Renegade (32 page)

A bolt of lightning lit up the sky and with a crack it hit the water, causing a neon tidal wave to rise up and then crash, drenching everyone near the lake.

Everyone went nuts, clapping and whistling. People around us were telling Kimber it was her best Halloween party yet. She gave a little bow and people clapped and then she turned to me and winked. “I did that just for you.”

I wanted to ask her what she meant, but then the DJ spoke into his sound system, drawing everyone’s attention. “Did you know we had a birthday girl in the house?”

Everyone cheered.

“Everybody say happy b-day to Heven!”

He started playing the “Happy Birthday” song and everyone sang along.

Kimber had a funny look on her face. “How did he know it was her birthday?” she said almost to herself.

“Maybe because this party is for her?” I ventured.

Kimber snorted. “Yeah, for those that know it’s her birthday. But for everybody else, it’s just a kickass Halloween bash.” After the words left her mouth, she slid a glance at me with a guilty look on her face.

I should’ve known when Kimber said it was a party for Heven, she actually meant it had been a way for her to look good by saying it was for Heven. Really, this had all been about Kimber.

The song ended and instead of playing another, the DJ spoke into the sound system again. “The birthday girl and I have cooked up a little Halloween fun for you all to enjoy. So hang tight. It’s on its way.” I glanced back over at Heven who had a strange look on her face. Riley didn’t look too thrilled, either.

The “Monster Mash” began to play and I hurried through the crowd, stepping up by the platform just in time for me to hear the DJ say, “I hope you like your birthday gift,
Heven
.”

I reached out and took her hand, pulling her down next to me. Riley followed, not once putting his back to the DJ until we were several yards away. “What’s wrong?” I asked Heven.

“I could just kill him now. Save us the trouble later,” Riley said.

Heven actually seemed to consider it, but then she rolled her eyes. “You can’t kill someone for acting strange at a Halloween party.”

“He was acting strange?”

“He knew it was her birthday,” Riley told me.

“Kimber might have told him,” Heven said, looking hopeful.

“Kimber didn’t tell him,” Riley and I said at the same time. Heven sighed and nodded.

“Did he touch you?” I asked, looking her over. “Say anything that wasn’t in English?” I couldn’t help but think about the story Gran had told us when Beelzebub tried to kidnap Heven as a child all those years ago.

“I’m fine. He just wanted to tell me happy birthday.”

“Yeah, and cook up a Halloween
surprise
from you to everyone else,” Riley said.

Heven grimaced. “I’ve had enough surprises to last me a lifetime.”

I looked toward the DJ booth. He looked at me and grinned. The hound in me stirred. Was that Beelzebub? Was he here, in that guy’s body, just waiting for an opportunity to strike?

I was thinking about Riley’s suggestion when there was a commotion down at the water.

Someone was crying and then a girl screamed.

“There’s a body!”

Heven

Sam was the first to turn and rush forward toward the commotion by the lakeshore. But even in his concern, he reached for me, tucking my hand beneath his arm and pulling me along with him. I glanced behind me at Riley who was close behind, and I breathed a sigh of relief. I knew I could handle whatever came my way tonight. I knew I was strong enough to take care of myself, but it was still nice to know I had the two strongest guys on my side.

There was a small group of people gathered down by the water, standing in a semicircle, all gazing down at where the water lapped at the sandy shoreline. It was completely dark out now and the water looked like a pool of onyx that the shadow-filled sky fell down to meet. Two shades of night coming together to form the perfect backdrop for what everyone stared at.

Two girls were crying and when we got close enough they turned away, moving so we could see the skeleton. It stood out among the dark, bones that appeared pearly white as they lay there rattling every time a swell of water rushed forward, pushing them and drawing them back, pushing them and drawing them back, as if the lake itself couldn’t decide to keep the remains or let them go.

I shivered when my eyes focused on the dark holes in the skull, the eye sockets that once held eyes that allowed this person to explore the world around them. I wondered about the last thing they saw. Had it been the dark, crushing weight of the water swallowing them whole? Had it been the angry face of a killer?

Stop it,
Sam said, cutting into my thoughts, reaching up to cup the back of my head with his hand.
Don’t do that to yourself.

Then he was stepping away to stand just over the remains, remains that appeared somewhat intact. The two crying girls moved out of his way, while the two guys still stood there looking at it like it was an exhibit at a museum. Sam crouched down and looked the body over, his eyes stopping at the body’s hand.

It was missing.

“We need to call the police,” one of the girls said between sobs.

Her friend pulled a phone out of her coat pocket and stared down at it like she didn’t know how to use it.

Riley cleared his throat and stepped forward a bit. “Looks like a bad party trick to me.”

Everyone turned their eyes to him. One of the guys next to Sam narrowed his. “Who the hell are you?”

“He’s a friend of mine from where I used to live,” Sam answered and the guy scrutinizing Riley relaxed.

“You really think it’s not real?” One of the girls sniffed, looking at Riley with hope in her watery eyes.

“This is a Halloween party, isn’t it? Didn’t our hostess just do something to the lake? She probably put this here to just trick some people.”

Kimber seemed to materialize right next to Riley. She smiled under her witch hat. “Girls, don’t be so dramatic! Of course I put that there! I guess I took the joke too far.”

“So it’s fake?” a guy with dark hair asked, going over to put an arm around his crying girlfriend.

Kimber looked offended. “Please. Do you really think I would allow a dead body to wash up on the night of my Halloween party?”

One of the girls smiled. “I guess not.”

Kimber nodded. “Forget about this. Go have fun. Enjoy the bash!”

The four didn’t seem to want to hang around and they walked up the yard toward the huge mass of people dancing.

“Seriously, Kimber? You did this tonight?” Sam said, pinning her with an angry stare.

“You didn’t exactly give me a specific date,” she countered.

“Is this body real or not?” I cut in, realizing there was more going on here than I thought.

“Don’t you remember Andi, Heven?” Kimber said.

I gasped and looked down at the pile of bones. “That’s Andi?”

“Heven,” Sam began, and I knew by the tone of his voice she was somehow a casualty of my life.

“How?” I asked miserably.

“China,” he replied low.

“That bitch got around,” Riley said.

“You knew she was down there, in the lake?” I asked.

He nodded, looking at the ground. “I asked Kimber to bring her up so she could be found in one piece. So her family would know what happened to her.”

Another death. Another family touched by the struggle raging between me and hell. When was this going to end?

“Why did you lie just now?” I said, turning to Kimber. “We really do need to call the police.”

“I will,” she said, “but not in the middle of the best party I’ve ever had. What a downer.”

“I’m sorry that giving some girl who was murdered some peace is so disrupting for you,” I spat.

“We need to call now, Kimber, before any of her… washes away,” Sam said.

She waved her hand. “She’s not going anywhere. I made sure of it.”

“I don’t care. I’m calling the cops,” I said, pulling out my phone.

The song that was playing turned off and the DJ’s voice came over the sound system. “Who’s ready to get their freak on?”

The crowd cheered.

“This next song is courtesy of the birthday girl,” he said. He was laughing when a song came on, cutting him off. It was an intense song and the crowd started dancing erratically and then a horn cut through the music and a fog machine came on, filling the dance floor with a dense, heavy fog that glowed with the same neon green we’d seen in the lake.

“What the hell?” Kimber said. “I didn’t order a fog machine.” She turned to me. “Did you do this?”

“No, I didn’t know anything about this.”

We watched as the thick fog curled around the dancers, winding its way through the bodies, surrounding them, pressing in on them until it was hard to see them at all. The music seemed to pump louder through the speakers and more fog was released from a machine that we hadn’t even seen, but this time it traveled toward the deck, reaching for the people there, wrapping around them and tinting everything an electrified green shade.

“Something isn’t right,” I murmured, just as the fog began to stretch toward us.

“Gross!” Kimber said and then surrounded the four of us with some kind of clear bubble that kept out the green tendrils.

The fog didn’t seem to like being stopped. It actually seemed to collect itself, grow thicker, until we couldn’t see anything except for it, and then it reared back and rammed the bubble with a force mist shouldn’t possess.

“I knew I should’ve killed that guy,” Riley growled.

“Cole’s out there.” I worried. “What is this stuff?”

Sam looped one arm over my shoulder and across my chest, pulling me so my back came up against him and I could feel the muscles in his body begin to shake. I glanced over my shoulder at the grim expression on his face as I felt the telltale flood of adrenaline push through his veins.