Evanescent by Addison Moore
Shit.
I hadn’t noticed she took off her blazer and unbuttoned her blouse. I can see her pink lace bra peering out, and my boxers twitch with excitement over what this might mean.
“Do you have a T-shirt I can borrow?” She bats her lashes at me. “That’s all I really need.”
Things are not going to end well for Wes if she lounges around on my bed wearing nothing more than a T-shirt.
I dig out a pair of sweats and a sweatshirt, guaranteed to cover every square inch of her from the neck down.
“Socks,” I say, tossing a pair of knee-highs over in the event she tries to seduce me with her feet. She could. She’s that damn beautiful.
Laken doesn’t hesitate digging her thumbs into her skirt and peeling it off.
“Whoa.” I turn around and listen to the rustle of her clothes as if it held the secret to nuclear detonation codes. Unfortunately for me, something in my pants wants to detonate in the worst way possible.
“I knew you were too much of a gentlemen to watch,” she purrs. I glance up at the blackened glass of the window and accidentally catch Laken stripping herself clean. Her creamy flesh glows against the backdrop of night. She pulls her arms behind her back and unhooks her bra, smooth in one quick stroke, just the way I imaged in my dreams. Her breasts explode, round and perky with rose-colored nipples staring back at me as if they knew what I was up to.
A groan gets buried deep in my chest, and I try to look away but my eyes have glued themselves to her reflection.
How the hell am I suppose to sleep next to that?
The curve of her hip catches my attention as it shows off her sheer lace panties, and I memorize her form and beauty for my mental musings—the shower.
Laken pulls on the sweats unceremoniously and flops back on the bed.
“Coop?”
“Yup?” I say, digging out a pair of sweats for myself as well. I don’t make it a habit to sleep in anything other than boxers, but tonight I’m making an exception. I’m sure Wes would appreciate that. There’s no doubt if Fems are infiltrating campus that they’re watching us at any given time. Not that I plan on letting a couple of prying Fems ruin the night. Nope. Tonight, I’d like to see Laken hone in some serious feelings just for me, but I doubt that’s possible. Laken has serious feelings for the Wes she once knew. If Laken and I ever did get together, she’d still most likely have Wes popping through her mind in screenshots. She’s in that deep.
“What’s up?” I yank my sleeping bag out of the closet and lay it over the floor.
“Why is there a Fem parading around as Hattie Tobias?”
“They want to mislead us.” I shrug. “It’s probably not too big a challenge for them to figure out what we’re up to.”
“You said she mentioned she wanted to find her family.” Laken’s eyes round out.
“I think maybe she wants to get us off track.”
“Flynn’s ready to go off on his own.” She blows out an anxious breath. “I wouldn’t be surprised if he were off in the woods right now.”
Crap. “He’s such a moron,” I whisper, rubbing my palm in my eye while trying to forget about him and his impulse decisions that have the power to yank me out of a bedroom with Laken. “I fully expect a distress text while he’s getting his brains sucked through his eyeball.”
Laken buries her face in the pillow. Her sweatshirt rises up her back, and I can make out her underwear peering over the elastic.
“Tell me that can’t happen.” She takes a hold of my hand, and pulls me next to her on the mattress.
“It can, and it will.” I bring her fingers to my mouth and bury a kiss over her thumb. “Flynn is an idiot. Expect moronic things to occur, regularly and without reason.”
She reels me in closer, and I inspect the newfound curves my lucky sweats adhere to.
“I don’t like this,” she whispers.
“Okay,” I tease, trying to get up, but she pulls me down with a laugh trapped in her throat.
“I’m afraid, Coop.” Gone is her playful demeanor, replaced with a childlike innocence that makes me want to shelter her from the world. “I don’t like being afraid.” Her silver eyes reflect fear like a mirror as she shivers next to me.
I pull back the sheets and she slinks under the covers. My arm rides low over her waist and I hold her like that a good while.
“Don’t be afraid, Laken,” I whisper, tracing her brow with my finger. “Be strong. I’ll hold you up.” I reach for her hand again. “I’ll never let you fall.” I’d be lying if there weren’t horrific things she should fear, for instance why the Counts have taken such an overt interest in her.
“They don’t like the fact I can remember,” she says, rubbing her thumb against my palm.
My thoughts are wide open. She’s able to hear them all, like a field with no barriers, but nothing of real interest to listen to.
“I’m sorry. I don’t want you to be afraid.” I pull the covers up over her shoulders, and she slips them back down, patting a space for me next to her.
“Would you hold me again? Just for a few minutes?” It comes out more of a plea from a child than a seductress, so I crawl underneath and wrap an arm around her waist.
“Can you turn off the light?” She adjusts her head into the pillow as if sleep were a real option, so I lean over and comply.
“If I didn’t know better, I’d think you were asking me to spend the night, right here next to you,” I say with a little too much hope in my voice.
“Maybe I am.” A seam of moonlight sprays throughout the room. It washes away every last hue and dips us into a black and white world. Laken catches my gaze and holds it. You could feel the electrical charge thicken around us, enveloping us in one hell of a power surge.
Her lips hedge toward mine, and she freezes. Laken wants a kiss, hell I want a kiss, but she doesn’t want to initiate it. She’ll only come so far. The rest is up to me.
“Laken,” I blow it out in a whisper through the silk of her hair. “It’s not right.” I don’t say his name. I try to block Wes from my thoughts, but he pulsates in and out of my mind like a demonic shadow.
“I know.” She turns the other way and scoots in a little closer. “But I really need you, Coop. I need you keeping me safe. Wes can’t comfort me. He’s one of the very things that scare me.”
Laken pushes her bottom into my stomach and wraps my arms tight around her waist until we’re spooning.
“I wish I could say I’m sorry,” I whisper. “That it sucked of me to be comforting Wesley’s whoever-the-hell-he-is girlfriend, but I’m not. There’s nowhere I’d rather be than with you.”
Laken presses in with her spine against my chest. She reaches back and touches my neck, setting my insides on fire.
“I appreciate your honesty,” she rasps into the dark. “I hope you don’t mind if I’m honest, too.” Laken presses deeper into me as if she were trying to push through. “This is the only place I want to be. You’re the roof protecting my sanity, the walls holding up my will to survive. The Counts cast their shadow over my life and you cast the light.” We bask in silence on the heels of her ego-inflating words as I drink them down, swill them around in my mind and savor them. Laken smooths her back over my chest and fills me in on the Treasure ceremony, Wednesday night. “But I would totally rather watch a movie with you and Marky,” she says. “What do you think I should do?”
I press my lips together and take her in as the moon glows over her like silver. Laken trusts me, she wouldn’t go if I told her not to. A part of me doesn’t want to send Laken to any more brainwashing ceremonies. God forbid they achieve their purpose.
“I think it’s important you go.” I try to sound casual like I weren’t secretly disappointed. “We’ll do the movie another time.”
“Flynn says the Treasures are no big deal—that I need to dig deeper.”
“He might be right. Probe Wes. Find out where he’s getting the blood. Maybe play a mental game and catch him reading y
Laken goes rigid. She holds a breath for longer than a minute before exhaling and melting back into me.
“I will. I’ll make sure we get our families back as quick as possible.”
Our families. Laken feels like family. She feels like she was made just for me. As if this interstate kidnapping—this horror that the Counts have brought upon us—was meant to be.
An hour slips by with Laken writhing her hips into my lap every few minutes. She pulls my arm under her soft chest and my boxers spring to life. I try to move and hide the evidence, but she follows me with her body.
“I think I’d better sleep on the floor.” I pop up on my elbow and scoot back.
She twists to face me.
“Why?” Laken snatches my fingers and holds on for dear life. A pale wash of moonlight rinses out her features, soft as marble. I glance down and see her nipples protruding from my sweatshirt like sirens.
“Because there’s only so much I can take before I cave. I’m a guy, we’re weak.”
A soft laugh trembles from her. “Oh, I don’t know—if a strong guy like you could take on a zombie or two, I think you could handle sleeping next to me in a bed for a few hours.” She looks at me from under her lashes, beckoning me to stay.
I take her in like this, a platinum goddess against the black velvet of my bedroom. She pushes back a notch, and I can make out the silhouette of her body—a perfect hourglass that I’d love to manhandle for the next few hours. And if she grinds those hips into me one more time, I just might.
She licks her lips awaiting an answer, and my hard-on blooms to life.
“Like I said”—I climb over her—“I’ll take the floor.”
Wesley
Tuesday, while the skies turn an ashen sage and the hillsides glow neon from the deluge of rain, I walk Laken to her final class of the day, cheer.
“Do I wear anything special tomorrow night?” Her eyes glow against the sodden backdrop. The Minotaur hovers behind her with his overexposed bonze eminence and makes Laken look like a Greek goddess from long ago. I could be the warrior who’s trying to free her from captivity—the stronghold of her mind.
I brush my thumb against the high ridge of her cheek. She’s so perfect it doesn’t seem believable. Every person has a flaw to call their own, some more discernable than others, but Laken remains unblemished—the perfect canvas, the landscape of Eden.
“You’re amazingly handsome.” She winces when she says it.
I give a little laugh. “I was thinking the same thing about you. God’s a true artist. You’re living proof.” I kiss her hand. “And, about the ceremony, wear whatever you want. They’ll give you a robe when you get there. It’s already been sanctified, so you can enter the chamber. Jen knows the way. I’ll have her bring you. I need to be there early to help set up.”
“But I want to go with you. I can help set up. I promise I won’t get in the way. I’d much rather be with you than Jen.” She interlaces our fingers and gives a squeeze.
I glance past her as the fog rolls onto the field. Some of the cheerleaders have already straggled out and are warming up. In the distance I can see the football players, Flanders looks away just as our eyes meet. Figures. I’m sure he likes to keep an extra eye on Laken at all times. I talked to Hattie—heard he didn’t score. Not that it surprises me.
Laken’s eyes widen as if she’s just remembered something.
“What’s wrong?”
“Oh, it’s nothing.” She glances onto the field and lowers her gaze. “So, after the ceremony, we’ll be closer than ever. I mean, I’ll be in all the same clubs that you are, right? I want to do everything with you, unless that freaks you out.” A nervous smile twitches on her lips.
“Of course, I want that. You couldn’t freak me out if you tried.” The Tenebrous Woods flash through my mind—those dark, twisted tree limbs that are set to decapitate if you take the wrong turn, the screams—those horrible, deafening screams. I mentioned it once to Edinger. He said they were looking into severing the vocal cords of repeat offenders, but I think the silence would be worse. Just knowing they wanted to cry out and couldn’t, would be far more heartbreaking.
Laken’s eyes tear up, and she gives a hard sniffle.
“You okay?” I wrap my arms around her and brush a tender kiss over her cheek.
“I think I might be catching a cold, either that or allergies.” She shakes her head. “So you never answered the question. Am I all caught up on your extra curricular activities?” She looks crestfallen as if she already knows the answer long before I give it.
“Yes.” I push out a little smile. “Sort of. There might be one more thing, but it’s a surprise.” God, I’d love to bond with Laken that way. Bring her to the woods and teach her how to take blood—to take the powers that are rightfully ours to begin with. Although, I wouldn’t be so anxious to watch her suck off some guys neck, and I doubt she’d be thrilled to watch me guzzle down on Skyla, the Celestra that picked me out of a crowd to personally drain her. She’s pretty, but she’s no Laken. And somehow I don’t think Laken would approve of me touching my lips to some hot Celestra even if it were completely platonic—even if my only thought while doing so was of Laken the entire time. Who knows? She might classify it as cheating.
Laken flushes a bright pink over the apples of her cheeks. “I’d better go.” She tries to pull away, but I reel her in and dot her lips with a kiss.
“I love you—you know that?”
She looks up at me a very long time. Her brows knit as she inspects my features as if searching for clues.
“I love you, too, Wes.” Laken wraps her arms around me and heaves a ragged breath. “Everything I do is because I love you.”
I pull back and dig in a smile.
“The Treasure ceremony is going to be special,” I assure her.
“Okay.” She winks. “It’d better be.” She blows me a kiss and takes off in the direction of the gym, her hair bounces from behind with a rhythm all its own.
Tomorrow night is going to be far more special than she could ever imagine.
Flanders catches my eye in the distance and nods.
A dull laugh rattles from my chest. Flanders wishes he could have Laken the way I do.
And after tomorrow night, Laken just might be mine forever.
After practice, once the team clears the pool, I decide to hang out and swim a few laps, solo. The cavernous room holds the thick scent of chlorine. The windows that line the back expose the deep welt of evening.
Laken runs through my mind, the thought of her accepting the proposal I’m going to offer tomorrow night incites a rush of adrenaline through me. I can picture the two of us together in the Tenebrous Woods or, as the less informed like to call it, the tunnels. If I knew she wouldn’t judge me—hate me, if I knew she wouldn’t be appalled by what goes on down there and why—I’d take her today. We would drink our fill and become the beings we were always meant to be. In my mind’s eye the fantasy takes a U-Turn and I imagine the two of us locked in a heated kiss, Laken stripping to nothing right there in those gnarled woods.
The steady beat of footsteps snap me back to reality. I glance up and catch Demetri Edinger breezing in like he owns the place—like he owns me.
Supervising spirit. More like a rotten demon. My own personal bitch.
He’s the part I’m not looking forward to—the part where I reintroduce Laken to the bastard who shuttles me around the nethersphere—the demonic leash to which I’m bound and gagged because my mother gifted him to me a few years back on my birthday. Although, I may not have to let Laken know about him—in fact I’d rather not.
I dive under and swim in his direction. No use in putting off the inevitable.
Edinger crouches low as I pop up by the edge and he clasps onto me by the hair, submerging me under just as I take a breath.
I try to free myself from his murderous c
Shit!
I expel a breath as a cough begs to bubble from my throat. My nose burns with fire as I inhale water like oxygen.
Fucking bastard. I latch onto his arm and yank him in. He cycles over me, and I buoy to the surface, gasping and coughing.
Edinger floats to the top with his wool coat rising up around him like a pair of giant wings.
“You fucking asshole.” I charge at him, securing him by the collar and thrashing him against the edge of the pool. His head gives a satisfying thump, so I arrange for it to happen again.
“Excited are we?” His eyes glow an unnatural shade of yellow. He holds his hand out, and I suction over to him like a magnet without even trying. He raises his palm as if casting a spell, and my body lifts right out of the water. I’m pulled upward above the swimming pool a good twenty feet, and my stomach bottoms out because I know what’s coming.
Gravity takes over, and I set in on the world’s crappiest belly flop. The water slaps against my chest like fire, and I hit clear to the bottom of the pool before rising to the surface.
I glance around for the bastard who sponsored this bellyache. He’s still in the water with a shit-eating grin cemented to his face.
I dive in his direction, stealth like a seal. From underwater, his body looks unnaturally elongated as if his feet were touching the floor while his head stays safely above water. This doesn’t surprise me. A Fem can do whatever the hell it wants, and God knows Demetri Edinger has done exactly that, time and time again.
“What’s the matter, Wesley?” He taunts as I surface beside him. His dark eyes gleam a wicked smile all their own. It’s nice to know he’s enjoying the shit out of himself. “Feeling a little battered and blue? From what I can see, this has less to do with your physical state and more to do with a matter of the heart.”
“What the hell do you want?” I spit just shy of his face.
“Lets cut to the chase. What is it that you want?”
“Laken,” I pant. “I always want Laken, that’s why you brought her to Ephemeral, isn’t it? Gifting her to me with a bow? You got her kicked out of Rycroft didn’t you?”