you know your father and I are always here if you need us.”
“I know that, Mom. Don’t worry about me. I’ll be fine.”
“Don’t take it so hard,” Bernie said. “When you’re young everything feels a hundred times worse than it is. I don’t know what happened between you and Beth, but it can’t be so bad.”
Xavier let out a short, humorless laugh and I guessed what he was thinking. He wanted to say, “Well, Mom, my girlfriend was abducted by a demon ex-student of Bryce Hamilton and dragged into Hell on the back of a motorbike and right now we’ve got no idea how to bring her back. So, yeah, actually it is that bad.”
But instead he shifted his weight to look across at her. “Just let it go, Mom,” he said. “This is my problem. I’ll be okay.”
I could see in his eyes that he didn’t want to worry her. My family was already beside themselves; there was no sense in getting Bernie involved. The less she knew, the better for everyone. My disappearance wasn’t an easy thing to explain and not exactly the news you’d want to break to an overprotective parent just before you were due to take your SATs.
“Okay.” Bernie leaned down to kiss his forehead. “But, Xavier, hon …”
“Yeah?” He looked up but couldn’t hold her gaze.
“She’ll be back.” Bernie gave him a knowing smile. “Everything will work out fine.” Then she got up and slipped out the door, closing it softly behind her.
When she was gone, Xavier finally allowed his exhaustion to overcome him. He kicked off his shoes and rolled onto his side. I was glad that soon he would fall into a deep sleep and the torment of feeling so helpless would disappear, at least for a few hours. Just before physical exhaustion took over his body I saw him rummage under his pillow and withdraw something I recognized immediately as one of my cotton knit sweaters. I’d worn it a lot over the summer on cool evenings. It was a pale aqua color and had tiny daisies embroidered around the neckline. He said he liked the way it brought out the auburn streaks in my hair. Xavier pushed his pillow aside and buried his face in my sweater, inhaling deeply. He stayed that way a long time until his breathing changed and became deeper and more regular, and I knew he’d fallen asleep. I sat cross-legged on his bed, watching over him as a mother might over a sick child. I stayed that way until weak beams of predawn light fell over the rumpled bedclothes and Xavier’s eyelids began to flutter.
“Rise and shine, doll face!”
Who did that voice belong to? Xavier wasn’t awake yet and he hadn’t moved or spoken in his sleep. It didn’t sound like him anyway. I looked around me, but Xavier’s room was empty apart from the two of us. A metallic sound like a door opening made me jump and a doorway materialized in the room, a dark figure leaning against the frame. Suddenly I knew what was happening. My two worlds were blurring, which meant I had to act quickly. I had to get back right now or Jake would wonder why I wasn’t waking up. But why was it so hard to tear myself away?
“Sweet dreams, my love,” I whispered to Xavier. I bent down to press my specter mouth against his forehead. I didn’t know whether he felt anything or not, but he stirred in his sleep and mumbled my name. I saw that his face had cleared and he looked more peaceful. “I’ll be back as soon as I can.”
I forced myself to return to my body and blinked away the sleep to see Jake watching me intently. He was dressed in a fitted suit jacket over skinny jeans and looked slightly rumpled. The sting of disappointment always followed my return to Hades, but with Jake there it was even worse. I couldn’t summon the energy to drag myself out of bed and face another day as bleak as the last. So I decided to stay curled under the covers, at least until Hanna came to coax me out. Jake seemed undeterred by my lack of response.
“I didn’t realize you were still asleep. I only dropped by to give you this token of my affection.”
I groaned and rolled over.
Jake casually tossed a long-stemmed rose on the pillow.
“Could you be any more cliched?”
He feigned indignation. “You really shouldn’t insult me. That’s no way to talk to your other half.”
“You’re not my other half! We are nothing except enemies,” I said.
Jake put one hand across his heart. “Now, that hurts.”
“Is there something you want?” I demanded angrily. I couldn’t believe I had cut short my visit for this.
“Someone’s in a foul mood,” Jake commented.
“I wonder why?” Sarcasm was hard to avoid when he was being deliberately obtuse.
Jake laughed softly, his bright eyes boring into mine. He slid closer to me so fast that I barely noticed the movement until he was bent over me, dark hair falling over his shoulders. His face was beautiful in the dim light, his features refined. I was surprised at my ability to register his beauty while at the same time hate him with as much strength as there was left in my body. His bloodless lips parted, and I heard him breathing fast. His black eyes slid over my body, but instead of leering as I expected, he frowned.
“I don’t like to see you so sad,” he murmured. “Why won’t you let me make you happy?” I looked at him with surprise. Not only did Jake persist in invading my personal space whatever the hour, his insistence on describing the two of us as a potential couple was becoming disturbing. “I know you haven’t developed an emotional attachment toward me just yet, but I think we can work on it. I was thinking it might help if we took our relationship to the next level …,” he trailed off meaningfully. “We both have needs, after all.”
“Don’t even suggest it,” I warned, sitting up and glaring at him. “Don’t you dare.”
“Why not? It’s a perfectly natural expectation. Besides, it might improve your mood.” He rubbed his thumbs in slow circles up and down my arms. “My skills are legendary. You don’t even have to do anything. I’ll take care of you.”
“Are you delusional? I am
“Bethany, my dear, I am not asking for sex. That’s not what I’m about. I can have that anytime. I want to make love to you.”
“Stop saying that stuff and get away from me.”
“I know you find me attractive. That much I remember.”
“That was a long time ago, before I knew what you are.” I looked away, barely attempting to hide my contempt.
Jake straightened and glared at me. “I’d hoped we could come to a mutual arrangement, but now I see you might need an incentive to help change your mind.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“It means I need to find a more creative approach.” There was an underlying threat in his words that frightened me, but I wasn’t about to let him know that.
“Don’t bother. It won’t make any difference.”
“We’ll see.” My conversations with Jake always seemed to go the same way. He started by propositioning me with something and when I fended him off, he turned vindictive. We seemed to go around in circles. It was time to try a different strategy.
“Too much would have to change for me to even consider it,” I added. I hated that I was getting caught up in his manipulative games, but I had no other choice.
Jake’s face lit up with anticipation.
“Such as?”
“For starters you’d have to start respecting my privacy. I hate the way you barge in here unannounced whenever you feel like it. I would like a key to my own room. If you want to see me, you need to ask first.”
“Fine. Consider it done. What else?”
“I want to be able to move around freely.”
“Beth, you don’t seem to understand how dangerous it is out there. But I can tell the hotel staff to back off. See? I can compromise.” He trailed a finger along my bottom lip and smirked, pleased with the new developments.
“There’s one more thing. I want to go back — just for an hour. I need to tell my family and Xavier that I’m all right.”
Jake laughed. “What kind of idiot do you take me for?”
“So you don’t trust me?”
“Let’s not play games. We both know each other too well and you’re no good at lying anyhow.”
