That made him laugh louder. “Kill me?”
“Stop it,” she warned him, “or he’ll hear you.”
“You think I should be afraid of your brother? I’m an immortal.”
Collin’s heavy steps filled the downstairs hallway. Her heart raced. Why was life so complicated?
His footsteps started up the stairs.
Stanton sat on the bed smiling at her.
“Please!” she begged. “He’ll never understand.”
Stanton didn’t move.
“Serena?” Collin called from the hallway. “Are you still up?”
Her heart fell. How was she going to explain Stanton to her brother?
CHAPTER TEN
“I CAN EXPLAIN,” Serena said quickly as Collin stepped into her bedroom.
“Explain what?”
“The guy. He’s a friend from school,” she lied. “He needed a homework assignment. I—”
Collin pushed around her.
“Don’t hit him!” She grabbed Collin’s arm.
“Who?” Collin looked back at her.
She turned and looked into the bedroom. The room was empty. Maggie had told her some of the Followers were shape-changers. Was Stanton one? She let out a long sigh, and just as quickly new anxiety filled her. Maybe it had only been a dream. It had felt like one.
Collin looked at her strangely and placed a heavy hand on her shoulder. “You know, sometimes your weird jokes aren’t very funny.” There was true concern in his voice and she could feel the beginnings of one of his brotherly lectures.
“Not tonight, Collin,” she said. “I don’t need a big-brother lecture right now. . . .”
“I’m just worried about you,” he continued. “You know, maybe Morgan is right. I mean, if you’re making up having a guy in your room, maybe you really do need a boyfriend.”
She was too tired to deal with this right now. She poked into his brain, took his worries about her and pushed them behind his memories of the North Shore on Oahu. Then she pulled out, blinked, and glanced at him.
He looked a little stunned.
“You were saying?” she asked.
“Can’t remember what I was saying.”
“You were telling me good night.” She gave him a sweet sisterly smile.
“Yeah.” A dreamy look covered his face. “You think maybe dad will take us back to Hawaii for Christmas?”
“Maybe, if we both ask him,” she offered.
“Mmmm.” He started out the room. At the door, he stopped and turned back. “Hey, I remembered what I wanted to tell you.”
Her heart sank.
“You looked really good dancing tonight. Everyone said so. You and Jimena were awesome.”
“Thanks.”
When his bedroom door closed, she shut her door and leaned against it.
Stanton emerged from the shadows.
“So your brother thinks you need a boyfriend?” he teased.
“Stop.”
“I wish I could have seen you dance tonight.” His dangerous beauty was hypnotizing. She felt sorry for him suddenly, remembering what Vanessa had seen when she had been sucked into his memories. His father had been a great prince of Western Europe during the thirteenth century and had raised an army to go on a crusade against the Atrox. The Atrox had stolen Stanton to stop his father. She looked at him now and sensed the young, frightened boy he had once been.
“I have one last question,” she began. “Why did I stay so long with you if all you needed to do was warn me about Zahi?”
An odd look crossed his face. “Look,” he pulled her to him again. “Look in my eyes and I will show you.” His hand brushed her cheek and then he held her face tenderly.
Did she dare?
“Zahi has stolen more than my warnings,” he continued. “He also stole the memories of all the times we have spent together.”
The words hit her with the power of a lightning strike. “You said we? Of the time we’ve spent together?”
“Yes, us,” he whispered. “Let me show you. Just one memory for now. Later the rest.”
Against her will, she fell deep into his thoughts. His memories swept around her. She tried to pull her mind back, but part of her was rushing to meet him as if she had waited a long time to do this. The sudden eagerness frightened her. What was happening? He was her enemy. She had done battle with him.
Despite herself, she was sinking deeper and deeper into the memories. Suddenly, she was reliving the hour they had spent together walking on the beach and talking. How could she have spent time with Stanton and not remember? Could Stanton really like her, his sworn enemy?
He looked into her eyes. She knew she should stop him, but her body shivered pleasurably with the feel of his warm lips on her neck. She finally let herself go and breathed in the sweet soap smell of him. Her lips moved slowly across his cheek to meet his, her desire irresistible.
He stared down at her as if he needed to savor this forbidden moment. He didn’t bother to hide the eagerness in his eyes. With his hands, he cupped her face, sending a delicious shiver through her. Then his eyes closed and he kissed her, his lips soft on hers.
Her lips parted as if they had kissed him before and then his tongue brushed lazily across her lips.
Too many dangerous emotions swirled around her. She felt disgust with herself for wanting him so desperately. She tried to stop the aching need that spread through her body. It was her mission to protect people from Followers. From Stanton. She couldn’t allow herself to like him.
She stopped abruptly and looked up at him.
“You can’t fight it,” Stanton said.
Did he too think she would betray her destiny? How could she trust him? In the past he had deceived and betrayed Vanessa.
Stanton looked at her and she knew he was reading her distrust.
“I appreciated the kindness Vanessa showed me, but I never felt the connection with her that I feel with you. I’ve liked you since the first time our minds met in combat. I’ve more than liked you, Serena.” His hand touched her cheek.
She remembered that battle. How strange it had been. She had suspected even then that he had been teasing and playful, not really trying to destroy her.
She shook her head.
“I’m telling you the truth,” he insisted.
She felt hot tears gather in her eyes. He was telling the truth. But their kind of relationship would always be forbidden.
“That night when we walked on the beach you told me you were willing to risk it. You promised to defy everyone to be with me.”
She gazed into his eyes and knew he was still hearing the doubt in her mind.
He turned and left.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
MONDAY MORNING Serena and Jimena stood in line waiting to go through the metal detectors. The high school had just banned backpacks and messenger bags to stop kids from smuggling drugs and guns onto campus.
Security guards asked guys in bagged-out sweatshirts and jeans to lift their tops.
“Do they really think that if a guy is strapping he’s going to hide the gun in his waistband? Get real.” Jimena sniffed contemptuously. She wore the khaki skirt she’d made from her slacks, and a flirty, off-the-shoulder T.
Jimena took a sip of coffee from her Styrofoam cup. “Here. Want some?” She offered the cup to Serena.
Serena shook her head. She felt uncomfortably warm in her pink snakeskin jacket. The wooden platforms with the neon-green straps and rhinestones were already starting to cramp her toes.
“What’s wrong?” Jimena asked finally.
“What do you mean?”
“You’ve been huffing and sighing all morning like you’re still mad at me for keeping the premonition from you.”
“No, it’s . . .” She broke down and told Jimena about Stanton’s visit, but she couldn’t tell her everything, especially not about the memories of the time she and Stanton had spent together.
“Since when does a Follower care enoug
h to warn one of us?” Jimena sipped the coffee.
“He said Zahi was a Follower.”
Jimena laughed. “Zahi is about the sweetest guy I’ve ever met.”
“Still. What if ?”
“Zahi doesn’t look like the new Followers.
He’s not all punked out. Look at his left arm. No tattoo. Stanton was playing with your mind. But if you’re still worried, why not use your moon amulet?”
“I’ve looked at it. It doesn’t glow when he’s around.”
A puzzled look crossed Jimena’s face, and then it was her turn to step through the metal detector. She did and waited for Serena on the other side.
Serena passed through and then paused while one of the security guards went through her purse.
The guard handed the purse back to her and she caught up to Jimena.
“I’m talking about the power that Maggie just told us about,” Jimena whispered. “The special one.”
“What special power?” Serena asked as they walked toward their lockers.
“De veras, you don’t remember?” Jimena sounded perplexed.
Serena shook her head.
“What’s up with you lately? You were so psyched to try it out.”
“Maybe it’s the winter concert.” Serena sighed. “Maybe algebra. My mind feels like mush.”
“Maybe it’s Zahi.” Jimena giggled. “You’re too in love to think about anything else.”
“I don’t know.” Serena wondered what else she might have forgotten—or had pushed from her mind.
“Give Zahi your moon amulet to hold. If he’s a Follower as Stanton says, then the moon amulet will leave a mark in his skin.”
Serena clasped her amulet. How could she have forgotten something so important? She vaguely remembered Maggie telling them, but it felt far away and dreamlike.
“Here he comes now,” Jimena said under her breath.
Serena turned. Zahi ran up to her. She took an involuntary step backward and smiled nervously. Could he really be stealing her memories?
The bell rang.
“Gotta go,” Jimena called and ran off.
“Hello, Serena,” Zahi said, and ignored the crowd of kids running to class. He wrapped his arms around her. “Let’s leave school this afternoon, just you and me.”
Serena hesitated. “You mean cut classes?”
“Yes.”
A funny feeling crawled through her stomach. She glanced down at her amulet. Why wasn’t it glowing? Or did it only glow when she was in danger? She couldn’t quite remember. She looked into his warm brown eyes, then down at his perfect full lips.
“Sure,” she finally said. “After algebra.”
“I’ll meet you at Borders in the coffee bar.”
“Okay.”
Two hours later, Serena hurried up the stairs in Borders. She sat in a chair next to the window and looked down at the traffic on La Cienega. She took a deep breath and leaned back. People were reading at the tables around her. Their thoughts combined into a soothing murmur, like the rush of water around stones in a creek. Her muscles began to relax. Only then did she realize how anxious she had felt.
Zahi came in and set his books on the table. “Campus security was watching the area between the gym and the music room. Sorry I’m so late. I’ll get us something to drink.”
He went to the coffee bar and came back with two steaming cups of chai tea and a chocolate chip muffin.
She breathed in the scent of ginger, clove, and cinnamon spices and looked through the steam across the table at Zahi.
Zahi reached over and took her hand. “I’m glad you came,” he said and kissed the tips of her fingers. “You seem like a very serious student. I was afraid you wouldn’t meet me.”
She unhooked her moon amulet from the chain around her neck and handed the charm to Zahi.
“What is this?” He took it in his left hand. “A gift from another boy, perhaps?”
She laughed, all her doubts vanishing. “No, not from a guy.” She looked at his sweet smiling face. Zahi, a Follower? No way. How could she have ever suspected something so ridiculous? It seemed foolish to make him hold her amulet. Stanton’s accusations felt more treacherous than true. She tried to remember what he had said exactly, but it was all so shadowy now.
Zahi rested his hand with the amulet under the table and sipped his tea. “So how is your practicing with the cello?”
“Okay.” She started to feel at ease and more self-confident. “I’ll have the sonata memorized by the winter concert.”
“Good, I want to hear it. Promise to play it for me soon.”
“I promise,” she answered. The longer she was with Zahi, the farther the night with Stanton drifted into the unconscious layers of her mind.
“There is going to be a rave in the desert this Saturday night,” Zahi said.
“I’ve always wanted to go to one.” Serena smiled. “It sounds so cool, dancing all night.”
“Go with me, then,” he urged. “Can you leave your house without anyone knowing?”
“I think so.” She was getting excited. “Collin won’t check on me, and Dad’s working strange hours right now. Jimena will freak out. I know she’s always wanted to go to one, too. I can’t wait to tell her.”
“Serena.” Zahi was suddenly serious.
“What?”
“Without all your friends.” He spoke softly. “They are very nice. I don’t mean anything against them, but I want to spend time with you. Alone. Will you go out with me, Serena, alone?”
Her heart careened against her stomach. She hoped he didn’t see how happy she felt.
He leaned across the table and whispered, “It should be a very romantic night. The moon will be full.”
“Yes.” She nodded. “I want to go.”
“Good.” He looked into her eyes. “I’ll be at your house at seven, then, or do I need to meet you someplace?”
“No, come to the house. I’ll get rid of everyone before you get there.”
“Good,” he said. Then he leaned completely across the table and kissed her quickly on the cheek. “I must go now.” He stood and handed her necklace back to her.
She held it in her hand. She had forgotten that she had given it to him.
Serena quickly clasped it around her neck and immediately felt a sense of relief.
CHAPTER TWELVE
SATURDAY NIGHT, Jimena walked into Serena’s room carrying a brown paper bag filled with cartons of takeout Chinese food. The aroma of green onions, garlic, and pork filled the room. Jimena set the bag down on the floor in front of the TV and flipped a video into the recorder.
Serena cleared her throat. “I . . . I think I’m coming down with flu or something,”
“You stay in bed. I’ll sit on the floor.” She handed Serena a white carton of chop suey and a pair of chopsticks wrapped in paper.
“I think I just want to sleep,” Serena tried again.
Jimena took the remote and put the movie on pause.
“Sorry,” Serena apologized. “Maybe you should go.”
There was so much disappointment in Jimena’s face that Serena almost told her to stay. Guilt weighed heavily on her now. She couldn’t believe she was lying to her best friend over a guy. If she did tell Jimena about the rave, she’d probably help her dress in something really funky and not even feel jealous. So why couldn’t she bring herself to tell her?
“I can tell you’re not feeling well,” Jimena finally said.
“How’s that?” Serena asked.
“You don’t seem like yourself. All week you’ve been, I don’t know, distant or something. You got a fever?” Jimena touched her forehead and a peculiar look crossed her face.
“What?”
“Nothing,” Jimena said quickly, but Serena knew she was holding something back.
She tried to peek inside her mind, but the wall was up again.
“Tell me. What did you see?” Serena insisted.
“I said nothing.” Jimena eje
cted the cassette from the recorder. She gathered the food and the videos together.
“Why are you upset?”
“I better go so you can get some sleep.” Jimena left the room.
“Jimena,” Serena called after her. She ran to the hallway but Jimena was already bounding noisily down the stairs.
She heard Jimena and Collin in the kitchen.
“Leaving so soon?” Collin asked.
“Yeah,” Jimena said flatly. “You like Chinese?”
“Love Chinese,” Collin answered. “Don’t you want to share it?”
The back door opened with a squeak, and then Jimena yelled back as if she had stopped at the door remembering something.
“Check on your sister, okay?”
“Is she sick bad?”
“Just check on her,” Jimena told him, and then the door banged shut.
Serena hurried back to bed and pulled the covers around her.
A few minutes later Collin’s slow steps beat on the stairs. Finally he walked into her room holding a white carton and chopsticks. He picked a carrot with the chopsticks and tossed it into his mouth.
“You okay?” Collin asked.
“Sure, just a cold.”
He sat on the edge of her bed. “Should I stay home and make you some chicken soup?”
“No, I’m just going to sleep. Go surfing. I’ll be fine.”
“Sure?”
She nodded.
He remained sitting on her bed eating chop suey as if he had something more to say. His words surprised her. “Has Jimena got a boyfriend?”
“No.”
“Figures,” he muttered and stood. “Get better. I’ll check on you when I get home.”
“No!” she said too loudly.
He turned and looked at her with concern.
“I mean, please don’t. I need the sleep.”
“Sure.” He stood and left her room. She jumped up and waited by her bedroom door until she heard Collin leave through the back door. Then she ran to the window to make sure. She watched his utility van back out of the drive and turn down the street.
Serena went to the bathroom and locked the door. She stared at her reflection. Her eyes had a dark haunted look and the wide-eyed stare of an insomniac. Why wasn’t she excited? Strange thoughts and feelings kept whispering across her mind. Was there something important she should be remembering? For some reason, her mind couldn’t focus. She took foundation and dabbed it on the bluish circles under her eyes.