Lauren (Keegan's Chronicles Spin Off) (10 page)

Anna turned to narrow her eyes at Keegan. “Not that I don’t want to be here, but I still don’t know why we had to come back to change. The flight wasn’t that long, and you look fine.”

Keegan shrugged, but didn’t answer as she grabbed her bag from the back seat and tossed the strap over her shoulder. She avoided both of their gazes.

Lauren raised an eyebrow, glancing over her shoulder at Anna for confirmation. “If I didn’t know better, I would say you’re stalling, Keegan.”

“Stalling for what?” Anna asked, confused, but then her eyes widened in understanding, and she stared at Keegan. “Are you nervous about seeing Donald?”

Keegan’s face flushed. “It’s a little weird. I haven’t seen him since I married Rourk. I guess I’m just worried it’s going to be awkward.”

“I’m sure it will be fine.” Lauren reached out and squeezed Keegan’s arm. “He’s moved on, I think. Don’t worry about it.”

They all stepped from the car into the breezy afternoon, and Lauren hit the button to lock her doors as they started up the walk to her apartment building. “Wait till you meet Audrey,” she told her friends excitedly. “I hope you guys don’t mind, but I invited her over for a sleepover this week.

“A sleepover? What are we—five?” Anna slung her bag from one shoulder to the other.

“Anna, I know you never did girly stuff.” Keegan laughed. “But I think it sounds fun.”

“We should make this quick so we can meet the guys. Thankfully, Tristen is still at work.” Lauren pushed open the front door and held it for her friends to enter.

“Thankfully?” Anna asked. “Why would you be thankful that he’s working? Don’t you want him to hang with us?”

Lauren cringed as she led them to the elevator, weighing her words as it beeped its arrival. “Um, yeah, I always want him with me,” she said slowly. They boarded the elevator and she hit the number for her floor. “It’s just…I want you guys to meet him without everybody else around.”

“Oh, so like an unbiased opinion then?” Anna nodded. “Sure, that makes sense.”

“Kinda,” Lauren agreed as the elevator dinged and the doors opened on her floor. Really, she just didn’t want to deal with Tristen around the guys anymore; the animosity on both sides made her head spin. She was really looking forward to an evening with the old gang.

Inside Lauren’s apartment, Keegan dropped her bag on the floor of the living room and sighed. “I guess I don’t really need to change. I
was
stalling. I’ll just brush my teeth real quick, and we can go.

Lauren looked down pointedly her bag. “Put your bag in the guest room.”

“Yes, Mom.” Keegan grinned and swiped the bag up, then made her way down the hallway with Anna close behind.

Lauren stopped into her own room to change tops. What was up with her lately and spills? She was getting as bad as Keegan. She’d managed to spill coffee on her t-shirt at the airport, and she didn’t want to keep walking around with a trail of brown stain on her chest. She picked out a fitted cotton blouse with three-quarter length sleeves.

Intending to brush her hair and put it up, she headed for the bathroom, but paused just outside the cracked door as she heard her name.

“Is it just me or does Lauren seem different?” Keegan asked. Lauren heard water running and the distinctive clunk as she yanked the wash towel off the rack.

“Different how?” Anna responded through a mouthful of what was presumably toothpaste.

Lauren stepped closer, her heart speeding up.

“I’m not sure. Not as perky as she used to be, maybe.” The towel rack clunked again as she returned the towel.

The sound of Anna spitting preceded her response. “What do you mean? She seems fine to me. Maybe just a little tired.”

“You really don’t think she looks…sad?”

Lauren bit her lip, staring at the floor as she listened. Was she sad? She had never been able to keep anything from her best friends. It wasn’t abnormal for them to notice something was bugging her before she had any idea.

There was a pause, the sound of the faucet, then the towel rack noise again as Anna dried off. “You’re probably just reading too much into it. You know you always do that.”

“Yeah. You’re right,” Keegan murmured absently. Lauren heard the clack of someone’s toothbrush hitting the jar on the counter. “Guess we should get this over with.”

“It’s not like you’re marching to your death, Keegan,” Anna said with a chuckle. “It will be nice to get the gang back together. We’re just going to hang out with the guys like we have thousands of times before.”

Lauren broke from her reverie, backtracked down the hall, and then made sure her flats made sharp tapping sounds on the floor as she walked towards the bathroom.

“I know,” Keegan answered as Lauren pushed through the door.

“Hey. What are you guys talking about?” Lauren asked, pulling open the door where she stored her hairbrush.

She saw the look that passed between her two friends.

“How paranoid Keegan is about seeing Donald,” Anna quipped, leaning to stare closely at her face in the mirror.

Keegan twirled, smoothing down the bodice of her dress. It was a knee-length white dress with a layered skirt. “Are you sure I look okay?”

Anna rolled her eyes and walked out of the bathroom.

Lauren hugged Keegan, her mind on the previous conversation as she answered, “You’re just as beautiful as always.”

“Where in the world are we going?” Anna moaned from the back seat. She tapped on the back of Lauren’s seat they turned onto a small dirt road leading up a hill and into a thick, dim forest. “We’ve been driving
forever
.”

“You’ll see,” Lauren said mysteriously, her eyes on the twisted, narrow path before them. “Don’t worry. It’s not much further.”

“I’m not exactly dressed to go hiking in the woods.” Keegan motioned to the floorboard and her platform sandals.

“You’re fine.” Lauren smiled at her best friend; Keegan’s face registered a sense of relief. Maybe she needed to smile more; that was the problem.

They drove for another five minutes before Lauren pulled the car into the overgrown grass. The girls looked around; there was nothing but woods. The sun was starting to set, bathing the forest in a surreal orange glow.

“Umm, are you sure we’re at the right place? No one else is here,” comment Anna, always willing to state the obvious.

Lauren smiled mischievously. “Just follow me.”

The girls piled out of the car and followed Lauren on the uneven grass, trying not to twist their ankles in hidden rabbit holes.

“It’s kinda creepy out here.” Keegan stooped down to scratch her leg. “And the grass is really itchy.”

“It’s not creepy. It’s beautiful,” Anna said with a sigh.

“Still itchy,” Keegan argued.

Lauren pushed through the underbrush and into a clearing. Behind her, Keegan and Anna screamed gleefully. A glass door hovered a foot in the air in the middle of the clearing. The sunset glinted off the silver frame, casting crystalline reflections on the emerald grass.

“I can’t believe it’s almost been a year since we did this together,” Anna said, clapping her hands in excitement.

“There’s nothing quite like Calvron’s worlds,” Lauren agreed.

Keegan hurried up and peered through the door. Anna snuck up behind her, pushing her through. Keegan fell forward and stumbled, trying to catch herself before she fell on her face.

Two strong arms appeared from the other side of the door and grabbed her. As Anna and Lauren followed her through, Calvron hugged Keegan to his chest, then swung her around like a doll.

“It’s about time!” he crowed.

“Put me down!” Keegan squealed.

Calvron dropped her to the ground with a thump.

“Ouch!” She hit him on the bicep with the back of her hand, but smiled as she did it. Her dress had been replaced with an ankle-length, pale blue dress that looked almost translucent on her. Glitter outlined her eyes, and her feet were bare.

As Lauren passed through the door, she felt her wings unfurl behind her, shaped like a butterfly’s wings with ragged edges, sparkly and pale. Her simple shirt and skirt transformed into a short, pale pink, pixie-like dress with a gauzy skirt and a tight corset top.

She glanced over at Anna, who now wore a purple velvet hooded robe and a black, pointed witch’s hat. Magick crackled in the air around her and she opened her palm, bright purple flames dancing across her skin.

Calvron had chosen to create an inside world. They stood in a courtyard, surrounded on all four sides by a white marble building. Above them, sun shone through an open roof and, around them, a garden bloomed, complete with a pond and waterfall.

Keegan straightened to look around, her mouth agape. “Calvron, you’ve outdone yourself. And if you drop me again, I’m going to kick your ass.”

Calvron gave her a rueful smile. His costume, outlandish as usual, included a plain pair of black pants topped with a technicolor, quilted tailcoat. “You said to put you down.” He turned towards Lauren with a grim look on his face. “I can’t believe you actually made it. The dark prince let you out of his sights?”

Anna and Keegan looked back and forth between Calvron and Lauren. Neither had ever seen any kind of tension between the two of them before.

“Don’t start with me.” Lauren glared at Calvron. “Not today.”

Calvron raised his hands in surrender and backed away. “Just glad you brought the girls.”

Just then, three big cats loped up: a panther, lion and a tiger. They slowed as they neared, and stalked through the huge marble corridor between two massive pillars. The lion and panther walked around the girls, rubbing their huge heads against their legs like domestic cats, but the tiger stayed back, his blue eyes staring warily.

Surprised that Audrey wasn’t with them, Lauren wondered if Donald had asked her not to come.

Anna rubbed the lion’s head. “I missed you guys.”

The three cats morphed into their human forms, fully dressed—thankfully. They wore normal street clothes, which looked strange compared to the others’ fancy “other world” clothes.

Lauren noticed Keegan staring at Donald, but he didn’t meet her gaze, choosing instead to look up at the purple sky where a huge, orange moon hung as bright as a sun.

“Just like old times.” Anna smiled.

“Thanks for doing this, Calvron. I’ve missed your creations. This place is gorgeous.” Keegan smiled warmly.

Calvron gave a slight bow. “Only the best for you and Anna.”

Lauren clenched her fist when he left her name out—and she knew he did it on purpose because of Tristen. Calvron was so immature. It was infuriating. Why couldn’t he just be happy that she was there now instead of making a big deal out of it?

“So what is this place?” she spoke up, trying to keep the anger from her voice. If he was going to be a jerk, she was going to be as sweet as pie.

Calvron stared at her for a moment, and Lauren wondered if he would answer or not.

Finally, a wicked grin spread across his handsome face. “You’ll see.”

The girls all shared a look and groaned. That was never a good phrase to hear coming from Calvron.

“Come on, this way,” Calvron said, and with a flip of his coattails, he led them down a side hallway. The white hall had no other doors in sight, and it ended abruptly, opening to the outside.

Lauren glanced around, taking in the magnificent sight. A craggy, white-capped mountain range loomed in the distance, and to their left spread a large, placid body of water that reflected the mountains and sky.

“Oh my Gods,” Lauren breathed.

“This is unreal,” Anna gasped. “Calvron, I can’t even believe you built this.”

Calvron whirled to face them, his eyes lit with excitement. “I didn’t build this dimension. I found it.” He dropped the bomb as if he had found his favorite candy or something.

“What!?” Keegan stopped in her tracks and looked nervously around.

Two emotions warred inside Lauren: fear and excitement.
How could a place like this just be sitting around?
“You found it? Is anybody here?

“Not that I’ve found—so far. There are some small rodents and insects.” Calvron scratched the side of his face and looked around. “Do you have any idea how huge this is? I’ve been doing tests over the past couple weeks. Humans could actually live here.

“What are you saying, Calvron?” Anna demanded. “You know humans can’t find out that magick really does exist. It would be chaos! And potentially a witch hunt,” she added with a shudder.

Calvron paced back and forth, his hands clasped behind his back. “Yes, yes, I’ve thought of all of that. But imagine, if you will—humans would pay a fortune to step foot in an alternative world.”

“Since when do you care about money?” Lauren’s eyes widened. She stared at Calvron in disbelief.

“You know I don’t. If just
anyone
could come, it would be pandemonium.” His eyes twinkled. “So it would have to be exclusive. The elite class could keep it a secret. We could just invite members of the Illuminati. Word would get out, of course, but it would just be rumors and passed off as a myth.”

Keegan laughed. “Now I know you’ve lost it. There is no such thing as the Illuminati.”

Everyone looked at Keegan and shook their heads in near unison.

Sam spoke up. “You live in La La Land, Keegan. Of course the Illuminati are real.” He looked at her like she was insane.

Keegan searched Lauren’s face, as if begging her friend to say they were lying. Lauren just shrugged and turned back to Calvron with an icy glare.

“I think it’s a horrible idea, and I can’t believe you even said it out loud.”

“Good thing your opinion no longer matters to me,” Calvron shot back.

Lauren’s heart flip-flopped and landed in her stomach, tears prickling at her eyes from his harsh words.

“I don’t know what’s going on between you two,” Anna snapped, “but I agree with Lauren. This has to be the worst idea I’ve heard since the Backstreet Boys decided to make a comeback.” She turned and looked at the other guys. “Why are you being so quiet? Do you agree with this crazy idea?”

“The notoriety of it would be pretty cool. Calvron could be as famous as Christopher Columbus.” Sam shoved his hands in his pockets and looked at Spencer and Donald for help.