Hunting Angel 2 (16 page)

Served him right. Someone needed to flatten him on his superior rump. I was just glad it was me, even though I was hurting from the rejection. “What’s your deal?” I asked, taking a step in his direction.

A mask of indifference clouded his eyes still glowing. “I don’t know what you mean?”

I rolled my eyes. “Bullshit. For weeks you put on the moves, making my head spin. And now, you can’t stand to be next to me. Don’t play dumb with me. Ever since Ives and then the Emma thing, you are different. What gives?”

His lips turned down in annoyance. For a brief second, the mask fractured and sadness shaped his features. I couldn’t be sure I actually saw it. I squared my shoulders, prepared to hear the worse. He was treating me like I had leprosy.

“Look, you heard what Ives said. The more we are together, they deeper we get, the stronger our bond becomes. I can’t take the chance of that happening. I’ve seen what it did to Travis when Emma left. I need a clear head or someone is going to die. My number one priority is to keep you alive, not get in your pants. It would help if you didn’t constantly put yourself in danger and throw yourself at me. I’ve already given up enough for you.”

Ouch
. Pain exuded in my eyes. My fists clenched at my sides, nails digging into my skin. What I heard was
he’d given up his life to be tied down to me in a bond he didn’t want
. “Don’t do me any favors. I don’t need you. And as sure as hell don’t want you.”

Lie. Lie. Lie.

It was all big fat lies.

Anger zapped into his demon eyes. I guess that wasn’t the right response. A muscle popped in his jaw. “You are so frustrating,” he snapped, eyes blistering with increased irritation. “Why do I care? Have it your way.” Long purposeful strides carried him across the room.

“Good. That’s the way I like it! My way!” I yelled to his rippled receding back.

Ugh
. Why did I have to notice how he looked all the time? Why couldn’t he be repulsive and an ass, instead of just being the biggest ass in the galaxy.

Right before he slammed door, he looked over his shoulder for one last long glare. I gave him the timeless one finger salute. Some things never change. The door vibrated on its hinges, and I swear I heard wood split.

Sinking into the couch like a slug, I could barely believe we were back to this.

Fighting.

Slamming doors.

At each other’s throats.

I had really hoped that we had moved past this, talk about a giant leap backwards. Was this what being linked to Chase would be like? Extreme highs and extreme lows? Were we forever stuck in this cycle of devouring and despising one another?

Only time would tell.

Well time could kiss my scrawny ass.

Chapter 15

The following afternoon I’d successfully avoided Chase. It helped that he seemed to be doing the same. Lexi continually gave us exhausted glances. I could tell she thought we were being silly and didn’t enjoy being caught in the middle of our hateful glares.

Poor Lexi.

I was going to have to make it up to her, a shopping trip or some other torturous excursion like a spa day. Gag with me a spoon. I must really like Lexi if I was remotely thinking of agreeing to let someone smear mud masks on my face, paint my nails, or touch my hair.

She was my best friend, and lately we haven’t really spent time together. I must be feeling guilty. It was all Chase’s fault. This stupid soulbond and his mood swings were driving me berserk. What I needed to do was get my life back. Back before every thought was consumed with my overbearing yet drool-worthy hot neighbor.

I needed counseling.

Or worse, shock therapy.

Something, anything to rid me of my obsession with Chase Winters.

Parking my little white Fusion in my driveway, I swung the car door shut behind me. As I lifted my bag higher on my shoulder, a movement at Lexi’s house caught my attention. Chase’s shadowy form lurked in the doorway, and our eyes fastened. I couldn’t make out his expression, but his lazy stance leaning up against the door frame made my heart sputter.

I blinked.

That was all it took for him to disappear. One blink and he left me wondering if he had ever really been there, or was my mind now imagining him. Steaming, I stomped into the house cursing and banishing thoughts of Chase Winters from my head. I refused to admit that after only twenty-four hours I missed him, no matter what games my subconscious was playing on me.

Walking into the house, I ignored the pangs that plagued my chest. Rejection was a bitch no matter how you sugarcoated it. Just as I was about to flip the light switch on in the hallway, I noticed what looked like a figure sitting in the dark on my couch. Complete panic set in and a scream bubbled up my esophagus. I swallowed it down the back of my throat before I got myself killed. Gazillion of gruesome thoughts and images spiraled through my brain. I really needed to lay off the video games, but in my defense, my real life wasn’t that far off from fantasy.

Run
, warned an impatient voice in my head.
Get out of there while his back is to you
.

But following directions was never my strong suit. I pretty much did things to the beat of my own drum and forget about doing what normal, rational people would have done. My brain wasn’t wired on the same frequency as everyone else’s. If it had been, I would have retreated quietly from the house and ran next door. Nope, instead I stood there frozen like a time capsule.

The shadowy figure must have heard my gasp and turned toward me before I had a chance to bolt. I expected to see hallowed eyes without a soul or the eyes the color of blood not aqua eyes brimming with sadness.

“Travis?” I expelled on a rush of air. Stepping closer into the room, I could make out his sharp cheekbones, his frowning mouth, and his moppy sandy hair. “What the hell? You literally just shaved off ten years of my life. Between you and Chase, I don’t know how many I have left.”

“Sorry,” he apologized, his voice falling flat, not at all like the usual carefree disposition I was accustomed to.

Plopping my badonkadonk down on the sofa beside Travis, I didn’t bother with the lights. Darkness seemed to suit both our moods. Misery really did love company, and he looked like he could use a friend. Why he chose me was mind-boggling. I could only assume this surprise visit was about Emma.

I looked at my friend and for the first time since I had known him, he seemed deflated. Not at all like the Adonis God I associated him to. His shirt was wrinkled as if he just threw on whatever was lying on the floor. His eyes were ringed in puffiness and dark circles. And a single whiff said he desperately needed a shower. Travis looked like crapola.

“Talk to me, what’s going on?” I kept my voice soft.

He ran both hands through his already wild hair. “Nobody gets it. Not what’s running through my head, or how I am feeling inside. They’ve tried to pretend nothing is different, but that’s just it. Everything is different. To make matters worse…the one person I want to talk to…the one who would get it. Well, I can’t be sure she won’t try to stake me before hearing me out.” He dropped his head into his hands.

I scooted closer to him on the couch. My heart lurched inside my ribcage for him, for his evident pain. “Travis,” I said gently. “I can’t pretend to understand what you are going through, but I’ll listen. I won’t judge you for what you’re feeling. Trust me, if I can be tied to your dumbass cousin, then I must have the empathy of a freaking saint.” My jab at Chase got me the smallest of a smirk. It was a start.

Emma’s return had messed with his head. “I’ve never experienced a shock like that. It jolted through my system, I was useless against it,” he said, bringing the memories back to life. “A part of me never expected to see her again. Never see her face. Never hear her voice. Touch her. It was surreal. Just the sight of her stole the breath from my lungs.”

I thought about what he said, seeing someone you thought was gone from your life forever. I knew that if my dad suddenly appeared one day, I would drop dead on the spot. All things considered, I thought Travis handled the situation as well as was expected.

His voice quivered ever so slightly. “Emma and I don’t have the kind of link you and Chase do, but I would have given my life for hers a million times over. That has to count for something.”

“It does,” I assured with compassion.

He lifted his head, meeting my eyes with so much pain swimming in them. “I feel like I should have done something. I should have known she was in trouble, that she needed me.”

His guilt was monumental. It stifled the air. He blamed himself for what had happened to Emma, for her transformation into a vicious hunter. How did one absolve that kind of blame from his shoulders? I couldn’t stand to see Travis take such a gigantic heap of fault onto him. It was unfair, unjust, and plain out bullshit. “Travis, you couldn’t have known. This guilt you’re carrying around is going to eat you up inside, and it’s not what Emma would want. Not the Emma you knew.”

He didn’t look convinced. “Maybe,” he conceded, but I could tell that he was just being polite, he didn’t really believe it. I wasn’t sure there was anything I could have said that would have made a difference.

Of course I wasn’t one to give up.

“Emma showed up at school this week,” I said, unsure whether it was a wise decision to tell him. I took the chance.

“She was?” There was a touch of hope in his voice. It killed me to have to crush it.

I nodded and pulled my legs under me. “Yeah.”

He took a deep breath. “I’m guessing by your tone, it didn’t go well.”

“Depends on who you talk to. School was definitely buzzing, that’s for sure. I’d never heard so much outlandish gibberish in my life.”

“That’s a small town for you. News like that is the biggest thing of the year. It tops Fall Harvest.”

Good Lord. The peeps of Spring Valley needed to get a life.

Travis’s lashes lowered. “Did she…”

“Try to shank me in the hall?” I supplied, only partially joking. “No, but I got the impression that she would have liked to cut out my tongue.” That might not have been the smartest answer, but sometimes my mouth is flapping before I realize what I was saying.

“I don’t know what to do,” he admitted, sounding more saddened than ever. Some friend I was. “This is a disaster. I know Chase. He will stop at nothing to protect you.”

I swallowed, getting an idea of where his mind was leading to. Travis was worried, and probably rightly so, that Chase would harm the girl he was still in love with to protect me. The girl he was secretly hoping he could save. I didn’t know if I should pity him or condone him for his perseverance, because there was a very good possibility that Chase would do just that.

And I wasn’t positive I would try to stop him.

He must have seen the doubt in my eyes. Pivoting on the couch faster than my eyes could follow, he grabbed my hand. “Angel, I can save her. I know I can.” There was hysteria bubbling in his voice. He desperately wanted me to believe. “I just need the chance, and I know that I can get through to her. Somewhere inside there is a girl who loved me once. I know that she is still in there. I can feel it.”

Squeezing his hand, I held his gaze and looked deep into his wide-eyes. I had to do something. Say something. Quickly. During his saving Emma speech, Travis’s eyes had started to glow brighter than the sun.

“Travis, hey. Listen to me.” My eyes never wavered, and his were intently captured with mine. I watched a little staggered as his irises slowly calmed.
Slap me silly and call me crazy, but that was weird
. “Everything is going to be okay. I promise. I won’t let Chase hurt Emma.” I don’t know why I made such a declaration, because honestly it was far from the truth. No way did I know that everything was going to be fine, or if I could actually prevent Chase from slicing and dicing Emma. She made it pretty clear she was trying to kill us. But I had to say something before he went into demon-freak-out-mode.

His eyes were still locked on mine, unblinking. It was like I had him captivated under my spell, but I was mostly certainly not a witch. Well, I was 99% sure I wasn’t. At this point, even the impossible was probably possible.

Then in a snap I saw clarity come back into his expression, like a cloudy haze had been lifted from him. “D-did you just compel me?” Travis accused.

“What?” I shot, taken aback.

“This is bad, I got that blank spot in my head, though this is the first time I’ve ever experienced it. I had no idea what it felt like. You just got inside my head,” he told me.

“Na-unh. I did not.” I sounded like a five-year old.

He just stared at me oddly. Shifting uncomfortably under his astonished gaze, I couldn’t take the suspense any longer. “Okay, say that I did,” I conceded. “Is it a big deal?” I’d never done anything like this. Heck, I didn’t even know that I had done it or what exactly I had done.

He shrugged, finally waking from his daze of wonder. “Depends, I guess. We’re not supposed to be susceptible to compulsion, so I can only guess that some Divisa’s won’t take well to knowing you can manipulate their minds.”

I cringed. Sierra’s name popped into my head. “Great,” I muttered dryly.

“Chase has no idea how incredibly fortunate he is to have you. I’m gonna kick his ass later for putting that shadow of pain in your eyes.”

I rolled my eyes.

“By the way…did you know your eyes change colors?” he asked offhandedly.

Damnation
. What next? Was I going to sprout horns and blow fire? Fortunately this wasn’t a surprise. Chase had already confirmed that my eyes did that freaky-color-fluctuating-thingy.

I hugged one of the couch throw pillows, averting my gaze to the mocha carpet. “Just one more of the many perks of being brought back from the dead,” I mumbled.

A corner of his mouth lifted. “Well, it’s kind of hot.”

I grinned despite myself, and then promptly hit him with the pillow.

He dodged it of course, chuckling. “And if that leaves this room, I will deny, deny, deny until I’m six feet under. I really don’t want to mess up this face.” He rubbed a hand under his two-day growth chin. “It would be such a damn shame if that happened.”