The Grace In Darkness (20 page)

“
That shouldn
’
t be too hard.
”

Cara and I spent the rest of the afternoon talking about everything and anything. I realized how much I
’
d missed her the last few weeks, and I was glad she
’
d come to see me. While she talked, I tried hard to keep my focus on her and off Ryland and everything my leaving had put him through.

When Cara finally said she had to go, I walked her to the door and hugged her.

“
I
’
m glad you came to see me, Cara.
”

“
Me too.
”
She hugged me harder and then pulled away. I eased the door open and felt the jerk in her body.

“
Oh, I
’
m sorry,
”
Pierce said from the other side of the doorway.
“
I didn
’
t realize you had company.
”

“
Actually, Cara was just leaving. Cara, this is Pierce. Pierce, Cara.
”

“
Nice to meet you, Cara.
”

“
You too...
”

She looked back at me.

“
Pierce is my dancing partner. He also goes to the college on the other side of the campus.
”

“
I was just coming up to check on you. See how you were doing after last night.
”

Great. Why
’
d he have to say it like that?

“
Pierce and I had a performance last night for the Mark Vincent Fundraiser Event for MA,
”
I explained, wondering if Cara had known Ryland was there.

“
Oh,
”
she said, confirming she did.
“
So you met my brother, then... Ryland?
”

“
Ah, yes, I did.
”

“
That must have been... interesting,
”
Cara said, obviously amused.

“
You have no idea.
”

Cara departed a few minutes later, leaving Pierce and me alone. He offered to take
Mak and me to lunch—we were back to group outings. I agreed to go because my stomach was growling and I was determined not to make things weirder between us. I told him I couldn
’
t stay out long though. He waited while I got ready, and we met Mak at a deli down the street from the school.

I tried to pretend nothing was wrong, but
Mak could see right through me and I promised to tell her later. I did everything I could to keep my mind off Ryland, but that was impossible. I had no idea what I was going to do.

Thirty minutes later, I was back and my apartment, and I checked with Betty at the front desk to make sure I had no visitors while I was gone. She confirmed that I hadn
’
t and I tried not to be too disappointed that he wasn
’
t back yet.

I waited for Ryland upstairs and hoped he wouldn
’
t be too much longer. I was worried about him and I knew J.D. wouldn
’
t take Ryland
’
s leaving lying down.

“
Y
ou’ll do this because if you don’t, I will make sure you live long enough to regret telling me no.”

…

“I don’t care how you do it, but it needs to be worth something. Find anything you can on him that I can ruin him with, and if you can’t, make something up.”

…

“Be creative. I don’t fucking care. Just get what I need and do it now.”

…

“I’m done with you when I say I’m done. Don’t screw this up, Craze.”

“
H
oly shit,
”
Mak said when I explained to her everything that had happened in the past ten months.

She
’
d heard most of the sordid details, but now she knew the whole story, including everything that had happened with Pierce.

“
I knew he wanted you.
”
She gloated, rolling onto her back, chewing nosily on her candy.

“
Seriously? After everything I just told you,
that’s
what you choose to focus on?
”

“
What? I
’
m just saying!
”

“
I
’
m worried about Ryland. He said he would be back right after, and I haven
’
t heard from him all day.
”

“
Well, let
’
s go find lover boy, then,
”
she said, flipping around on the bed.

My face pinched.
“
What? No! I don
’
t know where he is right now.
”

I turned away from her, hoping she wouldn
’
t see the very brief flash of excitement on my face. That would be all she needed to fuel her already overextended determination. I wanted to see Ryland and make sure everything was okay, and it wouldn
’
t take much for Mak to convince me that this was a good plan.

I hadn
’
t realized she
’
d gotten up until she spun my chair around. I grabbed the edges to keep from falling over.

“
Don
’
t hide from me. Besides, I know where to find him. Get ready.
”
She walked over to the closet and started to tear it apart.

I turned my chair toward her and watched as faint shadows flew through the air.
“
What? How?
”

She stopped and turned on me with her hands on her hips.
“
You
’
re not a very good listener, Araya.
”

“
What are you talking about?
”

“
His sister, Careless, whatever... She said lover boy has been hanging out at some place called The Underground. So it
’
s simple. We go there.
”

I frowned, thinking back on my conversation with Careless. I remembered her saying that because I hated knowing he was fighting.

“
I don
’
t think The Underground is the best place for us to go. Ryland told me about that place and it
’
s really rowdy.
”

“
It
’
ll be fine,
”
she insisted and dismissed all in the same breath.

“
It
’
s filled with a bunch of drunken fighters, Mak. Plus, we don
’
t even know if he
’
ll be there!
”
I tried to get her to see reason.

“
Fighters are hot, A. Anyway, I
’
ll be with you the whole time. It
’
ll be fine. Here, put these on.
”
She shoved clothes in my hand and walked into the bathroom.

I changed into what she handed me and a part of me was glad I couldn
’
t see what she had me wearing, but that didn
’
t stop me from asking.

“
What do you have me wearing? Or do I even want to know?
”
I asked, trying to keep the shirt shoulders up, but they kept falling down.
“
This shirt doesn
’
t fit me.
”

“
It
’
s just a shirt and shorts. No biggie. You
’
re doing it wrong. Come here.
”
She pulled me closer by the hem and adjusted the shirt so it hung off one shoulder.
“
It goes just like this.
”
She dropped something at my feet.
“
Put those boots on.
”

I pulled them on and she dragged me into the bathroom to run a brush through my hair and curl the ends. She dusted my face with eye shadow, blush and lip-gloss and then sprayed perfume on my bare shoulder and on the inside of my wrists.

“
I don
’
t think this is necessary,
”
I told her.
“
It
’
s not a very... clean place, based on what Ryland said.
”

She shrugged.
“
So we
’
ll stand out.
”

“
I don
’
t think this is the kind of place where you want to stand out.
”

“
You always want to stand out, A.
”

I took her by her shoulders.
“
Just think about this for one minute. Do you really think this is a good idea? I could just call Ryland tomorrow.
”

“
Well, you could... or you could do something spontaneous and we could just show up and surprise him.
”

“
And if he
’
s not there?
”

“
Then we have a good time so it
’
s not a wasted trip. Besides, his brother might be there and you can introduce me.
”

I took a deep breath.
“
Okay, let
’
s go.
”

“
It smells like ass in here,
”
Makayla complained and pinched her nose so her voice squeaked.

“
I tried to tell you,
”
I hissed, trying not to touch every sweaty body that filled the entryway.

I looked around the room, but it was dark and I couldn
’
t separate one shadow from the next.

“
I don
’
t... see... lover boy.
”
Her voice sounded strained as she lifted on tiptoe to look over the crowd.

“
Oh well.
”
I shrugged.
“
We tried.
”

She grabbed my arm and held on to me before I could turn around and head toward fresh oxygen.

“
Let
’
s get something to drink. It
’
s still early.
”

I groaned but allowed her to pull me toward the small bar off to the side of the room. She pushed us between the others waiting for drinks and whistled to get someone
’
s attention.

“
What the hell does a girl gotta do to get a drink around here?
”
The last part of her complaint was nearly screamed.

“
You could try flashing a smile?
”
a deep voice suggested behind us.

I turned toward it and heard
Mak snicker.
“
Yeah, like I give those out for just anything... or anybody.
”
She turned, playing her
“
not interested
”
game.

The guy laughed.
“
Playing hard to get. I like a challenge.
”
He whistled and pounded on the bar.
“
Hey, Waster! Two beers!
”

“
You got it!
”
someone yelled beyond the bar.

“
Sure! For you, he
’
s Captain Speed,
”
Mak said sarcastically.
“
It
’
s because I don
’
t have penis.
”

“
That
’
s exactly what it is.
”

“
Bartender
’
s special?
”
the guy behind the bar asked before Mak could hand him one of her witty remarks.

“
Nah! Just the beers.
”

“
Waster?
”
I asked.

“
We all play our parts, sweetheart,
”
he drawled, slowly.

“
Oh yeah? And what
’
s your part?
”
Mak asked.

“
I
’
m the Soul Taker.
”
He was proud about that, but it gave me a bad feeling.
“
I haven
’
t seen you ladies here before. Y
’
all slummin
’
it tonight?
”

I could feel him staring at me. He didn
’
t realize he was being obvious about it though. He could tell something was off, but he didn
’
t want to come outright and ask.

“
More or less,
”
Mak said.
“
Hey,
”
Mak snapped, pushing his shoulder,
“
didn
’
t your mama ever teach you it
’
s not polite to stare?
”