Amaranthine (Willow Shadows Book 1) (10 page)

CHAPTER 8

T
he night was beautiful, the wandering path to the lake lit by a brilliant moon. It was perfect for a dance. The sky flaunted all its beauty, every star shining brightly in the enormous black sky. The air was crisp and cool, brushing against Khalida’s skin as she walked down the pathway. Khalida breathed in her surroundings, enjoying the sound of the trees as they hummed in the glow of nightfall.

As the two walked up the cement steps to the school dance, Khalida and Luke could hear the sounds of
Lady Antebellum’s
song
Just a Kiss
palpitating through the night. She listened to the lyrics intently, immediately falling in love with the song that expressed all the feelings that were pouring through her.

They entered the gym hand in hand. No one noticed or seemed to care, too busy in their own world with their friends or partners as they tried to find an empty table. The gym was decorated with silver and black decorations; all the tables were uniquely set up with balloons and streamers hanging from the ceiling and a banner that read
Class of 2012
over the bleachers.

“May I have this dance?” Luke said as he observed the dance floor.

She waited for him to look down at her, “I thought you’d never ask,” she replied, smiling widely.

Luke wrapped his arms around her waist and led the way to the dance floor as a slow song started to play. She pulled him close, making sure there was nothing between them, not even air.
In seconds, they were lost in each other, ignoring all their surroundings, going into their own world as they held each other.

Never ones to be outdone, Vega and Razi showed up fashionably late after the second dance but as usual, Vega looked beautiful wearing an off-shoulder flowing design in deep purple with a slit up to her thighs, giving her fluid movement with every step. The black heels she wore gave her a couple of inches, minimizing the difference in height between her and Razi. As a vampire warrior, he still towered over her by a foot, but he looked every bit a gentleman, holding her close to him as they made their way through the crowd instead of the deadly killers Khalida knew them to be. Razi twirled Vega on the dance floor. As she stopped, he grabbed her and shared a passionate kiss just before her eyes met Khalida’s.

“You two need to get a room,” Khalida smirked as Vega laughed as they fell into place next to each other, each boy greeting each other but not long enough to let go of their partners.

“You need to wipe off your boyfriend’s lipstick covered face,” Vega threw back at her.

“I think it suits me, don’t you Razi?” Luke said coyly as he wiped his mouth.

The night flew by in almost no time all. Khalida reveled in the night and for the first time in a month, she was normal. Khalida almost forgot everything that had been going on until the DJ announced the dance was ending in thirty minutes. Tearing herself away from Luke’s hold, she gave Luke the excuse she wanted to get some punch. The truth was she didn’t want him to know she was upset. Khalida was enjoying herself, just having fun and being normal, but now the night was ending and all too soon; she would have to face her reality.

“Hey, Toot,
don’t take too long,” Luke spoke but she could tell he was probing through her mind, looking for a reason for the sudden pull back.

Khalida had spent the past few days learning how to mentally block her thoughts from Luke’s thought-seeking gifts, and Luke didn’t know. It was hard, but she finally managed to hide some of them well without him being able to read her. At the very least, it gave her piece of mind knowing she could keep some things to herself.

She found herself wondering over to the punch table and could feel Luke’s eyes following her as she crossed the room, watching every move that she made. Khalida couldn’t help but smile to herself as she stood at the table, pouring her drink. She was about to take a sip of her red punch just as a lonely junior tapped her on the shoulder.

“Would you like to dance?” he stuttered politely.

Khalida looked past the eager junior in search of Luke only to find him in full conversation with a bleach blonde, unmistakably Lacey...no other blonde had been throwing themselves at him. Disappointment grew in her gut as she realized he was no longer watching her. In fact, he was paying no attention at all to what she was doing.

“Khalida?” the boy persisted.

“Sure,”
she mumbled, “as long as you take it easy on me. I’m not too good.”

“Uh, Yeah, sure,” the guy said with a little too much enthusiasm.

Grabbing her hand, he walked her out to the dance floor as he formally placed a hand on her waist and one on her shoulder. As they swayed back and forth, Khalida searched for Luke in the crowd and when she couldn’t find him, she wondered what he was up to and where he had gone, making a feeble attempt to hold the junior’s light conversation. No longer able to focus, her eyes began darting across the dance floor expecting to see him dancing with the bimbo, but he wasn’t on the floor either. He had just disappeared.

Fear gripped her chest.

Did he leave me?

Khalida still danced but she was no longer paying attention to her partner. She had only one thing on her mind and that was Luke.
Her eyes searched until they landed on someone standing off in the shadows of the gym. She knew it was Luke when she saw his eyes through a glimmer of light from the dance floor, even though the shadows covered most of his face. As her eyes adjusted, she could see his lips pursed tightly, his chest heaving up and down.

Jealous?

Staring at him,
the corner of his pursed mouth curved up but he gave nothing away.

She broke away from the junior.

“I have to go,” she said, and left him standing there with no explanation. Khalida moved towards Luke, knowing he was watching her every move. Stopping halfway to him, she could see the corner of his mouth curve up.

Mine.

At that moment, she knew no matter how much she tried to push him away, she would always be his. She looked at him with desperation in her eyes. It wasn’t that she could hear his thoughts, nothing like that surprised her, anymore. She was desperate to be with him. She wanted him close to her. He took a step out of the shadows, moving to where Khalida stood. When Khalida saw him moving forward, she followed his lead moving one step at a time, getting closer to him until she was standing in front of him.

Her heart was about to explode out of her chest, and her body ached for his touch. Luke silently stood before Khalida with a wicked grin spread across his lips. Khalida couldn’t help but notice how dark and mysteriously handsome Luke was at that moment. She always had an unstoppable attraction to Luke, but tonight, he pulled her to him with a simple glance, his eyes boring deeply into Khalida’s, taking the sight of her in. Khalida wanted to reach for him, but she was taken aback by the electric current that went shooting throughout her body. Luke hesitantly reached out his arm, softly placing his hand tenderly behind Khalida’s neck, pulling her to his lips. Even though moments before she was fuming at the possibility that Luke was dancing with Lacey, she didn’t pull away or try to fight with him. Instead, she pushed that out of her mind and took him in, almost losing herself in him.

He intertwined their fingers together, connecting them as he pulled her to the dance floor.

“I believe you owe me another dance,” he smirked.

Khalida let him lead her to the floor, wrapping her arms around his waist, holding him as tightly as she could. Khalida couldn’t see Vega, but if she saw the events that just took place between her and Luke, she knew her best friend could surely be seen jiggling and wiggling with happiness.

They didn’t stop dancing even as the song ended. Luke still had his hands around Khalida, and neither pulled away until they were interrupted by her bubbling best friend.

“Need a bathroom break?” Khalida asked, looking at Vega, “you know I don’t like going by myself.”

Luke and Razi laughed as their dancing partners walked away. Vega headed straight for the mirrors, checking her make-up and hair as the two entered the restroom.

“Oh, stop it,” Khalida grumbled, “You look perfect.”

She put her hands down and looked at Khalida with sadness in her eyes.

“I love you,” she said, placing her arms around Khalida’s neck.

“What is this? What’s wrong?” Khalida said, stunned at the emotion coming from her best friend.

“I just wanted you to know.”

“I love you too, Duck.”

Khalida’s attempt to make her friend laugh failed miserably.

“Okay, I’m sorry. I just hate to think about what could happen at any time. I know I’m just being emotional and probably over reacting, but I feel really bad about the other day. That thing got so close to you,” Vega poured out.

Khalida hated to think she blamed herself.

“Everything
is going to be okay. We’re not going to think about that tonight. It was nobody’s fault. You’re a great friend, and I love you more than life itself. Let’s get back out there and enjoy our last night as seniors, okay?”

Vega smiled grimly, “You’re right. I know I shouldn’t worry. I’ve seen you kick some ass. I know what you can do. Let’s get back out there.”

As they walked out of the restroom, Khalida saw that Lacey was hanging around, strutting her business out there, again. Only this time she was on the dance floor with Luke. Khalida watched as her patience grew thin, fury instantly shooting through her when Lacey tried to rub against him, laughing as he took a step back, but that didn’t stop her. She flung her arms over his neck, trying to pull him into a kiss while Khalida seethed with anger.

“If she touches Razi, the skank will die,” Vega gritted
through her teeth.

Enough was enough. Khalida walked up to the blonde who was still gyrating on her Luke, a look of relief immediately washing over Luke’s face as he saw her approaching.

“This isn’t a gentleman’s club, Lacey. I know it must be difficult, but try to restrain yourself,” Khalida growled.

A roar of laughter came flooding through Lacey as she lightly brushed off Khalida’s threat.

“I’m aware of where I am Khalida,
and yes, you can go back to the restroom,” she said sourly.

I know this bi…oh, hell no, she isn’t talking to me like that! Who the hell does this chick think she is?

Khalida
reacted before anyone expected it, her fist flying into Lacey’s face. Before Khalida realized what she was doing, her fist flew again and again until the blonde flew back on the floor. Her arms and legs flailing about like a human crab.

“Keep your filthy hands off him!” Khalida shouted as Lacey wiped the blood from her nose.

Luke
grabbed Khalida by the arm, and like a linebacker for the Dallas Cowboys, he tossed her over his shoulder. Luke began rushing forward but came to a sudden halt with Khalida still over his shoulder. Looking around, he caught Razi’s eye and knew Razi had caught the scent, too. Lacey’s blood had a sweet scent to it. They knew she wasn’t one of them but she wasn’t human either. They nodded at each other and moved forward through the crowd. Luke carried Khalida away from the blonde who was still sprawled out in the middle of the dance floor as fast as he could. Could he have missed something? He never caught wind of anything out of the normal with that girl other than she was just aggressive.

“Where are we going?” Khalida managed a strangled growl, still wanting to take her frustrations out on the no good hussy that kept throwing herself at what was hers. She finally got to give that wench exactly what she had coming, and she was excited. In her book, it was long overdue.

“It’s
time to go,” Luke said as he carried her out of the gym, not daring to stop or put her down until they got to his car. Vega and Razi were following right on their heels with Vega laughing wildly at the events that had just gone down.

“Can you go anywhere without making a scene?” Luke said jokingly, “you do have quiet the right hook, though. I’ll give you that.”

“Don’t even get me started! And what were you doing letting her throw herself at you like that?” Khalida tried to sound upset but her feeble attempt fell short. She was just too alive at the moment.