Evanescent

  She cuts a hard look across the way, and I follow her eyes to Grayson with her blonde hair frizzed out like a haystack, her lips painted bright red like a warning siren.

  “I guess you’d better make your move.” Her eyes drag heavy across the floor as she takes a step in the opposite direction.

  “Hey—” I push in until we’re less than a breath away. “You know if things were different…” I’m not sure what to say next. I know for a fact she’s still in love with Wes. It’s kind of hard to swallow the idea she’s getting physical with him. Just the thought of her lips meshed against his, makes me want to snap his neck. I’m not sure why I feel so protective over her. All I know is I wish she were mine—that it was my body, my lips she was crushing up against. But, for now, this is what we have—physical distance—Grayson hovering in the background. “Laken”—I push out her name with a stone of grief lodged in my throat—“you’re still with him.”

  “You’re right.” She presses her lips together and gives a quick nod.

  “And you might always want to be with him—that’s okay.” The hell it is, but I’ll be the last person to force myself on her. “That’s what life is about, having the right to choose, to make decisions that have the ability to span your entire existence, especially when it comes to matters of the heart. Sometimes love doesn’t give the easy answer. It doesn’t make it wrong though. Good things are worth fighting for.” Like you and me I want to add, but don’t.

  Her pale eyes widen. Her face crumbles as if this were too much to bear.

  Grayson stomps over and plants herself between us.

  “Is this a private conference? Lover’s only?” She bats her heavily made up eyes with lashes thick as shredded felt.

  “I was just leaving.” Laken scowls at her before heading out the door.

  “What the hell do you see in her?” Grayson pets her leather bag as we thread through the hall.

  “She’s just a friend.” Too bad that’s the God’s honest truth.

  “More like a special friend—a friend with benefits. It’s obvious you’ve got it bad for her. Don’t try to deny it.” Her lips part in disgust. She presses out her chest as if she’s trying give me a couple of good reasons to take my mind off Laken.

  “How about you?” I twist the conversation back in her direction. “You got any special friends?” I’m not up for denying any feelings I have for Laken, so I change the subject.

  “Just one.” Her dark eyes narrow in on mine. I know what she’s thinking. I was with Grayson more than once. I came close to thinking about a serious relationship, but that was before I found out Flynn Masterson was screwing around with her on the side, sometimes on the same night. That revelation stopped any potential relationship cold in its tracks. Then after a long, hot summer, Laken showed up dazed and confused and shed a light over who I wanted to be with, and for damn sure it wasn’t Grayson.

  “So, do you have anything set up for homecoming yet?” I stuff my hand in my pocket and watch as her lips part like reopening a wound.

  “Are you asking me to the dance?” Her brows wiggle like long, black worms.

  “Yes.” I nod into her.

  Her features contort as tears spring to her eyes.

  Shit. The last thing I want is to toy with Grayson’s feelings. I knew this had “crappy idea” written all over it.

  “I have the perfect dress! It’s turquoise with a big bow that hangs over my ass. Of course, you’ll get to unravel it later when I gift myself to you.” She dips her red nails into my chest while licking her lips like sealing a deal. “You can either wear turquoise and black, or just black, no white. And I’ll need a trio of roses for my corsage. Pick up your boutonnière at the same time, would you?” She takes a few steps back still lost in thought. “We need a limo—a private one for just you and me. Make sure to score a full bar. This is going to be awesome!” She bounces down the hall, disappearing in the swell of bodies.

  Shit.

  That wasn’t exactly what I had envisioned. Hell, I don’t know what I envisioned. I just thought it was a good way to get Wes off my ass after he gave me the, get-yourself-laid-by-anybody-but-my-girlfriend speech last weekend. Wouldn’t it be ironic if Wes never had her? If it was me she shared her intimate moments with when all this bullshit was said and done?

  Outside, the fog curls its icy fingers around my neck as if it were Wes himself. The sky says rain, but it feels like an arctic blizzard is about to erupt.

  In the distance, situated neatly on senior lawn, Laken catches my eye as Wes draws her into a kiss. Laken pulls back and laughs. Her voice echoes across the yard and trembles right through my bones, sends my mood plummeting a thousand degrees as I take them in—Laken and Wes as the perfect couple. She pecks a kiss over his lips all too voluntarily. She’s still into him. I’m just a reality fix when she needs it with some blood on the side.

  I blow out a breath and head back toward the English building. I ditch the doors and head around to the side where nary a soul is wandering.

  “Heart broken and alone?” A small female voice calls from the overgrown hedges.

  A twin set of bodies morph from nothing. The Tobias sisters in their sickly frames, wash in and out of existence like a bad dream. Two balding girls, with long hair in patches—their clothes hang off their skeletal frames. Their bare legs, nothing but skin over bone.

  “Pulling double-duty?” I make my over without reservation. Two long-dead Celestra only wish they had the power to scare me. The only thing that scares me is never having Laken the way Wes does. I wish it didn’t. I wish I didn’t care, but I do. And if all I get is hurt in the end, then I want to feel that, too. I’ll take anything Laken gives me, the pain right along with the pleasure. Sometimes heartache is all you get out of life, and yet in all things we’re told to give thanks. I’m starting to feel the irony.

  The Tobias sisters blink into one another in their disheveled state before transforming into the beauty queens they once were, with a decent amount of meat on their bones, their rags traded for full skirts, tight sweaters that accentuate their God-given curves. Their pale hair curls around their necks, full and glossy, ripe for a shampoo commercial.

  “Cooper, what is this double-duty?” Hattie takes a step forward. “We prefer you speak plain and clear. We don’t like being made to feel like simpletons. We held the highest scores on all our exams, we won’t be pitied for fools.”

  A dull laugh rattles through me. Figures—the ego’s still in tact.

  “Double-duty,” I start, “you know, flesh and bones today, a poltergeist tomorrow. You’re Laken’s new house sister, or did you forget?” I direct it toward Hattie since her sister’s vocal cords are on strike.

  They examine one another for a very long time, engaging in a telepathic conversation, no doubt.

  “I’m not Laken’s house sister, Cooper.” Hattie takes a tempered breath. “A Fem is.”

  Wesley

  Sickles fall from the sky as I dart through the storm and into the library, a half-hour late for my shift. The tall ornate ceiling in the tundra gives me pause with its intricate mosaics. The muted tones of the stained glass call out and demand for me to admire them, but Laken beams a smile at me from the counter and outshines any beauty they could ever hope to offer.

  She looks so damn hot with her white shirt unbuttoned to her cleavage. Her tongue wets her lips just for me. I wish I could rake the books off the counter, hell—the go-back cart, and love her like I want to. She mentioned “all night long” was at the top of her list, so I’m pretty sure the library is off limits for now, unless I make arrangements. Although with my luck someone will walk in, and that someone will be Cooper.

  “Sorry I’m late.” I steal a kiss before making my way around the marble counter. “Practice ran late. You should come down sometime if you want to hang out—watch me beam a couple guys in the head for the fun of it.”

  “I’d love to watch you commit bodily harm to others.” She gives a little laugh, a
nd her teeth glitter in the light. Everything about Laken shines.

  I’m glad she’s amused. I’m pretty sure Flanders is due for a beating one of these days. Grayson shot me a picture of him cozying up to Laken after first. You couldn’t wedge a toothpick between them the way his body was jammed against hers. Although Grayson did text me a few minutes later and mention he asked her to homecoming. Maybe Laken shot him down, and he asked her as a reflex? There’s not one ounce of me that believes he’s into Grayson. He wasn’t that into her when he was banging her. Grayson’s not his type, and Laken very much is.

  “Have you thought about homecoming yet?” I groan a little as I finish the question. I should have asked her in some memorable, romantic way and not brought it up like I was asking which fast food joint she wants to hit for dinner.

  “Funny you should ask. Homecoming has been on my brain all day.” She bites down on her lip seductively, and a flare of heat shoots through my lower half.

  Knew it. Coop asked, and she said no.

  “Anybody pop the question yet?” Crap. Can I step in shit any faster? And what’s with making it sound like a fucking wedding proposal?

  “I was kind of hoping this one guy would ask.” She casts a coy glance at the ceiling as she takes up my hand.

  “Am I this one guy?” I pinch my lips to the side because this isn’t going how it should, and I know it. A part of me is afraid I’m not the guy at all.

  “You’re the only guy.”

  My body relaxes as she says it. Laken lifted a weight, and she doesn’t even know it.

  I take her in with her hair pulled back in a ponytail, bringing out the almond shape of her eyes. Her cheekbones are cut high and sharp as they mimic a granite ledge. Laken is a walking piece of art that has the ability to make me tremble. She’s the only perfect being I ever want to sketch. I’d like to trace out every inch of her, slow, with my mouth.

  “Am I the only guy?” I steady myself over her, relaxing my arms across her shoulders.

  Laken’s brows dip as if she injured me and doesn’t know how to make the bleeding stop. Shit. I need to stop acting like a wounded pussy and accept the fact I need to fight for her a little harder than I thought.

  “Wes.” She pulls me in by the back of the neck and sweeps her lips over mine. “There’s only you. I promise.” She needles into me with a sincere gaze. “There’s only ever been you. Please believe me.” She shakes her head, imploring me to hear her words, to feel them.

  I close my eyes and crash my mouth over hers. Laken takes the initiative and thrusts her tongue into my mouth in long, hungry strokes. I can feel her heart drumming over my chest with a viral intensity as she wipes away any fear I might have had that Cooper Flanders was digging in deep—that he asked her to homecoming of all things. If he ever tried to snatch Laken, he’d have to pay in broken limbs, a broken heart wouldn’t be good enough.

  Laken pulls back, and her eyes sharpen over mine.

  “That was some kiss,” she whispers less than enthused.

  “Hey?” Flynn barks from the other side of the counter. “Is that what they pay you to do? I’ve got a book that needs to find its way to the jackass writing my lit paper.”

  Laken bubbles with laughter as she makes her way over. There’s a spring in her step, and I’d like to believe I gave it to her but something about the look she just shot me suggests otherwise.

  They make small talk as she helps him with his stack.

  Edinger walks in and skirts the miles of leather-bound encyclopedias on display mostly for decorator purposes. I go over to see what he wants before he makes a scene like morphing into a bat and crapping on me for the hell of it.

  “Can I help you?” I’ve been pissed at him ever since he let loose and scared the hell out of Laken a few weeks back. He said he was just having some fun, but I’m pretty sure holding your decapitated head falls under the category of psychotic behavior, even for a Fem.

  “Have you considered what we discussed?” He bleeds a dark smile. There’s a pained look in his eyes as if it took great effort to impart the false emotion.

  He’s been after to me to think up a way to stamp out the Spectators once and for all. I guess his botched science project is bad for his ego.

  “I’ve thought about it.” I nod. “And I think it’s necessary.” The Spectators have been terrifying the population for years. If we don’t move to eradicate them, we’ll have an apocalypse on our hands one day. “It’s just a means to an end. They don’t really want to live like that—nobody would.”

  “Have your journeyman get their attention. Make them believe a cure is on the horizon. Gather them in droves. They must never see it coming.”

  Journeymen. A dry laugh rattles through me.

  Coop’s all I got, and usually he’s all I need with the exception that I don’t trust his ass anymore.

  “Consider it done.” It doesn’t sound too safe for Coop, but I’m starting not to care.

  Guilt coats me heavy as lead.

  So, maybe killing Coop isn’t high on my priority list at the moment, but if he keeps pushing things, it just might get there. A thought dawns on me. If he goes after them, he might get bit and turn into the very thing we’re trying to eradicate. A part of me wouldn’t feel too bad if it did happen. I hate that I feel like a jealous thirteen-year-old girl. I used to like Coop. He’s one of the nicest guys I know.

  Edinger takes a breath and nods over to Laken, still lost in her conversation with Flynn.

  “She can hurt you, Wesley.” Edinger squints into her a moment. “If I were you I’d be very careful. Women like her have the ability to impress themselves over your soul, to become a paralyzing obsession. I should know.”

  “Laken and I are good. Things are moving in the right direction.”

  “If you had to choose the Countenance over Laken, would you?”

  “Of course.” I don’t hesitate with my response. I knew it was the right answer, but it’s not the truthful one.

  Edinger gives dry laugh. His shoulders bounce with disbelief as he walks out of the library and into the rain. What my mother sees in him I will never know.

  I make my way over to Laken, who’s busy roping her hair around her finger, and slip my arm around her waist.

  I know for a fact I’ll never have to choose between Laken and the Counts because she’s one of us now—she will be forever—we both will.

  “I’m out of here.” Flynn digs his palm into his eye like he’s exhausted. His sandy hair is shagged out in wiry curls like some surfer who forgot his way to the barbershop. “Think about what I said.” He points into her before hitting the exit.

  “What’d he say?” I’m only half-interested. I’m more into what Laken is going to think when I give her a private tour of the stacks in a few minutes.

  “He said I should dump you and go to homecoming with him. He said he has access to condoms in three different colors, and he’d pay me ten grand to keep my cheer uniform on.”

  “I’d laugh, but it sounds like Flynn.” I shake my head while inspecting the new crop of books that were just returned.

  “I might be teasing,” she laughs, relaxing her hands over the back of my pants. “So, what’s this Ensign thing about? Can anyone join?” There’s an innocence about her that lures me in, disables me and leaves me down for the count. “Does it have to do with the flag or something?”

  I cut a look to the door where Edinger stained the entry not too long ago. He goes ape shit if anyone rats out his status as a Fem. I only found out through the Ensign program once I became a cadet. If Laken goes down that thorny path, she’ll have to deal with the fact her English teacher is a creature not of this earth. I don’t want to set her brain on fire with all this psychotic info, but in a way she has the right to know, to dig in as far and deep into the Counts as anybody else. Besides, after Edinger sliced off his head in front of her, he was practically asking to be revealed. I don’t think for a minute Laken believes she was hallucinating.


  “The Ensign program isn’t school run.” I swipe my thumb over her cheek. I’d much rather focus on the two of us than discuss anything to do with the Counts, but she’s hungry for something more, I can tell. “In fact, Ephemeral doesn’t have a thing to do with it.” I let out a breath and examine her like this. The final step before I pull her all the way in. She wants this, and I want this for her—for us. “It’s an intimate branch of the Countenance that only those showing true interest in the lineage are privy to.”

  “I have true interest. I want to do this with you.” She says it so fast, she doesn’t leave room for dispute. Laken is anxious to learn. I’ve never seen a new recruit thirstier.

  “Good. I’m glad. I really think this could bond us as a couple, but you don’t have to do this for the sake of our relationship. We could share other things. I would never hold it against you if you weren’t into it.”

  She brings my hand to her lips and plants a kiss over it. I wish Wes would see how serious I am. There’s not a thing on this planet I don’t want to share with him, and being an Ensign, whatever it is, will pull us that much closer.

  I give a private smile.

  “Wednesday night there’s a special meeting—a gathering. The girls division is called the Treasures, so you wouldn’t be an Ensign, but it’s essentially the same thing. I’ll introduce you to the group. If you want, we can do an initiation that night.”

  “Wednesday?” Her gaze slips past my shoulder a moment. “Okay, I’ll do it.”

  I take her in and tighten my grip around her waist.

  “You won’t regret this. I have a feeling this will bring us closer than you’d ever imagine.”

  “Oh, I’m hoping it will.” She gives an impish grin.