Lauren (Keegan's Chronicles Spin Off) (12 page)

“Calvron, Donald, Spencer, and Sam,” she corrected gently.

After a long pause, he said, “I see. And you couldn’t answer your phone?”

“We were in one of Calvron’s worlds.” She bit her lip at the lie. She had thought it
was
Calvron’s dimension at first, so that should count for something.

“Right,” he said sarcastically.

Lauren pretended she didn’t see Keegan gesturing for her to hang up the phone.

Tristen switched gears. “Are you coming over tonight?”

“I wasn’t planning on it. Keegan and Anna
just
got in. I want to spend some time with them.”

“I miss you.” His voice was lower and sent chills down her spine.

“I miss you, too.”

“Just come by for a little bit after your friends go to bed,” he cajoled. “You’ll be home before they wake up.”

Lauren drummed her fingers on the steering wheel and glanced over at Keegan. Her friend’s face was impassive, but Lauren had a feeling she was judging her nonetheless.

“Maybe. Depends on how late we stay up. I’m pretty tired. Plus, we’ll be at your place tomorrow for the party.”

“I don’t want to wait that long. Text me when you’re on the way.” Without letting her respond, he hung up, and the line went dead.

A long, painful silence filled the car. Lauren gripped the steering wheel with both hands, her eyes on strip of the dark street illuminated by the twin beams of her car.

Anna leaned in from the backseat, breaking the uncomfortable silence. “Are you going to go?”

Lauren cringed. “Probably. Just for a little while.”

“He seems kinda possessive,” Keegan pointed out. She had her arms crossed over her chest, her body turned to face Lauren’s.

Shaking her head, Lauren said, “No, that’s not it. We’re just used to seeing each other every day.”

Another pause.

“We just got here,” Anna remarked, disappearing from the space between the seats. Lauren could feel her stare.

“Yeah,” Keegan agreed with a pout. “I thought we’d spend all night catching up.”

“We have all week to hang out,” Lauren reminded them.

Keegan’s mumbled response didn’t sound convinced. “I guess so.”

A wave of disappointment washed over Lauren. She hardly saw the two of them anymore. It wasn’t like high school, when they got to see each other each day at school and spend every weekend together. Now her friends lived hundreds of miles away from her and they only had phone calls and emails.

Welcome to the real world
, Lauren thought irritably. She really had been looking forward to staying up all night, especially because she wanted to talk about what they saw in the other dimension. They would have eaten chocolate and popcorn while a stupid chick flick played on silent in the background.

Lauren spoke up. “Don’t worry. I won’t leave for a couple of hours. We can sit around and gossip like old times for a little while. I’m sure you guys are tired after the long day, anyway, right?”

“I’m beat,” Anna agreed. She smiled. “Plus, I have to practice what I preach. If Tommy was here, I would want to do the same thing.”

As long as Lauren could remember, Anna always tried to keep the peace because she couldn’t stand confrontations. While grateful that Anna didn’t give her a hard time, Lauren also knew Anna wouldn’t put a guy before them—not even the love of her life.

And over it all, she was annoyed at Tristen for insisting. Maybe she
should
just stay home instead of jumping every time he called.

Lauren hurried into the black night, her ballet flats tapping gently on the concrete as she made her way to her car. She’d left only after making sure Anna and Keegan were sound asleep, sharing the bed in the guest room. It was already after midnight; Tristen wasn’t going to be happy.

As she’d been told, she whipped out her phone as soon as she was seated in the silence of her car and shot off a quick text:
on my way
. She flicked on her headlights and pulled out of her spot.

As she made her way down the highway, oblivious to the lights of the city as they flew past her, she lost herself in thoughts of what they had encountered in the other dimension. They had discussed it only briefly during dinner, and neither Keegan nor Anna had any answers as to what they had come up against.

Lauren couldn’t help but wonder how many other dimensions existed that they were unaware of. The image of that creepy alien, dead eyes staring inside a bloody circle…she couldn’t get it out of her mind. It was like something out of
The X-Files
.

The world gets freakier by the day
, she thought with a laugh. But if fairies, elves, and witches existed, then it only made sense there were other life forms out there. Were there more of that kind of creature in that dimension? And why would someone want to kill it in such an evil manner?

A thought struck her. Maybe it was evil, too.

Lauren shuddered, thankful they had made it out alive. As far as she was concerned, she was done with that place. If Calvron wanted to go back, that was all on him, but, somehow, she doubted that he would. She’d seen the fear in his face when the mist came out—she’d never seen him look like that before.

Lauren almost missed her turn. Hitting her blinker, she jerked the wheel and hit the off-ramp at the last second, the adrenaline making her heart pound. Maybe she was more tired than she thought.

She pulled into the drive for Tristen’s neighborhood. The guard peered out of the gatehouse, giving her a bright smile and a tip of his hat as he opened the gate to admit her car.

As she navigated the streets, her body ached for Tristen’s. Just the thought of seeing him made her toes tingle. Mentally and emotionally, she was exhausted from the day and wanted nothing more than to collapse into her warm bed, but just imagining his lips on hers kept the nose of her car pointed to his house.

Anyway, it was easier to appease Tristen than make him angry. She really did want to see him. She felt…
off
when they didn’t see each other daily. Keegan and Anna hadn’t seemed to care too much after they got back to Lauren’s apartment and, even if they did, they’d get it over it.

She’d received a text from Tristen earlier that she shouldn’t bother to ring the bell, just to come in; he would leave the door open. She parked in her usual spot and leapt from the car, practically running up the stone pathway.

The rich, familiar scent of Alfonso’s pizza hit her as she walked through the front door, bringing a wide smile to her face. Tristen rose from the couch, a lock of his black hair falling over one eye as he strode across the room to greet her. He gave her the same devilish smile that she could never resist.

Her tension disappeared when he wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her body to his. She savored the sweet taste of his warm kiss, his lips soft and his hands sliding over her back. She turned to liquid, melting into him, and everything that had happened that day evaporated.

Tristen took her hand, gently pulling her to the living room. The box of pizza sat unopened on the coffee table along with two glasses of soda. “I thought you might be hungry.” He flipped open the box, exposing the cheesy goodness.

She and the girls had eaten sandwiches and a bunch of junk food, but the smell alone returned her appetite. It wasn’t like she could resist pizza.

Lauren sank into the leather couch and grabbed a slice. She closed her eyes as the burst of flavors flooded her mouth. Just what she needed. Resting her head against Tristen’s shoulder, she didn’t speak until the first slice was gone.

“Thank you.” Lauren grabbed her soda and smiled.

Tristen grinned playfully. “I learned early on that the way to your heart is through your stomach.”

“That’s true with all faeries,” she agreed, reaching for another slice. She could seriously eat all day long.

“So. Fill me in on your time with your friends.” She could hear the disapproval in his voice.

Lauren groaned at the reminder of her crazy day. “You don’t want to know.”

“Of course I do.”

“Don’t start about Calvron, okay? I’m too tired to fight.”

His jaw clenched, a vein pulsing in his forehead, but he nodded his head once.

“Keegan and Anna wanted to see the guys, so we met up and went to what we thought was one of Calvron’s invented worlds.” She paused, wondering if she should tell him. She remembered her little white lie earlier, about being in Calvron’s world—but maybe Tristen wouldn’t.

“What do you mean ‘thought’?” he asked, his jaw tightening again.

“It wasn’t invented,” Lauren said quietly. “Calvron found a real dimension.”

He picked up his soda and took a drink before answering, his voice dangerous. “So when you told me on the phone that you were in Calvron’s world while I called, you lied to me?”

“No, I really thought it was Calvron’s at first,” she rushed to answer. “Honestly. And I knew I would tell you about it later, so it was just easier to wait than to try to tell you on the phone. This place was a
real world
.”

Tristen sat up straighter, his soda can perched on his knee. “What do you mean?”

“I know it’s sounds crazy, but it’s true. Calvron’s done all sorts of tests on the air quality. He says it’s livable for humans.”

“Where is it?” Tristen’s voice sounded strange, like he was trying to act casual but failing. His eyes bored deep into her; even his fingers were clenched on the can.

What is his deal?

Calvron’s warning echoed through Lauren’s mind; she knew without a doubt that she shouldn’t tell Tristen anything else. He was way too interested.

But she did anyway. She told him everything.

When she was done, his eyes turned distant and thoughtful. “It’s not safe,” Lauren repeated. “We won’t be going back.”

“What do you mean ‘it’s not safe’?”

“There was some kind of dead creature there that was killed by black magick. We got out of there as soon as we came across it. Tristen, it was really freaky.”

Tristen kept quiet for a moment, his eyes studying her face. “What kind of creature?”

She shrugged. “I don’t know. It looked like an alien—green, with big eyes.”

“Could you tell how it died?” he asked urgently.

Lauren raised an eyebrow. He was really starting to freak her out. “Why do you care? I’m telling you, there is
evil
there, and it’s dangerous. I just want to forget about it.”

Tristen sprang up from the couch. He looked like a coiled animal ready to strike as he paced the room. He was trying to keep control—she’d seen it before, often, when something was upsetting him. She found it odd that he didn’t seem concerned about the fact she’d almost died. Usually, he would have cursed Calvron up and down for putting her in danger.

He whipped around to look at her, his hands clasped behind his back. “Can you show me where it is?”

Lauren thought about it for a moment. “Calvron’s the only one that can open and close it, as far as I know.”

His eyes bored into hers. He looked desperate, which scared her. So fast she barely saw it happen, Tristen came forward and grabbed her by the arms. “Yes, but do you know the exact location?”

“No!” she burst out, struggling to get away from his grasp. “Calvron found it through a dimension he made up. There
is
no way I could show it to you,” she lied, guilt filling her. She hated being dishonest with the man she loved, but something inside told her that Tristen couldn’t know the location.

“Calvron.” Tristen spat in disgust, letting go of her arms so that she fell back against the couch cushions. “Maybe I
will
start going with you to hang out with your friends.”

Great.
Now
he wanted to hang out with her friends. There was no way Calvron would ever show Tristen—or anyone else—the location after what had happened.

“Can we just drop it? Please?” Lauren begged, standing to reach for him. She wrapped her arms around his neck and pressed her lips to his.

His body tensed for a minute, but as she deepened the kiss, he relented. His arms encircled her waist, dragging her closer.

As she led him towards the bedroom, she gave thanks for the power of being a woman.

Chapter 14

“H
ow much longer do we have till we go to Tristen’s?” Keegan yelled from the bathroom.

Lauren cradled her steaming coffee mug between both hands, blowing on the surface as she flicked her eyes to the clock on the microwave. “Twenty minutes. Plenty of time to make yourself gorgeous.”

“I don’t know if that’s enough time!” Keegan’s voice bordered on hysterical. “Half my hair is straight and the other curly. Can you come in and finish for me? Please?”

Anna, sitting across the table eating a peanut butter sandwich behind her laptop, smirked over the open lid. “You
are
the best with hair.”

Rolling her eyes, Lauren stood up, taking her coffee with her. “Keegan is just a drama queen.”

“True dat,” Anna said into her glass of milk. Lauren laughed at the ridiculous phrase. Anna could be so quirky.