The Accidental Kiss (The Kiss Book 1) (24 page)

I opened an elaborate armoire. “Jackpot.”

There were rows upon rows of dresses each more colorful than the next. I pulled a black and blue striped maxi dress off a hanger. Tugging it over my head, it bunched at my feet. Luckily, I found a pair of scissors in my nightstand drawer. I cut off the hem to fit my 5’0” frame. With little time left, I slipped on my shoes and ran over to the window. My room was on the third floor with a patch of soft grass below. There was a chance I’d break my leg if I jumped. Nonetheless, there wasn’t an alternative plan. In the distance, footsteps approached. With all the courage I had, I took a deep breath and launched myself out into the open. Wind ripped through my hair as I fell to the ground. At the last minute, my legs tucked into my body and I rolled, saving myself a costly emergency room trip. I brushed the dirt off my dress and sprinted into the bright lights of the French Quarter.

The people who populated the streets didn’t spare a second glance at the girl in the maxi dress and long frizzy hair. New Orleans was a place you could blend amongst the weird.

“Excuse me,” I called out to a woman dressed to the nines. She turned around and I realized she was a drag queen. “Can you please tell me the time?”

She cocked her hip. “Honey, do I look like I own a watch?”

Her black jumpsuit shimmered underneath the streetlights while her pink heels put her easily at six feet tall but her arms were bare of any accessories. “No. Sorry to bother you.”

As I was about to head off in the opposite direction, she laid a hand on my arm. I looked into her heavily mascaraed eyes. Kindness softened them. “Why don’t you come get a drink with me? You seem like a girl who needs a strong cocktail.”

My mom had always said to never go anywhere with strangers. “I can’t. I’m not old enough to drink.”

“Then have a Shirley Temple for all I care, but I know that look all too well and it’s not safe to be alone.”

“Do I look like I want to kill somebody or something?”

She slapped her palm over her chest. “You look like your heart has been ripped out of your chest, smashed to pieces, and torched to ashes.”

Jesus, dramatic much?

Although, she was spot on once you added a dash of remorse into the mix. Sighing, my eyes took in the crowds of people. What other choice did I have? I was in a strange city in the middle of night. What happens in New Orleans stays in New Orleans.

“Alright, I’ll go with you but you have to tell me where first so I can prepare myself,”

I said.

She let out a deep belly laugh. “I like you…what’s your name?”

“Sky.”

Bowing at the waist, her raven red wig slipped down her forehead. “It’s a pleasure. You can call me Cheri Bomb.”

I had a strong hunch Cheri Bomb was her stage name. Unless her parents had a sick sense of humor. “It’s nice to meet you.”

Cheri sized me up and I fidgeted underneath her judgmental stare. “You look as if you been through the ringer.”

If only she knew how true her statement rang. I wished I had taken a shower before I jumped out the window. There was probably still dried blood on my skin amongst other unseen bruises. Cheri dug into her mega-sized purse. Muttering, she uncovered a tube of lipstick, a comb and wet wipes.

She stepped off to the side underneath an awning. “Come here. You can’t go into Cat’s Meow looking like you got into a fight with a raccoon.”

What was with everybody wanting to change how I looked? First it was Emily, then Lucy, and now Cheri. Still it wouldn’t be a bad thing if my appearance were altered a bit. That was the number one rule when you go on the run.

“Ok,” I said warily.

Standing in front of her, she tipped my chin upwards, while she attacked me with wet wipes. “Jesus girl, you’re covered in dirt and grime. Where have you been?”

I didn’t think she would take lightly if I said the lowest depths of hell so instead my shoulders shrugged in indifference. Next, came a swipe of red lipstick followed by a serious amount of tugging so my hair didn’t look like a rat nest. When Cheri was done, she pulled out a mirror and showed me my new and improved look. I had to give it to her; I didn’t appear half as bad as I felt. The power of red lipstick and a comb was transformative.

Cheri dumped everything back into her bag and hefted it over her shoulder. “Come on. We have to get to the Cat’s Meow before my set starts.”

I hurried after her, wondering what I had gotten myself into. The Cat’s Meow wasn’t a name that held a lot of sophistication behind it. Then again, nobody would think to find me there, which was ideal.

Five minutes later, we stood out front a nightclub. Techno beats from inside shook the ground beneath our feet. Girls dressed to impress stood in a line that snaked around the block.

“Hey, Winston,” Cheri said to the bouncer at the door. “This is my friend, Sky.”

Winston wasn’t normally my type. He was a clean-shaven hipster dressed in tight jeans and a muscle t-shirt. However, an overwhelming need to feel something, anything, besides the numbness that resided in the core of my chest, made me overlook Winston’s appearance. He was cute enough for tonight.

“I like your name,” he drawled. “It fits a beautiful girl like you.”

Cheri rolled her eyes as she yanked me past him. Before we stepped over the threshold, I looked back at Winston. A surprising boldness spilled out of me. “If you buy me a drink later, I’ll save you a dance.”

His eyes light up with interest. “Deal.”

Cheri and I entered the club where it was sensory overload. Red velvet fabric was draped over the walls, neon colored lights flashed from above, and cage dancers grated their hips to the throbbing music. I wasn’t in Kansas anymore.

Cheri’s lips moved but I couldn’t hear her. “What?” I yelled.

She bent toward my ear. “I have to be on stage in ten minutes. I’ll meet you after the show and you can spill your pretty little heart out.”

I swallowed a lump of panic at the thought of being alone. “Ok.”

Cheri was quickly enveloped into the crowd as she pranced off. The bravery I had felt a few seconds ago diminished. Hopefully the bartender didn’t card me when I asked for a drink because it was certainly needed. I fought my way to the bar and found an empty stool near the corner. Plopping down, I grabbed the cocktail menu and perused my options. To my dismay, they all sounded like a hangover in a glass. Melissa had taught me the art of drinking when we were fourteen. At the mere thought of her, remorse grabbed my heart and squeezed. Daemon had stolen my best friend’s life simply because she got in the way of the voodoo priest’s master plan. It was so fucked up. Not to mention the man I almost gave my virginity to turned out to be a deceitful and manipulative a-plus asshole. God. My head hung in my hands and I drowned in a sea of misery.

“What I can get for you?” The bartender’s voice settled me back onto the solid ground called reality.

“Two fingers of scotch, neat.”

He arched an eyebrow, but didn’t question my order. Not a second later, a crystal glass filled with amber liquid was placed on the wooden bar. A warm burning sensation traveled down my throat as I downed it.

“Would you like another one?” the bartender questioned.

I wanted to forgot about my problems, not end up on the floor. “Just a glass of water, thank you.”

Time ceased to exist where everything was painted in an array of rainbow lights and nobody had anywhere to be except the dance floor. The scotch had provided a faint buzz but the raw state of my emotions remained the same.

“It looks as if you started without me.” Glancing over my shoulder, Winston’s eyes danced with humor. “Can I take a seat?”

Regret soured on my tongue. While Winston was cute, dancing, flirting, or pretending as if everything was hunky-dory didn’t sound appealing. He didn’t wait for my answer and slid into the vinyl barstool next to mine.

I stabbed an ice cube in my water glass. “Sorry, but can we take a rain check?”

“On the dance or the drink?”

“Both.”

Winston nudged my knee. “Come on, I swear I can boogie like it’s nobody’s business.” To prove his point, he jumped off the stool and did a jig. A laugh slipped out of my mouth. “Alright, maybe I’m not the best dancer but it will be fun.” He held out his hand and wiggled his eyebrows.

Fun was a word that hadn’t been part of my vocabulary for the past three days. I’d been too busy being bombed with one monumental life change after the next. For a few moments, I wanted to forget. Forget who I was, forget who Daemon was, and forget I played a part in Melissa’s death. I wanted to be free. Slipping my fingers into Winston’s, he led me onto the dance floor. Bodies surged around us. I spun around and Winston tugged my hips against his as our bodies swayed to the thumping beat. My arms rose over my head while my eyes drifted shut. The music took me away to a place where pain and heartbreak didn’t exist. Sweat beaded along my cleavage.

“You’re so fucking beautiful,” Winston whispered in my ear.

His hands splayed on my ribcage, sending a delicious chill down my spine. Sexual tension hummed in the air.

“You can’t lose me, Sky.”

My body jerked to a standstill as my eyelids flew open. Slowly, my head turned and a shocked gasp dropped from my lips. I blinked again to rid me of the vision I was seeing. Daemon stood in place of Winston, who was now nowhere in sight.

“No,” I breathed. Daemon walked closer to me but I curled away from him. “Leave me alone.”

A spark of hurt ignited in his gaze. “Like I said, you can’t lose me. I am part of your story now and we have to finish this chapter together.”

Daemons and my story had ended as soon as he had revealed the secret that changed everything. I wasn’t going anywhere with him.

My arms crossed over my chest. “What happened to Winston?”

Daemon sneered. “You mean the guy who was practically humping your leg?”

“We were dancing.”

“That’s not dancing. That’s having sex in public and calling it dancing.”

If I wasn’t so pissed and betrayed by him, I would have laughed. He sounded like the seventy-year-old he truly was.

“Whatever. If you will excuse me, I have to go find Winston and apologize.”

The bodies around us created an unbreakable barrier. I glanced around to find an opening to slip through, but it was wall-to-wall chaos.

Damn.

Daemon gripped my hand hard. “Come on.”

“Stop bossing me around!”

My protest was drowned out by the techno beat of music blasting from the DJ booth. The crowd parted for us as we made our way to the exit. Girls’ eyes raked over Daemon like he was a hot fudge sundae they wanted to devour. Jealousy was a bitter pill to swallow. From the corner of my eye, I saw Cheri gyrating her hips on a pole in one of the cages. Lost in her own world, she didn’t notice me shooting her a desperate plea for help. The cold hard truth was nobody could save me from Daemon, including myself. Daemon and I stepped out into the muggy night air and I yanked my hand away from him.

He narrowed his eyes. “Do you want to die?”

A group of partygoers gave us a wide berth as they passed us. Looks of concern were painted on their faces. I wanted to scream for them to stop but instead, they disappeared around the corner and out of sight. Daemon pulled me into a dark alleyway. The promise of rain permeated the air.