Unleashed (36 page)

An image came on the screen. It was Trick, barefoot, wearing a pair of jeans and a white wife beater, with his hair slicked back away from his forehead. An eagle feather dangled from his ear. He looked older. She loved the deep tan color of his skin, the length of his neck, and his broad chest. He was so hot that she felt a little embarrassed and looked away.

In the video, the Curies were wearing leotards and tights—one all in white, one in black—and big wigs that made them look like Kabuki dancers. They were singing and Trick was speaking, all in Russian.

“My character is asking the Conjur Man to turn him into a human,” Trick explained. “So he can marry the girl he loves.”

She listened to the Russian and found it beautiful. He was so breathtaking she couldn’t stop smiling.

The frame expanded to show Eric dressed in a leather robe with feathers in his hair. The witches coiled themselves sensuously around Trick’s body, singing louder, as if to drown out his voice. He took a step toward Eric, and the witches clung to him.

Katelyn felt her cheeks grow pink, and the jealousy from earlier roared back.

Then the screen went black.

“What?” Marie Curie cried.

“Huh. How did that happen?” Eric said.

“Let me look.” Trick gave Katelyn a squeeze and bent over the laptop. The kids on the couch made room for him as he sat down and typed on the keyboard.

Flushed, Katelyn was swaying, dizzy with happiness. This night was unbelievable. Maybe if she splashed some water on her face, it would help. “Where’s the bathroom?” Katelyn asked one of the guys. She put her shoes on the floor and followed as he gestured toward the black curtain.

Katelyn hesitantly drew back the edge of the curtain nearest the door. She didn’t know what to expect, but the room extended into what looked like an open loft—one large undefined space. She realized that this was Trick’s bedroom. There were a large cherrywood canopy bed covered with a simple white bedspread and two pillows, and a nightstand piled with a crook-neck lamp and more books.

And sitting on a pedestal was something that made Katelyn freeze, her breath catching in her throat: a clay bust of her mother, Giselle Chevalier.

It was perfect. The sculptor had captured Giselle’s classical features, her small turned-up nose, her cupid-bow lips, her huge expressive eyes. She was wearing the Spanish comb she’d had on in the photo taken of her dancing “Pavane for a Dead Princess”—the photo Katelyn knew had burned in the fire that had killed her mother.

Tears welled in her eyes, and her chest tightened as she walked over to it, extending her hand, pressing her fingers against the cheek. She closed her eyes as a tide of emotions crashed over her. Grief, sorrow, guilt, longing, love, joy: her mother.

Where on earth had Trick found it? And why?

“I didn’t want you to see it yet,” Trick said, coming up behind her. His breath was warm on her shoulder. “It’s not finished.”

“Oh, my God, did
you
make this?” she asked him, taking in her mother’s young, hopeful expression, her eyes, her mouth. The memories.

“I found the picture on the net,” he said. “It’s for your birthday.”

“How did you know …?”

“Give me some credit, Kat.”

He put his arms around her, leaning her back against his chest. His warmth penetrated, spread out. Then he bent his head and kissed her cheek, a gesture so tender, so loving … and it broke the dam inside her. She began to weep.

“I miss her so much. Oh, I miss her.”

He moved around in front of her, careful not to block her view of the bust, and held her. She bundled herself against his chest, crying softly. He put his hand on the back of her head and cradled it.

“I’m sorry,” she murmured, muffled against his chest. “At your party …”

“Shhh, it’s all right.” He stopped her. “It’s what you need.”

After a while, she quieted. Then she lifted her head and looked up at him, at the blue flecks in his green eyes, and her mouth parted. He kissed her, gently. She gathered up handfuls of his black shirt in her fists and raised herself on tiptoe, meeting him. He caught his breath and tightened his arms around her.

“Invite me in,” he said.

“Trick,” she replied, then, “Vladimir.”

He kissed her again, testing. She put one hand around his neck; the other clutched his T-shirt. He groaned, low and deep. Then his mouth came down hard on hers. Warmth flash-fired into heat; comfort burst into passion. She put her other arm around his neck and they kept kissing, catching breath, exhaling through each other. He held her, cradled her, wanted her.

“Katelyn,” he said, using her full name. No one in Wolf Springs called her that.

“Yes,” she whispered, covering his face with kisses.

“Katelyn, oh,” Trick whispered, and her heart began to pump so loudly that she couldn’t hear his words. It was like the drumming in the woods; it was her pulse, racing. She kissed his cheek, then covered his face with more kisses. She wanted him closer. She wanted to do things she had never done. She wanted to do them with him.

Now.

“Whoa,” Trick murmured. His forehead was beaded with sweat, and his breath came in hitches. “We need to slow down, Katelyn.”

Mortified, she pulled away. What was
wrong
with her?

And then, as if they were in a movie she was watching, she saw the framed pictures of her mother jittering on the walls of their house as it collapsed. They morphed and blended into the photos Cordelia had shown her of her family.

And Cordelia’s words:
I asked to bring him in, but my dad said no
.

Trick closed up the space between them, putting his arms around her. She could smell her own scent on his T-shirt. The vein in his neck was throbbing. His pupils were dilated.

“I said slow down, not stop,” he said, kissing her forehead, each eyelid, her right temple. He kissed the tears on her cheeks. “I promised your grandfather I would treat you with respect.”

My grandfather. My life. If it’s happened, what will happen to us? What would Mr. Fenner do to him?

She pushed Trick away. But she’d pushed harder than she’d realized, and he staggered backward, arms windmilling. His eyes were wide with surprise and hurt.

“Katelyn,” he began.

“I’m Kat,” she said in a hoarse, agonized voice. “That’s who I am now.”

Fresh tears obscured her vision as she ran for the door.

“Katelyn!” he shouted after her.

She ran.

Into the crazy lights and noise and music, Katelyn ran in her bare feet. Frosty dew sparkled on the grass. She smelled the night; the moon, not yet full, hung overhead like a luminous fist ready to crush her. Her body was on fire. Surges of adrenaline made her shiver and gasp. She felt as if she needed to throw herself into ice water to cool down.

Across the pasture she stumbled, weaving around startled, costumed partygoers. A jagged parade of maples beckoned her with their shadows. Without thinking twice, she ran in among them, sending showers of leaves bursting around her like fireworks.

Then she bolted into the safety of the darkness, falling against a tree, gasping for air. Shaking from head to toe, she couldn’t seem to clear her vision; everything was blurry, and her heart was beating so hard she was afraid it would tear out of her chest.

“Hey, girl,” said a familiar voice.

From the inky darkness, dark blue eyes blazed at her.

Justin.

Before she realized what was happening, he stepped directly into her path. He was wearing a dark suit with a white shirt unbuttoned at the neck. It set off the chiseled angles of his face and accentuated the deep blue sapphire of his eyes.

“I’m looking for Cordelia,” he said. “Her father called her a bunch of times. Have you seen her?”

She should move away. She knew it. But it seemed all she could do was stand stock-still, as if she were waiting for him to come to her.

And then he did.

She saw his lips, close up. They were parted; they looked warm and moist.

Without warning, he kissed her.

And she kissed him back. As if Trick didn’t exist …

As if Lucy didn’t exist.

He pressed his body closer to hers and all thought fled.

He picked her up in his arms and carried her into the brush, the way he had come, kissing her all the while. And she kissed him back.

She kissed him back.

“Did I scare you just now?” he asked, his lips against hers. “Oh, Kat, Kat, I can’t
not
do this.…”

And those words made her heart beat faster with new fear. This was wrong. It was a bad dream. But he bent down and kissed her and she poured her soul into kissing him back. And before she knew how it happened, she was lying on the forest floor and he was on top of her, his body pinning hers down, and his kisses had become harder, more intense, and she knew what he wanted, because she wanted it too.

I don’t want to want it. I don’t want this. I want Trick
.

“Justin, stop,” she managed to gasp.

And then a shadow darkened her vision. “What do you think you’re doing?” a voice thundered.

15

K
atelyn looked up and saw Cordelia standing over the two of them, her features twisted in fury. Katelyn had never seen her so angry.

“You have a girlfriend!” Cordelia shouted at Justin, who was already on his feet, his arms out, as if to plead his innocence. Then she turned her wrath on Katelyn. “And you know it!”

“Cordelia, please, something’s happening to me,” Katelyn said in a rush as she sat up. Her words felt slurry, but her senses were on high alert. “Please, help me!”

“You called Bobby to tell me to meet you here,” Cordelia said, flinging the words at Justin. “Why? So you could cheat on Lucy with a witness?”

“Your dad sent me,” Justin said. “He needs you home. We’ve been calling you, but you didn’t answer your phone.”

Without a word, Cordelia whirled on her heel and stomped away.

“Cor, wait,” Justin called, running after her.

Katelyn pushed herself to her feet to go after the two of them. Tingling, numb, ashamed, and confused, she lurched forward. Her right foot came down on a sharp twig; it pierced her instep like a knife and she gasped and stumbled, falling sideways and catching herself with a branch. Leaves scattered.

“Cordelia,” she called. The branch snapped and she fell on her butt. She pulled the twig out of her foot and wrapped her hands around her instep to ease the pain, then shut her eyes against the images of Justin and her that strobed in her mind.

She adjusted her purse, got to her feet, and took an experimental step forward. It hurt, but she limped out of the forest, back into the pasture, grimacing as her foot throbbed.

Heavy metal horror music swelled and soared around her as she neared the barn, scanning the crowd of kids for Cordelia. She’d seen her angry before, but never so enraged. What would Cordelia do? Would she lose her temper and say something, do something?

Katelyn had to get to her; she had to explain.

She spotted Dondi sitting on a picnic table and limped over to her.

“Have you seen Cordelia and her cousin?” Katelyn yelled over the music.

“Yeah. They went to the parking lot,” Dondi shouted back. “What happened to
you
?”

But Katelyn didn’t answer; she just gave her a wave of thanks and kept going. Past the barn, down the walkway. Her foot throbbed and her mind raced. She felt like she was careening out of control, like all her emotions were colliding together.

How could she be kissing Trick one minute and then Justin the next? What was happening to her?

She hurried toward the path that led to the parking lot. A single taillight winked in the blackness—a motorcycle’s—and she made out two figures riding tandem as it pulled out onto the main road. Justin and Cordelia.

The night swallowed them up, and Katelyn stood shell-shocked, with no idea what to do next. Go home? Go back to the party? Go to Cordelia’s and try to talk it out? She clenched her hands, feeling sick and scared and frustrated. There was no way she was going back to the party now. Performing her own zombie walk, she crossed the parking lot and made her way to her car. She was about to climb in behind the wheel when she noticed a small glowing rectangle lying on the ground by the front tire. She threw her purse into the car and went to pick it up.

It was Cordelia’s cell phone. Katelyn pressed the home button.

No service.

She got in her car and turned on the engine. Her feet were sore and icy. She looked down at the phone again, trying to decide what to do. Cordelia was always careful to have her phone with her. Though if she’d gone home to have it out with Justin in front of her dad, what would she need her phone for?

The realization of the situation hit Katelyn with all its force then.
What if Cordelia decides she has to tell her father about me now? What if she’s so mad she tells him on purpose to get rid of me?

Katelyn could only hope that maybe when Cordelia got home, she would call either her own phone or Katelyn’s. She got her cell out of her purse and set the two side by side on the passenger seat. Then she backed out of her spot, took one last look at the illuminated barn, and drove out of the parking lot.