Black Moon (5 page)

“Candra . . .” He snarls my name like he can’t stand the taste of it in his mouth. “Either tell me or I’ll draw it out of you . . . slowly.”

I won’t put it past him. I answer, “She asked why you spent time with me, what we were doing. I couldn’t help myself, so I told her.”

“And that still didn’t get you anywhere,” he states indifferently.
 

I sigh. “No, but I got a few hits in before I went down.”

He untangles our legs and arms, and stretches out, bending his arm at the elbow and resting his head on that hand. “So, you two fought over me?”

I sit up and turn around, facing him. “Don’t be cocky, Benjamin Conway. That’s annoying.”

“Too bad I’m not trying to impress you; otherwise, I’d keep that in mind.”

Ouch.
“I’ll tell you what I told Jana—it has nothing to do with you. It’s between Ali and me.”

With too much of a ‘
tude
, he asks, “And what did Jana say?”

I swear, sometimes he
knows
. Regrettably, I respond, “She said it’d always be about you.”

My eyes have adjusted enough to the dimness to see his muted features. His smile widens, making my stomach swim in numerous directions. Damn him! I was perfectly fine until he showed up.

“Like I said: you two fought over me. I knew you liked me, Candra, but I didn’t realize you liked me enough to fight another girl.”

Deflated, feeling like my body weighs a ton, I say, “She’s not just a girl, Ben—she’s your girlfriend. It’s different.” Something I never was. Something I never will be. I inhale a deep breath, determined to suck it up.

With one hand, he cups my chin, forcing me to look at him. “And it has to stay that way, whether we like it or not.”

“She’s got you wrapped around her finger, doesn’t she?” Then the revelation hits me. “Oh my God. You’re marked.”

“I never marked her,” he says, sadness changing his voice. “Just you.”

“It’s pretty obvious you two are destined to be together.”

“Are we?” He rolls off the bed, stands, and then slowly paces across my room. “I’d be lying if I told you it doesn’t feel right being with her, but there’s still a gaping hole inside me. I don’t know what it is.” His fingers comb through his black hair, which has grown lengthy and now hangs well past his ears, almost touching the curve of his neck.

“Well, you two have been on and off for a while. I’m sure your feelings for her will grow over time.” I want to take back the words. What am I doing, anyway, giving love advice to my arch rival?

“Yeah. Sure.” He doesn’t sound convinced.
Good.

Another revelation hits me far too late. “How did you get in? We’ve had this place, and others, on lockdown ever since my stint with Ethan on Halloween.”

“I used my power,” he says casually.

“And what is your power?”

“I can bend time.”

“
Bend?
”

“Yeah, manipulate it at will. So, it was quite easy to walk through your front door.”

Well, that’s unnerving. While Mrs.
Rendall
can heal, Ben can stop time. Stop time! They definitely have the advantage on us.

“Surprised?” he asks, shaking my thoughts.

“Uh, yeah. A little. Does that mean you can spy? Freeze us in place and snoop around?”

“I can . . .” When my eyelids stretch wide open, he quickly adds, “But I don’t. I’m not like my brothers, who would use this power against you.”

I suppress a snort. “Yeah, right. Eventually, you will.”

“No I won’t,” he says, matter-of-factly.

Whatever. They’ll all use their powers against us, including Ben. If they didn’t, we wouldn’t have problems with magic being performed by Followers. He just can’t confess to anything . . . yet.

“So, what else is going on? Why are there so many more cults around town?”

Deviously, he laughs. “You know I can’t give you that information.”

“Of course you can.
Pleeeease
?” I beg, but it does no good. Ben stands firm against our cause, reminding me that even though we’re not trying to kill each other right now, we might be forced to face one another in the near future.

“Won’t do it. Sorry, Princess.”

“You never answered me, you know,” I remind him.

“About what?”

“Why you’re here. You didn’t need to hear it from my lips that I lost to Ali in a blood bath. So, what’s the real reason?”

He shrugs. “Had to find out what it was really about.”

“You don’t trust her information?”

“I didn’t say that.”

I smirk. “How interesting.”

“Shut up. Don’t get any ideas.” His footsteps approach the window. He tears apart the curtains, splaying light across the room.

I shield my eyes, groaning. “What’d you do that for?”

“You shouldn’t be hiding behind darkness all the time. It’s not good for you.”

“Ha! That should be your family’s motto.”

He
wags
a finger at my face, narrowing his eyes. “Don’t even.”

Sadly, this brings back bittersweet memories. Even though he and I temporarily worked together, at least we proved the Lowell’s and Conway’s
can
get along. Too bad our families disagree.

Knowing our little meeting has reached its end, I smile. “Bye, Ben.”

He returns the smile with his own. But before he opens the door, he adds, “I still can’t believe she kicked your ass. This whole time I thought you’d
murder
anyone in your path. Guess I was wrong.” He shrugs.

Just for that, he gets the nearest thing I can grab—a pillow—thrown at his face.

The look he gives me after he catches the pillow isn’t one of silliness, though; it’s terror. Eyes wide open, jaw slack, body rigid. Fear turns into anger as he emits a low growl from deep within. His eyes smolder gold, and I have the funny feeling he might kill me. End it all right here, right now.

“What is it? What’s wrong?” I slide off the edge of the bed, inching my way toward him slowly, as if he’s about to jump off the edge of a building. “Ben!” I snap my fingers a couple of times. He doesn’t move; he’s frozen in place, staring a hole through my skull.

Shifting his eyes, he stares back and forth between the pillow and me, only responding one way: telepathically.

Candra, what have you done?

Ah, damn it.

Chapter Four

W
hat have I done? That’s a fantastic question. Jana warned me not to relinquish anything of mine, but because he grabbed the pillow I sent it his way, we’re now marked. Holy hell.

What do we do now?
I ask.

There’s nothing we can do. Once two people are linked together, they can’t be
un-
linked,
explains Ben. He lost his fury; his demeanor turning into defeat. There’s nothing we can do to stop this, which means we’ll just have to live with it.

There has to be a way! I can’t listen to and see your thoughts forever. Perform some of your voodoo magic, whatever it is you Conway’s do.
I hop from one leg to the other in a circle, imitating my version of putting a hex on someone.

He groans, rubbing circles at the inner corners of his eyes. “It’s not that easy. This is an old charm, one that doesn’t have a solution.”

“Ben, seriously, it was a mistake. It’s not like I gave you that pillow freely.”

“From where I stood, it looked like you did.”

I huff and cross my arms. This is so
wrong.
If I could retract the pillow-throwing incident, I would. Wait a second!

“Can’t you turn back the clock and change this?”

“I can only pause time in the present, and enter the future. I don’t deal with the past. That’s an entirely different power.” Tossing the pillow onto my bed, he adds, “And even if I could, I don’t know if I’d change anything.” He saunters toward me, gaze never leaving mine. “On second thought, I think this might’ve been the best thing that’s happened to us since you moved here.”

I back myself against the wall, leaving me nowhere to run. “Ben . . .”

“Candra.” Pressing his arms against the wall on either side of my head, he leans in so close I can smell him—spicy and woodsy, with a trace of mint. My eyes never leave his, even though they threaten to ogle his full lips and remember how they taste.

“You know, if you want to kiss me, you should just do it,” he blurts.

“Excuse me?”

He taps his head twice. “We can’t hide from each other.”

Oh, damn.

“
Oh, damn
is right,” he says with a smile. “Now, tell me what I’m thinking.” He snakes one arm around my lower back, and with the other he wraps his fingers around my neck, forcing me to hold his gaze. He’s thinking about kissing me and how this might be a good idea after all . . . and . . . and . . .

Whack.
My hand leaves a mark on his cheek.

“It’s not going to happen,” I hiss.

He rubs the red splotch on his face, smiling the entire time. “
Wanna
bet?”

Before I can counter, he overpowers my lips with his, pulling me closer, melding our bodies into one. I push against his chest in an attempt to make him stop, but he doesn’t budge. If anything, he yanks me tighter against him. My mind is reeling with so many emotions. I try to stop him, I really do, but the moment he realizes my lips aren’t moving against his is the moment his fingers wrap around my throat again, constricting my airflow.

“Kiss me,” he murmurs against my lips, nipping at each one until educing a response.

I shake my head a little, not really able to move it much while in his grasp.

He squeezes harder, growling through his teeth. “
Kiss
me.”

Opening my mouth to speak is useless. The airflow is slow-coming, and I’m starting to see spots. Oh God. Maybe this is the real him, the merciless version of the Ben I know.

Let go of me! Everything’s going black.

Good,
he says, jovial.
Kiss me and it won’t.

Stop it! This is crazy!

Kiss me,
he repeats.

Ben—

Kiss me.

Ben!

Kiss me, Candra.

So, I do. I don’t hold back, either. I kiss him for the times I wanted to kiss him and couldn’t. I kiss him for saving my life, even though he turned against his family. I kiss him for the hate I feel towards his birth into the Conway family, ruining our destiny.

As I think about these things, about the way he tastes on my tongue, a slow, aching blaze spreads the entire length of my body, from head to toe. My heart beats hysterically inside me, and I feel the steady pulse of it in other regions. All I can think about is what it’ll feel like to have his body pressed against mine, my legs and arms wrapped around him, his mouth trailing kisses on my bare skin. I can almost smell the sweet sweat; feel the chilled air against my impassioned body, sending quakes of necessity down my spine. I think about our future together, as one. I envision children and happiness and growing old. The truth has always been there, lingering in the dark, waiting to be unleashed: Ben and I, we were meant for each other.