Shifting Shadows (Sparks Collide Trilogy) (5 page)

She paused at that.

“Everyone has secrets, Jay but as far
as being a good employee consider yourself reassured. Unnecessarily of course,
but lucky for you, I can be accommodating.”

“Got it, I’ve been a jerk. Let me buy
you a drink and make it up to you.”

“Sounds good.” she paused to take
another breath then dove back in “So about this fighting thing, what are you
training for?”

“Like you said, Kira, everyone has
secrets.” I smirked and finished off my beer. Let her deal with that.

Brandon and Logan traded looks before
Brandon
faced her, “You’re my new hero.”

Annabella spoke up from next to him.
“Seriously, Kira, can I be more like you? I’ve been trying to put Jay in his
place for years now.” Obviously they’d been listening. Kira leaned in and
whispered something to her and they laughed. I could’ve listened but I didn’t.

I rolled my eyes went to the bar where
Trent
was chatting with Max and Mena.
Trent
turned to me, “So how did the
questioning go? Did you break her and her evil secrets?”

Actually, she had been the one
questioning me and I wasn’t really sure how that had happened. “We have an
understanding.” I brought my elbow onto the bar top “Joe, 2 beers.”

“Coming right up” was his quick reply.

I whispered in a tone that only my pack
could hear. “Max has you father heard anything more since the meeting
yesterday?”

He looked around “Yeah but only stuff
your father already knows. I’m sure he told you too.”

I gave him a look.

“Right, ok never mind. We heard the
witch’s war is getting closer to home than we anticipated. Apparently, they are
set on us choosing sides.”

Mena spoke up “It’s nothing we can’t
handle but it’s a dangerous place to be in.”

I nodded, “We figured this would
happen. How are the parasites handling this?”

Mena shrugged “The vamps say they are staying
neutral but we all suspect they are already working with the dark coven.”

“No surprise there. How about the Fae?”

Trent
joined in “Nah, there’s no frickin’
way they would ever get involved in something like this.

Max nodded “He’s correct. They’ve lived
too long and have their own petty wars to deal with to care about something as
trivial as this.” I hoped he was right because they would be the worst enemies
and terrible allies at best.

“They better keep to themselves. If you
hear anything more, let me know.”

Mira and Max nodded.

Trent
turned his back to the others so only
I could hear him. “Man, you have access to these meetings why don’t you ask
your dad, if you really care about this stuff?”

I shook my head. That was not an
option. “If dear old dad knew I cared at all, he’d stepped down now and hand
over the reins.”

“Would it be the worse thing in the
world? You would make a good leader, man.” I gave him a cold stare and he
turned away. “Whatever man, your call” he said into his drink.

Will appeared with his arm around
Demi’s shoulders, “We’re going to head out.”

I was surprised it took them this long
to get away. They had been getting more serious lately and were spending more
time alone. It was annoying. “Whatever, man. Go play house.”

Everyone went silent.

Demi put a hand on Will’s chest and
gave me a venomous look. “Green’s not your color, Jay. Later all.”

Max, Mena, and Trent replied their
good-byes and I noticed how stiffly Will walked out, anger filling his every
motion. I knew it was stupid but I thought I’d get an actual reaction out of
him. Maybe if he just jumped at me or something it would be better. I kept
thinking it couldn’t get any worse but I was wrong. I was just pissing him off
more and more. Well he was pissing me off too so I guessed we were even.

“So”
Logan
said “where are you from, Kiki? Can I
call you Kiki?”

“
Boston
,
Massachusetts
and um, no.
Kira as a name is short enough, isn’t
it?”

“Yeah, but you need a pet name, a
nickname.” I shrugged “If you say so, think of something else and let me know.”

“Will do, so why’d you come all the way
to
Brisdale
,
Florida
?”

“Witness Protection Program.”
I responded, deadpan.

Brandon, Logan, and Annabella stared at
me blankly for what felt like forever. Finally I cracked a smile “I’m kidding,
guys”

We all started laughing “Oh, man. The
looks on your faces.”

Annabella pretended to shove me over.

“I didn’t think you guys would buy
that.” I said hardly catching my breath.
Brandon
almost had beer come out of his nose.
“No, I came here because
Brisdale
University
has a great program for Vets, my
friend Christina lives here, and it was far, far away from home.”

At that, Annabella gave me a
sympathetic smile, and I could see in her eyes that she understood wanting to
be away from family, for whatever reason.

“So what about you guys? What do you
do? Have you lived here your whole lives?”

Annabella spoke “I’m the only new girl
here, the rest of them were born and raised here.”

“Oh, cool. Do you go to Brisdale U,
too?”

“Yes, I’m a nursing student there.” She
said excitedly. I noticed she said almost everything excitedly. “You’re going
there for Vet school right?”

I nodded. “That’s perfect. We’ll
definitely being seeing each other in the science building.” I was thrilled. I
never imagined I would meet this many friendly people when I moved here.

I’m ashamed to say that when I first
saw Annabella, I thought she was some sort of beauty queen and she’d probably
be a snob but she wasn’t in the least. Her thick, highlighted brown hair
reached her hips, she was model tall and thin but had curves. Her clothes were
designer labeled and her hands were perfectly manicured and painted, yet in her
eyes you saw that her life must be anything but perfect. Her manner was filled
with nothing but kindness.

She looked down as she said “If you
need anything, I’m your girl. I understand what it’s like to be the new girl.
Like I said I wasn’t born here, like the rest of them. I lived with my parents
until I was 14 but it wasn’t” she paused and finally glanced up “the right
place for me so I moved out here and Teresa adopted me. Teresa is Will’s aunt,
so he’s kind of my cousin. It’s complicated and then again, it’s not.”

It occurred to me that Annabella felt
neither here nor there. We were kindred spirits. I couldn’t believe how
comfortable I was around these people. I had just met them but they felt like
life long friends, like family. I turned to
Logan
’s brother. “What about you, Brandon?”

He leaned back, all cool confidence.
“As you can tell, I’m a pretty big deal around here-”

Logan
cut him off “Little Brando’s the baby
of the group.”

Brandon
tried to get at
Logan
but
Logan
moved too quickly to be hit “I’m only
3 and a half years younger than you ass-hat” He turned to me “I’m 19, but
according to this I.D. here I’m 21 so let’s keep it on the DL.”

“It’s not fair” Annabella cut in
“Anyone else gets busted with a fake and the authorities would be all over it.
With him, he’d probably have the police officers laughing in the booth with
him, singing Irish folk songs as they drank.”

He shrugged. “That’s only happened
twice and what can I say? It’s a gift.”

I took another gulp of my own beer
before I turned to
Logan
. “So I hear you’re an Ad Exec?”

“That’s right,
Sha-kira
?”

I shook my head “No, sorry. My hips do
lie.”

“Damn ok, back to the drawing board.”

“So tell me about what you do.” It only
took those few words and suddenly a previously unseen, serious side came out.

“Well, I did my own freelance work
while still in school but when I graduated I just continued doing it, except
now I charge for my services.

Annabella put her hand over his “He’s
being weirdly modest. He runs his own company and is hella successful.” I
couldn’t tell if the touch was casual or if they were more than friends.
Neither looked affected by it but you never knew, there could be history there.

“It’s still pretty new but I do all
right. I just took on a new account today actually. It’s for a new sports drink
and I’m not gonna lie, I’m stoked on it.”

Brandon and Annabella went to get more
drinks and
Logan
slid in next to me as we discussed his
plans for his newest client. He was passionate about the work he did and I
could see how being the creative, idea guy was the perfect job for him. He was
goofy like
Brandon
but smoother, more mature. He was also
extremely quick and he didn’t miss a thing. If there was something going on,
Logan
knew about it. Knowing that, I took a
chance. “So why does Jay think I’m going to steal his uncle blind and murder
all the pets?”

He didn’t even hesitate “Jay’s
protective of his family. I know it’s weird but in a small town, outsiders can
seem more like intruders. We’re just not used to new people in our inner
circle.”

It made sense but the words sounded
rehearsed, a little off somehow. Now I was just being crazy. He probably knew I
was going to ask and he’s defending his friend. Besides what other explanation
could there be? I nodded my head in agreement.

He leaned in “How about Kira-son, like
in the karate kid?”

I laughed, “You’re not going to give up
on this, are you?”

“Is that a no?”

“Eh, it’s a keep thinking.”

Suddenly a beer slid in front of me. I
made a mental note that this should be my last. I had to drive home after they
dropped me back at the office later. I looked up and saw Jay. “Keep thinking
about what?”

I scooted down so he could slide back
in. “My nickname. Apparently I need one.”

Jay gave me an assessing stare, his
violet eyes burning through me with such intensity, I almost forgot to breathe.
He looked to
Logan
, “Kira’s short enough, isn’t it?”

I pointed to myself, feeling
vindicated. “That’s what I said.” I turned to
Logan
and noticed he seemed much further
away than before.

He ignored my comment and answered Jay.
“Nope, but don’t worry it’ll come to me.”

Brandon and Annabella came back with
Max, Mena, and Trent in tow. The three guys pulled up chairs as
Logan
got out, allowing Mena and Annabella
spots in the booth, and he squeezed in at the end.

This put me very close to Jay and it
was as uncomfortable as it was mystifying. It was uncomfortable because I still
wasn’t sure I liked him all that much. So far he had been out right judgmental
of me without cause and while he had seemed fair after I confronted him, it was
hard to tell where we stood. It was mystifying because his intense stares were
unlike anything I’d ever experienced; they were hard but soft at the same time,
commanding but beautiful. Sitting next to him alerted me to the electric heat
coming off of him and it had me wanting to pull away and sit closer all at
once.

Looking around, Annabella asked
“Where’s Demi and Will?”

“They’re not here?”
Logan
queried, confused.

Mena, Max, and Trent looked down at the
table pointedly.

I felt Kira’s eyes land on me and I
shifted slightly, “They went home.” I scoffed “Are you surprised?”

“Yeah, I am actually.” Annabella
exclaimed “You would think my best friend and my cousin would say bye to me
first.”

I shrugged “Take it up with them. You
guys ready to get out of here.” I was bored, again.

“Yeah, I should be getting home. This
was so fun, though. Thanks again for showing me a good time” Kira said, smiling
to everyone at the table.

“Home? It’s summer. We’re just getting
started.” Was she nuts?

“Right but I work, for your uncle as a
matter of fact. I’m still moving into my apartment too.”

I rolled my eyes “Doc would want you to
go out, don’t be lame.”

Her blue eyes narrowed. “For someone so
suspicious of me, you would think you’d be less apt to take me out of work
early and keep me out late at night.”