Oh, man. She couldn’t part with that much money. “This sucks.”
“No shit.” He moved away from the bed, toward the door. “You’ll have to use Mom’s ski stuff. It’s in the closet at the end of the hall. Hurry up. We’ll leave in thirty minutes and hit the Bluebird before we head for the lifts.”
“What’s the Bluebird?”
“Breakfast.” He walked out.
She resigned herself to a miserable day, but at least she’d get to eat.
“Sasha’s going skiing.”
Jax sat up in bed with the phone to his ear. “She just got to Telluride, but she’s going skiing?”
Mallick said, “She left the house dressed in a ski suit, and there are two pairs of skis on the roof of her cousin’s Hummer, so that’s my best guess. Right now, I think they’re headed for the Bluebird.”
Jax ran a hand through his hair, then rubbed his eyes. “Wonder if she knows how to ski.”
“Not sure, but I can find out. You want me to follow her up to the slopes?”
“Yeah, keep an eye on her, and I’ll call in a bit to see where you are.”
“If she doesn’t know how, maybe that’s your entry. You could offer to help her learn.”
“Yeah, maybe.” He frowned. “Kinda awkward, though.”
“Could be, but at a minimum, you can follow her around a little today and watch for an opening.”
“Thanks, Mallick.” He hung up and headed for the shower.
Brett barely spoke to her in the car, and when they arrived at the café, he went to sit in a booth with three other guys and blew her off. Not that she cared. She sat at the counter and spent fifteen bucks on a ginormous breakfast platter, enjoying every bite.
When they left and were out in the parking lot, Brett introduced his friends. There was Thomas Vasquez, a tall guy with dark red hair who seemed nice, and Mason Dixon, a stocky guy who kind of reminded her of Charlie Brown. The last guy, Kelley Easter, very hot with blond hair and green eyes, whom Brett called East, looked her over and said, “I bet you give good head with those puffy lips.”
There were guys at St. Michael’s just like Kelley Easter, guys who said totally inappropriate things and thought they were being cool—or übermanly or something—never realizing how stupid they sounded. She’d learned from experience, the only way to deal with guys like East was to dish it back. “I bet you’ve always been a douche.”
Instead of taking the insult the way she intended, he only laughed. “Shriver, why didn’t you ever tell me you have such a hot cousin?”
“Didn’t know. Her dad and my mom hated each other, so we never hung out.”
East turned away and headed toward a small white SUV. “We’ll see you at the lifts.”
Brett turned toward his Hummer, and Sasha followed. He said as they got closer, “Don’t get any ideas about East.”
“You’re kidding, right?”
“I saw how you looked at him, checking out his package.”
If it weren’t so insulting, it’d be funny. “Is it a happy place over there in Fairy-Tale Land?”
“So don’t admit it, but I saw you. Maybe he’d take you up on it, but he goes out with a girl named Julianne, and she’s superjealous. Also a bitch.”
He was serious, which blew her mind. “Yeah, okay, whatever.”
He looked disappointed, she guessed because he hadn’t gotten a rise out of her.
Halfway up the mountain, he said, “It’s gonna be rough at school, Sasha. I checked out your Facebook page last night, and it looks like you had a lot of friends at your old school. You should know it’s not going to be like that at Telluride. It’s really small, just thirty seniors.”
Sasha looked across at him, wondering why he was suddenly being nice to her. “I’ll be fine, but thanks for the info.”
“You know, if you’d join the Ravens, things’d go a lot easier for you.”
Her memory instantly kicked in, and she was right back at Pier 26 with that group of Ravens throwing rocks at her. “I’m not much of a joiner.”
“At least think about it. I get extra points for every member I recruit.”
Now she knew why he was being nice. “Points? For what? Is there some kind of prize?”
He didn’t answer for a while, then finally said, “I guess you could say I get more privileges.”
She remembered David Hollister bragging about how he’d moved up the ranks. Not that she had known what he meant, not like she cared. “There were Ravens at my school in San Francisco, but they all died in a sailing accident, night before last.”
He jerked the wheel so that they fishtailed in the snow. When he had the Hummer under control again, he said in a rough voice, “What’s your point?”
“I know what’s up with the Ravens, about Eryx and the oath. Like I said, it’s not for me.”
“What kind of kids were the Ravens at your school?”
“Mostly loners, or a little too weird to exactly fit in.”
“Is that why you don’t want to join? Because you think the kids in our group are losers?”
“I don’t know who’s in your group, so no, that’s not it. It’s just not my thing.” End of story. She wished he’d leave it alone.
“Maybe if you knew more about it, you’d change your mind.”
She knew enough. “I doubt it, Brett.”
He was quiet again, until he said, “It’s gotta be tough having your mom shipped off to Russia, and you being left behind, but Eryx could fix it for you. Come to our next meeting, on Monday, and you’ll see why it’s so great. We don’t invite just anybody.”
“Who is Eryx, anyway? Where did he come from, and why does he want people to pledge that they’ll follow him? I don’t get what’s in it for him.”
Brett shrugged. “He just has a different way of thinking. It’s not like a religion. More like a way to live life that makes you happier.”
She didn’t remember the Ravens at St. Michael’s being happy. They were always getting into fights, pulling detention for playing seriously mean pranks on people.
“He can do things that erase bad stuff in your life, like your mom leaving.”
“What did he do for you?”
Brett gave her a slight smile. “My GPA and SAT scores are pretty bad. College was looking like a no go for me, until Eryx helped me out. I got an acceptance letter from the University of Colorado a week ago.” He glanced at her. “Plus I needed a new car, and right after I pledged, I won a fifty-thousand-dollar sweepstakes. Mom took me to Colorado Springs, and I got this Hummer.”
Was this what it was all about? Giving people what they wanted most, so they’d say an oath? She remembered Missy losing all that weight, and scrawny Casey Mills, making the football team.
“East is a Raven,” Brett added. “So is his girlfriend, Julianne.”
“What did Eryx do for them?”
“East won a writing contest for a short story and got a scholarship. Julianne got into modeling school.”
“How does Eryx make these things happen? Why is getting people to pledge an oath such a big deal to him that he’d do so much?”
Brett shot her a sober look. “Do you believe in Hell?”
She stared ahead at the snow-covered road and halfway wished she hadn’t asked. “Yeah, but it’s not something I think a lot about.”
“Eryx isn’t exactly human, Sasha. His father is a dark angel who takes people to Hell after they die.” He must have seen the look on her face, because he quickly added, “I know it sounds bizarre, and unbelievable, but I swear, it’s true. Eryx wants to take Hell away from Lucifer and change things in the world.”
She really wanted to think Brett was crazy, but after what had happened in San Francisco and the things Alex had said to her, she was terrified it might be true. “What would he change?”
“He’ll make Hell more like Heaven. If people aren’t scared of death, they’ll be different. There won’t be as many wars, or murders, or bad people in the world.”
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There was something flawed about the idea, but she couldn’t wrap her head around it.
“The only way Eryx can take over Hell is if he has enough people following him. Think of it like a petition, where the more people who sign, the more weight it carries. If he has millions of followers, if a huge percentage of the world believed in him, he’d be all that matters, the only thing that counts. Hell as we know it would cease to exist, and Lucifer would become just another soul, unless he apologized to God and got back into Heaven.”
Her mind was officially blown. Brett was passionate about this, and he didn’t strike her as a guy who got all worked up about much, especially anything spiritual. “How do you know he is what he says he is? Maybe he’s just a wack job.”
“I thought the same thing, Sasha. Then I met him, and he’s obviously not normal. He looks … different, and he can do things no ordinary human can do.”
“Like what?”
“I can’t tell you. It’s one of the secret things about the Ravens, and we’re sworn not to tell. If you’ll come to a meeting, you can see for yourself.”
“You mean Eryx will be there?”
“Maybe, but even if he isn’t, Mr. Bruno can show you some stuff that’ll make you think real hard about what you believe, and what it’ll take to change things.”
She’d never follow Eryx after seeing what his followers were capable of. People who would stone another person weren’t interested in making the world better.
What if the Ravens in Telluride found out about her birthmark? Did Mr. Bruno know about the Anabo thing? If he did, and if he knew about her birthmark, would he talk the group into killing her? It wasn’t a risk she wanted to take.
“Will you come to a meeting and check it out?”
She knew he wouldn’t stop pestering her if she stuck with no, so she opted for a noncommittal, “I’ll think about it.”
After promising he’d teach her to ski, Brett ditched her at the top of the lift when he spied some girl with long auburn hair. “Holy shit, that’s Reilly O’Brien. Hey, Reilly, wait up!” He skied off, leaving Sasha to careen down the tiny lift slope. She barely made it out of the way before the people behind skied off.
When she could stop, only by crashing into a snowbank, she saw Brett chasing Reilly, who was glancing over her shoulder at him like she was scared.
It took a while to extract herself from the snowbank, and she wobbled back toward the lift. The slope ahead looked more like a sheer drop than a ski run, and her stomach did a flip, just looking at it. No. Way. She’d have to beg the guy to let her back on the lift, to take her down to the base. Her humiliation would never end.
While she stood there, trying to work up the nerve to ask if she could ride back down, a guy came off the lift, alone, and skied right up to her. “Are you okay?” He had an accent, a little bit British.
“Fine. I’m fine.”
“Are you sure? You look kinda lost.” He grinned at her. “It’s okay if you admit you got on the wrong lift. People do it all the time. The green runs are just over that way. This one is a black diamond, for experts. Have you ever skied before?”
“No, never.” His voice was familiar. He was familiar. But she had no clue who this guy was, and she decided he must remind her of someone back in San Francisco.
His eyes were covered by mirrored wraparounds, and he wore a red ski cap that didn’t quite cover his black hair. His face was so perfect, so beautiful, she couldn’t stop staring.
“Let’s head that way,” he said, nodding to the north, “where there’s an easier run, and I’ll help you get down.”
“I really appreciate it, but I don’t want to hold you up. I’ll just ask if they’ll let me back on the lift.”
He shook his head. “Most times, they won’t.” He skied away a few feet. “Come on, it’ll be okay. I’ll stay right with you.”
It was almost as mortifying to follow this incredibly hot guy, clearly an expert skier, as it would have been to beg a ride on the lift. But he was waiting for her, smiling, being all nice about it.
When she was finally even with him, he nodded approval. “You can do this, no worries.” He smiled. “I’m Ajax DeKyanos. Everyone calls me Jax.”
“I’m Sasha Annenkova. It’s nice to meet you.” She smelled cinnamon, like hot-spiced tea, warm and wonderful. How could he smell this delicious? And how was it possible for one human being to be this good-looking?
She was startled to realize he was staring back at her, his smile gone. “Sasha,” he said softly. “Beautiful.”
Did he mean her name was beautiful? Or was he talking about her? “Ajax is an unusual name. And DeKyanos—is that Greek?”
He nodded. “But I’m not Greek. I’m a mutt, from all over.”
“Do you live in Telluride, or are you here to ski?”
“I just moved here, to live with my dad until I graduate in May. I was at a boarding school in England, but they kicked me out when I mooned the queen.”
England. No wonder he had a little bit of a British accent. She caught a slight twitch at the corner of his mouth. “Oh, go on.”
He grinned then, showing perfect white teeth. “Okay, so I didn’t, but the truth is so much more boring.”
“Try me.”
“I thought I should come home and hang with the old man before I head off to college. How about you? I’m guessing you didn’t come to Telluride to ski.”
“Good guess.” They both laughed. “I’m staying with my aunt and uncle because my mom …” She didn’t want to say why, so she lied. “My mom’s out of the country for her job.”
“So you’ll be going to school in Telluride?”
“Right.”
“Cool. Now I know at least one person.” Pointing ahead with a ski pole, he said, “Come on, and I’ll teach you how to ski. You’ll get the hang of it in no time.”
Yeah, and maybe later she could build a space shuttle. “Good luck with that.”
“Hey, now, no being negative. You’re built for skiing.”
“I am?”
“Totally. You have two legs and two arms.”
“Are you trying to be a smart-ass?”
There was that grin again. “Better than being a dumb-ass.” He skied ahead and waited for her to catch up, pointing out where she screwed up, praising her when she got it right—which wasn’t very often.
For a painful half hour, he coached her down a green run, and when they reached a small plateau, he held her arm and directed her into the forest edging the run, to a fallen tree. She took off her skis and sat down gratefully, watching him do the same.
“Now, then,” he said with a wide smile, “that wasn’t so bad, was it?”
“You’re all kinds of awesome, but I’m not gonna lie—I’d rather sit for the SAT again than ski another inch.”
“As bad as that?”
“How much farther to the bottom?”
“About the same as what we just did.”
She was so toast. “Just curious, but if you didn’t have me with you, how long would it take for you to ski from the top to the base?”
“This run?” He was cheeky. “Ten minutes. Maybe eight if it wasn’t snowing.”
She groaned. “I’m so sorry. And so embarrassed.”
“It’s okay, and don’t be embarrassed on my account. Like I said, people get on the wrong lift all the time.”
“I didn’t, actually. I’m up here with my cousin, Brett. He said he’d teach me to ski, and took me on the lift with him, then ditched me as soon as we got off.”
“Even though he knows you’ve never skied before?”
“He saw some pretty girl and instantly forgot me.”
Jax leaned forward, elbows against his knees, and looked out at the run, at the skiers as they passed. “Here’s the thing about skiing. You have to loosen up, take it easy, and relax. Look around at where you are, feel the mountain, the snow, and love the wind against your face. You’ll fall, sure, but when it happens, roll
with it. Don’t fight it.” He turned his head and gazed at her solemnly. “Think you can do that?”
“I’ll try.”
“Good.” He pulled a small flask out of his pocket, unscrewed the lid, and took a swig before handing it to her.
“I can’t drink. I tried it once, just a little bit, and spent the whole night driving the porcelain bus.”
“It’s not alcohol. Just some spiced cider.”
No wonder he smelled so good. She took a drink and didn’t want to give it back. Warmth spread through her like melted butter. She sipped again. “This is incredible.”
“Drink the rest. It’s nice, yeah?”
Her whole body was infused with warmth. “Are you sure this is just cider?”
“Real sure.” He was cheeky again. “And maybe a little magic.”
“Will it get me arrested?”
“Nope. Drink up, Sasha, and we’ll have some fun on the way down.”
She polished it off and handed him the flask. “Thanks, Jax.” He was so nice, which was unexpected. Most guys who were built and hot were way too into themselves to have a clue anyone else was alive, but he didn’t give off that vibe at all. He seemed almost humble, and just so … kind. The combination of his looks and his thoughtfulness was powerful, and she couldn’t help being a little bit attracted.
Who was she kidding? She had to make herself stop staring at him. And how weird was that? He wasn’t her type, at all.
Her last crush had been a thin, wiry blond guy with glasses: a band geek who played the clarinet and shared a lab table with her in chem 2. Tyler Hudson. No matter how much she tried to flirt with him, he never flirted back. They were great friends—and that’s all they were.
Tyler was the kind of guy she was attracted to. She didn’t go for big, muscular jocks.
Until now.
Standing, she put her skis back on and followed him out of the forest, concentrating very hard, determined to loosen up, like he said. Incredibly, she managed to ski at least a hundred feet before she fell. Remembering to roll with it, she was back up and on her way pretty quickly. It got easier and easier.
They were close to the bottom when he called, “You wanna ski another run?”