Destroyed (14 page)

He didn’t get it. I wanted to stay, to help him bring back the balance. Besides, I now understood that he wouldn’t be able to do this without me. Puck was right though; controlling the Destroyers was never going to happen with Kai playing Guardian too. We both had to give in to our dark side if this was going to work. I wasn’t sure how I felt about that. I didn’t want to become my mother, but then I understood the need for a strong Destroyer leader.

I put my hand on Kai’s shoulder. “Let’s try something.”

His eyes were red and tired. He stiffened under my touch. “What do you want?”

“I want to see if you can control me. Make me do something.”

“How can I do that? You are still a Shade.”

“Not when I give in to my mother’s power. It’s worth a shot.”

I looked at Puck. He shrugged.

Kai sighed and sat down. I closed my eyes and dropped the shield that held my mother back. Her energy rose to the surface. I could taste a strong wine and smell my Destroyer rose. I craved power.

Kai’s energy changed too. I looked at Puck. His eyes were wide and he took a few steps back from us.

“Come on, make me do something,” I said.

The thought appeared in my mind.
Kiss me.

I smirked. Of course he would want me to do that in front of Puck. But I had no real inclination to do it. It was just a thought. I crossed my arms and leaned back against the desk. Kai had his eyes squeezed shut.

Come on, just kiss me.

This time I answered with a thought of my own.

No. If you want a kiss, you’ll have to come and get it.

I wasn’t prepared for him to actually listen to me. Kai lunged at me and pressed his lips against mine. I wrapped my arms around him and he lifted me up. I wrapped my legs around his torso. His response was urgent. There was no hesitation, no surprise; just passion and lips and tongue.

When I finally pulled back, he pressed his forehead against mine. He put me back down, but kept close. Puck pushed past us and the front door slammed.

What had just happened? Did I make Kai kiss me or did he just do what he already wanted to? Then it occurred to me that I’d done this before, had others obey my words or even my thoughts. The men at the poker game. Jason asking out Tiff. The boys at the restaurant. How was I doing this? How long had I been doing this? Whatever this was, I could use it to help Kai. If I, somehow, had a weird power that would make people do what I wanted then I could help him get the Destroyers under control.

“We’ll do this together. No more keeping me in the dark. I go where you go and I’ll be your secret weapon. The rumors are already starting, we’ll encourage them along. They will fear you once word gets out that you have a girl who can take their power.”

I took Kai’s hand in mine. “No more Guardians will die. We have to protect them.”

He nodded and looked out the window. Puck was storming across the front lawn to my greenhouse.

“I’m going to go see if he’s alright. Do you want to come with?” I asked.

“No, I expect he doesn’t want to talk to me right now.”

On the walk out to the greenhouse I shielded my mother once again. Her power wouldn’t be any help with him. He stood in front of my Turkish Halfeti. Three black buds had bloomed. He turned to face me.

“So that’s it then, you’ve made your choice?”

“What are you talking about?”

“I thought you loved me.”

I stalked toward him.

“I do. Did you not tell me to spy? Am I not doing my job? I’ll admit that it took me a while to figure out what I was doing, but I think I was pretty convincing back there.”

“So you don’t love him?”

I hated the yearning in his voice. The hope.

“Not in the same way I love you. Did you forget that you told me do whatever it takes? This is what it takes.”

He slammed his hands on the table and his face twisted. “No, you are doing this because you want to. There are other ways to do this.”

I laughed out loud. “Oh, yeah? Then tell me, oh wise one, how am I supposed to make sure that Kai returns to the Guardians without pretending to love him?”

He flung open the door and stood in the doorway. “I saw that kiss. There was no pretending there.”

I thought,
stay.
But he didn’t stay, he left. Why was it that I could influence some people, but not others? I thought again over the list of people who did what I wanted.

They were all Destroyers.

For me, roses have always been about the smell, but that doesn’t mean I don’t appreciate the beauty. Roses come in so many different colors, and I think they are all beautiful. Purple has always been a tricky color to grow, but if I want a dark purple I’ll grow a Midnight Blue. It holds its color better than any other purple rose
.

That night dinner was a tense affair. My father was the only one who seemed oblivious to the tension. He blathered on about his animals and asked Ginny a thousand questions about her business. She responded in kind. I could tell she was trying to lighten the mood. Everyone was mad at each other.

Puck was mad at me for choosing to remain with Kai. Kai was mad at Puck for loving me. And I was angry with the both of them for not growing up and getting over it. I turned to Ginny.

“I need to get away for a couple of days. Can I come to Vegas with you? Just for the weekend.”

Both Puck and Kai shot me dirty looks.

“Why?” she asked.

“Because the work I’m going to be doing here requires a certain image and there’s no way we are going to find that here. Besides, I don’t trust anyone but Rita with my hair.”

I didn’t mention that I needed to get far away from both boys to think. Puck had mentioned that he needed to go visit with some of the Guardians on the east coast. Ginny and I could fly back to Vegas together and spend a couple of days shopping and primping. It would give me time to figure out how to handle all of this.

I also needed someone to discuss why the Destroyers were responding to me. Puck and Kai were both out, but Alejandro knew more about the Guardians and Destroyers than anyone I knew.

“When will you be back?” asked Kai.

“Sunday night. We have school the next day.”

*

I got up early the next morning, to catch a flight. I found Kai in the kitchen pouring himself a cup of coffee.

“You sure you have to go?” he asked.

“I’ll be home in a few days.”

He grabbed my hand and pulled me toward him. Apparently, I was pretty convincing last night.

He leaned in for a kiss when the front door slammed. My dad tramped into the room.

“I remember,” he said. He bent over, gasping.

“Remember what?” I asked.

“Ruth. I remember. Kai told me he’d take care of her and he left with her. I remember.”

Kai paled.

Ruth. How could I forget about her? Between Puck’s unexpected arrival and Kai’s surprise return, I had not thought at all about my best friend. Shame washed over me, and I took a hard look at Kai.

“Where’s Ruth?” I asked. I hoped he didn’t have anything to do with her death. Even after everything we went through in the last couple of days, I didn’t think I’d be able to stay here with him if he had contributed to her death.

Kai creased his eyebrows. “Who’s that?”

Before I could answer, my dad continued. “She was the redhead I was supposed to kill. You said you’d take care of it. I remember.” He sat down and wiped his forehead.

“Well?” I pressed.

“Your dad didn’t do anything to her. I faked her death and turned her over to the Guardians.”

Holy cow. She was alive.

“Where is she?”

“No idea. Puck handled all of that.”

“What? Where is he?” I asked, heading to the living room, expecting to find him sleeping.

“He left a couple of hours ago. I’m sorry.”

I slumped on the couch. Not only was Puck the only one who could answer my questions, he also he left without saying goodbye. My heart hurt. Would I be able to make up with him when this was all over? Kai sat next to me.

“Look, let’s just get through this mess and then I’ll help you find your friend. I promise.”

*

Ginny slept most of the way home, which was odd for her. Even at home, I don’t think she slept more than five or six hours a day. She was always working.

When the plane landed, I shook her awake.

“Will we get to see Alejandro?” I asked.

“Probably. I’ll make some phone calls. I don’t even know where he’s hidden. He was very angry that I wouldn’t hide with him.”

“Will we put him at risk by going to see him?”

“No, he comes out sometimes, during the day. Always heavily guarded though. I’ll be glad when this is all over.”

“Me too. Ginny, I would feel horrible if something happened to you. Maybe you should go into hiding, too.”

She nodded. “I’ve been thinking about it. I’ll see if we can set up a time to see Ale tomorrow. Today, we’ve got some shopping to do.”

*

I sat in a chair while Rita was fussing with my hair. “It needs more length. We should do some extensions.”

I nodded. Ginny sat in a chair next to me. “Four months ago, you wanted to be a garden, but now you say you need a change. What is it that you are looking for? We need to know, before Rita does anything else.”

“Well I’m going to be helping out Kai quite a bit, and I want to look the part. Right now I look too innocent.”

I was being cryptic for Rita’s sake. But Ginny got the hint. She looked at Rita.

“Go dark, long waves.” Then, to me, “Do you want to add any color?”

“Of course. Purple.”

“Purple it is.”

We left three hours later. My hair was a deep purple on top and black underneath. The whole effect was very cool, but didn’t really feel like me. In the car, Ginny studied me.

“Do you remember when you first came to Vegas and ended up with green hair?”

“Yeah, I loved it.”

“So you did. I know we were being cryptic in the salon, but let’s talk about what you really want. I’m getting the feeling you are going for a sexy destroyer mistress. Right?”

I blushed. “Yeah, I guess.”

“To the mall.”

It always amazes me what a florist can do to a rose. Most enthusiasts will tell you it's a travesty but I adore their creativity. The other day, I visited a shop and found rainbow colored roses. No way they would ever grow like that in nature, but they are fun all the same.

First, we stopped at Ginny’s old building, a glittering hotel casino right on the strip.

“I thought you moved into Alejandro’s place.”

“I keep it as an office of sorts, but that’s not why we are here.”

A flash of bright pink appeared at my window. I opened the door and threw my arms around Ricki. She’d dyed her hair bright pink and her whole outfit was different shades of the color.

“I missed you so much. How long are you home for?”

“Just a few days. Get in, you’re coming with us.”

She sat in the back and I swiveled around, while Ginny cursed at the traffic on the strip.

“Jason misses you.” I grinned to show her I was teasing.

She took off her bright pink shades and rolled her eyes at me. “He can go to hell, I’m with Romeo now.”

She pulled out a mirror and a tube of bright pink lipstick. She slathered it on her lips and puckered at herself in the mirror. I missed her and her crazy ways. Tiff was nice, but she didn’t have Ricki’s flair.

“What’s with all the pink?”

“It’s a wig. I’m a different color every day.”

I looked at Ginny, who shook her head. “Not my idea.”

I grinned at looked back at Ricki, “Since when did you stop taking the advice of your stylist?”

“Since she’s never freakin’ around. I figure if I screw up badly enough she’ll take pity on me and help.” Ricki put her sunglasses back on and looked out the window. She used to be Ginny’s pet project, but then Ginny married Alejandro and moved to the mountains.

“Ricki, that’s not fair. I’ve been busy. I promised I’d help you after Thanksgiving. I do have clients that actually pay me money. Plus, I had a honeymoon and a niece who is turning my hair gray.”

“Hey, what did I do?”

Ginny shrugged. “I worry about you when I don’t hear from you every day.”

We pulled into the valet parking at Fashion Show. Ginny gave the guy a big tip to keep the car close.

Ginny walked with a purpose, like she always did; Ricki and I were behind her, giggling.

“The pink really is hideous. What were you thinking?”

“That of all the colors in my closet, this one would piss Ginny off the most.”

“I’d say you succeeded. I’m not sure she even wants to be seen with you.”

We followed Ginny into a small shop where every outfit was a different shade of black. A tall woman with very pale skin and bright red lipstick greeted Ginny with a kiss on the cheek.

“Who have you brought me today? Not the one in the pink, I hope.”

Ginny rolled her eyes. “No, not the one in the pink. She’s beyond hope. Meet Naomi, my niece. We are looking for a sexy goth look. Something that will match her hair.” I wasn’t going to fit into Arkansas no matter how hard I tried, so I might as well look more like a Destroyer than a Guardian.

And so began the hours of trying on clothes and shoes. We walked out of the first shop with three corset dresses that were completely and entirely uncomfortable. But cute. By the end, Ginny had spent a lot of money on sexy tops, short shorts, skirts, and every possible pattern of black tights. Some purple and deep blue, too. We also got a lot of silver jewelry. I just hoped I remembered how to put it all together when I got home. Our last stop was the shoe store.

The clerk greeted Ginny like they were old friends. Then she saw Ricki.

“O.M.G. I love the pink. Ginny, that is pure genius,” she squealed.

Before Ginny could respond, Ricki jumped in. “I know, isn’t it? She’s brilliant. I’m a different color every day of the week. You should try it.” I thought Ginny was going to throttle Ricki right then and there.

The girl nodded her head. “I will.” Ginny’s face twisted into a scowl, a rare feat. Her hands were clenched and she practically threw the pair of boots she wanted for me into the clerk’s hands.