House of Slide Hybrid (7 page)

Satan was soon in the driver’s seat, the sound of his door as it opened then shut loud in the mostly quiet woods.

“I expected to see more of a crowd when we got back,” he said companionably then he sniffed like he could smell something.

“A crowd? Of what?” I asked, thinking that I probably knew.

“Fear attracts darkness, so I thought you might be useful at gathering some things that are otherwise difficult to track down. Doesn’t matter though—good really that you aren’t afraid enough to be good bait.” He nodded his head; I could see it silhouetted by the headlights on the road.

“You used me as bait? What if a monster lured me out and ate me?”

He snorted as he looked over his shoulder at me. “You’re not stupid enough to get out and pet one of them, are you? Do you smell that?”

I scowled at him, unwilling to admit that, yeah, I was that stupid, but at the same time wanting to enlighten so that he wouldn’t put me into such dangerous circumstances again. “Cigars, or do you mean dried sweat and eu de Satan that you should market.”

“Nether,” he said, apparently ignoring my jibe. “Smells like Nether. Would that have anything to do with why you’re not scared?”

I glared at the back of his head, wishing I had something to hit him with. “Who in their right mind wouldn’t be scared of a Nether?”

“You, apparently.”

I exhaled as I tried to think of some way to not talk about the Nether. It was ridiculous that he wanted to talk about something that unpleasant for me when not him or either one of my parents would explain anything to me. There was no way I was going to explain how I’d accidently touched the immortal’s very naked chest when Satan didn’t tell me anything that I really should know.

“What do you know about Devlin and the stones and my trainer and why Devlin took my soul, and how long have you been going out into the scary woods with Snowy and Osmond? Do you have any idea how dangerous that is? It would take some serious effort to kill you, but one teeny, tiny bullet hole and Osmond would die—permanently. Why don’t you want me to be trained, or is it just that you don’t like not knowing what Slide is doing? What is Slide doing?”

When I took a breath he cut in. “I don’t know anything about stones, or why Devlin took your soul, or what Slide is doing. I don’t want you to be trained because those two kids are more tough and lethal than you’ll probably ever be, when it should be the other way around. Training isn’t going to be easy for someone like you, someone who’s so naïve that she’d trust a monster.”

“How did you know…” I began, but he cut me off with his growl.

“You’re going to get training that if you do survive, you’ll no longer be the little darlin’ we’ve all grown so fond of. Everything will change.”

He stopped talking and the silence he left behind didn’t ask to be answered. Even if he’d answered me honestly, it seemed the question about the Nether no longer needed answering. I thought he knew anyway since whatever I felt you could read on my face even when I did block the emotions, the leaning. He was right; I was innocent and stupid, likely to run into something without thinking because of my lack of experience, but what could I do about that besides have experiences? On the other hand, I thought as I gripped the hem of my shirt, feeling the soft fabric between my fingers, I didn’t want to give up my innocence and become that girl, the one who wanted to kill Lewis instead of get his phone number.

Chapter 5

I wore my hair in braids the next day, but looped up so they were a little more than milk maid braids, or toddler braids, as Snowy called them when she saw me.

“So,” I began as she stood at her locker, ignoring me as she took out her books. “Do you do that a lot? I mean, go on dangerous missions with Osmond and Satan?”

She shot me a look, a, ‘you’re not seriously asking me this’, look before she said, “What else is there to do around here?”

I hated that she was mad at me, but I wasn’t willing to pretend I was someone else to make her happy. “Let’s go shopping,” I said, wishing I could have asked her when she was in a better mood. It wasn’t like me to want to go shopping, but I wanted to get some more cute shirts in my size, maybe some skirts, shoes, a coat that wasn’t the ugly yet warm marshmallow people coat. “After school,” I said when she raised an eyebrow like I’d said something she’d never heard before.

“Today?” was all she said though.

I nodded. “Yeah, it will be fun. The city’s safe, I asked my mother this morning. She and Satan seem to think that you won’t let me get into very much trouble. Little do they know,” I said with a grin.

Snowy didn’t smile though, instead she looked thoughtful, then looking past me, I felt the hairs on my neck stand up as I realized someone was behind me, quite close, and big, and without a doubt…

“Osmond, do you think it would be a good idea for me to go to the city shopping with Dari today?”

I stopped breathing as the memory, the kissing and the bare chestness, filled my mind, combining weirdly with the experience with the Nether. I knew I was blushing, could feel the embarrassment even as I made sure that my internal barriers were high, so that the entire school wouldn’t feel how I felt. If that happened, I would never ever be able to walk these halls again.

“Why not?” he asked before he put a hand on my shoulder. I felt frozen in place as he leaned forward and whispered, “You did great last night.”

When he was far enough away from me that I could breathe, I realized that Snowy was staring at me, had been staring at me for who knew how long.

“What?” I asked, walking briskly to my next class, like nothing had happened. Nothing had happened. Osmond had put his hand on my shoulder a dozen times before, and I’d never really noticed it. Nothing had changed, except that now I definitely noticed.

“Do you like him?” she asked, following me when she should have been walking in the other direction. I glanced up at the stained glass arched above me, the balcony on the second floor where the artistic types hung out, and hoped she would go away.

“You do,” she said, grabbing my arm with a squeal.

“Shhhhh,” I hissed, looking around to see if anyone heard. Everyone noticed Snowy, of course they did, but not more than usual. I sighed in relief even as she tried to drag me to a restroom, no doubt so that I could be humiliated further.

“We’ll talk on the way to the city, okay?” I said, hoping for a respite.

She looked slightly suspicious, but finally nodded and bounced away, apparently so deliriously happy that I liked Osmond that she could forgive me for my braids and purple butterfly t-shirt. I shook my head as I walked towards the marble stairs that twisted upwards, where most of my classes were held. She hadn’t been nearly so happy when she thought I liked Smoke. I didn’t want to explain to Snowy how I felt when I didn’t understand myself, particularly when the idea of talking about Osmond, of saying that name out loud filled me with a shuddering embarrassment that made less sense to me than how the Nether had gotten into Satan’s car the night before. I knew however, that the chances of my not talking about it were pretty much nil.

After school, I’d barely buckled my seatbelt before Snowy started.

“If I’d known you actually liked him, I wouldn’t have suggested that you go on a date with him, not when you’re completely unbalanced.”

“Thanks,” I muttered, but she didn’t seem to hear.

“No wonder you melted the movie theater. So you think he’s completely hot? He is, of course, and nice, and smart, and his truck is not bad. When did this start? I could have sworn that before it was only you obsessing about that creepy old Axel guy.”

I forced myself not to defend the creepy old Axel guy, or Lewis as I thought of him in my head, or tried not to think of him actually. I had an idea that this might be a natural intro to my, ‘what do you know about Devlin’ talk.

“I actually had a vision, or I saw Devlin’s vision, I guess.” I looked at her and saw her perfect mouth slightly thinned as she stared out the windshield, her hands tightening on the steering wheel. “It was an alternate reality, where I was all tough and strong, and Osmond was…”

“I see,” she said curtly, apparently no longer interested in details.

“What do you know about why Devlin took my soul? Did he tell you anything about the future that I should know? Anything about…”

“Look Dari,” she said in a cold voice that I’d rarely heard her use. “He didn’t talk about you, not to me, not to anyone, except maybe Osmond. The topic of you was as off limits as your personal space. No one went there—not even me.” There was something hard in her voice that I suspected covered up vulnerability.

“Sure, no problem,” I said quickly, looking out the window at the dreary landscape of a late January afternoon.

“You could always ask Osmond,” she said, a slightly teasing back in her voice.

I didn’t have to think about it to shake my head, knowing that would be a terrible idea. “Right, as soon as you ask Smoke to the Valentine’s dance,” I said hoping that would shut her up.

She sighed. “You can’t ask a boy to something romantic, it would be like sending yourself a love letter. What would be the point? Besides, I’m not ready to get serious with anyone, not like Smoke could ever be serious about anything,” she added with a slight grin.

“He’s a seriously great dancer, and he’s fantastic with his sword.”

She giggled slightly, shaking her head like I’d said something funny. “Maybe I’m intimidated by his sword prowess.” This time she laughed out loud, shooting me a look like I was supposed to be laughing too.

“Um, yeah?”

She kept laughing, looking at me every few seconds which made her laugh even harder.

“Maybe Osmond’s swordsmanship isn’t bad either,” she said when she managed to stop laughing for a few seconds. I stared at her for a long time before she finally shook her head. “You are so precious. It’s impossible to believe that anyone can be as truly oblivious as you are, but there you are.”

I frowned at her, but she seemed unaware that she’d just insulted me. Again. “So, what are you going to buy?”

“Who knows, a pair of boots if I can find anything I like, but what about you and Osmond?”

“Me and…” I trailed off, not quite capable of saying those two words in the same sentence, however short it was.

“You like him, I don’t care if it was hallucination inspired, I saw the way you looked when he put his hand on your shoulder—like you were about to swoon. Tell me that you don’t like him.”

I shrugged. “Doesn’t everyone like him? He’s pretty nice, right?”

“Please. I think that if I suggested it, he would ask you to the Valentine’s dance.”

“No,” I said, grabbing her arm, feeling a rush of humiliation. “He would only ask me out of pity because I’m Devlin’s little sister, not because he likes, me. Besides, I think someone else was going to ask me.”

“Who?” she asked, looking at me for too long before she returned her gaze to the road that was dry in spite of the snow piled on either side of it.

“Um, I forget his name, but in English class, we talk a lot, and I think he mentioned something about the dance, so I will definitely be very excited to see him Monday. He’s nice.”

“Not as nice as Osmond. No one is though. It’s a pity that I don’t like him, I used to try to, but it’s not like that with us, kind of thought you’d be like that, but this is better. Healthy.”

“Everyone likes Osmond, Snowy. It’s stupid to think that I’m smart for liking someone everyone else likes when I’m so…not like everyone else.”

“You do like him!” she crowed, like she hadn’t already deduced that fifteen times. I rolled my eyes. “Maybe he likes you, at least, maybe he’d like you if he thought about you like that, which he probably hasn’t, I mean, can’t think about you like that when you were a zombie, and not when you had Lewis’ soul, and not when you’re all depressed and obsessed with the guy who didn’t actually exist, but now, if you’re actually more you, maybe he’d like you.” She sounded less and less certain as she went on.

I chortled, and shook my head. “Snowy, the chances of Osmond liking me in my pony shirts and braids is so slim, it’s laughable, and the thing is, I’m going to be this, whatever it is I am, whether or not people like it. Maybe I’ll like Osmond, and it’ll be the crush I should’ve had in third grade, and it will be best if he doesn’t like me. I seriously can’t handle the thought of anything intense between us. It’s overwhelmingly goo-brain-inducing to see him all muscly and stuff. I think that I’d faint if he actually did something romantic.”

She glanced at me, a glance that was analyzing my argument for flaws she could work with. “Fine,” she said at last. “I won’t tell Osmond that he should like you, and you can live in your little pink crush world until you get over it. Hopefully the Osmond thing will last because he’s really a good guy, not just crush worthy, but an honest to goodness person you could be happy with.”

“Like Smoke?” I asked.

“Smoke is…” she frowned as she thought about it. “Maybe. I used to know him so well. Now, I’m not sure anyone knows who they are, not since your brother…anyway, we’ll have to see.”

“I could tell Smoke that he should ask you to Valentine’s,” I offered.

She laughed, like I’d said something hilarious then when she finally stopped cackling, she started talking about her wardrobe and what she was looking for to fill in the supposed gaps. I didn’t ask her how she could have gaps in something that was so clearly full, at least her closet had been the last time I’d seen it.