Second Skin (Skinned) (23 page)

“What would you do if I kissed you right now?” Alec asked in a low grumble.

I inhaled sharply, taken by the notion. “I’d kiss you back.” Alec shifted on his feet, his muscles tense.

“But then I’d hate myself and I’d hate that you tried to change my mind, and we’d end up exactly where we are in this moment.” I gave a weak laugh. “Frustrated. Hurting.” I shook my head. “So please don’t, Alec. Don’t even think about it. We can’t. We’re not ever going to again.”

“You’re wrong, Eryn.” Alec groaned and leaned his head against the back of the closet door. “You make everything so damn complicated.”

“I’m sorry.” I reached out a hand. My fingers trailed over his glossy black hair.

Alec jerked at my feather-light touch. He slammed his fist into the wood paneling, making me jump with the shock of his anger. He fired me a heated glance. “We’ll play this your way. For now.” He straightened. “But I gotta say, stupidest freaking plan.” Alec cursed as he crouched at my side. “Trap the night mare in a school gym filled with kids, easy pickings, and then hide in a closet and take a nap.”

Well, yeah, when he said it like that…

I dragged in a long, slow breath, dizzy with his hot and cold act. The intensity of emotions he’d churned up left me drained.

He rooted through the gear bag he’d dropped between us, pulling a light stick from its depths. He bent the plastic rod until it cracked. A soft green glow illuminated our darkened quarters. Not that I’d needed the additional lighting to be mesmerized by Alec’s prominent cheekbones and his full bottom lip.

He handed me the light.

The glow shifted, causing shadows to creep along the walls. They thickened, bleeding into ferocious, snarling faces. Mouths opened wide, as if ready to gorge on my flesh or scream at some unknown agony. Alec’s voice rumbled in the distance, but I couldn’t make out his words. His tone grew more insistent. I blinked, and the grim forms settled back into simple lines and curves.

Whoa.
“Maybe you should hurry,” I said. My knees wobbled in the aftermath of the shadowy vision, but I stayed upright.

“You didn’t take the sleeping potion already, did you?” He grabbed my arm, steadying me.

“What?” I pulled from his grip. “No, I didn’t. Thanks for trusting me to stick to the plan.” I rubbed at my eyes. They stung like I’d been staring into a laser pen and burning my retinas. It would be wonderful when the night mare’s mind games were no more.

Alec’s words registered.

“Did you just call your mother’s herbal mixture a
sleeping potion
?” I stared at him, amused. “Isn’t that being a bit fairy-tale dramatic?”

“The idea of dreamwalking and killing a demon doesn’t make you go
hmm
? But you want me to use less dramatic vocabulary?” Alec gave a low laugh. “I’ll keep that in mind. Now for the third time, find a place to hook that up. I need some light to copy the protection sigils.”

“Oh, right.” I wiggled the glowstick between my fingers, debating, but in the end decided that bludgeoning him with neon green goo was beneath me. I scanned for a ledge, a hook, anything. There. In the wall to my left were several finishing nails a few inches apart and jutting out about half an inch. Perfect. I balanced the glowstick over them.

“Are you sure those are going to work?” I asked as Alec marked the walls with a piece of white chalk. The shadows retreated to the darkened corners above us.

Alec kept his back to me, focused on his task. “As soon as Kate sets the spell in motion, these will kick into high gear.” With each arc and line, magical energy thrummed, beating against the narrow walls. Thickening the air. “You’ll be completely protected as long as you stay in the closet.”

“Aren’t people supposed to be coming
out
of the closet?”

Alec ignored my lame attempt at comic relief and laboriously copied magical symbols Kate had sketched on the back of a tri- fold paper that served as Conundrum’s lunch menu. Because, who wouldn’t draw sacred protection sigils on a throwaway flyer?

“I have a few things for you in my bag,” Alec said. “Mom thought they might be useful.”

I discovered a tinfoil-ish emergency blanket and an unopened, rather flat cellophane wrapper. I flipped it over. The woman pictured on the packaging reclined in a claw-foot tub, her delicate neck resting on an inflatable plastic pillow.

All the comforts of home.
I made quick work of opening the package and blowing up the pillow, not wanting Alec to turn around and watch.

“Keep your phone handy.”

My phone?
I lowered the pillow from my lips and inserted the stopper. I dropped the pillow on the floor where it landed on the emergency blanket and fished my phone out of my pocket. It was on, but the screen had no display. I gave it a few shakes. Nothing. I turned it on and off again.

Still no display.

“I’ll call you when I’ve located the night mare’s corporeal form. Then and only then, drink this.” Alec handed me a thermos filled with his mother’s equivalent of sleepy time tea.

It smelled like ass, even with the lid firmly sealed. My throat tightened. I dreaded the thought of gulping down the vile contents. “We’ll have to come up with some other signal,” I said, after tucking the container safely on the floor in the nearest corner so I wouldn’t knock it over.

“I thought you were bragging about how well you were sticking to the plan.”

“I was. I am.” I bit my lip. “This is the only glitch, I promise.” I held up my non-functional phone for him to examine the black screen, then tossed it onto one of the empty shelves. “I’d hoped it would last the night, but…I guess not.” When Alec rolled his eyes, I got a bit defensive. “So I dropped it in the snow. A few times. It’s not my fault they don’t take snow into consideration when they design these little suckers.”

Frustration flicked across Alec’s usual impervious expression. He shoved his hands into his jean pockets. “That’s one major glitch, Eryn. You can’t go to sleep until I’ve destroyed the night mare’s tangible form, forcing it into the dream realm. And you won’t know when that happens if you’re holed up in here without any way for us to communicate. How did you think this was going to work?”

“Walky-talkies?”

“Yeah, if I’d had some warning.”

“If Wade was here—” I clamped my lips shut.

“If Wade was here, what?” Alec took a step closer. Anger rose off his skin, heating the air between us.

I gave in to my own growing annoyance. “Well for one thing, I wouldn’t need a phone. I’d just think about him and—” I snapped my fingers. As I did so the smell of mint lit the air. My head jerked back and inhaled deep. “Son of a…”

I shoved the door open.

Wade stood there, arms crossed. Paige huddled beside him clinging to his long black leather coat. Beyond them, Redgrave High’s costumed beasties swayed and shimmied to the beat.

“I know,” Wade said, acknowledging my shock. He offered his killer smile. “Speak of the devil, right?”

Deranged Band of Crazies

The devil looked pretty damn good in that coat. Splayed open, it revealed a fitted white shirt tucked into black pants and a belt slung low around lean hips. I scanned every inch of Wade’s body without a hint of schoolgirl coyness. This wasn’t the time for games. He shifted, unusually restless under my concentrated inventory of his assets. I finally met his gaze, and those gray eyes were wary. His grin had slipped into a tight grimace, and for a brief moment I saw all he struggled to hide from me. I saw beyond the bravado to the fear I’d never forgive or trust him again.

He’d better be worried.

The pain I’d experienced not knowing if Wade was dead or alive washed over me in a wave. My lashes fluttered. Unshed tears burned behind my eyes. The guilt gnawing at my gut for days surfaced with a vengeance, fueled by the worry that Logan had put

Wade through hell—because of me.

But he was okay. Had been safe all along.

I pulled myself together as I stared up into Wade’s hooded gaze. Not one sexy, disheveled hair out of place. Damn him, he’d let me think the worst. A rumbling growl from near my toes worked its way into the back of my throat.

Wade reacted at my show of aggression, shoving Paige at Alec, who neatly caught her in his arms.

I spared them a glance.

“Stay out of this,” I hissed, and charged, athame in hand. I pressed the blade along the width of Wade’s throat. Steeped with magic, the silver blade etched into his skin, causing him to suck in an unnecessary breath. Vampires didn’t have to breathe. That affectation helped them blend in with their human prey, but they could feel pain, and silver hurt like hell. My nose wrinkled. Burnt mint and sizzling 140-year-old flesh—not a candle scent you’d find in stores anytime soon.

Wade raised a brow, holding his hands high in surrender. “If this is some kind of wolven greeting, a lot’s lost in translation.”

His gray eyes held mine with an alpha’s confidence. Why did he have to challenge me now, when my brain was on stun and my wolf was clawing to the surface? The pressure of my blade against his throat increased.

Where have you been?

I’ve always been here.
His voice was a familiar rumble in my thoughts.
Why did you shut me out?

Wade thought I’d blocked him? A lie. He was trying to throw me off. I bared my teeth, dragging his scent across my tongue, filtering to a higher degree. But his minty odor remained clear of deception.

I peeled my dagger away from Wade’s neck, leaving a raw line of flesh that began to heal the instant I lifted the blade.

“Eryn, this is Sammi and Marcus all over again. It’s not Wade. It’s the night mare.” Alec smelled of adrenaline, fear, and the pull of pure jealousy.

Actually, that sharp brine was coming at me from all directions. Alec’s. Wade’s. Paige’s. But the intensity of the saltwater scent was normal for our twisted love square. More importantly, no sour gas cloud hovered. Wade was the real deal.

Alive. Unharmed.
Eryn, you know it’s me.
Reading my mind. Shit.

I accessed the fortified wall of stone and iron I visualized to block Wade from reading my thoughts. Slammed it down. This time there’d be no question who shut out whom.

Gray eyes flickered. “Ah, that hurts,” Wade said in a mocking tone. He narrowed in on Alec’s imposing form at my side. “Just what have you been up to with my huntress while I was otherwise occupied? She’s all fiery.”

I blinked in shock. His
what? I’ll show him fiery.

Or not.

Alec shoved me aside and pitched a wild punch at Wade’s face. In a lightning-fast move, Wade bent at the waist and dodged the blow. I ducked as the force of Alec’s swing brought his fist around and a hair’s breadth from my nose.

Paige snatched up a discarded hockey stick from the stage floor, its taped, wooden blade busted in half. She held it high over Alec’s shoulders, about to slice down along the vulnerable line of his neck.

In two long strides I reached her, grabbed the stick, and whipped it behind us. It skidded across the wooden floor and disappeared behind one of the stage curtains leading to the dressing rooms. While the guys scuffled, Paige and I stared each other down. Though clearly exhausted, my cousin’s bloodshot eyes burned with fevered emotion. Her face contorted with hate.

I slid my dagger back into its hilt. I wouldn’t bear arms against her. She was pack, though I had to admit I was disappointed to see the old Paige shining through those blue eyes.

Alec held Wade in his mighty fists, dangling Wade a foot off the floor. Although Alec appeared to be in control, Wade could take him out if he wanted. From his awkward perch, Wade watched me with an unreadable expression. His cocky grin had faded.

Paige crossed her arms. “That’s it? You’re not going to freeze dry them?” she bit out at Wade. Her lips arched into a severe frown.