The Appeal of Evil (The Road to Salvation)

THE APPEAL

OF EVIL

By

Pembroke Sinclair

Booktrope Editions

Seattle WA 2014

Copyright 2014 Pembroke Sinclair

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Cover Design by Ida Jansson

Edited by Katrina M. Randall

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, brands, media, and incidents are either the product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously.  Any resemblance to similarly named places or to persons living or deceased is unintentional.

 Print ISBN 978-1-62015-187-7

EPUB ISBN 978-1-62015-283-6

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Library of Congress Control Number: 2014900566

For Wendy.

Thanks for having faith in Hell Boy.

Thank you, Lori and Betty, for your invaluable insight as beta readers. Thank you also to my Booktrope team. I couldn't have done it without you.

“YOU USED TO HAVE A CRUSH ON ME, YA KNOW.”

Katie stopped dribbling the tennis ball on the court and focused on the speaker. Wes stood in front of her and to the left. He crouched, his forearms resting on his knees, his tennis racket twirling in his hand. When he glanced over his shoulder at her, a sly smile covered his lips. She remembered when his hair was blonde, but recently he had dyed it black and cut it into a short spike. It made his skin look paler than normal; his thin lips looked redder. The corners of his brown eyes wrinkled as his smile widened.

She set her jaw. There were so many things she could say to him, the first and foremost that he was an idiot, but she pressed her lips into a line. Why would he bring that up at that particular moment? What did it matter? With a shake of her head, she faced forward and threw the ball in the air. Pretending it was Wes’s head, she smashed her racket into it with all her might. It sailed over the net, and her opponent moved to the right to intercept it. A forehand shot sent it back toward Katie and Wes. It was beyond her court realm, so she let Wes get it.  Inwardly, she kind of hoped it would hit him in the mouth, maybe swell up his lips so he couldn’t speak. It didn’t. He was ready and backhanded it over the net. The two teams volleyed a few more times, then the girl on the opposite side hit the ball a little too hard, knocking it out of bounds.

“Yeah!” Wes pumped his fist in the air, then approached Katie for a high five.

Reluctantly, she gave him one. The other team readied to serve, but the bell rang. Thank goodness, Katie thought. After leaving the tennis courts, she followed the rest of her class into their respective locker rooms.

Not being one to dilly-dally in the locker room and catch up on the latest gossip, it didn’t take Katie long to shower and change. Being naked around other girls made her nervous. She was more developed than they were, and the way they stared and huffed at her, like she could control nature, made her uncomfortable. The sooner she could cover up her body, the happier she was. She stopped at the bathroom mirror to quickly run a comb through her hair. With her dark brown hair wet, it looked black. It touched her shoulders, so it didn’t take long to get the comb through. She made sure the part in the middle was straight. Her hazel eyes caught the fluorescent lights and glittered for a moment. She leaned closer to the mirror and applied chapstick to her pouty lips. Tucking her hair behind her ears, she turned and headed out of the locker room.

As she stepped out the door and headed for the gym, someone grabbed her wrist from behind. The touch was familiar, and, if she was honest with herself, expected. Especially after what happened on the courts, an apology was in order. The action didn’t surprise her, and she didn’t cry out. Instead, she allowed herself to be pulled toward the storage area near the girl’s locker room that held the gymnastic mats. Her wrist was released and she turned to face him, crossing her arms over her chest. Wes hopped onto a stack of mats. It was typical of him to bring her someplace private, away from prying eyes, after making a spectacle in public. Wes was good at apologizing, but he was horrible about admitting he was wrong in front of others.

“Sorry about what I said on the court, but you needed some motivation. They were creaming us. I figured the best way to get you to play better was to make you mad.” He smiled.

Katie rolled her eyes and turned to walk away. She didn’t make it very far. Wes wrapped his legs around her thighs and pulled her backward. He draped his arm across her left shoulder and rested his hands on her ribs, right below her breast. She shuddered. His mouth was right next to her ear; his breath tickled her lobe.

“Why don’t you still have a crush on me?” he whispered. He traced his fingertip gently across her shoulder and down her arm.

Goosebumps rose on her flesh. Her stomach fluttered; a chill ran down her spine. The smell of soap and mint drifted into her nostrils. The heat from his body radiated through her, making her feel safe. It was a short-lived sensation though, and the flutter in her stomach quickly turned into a lump. She lifted her arm and dug her elbow into his side. He grunted and let go.  Without a word, she stomped toward the gym.

Wes caught his breath and jumped off the mats. “Katie, come on. Come back. I’m sorry.”

She turned around, her face red with anger. “Just leave me alone!”

She tried to keep her emotions in check, but the words came out louder than she expected. She spun around quickly, not wanting Wes to see how upset she was. As she did, she ran into someone. Jerking back, she opened her mouth to apologize, but the words stuck in her throat. Bright blue eyes met hers, then quickly flicked over her head. She took in the boy’s short light brown hair styled with gel, the full lips that turned down in a frown. The muscles bulged beneath his shirt, and she fought back the urge to place her hands back on his chest. Josh Evers.

“Everything all right, Katie? This guy bothering you?”

Oh, my God! she thought. He knows my name. Josh Evers knows my name!

It took her a moment to find her voice. “No, I’m fine. Thank you.”

The redness in her face that had been there from anger quickly turned into embarrassment. The desire to run and hide from both boys overwhelmed her.

“Hey, Josh, why don’t you mind your own business? Katie and I were having a private conversation.”