. It’ll put a hole in your esophagus.” I warned him.

“Sounds delish,” he replied and pushed away from the railing and went inside. I watched him through the glass doors as he went and filled up a cup with the spiked brew. Then he took a drink of it. He made a face as it went down, looked at his glass, shrugged, and added some more. Then he wandered off to the other side of the room where all the food was.

“What do you say me and you hit the dance floor?” Sam whispered in my ear. I spun to look at the crowd of dancing bodies.

“You don’t like to dance and I’m not so good at it.”

“But I like to touch you and I don’t care if you step on my feet.”

Riley stuck his head between us. “What are we talking about?” His breath reeked of punch and there was a cookie in his hand.

“Dancing,” I replied.

“The ladies love to dance,” he said, taking another drink.

“I don’t know how you can stand that stuff.”

“It’s a man’s drink.” He glanced at Sam. “You drinking soda?”

Sam scowled. Why did Riley insist on pushing his buttons?

“So has there been any sign of you know who at your place?” I asked, drawing his attention away from Sam.

“That’s actually why I’m here. Word on the street is your boy got himself banished,” he said, shoving the whole cookie into his mouth.

“Banished?”

“Yep. Pissed off the big guy down there.”

“You mean Lucifer?” Sam asked.

Riley nodded. “Every time someone mentions his name they practically pee their pants.”

“Where did he send him?” I asked. There was a sinking feeling in my stomach that I already knew the answer.

“Earth,” he said grimly, glancing at me.

“That explains the gym and the body,” Sam said darkly.

“Yeah.” I tried not to let it scare me that it was Halloween, a day on which Beelzebub had a history of trying to kidnap me, and we now knew he was here somewhere and not down in hell. “And maybe the other bodies from the news.” Sam turned thoughtful and there was a little bit of relief on his face. I hated to think of anyone suffering the wrath of Beelzebub, but I also didn’t want Sam to think he was killing innocent people.

“Look, you need to keep your eyes open. He’s probably closer than you think.” Riley directed his warning toward Sam, and I rolled my eyes at his machismo. Did he not think I could handle this? He drained the cup in his hand and looked off to the side. “I’ll leave you two to your dancing.”

Sam stepped out of his path, but I caught the sleeve of his shirt. “Wait. What happened to you liking a party?”

He shrugged.

There seemed to be a little bit of loneliness around him and I wasn’t sure why. I didn’t like to think of him leaving here and going back down to hell. It was awful there. I’d done nothing but avoid it for weeks. But the only reason I was able to do that was because of Riley. Maybe he did have some kind of ulterior motive for being down there. Maybe he did like the power and the control. Even still, he was here, giving us updates, watching out for us. I did believe he’d looked for the Soul Graveyard and even though he hadn’t found it yet, I knew he would be there when we did.

Shouldn’t I be there for him now?

“Dance with me,” I told him. His eyes snapped to my face. Then he glanced at Sam, who looked like he swallowed an entire mouthful of spiked punch, and grinned.

“Are you a good dancer? I got a rep to protect.”

“I’m lousy,” I admitted.

He pursed his lips as if to consider his reputation. “It is your birthday, so I guess I can make the sacrifice.”

“Gee, thanks,” I muttered.

“My gift to you,” he said generously.

Sam snorted.

“Actually, I did get you something,” Riley said, reaching into his pocket. Sam crossed his arms over his chest.

“You did?” Curiosity had me leaning forward.

He grinned and pulled out a silver fork and handed it to me. “I figured with Beetlejuice running around and all you might need some protection, and since this is your weapon of choice…” His voice trailed away and he held out the fork, handle first.

I laughed and took the utensil, holding it up to look at it. “It’s the nicest fork I’ve ever seen.”

He shrugged. “I stole it off the buffet table. Kimber’s loaded.”

Sam was looking between the two of us like we’d just beamed down from Mars. “A fork?” he asked.

I nodded. “When you were in hell I used one to kill a demon so I carried it around in my pocket in case I needed it again.”

He looked horrified and I realized this wouldn’t be funny to him. The fact that I was using forks to fight off demons while he was trapped in hell… I cleared my throat and slid the fork into the back pocket of my jeans. “I’ll just put this away,” I said. Then I glanced at Riley. “Thanks.”

“You owe me a dance.”

“I’m going to use the ladies’ room first.”

 I went through the house to the bathroom, where there was a long line. Instead of waiting, I bypassed the line and went farther into the house, where it was darkened. I supposed to discourage people from venturing into these rooms. I walked up the stairs, through Kimber’s bedroom, and into her adjoining bathroom. I did what I needed to do and checked my hair in the mirror and adjusted the multicolored chunky knit scarf draped over my white T-shirt and purple cardigan. When I came out of the bathroom, a figure to my right moved and I jerked, my hand going to my back pocket and the fork stashed there.

Then I realized who it was.

“Gemma?”

“Hey, Heven,” she said as she slid one of the dresser drawers closed.

“Are you
snooping
?” I asked, amusement in my voice.

She shrugged. “Just trying to get to know the resident witch.”

More like the girl who was trying to get her hooks into Cole, but I didn’t say that out loud. “She’s still staying at my place.”

“It hasn’t really kept her away from Cole.”

“I’m trying. It’s hard because she’s very persistent.”

“I don’t like her.”

“Not many people do.”

“There’s an awful lot of people here tonight.”

“Free food, lakeside party, music…” I listed and Gemma nodded.

“Have you seen Cole yet tonight?”

“Not yet, have you?”

She shook her head. “I’ve been laying low.”

“Maybe for one night you shouldn’t.”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean it’s my birthday and I want you to have a good time. Find my brother and dance with him.”

“I don’t know,” she murmured, but I could see in her eyes she wanted to.

“Come on, Gemma. It’s a party. There’s a ton of people. It’s not like you two are alone in Sam’s apartment.”

She got this kind of faraway look in her eyes when I said that and I wondered what happened the time they
had
been alone at Sam’s.

“Let’s go,” I said, grabbing her by the wrist and pulling her out into the hall and back toward the party.

“I should go,” she protested, digging her boots into the floor.

“Riley’s here. He said there’s a rumor going through hell that Beelzebub got banished to Earth because Lucifer’s angry with him.”

“He could be anywhere,” she frowned.

I nodded. “Maybe you could stick around just in case he shows up.”

“You think he will?”

“I wouldn’t put it past him.” In fact, I was surprised he hadn’t showed up sooner. Besides the stunt he pulled at the gym, I hadn’t seen him. It was unlike Beelzebub to be so quiet. I would have expected him to try and kidnap me at least three times by now.

“You don’t seem very scared,” Gemma noted.

“I’m scared,” I admitted. “But hiding at home doesn’t work, either.”

“I’ll stick around,” she promised.

“Thanks.” I grabbed her hand, trying to steer her out of the house.

“There’s too many people out there.”

I released her. “Maybe you could find my brother and take a walk by the lake.”

When she didn’t refuse immediately, I smiled. “You know you want to,” I sang.

Her lips titled up. “Maybe.”

I grinned. “Awesome. Now if you’ll excuse me, I left Sam and Riley alone.”

Gemma grimaced.

“Have fun,” I called over my shoulder.

“Happy birthday,” she returned.

So far so good, yet I realized the night was far from over.

Sam

I was standing on the lower deck, soda in hand, watching Heven and Riley dance. He was actually smiling in a non-snarky way and she was bouncing up and down, flipping her hair back and forth. Just when I was about to think maybe Riley wasn’t as awful as I thought, he moved in closer to Heven and put his hands on her hips. Then he looked up at me and wagged his eyebrows.

Loser.

Heven smacked at his hands, but she was laughing.

“What does she see in that guy?” Cole said, joining me at the railing, his own drink in hand.

“I have no idea,” I replied.

I guess I did, though. Riley was entertaining and sometimes he was funny. I guess I tended to be a little serious, and with people around us dying all the time, it was hard to lighten up. Maybe Riley was just comic relief for her.