Special. Alastair thought I was unique, a possession he wanted, yet I never felt anything less in my life. What did he know that we didn’t? So I could charm those who couldn’t be manipulated by demon compulsion? That didn’t really seem all that impressive.
“What makes me so special to him?” I mumbled more to myself, not really expecting an answer.
Chase never failed to surprise me. “There are four billion stars in the universe and I can see every one of them in your eyes. You’re special to me.”
I forgot my name. I forgot Alastair. I forgot to breathe.
Chapter 14
I should have known that the calm was about to be rippled. A week went by. Then two. Before I knew it, the holidays had come and gone. Chase being the good boyfriend that he was had given me a sparkly gift. One that matched the bracelet I never took off. It was a simple silver chain with a dangling charm to match the bracelet.
Travis had also given me a Christmas gift, a new video game. What a guy. He knew me well. And my best friend Lexi…well, she was Lexi. I really shouldn’t have expected anything less. When I unwrapped her pretty white and red package and saw the pink leopard thong, the one from Victoria’s Secret, I choked and turned ten different shades of red. Then I quickly wrapped it back up before anyone saw it.
Lexi giggled. “Sorry. I couldn’t resist. Merry Christmas, bestie.”
I had mumbled some inaudible form of thanks, all the while thinking where I was going to hide it.
And what did I get the boyfriend that had everything?
I had contemplated giving him me wrapped in a big red ribbon, but quickly scratched that idea. My ovaries weren’t that big. So I ended up buying him iTunes music and a light-up hoodie. I thought it was funny and would look great with his eyes.
His gift was better, but he was better at being a boyfriend than I was at being a girlfriend.
We were on winter break, which meant I got to play all those great video games I had gotten, to Chase’s utter dismay. I guess it was not exactly how he pictured spending his two-week break, but hey, I wasn’t bitching. There had been no demon activity. No one had tried to choke me to death. And I was knee-deep into Battlefield 4. What more could a girl ask for?
“I am seriously thinking about smashing that Xbox,” Chase grumbled on the couch.
Travis chuckled.
I ignored Chase for like the tenth time today.
Emma was picking at her nails with a pocketknife.
The four of us were hanging out today. Well, Travis and I played video games while Emma and Chase complained.
Lexi hadn’t stuck around, muttering something about how being the fifth wheel sucked. I was a little bit hurt that she hadn’t stayed. I missed her. Mental note to self, see if Lexi could schedule me in her busy timetable for some girl time.
For the first week after Alastair had made his imposing appearance, we all had been walking on eggshells. With each week that went by without any threats or sudden hellish appearances, we began to resume our lives as normal. All but Chase.
He was always the oddball of the group.
It nagged at him day and night, not knowing when Alastair would show his foul face again. Not knowing what it was that he wanted with me. Patience was a virtue that neither Chase nor I possessed, so we could easily drive each other crazy bouncing emotions back and forth onto one another.
Even with his less than stellar qualities, he could also be incredibly sweet when it suited him. Like walking me home because it was dark.
“I love you,” he whispered in my ear, which I was sure was a ploy to distract me.
It worked. I nudged him with my hip. “I swear all that half-demon talk is bullshit.”
He grinned, pleased with himself, and boxed me into a corner on his porch. “Don’t be fooled, Angel Eyes. I’m the devil in disguise.”
I attempted to keep a straight face and not snicker. “You’re such a doofus.”
He started to play with the stray tendrils of hair at the back of my neck. “Yeah, but you love me.”
Suppressing a shiver, I muttered, “Sometimes I wonder why.” But that didn’t stop me from turning my head to the side and giving him better access to that sensitive spot.
He moved in close, his breath at my neck. “Do you need me to show you—?”
I didn’t mean to scream, but suddenly I was. Loud. Long. And shrieking.
There, lying smack dab in the middle of our yards, was a body. Ghostly pale and lifeless. A pool of sticky red liquid surrounded it, staining the pure white snow. It was a scene straight from a slasher film. Right down to the girl’s awkward position. The porch light cast soft rays over the yard, and it was just enough light to make out her form, but her face was unrecognizable from where I stood. Truthfully, I wasn’t sure I could stomach a clearer image. I got the eerie suspicion that whoever had done this had wanted us to find her, and I was deathly afraid I knew who it was.
My scream echoed through the nightfall, carrying over the snow-covered fields. Chase buried my head in his chest, silencing my cries. My whole body shivered against his.