The 52nd (The 52nd Saga Book 1) (12 page)

He snickered to himself as he cranked up the heat. “Nope.”

His voice held that sarcasm that always put me in a sea storm of confusion. I suddenly didn’t know what to say that would sound intelligent or proper, so I stared out the window as the town’s lights turned
on.

When Lucas pulled onto Main Street, though, the suppressed urge burst. “Lucas, did you see another man at the
crash?”

There was still enough light to see the muscles underneath his shirt tense. “Did
you?”

“Yes, and I’m pretty sure I hit him too,” I said—it was more information than I wanted to share, but everything spilled out naturally at this
point.

“Have you told anybody
this?”

I shrugged in my seat. “They wouldn’t believe me if I
did.”

Lucas was silent until he pulled up to my dark house. Maybe he thought I was
crazy.

“I will wait for you to change,” he said, and just like that, it was like I hadn’t even asked the question.

“Really?”

“It’s no secret Jett doesn’t like me, so it doesn’t really matter if we show up in the same car,” he concurred.

“Right. Be right
back.”

I skipped up the stairs and ran to my closet. It was full of clothes, but not so much black. I didn’t want to wear what I always wore for night games, a grungy hoodie and tight yoga pants, but there were no other alternatives. I threw the baggy sweater over my head and wiggled into the stretchy pants, sprayed myself with a flowery scent, and headed downstairs.

My jitters only intensified when I stepped outside. Lucas’s white car looked frosty in the dark as it idled, but the smell of a warm paradise blossomed when I opened the door. I
sighed.

“Thanks for waiting.”

Lucas was unmoving, distracted with the rearview mirror. I didn’t understand. There was nothing but the blackness of the mountains past my
house.

“Any time,” he finally said, shifting gears slowly as he took one more look at the
woods.

Bri’s house towered on a small hill the next street over. It was the largest house in the neighborhood, with multiple turrets. It had a long, winding driveway and enough evergreen trees to look like Santa’s village at the North Pole. Her dad was a plastic surgeon and liked things
ritzy.

I saw Jett’s black truck parked along the curb when we pulled up. Ashley’s yellow Bug sat behind it on the downgrade of the hill, and then there was a car I’d never seen before. It was champagne colored and said
Porsche
on the back. I turned apprehensively to
Lucas.

“Gabriella’s here,” he answered promptly.

“Oh.”

Suddenly I wanted to disappear. Showing up with Gabriella’s brother was the last thing I wanted to be
doing.

Jett was leaning against Bri’s car in the driveway when we pulled up. He stood up when he saw us and moved his blond hair out of his eyes to stare. I could see he was wearing his black prescription frames. He usually wore them at night to see better. I couldn’t help but look away from his jealous glare to Gabriella, who stood on the lawn next to Dylan. With her thick hair pulled up into a high bun, she looked like an hourglass. Just as I started to look away, my breath stopped: the bombshell was smiling nicely at
me.

“Finally,” Tommy said, hopping out of the truck’s bed as Lucas and I joined them on the slanted driveway. “Alejandro and Zara are here. Did Zara explain to you how to
play?”

“It’s Lucas, and yes,” Lucas answered.

“Good. You’re on my team. You look like you’d be of good
use.”

Lucas didn’t seem honored—he clenched his jaw. “All
right.”

“Then we get Dylan,” Jett yelled
back.

Gabriella was suddenly next to me, talking softly in my ear. “And the
girls?”

“They pick which boys are on their team first, and then the girls go on the team their boyfriend is on,” I answered, as the boys
picked.

“So then, will you be on Jett’s team or Lucas’s?” Her question took me off
guard.

I recovered first with a blink before I turned to her and answered plainly. “Jett’s. But he isn’t my boyfriend.”

“Right, because you practically can’t stand the fact that he waited around a few short years to decide that he liked
you.”

“Gabriella, look, whatever I did to you, I’m
sorry.”

Her playful chuckle confused me. “Zara, I’m only joking. I would be upset if Dylan waited around that long too. Though, if I had any say in this, I think it would be cool for you and
Lucas.”

I wanted to make her finish her sentence. “For me and Lucas to
what?”

“Gabriella!” Dylan hollered.

“Looks like you’re on my team,” she said. She delicately moved to Dylan’s
side.

I followed her to our team. Jett casually put his arm around my shoulders, making sure Lucas was watching. Lucas’s eyes were locked on Jett’s all right—but not the way they had locked on the rearview mirror—this way practically defined
If looks could kill
. Jett looked away more quickly than I expected.

“We’re running first,” Jett said, once we were huddled as a team. “Gabriella, Dylan, you guys know where to
go?”

“Of course, man,” Dylan answered.

“Just checking.” Jett raised his head out of our circle slightly. “And Tommy, no cars in the
alleys.”

Tommy and the others on his team laughed. “You’re funny. Look at you, you’re shaking in your
pants.”

“Shut up, Tommy,” Jett remarked before turning to us. “All right, guys. They have the searchlight on my truck, so stay off the streets. If you see them coming from a block away, hide in the bushes until they pass you. Got it? Oh, and if you get to the gondola first, call
me.”

“So, we go alone?” Gabriella wondered.

“Every man for himself. Is that a problem, Barbie? No offense, Dylan,” Jett
said.

“None taken,” Dylan said, chuckling.

Gabriella ignored them, but glanced over at Lucas with worry. When he nodded, she glared back at Jett. “Just stay out of my way,” she replied harshly.

“Gladly. When Tommy counts to three, you run the hell away from
here.”

“We know, Jett.” Tana giggled.

“Just making sure. And be careful on Main Street. Getting out of the neighborhood is the easy part; it’s crossing Main Street that’s tough, so don’t be stupid about
it.”

“Jett, I think we all got it,” I remarked, pulling away from his
arm.

There was a clunk when Tommy hopped up into the bed of Jett’s truck. We all looked over at him. He was standing on one leg, the other braced on the sideboard.

“All right, you little babies, time to get running. And if we call your name, you’re out. Let’s go. Five, four, three, two . . .!”

Jett ditched me at once and sprinted across the street. I stood a moment, watching everyone take off in different directions. Tana ignored Jett’s advice and followed Tyson to the neighbor’s yard across the street. They disappeared in the shadows. I decided to run east, toward the next street in our neighborhood—there was another exit on the north side. I searched for Gabriella and Dylan as I crossed the street, but they were nowhere to be
found.

The streetlights were out on the next street. I was suddenly scared to be alone, so I took my chances and ran in the open on the sidewalk, hoping the moonlight wouldn’t give me away. By the time I passed the fifth house I was out of breath, but close enough to see the entrance to our neighborhood and Jett’s back running away from me. I ducked behind a bush and waited when headlights appeared behind me. As the car passed, a scratchy rustle started in the leaves. I jumped up and charged as fast as I could toward the
exit.

When I reached Lake Tahoe Boulevard, it was packed with cars, which made it impossible to know which was Jett’s. To stay clear of all of them, I kept to the side of the road with no buildings, hiding behind boulders and shrubs against the edge of the woods. The boulevard eventually turned to Interstate 50 at the city’s edge, and soon I was alone on the road. After a mile, I was halfway and also out of breath, but the mountainside along the edge of the road was getting too steep. I needed to cross the
road.

My foot was almost on the asphalt when I heard Tommy’s laugh. I retreated behind a large boulder, then peeked out enough to see them approach. Hayden drove slowly while Tommy directed the searchlight in the back, shining it right at me.
Crap.

I turned around and crouched down, leaning my back against the cold rock. The blinding light was only inches from my toes, and I could feel my feet slipping on the pine needles beneath me. I tightened my muscles and breathed in sharply through the burning. Finally, Tommy yelled to Hayden to keep driving, and I released my aching muscles with a
sigh.

Snap.

I flipped my head toward a sudden cracking in the trees. It was deep in the woods, where I couldn’t see beyond the first few rows of trees. I didn’t care if I got caught. I charged toward the street and crossed it as fast as I
could.

I didn’t stop until I was standing in a small alley behind the local tattoo shop. Its flickering neon lights barely lit the back. I couldn’t see well, but I knew I was close. I’d been to Heavenly hundreds of times; its entrance was only a few blocks east. I decided to stay in the alley, behind the trash bins, until I reached the road between me and the entrance. I thought I was moving smoothly along, keeping hidden, when I stepped on a small bump. A loud hiss rose and a cat on its nightly rounds ran away and jumped the wall.
Stupid
cat.

As I turned my back, cursing that it nearly scared me to death, I saw movement in the shadows behind me. A familiar shadowy figure stepped out into the open. I nearly fainted as the blood rushed away from my head. I dug my nails deep into my skin to stay conscious and turned to sprint, but hit my shin on a garbage can. I kept my balance somehow and fled, half hopping from
pain.

As the pain eased, I didn’t look back—I just sprinted harder. At the end of the alley, a sliver of yellow light from the streetlamp gave me hope. I bolted across the street to the parking lot entrance, trying to get to the gondolas as quickly as possible. But I had forgotten that there was nothing here, only another stretch of poorly paved asphalt that led to the parking lot, and
then
the gondolas. And how could I know that anyone from my team would be there already? I could end up
alone.

I spun around, searching for an escape route. The reflective glimmer of the dark lake caught my eye. As I pivoted toward it, multiple whispers carried on the
wind.

“Lucas?”

No one answered, so I took off toward the
lake.

My legs burned, but I didn’t dare stop. Through the frenzy, I tried focusing on what the whispers were saying. It was a strange language, like what I heard when I blacked out. The voices chanted the same thing over and over, in a unison that was almost tangible, making me wild with panic. When I finally reached the edge of the lake, my lungs were rough like sandpaper, and I coughed horribly as I tried to catch my
breath.

A few feet away, the rocky cliff dropped straight down to water far below. I turned my back to the water, not wanting to face what my mind was telling me to do. Tears filled my eyes when the figure glided from the forest into the open. I took a step back. Another emerged out of the forest at my left, closer than the other, and I took another step. With each gliding step they took, I took another one back, praying for another way out. I remembered what they did to that girl on the pyramid.

Soon I was on my toes, my heels teetering over the edge. The glistening water beckoned me to jump. I looked back up, scared, hoping for another way. The creatures were getting nearer—ten feet, seven feet. They were only three feet away when I decided to jump. As my feet lifted into the air, I saw timeless blue eyes behind the predators, stricken with
fear.

“Lucas!” I screamed, reaching for him as I fell backwards into the
water.

CHAPTER NINE

Safe

Air howled in my ears as the bloodless undead rushed after me, their thirst for death bright in their glowing eyes. My arms flung away from their outstretched bony hands—they promised to reach me, but the dark water caught me
first.

Needles of cold glass stabbed along my side. I fought the pain and kicked to stay afloat, but I was sinking, the pressure intense in my ears. A charley horse cramped my calf, and I thrashed my arms, desperate for breath but unable to stretch my leg to
kick.

I could see the surface just for a moment, but my lungs drew in water as I raised my hand toward the blurry moon in one last farewell. As my body surrendered, something in the water cinched my waist from behind. A current pressed against my head, and then I emerged headfirst. I gasped and took a breath of the cold air as if it was my
last.

“Zara,” Lucas said. “Hold on to my
arms.”

I coughed out water instead of thanks. He held me tighter and swam around the cliff, toward the beach. When I felt rocks underneath my feet, Lucas let go. I stumbled over their smoothness to the beach, collapsed, and coughed up lake. When my heaves eased, I turned to Lucas. He stood on the shore, leaving a careful distance between us. Distress was clear on his face, and I noticed a dim bluish light glowing through his soaked sleeve. Every nerve told me to run screaming, but I didn’t. I pushed the dripping hair off my face and observed his arm, remembering its freakish glow at the crash. He stood still, letting me stare, and then he moved, his apologetic expression changing to one of guilt. I struggled to understand what he could be guilty of as he pulled his fingers through his hair, sweeping wet strands off his face, and began to pace nervously.

As he walked back and forth, spinning something small between his fingers, relentless shivers overtook me. The bluish light under his shirt dimmed, and his figure faded to a black silhouette. My bewildered stare went unnoticed as he continued pacing. I wrapped my arms around my legs and curled into a helpless ball, listening to my teeth chatter as I waited for him to say something.

My stomach roiled with doubts that Lucas was human. I uncurled enough to squeeze my sick stomach tightly. He still paced, saying not a word to me. It was only when the clattering of my teeth grew louder that he snapped around to look at
me.

“Zara!” He rushed over to place a hand on my shoulder, but I jerked away, scared.

“You’re freezing. You need to get warm. I know this is the wrong time to ask, but I need you to trust me,” he
said.

An uncontrollable shiver turned my nod into a cringe, but Lucas bent down and slid his arm under my shoulders. In a fraction of a breath I was cradled against him. The heat radiating off his body warmed mine instantly, and without asking, I pressed my head against his
chest.

Hardly disapproving, he lowered his chin to my ear and whispered, “Shh.”

I scanned the dark woods where he was looking, trying to figure out what he meant, and then realized we weren’t alone. As he watched for movement in the trees, he kept me tucked against his chest protectively. He waited, and when the trees were still, he took
off.

An unexpected blast of wind whipped my face. The tree line rushed past in a black blur against the city’s glow. Icy wind froze my wet body. I squeezed my eyes tightly, nestled my cheek against his chest, and breathed in. His tropical scent was ecstasy, perfection. And then I noticed his breath was soft and easy as he sprinted.

Heavenly appeared in the distance across the street, barely visible under the moon’s glow. I felt the blood rushing through me now that we were safe. But Lucas stopped abruptly behind a
tree.

“What are you doing? We have to get out of here!” I yelled as he peeked out at the dark
street.

“No, not like this. Here she
comes.”

My neck cranked stiffly in that direction. Gabriella and Dylan were running toward us, but it was hard to follow them when they moved at the same velocity as
Lucas.

“Zara, you mustn’t say anything about what you saw to your friends. Do you understand?” Lucas
asked.

My lip trembled. “How do you know about the shadows?”

“There will be time to talk later,” he rushed. “I need your
word.”

“Okay. I won’t.”

It was easy to give in when his lips were so close to mine, but they moved farther away as he looked back
up.

“All right . . .” his voice trailed off as his sister approached
us.

“Zara!” Gabriella cried. She turned to Lucas angrily. “Where were you? You were supposed to be on her
trail.”

“I was until one locked me down,” he argued
back.

“What?” Gabriella
gasped.

Dylan looked past our shoulders to the lake. “They
know.”

“Know what? Who?” I
asked.

“Nonsense,” Gabriella snorted. “All they know is that this is the third time we’ve impeded.
Hijole
!” She threw her hands up in the air in disbelief.

“Gabriella, we don’t have time for this, nor is this the place. You have to change clothes with her now; she’s freezing,” Lucas directed.

Before the initial shock of what he was saying settled in, Gabriella’s clothes were on the ground and she was in her bra and underwear. Lucas set me down and turned around, creating a false wall of privacy.
Was he serious?

“Dylan,” Lucas yelled sideways.
Oh, he
is.

Dylan chuckled, then folded his arms as he gave us his
back.

Gabriella peeled my clothes off in layers. I tried to help, but my numb fingers wouldn’t move properly. When the sweater came off, the wind bit at my skin. It didn’t stop until Gabriella’s long pants and sheer shirt were over me. She handed me a light jacket that smelled like
roses.

She stood. “Now
what?”

Lucas spun around, his gaze criminal enough to make me wonder how ridiculous I looked in Gabriella’s clothes, but his smile was dangerous. “Good.”

Before we could speak, headlights shone through the base of the trees. Loud, reckless laughter followed. We turned simultaneously.

“Gabriella, Dylan, go! Tell them I followed Zara to the edge of the lake, we started messing around, and she fell in,” Lucas schemed.

The height of their raised eyebrows implied their assumptions. I blushed.

Lucas only smiled a little though, half-serious. “Not like that. Tell them I will be bringing Zara home. Then go to Bri’s, get my car, and meet us
here.”

“In my bra and underwear? You’re funny. Dylan, you do it. I’ll meet you at home,” Gabriella
said.

Didn’t they live at Fallen Leaf Lake?
Before I could say this was a highly impractical plan, Dylan nodded, and they ran back to the other side of the road. My head spun, wondering not only how long they would take, but also how Gabriella would make it back unnoticed in only a bra and underwear. We weren’t too far from home, but it was a good walk, farther if she was going to Fallen Leaf. Plus, I was still freezing with my wet hair. Gabriella had to be freezing too. I leaned back against a tree and looked to Lucas
anew.

“How have you been keeping this from me?” I asked, overwhelmed.

He focused on the ground and paced, two fingers rubbing a circle on his temple. “When I heard that you girls were going to Reno, I had Gabriella go to make sure you would not be
alone.”

“No,” I corrected. “Bri
invited
Gabriela. She didn’t come because you planned
it.”

He looked down at me, a clear expression of confidence in his version. My mouth dropped.

“Who are you?” I
asked.

“I am . . . the good guy.” He smiled and gave a light chuckle. “For lack of a better
word.”

“Compared to who?” I asked, grabbing my head, which was now hurting
badly.

“My life, it’s complicated, Zara. I am the good guy compared to those shadows, all right?” he said, frustration coloring his
words.

I laughed. “You’re comparing yourself to shadows? Seriously?”

“They aren’t what you think.
I’m
not what you
think.”

His head snapped in my direction as I muttered under my breath, and yet he still knelt easily by my
side.

“Look, I like you. But I don’t want you to get involved with me because of this,” he
said.

“You could have had me fooled,” I said, turning my face
away.

“I’m serious, Zara. You shouldn’t
joke.”

“Don’t flatter yourself. I was
talking
about the shadows.”

Lucas seemed stumped for the first time. It felt
nice.

“They were chasing
me
tonight, not you. But you already knew that, didn’t you?” The evidence was clear in his frozen face. “Why are they chasing me, Lucas?”

A line of white light blazed through the dense trunks. Lucas shot up, ignoring my question.

“They’re here,” he said as his car and Dylan’s convertible spun around the
corner.

“Great,” I groused, trying to figure out how they got here so fast. I tried to mask my disappointment. I was angry, but suddenly I didn’t know what I wanted. I felt safe with Lucas and wanted to stay. As I stood up and brushed the dirt off, Lucas held a hand out to stop
me.

“No, we’re staying,” he said. It almost sounded like a command. Chills ran down my spine, and yet I loved the
thrill.

“Did you have any problems?” Lucas asked as Gabriella handed him the keys. She had changed into a skirt and short top that showed off her midriff.
How was she not
cold?

“Nothing, brother. But we can’t be sure you’re safe tonight. Mother said to come home soon,” she replied.

She gracefully slid into the orange convertible, and they sped away in screeches and smoke as Lucas opened the door of his car. There was a dry set of clothes folded on the passenger seat. He pulled shorts and a T-shirt out and set them on the hood before briefly looking back up with a
grin.

“Turn around, please,” he
said.

I obeyed, trying not to think too much about the fact that Lucas was changing out of his clothes, and at very close range. When he finished, he stuck the keys in his pocket and headed down the unmarked path toward the lake a few steps before he turned. “You
coming?”

Adrenaline spiked through me, and I jogged after him. “Where are we
going?”

“I need to show you something.”

He walked fast. It was impossible to see anything in the dark without a flashlight. My ankles were weak on the uneven ground, and I knew I was slowing him down, but he was patient and even gentlemanly, pausing to hold branches out of my way. My fear receded when there was humanity visible in
him.

“Has Gabriella seen those shadow things before?” I asked Lucas’s
back.

“Yup.” I could practically see his smile as he popped the
p
.

He held the last green curtain out of my path, revealing lake before us, clouded by fog. He reached for my hand, and I jumped at the familiar rush of tingles.

“Relax. As long as you’re with me, you’re safe. I would never let anything happen to you,” he said, lowering his thumb over the back of my hand. A beat of warmth swirled inside me suddenly, and I felt
weaker.

As he led me to the shore through the wall of opaque cloud, I saw fireflies flying above the water, glowing in the fog like twinkling fiber-optic stars. My heart started racing. He was taking me to a place where, if anything happened, no one would
see.

“I’m sorry. It’s been a really long night, and I have a terrible headache, and I . . .” I began to explain dizzily, slowly resisting his pull toward the
water.

“ . . . have plenty of excuses,” he finished, pulling me with more
effort.

His blunt response took me aback, and I wondered if I could trust him. I mean, I wanted to, as enticing as his handsome Latin features were. But there was something inside me, something dark, that lurked in
anger.

“Look, I’ll take you home in a moment, but please, I am running out of time. Give me five minutes?” he
asked.

I shook with the rush of different emotions, but mostly fear as my heartbeat intensified.
What if I don’t like what he tells me?
I folded an arm across the hard pounding and bit nervously at my fingernails. He left me and walked toward the
water.

“Can I trust you?” he asked, stepping onto the light film of cold, black water covering the river rock. I watched him in the haze as he crouched
down.

“Yes,” I hiccupped nervously.

“Very well then, come
here.”

His voice magnetized me, flattening my fear as I walked to him through the swirling fog. My heart beat erratically as he waited, calm, his elbows on his
knees.

When I was close enough, he checked that I was watching, then touched the lake. He raised his dripping fingertips and ran them gently over the black markings on his left arm. The hieroglyphic tattoo glowed turquoise. It was extraordinary, but scary, and left my body tingling with strange excitement.

“Lucas, why is your tattoo glowing?” I asked, freaked
out.

He watched me steadily. “It does this to remind me of where I come from and who I
am.”

I backed away when he
stood.

“Who are
you?”

His intimate eyes were cautious when he took another step closer to me. I looked down, unable to remove my eyes from the neon glow rising from his arm. “Those shadows and I are from similar realms.” He paused. “There are things in this world that aren’t what you would call
normal.”

“Things? Others besides those shadows?” My lips moved, though I was unsure of what I was saying, much less believing. My blackout was
only
a blackout. It couldn’t be real—that girl
couldn’t
be
dead.

“Yes.”

“Are you human?” I blurted out, steadying a foot behind
me.

He chuckled, taking another careful step toward me. “Hardly. But would it count if I said I was human—well, sort of—at one point in my
life?”

“Why are those things after me?” I rushed, taking another blind step back. His tattoo was dimming, or his arm was
drying.