Blood Oath (A Gabby Girls Adventure Novel, Book Two) (30 page)

Two NCs with glazed eyes were dancing wildly inside black cages strung from the ceiling.

Rosalinda waved at two guys. "See you later,
chicas
." She sauntered over to them and started talking animatedly.

I looked around with utter amazement; this party was off the hook. It was like all the
Neophytes
had taken this as their opportunity to get crazy—it was like a reality show come to life between all the drinking, making out, and impromptu music video moves.

Brooklyn whooped loudly as she threw her hands in the air and started dancing wildly. "That’s my song." She looked at me, excitedly pulling my hand. "Come on, I’m going to party Brooklyn style."

I laughed loudly, pulling back quickly. "Um. Not. It’s bad enough that I’m here when I could be halfway to comatose city in my nice, warm bed. So I’m sure as heck not going to work up any music video dance steps spontaneously. Not…..going….to…..happen." I looked over at Jessica and Zora, who were dancing happily. "Go ahead and take my backup dancers." They both shot me a playful angry look. I looked at them innocently. "What? I’m just saying…"

Brooklyn giggled. "You’re such a little hater. Come on, you’re coming. Let’s turn this party out." She looped her arm through mine as we weaved our way through the crowd and started dancing in the middle of the floor with Dylan and Troy, who were dancing like they were having body convulsions. A loud giggle escaped my mouth when Troy grabbed Jessica’s hand and spun her around like a ballroom dancer. Classic.

I danced with wild abandon, letting the music take me out of the
Eternal
world, into the teen "I don’t give a hoot" world. I was swinging my hair around when I felt someone touch my shoulder softly. It was Terrence, standing there with a huge smirk on his face.

I stopped dancing and gave him a playful look. "Are you dancing or what?"

He responded huskily, "Definitely."

I grabbed his hand, pulling him toward me, giving him my best dance moves. I was waiting for him to pull back, but surprisingly, his arms quickly encircled my waist, and he started dancing. We worked up some major sweat, and for once, I just enjoyed myself with no worries.

I pulled his head down and yelled, "I’ll be back."

He looked at me cheekily. "And I’ll be waiting."

I weaved my way through the crowd, making a beeline toward the table packed with snacks and bottles of soda. I quickly snatched a bottle, drank it thirstily, then tossed it in the trash.

I looked around the party, laughing when I saw Brooklyn trying to dance with Terrence, who backed away from her with a horrified ‘are you serious? there’s no way I’m dancing with my little sister’ stare.

I was just about to save him when I suddenly heard a buzzing sound. No, it was something like a low humming sound echoing in my ears. It was real annoying. This was followed by a weird tingling in my fingers; either I was in the midst of having body convulsions or this was my body’s alarm alerting me to something dangerous approaching.

I swung my body toward the entrance of the party with anxious anticipation, and that’s when I saw him. He looked exactly like the guy from my nightmare, with golden blond shoulder-length hair, lightly golden skin, and yes, he was awesomely gorgeous.

My breath caught in my throat, with goose bumps appearing along my arms. I seriously didn’t know whether to run or hide. I was really opting for a combo, run first, then hide. But annoyingly, my feet took that exact moment to be glued to the floor, clueless. So there I was, standing there, rooted to the spot like a deer caught in headlights.

There was something so unnaturally cold and unmoving about him, like he was always calculating his next move, always one step ahead, like a predator stalking his prey. There was something so odd about him standing there all ridiculously tall, lightly muscled, gorgeously golden blond, trapped in a party full of ragingly hormonal
Neophytes
. It wasn’t like he wasn’t fitting in age wise, because he did look like he was, at most, sixteen, but it was his eyes that gleamed like he had seen things way beyond his age.

He stalked to the outer perimeter of the party with an entourage of young guys wearing all black surrounding him in some sort of protective wall formation. It was weird the way they moved in unison like a wave. When he moved, they moved. It was like they could anticipate it and moved as a unit.

I could tell that he was trying to blend into the party as he looked for someone. The blending part, I didn’t understand why he tried. There was no way someone like him would ever "blend" into anything. Some of the partygoers stopped to look over at him, pointing and gawking like he was some sort of rock star—which he ignored as he scanned the party, quickly taking in everything with a real bored expression, like this party was so beneath him.

Crazily, I tried to blend into the wall. It was irrational, but I was so scared of him. My ears suddenly clogged, like I was underwater, and everything started to sound distorted. The air around me went from oppressively hot to freezing in ten seconds flat. My throat squeezed painfully. I had to get out, but he was blocking my exit. I looked around frantically. He ran a hand through his blond hair with frustration, then motioned to his entourage to step back. Some NCs took that as their cue to circle around him like piranhas, giving him very interested bold stares, but his icy stare clearly said "definitely not interested."

My hands tightened by my side with frustration. Maybe if he got distracted by one of the NCs, then I could escape without detection. The muscles in my legs contracted as if prepping for a sprint. I spun frantically. Freakishly, his gaze zeroed on me like a laser, pinning me to the spot. I knew that no good could come from this scenario, none at all.

I groaned with frustration. So busted. My hands got real clammy as a really weird sinking feeling rolled over my body like a wave pulling me deep into an undercurrent. I was drowning under his intense stare, and I could tell that he knew exactly what he was doing to me. The more that I tried to pull away, the harder he worked to root me to the spot. The room felt like it was tipping from side to side, making me crazy dizzy.

His gaze narrowed. His body tensed with indecision. He ran his hands through his hair before walking toward me purposefully. Startled, his entourage hustled to follow him. He held up his hands abruptly, and they quickly disappeared, like
poof
, into thin air. I blinked with disbelief, holding my breath as I looked around nervously.

Was I the only one who had seen that disappearing act, or was everyone around here used to people just vanishing into thin air?

I examined him in excruciatingly slow motion. It was like everything about him was now important to analyze, the way his black screen-print T-shirt molded to his leanly muscular frame, the way his tapered dark blue jeans moved against his legs. His white-bottomed Chuck Taylors looked like they had come straight out of the box.

He stopped right in front of me, like, real close, so close that I could smell the clean scent of sun and earth emanating from his body. His piercing gold-colored eyes flecked with a bit of sky blue narrowed on me curiously. Strangely, they reminded me of a lion’s eyes, alert and deadly beautiful.

"It’s too late to run, Gabrielle." His voice pulled me to him like a magnet. I leaned forward against my better judgment.

I looked at him, annoyed. "Run from what?" How did he know that I had been planning to run?

His eyes turned icy blue. "From me, of course, but that’s what you want to do, right? Run. You’re always running. Running away from your gifts, running away from what you are. Well, the time for running is over, Gabrielle."

Now I was angry at him for pointing out the obvious.

"Don’t act like you know me. You know nothing about me, so back off."

I turned to walk away, but he gently touched my shoulder, stopping me on the spot as he stepped closer and expertly backed me into a dark corner.

I blinked rapidly because I couldn’t figure out how just one touch had landed me in this tight spot.

He smiled cunningly. "Oh, I know you. I know you more than you know yourself. But you already know that, don’t you?"

I instinctively pushed my palms against his chest, pulling them back quickly when I felt the searing heat radiating from it. With shock, I looked up at him, our eyes locking like magnets. I knew then that I couldn’t walk away from him even if I wanted to, and I didn’t.

"Who are you, and what do you want?" My voice trembled with barely concealed excitement.

He sighed before reaching down to softly brush away the lock of hair that had fallen across my eye.

"The question is, what do you want, Gabrielle?"

I closed my eyes, enjoying the way his touch sent delicious chills down my spine. His arms encircled my waist, pressing us further back into the dark corner, where no one could see us.

I couldn’t look at him because I was too scared of what I would see. So, I looked around the party, focusing on the gyrating bodies keeping pace with the music.

"I want you to go away, now," I responded in barely a whisper. All lies. I wanted him to stay. The music pulsed through the room, vibrating against the walls and against my back pressed to the wall.

His eyes changed back to golden flecked with a bit of sky blue. He leaned down to whisper in my ear. "Really? Are you going to play hard to get? Well the answer is no. No, I’m not going away. I’ve found you, and it’s too late to back away now."

"What do you mean no?" My voice squeaked. "And secondly, I’m not playing hard to get. What makes you think that I’m remotely interested in you?" My face flushed with embarrassment. How was he reading my emotions so easily?

"Your eyes." His eyes roamed my face curiously. "The fast rhythm of your heart." He slowly placed his hands on the wall above my head, practically pinning me to it. His presence was not intimidating or demanding; it was inviting, provoking, like he was deliberately nudging me to step out of my comfort zone to take his challenge.

Something deep in me awakened, urging me to be bold, to reveal that I was his equal and strong enough to tame him. I reached up on my toes, looping my hands around his neck, and with strength I didn’t even know I had, I swiftly turned him so that his back was now firmly pressed against the wall.

His eyes widened, the blue flecks turning almost amber in color.

I pressed my hands over his heart boldly. I felt his muscles tighten and heart race.

"Now whose heart is beating fast?" I smiled wickedly. "Are you interested?"

A growl rumbled low in his throat as he grabbed my chin and titled it up softly, his eyes changing from gold to coal black. "Definitely." His voice vibrated weirdly. "But business comes before pleasure."

Dizzy, I swayed against his chest, grabbing his arms to steady myself. My face was now pressed firmly against his chest.

"And what is your business?"

His lips brushed my ear softly. "I’m here to warn you. The time has come, except your journey, or life as you know it, will end." His strong arms wrapped around me, pulling me protectively to him.

I pulled back apprehensively. "Are you threatening me?"

"No, against my better judgment, I’m actually here to warn you." He scanned the party quickly, and as if by metamorphosis, his entourage materialized out of thin air. "Trust no one, Gabrielle."

I licked my dry lips nervously. "Does that include you?" I knew the answer before he even answered.

He caressed my cheek as his eyes narrowed, like a tiger trapping his prey. Strangely, I felt safe with him, but that didn’t stop me from suspecting that he had very dark ulterior motives for being here. He passed a finger lightly over my lips. Chills ran up and down my legs. He moved in. He closed the tiniest bit of distance between them.

His breath moved against her ear. "Especially me." He abruptly stepped away, storming off toward his entourage and out of the party.

I breathed a sigh of relief, but also a sigh of loss. It was like being away from his presence was wrong and now I was somehow incomplete. I had to regroup, get myself together. I walked away, trying to find a quiet corner to chill, when I spotted the comfy leather couch pushed against the wall. Gratefully I flopped down, closing my eyes, letting the loud music wash over me. Suddenly I felt the cushion shift like someone had just sat down.

"What’s up, first leveler?"

I instantly recognized his voice. I opened my eyes and turned slowly to look at him. "Hey, Justice."

I couldn’t take another exhausting episode tonight, but I knew that this couldn’t be avoided. Besides, he wasn’t as tiring as the mystery guy; at least I hoped he wasn’t.

He actually looked handsome tonight; he was wearing dark blue jeans, white fitted T-shirt, and a black leather motorcycle jacket. And his brown hair flopped a little over his eyes, which he raked back impatiently.

He just looked at me, smiling widely. I was shocked; this was the second time I had actually seen him smile.

His eyes twinkled with laughter. "Not interested in the party?"

"Not really." I shifted down further, wincing as my sore muscles rubbed against the rough material.