Part 17 (1/2)

19.

The last thing I wanted to do was leave Riley, but I needed to make my meeting with Laurel.

Thinking he was sleeping, I rolled away from him and began to climb from the bed. An arm snuck around my waist and pulled me back again. His mouth nuzzled my neck.

”Where do you think you're going?” he growled in my ear.

I placed my hand over the top of his and squeezed hard before letting go. ”I've got to meet a friend. She'll be p.i.s.sed if I'm late.”

”Can I come?” he asked.

”No,” I laughed. ”It's girls only.”

I wasn't actually sure if this was true, but I needed an excuse to keep Riley away. I had a feeling Laurel's circle would be even more furious with me if I turned up with Riley in tow. ”I need to get back to my room first and get myself cleaned up.” I hated the idea of was.h.i.+ng the scent of him off my skin, but after the wreckage, and then spending the last couple of hours in Riley's bed, I figured I was a mess.

”Okay,” he relented. ”But you need to let me give you a ride back to campus.”

I realized I didn't have any wheels of my own. I could walk, but that would make me late for sure. ”I guess you'll have to.”

He kissed my neck, sending s.h.i.+vers down me. ”Your enthusiasm is overwhelming.”

I twisted back around to face him, and kissed him on the mouth. ”Sorry. I just worry about people gossiping.” That was part of the truth.

”Screw them. Let them talk.”

I smiled, but I didn't feel it. ”Yeah, screw them.”

We got up and got dressed, and within ten minutes I found myself on the back of Riley's bike, thundering down the road toward town. My position on the bike, with the powerful machine thrumming between my thighs, did nothing to help the ache down below that the last couple of hours with Riley had caused. I didn't mind. That I had something physical to remember what we'd done made me squeeze myself with joy. Within ten minutes, we approached campus. A group of students hung out beside one of the cars, another crowd sat on the gra.s.s in front of the building. They all turned and stared as the bike roared into the lot. I could feel everyone staring, whispering behind their hands to one another. I knew I shouldn't give a s.h.i.+t about what they were thinking or saying, I just wished I didn't.

”Thanks, Riley,” I said, climbing off the bike. I pulled the helmet off and handed it back to him. Suddenly shy, I gave him a smile. ”I'll see you later, yeah?”

Turning to walk away, I heard him say, ”Hey, Icy!”

He reached out and caught my arm, tugging me back to him, before planting a kiss on my lips in front of everyone. My cheeks flared with heat, but I couldn't help dissolving inside. He broke the kiss. ”No more accidents, okay?”

I shook my head. ”No more accidents,” I agreed, though I had no idea what the next few hours might hold.

Riley tore away on his bike. Everyone got back to their own business. I thought I'd been forgotten until I glanced around and locked eyes with a familiar aqua stare.

Flynn was watching me. d.a.m.n, he must have seen me with Riley.

I lifted my hand in a half-wave, but he just turned and walked away.

My heart sank, though I wasn't sure why I even cared.

I only had half an hour before I needed to meet Laurel. Hurrying up to my room, I stood in front of the mirror and checked out the mark on my forehead. The wound still looked obvious and painful, but wasn't as red raw as it had been a few hours ago. I would be able to use a little makeup to try and disguise the injury. I showered and changed and was ready to head out again within fifteen minutes. I didn't have any wheels now, so I caught the bus into town and asked the driver to point me in the right direction of Laurel's home. The house was a beautiful, white clad property set back from the road. A porch ran right around, a swing to one side of the front door.

As I approached, the front door opened and Laurel appeared, facing in toward the house, shouting her goodbyes. ”Yeah, I'll be back before eleven, Mom. Love you!”

She turned, pulling the door shut behind her as she did so. She caught sight of me and rolled her eyes back in the direction of her house. ”My parents are over protective, you know?”

Then she got closer, and her eyes widened at the sight of my forehead. ”Holy cow. What happened to you?”

Automatically, I reached up to touch the wound. ”I fell up some steps,” I lied. ”Smacked my forehead on the top one.”

”Wow. Too many drinks?”

I laughed. ”If only. More like two left feet.”

She seemed to buy my excuse. ”So, are you ready to meet my circle?”

I shook my head. ”Not really. I'm nervous, to be honest. It doesn't seem like they have a very good opinion of me.”

”They don't understand you, that's all. We're used to knowing exactly who people are in the world, and you're something of an anomaly. When they find out you're nothing to fear, and that you want to help, I'm sure they'll warm up.”

I hoped Laurel was right.

We headed down to the beach. Instead of staying on the natural C of the cove, Laurel headed northward, toward the cliff face that marked the end of the beach. I frowned, but stayed quiet and followed.

At first I thought she intended on climbing the rocky cliff, but then she turned to me with a secretive smile and nodded toward a craggy outcropping of rocks. ”Do you see why I couldn't just tell you where to come?” Her smile was borderline smug.

I still wasn't sure what she was talking about, but another few footsteps, and a clamber on some slippery rocks, took me around the outcropping. A small natural archway was created in the cliff face, but followed the precipice around a bend so the gap wasn't naturally visible.

I entered the rock, the temperature instantly dropping. The small tunnel was low, causing me to duck, and I reached out to protect my already injured head from any more knocks. Within a minute, I stepped into the open air again.

I found myself standing on a small, hidden cove on a different part of the beach. A bonfire burned, candles lit around it. The waves rushed onto sh.o.r.e, a rhythmical, peaceful shush of millions of grains of sand moving at once.

Three figures sat around the bonfire, surrounded by candles. The power of the sun had lessened, but it wasn't yet dusk-that moment between day ending and dark falling. As I'd expected, Melissa was one of the three. The other two, though, I hadn't been prepared for. One of the other figures was Kayla, Brooke's friend. And the final one had a familiar halo of red curls.

”Dana?”

For some reason, she'd been the last person I'd expected to see here. She was one of the few people who'd been nice to me since I'd come to Sage Springs. But then I remembered when Melissa had collapsed at the dance, how Dana had been one of the people to rush in and help. I remembered how she'd kept pus.h.i.+ng me toward Flynn, though I'd a.s.sumed it was because of the paper, not, I guessed, because she'd wanted Flynn to keep an eye on me.

Dana got to her feet as we approached, her expression neutral. Melissa and Kayla also stood, both facing me, their arms folded.

”Dana,” I said again. ”I had no idea.”

”I wouldn't expect you to,” she replied. ”We're very careful about who knows about us.”

”But ...” I didn't know how to say what I wanted without sounding totally pathetic. What the h.e.l.l. Being pathetic was probably the least of my worries. ”But you always seemed to like me.”

”I didn't know what you were, at first. But after the incident at the carnival, and you being in possession of Melissa's necklace, I started to see an aura around you. It's not good, Beth. Your aura is red, or at least it was a few days ago.” Her eyes narrowed. ”Right now, it's black.”

I wanted to reach out and swipe my fingers through the cloud of color Dana claimed she saw around me. The reason for the change was clear to me. I had killed Jordy and fed from him. Perhaps it would go back to red eventually, but I wasn't even sure if red was any good.

”Beth, black indicates an absence of life. Clearly, you're very much alive, so why should I be seeing an aura which tells me you're not?”

I shook my head. ”I don't know.”