Phoenix: The Rising (23 page)

“I see she gave you the box. Are you okay?” He stepped in, cocking his head to the side in concern. Lucy wiped the remnants of the tears from her cheeks and sat. She grabbed her cell phone and glanced at the time. Ten o’clock.

“Wow, you’re home early! I suppose you went to see Julie.” Lucy watched as Eli’s broad shoulders heaved in an exasperated sigh. “What? Did she make you leave?” Lucy couldn’t help but be slightly thrilled at the thought of the Fire-Child giving Eli the boot. Now she could have him all to herself, and it would make her job of dooming Julie Mason to a mortal death so much easier.

Eli sat opposite Lucy on the other side of the box. He ran his hand over the carvings, just as she had earlier that evening. “Did you look at all the pictures?”

Lucy squinted at him. “Only ... some.” She shook her head. Were Eli and Liana in cahoots? “How did you know about the pictures? Have you seen them yourself?”

Eli pulled his hand away from the box. “I’ve lived with Liana and Simon for awhile now. Liana shared some of them with me. Your mom was a beautiful young woman.”

The vision of her mom’s lifeless eyes and her limp body dangling from the rafters was too much. Lucy raised her eyes to the ceiling as tears threatened once again. “She wasn’t so beautiful hanging from the end of a rope,” she whispered bitterly. Eli stood. Lucy couldn’t help but shift her gaze to his deep, sapphire eyes. It didn’t matter that they were blood relatives. All she wanted was to feel his arms around her. To make the hurt and the anger she was feeling go away. She knew she would feel that in his arms. She was sure of it.

Instead, Eli simply raised his hand to her face and wiped away the single tear that rolled down her cheek, then pulled his hand away and stepped back. She felt it again—the electric shock from the damned wool rug—but she also felt something else. Something she’d never experienced before. Tenderness and warmth. Lucy knew in that moment she’d fallen in love with Eli Sullivan.

“I’m sorry you had to experience that. It must have been horrible.” Eli took two more steps back, then turned and walked toward the window. Away from her. Why didn’t he put his arms around her and comfort her? Lucy folded her arms and sighed. The answer was clear. His heart belonged to Julie Mason, the Fire-Child. But not for long.

“Shocking, yes. But she suffered every day I knew her. Death must have been a relief to her.”
I know it was to me
, Lucy thought bittersweetly.

Eli continued to stand with his back to her. “Suffered? Why was Adrienne suffering?”

Lucy walked over and stood by Eli, careful not to touch him. She didn’t want to come across too needy, but she couldn’t stand the thought of standing across the room from him. She had to at least be near him.

“I think she was depressed. Kept to herself all the time.” Lucy thought for a moment before she said the next thing on her mind. She didn’t need to reveal any details. “She was also tormented by nightmares. I think she was mentally unstable.” Lucy glanced over to Eli as he leaned his hands on the top of the window frame. His eyes glistened with tears. He was definitely fighting his feelings for her. “I hope to God it’s not genetic.”

Eli turned to her and smiled. “I’m sure you’re just fine, Lucy. One thing for sure, you’re a survivor. How you hitched from
Las Vegas
to Bishop safely is a miracle. There are a lot of creeps out there.”

Lucy pasted on a smile as she thought of her ordeal with the geriatric pedophile the week before. “Guess I’m a good judge of character. Hitched a ride from an old man who spent his time gushing over his granddaughter. Even said I reminded him of her. He was meeting his family at
Yosemite
for a vacation, so I was able to ride the whole way.” Lucy knew Eli wouldn’t be pleased knowing she hitched a ride with a Penemue, since Dan’s cousins were known as trouble makers at White Mountain Consolidated, so she kept that detail to herself.  Plus, what if they traced that girl’s body back to his truck? Yes, leaving that detail out was an absolute necessity.

Eli’s gaze returned to the thin sliver of moon slicing into the night sky.

“Two weeks,” she murmured softly.

Eli continued staring out the window. Was he afraid to look at her? “Two weeks, what?”

Lucy smiled to herself. “Two weeks until the next full moon. I love full moons.”
By then, Eli Sullivan, you will be mine
! She saw Eli give her a sideways glance, then reach up and behind himself, giving himself a quick scratch between the shoulder blades. She turned and leaned against the window, positioning herself under his outstretched arms. “Hey, you didn’t answer my question.”

“What question?”

“Did you go see Julie tonight? I’m just asking because I know how hard it is to lose someone close to you.”
And because I want to know where the bitch is.

Eli dropped his hands off the window frame and stared at Lucy, as if he were sizing her up, figuring out if she were trustworthy. “She came home tonight.”

Lucy felt her eyes grow wide.
Shit!
She didn’t know whether to be excited or pissed. Excited because she could now track her and pissed because she knew Eli would probably be spending every waking moment with her.

“Wow! Really?” she replied with mock enthusiasm. She wanted to hurl her lamp at the window. “When do I get to meet her?”

Eli backed up to the door and gave Lucy a tentative smile. “It may be a week or so before she’ll feel like coming back to school, but I promise, once she’s back I’ll introduce the two of you.” He grabbed the knob and pulled the door open. “I have a feeling the two of you are going to become great friends.”

Oh. My. God! That could work!
Lucy bobbed her head up and down in unchecked enthusiasm. “I have a feeling we are, too!”

As soon as Lucy heard the click of the door as it closed, she snatched her cell phone off the nightstand and stared at it.
Which one should I call?
She scrolled through the contacts and pressed the dial button. Three rings later, he answered.

“Kas? This is Lucy. The bitch is back. Time to make some plans.”

Julie brought her car to a halt just outside the privacy gate of the estate.  She sighed and yanked off the itchy platinum wig her father had insisted she get
just in case
she decided she needed one for school. There was no way she was going to wear this thing to school, even though it looked pretty similar to the original style and color she had before the chemo. However, it certainly came in handy at home. Her father had no idea that she already had a full, albeit short, head of hair weeks ahead of schedule.

Julie stared in the visor mirror at the two-inch growth of hair covering her head. She tucked what she could behind her ears and smiled. This pixie-style, ala Emma Watson, was actually cute on her, and she was getting used to the color. With it short, the color didn’t remind her so much of her mother. Plus, there were no outward signs on her face that she’d ever been sick. As far as the kids would know, she’d simply taken some time off from regular school after Charsey’s death. No one would blame her. Her smile faded. Except, of course, for the Nephilim, if there were any in her school. She’d be on their radar, especially now that she was sporting her real hair color. She sighed and scanned the parking lot. Only a few scrawny freshman girls racing to the school doors. Candidates for would-be giants they were not.

The first hour tardy bell rang just as Julie slid through the doorway of American Lit. Mr. Fredricks’s eyes narrowed in confusion as she took her usual seat up front between Grace and Tina whose heads had both swiveled towards her in disbelief. Fredricks leaned against his desk and crossed his arms in his usual nonchalant stance as recognition dawned on his face.

“Ah. Miss Mason. Making a grand entrance as usual, I see.”

Blood rushed to her cheeks as she turned to see Eli grinning from ear to ear. “Wouldn’t have it any other way, Mr. Fredricks.”

“Wow,” Tina whispered, her brown eyes fixed on Julie’s hair.

Grace slammed her hands on her bible. “Why on earth would you dye your hair red? You’re just asking for trouble, Julie.”

Julie shrugged as she shifted her gaze from Eli to the girl sitting next to him. That had to be his “cousin”, Liana and Simon’s granddaughter.
Holy crap
! He didn’t mention how gorgeous she was!

Grace shot Julie an attention-getting poke in the arm. “Aren’t you worried about getting killed, Julie?”

Rubbing her arm, Julie turned to the girl. “You know I don’t believe in all that legend mumbo-jumbo, Grace. It’s just my way of paying homage to Charsey. Plus, I needed a change. Things are never going to be the same around here.”

“Well,” Mr. Fredricks interjected, “if I have anything to say about it, things will return to normal
right now
! I’m sure we are all thrilled about your return, Miss Mason, but I’d like my class back. Turn to page 79.”

Julie flipped open her book, then glanced over her shoulder. The girl was still staring at her. She smiled. The girl smiled back, then leaned towards Eli.
Too close
. She whispered something in his ear. He smiled.
Crap
! Couldn’t she feel the electricity pulsing out of him? Worse yet, wasn’t Eli concerned that she could? Things didn’t make sense. Either she couldn’t feel it, or she knew about everything, which could only mean one thing: Julie had been replaced. Julie chewed her lip in worry and flipped her book to the next page, mimicking the rest of the class. Even if the girl believed that she was a blood relative, she was probably smart enough to realize that second cousins could be legally married in all fifty states.
Lovely
!

Julie forced herself to keep her eyes on the pages of her book as Fredricks droned on, when all she wanted to do was swivel around in her seat and watch the show in the back of the room. She exhaled in relief when the bell rang, then sprinted out the door without looking in their direction. It was hard enough knowing Eli and the girl were sitting together without actually seeing them. The thought of another girl in his life made Julie sick to her stomach, even though that girl thought they were related.

****

A familiar buzz in the air announced Eli’s arrival even before he grabbed Julie by the arm and pulled her to the side of the hall.

“Lucy, this is Julie.”

Julie and Lucy smiled simultaneously. While the girl sported a genuine grin, Julie had to force hers. Lucy was even more beautiful close up. The word
goddess
popped into her head. Julie was once again relegated to the stature of a garden gnome.

Lucy’s eyes flashed over Julie from head to toe and back up again in a matter of a millisecond. No one else would have noticed, but it was evident to Julie that Lucy was sizing up her competition.

Lucy suddenly flung her arms around Julie, crushing the air out of her lungs. “I am so glad to meet you!” She released her just as quickly, and stood back, glancing nervously at her feet. “Sorry. I’m just excited to make a friend besides Eli. I think all the girls around here are pretty intimidated by my size.”

Julie inhaled. “I bet the boys don’t mind. You look just like Lucy Lawless—you know—Xena: Warrior Princess.”

Lucy rolled her eyes. “I know. It’s a curse. But, I don’t have time for boys, anyways. I’m just trying to keep my head above water in all my classes.”

Julie studied Lucy’s face. Maybe she was wrong about her. “I hear we have something in common.”

Lucy’s eyes immediately misted over as she nodded in affirmation. “I lost my mom about the same day you lost your best friend.”

Julie cleared her throat nervously. “She
was my
only
friend, besides Eli, of course.”
She threaded her arm through Eli’s and
smiled
at the surprised look on his face. He wasn’t used to her touching him in public, especially since she was so wary of the electric thrill it gave her. “Eli
now
holds th
e
esteemed
title of
best friend,
bu
t it’s
just
not the same as having a girlfriend.” Eli simply smiled and stood there looking like the cat who ate the canary. He was enjoying this way too much.

Lucy looked from Eli to Julie then hooked her arm through Julie’s empty one. “Look no further. Xena to the rescue!” Lucy tugged on Julie’s arm and the three of them walked down the hall together, arm in arm. Julie was amazed that Lucy hadn’t chosen to latch onto Eli, and he seemed more than happy to see that Lucy had taken to Julie so quickly. How could she have been so wrong?

Three classrooms down, Eli peeled his arm from Julie’s, and with the arm went the intoxicating buzz that always accompanied his touch. She wondered if Lucy could feel it through her. If she could, she wasn’t letting on.

“Hate to break up the party, but this is my stop. Try to stay out of trouble, you two.” Eli winked at Julie. He seemed genuinely happy about this new friendship. It seemed important to him. The least she could do was try to be Lucy’s friend. She knew what it felt like to be the new girl at school.