Enchant Me (26 page)

The crawling pace all the way to school
almost drove me nuts but finally I arrived safely. I parked next to
Christian who was still sitting in his car, out of the rain. He got
out of his car and looked me over as I took off my helmet. “What?”
I demanded.

“You look like you stepped out of the
Matrix.”

I looked back down at myself. I hadn’t
thought so, but if this was how everyone was going to react all day
long, maybe I would be better off going back home and changing.
Seeming to guess my thoughts, he seized my arm and towed me to
class. 

“You look sexy, just a little
sci-fi.” 

I could hear the laugh in his voice and I
squinted my eyes at him as I mulled over possibly giving him a
slight sucker punch to the kidneys. I started to wonder if he could
read minds after all, because he took a clear step back from me and
pushed me towards class. 

“I don’t think I am going to risk trying to
kiss you right now. I will see you after class,” he whispered after
me.

 After class Tina ran up to me, her eyes
holding a mixture of happiness and anxiety.  “Hey, what’s up?”
I asked.

“Jim wants me to meet his parents tonight.
Can you come over and help me pick out clothes and makeup?”

I briefly glanced down at what I was wearing
today, thinking that she would probably be able to pick out an
outfit suitable to meet Jim’s conservative folks better than I.
Then I realized she just needed me for moral support. “Sure,
but you’re going to be fine. They’ll love you—and if they don’t
it’s their loss. Right?” When she didn’t answer soon enough I
elbowed her. “Right?”

“Ouch, yes.”

“Alright, I will see you after school,” I
said and watched her practically skip down the hallway to her
class.

 After the bell rang and I stepped out
of class, Christian was immediately at my side. I smiled up at him,
admiring how perfectly he was put together. He was wearing that
fitted white button up shirt that showed off his golden skin and
made his dark hair and eyes look even darker. 

“You’re hot, you know that,” I said, almost
complaining about the fact, as I remembered some of last night’s
highlights, mainly me taking his shirt off and caressing every bare
inch of his skin. 

His lips twitched at my tone, and his eyes
softened as he looked down at me. “You’re so cute when you
blush.”

“What?” I asked horrified.

Usually I could tell when I blushed. I put my
hands over my cheeks and could feel the slight heat in them. I
ducked my head to hide behind my hair and thought about anything
but a half-naked Christian. I thought about cleaning Cody’s litter
box and doing the dishes until I was sure my cheeks had returned to
their normal pale color. He laughed at me and then I felt his
arm around my waist pull me tighter, and as I looked around I saw
the reason. Jenny Slater and Tanya Brown were about to pass us.
They were staring at me and whispering to each other, broad smirks
on both of their faces. Without even contemplating the wisdom of
it, I discretely swept my hand across my own body and suddenly
Jenny’s leg came out from under her and across Tanya’s legs. They
both hit the floor in a jumble of arms and legs, the contents of
their purses emptying across the tiles, sliding under lockers, and
kicked by passersby down the hall. Evidently thinking Jenny
had done it on purpose, Tanya hauled back and slapped her. Only to
have Jenny retaliate by punching her in the nose, and so began the
biggest girl fight in Crescent Point High School history. I
glanced up at Christian in amused horror at what I had caused. He
laughed loud and hard in his beautiful voice as we passed them, and
pulled me to a stop outside my second period. He tenderly tucked my
hair behind my ears.

“I don’t think you will ever have to worry
about them again. They’ll be too busy antagonizing each other
now.”

“Don’t you love karma,” I said.

His warm fingers cupped my chin as he looked
at me. “That wasn’t karma. That was you.”

I squirmed under his gaze. “I love you,” he
murmured, then headed off to his own class.

 Even though no one would know that I
had caused the girl fight of the century, I still found myself
avoiding eye contact and keeping as low a profile as I could manage
for the rest of the day, which Christian seemed to find
hilarious. It was a relief when the school day ended and we
walked out to the parking lot.

I smiled at the idea of having him all to
myself this weekend. “Tina asked me to come over to her place
after school and help her do her makeup and pick out what to wear
to meet Jim’s parents tonight. I should be home around 7 tonight.
Did you want to come over then?” Not even waiting for an answer, I
added an incentive. “My mom is going to a concert tonight; she
won’t be home till real late,” I hinted, raising my brows
flirtatiously. 

He bent down, and kissed my nose. “Well in
that case…” he teased.

“Hey...”

“Just kidding, I will see you
then.” 

I grunted playfully in acknowledgement and we
kissed and parted ways. As I put on my helmet a loud crack of
thunder seemed to almost shake the parking lot, and a little more
hastily than usual I made my way out, and straight to
Tina’s. At Tina’s house the hours seemed to whip past us as we
considered outfits and appropriate makeup styles. It was cute how
happy yet anxious she was, and I did my best to remind her that he
was the one lucky to be dating her. There was a lot of laughter and
picture-taking by me and her mom, Tracy, commemorating the moment.
Only to start all over again when Jim finally arrived, which meant
subsequent embarrassment for Tina. I gave Tracy a hug goodbye
as we watched our girl being driven away by her knight in shining
armor then headed to my bike.

Even through my helmet I could hear the loud
cracks of thunder and see the blinding sparks of lightning.
Inwardly I cringed. I had always hated storms, imagining it would
be just my luck to be one of the rare people that get struck by
lightning. I drove as fast as I thought I could legally get away
with in Steilacoom until I pulled up into my driveway. I was
surprised to note that Christian’s car wasn’t here, and my mom’s
was. I was actually a little late, not that that was a surprise. I
pulled out my phone as I unlocked the door and walked into the
house; there weren’t any messages. Mom was already heading out the
door as I stepped to the side. 

“Alexis,” she said just stopping inside the
doorway. “You’re really lucky to have met Christian. He seems like
a real nice boy who really does care about you.”

She looked sad as she said it, even though
she was trying to hide it, and I realized this had more to do with
her pain over Dad than me. “Mom, you’ll meet someone. You just
have to give it a chance. Maybe you’ll meet a great guy tonight,” I
said, smiling widely just to make her laugh. 

“Maybe so,” she agreed, smiling back. “I
won’t be home till probably 2 tonight.”

She started to close the door when I stopped
her. “Mom, did Christian come by yet?”

She looked at me confused. “No, not since I
have been here. I’m sorry dear, I have to go. I don’t want to be
late or I won’t be able to get a table.”

I nodded distractedly as she locked the door
behind her. It was probably nothing. Maybe his grandparents wanted
to spend a little extra time with him and he had lost track of the
time. I started to pace the living room as I called his cell phone.
After five rings it went straight to voice mail. Absentmindedly I
looked around the living room, my mind awhirl with growing anxiety.
I noticed Cody watching me from his perch on the windowsill. His
feline expression seemed solemn and he turned back to stare out the
window. My intuition pricked at me. Before I knew it, I was
locking up the house and getting on my bike.

I rode straight to Christian’s since I didn’t
have his grandparents’ number. I knocked on their door
probably louder than necessary but my worry was starting to turn
into full-blown panic. His grandmother opened the door and looked
like she was surprised to see me. My heart dropped to my
stomach. 

“What are you doing here?” She asked kindly.
“He just headed to your place a couple of minutes ago.”

“Umm, we must have just passed each other,” I
lied.

I couldn’t tell her what I was starting to
fear. I tried as best I could to hold it together until I was
out of sight of the house. Then I started to shake. I didn’t need
my visions to know that Nicolas had Christian.

CHAPTER 14

Terror found a new home-- in my brain.
Ripples of dread and shock coursed up and down my body and for a
moment I was frozen… unable to get past the idea that Christian was
in danger. My hands were like claws around my thighs trying to hold
myself together. The sound of a car slowing down as it passed me
made me realize that I was kneeling next to my bike in the
dirt…wasting time.

I jumped up and onto my bike, shoved my
helmet back on my head, and drove for home. I knew Christian
wouldn’t be there, but I had to check one last time. It felt like
the longest two blocks I could remember but I didn’t need to slow
down as I passed my house; his car wasn’t there. Although I knew it
would be another dead end, I headed for Nicolas’s parents
house. I tried to console myself with the idea that I would
strangle Christian when I found him. Why did he have to be such a
guy? Why hadn’t he just refused to go with Nicolas, refused to
fight? Then it occurred to me. Oh god, what if Nicolas hadn’t given
him a chance to refuse him? What if he had already hurt Christian?
If Nicolas were just the average psycho that would have been bad
enough, but he had powers and I had no idea what they were or what
he could do to Christian. The only thing I did know was if he hurt
Christian… 

The scenery around me started to pass by in a
blur as I sped up, the rain pounding against me as I went faster
and faster. The idea of Christian being hurt for something that
wasn’t even his fault, made me see red. When I pulled into the
Devereaux’s long driveway to their modern characterless house, I
noticed that his parents’ car was gone, so I rode right up the
steps onto their porch skidding to a halt right in front of their
door, leaving black tire marks on the white painted planks. My hand
already tingled before I reached for the door. Summoning my powers,
I forced the lock to turn over, and jerked the door open. I rushed
into the house screaming their names but there was no answer.
Hopelessness lashed me as I stood in the empty living room. I
didn’t need to search the house. They weren’t here; I couldn’t
sense them anywhere. I truly didn’t know where to look next. Fear
crawled through me as I stood there.

The last time I had been here was when I had
broken up with Nicolas. “You’re what?” He demanded.

“
I can’t see you anymore.” I said calmly
and softly, hoping that he would take my cue to keep this
friendly. 

“
And why is that,” he responded in a
deadly calm voice. “Are you seeing someone else?”

I wasn’t fooled by his tone. This was going
dangerous fast. The icy blue eyes I had always admired had gone to
blue flame and I found myself edging towards the door. Alarmingly
so did he. “No, I’m not. I’m…I’m just not ready for how
serious you are getting.” I decided to be honest here. “You’re
scaring me.”

“
Wait till you’ve gone through what I
have. Then you’ll know real fear.”

I felt myself start to shake. Was that a
threat? My pulse started to race unpleasantly as he stalked towards
me. Abruptly a key turned in the lock and his parents walked
in. I turned to look at Nicolas one last time. “Don’t ever
come near me again,” I whispered and bolted out of the
house. 

Just then I heard a car pull up, then the
pounding of feet as they came up the steps and burst through the
open door, his parents Frederick and Renee. Guessing by their
evening clothes they were obviously just coming home from dinner.
Frederick’s eyes bulged and it looked like he wanted to kill me,
and the fury on Renee’s face said she was thinking much the same.
Considering the mood I was in--I couldn’t care less. At least they
were no threat to me magically, I could sense nothing special about
them. They were just ordinary people that apparently couldn’t raise
a sane, well-adjusted, child.

“How dare you Alexis! I knew it was you
stalking Nicolas, not the other way around-” Renee screeched just
to be interrupted by her husband.

“You are going to pay for this after you have
a nice little stint in jail tonight,” Frederick roared, making a
big show of flipping open his phone and dialing the cops. 

“I know Nicolas’s secret,” I said, just loud
enough to be heard, and sounding calmer than I really felt. “He’s
taken my boyfriend Christian. You better pray that he hasn’t hurt
him in any way or you won’t have enough of him to bury.”

I stormed past their shocked faces, and
noticed Frederick canceling the call and closing his phone. When I
got to the door and turned to look back, I noticed that they were
still in the same spots, still processing the danger to their
little family.

“If he survives tonight, I think it would be
wisest for the three of you to leave, for good…” I warned and
slammed the door behind me. 

Back outside I noticed the rain had stopped,
but it was much colder and the wind was whipping through the trees
with a vengeance. Worse, due to the weather it was getting darker
earlier than usual. I was running out of time. Suddenly, agonizing
pain throbbed in my temples and the roar of a vision eclipsed
everything around me. I felt myself rocking in place with the
intensity of it. Then the pain faded almost as quickly as it had
begun.