Milayna's Angel (11 page)

Jake’s eyes flicked to my middle just as his
back foot pushed off the ground. Chay dove in front of me. They hit
each other and fell to the pavement with a grunt. That started
it.

Shayla and Lily rushed Muriel and me. And I
caught a glimpse of another guy. He and Drew were exchanging
punches.

“Who’s that?” I yelled to Muriel just as
Shayla threw her first jab in my direction. I blocked it
easily.

“Dunno,” she answered, landing a roundhouse
kick to Lily’s side.

Shayla and I circled each other. She smiled.
“I’ve missed this,” she said sweetly.

“Mm-hmm, brings back memories,” I answered,
my eyes trained on her, watching for her tell—the slightest motion
or gesture a person made just before they threw a punch or a kick.
I was also tapping into my ability to sense others’ emotions, feel
what they were feeling—that was why my visions felt so real to
me—or sense what they were going to do just before they do it.

“Have you met Rod, yet?”

I smiled wryly. “Can’t say I’ve had the
pleasure.”

“He just transferred.” She tried to side kick
me. I saw it an instant before she acted it out. I blocked it
easily.

“Nice that you two have a new friend to play
with,” I said, unaffected by her attempt to distract me. She
mentioned the new guy so I’d glance in his direction—it was usually
an involuntary response, one she would’ve exploited to her
advantage. I didn’t take my eyes off her for a second. “Are you
afraid, Shayla?” I taunted.

“Of you? Hardly.”

“Then grow a pair and stop circling me. The
police are gonna be here any minute. I’d like to get a few hits in
first.”

She hesitated. Just for a millisecond, her
concentration waned. It was all I needed. I landed a roundhouse
kick to her side and a side snap to her middle. She stumbled
backward, a look of shock on her face. I swept my foot under hers,
and she fell to the ground.

I could hear sirens in the distance and knew
the fight was coming to an end. I crouched next to Shayla and
looked her square in the eye. “Don’t screw with me. You’ll only get
hurt.” She spit in my face. I wiped it off with my arm, blowing a
lock of hair out of my face. “Is that all you’ve got?”

She screamed and jumped from the ground. Lily
put her hand in front of her before she could advance on me. “We
need to go, Shayla. Now.”

I wiggled my fingers at her. “See you in gym
class. Toodles.”

I watched the group run down the drive and
into the street, scattering before the police caught them.

We filed into my house. Drew grabbed Xavier
by the sleeve and pulled him along with us. I went through the
usual drill—turned the porch light off, turned the living room
lights off, and closed the drapes. Then we went into the kitchen
and compared our wounds.

“Hey, I made out okay tonight,” I said,
grabbing a coke from the fridge. “Just a welt where I blocked a
decent roundhouse. Otherwise, I’m good.”

“Lucky you,” Muriel grumbled, holding an
icepack to the side of her face. Lily loved to hit in the face.

I walked to where Chay sat and kissed his
forehead. “You need to ice that lip. We have an assortment of
styles and colors to pick from. What’ll it be? A red or blue ice
pack? Or you could use my favorite… pink and purple polka dot.”

When we were battling Azazel’s team before I
turned eighteen, my mother stocked up on first aid supplies. She
bought the pink and purple icepack as a joke. Little did she know
how much it would actually get used.

“Surprise me,” Chay grumbled. He pulled away
the damp paper towel he held against his lip and scowled at the
blood soaking it.

I grabbed an icepack and filled it with
crushed ice from the icemaker. “Here you go. I gotcha the red.
Filled it with your favorite—crushed ice.”

“Thanks. The cubes hurt.” He took the ice
pack, letting his fingers graze over mine in a soft caress.

I shivered from his touch. “Hurry and get the
ice on before it swells too much. I don’t want it interfering with
our kissing time.” I winked.

“It’ll take more than a fat lip to interfere
with that.” Snaking his arm around my waist, he pulled me to stand
in front of him. He rested his forehead on my stomach, just under
my breasts. I ran my fingers through his hair and down over his
shoulders, massaging them.

I looked around the room. Muriel had a nice
welt forming on the side of her face just below her eye. Drew had a
cut above his right eye. Blood was smeared across his face from
wiping it. Chay had a bruised and bloodied lip. For the most part,
we’d done okay.

I looked around the kitchen. “Where’s
Jen?”

“I don’t know. I called before I came over.
She didn’t pick up,” Muriel said.

“Huh.”

“Is it always like that?” I jumped when he
spoke from the corner. I’d forgotten he was there.

I turned to face Xavier. “Like what?”

“So violent.”

“No. Usually, it’s worse.” He flinched at my
answer. “Now you know why we needed to know if you were trained in
anything.”

“Well, you’ll be happy, and probably
surprised, to hear that I refrained from peeing myself. Although,
there were some iffy moments.”

I laughed. “Good to know.”

“Who was the new guy, Drew?” Chay asked.

“Gee, Chay, I didn’t stop to take down his
bio. I’ll remember to do that next time.”

Chay opened the Coke can I handed him.
“Funny.”

“Shayla said he’s a transfer student,” I
said.

“You and Shayla were chatting? I got dibs on
her next time.” Muriel stood and stretched. “C’mon, Drew. Walk me
home.” She looked at me, smiled, and winked.

“Yeah, I should be going, too.” Xavier pushed
off the wall.

I followed the three of them into the living
room. Muriel hugged me goodbye before she and Drew left. Xavier
hesitated in the open doorway. “Milayna… I’m sorry.”

“For what?”

“I didn’t help tonight.” His cheeks turned
slightly pink.

“Don’t worry about it. It’s hard the first
time. Next time will be easier.”

He groaned. “I don’t think I can deal with a
next time.” He reached out and fingered a lock of my hair before
sliding it behind my ear.

I stepped away from Xavier’s touch. I could
feel Chay’s eyes boring into me, watching my every move, judging my
reaction. “Goodbye, Xavier,” I said flatly, looking in his
eyes.

He nodded once. “Bye.”

Closing the door after him, I snapped the
deadbolt in place. I looked at Chay. I was right—he’d been
watching. His eyes fell to the floor, and he shook his head. Laying
the icepack on the table, he stood and grabbed his jacket. “I need
to go. My parents will be worried.”

“You don’t need to go now. My mom called
yours.”

“I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“Chay. Don’t leave. Stay with me for a little
while.”

He smiled as much as his busted lip would
allow. “It’s late.”

“You gotta know—”

“Yeah, I saw. It’s him, not you.”

“Then why do I feel like you’re mad at me?”
When he didn’t answer, I said, “You trust me, right? I’d never…” I
let my words trail off.

He walked to me and lifted the hair from
where Xavier had pushed it behind my ear. Chay let it flutter
through his fingers and frame my face. “I know.” He bent forward
and touched his lips to my forehead. “I love you.”

***

He holds the knife in his hand. Sunlight
shines through the kitchen window and glints off the ornate metal
blade. The jeweled handle sparkles. So pretty and so very deadly.
He looks at me, his denim blue eyes dark, clouded with hate.

“
Any last words?” he asks. It’s such a
corny line, and I laugh despite my circumstances. He’s going to
kill me. I have no doubt.

“
Is that the best line you can come up
with, Jake? Surely even you can think of something more profound to
say before you plunge that knife in my chest.”

He looks up at the ceiling, tapping the flat
side of the blade against his pursed lips. “Nope. I don’t need to
be profound, Milayna. I have the knife.”

“
Whatever. Just tell me one thing.
Why?”

“
Because I can. Because Azazel wants
everyone to see that he can get to you no matter how old you are,”
he says, as if it should have been obvious. Maybe it should have
been.

He advances. The knife is pointed toward me.
He stands in front of me and lays one hand on my shoulder. His
touch is surprisingly gentle considering what he’s about to do.

I look down and watch the knife plunge deep
in my gut. Blood seeps across my shirt. He withdraws the blade and
I cover the wound with my hands, trying to staunch the flow of
thick, warm blood as it spills onto the tiled floor, turning it
crimson.

I look up, expecting to see a sneer on Jake’s
face, or at least a look of satisfaction, of pleasure. Instead, I
see something else. Someone else.

Chay.

I bolted upright in bed, sweat covering my
body. It slithered down my back and beaded on my face. My hand flew
to my chest. The other fisted around the bedsheet. My heart
galloped inside my ribcage.

I swung my legs out of bed. My ankles tangled
in the sheets, and I face-planted on the floor next to the bed. I
didn’t bother to get up. I lay down on the soft carpeting and
cried. Warm, salty tears ran down my face and into my mouth.

The dream had been so real. I could almost
feel the blade jam into my flesh, the blood oozing through my
fingers, Jake’s hand on my shoulder. Then it wasn’t Jake. It was
Chay. Chay held the knife. My blood covered his hand.

Chay grinned as I bled, as I died.

9

“You look like crap warmed over, Milayna.”
Muriel leaned against the gold locker next to mine and picked at
the peeling paint. “What’s up?”

“Just couldn’t sleep.”

“Nightmare?”

I slammed the metal door closed before the
books and crap could tumble out. Giving the dial a spin, I looked
at her. “Yeah.”

“You want to talk about it?”

I shook my head, swallowing hard.

No way. There’s no friggin’ way. I don’t even
want to think about it.

“So, you and Drew. I didn’t see that one
coming,” I said with a half grin.

She laughed. A tinkling sound that reminded
me of a cross between my grandmother’s laugh and a pair of wind
chimes blowing in the breeze.

Must be the sound of love… or lust. Maybe
both. Whatever. I wonder if I sounded like that when I started
dating Chay.

Muriel didn’t seem to notice the abrupt
subject change. She dove right in with her tale of the knight in
shining armor, Drew, asking the fair maiden, Muriel, out for their
first date.

“He was so nervous. His voice cracked when he
was trying to ask. It was so cute. We went to a movie and out to
dinner. A classic, boring date, I guess, but it was really magical.
We’re going bowling Saturday.”

“Bowling?” I looked at her with raised
eyebrows. That didn’t sound very romantic for a second date.

“Yeah, it was my choice. Dinner afterward.
You and Chay should come, too.”

“You don’t want us around. It’s only your
second date.” I waved to a group of girls from the swim team as we
walked by.

“No, it’ll be fun. We can do guys against the
girls. We’ll kick their asses.”

“You ask Drew. If he wants us to come, I’ll
ask Chay. But I don’t think he will. He’s gonna want you all to
himself.” I winked and nudged her arm.

I was looking at Muriel as I talked. I didn’t
see the janitor’s cart until I nearly ran into it.

“Whoa, Milayna. You best be watching where
you’re going,” the janitor said with a smile. He grabbed my hand to
steady me before I landed face-first in the mop bucket.

As soon as he touched me, I felt the
electrical current that allowed me to read other people’s emotions
flow through my nerve endings and zing to life. It poked around
him, searching. I looked into the old janitor’s dull eyes, and the
current followed. It seeped from my gaze to his and stopped moving.
His feelings—the ones he felt strongest at that moment—moved across
the bridge—fear, terror, evil, abhorrence. I sucked in a breath and
closed my eyes to break the connection. He didn’t feel like that
because of me. He wasn’t fearful of me… he was fearful
for
me.

When he spoke next, his voice was low and
serious. “You never know who’s around the corner.” He squeezed my
hand before letting go and smiling again.

“Thank you, Mr. Jenkins. I’ll keep better
watch.”

“See that you do, child. See that you
do.”

I turned the corner into chemistry and came
toe-to-toe with Xavier. “Hey.” He moved to let me pass.

“Hey yourself.” I forced a smile.

“Are you ready for today?”

“Huh?” I was still thinking about what the
janitor had said, and what I felt radiating from him.

“The lab? Did you get the homework done?”

“Oh, that. Yeah. You?”

“As much as I could. It’s hard keeping up
with the labs without a partner.” He raised an eyebrow.

Nope. Ain’t gonna happen, buddy. Chay and I
don’t need another partner.

“Yeah, I guess that would kind of suck.” I
walked past him to my seat.

“It doesn’t look like Chay’s coming today.
He’s usually here by now. Plus, he didn’t walk with you this
morning.”

“He’s coming. He has a dentist’s appointment
this morning.”

Stupid, Milayna. Now he’s gonna want to do
the lab together.

“Gotta keep those teeth pearly white.”

I didn’t look up as I pulled my things out of
my bag. “Something like that.”

“So do you want to do the lab together since
he won’t be here?”

Ugh. When will you learn to keep your mouth
shut?