Entangled (Guardian Academy Book 2) (12 page)

Moments later, he climbs out of the car with a confident smile on his face. “Ready to go in? Or do you want to fall out of the car again?”

“I didn’t fall out.” I round the car and walk past him, heading for the stairway. “I
almost
fell out. And that only happened because I was trying to get away from whatever you were about to do.”

He strides after me, walking so closely his breath dusts my ear when he speaks. “You were flustered. Admit it.” Our boots thud against the metal steps as we stomp up the stairs. “You were flustered because, deep down, you like me. You just don’t want to admit it.”

Almost to the top of the stairway, I reel on him. He’s standing closer than I calculated, and I just about smack into him. He grips the railing, startled, but refuses to put space between us.

I cross my arms over my chest. “Is this your way of paying me back for the Truth Serum incident? Because I think we’re getting pretty close to being even.”

“We’re not even close to being even.” He slants toward me, his voice dropping an octave. “Do you have any idea how bad it is to be forced to say things against your will?”

“I’ve had a few possession spells cast on me before, so I actually do.” I hold on to the railing as my heart thunders in my chest, either from the intensity of this conversation or his nearness—I’m not quite sure. “Look, Jax, I am sorry about what happened. I just felt like I had to, you know, or else I’d never get answers. But if I could go back, I’d probably have found a better way to get the truth out of you.”

He rubs his lips together, considering something. “All right, I accept your apology, and I’ll stop with the jealousy thing.” I start to relax, but then he throws out a, “But I still need to pay you back so we’re even.”

I sigh. “Fine. Pay me back. Make us even. Then maybe we can move on from this.”

“I’m glad I have your permission to get you back.” He grins then pushes past me and climbs the rest of the stairs.

I follow after him, wondering how on earth he’ll even things out between us. He warned me before that it wouldn’t be magical. What will it be?

“You won’t figure it out,” he says when I reach his side.

I throw a cheeky grin at him. “Maybe not, but that doesn’t mean I’m not going to try.”

Chuckling, he raps his knuckles against the door. “You’ll know when I do it because you’ll feel as stupid as I did when I realized—”

The metal door swings open, and a faint mist laces the air as a woman in her early twenties appears in the doorway. “Jax, darling, how are you?” she purrs.

The first thought I have is,
no wonder Jax was fussing with his hair
, because the woman standing in front of me is absolutely stunning with long, auburn hair that flows in curls to the base of her back. Her lips are stained a fierce red that brings out the intense gold-green in her eyes. And her body is freaking amazing. The tight red dress she’s wearing shows off her curvy and voluptuous frame. It makes me suddenly loathe my tall, lean, bean-pole body. I seriously just want to …

Wait a second …

My gaze drops to her legs and scrolls up all the way to her neck. A viney, floral tattoo loops the hollow of her neck. Jackpot.

She’s a succubus, known as seducers of men and hypnotic to everyone unless you can manage to tug yourself out of their powerful, exhilarating, euphoric trance …

I shove the sensations away like I was taught by my parents. They did a lot of training with me while I was growing up, preparing me for the day when they thought I’d become a Keeper and have to know how to protect myself from potentially dangerous, very powerful creatures.

Sucking in a breath, I peek over at Jax. Yep, he’s definitely smitten by her. In fact, I think there’s some drool dripping off his chin.

“I’m doing great … just great …” He dazedly grins at her then lets out a content sigh. “Just … great …”

The succubus glances me with her lips curled in delight. “You brought me a present?”

“What? Oh …” He blinks at me as if he forgot I was standing right next to him. “Layla, this is Alana … my …”

“Trainee.” I give the succubus a cold smile. “And I’m not a present for you. Neither is Jax. So turn off the sexy charm and let him go.”

She momentarily gives me a cold, hard stare, but then a massive smile spreads across her flawless face.

“Jax, she’s adorable. I can see why you like her.”

“He doesn’t like me,” I tell her, confused over her sudden personality change. “He’s just stuck with me.”

She laughs as if I’m being stupidly cute. “Sweetheart, trust me, he definitely likes you.” She inhales then angles her head to the side. “I can smell it all over him.”

I don’t know what she smells, but all I get a whiff of when I breathe in is Jax’s woodsy scent. And he usually smells like that.

I cough loudly into my hand to break the feelings of euphoria expanding inside me again. “So, are you going to let him out of your trance or what?”

Her lips curl as the mist from inside snakes around her. “Well, since you asked so nicely.” She snaps her fingers then leaves the doorway, heading inside. “Come along and tell me why you’re here. I don’t have all night.”

Jax gasps, blinking his eyes as he focuses on me. “What just happened?”

I point inside the doorway. “You got succubussed.”

He frowns, wiping the drool off his chin. “Layla.” He storms inside, disappearing into the smoky darkness. “I thought we had an agreement that you wouldn’t use powers on me.”

I follow after him, drawing the collar of my tank top over my nose as I make my way across an open area decorated with red velvet couches and a giant, wall-sized fish tank.

“Would you relax?” she tells him. “I was just having some fun, something you should try more often.”

“I don’t have time for fun,” Jax says, “not with all the shit going on.”

“Yeah, so I’ve heard,” she replies through a yawn.

“You act as if this is nothing, but what’s happening affects all of us.”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah, chaos is threatening the world again,” she says dryly. “Tell me a story I haven’t heard, and then I’ll react.”

“What
have
you heard?” An edge carves into Jax’s tone.

I track their voices to where the smoke thins and find them at a tiny bar tucked in the far back corner of the room. Layla stands behind the black marble counter, wiggling around a cocktail shaker, and Jax is perched on a stool, his rage-filled gaze on her.

“Oh, look, your adorable, little friend decided to join us.” Her smile is all mocking as she sets the mixer down on the counter.

The way she keeps using the word “adorable” toward me makes me feel stupid and small, and I kind of want to kick her ass for it. But I promised Jax I’d behave, so I force my irritation down the best I can.

Jax continues to look at Layla. “Tell me what you’ve heard, Layla, or I won’t give it to you.”

Give her what, exactly?

Tons of very vivid, very succubus-like thoughts fill my mind, and I frown. The vapor clears the air as I walk up to the bar and plant my butt down on the barstool beside his.
Don’t ask. Don’t ask.

“Give her what, exactly?”
Dammit! I have no self-control!

Layla muses as she collects a martini glass from the rack hanging on the back wall. “I’m not really sure I’m supposed to tell you.” Her eyes glimmer deviously as she glances at Jax. “I guess you’ll have to ask Jax.”

Jax shakes his head. “She’s got a pretty creative mind. I’m sure she can figure it out on her own.”

My lips pop open in surprise. Then disgust emerges inside me. But the emotion is erased and replaced with a more unsettling, darker sensation that burns venomously in my veins. As soon as I realize what I’m feeling, I want to bitch slap myself.

Oh, my word. I’m
jealous
. No. That can’t be happening. And when the heck did this happen? I mean, the last time I checked on my girly, swoony, lovey-dovey feelings, they completely flatlined when I thought of Jax. Yeah, he’s smoking hot, but he’s infuriating and moody and …

I crinkle my nose. Is that what I like? Moody, brooding guys? I haven’t had a lot of crushes before, haven’t had the time.

I frown. Crap. After all that shit Jax gave me, now it turns out he was right. God, if he knew what I was thinking right now, he’d probably die from happiness.

“But, anyway.” Jax coughs into his hand, attempting to clear some of the thick tension cramming the air. “Tell me what you know about what’s going on.”

“Jax, you know I can’t tell you that kind of stuff, not when I have fey blood in my veins.” She picks up the shaker and fills the martini glass to the brim with a pink liquid. “I’m bound to keep their secrets.”

“There are ways around that if you really wanted to tell me.” He crosses his arms on the counter.

She props her elbows onto the counter and arches her back, her cleavage curving out of her top. “Who says I want to tell you?”

Shockingly, Jax’s gaze doesn’t zero in on her breasts, his eyes remaining locked on hers. “What’s the price?”

She wets her lips with her tongue. “I think you know the answer to that.”

“If that’s the way you want to play, fine.” He shoves away from the counter, standing to his feet. “Alana, wait here.” He doesn’t even look at me when he says it, and the jealousy switches to a stinging irritation.

“Why? Where are you going?”
Shit! I didn’t mean to sound so hurt! God, would my mouth just stop opening?

Layla evaluates me with her heavily lined eyes. “You could always come and find out.”

“No, she can’t.” Jax winds around the counter and snags her arm. “Come on. We haven’t got all night.”

She grabs her martini before allowing him to whisk her across the room, passing the sofas and heading toward a dark red door on the far back wall near the fish tank.

“Such impatience.” She peers over her shoulder at me, grinning impishly. “Don’t worry, darling; we shouldn’t be too long unless things get really,
really
good.” Her lips twist into a grin. “And feel free to help yourself to whatever. Snacks. A drink.” Her smile turns malicious as she takes a sip of her martini. “I think there might be some juice boxes in the fridge.”

Flattening his palm against the door, he shoves his way into the room. Then he pulls her inside and slams the door without a second glance back.

I stare at the door, dumbstruck. Holy crazy land, did that just happen? And why the heck is this bothering me so much? It’s not like she seduced him into going in there with her. I could tell she wasn’t using her powers. He went in there under his own free will. He wanted to go.

I tap my fingers against the countertop, stewing in my confusing, conflicting emotions while obsessively staring at the door and fighting the urge to kick it down and ruin their sweaty romp in the sheets.

Eventually, I manage to regain some of my sanity and tear my attention off the door. To distract myself, I get up, wander around to the back of the bar, and search through the succubus’s cabinets. I don’t even know what I’m looking for other than a distraction as I open drawers then make my way into the adjacent kitchen. I browse through the cupboards then the fridge.

When I stumble across an unopened bottle of champagne, I pop the cork and drink a few swallows, partially to settle down the jealousy inside me and partly because the brand of champagne looks expensive, and I want to ruin it to get back at the succubus for calling me adorable a hundred times and telling me to drink a juice box. Beside, she’s the one who said I could help myself to whatever.

I’ve only drunk a handful of times at the few rare parties I attended and the couple of times Jayse and I stole wine and beer out of our parents’ stash. By the time I move on to snooping around her living room, my walk has a slight sway to it.

Debating where to start, my gaze skims the room and targets in on a large wooden trunk, hand carved with leafy patterns. It seems out of place with the rest of her swanky furniture and decorative wall furnishings.

“Hmmm … What could you be keeping in there?” Casting a quick glance over my shoulder, I tiptoe over to the trunk, flip the latch, and open the lid. My eyes widen as bright, radiating light illuminates my face. I can’t see past the brightness to tell what’s inside, but whatever’s in there is calling to me, begging me to come to it, use the magic inside of me to find it.

“Just do it,” a tiny voice says through a giggle. “You’ll like it. I promise.”

“Really?” I ask, knowing I should be scared, but the warmth of the glow erases the uneasiness. “What’s in there?”

Another high-pitched giggle. “Come and find out. Just close your eyes and give me your hand. I’ll pull you in.”

I nod robotically and stick my hand inside—

“Don’t touch it,” a woman hisses.

Seconds later, a hand appears in my line of vision and slams the lid closed.

I jerk back, landing on my butt on the tile floor and bumping my elbow against the wall. But the pull remains inside me, pleading with me to open the trunk.

“Don’t even think about it.” Layla appears in front of me with her arms crossed, her mouth set in a firm line. “Do you have any idea what’s in there?”

I shake my head, rubbing my tender elbow. “No.”

She glances at the trunk then back at me. “Then why would you open it?”

“I don’t know. I was bored.” I rise to my feet. Without her heels on, I’m taller than her, and she has to angle her chin up to look at me. “And if you were worried about me going through your stuff, then you shouldn’t have told me to help myself to whatever.” A giggle suddenly bursts from my lips, and I slap my hand over my mouth and shake my head. “I’m sorry … I don’t know why I just did that.” I lower my hand, choking back the laughter bubbling in the back of my throat.

She purses her lips and taps her bare foot against the floor. “Jax, could you come in here? We have a situation on our hands.”

“What’s wrong?” Jax calls out. I hear the shuffling of light footsteps moving up behind me. “What did she do now?”

Giggles threaten to burst from my chest as I lie down on the floor and stare up at an upside down version of him. He looks too good right now, content, with his fauxhawk hair a mess and his tattooed arms hanging to his sides.