Souljacker (15 page)

I blink at him, not sure if I should believe
him. Sariel only shrugs and shifts back to his canine form. Our
eyes meet and he gives a soft rumble, then turns and lopes after
the Pack. I just stand there for a few minutes, my body tingling
from such a close call. Then my heart seems to reach my mind and I
take off in the direction of Lucy.

I make a wide loop around, entering Rogan
City from a different part of the forest. Raziel’s on duty, but it
shouldn’t be too hard to stay away from him. I head for Lucy’s
place. Her foster dad’s car is gone from the driveway and her scent
is thick, lingering here. I breathe in, then head around back and
peer in through the sliding glass door.

She’s sprawled on the couch, her legs kicked
up on the arm rest and hooked at the ankle. I take a quick look
around and shift back to human, knocking on the glass lightly with
my knuckles. Lucy visibly jumps.

She twists around in her seat, suspicious,
and I wave. Her face goes from nervous, to shocked, to extremely
pleased. She all but leaps off the couch to unlock the door and as
soon as it slides open, I wrap my arms around her. She nuzzles into
my chest and I rub her back, run both hands through her hair, tip
her head back and steal a kiss. She replies fervently.

“God, I missed you,” I manage to say between
kisses. She grins from ear to ear and she’s so beautiful when she
smiles. She’s like my own personal guardian angel, sent down from
heaven to save my poor soul. I squeeze her hands in mine, pulling
them to my chest. “The Pack’s on a hunt. We have a little time. I
want to take you out tonight.”

“Where?”

“Anywhere, I don’t care. As long as we’re
together.” I sound like one of those chick-flicks, but it only
registers as sappy for a moment. Her eyes are crystal clear and so
happy, and if that makes me girly? Then I guess I am. “How about
out to dinner? And then someplace fun.”

“Mini golf?” She smirks at me.

“We both know I fail at that, thanks. I was
thinking maybe a little more…closed in. Just in case they come back
early. We could go to my favorite arcade and I can show you what a
boss I am at good old button mashing.”

“I’m
so
kicking your ass.” She steps
back, one foot pointing towards the stairs. “Let me change real
quick and we can go.”

“You look great already, Luce.” And it’s
true; her cut-off shorts reveal her long legs and the tank top
she’s wearing shows just enough cleavage to leave the rest to my
imagination. I can’t help but grin.

She blushes and grabs her bag off the counter
in the kitchen, then returns to my side. I angle my chin towards
the bag. “Sync coming along?”

Lucy freezes for a moment and shakes her
head. “No. We’re…not on talking terms. She’s with Caddie.”

“Hopefully nothing too serious?”

“It doesn’t matter. Let’s just have fun,
okay?” She scribbles something on the tablet hanging on the fridge,
then reaches for my hand. I twine my fingers through hers and lead
her back out into the humid night air.

We walk down the street, side by side, our
arms swinging together and it’s somehow right, somehow picture
perfect. Wonderful. How can I ever begin to live without this? Why
would I ever want to?

We end up eating at the Matchlight
Diner—they’re having all-you-can-eat fish night. The smells in the
restaurant are enough to make my mouth water and that first bite of
fish is flaky and amazing. We talk about nothing of importance, but
it doesn’t really matter. We could talk about rocket science, or
Fae technology, and still have a good time.

With our bellies full, we head towards
Daly’s. It’s a busy little building stuffed wall to wall with
ancient arcade games like Pinball and Asteroids. The more
technological advanced games are in the front of the place, but
I’ve never found them nearly as fun.

Lucy’s eyes are wide as she takes in the
flashing bulbs, the mechanical laughter of mocking machines, the
whirr-buzz of tickets being spit out, and the clink of arcade
currency. “This place is my home away from home,” I tell her, not
embarrassed in the least, tugging her deeper into the recesses of
the building.

Robb Daly has owned this place for more than
thirty years and he still manages it. He’s a big guy covered in
tattoos. They’re a mix of angels and demons, bloody, brutal scenes,
but I know on his left shoulder blade, he has an ink of his two
daughters. We lock eyes and I slap money down on the counter.

“Who’s the pretty girl, Io?” His voice is
whiskey roughened.

Lucy’s suddenly gone shy and ducks her head.
I wrap an arm around her waist, tugging her close to me, and I beam
as I introduce her. “This is the beautiful Lucy Swift. Luce, this
is Robb Daly. This arcade has been around for a long time. I come
here whenever I get a free minute.” Or at least I used to, before
Lucy.

Robb holds out a hand and Lucy’s is dwarfed
by his as they shake. “Love the hair, by the way,” he says around a
smile, then cuts a glance to me. “Always thought you were gay.” So
blunt. Lucy snorts and Robb laughs.

“No such luck.” I slide my money across the
counter and he deals out two paper cups filled to the brim with
bronze coins. Each one is stamped with an angel wing.

“Have fun, kids.” He shoos us off, turning to
the next customer in line.

I hand Lucy her cup of coins. “You should
feel honored. Typically Robb’s a tightwad with his faux money.
C’mon, let me show you how it’s done.”

“I’m going to kick your ass.”

“You’re on.”

We blow through half the coins in no time. I
can’t help but laugh; as good as she was in mini golf, she’s ten
times worse at games. I score higher and higher every time, and she
huffs and pretends to pout, but her eyes are shiny with excitement.
She laughs, the sound like weathered bells on the wind.

We lean against a two player game where
you’re a guy in the jungle trying to escape from gators. I smash
the buttons deftly—I love this game—and she groans as her character
is eaten and dragged under the water.

“Player Two defeated,” says the mechanical
voice as my score flashes in red.

She flails for a minute, crossing both arms
over her chest in a whiny little kid way. “Seriously, switch me
sides. My joystick’s sticking to the right.”

“Riiiight,” I say around a grin and she
shoves me playfully. I stumble and catch myself on the side of the
machine, then freeze. My skin prickles with unease as a lean guy
with shaggy black hair skims past several yards again. “Shit.”
Raziel. Why the hell would he come here?

Lucy gives me a quizzical look, but I duck
and grab her wrist. “Hurry,” I whisper, and she realizes
something’s wrong because she picks up speed. We wind around the
corner, ducking behind a pinball machine. I scope out the
situation.

Raziel’s blocking the exit. Does he know I’m
here? That I skipped out on the hunt? It’d be just like him to
follow me, just for the chance at seeing me in pain. I bite back a
growl.

Nerves twist my stomach into a knot. Lucy’s
fingers clamp around mine, her body tensed and still. I glance
around the room, back to where my brother was standing…and he’s
gone. Just gone. “Shit. Shit. Shit.”

I zero in on one of those cheesy photo
booths, where you sit inside behind a curtain and get your picture
taken. Lucy follows my gaze and we race towards it. I feel eyes on
the back of my neck, paranoia creeping up on me, a vicious stalker.
My heart’s skipping beats like mad.

Lucy ducks into the booth first and I cram
myself in behind her. We’re squeezed together like sardines in a
can, but I pull the curtain shut and pray that he leaves.

“I thought they were out on a hunt.” Worry
lines crease Lucy’s forehead.

“Well…they are. Except for him. I honestly
didn’t think he’d be a problem.” I take a deep breath, letting it
out slowly
. Calm down. He’s not going to find you. It’s not like
he’s looking for you; it’s just a coincidence. Maybe he was bored
and figured a couple of rounds of Pinball would be fun.

Maybe not.

I find my hand’s still squeezing Lucy’s
tightly. Anxiety fills me to the brim, making me tremble in a bad
way, and I feel nervous hysteria bubble up my throat in the form of
a laugh. He’ll find me and zap me, but I can handle that. What I
can’t handle is someone hurting Lucy and Raziel wouldn’t hesitate
to hunt her down the minute he got off duty.

I turn to her. “I’m sorry, Lucy, this was a
bad—”

Lucy leans forwards and our lips meet, hers
demanding, mine nervous as she steals my words away from me. Her
fingers trail heat down my cheeks as she wraps her arms around my
neck, twining fingers through my hair. I shouldn’t, oh how I
shouldn’t, but if I’m going to lose her anyway, why the hell
not?

So I kiss her back. She moans low in her
throat and I push her up against the wall of the booth. I cup her
face in my hands, sliding my tongue along the seam of her lips. She
trembles beneath me, opening up, giving me access. My tongue delves
deep. I memorize the taste of her, sweet and spicy, our breaths
tangled inside one another.

I’m surrounded with heat, a fire burning me
so deep that it almost hurts. I let my hands trail downwards, my
mouth following. I kiss her jaw, nibbling on her earlobe. My lips
caress the spot where her pulse jumps beneath her skin and she
arches against me. My heart aches. I can’t live without this. Maybe
we should run away, leave this city behind, leave my Pack and set
out on our own.

Wait, is that an option?

She breaks away with a shuddering gasp and I
come up for air. Her face is flushed and her chest heaves with each
breath. I kiss her chastely on the lips, then twine my fingers
through hers again. “Let’s make a break for it. If anything
happens…well, this is gonna sound cheesy, but know that I love
you.”

Her eyes widen at that bold announcement.
Then she nods sharply and we emerge from the photo booth without
taking a single photo. Our coins are left behind on the seat for
some lucky kid to find. I duck through the crowd, focused on the
exit, focused on making it out of there without being caught. Lucy
runs at my side, lean like a sight hound and twice as graceful.

And she’s mine.

We burst out of the arcade and into the
equally stuffy night. I don’t stop, I just keep running. Our feet
pound the pavement as I lead her through the backend of the city,
sliding through alleys and over fences in peoples’ backyards,
barely avoiding a protective Rottweiler.

We don’t stop until we’re back at her house.
The driveway is still empty, but we still head around back. She
bends over, sucking down air, her skin shiny with sweat. I lean
against the house and catch my breath and try and calm myself.

We made it. We’re safe. I know Raziel—if he
would’ve seen us, even in passing, he would’ve nailed me. I wrap my
arms around Lucy in a bear hug. “That was interesting,” I say once
I’ve caught my breath.

She chuckles. “You wanna come inside?”

“I really shouldn’t…” I want to, yes. I
really want to. But I shouldn’t.

“We could watch a movie until Mr. Rockwell
gets home?” She sounds so hopeful and I can’t ruin our strangely
wonderful night. I can still taste our kiss, lingering firelight on
my lips.

“Let’s do it.”

We cuddle up on the couch and watch a very
fake-looking zombie flick. As a woman screams and dies, her heart
ripped from her body but somehow still beating, Lucy laughs, albeit
a little devilishly.

“I love it when you laugh,” I say. “It’s so
musical, lyrical. It makes me want to write a song about you.”

“Do you? Write songs, I mean?”

It’s my turn to laugh. “I’ve never strummed a
guitar in my life and I’m pretty much tone deaf.”

Her grin is almost as nice as her laughter
and I nuzzle closer.

A little past eleven, I hear gravel crunch on
the driveway. I’m out of my seat in less than a second and she
follows me to the back door. It slides open soundlessly.

“See you soon?”

“As soon as I can.” I seal the promise with a
kiss and duck outside. I wait until I see lights get flicked on
inside, the shadow of a man cast across the doorway, then I sneak
around the side of the house and flee on four paws into the
night.

How can Lylan ever expect me to give this
up?

Chapter 17:

Lucy

The memory of our kiss is engrained deep
within my soul, a loop of tape going round and round in my head.
Even days later, I can smell the earthy, musky smell that is
Iofiel, clinging to me like a ghost. His smile is sweet and
innocent, his laugh beautiful. He’s mine.

And he loves me.

That fact alone is enough to perch me way up
here on cloud nine, far above the peons down below. I’m so high,
they look like ants from up here. I’m positively floating.

How can someone so good happen to someone
like me? I’ve never done anything to deserve attention like this.
I’ve been shuffled around from home to home. I’ve been hated,
feared, mistreated. I’ve stolen, cheated, lied. I’ve hurt
people—hell, I’ve
killed
someone. I can barely begin to
forgive myself for that, but the Big Guy up top obviously thinks
I’m worth it. Or else he’s playing a cruel trick on me.

Either way, I’m loving it while I can.

“You wanna go see a movie? I think
Idyllic
comes out tonight.” Caddie’s voice is a fly in my
ear, jovial and laughing. I blush at the thought I was just caught
almost having and shake my head to chase them off. Maybe later. In
private.

Caddie shoots me a strange look and I smile.
“Sure, why not? It’s Friday, after all.”

“Fiiiinally. This week has just dragged.”

Sync bobs at Caddie’s left shoulder. She’s
giving me the silent treatment, which pisses me off even more than
if she’d just say something bitchy. How many times do I need to
apologize? I said I was sorry.