Renegade (38 page)

“I’ve had better. Why are you so interested in Heven’s party?”

“I’ve never been to a party before,” she said shyly.

“You really aren’t missing much,” I said and grunted.

I caught the disappointment in her eyes and sighed. “It was on the lake. She had a bunch of lights strung up in the trees and a big stage—a wooden floor—spread out for people to dance.”

Ana’s eyes lit up. “Was there music?”

“Very loud music,” I said, thinking about the DJ and Beelzebub.

“Did you dance?” she asked, not picking up on my thoughts.

“With Heven.”

“I’ve never danced with anyone before.”

I tossed the DVD player onto the cushion beside me and stood. “First time for everything,” I said and held out my hand.

She slipped her hand into mine and I tried to ignore how soft her skin was and how small her fingers felt.

“This is how we usually do it,” I said, pulling her in close and lifting her arms up around my neck and wrapping my hands around her waist. “Then you kind of shuffle your feet in a circle,” I explained, my voice going husky.

She glanced at me as she moved. “Am I doing it right?”

“Uh-huh,” I said, my body humming at how close she was. All I could think about was the last time she kissed me. I wanted to do it again, but this time I wanted to show her what a real kiss was like. Without thinking, I pulled her a little closer against me.

“You danced with Heven… like this?” she asked, her cheek against my chest.

I smirked as I imagined the look on Sam’s face if I had. “Uh, no. It was a little different.”

“Different how?” she asked.

“Not as close,” I murmured, wishing we didn’t have to talk at all.

Of course she kept yapping cause that’s what women did. “Have you ever danced this close with anyone before?” her voice was soft, her question hesitant.

I knew I had, of course I had but in that moment I couldn’t recall a single face or a single moment to make it true. “No.”

We moved in a circle, not speaking, and then she lifted her head from my chest. “I like dancing better than the movie.”

“Yeah,” I said, unable to look away from the green of her eyes. “Me too.”

I heard a few waves crash against the shore, more powerful than usual, and felt the wind pick up through the window. I untangled one of my hands from around her and reached up, brushing away the hair from her face.

My gaze dropped to her lips, to the light pink softness calling my name. I began to lower my mouth toward hers, our dancing stopped, and we were just two people standing in the center of a quiet room… two people with desire swirling between them.

The low rumble of thunder had her springing back, away from me, alarm and something else on her face.

“Does it rain here?”

She shook her head, pulling her gaze away from me. “No,” she murmured and I felt a wall go up between us.

“I should probably…” she said, looking around for an excuse to make me leave.

“Yeah, I gotta go. Stuff to do,” I said, stepping away, going toward the door, leaving before she could kick me out.

“Wait!” she said.

I glanced over my shoulder.

“Don’t you want your bag?”

“Keep it,” I said and pulled open the French door.

“Riley, wait,” she said again, hurrying up behind me. “I… I…” Her forehead creased like she couldn’t find the words to say what she wanted to say.

I reached out and slipped her hair behind her ear. “It’s okay. I get it.”

“No, I… I don’t know how to explain.” She looked so torn in that moment that all I wanted was to put her back together.

“Maybe next time you will.”

She glanced up. “You’ll come back?”

I nodded, not missing the relief and that same look I saw in her eyes earlier… the one I couldn’t name. “Okay, I’ll see you then.”

I left then, wandering down to the beach, watching the crashing waves, and staring out at the blue. It was then I realized what that look was in her eyes.

Guilt.

I didn’t want her to feel guilty about being near me.

But I didn’t want to stay away, either.

Chapter Nineteen

Heven

He was waiting for me in the chemistry lab, just like I knew he would. The green fog spilled from the room, snaking out into the hallway and creating clouds that hung low to the floor, lurking… creeping… waiting…

I shuddered at the thought of walking through it to get inside. I thought of the empty green faces downstairs and the worried expression on the journalist’s face as she reported the “epidemic” sweeping the high school. There was no epidemic.

There was only a madman’s revenge.

My teacher appeared in the doorway, her black pencil skirt and blue blouse looking less than fresh, her hair completely out of the normal bun she styled it in. I wondered if she was anywhere inside her body or if Beelzebub killed her the first time he took over her skin. Part of me hoped she was dead, that she wasn’t somehow trapped inside with him.

That was a fate worse than death.

Sam and Kimber ran into the hallway, calling out my name, and I held up my hand. “Stay back. This stuff is everywhere.” I cautioned, watching as the fog drifted ever so closer.

“Heven, let’s go,” Sam called out. “When I said it was time to stop procrastinating, I didn’t exactly mean right this second.”

But I didn’t get to choose when to fight. I never had. I could hide for as long as I wanted, avoid the inevitable, but I always knew it was coming. And by avoiding it… by avoiding it, I’d allowed Beelzebub to bring his tirade to Earth.

Now might not have been the ideal time, but there would never be an ideal time to confront Beelzebub.

Sam started down the hall after me and Beelzebub/Mrs. Engles made a tsking sound. “Better tell him to stay back. Wouldn’t want him to fall prey to this nasty virus going around.”

“Don’t come any closer, Sam.” I warned, backing away from a tendril reaching out for my shoe.

“Oh, you’re safe,” he said, watching the fog fondly. “I made sure the Soul Reaper couldn’t be harmed by this.”

“Heven!” Sam demanded, wanting me away from Beelzebub.

“But you’re the only one I want alive,” he said, eyes narrowing.

He wanted me alive? “I thought you wanted me dead,” I replied, flat.

“Why don’t you come in and we can talk about it?”

Being alone with Beelzebub wasn’t something I cared to experience.

“No!” Sam yelled, running down the hall a little more. Beelzebub sent the fog rushing toward him. At the end of the hall, Kimber screamed and threw up her hands, blocking it from going any farther, stopping it just before it hit Sam.

“I suggest you do what I want before things get ugly.”

“You want to talk?” I asked dubiously.

“For now.”

I swallowed and looked back at Sam. Then I nodded. Sam made a sound, a cross between a groan and a roar, and then yelled my name.

“Wait for me outside. I’ll be out soon.”

“Heven, this is nuts! Get away from him.”

It probably wasn’t the brightest thing I’ve ever done, but I wanted to know why he suddenly thought I should live, and I also wanted Sam and Kimber out of the building before the cops showed up and hauled them out.

Trust me, Sam. I’ll be fine. Please go. Wait outside.

If you’re not out in five minutes I’m coming in,
he threatened, his words reverberating through my brain and giving me a headache.
Make that three minutes.

I didn’t look back as I stepped into the lab. I was afraid if I did I would change my mind and run away. Instead, I stepped forward, right into the green cloud, feeling it swallow me whole, and walked right into a meeting with my enemy.

The fog was very thin in the room, just barely visible by the windows and hovering just above the floor by the desk at the front of the room. My reflex was to hold my breath, to try not to breathe it in, because even though Beelzebub said it wasn’t going to make me sick, I didn’t trust anything he said. It was probably a trap. I was probably going to get sick and die, giving him exactly what he wanted.

Calm down,
I told myself. Thinking about my impending doom wasn’t going to help the situation.

I turned my attention toward Beelzebub. The first thing I noticed was that he was barefoot and his toenails were painted pink. A pair of black high heels were sitting by the desk at the front of the room. He caught me looking at them and said, “Do you see the kind of things I must endure to get near you?”

“Do you want me dead or not?” I said, ignoring his words.

“You’ve been mine, you know, since the day you were conceived.”

Again, the reference that this all somehow started with my mother. “Why?”

“She made me a promise she didn’t keep. And so her promise fell to you.”

Vague. His answers were vague. I could try to get more, but the actuality was I would never know if he told the truth. The answers I needed had died with my mother.

“So you tried to kidnap me as a child.”

“It isn’t kidnapping when you rightfully belonged to me!” he snapped.

It was weird seeing my teacher with such fury on her face. Sure, she was a real pain in the neck, but she’d never been cruel.

I decided to fast-forward a few years. “Why haven’t you tried to kill me?”

He smiled. “I have come to realize having you alive is much more beneficial.” He stalked toward me and I wasn’t as intimidated as I probably should be, probably because he was disguised a woman who wasn’t much larger than me.