Veiled Waters Page 9

  “Did you miss the part where I have a boyfriend? Reid Ashton, remember? I said I’d dance with you, I didn’t give you permission to grope me, so this dance is over.” She started to turn to walk away, thinking Trevor was lucky he was getting away without any burns, but then his fingers closed on her wrist again and he yanked her back to him. Ember almost rolled her eyes. He might get burned yet.

  Ember glared up into his grey eyes and felt her fingertips prickle.

  Trevor had his other hand, the one not grasping her wrist, on her arm, digging in his fingers. “Hey, you can’t leave yet. I thought we could have some fun. You know, maybe take this party upstairs.” He smiled, half-charm and half-sleaze.

  Ember gritted her teeth. What would it take for these guys to get it? She’d all but screwed Reid on the dance floor earlier, making it clear as daylight that she was his girlfriend. Surely they knew Reid wouldn’t take it well if they tried it on with her. Then again, Reid had a reputation for taking a girl and then leaving her just as quickly. Which probably didn’t help. These guys most likely thought she was expendable to Reid. Hadn’t quite worked it out yet: He loved her. And she loved him. Clearly, that was too hard to grasp. But after four months, you’d think they’d get the message.

  “I suggest you let go of me, right now, or else the only place you’ll be going will be the hospital.” She wasn’t kidding either. She just didn’t think he believed that. Pity. They never believed it until someone had to call 999.

  Trevor’s eyes narrowed, and his grip on her wrist tightened until it was painful. Abruptly, he flung her away from him with a disgusted noise. “You’re just a gold-digging little whore, aren’t you? You’ll screw anyone – as long as they’ve got money,” the boy sneered, apparently furious enough to spew crap.

  Ember was caught between disgust, hurt and outright shock. She’d never thought she’d see the day someone accused her of being a gold-digger – Never mind that there was no proof she’d ever slept with anyone but Reid (Seeing as she hadn’t). It was almost comical, so much so that Ember felt a tiny, bitter smirk curl her lips. It was more scorn than amusement.

  Reid, though, had apparently heard the whole thing and wasn’t amused in the least. Out of nowhere, he was suddenly at her side, glowering murderously at the horrid boy. His eyes had turned steely, and Ember suspected it was only because there were spectators that he hadn’t already torn into the boy’s throat.

  Obviously having realized Reid had heard his vile comments, Trevor tried to backpedal, spluttering helplessly. He looked genuinely terrified, his cold eyes showing white all around. But his fear didn’t give Ember a cruel satisfaction. Maybe because she’d never seen Reid this angry before, except maybe at Professor Oliver of The Society. Instead, Ember felt sorry for Trevor, just a little.

  “What did you just call my girlfriend?” Reid’s tone was freezing, and Ember shuddered. She was half-surprised he didn’t hiss.

  Trevor’s eyes widened yet further and he’d gone extremely pale. His mouth was working but only half-stuttered noises came out.

  There was a very, very low pitched rumble in the air, and it took Ember a moment to realize it was coming from Reid. “You slimy, disgusting, sleazy little bastard!” Reid snarled.

  Ember and the terrified boy both flinched. Reid looked furious and utterly lethal, his jaw set so that a muscle ticked in his cheek.

  Then, with no warning, Reid flung himself at the scared boy, slamming his fist into Trevor’s jaw. There was a clear cracking noise and the boy sprawled on the floor. Ember gasped, hoping he hadn’t shattered the boy’s jaw. People, gathering around, gasped and muttered. Some guys cheered and clapped, egging Reid on, and some looked like they might make moves to pull Reid away. Thankfully, none of them actually dared go near him. Better for their own safety if they stayed where they were.

  Reid dove on Trevor, pulling back his fist for another punch. Trevor was whimpering under Reid, blood staining his teeth and spilling down his chin as he lisped apologies, holding up his hands defensively. Moved by an unexpected, hasty pity for the boy, Ember stepped forward and wrapped her fingers firmly around Reid’s raised wrist before he could deliver a second blow.

  For a second, she felt Reid strain against her grasp. “Ember, let go. I heard what he said to you, saw what he wanted from you. He deserves—” Reid cut off abruptly with a low growl that Ember hoped nobody else heard over the throbbing music.

  She didn’t release his wrist as she spoke. “He deserves a broken jaw, yes. You’ve done that. And while bashing his brains in might make you feel better, it’s more trouble than it’s worth, Reid.” Ember did her best to sound soothing and logical, the way Ricky sounded when he was trying to dissuade Reid from doing something crazy. She wasn’t sure how well she pulled it off, but slowly, she felt some of the tension go out of Reid and he stopped pulling against her grasp. The crowd let out sighs, of relief and disappointment.

  Reid got his feet, his eyes still locked on Trevor, who was going to have one hell of a bruise even if Reid hadn’t broken his jaw – but Ember was pretty sure he had. He hadn’t been holding back much with that punch. A few people rushed forward to help Trevor, and Ember grabbed Reid’s arm and began pulling him away. She got him to the stairs before Ricky and Sherry came running down, panic-stricken, obviously having heard the commotion. Well, Sherry was panic-stricken. Ricky was somewhere between angry and exasperated.

  He reached the bottom of the stairs and lifted a hand as if to hit Reid upside the head, seemed to reject the idea, and ran it through his hair instead. “What the hell, Reid? Do you have to pick a fight with everyone in the school? Jesus. If Brandon were here, you know what he would say! He’d—”

  “He’d tell you you’re a moron who needs to stop acting like a Neanderthal! Reid, for God’s sake, do you have any idea how many people could’ve seen your fangs right then? I did! You’re lucky they’re all too drunk to realize what they saw.” Brandon, right on cue, appeared next to them, clearly enraged.

  Perry, beside him, looked…well, it seemed he couldn’t make up his mind whether to be angry too, or amused by Reid’s outrageous attack.

  Ember turned to Reid, expecting him to blow up again with Brandon shouting at him like that, but instead, he had his eyes closed and that infuriating little half-smirk on his mouth. Ember knew he was still majorly pissed off, but obviously he enjoyed angering Brandon too much to pass up the chance to exacerbate the condition.

  “Reid, are you even listening to me!” Brandon yelled, his hands in fists, his hazel eyes glinting.

  That was when Ember realized she’d only ever seen Brandon in vamp-mode once before, the night she’d found out the boys were vampires. Somehow, he was just less intimidating than Reid and Ricky when they vamped out. Maybe it was because he was a total git, but that was just her opinion.

  Reid didn’t answer, didn’t even open his eyes. Brandon clenched his jaw, glaring. Perry just gazed on with his head tilted. Ricky was frowning in exasperation, and Sherry, half-hidden behind Ricky, looked annoyed that the night had taken this turn.

  Eventually, Reid cracked an eyelid and, seeing Brandon standing there glowering at him, sighed in disappointment. “Damn,” he muttered.

  Ember arched a brow questioningly at him.

  He saw and shrugged. “I was wishing he’d go away. Didn’t work.”

  Ember tried not to smile. “Obviously.”

  Reid frowned, shaking his head. “One of these days, Tinkerbell will grant my wish.”

  At that, Ember snorted. “Tinkerbell doesn’t grant wishes,” she stated, still fighting to keep a straight face.

  Brandon was getting more annoyed by the second, but everyone else was trying not to crack up.

  “Oh.” Reid paused thoughtfully for a moment, and then looked at Sherry, and asked, with a perfectly serious expression, “Do you grant wishes, Thumbelina?”

  Of course, that was all it took for everyone to lose it and dissolve into laughter. Brandon even, just nearly, crac
ked a smile. It was one of those rare moments where violent tension just collapsed into hilarity with a handful of smart remarks. Ember loved those moments. She’d record them all if she could. In a life that was suddenly filled with horror and danger and stress, those moments were precious. If it weren’t for Reid’s bizarre wit, they’d probably never have moments like that.

  Eventually, they all calmed down, and while Brandon looked like he wanted to pick up his tirade again, instead he stalked away, muttering to himself. Perry followed close behind him, after fist-bumping with Reid and ruffling Ember’s hair. She didn’t mind Perry as much as Brandon, but it still gave her an unpleasant shock for him to touch her so casually. Still, she cut him some slack when she noted his attempt at walking in a straight line was a little off. Apparently, vampires could get clumsy when they were drunk. It was just Reid who never seemed to stumble.

  “So.” Ember turned to Reid and put her hands on her hips.

  He frowned, sensing trouble. Ricky twitched, as if he wanted to step between them, just in case, but he stayed where he was. Sherry was sitting on the rickety staircase, with her chin propped on her hands, looking quite tired. The music had changed back to annoying dance beats a while ago, and more people were sitting on the floor chatting than were up and dancing. The smell of sweat and alcohol and fading perfume lingered in the air, one of the strobe lights had burned out, and some guy was arguing with the DJ – Well, the guy in charge of music. Ember wasn’t sure he could be called a DJ when all he was doing was selecting songs from a playlist on an iPod. She looked back to Reid, who was waiting tensely for a lecture. “Do you still think it was a good idea coming to the party?”

  Reid blinked, then broke into a grin. “Definitely. Who knew you could dance like that? And I do enjoy a good fight.” He took her hand, wound his fingers through hers. “Even if that fight is because some tosser offended my girlfriend. I don’t think I’ve ever had a fight over that before.”

  Ember rolled her eyes. “You’ve never had a proper girlfriend before,” she pointed out.

  He shrugged.

  She sighed, leaned into him, yawned. “I think it’s time to go. Ricky, you might have to carry your girlfriend.” Ember waved a hand in Sherry’s direction and Ricky went to scoop her off the stairs. Sherry made a noise of protest, but curled against her boyfriend anyway, yawning too.

  It had been an interesting night, but Ember swore she was never going another party, even under threat of torture.

  Chapter Four

  ** Reid **

  Rain trickled down the window, the sky clouded over a charcoal grey. The room was dark and quiet, only the sound of Ricky breathing and the rain pattering. Of course, if he tried, Reid could hear the heartbeats of everyone on this floor. But tonight, he didn’t even feel like prying into other people’s dreams just for kicks. No, tonight, he was sitting by the window, staring dully out at the silver water dropping from the sky in icy needles. He leaned his forehead against the cold glass, lifted a can of caffeine-packed energy drink to his lips. He needed the caffeine, didn’t want to go to sleep. Honestly, he was scared of the nightmares. It was just easier to stay awake.

  He kind of wanted to slip into Ember’s head and see what she was dreaming about, but he knew the prickling that she’d feel at her temples might wake her up. So he sat and watched the trees on the edge of the parking lot swaying, listened to the howl of the wind, and hoped Ricky didn’t wake up. The lecture he’d get would be enough to put him to sleep.

  Eventually, the rain stopped and the wind softened, but Reid didn’t move. The way the moonlight slanted in through the window cast shadows of the rain drops on the glass across the wall. Tiredly, Reid traced lines through the shadows, trying to find patterns or shapes. Sometime around six a.m., he was having trouble keeping his eyes open and the shadows all ran together in a blur. He fell asleep sitting on the desk in front of the window, amongst the clutter of homework papers and glass bottles of runes and charms.

  *****

  ** Brandon **

  “Have you heard? Trevor Parks is dead. It’s in the local paper and everything. Apparently, he was found floating in the Onyx Lake last night. You know, the lake where those other boys drowned, too. How freaky is that?”

  Brandon stopped mid-stride in the middle of the hallway, listening, but the girls talking had moved on to discussing the new Jimmy Choo shoes in some girly magazine. With a heavy sigh, he turned and started walking back the way he’d come, his swim bag tossed over one shoulder. So much for swimming practice. There was another body, and whatever was going on at that lake, he needed new eyes to see it. Maybe he’d take Ember’s idea and go see Cris. He wasn’t going to bother with the Kitsune boy. That kid was trouble, and there was no way in hell he’d help out anyway, especially if he was as close to Ember as he’d been told.

  After dumping his swim bag back in his room, Brandon headed up a couple of floors and knocked on the door of room 232, hoping Cris was in and not out doing his P.I. thing. He tapped his foot anxiously, waiting impatiently. Normally he’d have had Perry with him, but Perry was away with his family for the weekend.

  Finally, the painted door in front of him swung open to reveal Cris, grinning and cheery as ever, wearing jeans and his cowboy hat. His smile dimmed a little when he saw Brandon. “Oh. Brandon. Hey.” The Irish boy leaned against the doorframe, shoved his hands in his pockets. “What brings you to my door? Everythin’ alright?”

  Brandon hesitated. He hadn’t spoken to Cris much before, wasn’t sure how best to ask for his help. Should he propose it as a job? Surely if he said Ember had suggested he ask, it would help his case a little bit.

  He must’ve hesitated too long, because Cris dropped his smile completely and straightened up, his sunny disposition suddenly gone. “Brandon, what’s wrong? Is Ember—”

  “She’s fine,” Brandon said hastily. He had to wonder why everyone always asked about Ember first. How did she earn such loyalty? To him, she seemed cold and abrasive and reckless, yet Cris and Hiro and Ricky and Sherry were all as loyal to her as Reid was. Maybe it was really just him. He supposed he hadn’t done much to endear himself to her, to earn her friendship. Which was wrong of him, when he thought of it. She was his friend’s first real girlfriend, and he was genuinely glad Reid had found someone to make him happy. He just wished Ember was a better influence on Reid, rather than encouraging his wild plots.

  “So…” Cris’s voice brought him back to the current situation, and Brandon blinked. “Why are you here?” Cris asked bluntly, crossing his arms.

  Brando straightened up and stared at Cris evenly. “I was wondering if I could get your help with something. You’ve heard about these drownings at the lake? Well, Perry and I think there’s something supernatural going on, but we can’t find anything at the lake. So, I thought maybe someone with fresh eyes and a different magical perspective would be able to find something we couldn’t.” Well, he’d asked.

  To his credit, Cris hesitated only a second, then his serious expression eased a little. “That’s all? You just want my help? Man, you looked so serious, I thought you were going to tell me something had happened to Ember or Ricky or something.”

  Brandon wasn’t sure what to say to that, so he just shrugged.

  Cris gave him a long, probing look, then grinned. “’Course I’ll help out. Reid was right. You’re really damn serious. You don’t need to be so uptight. Sometimes people will cut you a break, you know.” He closed the door behind him. Much to Brandon’s surprise, the boy clapped him on the back. “Come on then, let’s go. Maybe I’ll be able to dig some information out of the lake pixies.”

  *****

  The lake was cordoned off with yellow police tape wrapped around the trees, but the scene was conveniently devoid of people. The surface of the water rippled with the wind, the skinny trees whispering and muttering. Just like before, Brandon stilled himself by the lakeside, cranking up his vampire hearing until he could’ve heard a pin drop half a mile away. Ev
ery breath of wind, every twitch of a branch, every chirp of a robin, he heard it clearly. But this time, no music. Not a tinkle, not a single note, not a whisper.

  Cris wandered to the lake and knelt on the bank, swirling the water cautiously with his fingertips. He frowned, pulled his hand out, rolled up his sleeve, and plunged his arm in up to just past his wrist. Brandon watched in confusion, wondering what the boy was doing. Not wanting to distract him, Brandon resisted asking.

  After a few minutes, Cris stood up and rolled his sleeve back down, scowling, his green eyes shadowed. With a sigh, he met Brandon’s eyes and an unhappy line formed at the corner of his mouth. “There’s warding on the lake. It’s stopping any magical interference under the surface. I doubt any supernatural would be able to step in without getting a nasty shock. Whoever, or whatever, did this is both clever and very territorial. It explains why it cut off Ember’s connection to the water before. It probably didn’t like someone else messing with its home,” Cris said solemnly, casting a thoughtful glance at the silver-blue water.

  Brandon frowned. He’d never come across anything that could ward water like that. Witches usually could only ward land spaces. Water messed with their potions and interrupted their magic if they weren’t strong enough. A nymph might be able to ward a body of water, but it would take several of them to ward an entire lake. Fae were capricious enough to kill human boys just for kicks, and they had the ability to lure someone into the water and trap them there to drown. It was a possibility, he supposed.

  “Nymphs,” Brandon muttered, shaking his head. Then he turned to Cris and nodded. “Thanks for your help, Cris. I appreciate it,” he said, meaning it.