Part 9 (1/2)
”You're not okay.” I reach a hand for her. ”What did he do to you?”
”She's fine,” the sleazebag snarls and slaps my hand away. ”Now get the h.e.l.l out of here.”
”Don't touch me, a.s.shole,” I warn, breathing through the stench of his death.
Raven wipes her tears away with the collar of her pink s.h.i.+rt. ”Ember, just go inside. Please.”
My muscles stiffen under the guy's powerful glare. ”I will, but you're coming with me.”
”You need to b.u.t.t out of business that doesn't concern you.” The guy prowls forward and shoves me backward.
”She's my friend,” I say firmly, regaining my balance. ”So therefore it is my business.”
He glares at me with hatred. ”Well, if you want, I could make it directly concern you.” He lunges at me, grabs my arms, and thrusts me back against the brick wall.
His vile death chokes me. He stands in the middle of a field. It's dark. A gunshot fires and he collapses to the ground.
I blink, stunned. It's not the same death omen as the other night.
He smiles and a chill p.r.i.c.ks at my skin. ”What's wrong Ember? Are you scared?” He drops his voice as he leans in, his stale breath hot against my face. ”Tell me, how was your drive home last night?”
”You tell me.” I kick him in the s.h.i.+n, dodge to the side of him, and reach for Raven. ”Come on, let's get out of here.”
Raven shakes her head and skitters away from me. ”I can't, Em. I have to stay here.”
Rage flickers across his face. He hurdles for me and grips my wrists so tight my skin breaks. I groan as the venom of a thousand deaths paralyzes me: self-inflicting, painful, too early, broken heart, old age, help me, help me, help me. There are so many that I can't sort through all of them. It's crus.h.i.+ng the oxygen from my lungs and strangles my heart. It's unbearable and ironic; what if death omens are the cause of my infinite death?
”Let her go,” a deep, demanding voice chips the blackness and pain.
Sleazebag abandons my arms and I crumple to the ground. I clutch the gra.s.s, gasping for air. Deep breaths. Deep breaths. Deep breaths.
A hand appears in my vision, but I shake my head. ”Let me help you up.”
”Go away.” I choke. ”Please. I swear I'm fine.”
”Ember, take my hand,” Asher says and the resonance of his voice settles me down.
I slip my hand into his and contentment glides through my body, squelching the pain.
He helps me to my feet, his grey eyes searching me as he brushes gra.s.s out of my hair, off my shoulder, and the feel of his hands is invigorating. ”Are you okay?”
Intoxication hums through my head. ”I'm fine...”
He traces his fingers down my cheekbone, my neck, my throat, heating my skin in an unfamiliar way. ”Ember...” He groans and l.u.s.t fills his eyes.
I repress a moan. ”I think I... I think I...”
”A little help here,” Raven's sobs crash us back to reality.
”I think you'll be okay.” His eyes focus on the doors of the school as he blinks the glazed look in his eyes away. ”But I think you need to take your friend home.”
Raven's curled up against the door, bawling her eyes out. ”Em, help me. Please. I don't know what's going on.”
I squat down in front of her. ”Come on, let's get you home.” When I get her to her feet, focusing past the pollution of her death, I notice both Asher and the sleazebag are gone. ”Where'd that guy go? Rav, did you see where he went?”
”Take me home!” she screams psychotically, with her hands clenched. ”Now!”
Sighing, I lead her toward the parking lot, picking up my bag along the way. Holding my breath, I exhale through her death omen: blood under her head, pain in her body, rain falling from the sky. I lower Raven into the pa.s.senger seat of her car and buckle the seatbelt for her, then climb into the driver's seat.
”Do you have your keys on you?” I adjust the seat back.
Tears rain from her eyes as she rummages the keys out of her s.h.i.+rt pocket. ”I'm so sorry. I don't know why I yelled at you.”
I press my lips together, fighting back the urge to yell at her, and turn the engine on. ”Sorry for what?”
”For bailing on you so I could meet up with Garrick.” She covers her face with her hands and cries.
”You bailed out on me this morning to be with that guy that has the X on his eye?” I'm stunned. ”But he's a total creep.”
”I like him,” she says, blinking her tears back, looking possessed. ”He's nice, has good teeth, and is courteous.”
”No he's not.” As I back the car out of the parking spot, I notice Asher's GTO peeling out of the parking lot. ”Okay... where is he going?”
”Ember!” Raven shouts with terror in her eyes. ”Please take me home!”
”Okay. Okay.” What is going on with her?
I drive toward our neighborhood, letting her cry for a few minutes. Then I turn down the volume of the radio. ”Okay, you have to tell me what the h.e.l.l happened to you that night Laden vanished,” I demand in a soft but determined tone. ”And why you were just with a guy that probably slipped you a roofie.”
”He didn't do that,” she protests with a quick shake of her head. ”It was another guy with the same kind of X in his eye.”
”I know you're lying,” I accuse. ”Your eye just twitched.”
She dabs her eyes with her fingers. ”I'm crying. Of course my eye twitched.”
”I don't believe you,” I say. ”You're lying and you've been lying to me since the other night. And you're not acting like yourself... You're not taking drugs again, are you?”
”Of course not.” She rolls her eyes.
As we drive over the bridge, her eyes dart to the median. There's a faint scent of death in the air and on the lamppost is a blue flyer with Laden's face on it. His car is no longer in the street, but the large red X on the asphalt is still visible.
”Such a shame.” Laughter hints her voice. Her eyes, smeared with mascara, widen as she gawks at the spot Laden vanished. ”He was a really good kisser.” She leans forward and relaxes her head on the dashboard. She shuts eyes, sweeps her hair to the side, and fans her sweaty face. ”It's so hot... Isn't it so hot?”