Reckless Revenge: Book Four (Spellbound 4) (17 page)

In the morning, Trent was gone. Probably snuck off before Darrah caught us. She didn’t care where I went, but I wasn’t so sure what her rules were on boys staying the night. And I’d rather not find out. Plus, I definitely didn’t want to see Darrah after what went down at the lake.

Stretching and yawning, I shuffled downstairs for a bowl of cereal. I ate the sugary goodness at the counter, and then went back to my room to read. I spent the entire day in my PJs, just poking around the house and studying the grimoires. Evans would be so proud.

By the time I parked at the lake that afternoon, I was ready to confront Daniel. Brittany, Ariana, and Trent were already there. But when I spotted Daniel leaning on his fender, I was tempted to run the other way. Taking a deep breath, I got out of the Jeep and suggested we sit by the water.

We meandered downhill and reclined on the grass. The opaque skies were bleak, but not too cold. The grass slightly damp from the mist.

Once everyone was situated, I touched Daniel’s arm to get his attention. “Why don’t you tell us about that conversation you had with your dad in the parking lot after school yesterday?”

Daniel stroked his chin. “Oh, uh, we were discussing game plays.”

I glared at him. “No, the truth.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he said.

“I think you do. You mentioned someone poisoning the varsity team.” I softened my tone. “I know
everything
, so there’s no use lying about it. The football players were bitten by lycans and now they’re going all cray-cray. Your dad must be helping the alpha, Carter Lampard, who’s changing the other boys into lycans to give them extra endurance and speed. Makes them better players. Unbeatable. Right?” I glanced at the others before my eyes narrowed in on Daniel again. “There’s no freakin’ steroid abuse among the team. It’s more like lycan DNA enhancers are introduced into their bloodstreams through the bite.” I rolled my eyes and added sarcastically, “The coach must be so proud.”

Everyone stared in silence. Mouths opened, then clamped shut.

Bouncing a curled knuckle against his mouth, Daniel muttered, “I-I might be changing, too, like the others. But I haven’t been bitten.” Daniel’s eyes rested on Ari for a long moment. His shoulders tensed. “Ariana.” The first time he’d ever said her name without smiling. “I wanted to tell you when we were alone, goldilocks, because I didn’t want this to change anything between us.”

“It won’t.” Ariana rubbed Daniel’s back. “But if you’re changing, then why aren’t you in a coma like the other boys?”

I stared at Daniel. “Maybe your dad already has lycan DNA, and since you’re related to him, you don’t need to be bitten to
shift
. Which also means he might know who killed my dad.”

The others peppered Daniel with questions, one after another.

“Coach Ramírez is helping Carter
kill
people?” Brittany asked in a brittle tone. “Or maybe both of them are murderers!”

Ariana’s jaw hung open. Tears rimmed her blue eyes. “Why would he do that to the boys, Dan?”

Trent scowled. “Is that why you look so feverish and smell funny?”

With a huge lump in my throat, I fought the urge to wrap my hands around Daniel’s neck and choke out a confession.

Daniel put his head in his hands. “You’ve got it all wrong.”

“No, Trent’s right,” Brittany said. “Face it, dog-boy, you’re definitely working the not-so-fresh motif.”

“That’s not what I meant,” Daniel said into his lap.

I gathered my thoughts while I listened to them squabble. I had more to share, but was unsure how Daniel or the others would take the news.

Daniel, listen to me. I know the lycans have put me on some
hit
list, too,” I said.

His head shot up, eyes bleak and anxious. But I was done being sympathetic.

“My life’s in danger,” I continued. A hot ache spread in my limbs. “The alpha plans to kill all the witnesses until there’s no one left alive to expose his evil plot to create more lycans.”

Trent grabbed my shoulder. “Calm down.”

The lycans had murdered people and he wanted me to calm down? Oh,
hell
no.

“My dad would never intentionally hurt anyone,” Daniel protested.

“I’m sorry, but I don’t believe that.” My jaw clenched. “He said it himself, his job is on the line. He might agree to anything. Even helping Carter if it meant winning the state championship.”

The
Darkness
inside my chest swelled. My teeth tingled.

Trent and Ariana recognized my power, but didn’t comment. Brittany scooted back. Daniel gave me a sideways look, hunching his muscular shoulders.

Ari slipped an arm around Daniel. Tears clouded her eyes. “We can help you.”

Daniel’s head lowered, his voice grew soft. “Too late.” His head lifted, but his tone remained a whisper. “After practice yesterday, I found James McMillian sitting in my living room with my mom. He looked scared. I asked her why he was there, but she wouldn’t say why. Just made me go to my room…”

Wait—how did we get off topic?

“
Hel-lo!
Your buddies—the freakin’ lycans—are trying to kill me!” I shouted. Trent pinched my arm to shut me up. Not gonna work. I was on fire!

“Ohmigod, that means your dad might’ve killed Kayla,” Brittany said, breathing hard through parted lips, cheeks puffing.

“And either Carter or Coach Ramírez killed my dad, and I’m going to find a way to prove it.” I rocketed to my feet. “
Damn
you. If you knew, why didn’t you tell us?”

Daniel stared at me. “What makes you think Carter or my dad is the alpha?”

My hands fisted, fingernails cutting into my palms. “Because they are at the top of my suspect list!”

“Let’s all just relax,” Ariana said.

“Relax, my
ass
! I almost died, my dad is dead, so is Kayla, and this jerk’s acting like his father isn’t responsible! Your dad is either a killer himself, or he’s helping one!” I yelled.

Trent waved his hands in the air like a referee. “Nobody’s saying Coach Ramírez—”

“Yes, I am!” I jabbed an accusing finger at Daniel. “That’s
exactly
what I’m saying!”

Daniel didn’t smell like a regular boy. His skin held the faint odor of wet tree bark and moss and mud. Like a wolf.

“Stay away from my family,” Daniel snarled and got to his feet.

Ariana jumped up and moved between us. “We only want to help—”

“I don’t want your help! I’ve got a game tonight and I don’t need this shit!” Daniel stalked up the hill to his car.

“Gee, that went well,” Brittany said with her usual tact.

I was flipping out too much to even think about calling Brittany on her snark. Instead, I suppressed the
Darkness
. Forcing myself to pull back on my darker powers and regain control over my tangled emotions.

Daniel didn’t confess, but I was pretty sure who my dad’s killer was. And I was going to take Carter Lampard out.

That evening, Trent came by my house so we could workout together. I led him through the living room, past the small dining room, and into the kitchen where I paused before going downstairs into the basement.

White cabinets lined the yellow painted walls. Plates coated with last night’s dinner were still piled high in the sink, brimming with dirty dishes. A loaf of bread slouched on the sticky counter next to a jar of peanut butter and a coffee mug rimmed with red lipstick. Sunlight leaked through frail curtains hanging over the window above the sink.

“You ready to start?” he asked.

“Yeah…but…” My voice was soft and hesitant.

A slight frown creased Trent’s brows. “But what? Are you worried about the talk we had with Daniel, where you practically accused his family and friends of being murderers?”

“Um, yeah. About that…” I leaned a hip on the counter. “I feel bad about yelling at him, but I’m so damned frustrated, you know? If I could just find some proof that Carter is responsible for the attacks, I’ll back off Daniel
and
his dad. But my gut says, Daniel’s hiding something.”

Trent rubbed his nape. “I have a sinking feeling that you might be right.”

“Seriously? You believe me?”

“Well, it’s just a lot of things. Like the Coach giving Daniel such a hard time, and Carter usually being around whenever a fight breaks out. And the way he’s always glaring at you.”

I fiddled with the salt and pepper shakers. “Carter gives me the creeps.”

“But what if we’re wrong, and it isn’t Carter or the Coach? Then I lose Daniel’s friendship and you piss off Ariana.”

Glancing downward, I adjusted my black ribbed tank and straightened my cropped workout pants. “I’m not wrong. Something’s not right.”

“If that’s true, then we need to prepare ourselves for an ugly confrontation,” he said. “
And
make sure that we keep up with your training in case there’s a lycan smackdown.”

“Good idea. If things go horribly wrong, I’ll need to be able to protect myself.”

“You sound very determined.”

“Oh, I am. Trust me.” I crossed my arms over my chest. “But I still need some type of proof that links Carter and Coach Ramírez to the attacks.”

“What type of evidence?”

“I have no idea. But I can’t let them get away with murder.”

Trent peered out the dirty kitchen window at the wooded area beyond the fence and nodded, then turned back to me. “Even if you find proof, what are you gonna do with it? Not like you can take it to Sheriff Boyd and ask him to arrest a couple of lycans. They might end up killing him, too.”

“Yeah, you’re right. It’s best to leave the police out of it. But at least I’ll know for sure who killed my dad.”

“And then what? You get revenge?” Trent’s hard green gaze drilled into me. “You’re not a killer, Shiloh.”

He was dead wrong. I would do whatever it took to stop those evil bastards.

“Maybe you don’t know me as well as you think you do. Because I’m gonna stop the big bad wolf if it’s the last thing I do,” I blurted, and then blushed hard. “Okay, that has to be the most bizarre thing I’ve ever said.”

Trent raised an eyebrow. “Oh, I wouldn’t say that.”

“Shut up. I’m totally serious.”

“So am I.” He faintly smiled. “C’mon, it’s time to train, Little Red Riding Slayer.”

The moment Trent entered the basement; he was all business. And from the way he coached me through the warm-up exercises, I was going to be hurting later that night. After another hour of intense training, Trent paused to get a drink of water. He grabbed one of the bottles on the wooden table and started chugging it.

As I studied his handsome profile, the weight of keeping such an enormous secret from him hit me like a punch in the chest. It was way too strange acting normal around him after discovering his daddy was a soul sucking demon that had seduced his mother. I mean, how do you tell the guy you’re falling for something like that?

But the secret could wait a little longer. Since Trent was my trainer and I selfishly needed his help finding my dad’s killer, I refused to think about it. Plus, it didn’t matter to me if Trent wasn’t fully human. Not really.

I playfully whacked him on the arm. “Getting tired? Need a break?”

“Ha ha. Very funny.”

“Breathe, Trent,” I teased.

He wiped the sweat from his forehead with a towel. “You won’t be so cocky in a few minutes.”

We faced off, circling each other slowly, planning our first move. He was patient and observant. Me? Not so much.

I was the first to launch an attack, and lunged forward trying to punch him, but he easily dodged my fist and socked me on the left shoulder.

Trent danced around me on the balls of his feet like a boxer. “Is that all you got?”

I shrugged. “Just about. And my sense of humor.”

“Well, your sense of humor is an acquired taste.”

“Oh? I thought you liked how I tasted…”

Trent shook his head. “Stop flirting with me and wasting my time.”

“Boy, somebody’s grumpy today.”

“You talk too much. Stay in training mode,” Trent said flatly, and moved to the center of the room where the cord hung from a single bulb. He tugged it downward and the basement descended into near darkness. Only sallow moonlight shone through the small rectangular windows.

My entire body tensed immediately. “Turn the light back on. You know I’m scared of the dark.”

“Just making it a little more interesting,” Trent said. “Ever since that day in the cave, I’ve been thinking of ways to help you conquer this phobia.”

My heart thudded. “Please,” I begged.

“Concentrate. The things that you’re hunting mostly come out at night,” he said. “And you need to be prepared to fight them.”

Staring into the utter darkness, my breathing sped up. “But…but…” I stammered. “I-I seriously doubt this stupid exercise will work. Please, Trent. Just turn the light back on.”

“No. Now take position and try to find me.”

Panic was like a knife stabbing me in the gut with a jagged edge. Sweat dampened my armpits. “I said that I can’t do this! Jeez, Trent, what’s the matter with you?”

“I don’t want you getting killed. If you insist on hunting paranormals, sooner or later you’re going to have to face one alone and in the dark. But if you freeze up, you’re as good as dead.” 

“Whatever!” I snapped. “I
really
don’t like your method. There are other ways to help me conquer this fear, Trent.”

“If I don’t push you hard, then I’m not doing a very good job at teaching you to survive a demon attack, now am I?” Trent blew out a huffy breath. “So are you gonna keep arguing with me or give this a try?”

I didn’t answer. Closing my eyes, I could sense movement in the room. My eyes snapped open and I turned sharply, but narrowly missed hitting him as I swung out with my fist. I had a strong hunch that because of his half-demon DNA that Trent could see perfectly in the darkness. So he had the advantage.

In the dark, I was powerless. Hunted.

In the dark, he was powerful. The hunter.

Tapping my foot, I said impatiently, “Trent, I’m counting to five and if the light isn’t back on—”

“Then what?”

“You’ll find out soon enough!” I said through gritted teeth. “One.”

Only response was the tread of footfalls somewhere in the room. My idle threats weren’t working on Trent. I was nearly blind and feeling totally helpless.

“Two.”

“Come on,” Trent taunted. “Use that beautiful head of yours…”

Just breathe. I stood a little straighter and closed my eyes.

Deep breath in, one...two...three...

Now out, one...two...three...

Summoning some courage, I tried to get a fix on his location by using my witchy sixth sense. But darkness prevailed. The kind of stillness I only found at night when I lay in my bed alone in the dark. Alone with my imagination and fears. The eerie quiet pressed against my eardrums, and my heart beat harder.

I moved cautiously with both hands out in front of me, straining to find Trent or the cord to switch the light back on. But I found neither.

“I
really
don’t like this! I can’t see anything.”

His fingers brushed my neck, sending shivers down my back. “That’s the point of this exercise.”

“Gotcha!” I whipped around, but my knuckles only collided with air.

Trent snickered. “Care to count to three,
mon coeur
?”

“This sucks. It isn’t working,” I mumbled.

“Because you’re not concentrating.”

I jumped at the nearness of the voice. He had soundlessly snuck up behind me and disappeared again.

“You just have to learn to trust your senses. Your instincts,” he said.

I whirled, punching and kicking, but he had slipped away. Trent was right, I didn’t believe this would work. I was skeptical of my own abilities.

“Focus,” he ordered.

Right. Focus. But I still couldn’t see a darned thing. This training session blew chunks.

“Okay, enough,” I warned. “Trent, you have ten seconds to turn the lights back on or…”

“Or what?” He snorted. “In near darkness, a cat’s eye collects what light there is and gives the retina a second chance to absorb every photon. Use your powers to do the same.”

If I wanted to avenge my dad and battle evil, I had to learn to trust my magick and myself. I could try tapping into my white magicks, although I’d never worked a spell this big before. I stilled my whirling thoughts and focused on my own eyesight.

“
By the power of the sun make the dark room become light!”
I recited.

I blinked several times. Maybe the spell wouldn’t work. Maybe I wasn’t strong enough.

As I was ready to give up, an extraordinary thing happened. Magickal power began to surge through me. It crackled in the air like electricity and raised the little hairs on my arms. My vision adjusted to the dark room, and it felt like a switch was turned on behind my eyelids and I could see more clearly.

A hazy figure stood near the stairwell, watching me with sharp interest.

Hopping on one foot, I tugged off my sneaker and threw it in that direction. The shoe smacked the wall with a fumbled
thump
.

Damn, I’d missed!

Hearing shuffling footsteps behind me, I slipped off my remaining sneaker and flung it as hard as I could. That shoe missed its target, too. Trent was too damn fast.

Something struck the floor with a dull thud.

He took off a shoe? His clothes?

I turned in a slow circle. “Where the hell are you? Can you at least stop moving around?”

Something swooshed toward my head and hit me smack in the face.

Bending, I lifted the soft object off the floor. Trent’s sweaty tank. He was so dead when I found him!

“Hey! What the hell?” I threw the tank-top back down and stepped on it. Hard.

The graze of fingertips tickled my neck again. Trent’s cool breath blew across my shoulders. I fought the urge to put him into a headlock.

“You jerk—”

He grabbed my arm and flung my body down onto the mats. My backside slammed onto the ground and Trent quickly straddled me.

“What’re you doing?” I whispered breathlessly.

Trent placed his hands on the sides of my face. “Kissing you.”

The light pushed through the dirty windows, pitching a yellow glow about the room. The primal glint in Trent’s eyes sent a heated thrill through my limbs as my spine pressed into the floor. His fingers swept under my hair, giving it a slight tug at the base of my neck. In that instant, I forgot all about my fear of the dark—all that mattered was being in Trent’s embrace. He ran his hands over my body to my hips, and my brain pretty much stopped functioning. My mouth opened and a soft whimper escaped when his tongue lightly touched mine. I lowered my hands to caress the firm ridges of his abdomen. My body wanting the kiss to go on forever.

But all too soon, Trent lifted his mouth from mine. “You are my whole world, you know that, right?” He trailed his lips over my neck and collarbone. “I’m sorry if I’m being hard on you. I just can’t stand the thought of anything bad happening to you.”

Instead of answering, I tipped my chin up and wrapped my arms around his neck, granting him easier access to my lips. My skin flooded with warmth when he kissed the pulsing hollow at the base of my throat. His arms held me tight against him, fierce and protective, while he tasted my lips with his tongue, softly at first, then possessive, demanding. When one of his hands clasped my low back and ground my hips tightly to his, I moaned into his mouth, our breaths becoming one. His kisses deepened, and my senses were overloaded with lust and passion. Trent’s fingers inched up my back and under my shirt, brushing my spine along the way until his hand was at my neck and running through my hair. I felt a restlessness building inside me, and it was growing more difficult to tolerate. Finally, we broke apart and came up for air. His breathing panted with the effort of having to maintain control.

Trent brushed a tender kiss across my lips, then whispered against my mouth, his voice hoarse with emotion. “People don’t get to choose who they fall in love with. You might end up meeting someone who’s all wrong for you, but they’re all right at the same time. Except occasionally, they drive you crazy and make your heart feel like it’s spiraling out into the universe without a net. But you don’t care because just being with them makes your world a little less scary and a little less dark…”

“Yes,” I whispered. “You make everything seem possible. You help keep the world from collapsing down around me.”

Trent pulled back a little, his eyes searching my face. “So, we agree? We both drive each other completely insane?”

I softly laughed. “Yeah. Without a doubt.

He stood up and moved away from me. “Let’s try again.”

I wanted to keep kissing. Skip the training for once. But I reluctantly got to my feet.

“Can we at least turn the light on now?” I asked.

“No,” he said firmly.

Damn.

I couldn’t see perfectly, but I could view the faint image of Trent moving about the basement.

“Use your witchy senses,” Trent said. “You may only have one chance to hit your mark, so aim quickly and confidently.”