Outnumbered, Blake let out a disgruntled mumble. “Fine. Whatever.”
We got started then, and I kept my eyes trained on Daemon when it came to his turn. When he touched the onyx, he immediately flinched but held on. Unless he was faking it, the opal had to be touching flesh. Good to know.
Over the next couple of hours, we did our rounds with the onyx. I was seriously beginning to think my fingers and muscle control would never be the same again. Blake kept the required ten feet distance and didn’t try to talk to me. I liked to think my come-to-Jesus discussion had gotten through to him.
If not…then, well, I doubted I’d be able to control myself.
As we broke apart for the night, I lingered back with Daemon. “It didn’t work in your pocket, did it?”
“No.” He dug the thing out. “I’m going to hide this somewhere. Right now, I don’t think we need anyone fighting over it or it getting into the wrong hands.”
I agreed. “Do you think we’re ready for this Sunday?” My stomach dropped thinking about it, no matter how long I’d known that this day was coming.
Daemon slipped the opal back into his pocket and then gathered me in his arms. Anytime he held me, it always felt unbelievably right and I wondered how I could’ve denied it for so long.
“We’re going to be as ready as we ever will be.” He brushed his cheek along mine and I shivered, closing my eyes. “And I don’t think we can keep Dawson off much longer.”
I nodded and wrapped my arms around him. Now or never. Oddly, in that moment, I felt like we didn’t have enough time, even though we’d been practicing for months. Maybe it wasn’t that.
Maybe I just felt we didn’t have enough time together.
…
On Saturday, Lesa and I piled into the back of Dee’s Jetta. Windows rolled down, we enjoyed the seasonably warm temps. Dee seemed different today, too. It wasn’t the pretty pink summer dress she’d worn, paired with a black cardigan and strappy sandals. Her hair was pulled up in a loose ponytail and her thick hair cascaded down her back, revealing a perfectly symmetrical face that bore an easy grin—not the one I was so familiar with and missed painfully, but
Right now, she hummed along to a rock song on the radio, speeding around cars like a Nascar driver.
Today was a turning point.
Lesa grasped the back of Ash’s seat, face pale. “Uh, Dee, you do realize this is a no passing zone, right?”
Dee grinned in the rearview mirror. “I think it’s a suggestion, not a rule.”
“I think it’s a rule,” Lesa advised.
Ash snorted. “Dee thinks yield signs are a suggestion, too.”
I laughed, wondering how I could’ve forgotten Dee’s terrifying driving. Normally I’d be clutching a seat or handle too, but today I couldn’t care as long as she got us to the shop in one piece.
And she did.
And we only narrowly avoided wiping out a family of four plus a religious tour bus once.
The shop was downtown, occupying an old row house. Ash’s pert little nose wrinkled as her heels touched the gravel we parked on. “I know it looks less than savory from the outside, but it’s really not bad. They have cool dresses.”
Lesa studied the old brick building, doubtful. “Are you sure?”
Sashaying past her, Ash cast a mischievous grin over her shoulder. “When it comes to clothing, I’ll never steer you wrong.” Then she frowned and reached out, flicking green-painted nails along Lesa’s shirt. “We need to go shopping one day.”
Lesa’s mouth dropped open as Ash spun and headed toward the back door that bore an OPEN sign written in elegant calligraphy.
“I’m going to hit her,” Lesa said under her breath. “You just watch. I’m gonna break that pretty nose of hers.”
“I’d try to resist that urge if I were you.”
She smirked. “I could take her.”
Ah, no, she couldn’t.
Finding dresses didn’t take very long. Ash went with one that barely covered her ass, and I found a really great red dress I just knew Daemon would go gaga for. Afterward, we headed to Smoke Hole Diner.
Going out to eat with Lesa felt good, and Dee being there was like the proverbial icing on the cake. Ash? I wasn’t so sure about that part.
I ordered a hamburger while Ash and Dee ordered practically everything on the menu. Lesa went with a grilled cheese sandwich and something I found entirely gross. “I don’t know why you drink cold coffee. You can just get regular coffee and let it grow cold.”
“So not the same,” Dee answered as the waitress put our sodas down. “Tell them, Ash.”
The blonde Luxen peered up from ridiculously long eyelashes. “Chilled coffee is more sophisticated.”
I made a face. “I’ll be uncivilized with my warm coffee.”
“Why doesn’t that surprise me?” Ash arched a brow and then turned her attention back to her cellphone.
Sticking my tongue at her, I smothered a giggle when Lesa elbowed me. “I still think I should’ve gotten the transparent wings for my dress.”
Dee smiled. “They were cute.”
I nodded, thinking Daemon would’ve loved them.
Lesa tugged her curls out of her face. “You guys are lucky you found dresses on this short notice.”
Since her and Chad had made plans to go like ordinary people months ago, she had gotten her dress from some shop in Virginia. She had gone mostly along for the ride.
As conversation picked up and Dee started talking about her dress, I sat back against the booth. Sadness trickled through me, followed by bittersweet memories. I thought I’d known Carissa, but I really hadn’t. Had she known a Luxen? Or had she been picked up by Daedalus and used? Months had passed and there had been no answers; the only reminder was the piece of opal I had discovered under my bed.
Some days I’d felt nothing but anger, but today, I let it slip off my shoulders with a deep breath. What had become of Carissa couldn’t tarnish her memory forever.
Ash smiled. “I’m thinking my dress will be a hit.”
Lesa sighed. “I don’t know why you don’t just go naked. That little black dress you found is little and nothing else.”
“Don’t tempt her,” Dee said, grinning as our food was delivered to the table.
“Naked?” Ash scuffed. “These goods aren’t showed off for free.”
“Surprising,” Lesa muttered under her breath.
It was my turn to elbow her.
“So, are you going to the prom with anyone?” Lesa asked, ignoring me as she waved her grilled cheese sandwich at Dee. “Or are you going solo?”
Dee shrugged one shoulder. “I wasn’t going to go, you know, because of… Adam, but it’s my last year, so… I wanted to go.” There was a pause as she pushed her chicken tender around her basket. “I’m going with Andrew.”
I almost choked on my bun. Lesa gaped. We stared at her.
Her brows rose. “What?”
“You’re not…like, going out with Andrew, are you?” Lesa’s cheeks flamed—
Dee laughed. “No—God, no. That would be way too weird for the both of us. We’re friends.”
“Andrew’s a douche,” Lesa said what I was thinking.
Ash snorted. “Andrew has taste. Of course you would think he’s a douche.”
“Andrew has changed a lot. He was there for me and vice versa.” And Dee was right. Andrew had simmered down a bit. Everyone had changed. “We’re just going as friends.”
Thank God, because even though I didn’t want to judge, Dee hooking up with Adam’s brother would be way
