Pawn (Nightmares Trilogy #1) (13 page)

Kannon ran one hand through his hair,
his eyes darting nervously around the partygoers surrounding us.
“That is sort of what I wanted to talk to you about.”

I sucked in a breath. My concept of
reality hinged on whatever he said next. I was sickened by the part
of me that actually hoped he was a stalker so I wouldn’t have to
face the alternative.

“Last Friday wasn’t the first time
we’ve met. Well, at least it isn’t the first time I’ve met
you.”

I started to back away slowly. Kannon
reached for my hand; his fingers brushed mine, and a small jolt of
electricity passed between us. He pulled his hand back.

“Hear me out, Endora,” he said in a
deep, low voice.

I didn’t respond, but I didn’t pull
away either. I wanted to hear what he had to say. I needed to hear
what he had to say.

Kannon stepped closer. “How old are
you?” he asked.

His question caught me by surprise.
I’d expected him to say something about us meeting in his dreams,
literally. Asking my age was as random as him asking for the
time.

“Eighteen,” I muttered. “My birthday
was last Friday.”

Kannon exhaled deeply and
nodded his head like he’d just figured out the last clue in
the
New York Times
Sunday crossword. Well, that made one of us.

“Have the dreams started?” he asked,
pitching his voice so no one close by would hear.

Equal parts of relief and panic
coursed through me. He knew. He understood what I was experiencing.
For some reason that knowledge didn’t make me as comfortable as I’d
anticipated it would. I didn’t feel validated.

“That’s how you knew my name, isn’t
it? The dreams. You dreamed about me jumping off the cliff, right?
Is that why you were out at the lake? Did you go there just to…save
me?” I felt stupid saying the words out loud.

“We met in one of my dreams,” he said
carefully. “But I was at the lake by chance.”

Chance? Caswell Lake was a good
forty-minute drive from St. Paul’s. And since he went to St.
Paul’s, he probably lived by St. Paul’s. No way had he been taking
a leisurely Friday night drive and ended up in Westwood. Let alone
at the lake.

I blinked up at him, not sure what to
say. Wasn’t it every girl’s fantasy to have a gorgeous boy tell her
she played a starring role in his dreams? Then why did it feel so
creepy?

“When did you recognize me?” I
asked.

“Not until I pulled you from the
water,” he admitted. The tone of his voice gave me pause. I thought
I sensed regret. Did he regret saving my life?

“Stevens!” a male voiced boomed behind
me. “We’re heading over to a party in Lincoln. You
coming?”

“Two minutes,” Kannon called back, his
eyes never leaving my face. “What are you doing tomorrow?” he asked
me in a tone so low I had to strain to hear the words.

“Homework,” I replied
automatically.

“Can I see you?”

“Sure,” I answered without hesitation.
This conversation was far from over, yet I still wasn’t sure I
wanted to be there for the conclusion.

“Stevens, ride’s leaving,” the same
voice bellowed.

“You have my phone number, right? Call
me if something comes up. Otherwise, let’s meet in the parking lot
closest to the stadium at your school. Four o’clock.”

The stadium parking lot? Really? Odd
choice. “Okay, sure,” I said.

“Tomorrow,” Kannon confirmed, sounding
relieved that I’d agreed.

He reached the back of his index
finger toward my cheek. A current of electricity trickled between
us. It was weak, but still made my skin tingle. Part of me
registered the possibility that his finger would burn my face
again, but my hormones didn’t care. He let his hand fall at the
last second, and instead of my cheek, his fingertips skimmed the
material holding my dress securely around my neck. Even though his
flesh never made contact with mine, I could feel the heat through
the thin fabric when he lifted the gold chain of my necklace and
said, “Interesting.”

It took me a full minute to
regain control of my breathing after being so close to Kannon. When
I did, I whirled around to catch one last glimpse of him. I was
immediately sorry about the decision. Kannon was now standing next
to the sliding glass doors that led to the back of Elizabeth’s
house ― and he wasn’t alone.

Kannon stood face-to-face
with Jamieson Wentworth, his hands raised, palms towards her in the
universal gesture for “calm down.” Her arms were crossed
defensively under her chest, pushing her cleavage up so high that
it nearly knocked her chin with each huffy breath she
exhaled.

I couldn’t hear the words he murmured,
but whatever he was saying was doing little to placate her.
Jamieson jerked her head full of glossy black waves in my
direction. Then she turned, piercing me with cold eyes. An
all-too-familiar sensation of dread that had nothing to do with
Kannon filled my stomach. I knew that look well. It was the same
one she’d shot me when we were ten and I’d been made captain of our
travel lacrosse team. The same one she’d shot me when we were
twelve and I’d been selected for the international youth field
hockey team and she had not. And the same one she’d shot me when we
were thirteen and I told her my mother and I were moving to
Westwood. The last time was the one she’d never forgiven me
for.

The half-digested shrimp fried rice
threatened to reappear. Normally I’d let Jamieson’s jealousy roll
right off of me. If the tables were turned, I’d have felt the same
way. Even as friends, we’d been rivals. Only, I wasn’t used to
losing to Jamieson. Not when it really counted anyway. But seeing
her with Kannon felt like payback for every battle I’d won in our
lifelong war. Uncomfortably, I realized that Jamieson wasn’t the
only sore loser in the equation.

Earlier, when Elizabeth
called dibs on Kannon, I had been annoyed. Now seeing him with
Jamieson and knowing they were friends, I was downright envious,
even though in a game of kiss-or-kill I might have elected to push
Kannon off the cliff. The jury was still out.

One moment, I thought him
the embodiment of my nightmares, and the next ― my living dreams. I
hadn’t been so confused about something since chemistry in the
ninth grade. The only thing I was positive about: I hated seeing
Kannon with
her
.

After a long, withering glare,
Jamieson raised one delicate hand and waved me over. I debated not
going, but we both knew I’d seen her. And if I didn’t go, I would
have only made the situation more awkward than it already was. The
fifteen yards that separated us might as well have been a football
field for the amount of time it took me to close the
distance.

“Hey, Eel,” she said, using the
nickname reserved only for my closest friends.

Jamieson uncrossed her arms and
slipped one possessively around Kannon’s waist. I cringed at the
familiarity between them. Kannon let his hands drop to hang at his
sides as he turned to face me. He inched away from Jamieson but
didn’t break contact entirely.

“Hey,
Jamie
,” I replied, emphasizing her
own nickname, which I knew she hated. Her eyes frosted over,
turning such a pale blue that it was hard to tell where the iris
ended.

“I see you have met Kannon.” Her smile
was all sugar, a sharp contrast to the sourness in her
glare.

“Um, yeah….kinda,” I said, looking at
Kannon instead of Jamieson.

“Kannon’s going to be my prom date,
and probably my king too,” Jamieson trilled, scooting closer as he
tried to wiggle away.

“Great,” I said flatly, careful not to
let Jamieson see how much that prospect bothered me. I wouldn’t
give her that kind of satisfaction.

“Jesus, Stevens, we need to go!” the
deep male voice from earlier cut into our conversation.

Finally tearing my eyes from Kannon’s,
I caught my first glimpse of the owner. A tall, broad-shouldered
boy, who could have passed for twenty-one just as easily as
seventeen, moved through the crowd to join us. Terrence
Wilky.

“Hey, Endora,” he said when he noticed
me, his frustration lessening slightly. “If I’d realized that you
were the reason Kannon was reluctant to leave, I would’ve come to
say hi.” Terrence bent down and kissed me softly on the cheek,
giving my back a friendly pat in the process.

Kannon’s eyes blazed and he stepped
further from Jamieson.

“Hi, Terrence.” I smiled up at him,
relieved by his interruption. “How have you been?”

“Good.” He nodded, grinning stupidly
as he tried not to look down my dress. “No need to ask how you are;
you look great.”

“Thanks, Terrence. Well, I don’t want
to keep you guys from your party…,” I let my comment trail off and
turned to make my escape.

“Hey, why don’t you come?” Terrence
asked, putting a hand on my bare shoulder to stop my departure.
“You’ll know everyone there.”

“Oh, wow…um thanks, but…well, this is
kinda my party, so I should really stay.” I shrugged
apologetically.

Confusion shone in his dark eyes. “I
thought this was that girl Ellen’s house?”

“Elizabeth,” I corrected. “And yes, it
is. But I’m the team captain and all, so it would look bad if I
left.”

I felt as if I were bragging with the
whole captain comment. Maybe I was. Jamieson wasn’t her team’s
captain, and judging by her recent Facebook statuses, she was more
than a little bitter about it.

“Just as well - there’s no room in the
car,” Jamieson declared, drawing the focus of the conversation back
to her.

“I drive an Escalade.” Terrence rolled
his eyes.

“Really, I’m just going to stay here.”
I glanced at Kannon, who hadn’t spoken since we were alone. His
eyes were glazed over, pupils fully dilated. He didn’t appear to be
hearing what we were saying anymore.

“Glad that’s settled. Let’s go.”
Jamieson reached for Kannon’s hand. When her fingers brushed the
back of his hand, he blinked rapidly. Then he smoothly stepped away
from her at the last moment, hooking his thumbs in his front
pockets. Jamieson spun on one spiked heel and stormed into the
house. Terrence waved goodbye to me and shot Kannon a sympathetic
smile before trailing after her.

“Bye, Endora. Dream well,” Kannon said
softly. Then he followed his friends through the sliding
doors.

Chapter Eight

I searched the deck
for Devon and Elizabeth
.
Instead of them, I found Mandy. She stood on the outskirts of a
circle of people that included Kevin. The entire group was
attempting to exclude her from their conversation. Kevin edged
closer to a perky blonde sophomore on his right so that Mandy
couldn’t stand too close. I swore under my breath. He was such an
ass. With my own unease temporarily forgotten in light of Mandy’s
ostracization, I marched straight for the circle.

“Hey, Mandy!” I exclaimed loudly as I
approached. I wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her with
me as I used my hip to drive a wedge between Kevin and the
sophomore.

“Where ya been all night, Eel?” Kevin
slurred, reaching over Mandy as if she were invisible to run one
beefy finger across my shoulder.

I pointedly glanced between Kevin and
his offensive finger, not bothering to conceal my contempt.
“Mingling.” I beamed at the group. “Have you seen
Devon?”

A tiny brunette who I
thought might be on the soccer team rolled her
heavily lidded eyes.
“Actually, we
were just talking about Dev and Rick. They’re totally screaming at
each other in the front yard…
Again
,” she added for
emphasis.

“Not tonight,” I moaned.

“She caught him with his hand in some
cheerleader’s cookie jar,” Kevin said, giggling like a little
girl.

“It’s not funny.” I shot him a death
glare. There was something seriously wrong with Rick and his
friends that they found promiscuity hilarious.

The group grew quiet. The brunette
nudged the boy standing next to her, and the two discreetly turned
and made a hasty exit from the circle.

“Come on, Eel. Devon brings
it on herself. Rick knows all he has to do is buy her something
nice and she will forgive him. Maybe if she grew a backbone and
stood up for herself, Rick wouldn’t keep cheating,” Kevin said,
tracing the rim of his Solo cup
with his
forefinger.

Maybe it was the fact
that
since my eighteenth
birthday I’d been living in the Twilight Zone.
Maybe I needed an outlet
for the lingering
frustration over encountering Jamieson and Kannon together. Or
maybe I’d finally had enough of Rick Hanes treating my best friend
like a doormat. On top of it all, Kevin’s comments were just the
icing on the crappiest birthday cake ever. But whatever the reason,
I snapped.

“Don’t you dare blame Devon for Rick’s
inability to keep it in his pants,” I hissed at Kevin. The venom
lacing my words surprised me, but I didn’t back down.