Ceaseless (5 page)

              
“Okay. You’re right. I’m sorry.” He replied.

              
The sad expression in his eyes made my heart hurt. I squelched the desire to reach up and touch his face.  I didn’t want him to be sad. Had I sounded mean? I hadn’t meant to.

              
“Let’s just dance,” I said as the music began another sexy beat.

              
Dank nodded and his hands slid down further over my hips as he pulled me closer. The smooth easy way his body moved with mine made my hear
t speed up with excitement. His hands left my waist and circled my wrist. I looked up at him as he took my hands and pulled them up to wrap around his neck, pressing my body closer to his. The dark sultry gleam in his eyes made my breath hitch. I wasn’t experienced enough to play in his world. 
But no matter how 
dangerous he could be for my heart
,
 I couldn’t seem to break free from the hypnotic spell he had me under.

              
“Alright, lover boy why don’t you lay off the heavy with Peggy Ann here. You have places to go and people to see.”  Gee’s voice brought me back to reality. I let my hands fall from behind his neck and I took a step back.

              
“Gee,” the warning in his tone caused me to shiver.

              
“Don’t go getting all 
pissy
. I’m just reminding you of your plans,” she replied putting emphasis on the last word. 
What exactly was Gee to Dank Walker?

CHAPTER4

Dank

              
I 
was
 going to strangle Gee. Pagan 
was
 warming up to me. She was in my arms and I had found a 
modicum
 of peace from the fear that had gripped me since the moment I found out I 
could 
lose her.

              
“Dank,” Gee replied saucily. I knew she was right. I hadn’t finished taking souls for the night but I’d known Pagan was here. I could feel her emotions. Her soul still called out to me even though she no longer remembered me.

              
“Um, I’ll leave you two to work this out. I promised Jay a dance anyway,” Pagan said backing away.

              
Don’t leave me.

              
Pagan froze. 
Damn. I’d spoken to her soul. She’d heard me.  The confusion in her
 
eyes as she studied m
e 
made me hope 
she remembered
; 
t
hat her human brain was over
-
powered by her soul. 
But she shook her head and continued moving away. “I 
gotta
 go,” she said hastily then spun around and fled.

              
“Smart move
,
 ass
hole. You just scared the shit outta her,” Gee said with a sigh.

              
“Why’d you interrupt us? I know my duty. I don’t need you to screw with this.”

              
Gee raised both her blond pierced eyebrows. “Oh really? Well, if you would stop lusting over Pagan long enough to 
remember 
that you have a job to do
.
 
Y
ou have to let her make her own choices
.  If you did that, 
I wouldn’t have to step in. Yeah, you had her all wrapped up in 
that 
sexy
,
 dark
-
spell thing you have going on. But her soul is connected to Jay’s. She needs to face that. Then she has to decide. You can’t come in and intercept her every
 
time she gets close to him.”

              
Snarling
,
 I stalked toward the exit. I didn’t need to hear this. She was right and I hated that she was right. Pagan had to get close to Jay again. This was a competition. One I may very well lose. I winced as the pain sliced through me. Losing Pagan wasn’t something I could accept.

              
I glanced
 at the 
dance floor
 
and 
my eyes immediately found Pagan’s. She was watching me go. Jay wasn’t with her. She stood alone on the outside of the moving bodies
, h
er attention completely focused on me. I stopped and stared back at her.
 I took in the tilt of her head,
 
t
he softness of her lips and the interest in her eyes. I’d intrigued her tonight. That was a good thing. Would the Pagan who didn’t see souls on a daily basis
,
 be as accepting of Death as the one who had grown up seeing a part of this world that others were blind to. Jay came up behind her and touched her shoulder and she turned back to look at him. I couldn’t stay to see this. 

Pagan

“Am I 
gonna
 get that dance now?” Jay asked loudly over 
the music
.

I 
glanced back at Dank to see if he was still there. He seemed sad or lonely. I wanted to go talk to him. But he was gone.  
It was not a good idea to be
 interested in a lead singer. Yes
,
he was hard to ignore
,
 but it was 
in 
my best interest to find a way to get over his appeal.

“Yes, I,” I stopped mid-
sentence. The girlfriend was back and she was slipping her hands around Jay’s waist.  Jay’s frustration was obvious on his face.

“Come dance with me,” she cooed as she slid both her hands underneath his shirt. Yep, that was enough for me.

“I need to go. It was nice to see you again,” I said quickly and made my escape before he could say anymore. Scanning the bar I found Gee sitting there with her legs crossed 
and a
smirk
 on her face
. Miranda was still dancing with Nathan. As much as I wanted to leave I didn’t want to end the night early for Miranda. She was obviously having a good time.  I made my way over to Gee. Maybe I could just get a taxi home and leave her here with Miranda.

“What happened with frat boy number two?” Gee asked as she took another drink of her drink.

“I’m ready to go.  If I get a taxi
, 
can you wait around on Miranda?”

Gee shrugged, “Yeah I guess. It’s still pretty early. Why
 are
 you heading out already?”

Because the guy I wanted to be dancing with was gone.

“I’m 
tired
. It’s been a long day.” 
I replied.

“Okay. See 
ya
 later then,” Gee replied and wiggled her long black nails at me.

I looked back to check on Miranda one last time
;
 the smile on her face as she talked to the Nathan guy was my answer. She was fine. Good for her.

              
Smoke
 was everywhere. I was lost inside of it.  I couldn’t panic. If I wanted to survive this I couldn’t panic. My chest felt tight from the lack of oxygen. Slowly I waded through 
the smoke
,
 praying I’d make it out before the darkness took over. A small light appeared through the thickness and hope pushed me harder. My legs felt heavy. The closer I got to the light the slower my body moved. It was becoming harder to pick up my legs and put one in front of the other. My knees buckled and I realized I wasn’t going to make it. The light was there. 
So close.
 But I wasn’t going to get to it. The smoke was going to claim me. I took another strangled breath as my knees hit the cement underneath me.

              
Strong arms encircled me and the suffocation was lifted. I took a deep clear breath.  The arms held me close to a firm warm chest. I tried to open my eyes but I couldn’t.

              
“You’re okay. I’m here.” The deep voice assured me. I knew that voice. I gripped the shirt that covered the body that held me. 
I wanted to see him. I knew him.

              
“Help,” I begged. My eyes wouldn’t open.

              
“Always. You’re fine. This is just a bad dream. I’m here.” He assured me. I believed him.  I couldn’t see him
,
 but my body knew it was safe. Relaxing in his arms
,
 I breathed deeply again.

              
“I want to see you,” I told him.

              
“I wish you could. You will again one day.” His confusing reply was the last he said before the loud blaring alarm went off.

              
My eyes snapped open and I was staring at the ceiling of my dorm room.

              
“Turn that off,” Miranda grumbled
,
 throwing a pillow at the 
alarm clock
 beside my bed. We had freshman orientation in an 
hour
.  I reached over and pressed snooze. Bits of a dream flitted through my memory. I wanted to remember it.  Something about it had excited me.  But I couldn’t. Sitting on the edge of my bed I thought hard about the moment before my alarm clock had gone off. There was
 something I wanted to remember but I couldn’t recall it. I was drawing a blank.

              
Frustrated
,
 I threw the covers off and stood up. Miranda had huddled down deeper in her covers. I had no idea what time she’d finally gotten home last night.  She was almost impossible to wake up when she’d had sufficient sleep. This morning was going to be difficult.  I decided I’d get a shower first then I’d try to get her to wake up. Orientation was required. She’d have to get up and get there even if she only had enough time to brush her teeth and put on wrinkled clothes.

              
Gee was standing in front of the 
mirror
. She wasn’t looking in it. Her back was turned to it and she was leaning against the counter with her arms crossed in front of her like she’d was waiting on someone.  Her hair was already styled
---
well as much as she styled it
,
 and 
she was dressed
. She’d been out later than me. How did she look so awake?

              
“Sleeping in Peggy Ann?” She asked not moving from her spot in front of the sink. I really needed to get a shower
,
 but I wasn’t one to strip down in front of other people.

              
“Yeah, I can’t believe you’re 
so 
awake. But since you are up and dressed
,
 
could you get out so I could do the same?”

              
Gee pushed off from her stance against the counter. “Snippy, snippy. I guess 
you don’t want to hear
 about the private invite you got to 
attend 
Cold Soul’s concert 
Friday
night 
either
.”

              
I watched as Gee started walking toward the door to 
leave me alone
 like I’d asked. I 
shouldn’t
 ask her about the concert. I didn’t date musicians. It was a bad idea.

              
“Wait. What do you mean? Did Dank invite me?” I was weak. The guy was hard to resist.

              
Gee halted in her steps a
nd grinned.
 “Yeah. He did. You even get to bring your friend along if you want to.  
Backstage passes
 and all.”

              
Backstage. That meant he wanted to see me. Didn’t it? I didn’t need to entertain these thoughts but he made it so hard to remember 
that 
he was a
 
bad boy
. He didn’t act like one. He seemed almost lonely or lost. Not like 
the wild
 playboy I’d decided he was from day one.

              
“Okay. I want to go. I’m sure Miranda will want to go too.”  I wanted to ask her why he hadn’t called me himself or if I could have his number but he hadn’t supplied that and maybe I shouldn’t ask.

              
“I’ll let him know. But then again
,
 you may see him first,” Gee replied then opened the door and closed it behind her before I could ask her what she meant.

Dank

              
I had been waiting 
for 
her since I’d left her bedroom this morning. Last night had been the first time I’d gone into Pagan’s dreams. It felt like an invasion of privacy that I’d never wanted to cross. But while I sat there watching her sleep and making sure she was safe
 she’d started to have a bad dream. It had taken me a few moments to decide 
whether or not I should go
 into her 
dream 
and ease her fear
s
 or 
physically 
h
o
ld her like I used to when she was having a nightmare. I decided that the safer way was in her dreams.