Lunacy (27 page)

I sat at my desk for one of the last times,
scribbling my essays down furiously when the last question stopped
me dead in my tracks. “Based upon the following passage, interpret
the symbolism present in the Norse legend of Baldr’s death brought
on by Loki, half-brother of the god Thor.”

Son of a bitch… There it was. The warning throb
started at the base of my skull, gradually snaking its way through
my brain and becoming an incessant pulsating agony in my temples as
I forced myself to read the legend and begin my answer. I fought
it, writing as quickly as I possibly could, accidentally tearing a
small line through the test paper. I paused and looked away from it
for a second, taking a very deep inhalation through my mouth before
going back to it.

Finally finished some twenty minutes later, I headed
up to turn in the test. I got a horrified look from the teacher and
I brushed the back of my hand under my nose, feeling moisture
there. I had a trickling nose bleed going on. I gave her a shrug
and a dismissive head shake, heading out the door without a
backwards glance. Now that all thoughts of Vikings were far from my
mind, I felt perfectly fine. I shook it off as I sank into the
driver’s seat of my car, checking my face in the mirror and wiping
all traces of blood from my skin. A soft, experimental sniff told
me that things were good now, so I started the car and headed back
home, just wanting to pass out on the couch and nap forever.

It was somewhere around noon, so I grabbed a quick
lunch and laid down, intending just to rest for a bit. When I came
to, I checked the time on my phone and was appalled to see that it
was now Saturday morning, somewhere around seven. I sat up and
sighed, finger combing my mussed hair back from my face. I headed
into the kitchen and started a pot of coffee, rubbing the sleep
from my eyes and wondering how the hell I’d slept so long. The
stresses of after school extra-curriculars with the Clan, paired
with studying my ass off and just wanting this year to be over had
me more tapped out than I thought.

I scanned through the texts on my
phone, pausing with a smile at one from Jynxx yesterday
afternoon.
“Came by but you were dead to
the world. Figured you’d need your beauty sleep. See you tomorrow
night beautiful.”

Prom night… I was so not looking forward to this. Two
cups of coffee and a light breakfast later, my parents came into
the kitchen. Both of them looked confused at me being up before
noon. I shrugged it off. “I think me crashing yesterday and
sleeping until just after dawn was more than sufficient.”

Dad smiled and kissed my forehead as he went to grab
his own coffee. “All that studying kicked your ass, I take it.”

I nodded. “You have no idea.”

Soon enough, they were on their way out the door and
I was alone in the house again. I grabbed a shower and called
Taylea and Mia, making plans to get our hair done in the afternoon,
closer to the time of the big social event. I picked them both up
and we were off, the whole thing not seeming real to me.

“Are either of you freaking out about this, right
now?” I asked, not taking my eyes from the road as we headed to the
salon.

“About prom?” Mia asked, stretching her arms before
settling back in her seat. “Not really. A little freaked about
graduation, though.”

Taylea laughed. “With how much you both bitch and
moan about wanting to get out of this school and this town, now
you’re starting to get worried? What the hell?”

I sighed. “I haven’t made any plans for a specific
college, or what the hell I’m going to do with my life. I don’t
want to work at The Palace forever, and I know I need to get away
from Elm Valley. Those two things are all I know about my
future.”

“What about Mister Dark and Dangerous?” Taylea put
in, turning partly to look at me. “Does he have any plans about
college and life outside this asylum?”

I frowned at her disdain, but she’d started being
civil with my boyfriend a while back. It was really the best I
could hope for from the stubborn blond. Jynxx and I had been dating
for nearly nine months now, and it hadn’t seemed like that long at
all. But even with all of that time together, we’d never discussed
college, or what the end of high school meant for our relationship.
I guess I’d assumed we’d try to go somewhere together, even if it
didn’t mean more school. With all of this him leading the Clan
thing, I wasn’t sure he could even leave Elm Valley for long.
Aloud, I scoffed. “He’s smart, but I don’t know if college is
something he wants any part of. Why go from one government
sanctioned prison to another?”

Mia laughed at that one. “Tarren and I are planning
on taking off somewhere for the summer. Come back towards the fall
and have everything figured out by then. I think everyone in our
class needs a damn vacation from this place.”

“You’re dead on there, girly.” Taylea put in.

***

It took us about an hour sitting in the salon, and a
quick glance at my phone’s clock told me it was nearly four, only
two hours away from all of this nonsense kicking off. The girls had
brought their dresses along so we could all go together from my
place. We’d pooled money together to get photos taken at the dance.
Less bothersome parents making us pose for an hour before we left,
that way.

Thanks to the giant mirror in my bathroom, we were
all done with our makeup and last minute primping by five. We were
going to meet up with the guys at the dance; Jynxx, Tarren, and
Raul were carpooling. I envied them. They’d probably only need half
an hour to get ready, not several hours of hair, makeup, and
wardrobe like we were movie stars. I shoved my bitterness aside and
we headed downstairs.

My parents were waiting on the couch, an unexpected
monkey wrench in our flawless plans. “Let’s get this over with…” I
groaned, the three of us standing together so Mom could get some
shots on her digital camera. While she was going on about how
pretty we all looked, Dad grabbed a few pictures with his phone.
Finally seeming satisfied, they both gave me a hug in parting,
careful not to muss my hair or face.

“We love you, honey. You kids all be careful,
tonight. Crash at someone’s house if you have anything to drink,
alright?” Mom added the last nonchalantly, like us being under-aged
was no big thing. She shrugged, “If you’re going to do it anyway,
might as well be smart about it.”

I rolled my eyes and Mia cackled. “Man, I wish my
parents were as easy going as yours, Kaysh.”

“Whatever… Let’s get out of here so I can do
something terribly embarrassing in public that’ll force me to hide
under a rock for the rest of my days.”

Chapter 25

5:45 and kids were lining up outside of the building,
everyone eager and holding their tickets like we were going to a
huge concert. I found myself wishing it could be something that
awesome. Picking up the edges of my bulky skirts in my hands, I
made my way to the group of guys waiting for Mia, Taylea, and I.
The looks on the boys’ faces said that we’d done a good job of
blowing them away. Raul and Taylea held each other, foreheads
pressed together as they murmured gushy things I wouldn’t ever want
to hear, Mia and Tarren holding hands and smiling at each
other.

Jynxx and I… I found it terribly hard to resist the
urge to strip him on the spot, and judging from the heat in his
eyes that made heat coil low in my belly, he felt the same. My
mother had fronted the bill for his suit; I say suit because it
wasn’t just your run-of-the-mill tuxedo. It was a tailored suit,
expensive and cut to fit him like a glove. His jacket, vest, and
pants were all black, matching his leather shoes that looked like
they would have done Armani proud. The shirt under his vest was a
pristine white that somehow didn’t wash out his complexion, and the
only bit of his whole ensemble that was the same dark green as my
dress was his silk tie, standard rather than a bow tie. And it
wasn’t a clip-on. He definitely earned bonus points for that
one.

“You look gorgeous, Kacea.” I blushed deeply and
nodded my thanks, having trouble finding my voice. He smirked and
just pressed a kiss to my forehead, holding my hand even when we
forked over our tickets and headed into the gym with the rest of
the over-dressed throng.

Rather than a live band, Oberon Public had decided to
hire a disc jockey for the event. “Great,” I sighed. “We’d better
get to that request sheet before it gets filled with bump-n-grind
music.”

Jynxx gave me a crooked grin. “Well, maybe we
shouldn’t fill the whole thing with metal. After all, I thought you
couldn’t mosh in a skirt?”

I slapped his arm and laughed. “Not in a ball gown
and heels! I discovered I can manage in a skirt.” I gave him a
pointed glare. “Gee, I wonder whose fault that one is?”

He whistled innocently and looked away, letting me
drag him to the DJ’s table, regardless. I wrote down some dance
songs I could stomach, and a few things I was almost positive there
was no way in hell they’d get played. I always liked to test the
DJ’s library.

We’d been out on the floor for a few minutes when
Taylea and Mia came to fetch me, their boys in tow. “We’re up in
five minutes for those pictures, Kaysh.” With an affected sigh, I
nodded my assent and the six of us went to get in another line.

After seeing the proof shots some ten minutes later,
I had to admit that we all looked pretty sharp. And since this was
the last event like this where we’d all be together, I suffered
through it with a minimum amount of complaining. Who knew if we’d
ever even see each other again after graduation and the summer were
over?

I tried not to dwell on the negatives, purposely
focusing more on enjoying myself as much as I could. I was in the
arms of a man who loved me, very nice arms, and we were one step
closer to freedom after this night was over with. We could go
anywhere once graduation passed, do anything, and still be
together. The world was a big place, and the future was ours for
the taking.

The night wore on and things were starting to wind
down. A round of slow songs had just ended and I excused myself to
head to the bathroom, needing a breather and to cool down a bit. No
one was in the ladies’ room but me, and I leaned heavily against
the counter with a sigh. My frantic pulse started to slow and I
could feel the perspiration beaded on my skin cooling. Everything
was finally falling into place, and I was more at peace with where
my life was headed than I ever had been before.

I had the sudden feeling I was being watched and that
serenity shattered into a million pieces as I looked into the
mirror. There was a pair of disembodied eyes watching me from one
of the mirrors, and I stared at them. I couldn’t decide if I should
be afraid of them, or not. Best way to find out?

“Who are you, and what do you want?” I asked.

I felt like something in my mind was released, the
sensation tingling and unpleasant like the pins and needles of a
waking limb. Everything flooded back to me so quickly that it stole
the breath from my lungs.

What had happened with Alain’s pack, being taken away
by the Enoch, being drained to the brink of death by the vampire
and his sister… And Jamison, the owner of those very grey eyes
patiently watching me, saving my life.

My eyes were still open, staring blankly at nothing,
my body lacking the strength or will to move or even close them. It
was late into the night, the heavy evening wrapped around the
vampire and I like a shroud. He’d brought me out here to dispose of
my body, but I was still alive. Barely.

He cradled my head in his hand, kneeling down with
me laid across his lap. I heard a thick and wet tearing noise and
felt something trickling into my mouth, the flesh of his wrist hot
like a flame pressed against my pallid lips. I couldn’t even
struggle to try stopping it from pouring into my throat, my body
giving up every ounce of fight in it. He turned my head slightly so
I was looking up at him, his hair looking almost like Jynxx’s in
this light.

“I know you want to give up, but hang in there,
Kacea. This won’t be enough to turn you, but you should be healed
by morning.” He looked back over his shoulder quickly, his eyes
coming back to mine a few seconds later. He pressed his fingertips
against the place in my throat where a pulse should be. “It’s
getting a bit stronger. I’m going to close your eyes for you. Rest
up.”

“It was you,” I said softly. “You’re the one who
blocked my memory.”

“And anyone else who was involved in it. Alain and
his pack, all your family and friends… Do you have any idea how
much of a drain that was?”

“So sorry to have burdened you. Why am I remembering
now?” I crossed my arms, stepping closer to the mirror.

“Because Thor is one of the chaperones at your little
soiree, and you need to get the hell out before he sees you.”

My jaw dropped and I was about to respond with
disbelief when I just shook my head. “You said to get out. What
does that mean?”

“If you don’t want to get sucked in by the Aesir and
jumpstart Armageddon right in the middle of your senior prom, get
to the parking lot. I’m waiting for you.”

The eyes faded and I stood there before the glass for
a few minutes, just staring. I was torn. And Thor? Really? Who in
the name of fuck could possibly be housing the soul of the god of
thunder? It didn’t matter. If Jamison was right, then I had to
leave before anyone could get hurt. If a few vampires could almost
kill me, then a god…

“Fuck me,” I growled, storming out of the bathroom.
The few people in the hall weren’t ones who would recognize me on
sight, so I darted past them and headed to the parking lot. I
looked back behind me once my shoes hit the blacktop, relieved to
see no one was following me.