A Demon's Kiss (Young Adult Romance) (19 page)

CHAPTER 28

Once I felt steady enough, I left Stocker’s room and made my way slowly down the stairs. My plan was to exit through the front door, but when I got to the foyer I cringed, finding a mob of people blocking my escape. Rather than try to fight through the crowd, I decided to go around back, hoping to avoid as many people as possible.

“Hey Michaela!” someone called, but I kept walking, pretending I didn’t hear.

I needed out of the house before I suffocated. I felt as though the walls were moving in. Shaking, I kept my path focused on the back door, fighting off trance-induced delusions of being trampled.

Outside I felt better. Relieved, I sat on the nearest lawn chair and took deep, thirsty breaths. The night air was cool and brisk, soothing. I closed my eyes and drifted off to sleep, dreaming of my mother in a hooded cloak. She was trying to coax me to drink from a bloody goblet….

“Wh— ”

Startled, I was woken by someone lightly shaking me by the shoulders. It was Justin, Summer’s ex. He smiled, seeming amused to have found me unconscious. “Had a little too much to drink?”

“No,” I said, rubbing my eyes. “I didn’t drink anything.”

He laughed, like he didn’t believe me. “Do you need a ride home?”

“Uh, okay. Yeah.” I shook my head, trying to wake up. “Thanks.”

Still groggy, I followed him to the front of the house where he had a motorcycle parked in the driveway. (Not his normal mode of transportation.) He offered me his jacket, but I declined, the memory of our last encounter looming in my mind. I didn’t want to put him out anymore than letting him give me a ride home—even that made me feel a little awkward.

“No. Come on, take the jacket,” he said. “It’ll be cold on the bike.”

I hate when people are nice to me after I treated them bad. It makes me feel like a creep. I took the jacket and put it on. It was about twenty sizes too big for me, but it was warm, and I appreciated it once we took off. The cool night air turned chilling as it whipped through my hair, nipping my face. It made me wish he’d offered me a ski mask.

Despite the cold, I enjoyed the ride. Maybe I’d get myself a bike. That’d be cool. Gage had one that had been sitting in storage since last summer. Maybe we could fix his up, too. We could ride together…

The thought of Gage usually warmed my heart, and tonight it still did, but it also filled me with a strange sense of dread. I’d been worried about him ever since Logan showed up, concerned for his welfare, but now, since reliving that binding ceremony, that feeling had intensified. Suddenly I see him not only in jeopardy from Logan, but the Caldronon as well. He seemed to be the target for everyone’s evil doings.

I didn’t really think about it until after reliving the ceremony, but it wasn’t me that got hurt in the fire at Gage’s—it was him. And it was his bed that went up in flames. It was as though the Caldronon, as well as Logan, saw Gage as a threat—the only real competition, keeping my soul from being theirs.

“What are you dreaming about?” Justin asked, dragging me out of my thoughts.

We were in front of my house. I was still on his bike, but he was off, looking at me as though I was an amusing child. “Did you want a longer ride?”

“Uh, no,” I said, quickly hopping off. “Thanks though. I appreciate it.”

“Sure,” he said, walking with me as I headed for my door.

The gesture, though it could have simply been politeness, made me uncomfortable. I didn’t know how to get rid of him without seeming ungrateful. After the other night I felt obligated to use a little tact, but the thing was, Justin just kind of hung around me. The only way I ever seemed to get rid of him was being somewhat blunt.

“Well, thanks for the ride,” I said, pulling my keys out of my pocket. “See ya later.”

“Aren’t you going to invite me in?” he asked, leaning on the door.

“Uh, no. It’s late. I’m tired.”

“It’s late?” He snorted. “It’s barely nine. Come on, Summer’s not around. I saw her at the party with that guy, Logan. I’ll keep you company until she gets home.”

“No. Really. I’m tired.” I fumbled around, trying to get my key in the lock, but Justin took it from me and put it in his pocket.

“It’s a nice night,” he said, smiling smugly. “We can just sit out here and talk.” He went over and sat on the top step of my porch, acting as though he expected me to do the same.

Trying to stay calm, I couldn’t keep from glaring at him. I’m a small girl, petite. He seemed to enjoy controlling me, making me do what he wanted, even though he knew it wasn’t what I wanted to do. He got a creepy thrill out of it.

The thing was though, he didn’t know who he was dealing with.
I could turn him upside down and shake my keys from his pocket—or better still, burn him in a burst of flames, get my keys from his charred remains.

At the moment, the latter thought seemed more appealing. He looked so satisfied and smug, so pleased with himself. I would have liked to see how he’d look with his tennis shoes bursting into flames. I bet he wouldn’t look so smug then.

“Look, just give me my keys,” I said through gritted teeth. As tempting as teaching him a lesson might be, I knew I shouldn’t use my powers. I was tired and I wanted to go to bed. I didn’t want to be up all night with the forces of evil.

“Hey, listen, just calm down and sit with me a while,” Justin said, gesturing at the spot beside him. “I’m really not the horrible guy you seem to think I am.”

I clinched my jaw. “Then give me my keys and let me go into my house.”

He laughed, getting up and coming towards me. “Just relax. You always seem to want to get away from me. You’re totally the opposite of Summer, she clung to me like a cat.”

“Maybe she should have clawed your eyes out like a cat.”

He laughed again. “Boy, you sure hate me don’t you? That’s sad, because I’ve always liked you—always.” He brought his face in close to mine. “But you always seemed to like that guy, Gage…”

“Yeah, well, Gage’s a great guy,” I said, pushing his face away from me.

“But you two aren’t together, right? He’s going with that blonde, Addison—the one with the legs.”

Flushing, I had to acquiesce. “Right.”

“Yeah,” he said, bringing his face close into mine again. “Me—I’m not into blondes. I like spunky little red heads.”

I pushed his face away for the second time, vowing if I had to do it again I was going to shove him off the porch. “Look, Justin, you’re drunk. Give me my keys and go home.”

He puts his arms around my waist, backing me up against the wall of my house. “Give me a kiss,” he said, “and I’ll give you your keys.” He sounded as though he was kidding, but his hold on me tightened, and as much as I pushed at him, I couldn’t get away.

“Let go of me,” I warned.

“Let go of you or what?”

Suddenly he was all over me—his hands were everywhere and I couldn’t fight him off. I screamed and yelled for him to let go, to leave me alone, but he was like an animal—he did whatever he wanted.

More scared than mad, I used my mind to lift him up off the ground, then, with more force than I intended, threw him from the porch. He flew across the sidewalk, landing with a thud only inches from a tree.

Horrified at the strength of my throw, I rushed to him, worried I caused serious injuries. “Justin, are you okay?”

“Get away from me,” he shrieked, springing to his feet. “What are you?—some sort of witch?!”

Stumbling as he went, he ran to his motorcycle and started it up. Without even looking to make sure the road was clear, he took off on it, speeding away as though being chased by demons.

Shaking, I could only watch him leave. I didn’t mean to throw him that hard. It wasn’t what I meant to do. I just wanted him off the porch and away from me. But he kept grabbing and touching, it made me panic, it made me unable to concentrate.

“What a maniac,” I reflected with wonder.

I always knew Justin was a creep, but his attack was totally unexpected. What would I have done if I didn’t have my powers? He was so big. There was no way I could have fought him off.

Biting my nails, I sat on my steps, unmoving.

“At least he’ll think twice before picking on another girl,” I told myself, but I couldn’t shake the uneasy feeling in my stomach.
He knows I’m a witch. He’ll tell everyone and it will be just like when we lived in Davenport, back when my father and I first moved in with Beth and Summer.

Just the thought of Davenport made me shudder. I didn’t have any friends. Everyone was afraid of me.

Gloomily, I rose to my feet and made it to the door before realizing I still didn’t have my keys—Justin rode off with them.

“Ironic,” I mumbled, giving the door a little kick.

Oh, well, the harm is already done
, I told myself, using my mind to unlock the door. Inside, I leaned against the cool foyer wall, wishing I could melt into it—become a wall. I liked my life before. I liked loving Gage. But I couldn’t deal with this new stuff. I didn’t want Logan. I didn’t want to start having feelings for him.

And as for Justin—I made a mistake. Not so much the pushing—he definitely deserved that—I just should have been cooler about it, somehow made it seem as though I physically threw him. It didn’t really matter how outrageous that would have appeared, he would have believed that before coming to the conclusion I’m a witch. It was just he caught me so off guard I couldn’t think straight.

“Face it, I didn’t think.”

Frustrated, I rubbed my forehead. It was going to be just like Davenport. I couldn’t go through that again. Everyone harassing my family, calling me a witch. At the time we’d just moved in with Beth and Summer and I didn’t remember my real mom. I wanted Beth to love me, be my Mom. Instead, I made it so she had to leave her home.

The phone rang. For a moment I just stared at it, frightened to answer. But the Caldronon didn’t use the phone to make calls, that wasn’t their style. They used fire and blood. The phone—it seemed like something from my past, not something still available now that I knew about Caldronons, and sacrifices and blood-tying pacts.

Still, the phone rang on and on, and suddenly I yearned to hear a familiar voice. I headed toward the ringing, but for some reason I was slightly hesitant, frightened to answer. Maybe the person on the other end wasn’t a friend at all. Maybe the harassing was already starting, or maybe it was the Caldronon. Maybe it was a call from hell.

Bracing myself, I picked up the phone. “Hello.”

“Michaela—darling, hi! I was just about to give up on anyone being there. You sound a little strange, are you all right?”

I closed my eyes, comforted to hear Beth’s voice. “Yeah…. I’m okay.”

“I’m still in Seattle, can you believe it? The meetings are a disaster. I’ll probably be here at least until Wednesday…. ”

She went on talking, but I wasn’t listening. She wouldn’t be home until Wednesday—that was at the earliest. I almost couldn’t bear hearing it.

I couldn’t keep track of what she was saying, almost crying. I wanted her home now. I wanted her to take care of me—protect me. It was silly though, I knew that. There was nothing she could do. I didn’t even know if she had any idea about the Caldronon—or about me being a witch.

I bit my lip, hesitant to ask. “Beth, did you know about Danielle? Did you know I had a sister?”