Inception (The Marked Book 1) (30 page)

“You more,” he whispered and then dropped a soft kiss on the tip of my nose.

I couldn’t help but smile at him. At his sweetness.

“I mean it,” he said and then moved his jaw along my cheek, scorching me as he breathed in the scent of my hair. The look on his face was of pure ecstasy and it made me feel good knowing I did that to him. “I’ve never seen anything more beautiful. You make my heart do crazy things.”

The butterflies began waltzing in my belly again, this time to the sweet melody of his words. Words that were meant for me.

I weaved my fingers into his hair and kissed him again, biting and teasing his lips until he gave in and came back down to me. Back to our seismic kisses that moved us through the span of ten thousand perfect lifetimes.

Minutes turned to hours, and hours ceased to exist altogether. It was heaven like this with Trace and I never wanted to come back down.

38. HOLLOW EVE

I woke up the next morning to another dull, overcast sky. A thin veil of fog hovered over the grounds like a ghastly parade of misplaced souls, each one waiting to have their day. Trace was already waiting outside for me by the time I came downstairs which lit up my uncle like the fourth of July. It was as though he had a vested interest in my friendship with Trace—kind of like the interest Trace’s father had shown. There seemed to be something more to it. Something else going on. Whatever it was, it only further invoked my suspicions about the two of them and their strange meddling ways.

“Are you going to Spring Fling together?” asked my uncle as I laced up my converse sneakers at the front door. The fact that he knew the dance by name even though I hadn’t mentioned it to him was unsettling.

“I don’t think Trace is going.”

“That’s unfortunate.”

Tell me about it, I thought. What I’d give to see him all gussied up in a nice suit.

“I take it you’re still attending in spite of his absence?”

“Yeah. I’m going with some friends actually. It’s no big deal.”
Please let this be the end of it
. I so did not want to have this conversation with my uncle right now. Or ever.

“I see,” he nodded, tucking his newspaper under his arm as he interrogated me with his eyes. “Anyone I know?”

“The usual…Taylor, Carly,
Caleb
. Like I said, no big deal.” I picked up my bag and smiled. “I better get going, I’m going to be late for school,” I added, tossing my schoolbag over my shoulder and hurrying out the door before he had a chance to ask another question.

Trace’s eyes stayed pinned on me as I walked around the car to the passenger side where he leaned over and opened the door for me. I climbed in and waved goodbye to my nosy uncle as we backed out of the driveway in silence.

In my rush to get ready on time and avoid my uncle’s third degree this morning, I’d failed to prepare myself for the possibility that things might be weird between me and Trace after spending the better part of yesterday performing mouth to mouth resuscitations on each other. We hadn’t exactly discussed what any of it meant for us or how things might change.

Even after Gabriel picked me up and took me back home—back to reality—I still hadn’t had a chance to process any of the potential repercussions. I already had too much on my mind, like my father and how I was going to save him, Tessa and Gabriel and the impending duel they would soon be facing, and Dominic and his obscure threats that I knew not to take lightly. There was so much to worry about and all I wanted to do was shut it all off and have one night of peaceful rest.

Of course, Gabriel wasn’t any help in that regard; he was the embodiment of apprehension. He’d spent the entire night on my balcony, pacing and keeping watch like an armed prison guard ready to shoot anyone who dared cross the boundary. As much as I appreciated him being here, his presence was more of a reminder that I wasn’t safe. That trouble was on the horizon.

No matter how I tried to spin it, that feeling of imminent doom still wafted in my abdomen like a virus unwilling to retract its claws. Engel, Dominic, and even Nikki; they were all a part of my interminable affliction. The question was, which one of them would be my end?

“I spoke with Gabriel this morning,” said Trace matter-of-factly as we turned onto the main throughway. Plumes of ground fog drifted alongside us like our own personal escorts. “He said everything went okay last night.”

“Yeah.”

He waited for me to elaborate.

“I woke up
alive
so...victory, right?” I shook my head at my own comment. Why did I say such idiotic things when I was nervous? Mouth filter. Get one. Seriously.

“Right.” He paused momentarily, his eyes watching me with great interest. “I guess it beats waking up dead.”

“I’d say so.” I sunk deeper in my seat.

“Right.”

Clearly we’d left planet earth and entered some kind of weird morning-after-the-kiss dimension.

“Jemma—” My phone beeped, interrupting him.

“Sorry,” I said, glancing down to read the message. It was a text from Caleb:

Morning, beautiful. What color is your dress? I’m picking up your corsage today.

“Crap.”

“What’s wrong?” asked Trace, his soulful eyes trailing from me to my phone.

“I don’t have a dress for the dance.” I pressed out an awkward smile. “I was supposed to go shopping with Taylor yesterday, but I...got
distracted
.” With his mouth, that is. I glanced out the passenger window to hide the fact that my cheeks were picking up color.

“What about that potato sack idea?”

I turned back to him, smiling. “If I don’t figure something out soon, it might have to come to that.”

“Or you can always just skip the dance,” he offered, though it sounded a lot more like a plea than it did a suggestion. “Stay with me instead.”

My heart fluttered and then took off into overdrive. “I can’t. I have to go. I already told Caleb I would go with him. And I promised Taylor.”

A stretch of silence passed between us before he spoke again. “Is that the only reason you want to go?” he asked, his jaw working overtime.

“What other reason would there be?”

“I could think of a couple.”

“Such as?” I searched his face for clarity.

His jaw muscles were still pumping hard.

“Whatever it is you need to say, I wish you’d just come out and say it.”

He didn’t miss a beat. “Do you like him?”

“Caleb?”

“Yeah, Caleb,” he replied in a tone that bore a striking resemblance to jealousy. It was obvious the question had been eating at him for some time now.

“No, I don’t like him.” I answered easily because it was the truth. “Not in that way.”
I like you
, I wanted to say, but I didn’t have the courage to say it out loud.

His dimples pressed in content, though they vanished just as soon as Caleb’s next message chimed in. We rode the rest of the way in silence with him staring out at the road, and me wishing I could grow any semblance of a backbone.

The dark silhouette of Weston Academy towered over us as we pulled into the student parking lot. There was only a few minutes to spare before the bell, evidenced by half the student body making a unified dash for the doors. I knew I should have been running right along with them—caring like they did, but I just couldn’t seem to make my legs get on board.

“Thanks for the ride,” I said as we walked towards the side entrance together.

He tipped his head in response.

My attention shifted briefly to a dark raven calling out in the distance. I watched as it rose up over the building and then disappeared behind a hem of evergreens.

“So how are we going to do this whole chaperoning thing?” I wondered, hanging back at the door. It wasn’t quite the question I wanted to ask him, but it was a start. “Are we just walking in there together like it’s nothing?”

“It
is
nothing. I’m a friend walking another friend to her class.” His detached tone struck a sour chord with me.

“Right.” I stepped out of the way as a straggling mob of juniors shuffled past us.

Trace stepped back with me, closing the gap between us. “That’s not how I meant it.”

“Then how did you mean it?”

“As far as everyone else is concerned, I’m just a friend walking a friend to class.”

I looked up at him, instantly melting in the fervor that were his eyes. “And as far as we’re concerned?”

“As far as we’re concerned...I’m something more,” he said carefully, testing out the words. “If you want me to be.”

“I do.” I flushed at how fast the words sped out of me.

A small smile formed on his perfect lips, and suddenly, all I could think about was how good his mouth felt against mine yesterday, and how natural kissing him had been. Like we were put on this earth for the sole purpose of kissing each other.

I was so caught up in his lips that I completely missed the words that were coming out of them. I looked up at him and found him waiting for an answer to a question I hadn’t heard.

“Huh?” I shook my head dimly.

His smile deepened, setting off his perfect dimples as his gaze traveled over my shoulder, gauging our surroundings—probably looking for witnesses. When his eyes met mine again, he didn’t bother repeating the question. Instead, he slinked his arm around my waist and pulled me into him possessively.

“What are you…?”

My voice dropped off as his lips connected with mine, setting off a familiar blast of want that tore through my body like an inferno and weakened my knees like a malady. He kissed me with passion, with hunger, and I returned the gift two-fold, burying my hands into his hair and pulling him in even closer than he was.

The side door clicked open, startling our lips apart. Without forethought, I slammed my hands into his chest and pushed, sending him sailing a good two feet away.

“There you are!” squealed Taylor. She stepped out from behind the door and joined us in an awkward triangle. “What’s going on? Why are you guys out here?” Her eyes sparkled as she reached her own conclusion. “Ooh! Are we ditching?”

I exhaled a sigh of relief. She hadn’t seen anything.

“We were just about to go in,” said Trace, licking his lips in a slow and deliberate manner.

It completely threw me off.

“You’re lucky you don’t have Gillman. He would have nailed you both to the cross. It’s like he gets off on ruining our lives. And F-Y-I,” she said, swinging her attention to me, “I have the perfect dress picked out for you for the dance.”

“You picked out a dress for me?” I couldn’t help but smile at her.

“No, I picked out the
perfect
dress for you,” she grinned, placing a hand on her hip. “You didn’t leave me much choice since you bailed on our shopping date. You really need to get your priorities straight, you know that?”

If only she knew, I thought, as I pulled her into a hug. “Thanks, Tay. I owe you.”

“Anything for my
bestie
.”

My warm fuzzy feelings were quickly extinguished when Nikki appeared at the door. Her hair was twisted up in a messy bun and she had a pencil sticking out of it as though she were some model student, ready to solve math problems on demand.

She greeted us with a sneer. “I hate to break up this little special-needs party, but Mr. Bradley wants you to get your raggedy butts to class a-sap,” announced Nikki, obviously pleased with her paraphrasing skills. “That is, if you’re done groping each other.”

“Ha. Ha.” Taylor rolled her eyes at her and headed inside. Trace followed close behind with me on the tail end. 

Nikki reached out and grabbed my arm, holding me back.

“I may have underestimated you,” she whispered, only loud enough for the two of us to hear. “But I won’t make that mistake again.”

She let go of my arm and walked away, leaving me standing outside alone with no inkling about what she was referring to. Trace reappeared, holding open the door for me.

“You coming?” he asked.

I nodded, glancing up at the mammoth building as I made my way over to him, noting the long row of windows on the top floor where our History class was. A class in which I had a perfect view of. A thick block of ice formed in the pit of my belly as realization set in.

She’d seen us.

39. THE DANCE

Spring Fling arrived with little more than a whimper. At least it did for me. I couldn’t get a hold of Tessa, which wasn’t altogether that unusual under normal circumstances, but with everything we were facing, it only served as fuel for my already out-of-control anxiety. How was I supposed to get excited about the dance when the people I loved most in the world were in danger? How could I not panic when I knew our lives were hanging in the balance? That
any
day could be
the
day?

Stop it! Tessa’s fine
—
everything’s fine
, I told myself as I dialed her number again. But with every ring that went unanswered, the apprehension gnawed deeper at my insides. 

“Would you please hang up the phone and try on your dress?” nagged Taylor, oblivious to it all. She was standing in front of my vanity mirror, holding the dress she picked out for me; a stunning red gown with a sweetheart neckline and mermaid skirt.

It really was the
perfect
dress. 

I held up my “just a minute” finger and waited for the phone to go to voice mail before giving in to her badgering. It’s not like I had any more wiggle room. We had less than fifteen minutes before the limo arrived to pick us up.

Lucky for me, my hair and makeup were already done courtesy of Taylor who had booked the two of us an after-school appointment at a swanky salon just off of Main Street. It was the first time I had my makeup done professionally, and even though I felt like a cake getting a layer of icing applied to my face, I had to admit, the finished result was pretty nice.

“This dress is going to look killer with that Smokey Eye,” said Taylor as she helped me step into the dress and then zipped up the back for me. “And red’s his favorite color, too.”

I turned to the mirror to catch a glimpse of the finished product. “Wow, look at us, Tay.”

We were a sight to be seen. My curve-hugging red dress, her flowing royal-blue one; my smoldering makeup, hers shimmering.

“We’re freaking goddesses,” smiled Taylor, and for faintest of seconds, I actually felt like one.

Gabriel arrived several minutes ahead of the limo that Caleb and Carly’s dad had arranged for us. I was beyond surprised to see Trace with him, looking devastatingly handsome in a black and white tux. So handsome in fact that I almost didn’t notice Gabriel’s lack of formal attire.
Almost
.

“What's going on?” I asked as the two of them simultaneously took me in from top to bottom and then back up again.

“Wow,” said Trace, his eyes filled with hunger.

Gabriel cleared his throat. “Trace is stepping in tonight,” he informed. “I'm tracking.”

I could feel the excitement bubbling inside me at the prospect of spending the evening with Trace. The sentiment, however, was short lived as suspicion set in. “Why tonight?” I wondered, peeling my eyes away from Trace who was starting a fire in me with just his stare. “You're not planning anything, are you? You'd tell me if something was going down, right? I have the right to know, Gabriel. I'm in this—”

“Nothing is going on. It's simply a good opportunity. You'll be safe amongst friends and faculty, and with Trace,” he added, nodding over to him. There was no falter in his words.

I had no reason to doubt him.

“Okay,” I agreed, feeling the turn of events had finally swayed in my favor. I smiled over at Trace and then said my goodbyes to Gabriel as the Limo pulled up to the house.

Spring Fling was being held in a ritzy Hotel Ballroom on the outer edge of Hollow Hills. Strobe lights crisscrossed each other high in the sky as rows of limousines and other overpriced cars made their way up to the entrance. Weston Academy's finest were out in droves, decked out in lavish gowns and expensive tuxedo's that cost more than most people made in a month.

The air was thick with fog and the moon hung low above us, oversized and blurring at the edges with the haze that covered this town like a dirty secret. Somehow it felt right. Like I belonged here amongst the torrid chaos and fog. Like this was exactly where I was always meant to be.

“Trace! Over here!” squealed a familiar voice as we made our way inside the lavish ballroom. Nikki stood at the center of her two minions wearing a gold sequence dress, with matching stiletto shoes. It killed me to admit it but she looked great.

Trace walked over to greet her as the rest of us moved to find our table at the far end of the dance floor. Caleb, who looked quite handsome in his black tuxedo jacket, moved ahead of me and pulled out my chair before taking the seat beside me.

“You look great,” he said, tipping into me. “I didn't get a chance to tell you earlier with everyone around.”

“Thank you,” I smiled and took a sip from my water glass as I glanced around the ballroom, taking it all in.

The room hummed under the soft purple light, its gilded ceilings crowned in decadent crystal chandeliers that sparkled brilliantly above us. Everything was draped in white, right down to the white peony centerpieces and floor-to-ceiling curtains.

“Care to dance?”

I glanced out at the barren dance floor that took up nearly half the ballroom and cringed. “No one's dancing.”

“We can easily fix that,” he smiled.

“Maybe later, but thanks.” The last thing I wanted was a room full of eyes on us. Besides, I was here with him for a reason: to find out what's going on between him and Nikki.

Trace pulled out the empty chair on the other side of me and sat down. To my dismay, Nikki quickly followed, filling up the seat next to him as though she were his date.

Come to think of it, maybe she was. Maybe they decided to go together at the last minute. As friends.
Or friends with benefits
. The thought of it made me queasy.

Taylor and Carly sat down beside Caleb accompanied by their dates, senior twin brothers Aiden and Finn Gallagher, with Ben and his date taking up the remaining two chairs. Morgan and Hannah were at another table with their own dates. Frankly, I was surprised they were allowed to leave Nikki's side at all.

“Do you want something from the bar?” asked Caleb. “A Coke or something?”

“A coke would be great.”

“I'll come with you,” sang Nikki as she stood up from her chair and adjusted her dress. “I need to powder my nose.”

“Sure thing,” smiled Caleb. He offered his arm and the two of them strolled off across the dance floor.

I watched with suspicion as Nikki leaned into him and whispered something private in his ear. Caleb nodded in return, never missing a step as they continued on side by side.

“What's up with those two?” I asked, turning to Trace.

His eyes and attention were both fixed on me. “What two?”

“Nikki and Caleb.”

He shrugged unaffected.

“Doesn't it bother you that your date just walked off with another guy?” I was trying to get to the bottom of this whole Nikki and Caleb thing—not to mention this whole Nikki and Trace thing. You know, two birds, one stone.

“No, it doesn't,” he said calmly. “And she's not my date.” He paused for a minute and then leaned in closer. “Does it bother
you
that
your
date just walked off with another girl?”

“I can't say that it does,” I answered honestly, smiling as my eyes lifted to meet his. “I'm pretty content right where I am.”

“I’m pretty content with where you are too.”

I gave him a playful shove but he caught my hand mid-air and held it, lacing our fingers together as though we were each other’s missing piece. My skin hummed under his touch.

“People can see us,” I reminded him, despite myself.

“Let them.” His dimples graced me with their presence as his eyes glided over me, taking in the sights. “I’ve already used up all the restraint I had sixty seconds after you opened the door.”

His confession lit up my insides like a fireworks show.

“Do you think your date would mind if I stole a dance?”

“You know him better than I do.”

He stared ahead as if to ponder the question and then leaned into me again. “I'm pretty sure he would.”

“That's too bad,” I said, disappointed.

“Only for him,” he smiled and then rose from his chair, offering his hand.