A Demon's Kiss (Young Adult Romance) (14 page)

“What?”

“Nothing,” he said, clearing his throat. “I should probably go.”

“Oh.”

I walked him to the window, wishing he could stay. His presence helped me deal with things, cope. Just having him close made me feel better, like everything would be all right if I could only have him near.

When he got to the window he turned to me, like he had something important to say. For a moment our eyes met. I melted under his gaze, held my breath as he drew his face near mine. I could hear him breathing, feel the warmth of his breath on my neck and ear, but then he gave a slight groan, backing away. “Things have changed,” he said in a husky voice. “I’m not sure I’m ready for it.”

I stared at him, filled with emotion—elation that he had come so close to kissing me, disappointment that he had backed away. “I don’t understand.”

“I know,” he gave a sympathetic smile. “I’m sorry. I can’t explain.” He gave another sad smile. “Goodnight, Michaela.” Then he was gone, out my window and into the night.

As I drifted off to sleep I thought about Gage, about his warm brown eyes, and what it would have been like to have him take me in his arms, to have him kiss me. But when I dreamed, it was about Logan and a cave and a gathering of cloaked demons coming to get me.

CHAPTER 21

Beth wouldn’t let me go to school today. She gave me a threatening look as she left for work.

“Stay home,” she said.

So, I spent the morning roaming around the house, totally nuts, with questions rattling around in my brain, never seizing, never leaving, just growing and growing and making me want to scream. Yesterday really happened. Logan’s real. So what is he doing? What does he want? Why’s he here? Is he at my school right now? Going to classes?

Or is he somewhere else?

What’s he
doing
?!

I wanted to go to school. I didn’t like being home. Alone. I wanted to be around
people
.

I tried to keep my mind busy—off Logan.

For most of the morning I worked on my guitar and played online games. Then at lunch, I poured myself a bowl of Coco-coco Puffs and ate it on the couch, watching some show about dogs in space. I think it was a kid show, but it was kind of scary. Everything freaked me out these days, even puppets. Still, I watched the show like a zombie, figuring I wouldn’t get off the couch until three.

My plans to stay on the couch got heaved out the window though when Summer came home for lunch, ‘cause she was holding hands with Logan.

Ack!

I jumped off the couch so fast there was a sonic boom.

Summer scowled at me like I was a lunatic, but I didn’t care, I was ready to race up the stairs. Her scowl disappeared when she turned to Logan, though. She gave him this
I-told-you-she’s-a-nut-case
look and said: “This is my sister, Michaela. You met her yesterday, remember?”

He smiled at me all
I want to grab you
like, and I almost bolted up the stairs. But all he said was, “How’s the mono?”

The way he asked, with a mocking smirk, made me suddenly certain I never had mono and he was laughing at me for thinking I did. Somehow he caused me to be sick. He put a voodoo curse on me or something.

“I’m over it,” I told him, challengingly. “I’m all better.”

Summer rolled her eyes. “That’s what she’s been saying, but she hasn’t combed her hair in a week.”

That wasn’t really true. I combed my hair just yesterday. But I ignored her, instead stating the facts. “I’m completely better. I’m strong.”

Logan smiled, seeming amused. “Yeah?”

“Look, don’t mess with me.”

“Michaela!” Summer shrieked, as though I was embarrassing her, making a scene. But Logan just smiled, like he was finding me entertaining. And yeah, I probably was. The guy could call up monsoons. He obviously had a lot of power. Way more than me. Probably. I’d never actually tested myself, found out what I can and can’t do. I’d always been too afraid to try.

But he was just a guy, or demon or whatever. I mean, he wasn’t the entire Cloaked People, not the whole sect. I figured I’d have more of a chance to take him on—fight him now—than wait around for the whole mob to show.

Okay, I knew I’d probably lose. That was almost a given, okay it
was
a given, but I’d rather take my chances with him than them. I’d rather
die
than come face to face with them.

Logan shook his head—like he knew what I was thinking, like he advised against it. Totally for show, he put his arms around Summer. He gave her a kiss. But I knew it was only to prove a point. He had me where he wanted me. He had my sister.

For a moment I just stood where I was at, staring at the guy. There didn’t seem to be anything I could do about him in my house. In fact, there didn’t seem to be anything I could do about him in my life. So, with as much dignity as I could manage wearing a chocolate-stained bathrobe and Tweety Bird slippers, I turned around and marched up to my room.

Summer gazed at Logan as I went, seeming to have forgotten I even existed, but I could feel Logan’s eyes follow me up the stairs.

***

Summer and Logan went back to school. I heard them go. But I spent the next hundred hours pacing in my room. I felt caged in a nightmare, unable to wake up. The demon that had haunted me since childhood had finally come to get me. He was roaming free in my wide-awake life. I knew it was all my fault. I knew it was because I saved Gage, but what was I supposed to do? Let him die?

No way could I do that.

Only...now what was I supposed to do?

During my pacing, Beth flew in the front door, home early from work. “I have to fly to Seattle,” she said as she started throwing things in her suitcase.

I wanted to beg her to stay, didn’t want her to go. But she was all wound up and anxious. Whatever was going on in her Seattle office was obviously important. So, I didn’t beg. I just stood silent in her doorway, watching her pack.

 
“I should be home by Monday,” she said as she headed out the front door. “If you have any problems call Mrs. Katz.”

I followed her out to the car. I knew it was silly to want her to stay. She couldn’t protect me. Still, I wished she were going to be around.

As she got into her car, ready to leave, she stopped suddenly, looking concerned. “I’m sorry to leave you while you’re not feeling well. Are you going to be okay?”

“Yeah. I’ll be fine.”

“Be sure to call Mrs. Katz if you need anything.”

Mrs. Katz is like a hundred and ten. It takes her half an hour to cross our living room. I truly doubted she’d be much help. Still, Beth was in a hurry. She needed to go.

“Okay. Yeah. I’ll give her a call,” I said and then Beth was gone.

***

It was after five and Summer hadn’t come home from school yet. Normally that would be no big deal. She spends more time at her friends’ houses than home. But I knew she was with Logan, so I was worried. He might kill her just to prove a point. I had no idea.

At six I called Summer’s best friend, Sara.

“No, I haven’t seen her. She bailed on shopping,” Sara said. “But, I bet I know who she’s with—that guy, Logan.”

My stomach twisted. “Thanks.”

There was a thick cloud of doom hovering over me. I couldn’t function.
Summer’s dead. Logan killed her
. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t shake those thoughts.

Around seven, Summer finally called.

Understated to say, I was relieved to hear her voice. I could finally breathe. “Where’ve you been?”

“I left voice mail with mom,” Summer said, not answering my question. “Tell her I’m going to spend the night with Sara, k?”

“Mom’s not here. She went to Seattle.”

“She did? Cool. How long’s she gonna be gone?”

“I don’t know. She said for you to come home, though. She said to tell you not to go anywhere.” She didn’t really say any of this, but I was sure she would have if she knew Summer was dating the spawn of Satan.

“Why?”

“I don’t know. That’s just what she said.”

“Well, if she calls just tell her I’m in the shower or something.”

“Summer, just come home.” I was practically pleading. I couldn’t take all this worry. I just wanted to lock her in her room.

I could hear Logan’s voice in the background. He said something that made Summer giggle.

Gah!

“I’ll see you tomorrow,” Summer said. Then click. She hung up before I could protest.

Grrrr!

CHAPTER 22

Having no clue where Logan had taken residence (a hole in the dirt?) I went to Pikes. It was Friday night. I figured if Summer took him anywhere, it would be there. So far though, she hadn’t shown. It was still kind of early though. So I just sort of hang out, hoping she might make an appearance.

Izzie went to her dad’s for the weekend. Otherwise, I would have called her like an hour ago, made her drive me (my car was in the shop. Its second home.), and sit with me. Instead, I had to walk and sit alone. I hated that.

Gage was around. He was with Addison, The Psychopath, though, so I didn’t go over and talk to him. Instead I sat by myself, feeling like a jerk. It was weird seeing him with Addison and her friends—the beautiful crowd—he looked bored. Usually he hangs with his band. They weren’t around tonight though. No one was. I mean, the place was packed, but it was full of people we didn’t associate with.

I would have definitely left if I had any other ideas where to look for Summer, but I didn’t. I called Sara again and she said if she heard from Summer she’d send her here. So I sat, ordering coke after coke, thinking morbid thoughts.

Every time I glanced at Gage he was looking at me. He was probably wondering why I was here by myself. We kept making faces at each other from across the room. After a while Addison caught him doing it and scowled. She went on the warpath any time Gage and I got together and started messing around. She was a lunatic. That’s why I didn’t go over and talk to him, or vice versa. She kept him on a pretty tight leash anyway, but since I was here she was basically strangling him.

Still, at one point he made a quick trip to the DJ, snatching one of my french-fries as he went, then he sat beside me on his way back.

“Why are you here by yourself?” he asked.

“Waiting for Summer. Have you seen her?”

“Nuh-uh. Not tonight, no one’s here.” He grabbed another fry. “You’re going to hang with Summer?” He said it like the thought was too wild to even consider.

I shrugged. Maybe I’d never hang with Summer again. Maybe no one would. Ever.

 
Addison came over and snuggled up with Gage, bringing the scent of expensive perfume. (I hated her, but I had to admit, she smelled good, really good.) Gage absently put his arm around her, something he did automatically, like it was where his arm belonged. The gesture wasn’t even something he thought about, but Addison obviously did. She gave me a catty smile, like:
He’s mine. So there!
I just took a sip of my coke, pretending I didn’t notice, but yeah, inside I sobbed a little. Only, really, if someone snuggles up to you, it’s only natural to put your arm around them, right?

Still, she was a total nut case for even thinking I might try to steal Gage from her. She was tall and blond and beautiful. She looked and even
smelled
like a model. She could have any guy she wanted. I’d never even had a boyfriend—except for slime-ball Seth. And he didn’t count. ‘Cause he wasn’t even human. He had no heart.

But besides, what Addison didn’t get was, Gage and I were just friends. Buds. We’d always just been friends. Since the third grade. I was his little buddy—his playmate, someone to goof off with. But definitely not someone to snuggle up to or kiss. Gage didn’t even realize I was a girl...until after I saved him. I had to admit things seemed different now. Last night he seemed totally different—it almost seemed he was going to kiss me last night. The memory of that made me suddenly feel warm inside.

“Would you get me another Coke?” Addison asked Gage. When he trotted off to do her bidding, she turned to me with a snarl, “Why don’t you get a boyfriend of your own, so mine doesn’t have to baby-sit you?”

I raised my eyebrows. “He doesn’t have to baby-sit me. He doesn’t even have to talk to me.”

 
Addison narrowed her eyes, hopping off the barstool. “Look, he may be blind, but I’m not. You hang around everywhere he goes, giving him puppy-dog eyes. You’re pathetic. The only reason he even talks to you is because he feels sorry for you.”

“Feels sorry for me? Why would he feel sorry for me?”

She sneered. “Because you’re a skanky loser.
Everybody
feels sorry for you.”

Gage came back with Addison’s coke. I thought about making him spill it on her, but couldn’t bring myself to do it. As much as I hated her, I didn’t want him looking like a schmuck. Instead, I focused on her.

Willing action, I had her stumble over her own feet. In the process she bumped into Gage, spilling the coke he was holding all down the front of her dress. It wasn’t a very realistic move. She was simply standing there, then all the sudden falling. Still, no one questioned it. I guess everyone assumes Addison’s just a klutz around me.

“Oh, I feel so sorry for you,” I told her, as she steamed about her ruined dress. “Maybe you should practice standing on lower heels.”

She glared at me. “Shut up, witch.”

“Hey, geez, both of you stop it,” Gage said.

 
Addison shot him daggers with her eyes. “I’m going home.” She stormed off.

Gage set his jaw, watching her make her way through the crowded building. “I guess I should go after her.”

“Guess so,” I muttered, though he wasn’t sticking around for my response. He was already half way to the door.

I watched him go, feeling sort of miserable. I really, really, really wanted to leave. Why did Gage put up with Addison?—she gets mad at everything. Boys are stupid.

“Hey, Michaela, feeling better?”

I looked up to see Summer’s ex-boyfriend, Justin. He’s a jerk. And super rich. I guess that’s why he was so impressed with himself. It sure couldn’t be ‘cause he was good lookin’. ‘Cause he wasn’t. Least not to me. But Summer seemed to think he was hot. Come to think of it though, she had really bad taste in guys. Look who she was dating now.… If she was still alive to date.

I wanted to tell Justin to get lost, but he was already pulling up a chair beside me.

I gritted my teeth. “Yeah. I guess, I’m feeling better—still highly contagious though.”

He smiled. “Yeah, mono. That’s the kissing disease, right? You came here to pass it on to me?”

“Yep. That’s what I came here for—to give you a disease.”

“Well, okay. Give it to me.” Justin puckered up, purposely looking like an imbecile.

I snorted a laugh. “You’re such an idiot. I can’t believe my sister ever went out with you.”

We talked for a while. For some reason the guy liked me. I have no idea why. He told me a couple of stupid jokes, and bought me a coke. At least it killed some time. We even played a game of pool. I kicked his butt. My mind was on death, but I didn’t have to play that terrific. Justin’s really bad.

“So Summer has a new boyfriend, huh?” Justin asked conversationally, racking up for a second game.

“Yeah, I guess so. He’s really cool.”

Obviously, I just said that to make Justin feel bad. He was a total jerk to Summer. I hoped he was jealous that she found someone new. I hoped it caused him severe pain every time he saw them together.

“Well, that’s good.”

I blinked. That didn’t exactly go as planned.

He went on, “I was thinking, maybe now you and I could go out sometime.”

“No way.”

I tried making it sound light, like I was halfway kidding. But I wasn’t. At all. He was a turd. Summer and I may not be all that sisterly, or even friendly, but no way would I go out with a guy that treated her the way he did. He treated her like crap. He walked all over her and made her cry all the time, and he was a two-timing slime-ball. He was always trying to pick up on me even while the two of them were still together.

“No, really,” he said. “I have tickets to—”

“No, okay? I don’t want to go out with you. Justin, you broke up with my sister. You treated her like garbage. I don’t like you.”

He looked at me, like:
“Who do you think you are talking to me like that?”
But he didn’t say anything. Nothing. Instead he just threw his cue on the table and stomped away.

Ugh! Tonight was a total nightmare. It kept dragging on, getting worse and worse. Just as I was ready to give up and crawl home, Summer showed. Seeing her breeze in eased the knots that had been twisting in my stomach. I could actually breathe without pain.

I didn’t even care that Summer was turning purple with anger. At least she wasn’t completely blue from being dead.

“Sara says you’ve been calling, checking up on me. What do you want?”

I bite my lip. “Nothing. I just wanted to make sure you’re okay.”

“What’s with you? Ever since you got sick you’ve been a serious freak. I think your fever burned up your brain or something. Why wouldn’t I be okay?”

Because your new boyfriend could send a lightening bolt down and strike you dead
, I wanted to tell her, but I didn’t. Instead I just tried to get her to think. “What do you know about Logan?”

“I know he’s gorgeous and I like him—not that it’s any of your business.”

“But where did he come from?”

“What do you care?” Summer eyed me suspiciously. “Do you like him or something?”

That almost made me laugh it was so perverse. “No. I think the guy’s weird. I think you should stay away from him.”

She looked at me like I was a freak. “Why? What do you know about him?”

“Well . . . nothing. But Summer, what do
you
know about him? Where does he live? Did you meet his parents?”

“No, I didn’t meet his parents. We’re not getting married. Michaela, you’re being stupid.”

“Does he
have
parents?”

For a moment Summer looked like she was seriously worried about me. But then she rolled her eyes. “Go see a doctor,” she said. Then she turned and stormed away.