Something Witchy (Mystics & Mayhem) (8 page)

“Tell me about Jack,” he countered, taking me by surprise. 

Why would he want to know about my disastrous dating life?
I thought, frowning.  Then again, maybe he was just trying to make sure he wasn’t poaching on some other guy’s territory.  If he hadn’t been dead, that actually would have made my day.

“I told you, I’m not really dead,” he said, chuckling. 

I said that out loud?  
I moaned inwardly, wondering how I could have done something so stupid.  Blushing, I kept my eyes resolutely on the road and gave him the short version of the Ember and Jack story.  Honestly, the short version was the only version there was to tell.

“We’ve been friends since the third grade.  Or, should I say, we
were
friends.  That was before he lost his damn mind and decided I was his one true love.  I went out with him twice, though why I bothered with the second date is a mystery even to me.  He can’t keep his hands to himself and he doesn’t take rejection very well.  The end.”

I felt a tingle of unease as I said that.  Somehow, I didn’t think it was the end at all.  The look in Jack’s eyes when I had stood up to him had been terrifying.  Thank God I hadn’t actually fallen for the charm that had every other girl at Oakhurst panting at his heels.  I would have hated to end up an after-school special about abusive teen relationships.

“Have you ever met his family?” Nathan asked quietly.

I chanced a quick glance at him, surprised by the question, but he was staring out the window.

“Well, yeah, we all grew up together,” I said, turning back to the road and frowning again.  “His older sister, Leslynn, graduated last year.  His mom is in a book club with my mother, and his father is some kind of lawyer.”

“And they seem normal to you?” he asked, still not looking at me.  “They don’t act…strange?”

“No, not any stranger than everyone else I know,” I said, rolling my eyes.  “Should they?”

“He’s taken over recently then.”  His hands clenched into fists where they rested on his knees, and my eyebrows arched in surprise. 

“Taken over?” I repeated, frowning at him.  “What are you talking about?”

He didn’t answer, and I felt a keen edge of annoyance slice through me.  My hands tightened on the wheel until my knuckles turned white as I fought the impulse to reach over and give him a sharp smack to the back of the head for being a pain in my
ass.  If he hadn’t been dead, or whatever he was, I might have.

“You know, usually when one party asks a question, the other party responds with an answer. It’s called
communication
,” I growled, taking a lesson from my mother.  “Besides, I distinctly remember you baiting me into this car with you by promising me some explanations.” 

“You really
do
have a temper, don’t you, love?” Nathan asked, laughing and giving me that wonderful, warm look again.  If he kept it up, I wasn’t going to be any more than a big puddle of hormones by the time I got him out of my car.

“You’re doing it on purpose, aren’t you?  Intentionally not giving me straight answers?”  I found myself suddenly wishing I had left him on the side of the road.  Apparently, his promises weren’t worth the air he wasted to make them.  “You promised me answers and now I have five zillion more questions, a headache, and the very real urge to kick you.”

  For maybe the first time since I was a little girl, I actually breathed a sigh of relief at the sight of my driveway—empty of my parents’ cars, as I had expected.  That meant Nathan’s time was up and our weird conversation was over.   

“Well, what do you know, dead boy! You’re not going to have to keep your promise, after all,” I said, pulling to a stop in my usual space and cutting the engine.  “Time’s up.  Get out.”

But he didn’t move.  I turned to look at him and was blown away by the tenderness and intensity I could see in his eyes.  And there was something else there, something I couldn’t name—or didn’t want to name.  It was something deep and beautiful and just…
Wow
.  And behind that beauty was this wonderful heat that made me feel weak and tingly all over. 

I reminded myself for the tenth time that he wasn’t technically among the living as he leaned closer to me, bathing me in that skin-tingling scent of his, but it didn’t do any good.  He was just so
yummy
.  When he spoke, his voice was almost a whisper, and I was swept away by the emotion I could hear behind his words.

“Do you really want me to go?”

Yes, you’re scaring the hell out of me.

No, I want you to stay and talk to me and look at me that way for the rest of my life.

I don’t know!  You’re too much for me! 

All of those answers went through my head at one time and I didn’t know which one to choose.  Therefore, I chose none of them.  I hadn’t gotten any of the answers I wanted, and I had to admit I was dying of curiosity, so I figured I might as well invite him in.  I got out and stood there waiting for him to join me. 

“Well?  Are you coming or not?”  I asked when he just continued to sit there.

He shook his head, smiling at my less-than-pleasant invitation, but got out of the car and joined me on the walk leading to the door.  Just thinking about the fact that we were about to be all alone in my house was enough to make me blush, and I could have sworn he knew what I was thinking when he grinned and took my hand.

It wasn’t like when he had brushed against me getting out of the car.  This was full skin-on-skin contact, and the surge of electricity that shot through me because of it was almost scary.  His hand was cool against mine, his skin so soft that I couldn’t help but wonder what those fingers would feel like against my cheek, my neck…and various other places I don’t really care to mention.

When I tried to snatch my hand away, he tightened his grip and I looked up to see that his hypnotic eyes were smoldering beneath his thick lashes.

“Please let go,” I whispered, trapped in his gaze.  Too long looking into those eyes, and I would lose myself in them.  That thought alone was terrifying to me.

“Do I make you nervous, Ember?” he asked, his lips curving in a supremely confident smile. 

“No,” I lied, choosing to pay no attention to the warmth spreading through my body and the way my heart was trying to jump out of my chest.  “I just don’t like being pawed by strangers.”

“Uh-huh,” he said softly, pulling me to a stop.  There was a teasing glint in his eyes and I found myself having to force down a smile.  “I guess I’ll have to try a little harder then.”

I tried again to pull my hand free and put a little distance between us, but he wouldn’t let go.  Instead, he twisted our hands until mine was facing him and brought them to his lips to press a cool, lingering kiss to my knuckles that made me feel weak in the knees—and very,
very
, nervous.  The second he released my hand I backed away from him, blushing like crazy. 

Oh, no, no, no, no, no! 
My mind screamed at me. 
Dead guy, idiot!  I can’t see a real future here.

Agreeing with that more-than-half-hysterical voice one hundred and fifty percent, I turned and led the way to the door.  It took three tries to get my key in the deadbolt, my hands were shaking so bad.  I only managed it then because Nathan’s hand closed around mine and helped me slide the key into the lock.  It didn’t really do much to steady
me
though, as I’m sure you can guess.  Electroshock therapy isn’t really conducive to calm nerves, after all.

“Are you going to turn it?” he asked when I simply stared up at him. 

“Oh, um, yeah.”  

Tearing my eyes away from his, I turned the lock and opened the door.  I nearly tripped over the threshold and could have melted into a puddle of shame when he caught me before I could crash to the floor.  I suddenly wasn’t so sure satisfying my curiosity was a good enough reason to put myself through this.  Every time he touched me, I felt like I was riding lightning.  And that voice, those eyes, that
body
…he was just too much for any girl to have to deal with without backup.

I turned to look at him only to find him leaning against the door frame, watching me with a look I took to mean that I was the most amusing thing he had ever seen. Irritated, I planted my hands on my hips and met that amused look head on, pretending not to notice that it made me feel warm all the way down to my toes.

“Are you coming in or not?”

“Am I invited?” he asked with a smile that nearly turned my legs to rubber, arching one perfect brow.

“Just come in,” I growled, turning and heading for the kitchen.

I didn’t see him follow me through the house to the kitchen, I felt it.  I opened the refrigerator and grabbed a diet soda and another regular one for Nathan and slammed the door harder than necessary when I closed it.  When I turned around, Nathan was leaned against the counter watching me with a soft smile.  For one long moment our gazes locked, and I wondered in that moment what he was seeing. I had been running late that morning, so I hadn’t exactly dressed up. My black v-neck sweater and jeans were flattering, but not exactly sexy. My hair was a mess, my makeup was smeared, and I was blushing like crazy.

But, then again, he was dead, so why should I care? 

“Pull up a stool,” I told him, placing the can next to him on the counter and moving away from him as fast as I could before he decided to touch me again.  “I want answers.”

“What do you want to know?” he asked. 

“Just start talking,” I groaned, rubbing at my forehead where a distinct throb had begun in my temples.  “Start with what you meant about Jack and his family.”

“He’s a demon,” he said, shrugging.  “I don’t know if he’s compelling them or if they simply don’t realize that the monster living with them isn’t their darling little boy, but I intend to find out.”

I stared at him for a full minute before I started laughing.  Of all the things I had expected to hear, that one hadn’t even been on the list.  The cartoon image of a devil I’d seen as a kid suddenly flashed across my mind, complete with pitchfork, tiny horns, a tail that looked like there was an arrowhead at the end of it, and a little red bow tie.  That picture didn’t help much with the laughter, as I’m sure you can guess.  Nathan just arched an eyebrow, though, not even cracking a smile.

He was crazy.  Absolutely certifiable.  Then again, I guess you couldn’t look that perfect and not have some pretty major personality flaws.  We’ll call it Mother Nature’s way of evening up the balance.  I added insanity to the whole dead thing to give myself as reasons not to drool over him.

“You don’t believe me,” he said, frowning. 

“Did you really think I would?” I asked, trying to stop laughing and failing. 

Considering I had more dead friends than live ones, I’d be the first to admit that we shared the universal plane or whatever with other things.  But demons?  In Moonlight, Missouri?  Really?  What was next?  Angels and fairies?  Unicorns, maybe?

 “Seriously, how did you
think
I was going to react when you told me a guy I’ve known my whole life was a devil?”  Sure, Jack was a hot-headed asshole, a scary one even, but that didn’t make him an evil minion from Hell.

“A demon,” Nathan corrected, his expression very serious, pretty much verifying that he was crazy.  Ironic, considering when I laughed even harder he looked at me like
I
was the one who should be committed.  “Think about it, Ember. 
Is
Jack the same guy you’ve known all your life?  You haven’t noticed anything…different…about him?  You feel just fine when you’re around him?”

“What do you mean?” I asked, my laughter dying so fast I nearly choked on it.  Somehow, I didn’t find the conversation all that funny anymore. 

“When you’re around him, do you experience anything you find odd?” he asked, his eyes narrowing on mine. 

“Like what?” 
Like feeling like you’re choking on smoke every time the big ape looks in your direction?
a sarcastic little voice asked in the back of my head.

“You feel like you’re on fire when you’re near him, don’t you?” Nathan asked quietly.  “You’re choking on smoke and you can literally smell flesh burning, can’t you?”

  “How did you know that?”  I asked before I could stop myself.  I’d never told anyone that, not even Kim. 

“I knew a girl once who used to have the same experience,” he said, his expression pained. 

“And where is she?” 

“She died,” he said softly, staring down at his hands where they had clenched into fists on the countertop, “A couple of times.  I don’t intend to let that happen again.”

My eyebrows shot up, and I found myself trying to figure out that little riddle.  How did someone die a couple of times?  What was she, a cat?  Dead was dead, right?  Either you went on or you stuck around and haunted the living until you found your door or whatever again.  At least that’s what I had been able to deduce from my years of playing with the dead.   

 “Okay, I don’t have the first clue what you mean by that.  Are you trying to tell me that this amazing Cat Girl keeps dying and then coming back?  Like, reincarnation or something?” 

“Yes, that’s exactly what I’m telling you,” he said, giving me an intense look.  “Souls come back over and over again until they attain a level of enlightenment that allows them to move on to the next level of consciousness.  My, um,
friend
is on her fourth incarnation.”

“Poor girl.  Guess your friend isn’t all that bright if she didn’t get it the first three times, huh?”

Nathan threw back his head and laughed.  “I’ll let you ask her yourself one of these days.”

“I’ll pass,” I muttered, the idea giving me a chill for some reason.  “Let’s move on.”

You would have thought I’d had my fair share of freaky for the day, huh?  Well, you’d be wrong.  What can I say?  I guess I’m a glutton for punishment.

“What are
you
?” I asked when he simply tilted his head and waited for me to continue my interrogation.  “I know you’re not technically alive, Nathan, but I’ll concede to the fact that you’re not a ghost.  For one thing, everybody can see you.”