Darlings of Paranormal Romance (Anthology) (216 page)

Aiden shot me a side-long glance as he
showed the man his card.

The man extended his hand toward
me.

Tightening my grip on my driver’s
license, I held it out to the man and looked straight into his
eyes. I relaxed and allowed my mind to reach forward. A warm surge
of tingles shot up my spine, enfolding me, as I felt the prick of
his mind. Pushing around his small resistance, I grabbed a hold and
wrapped his whole intellect in mine.

His hand stopped midair. He looked at
me glassy-eyed.

A small smile spread over my lips.
Like an alcoholic who tasted wine after being deprived, a calm,
satisfied feeling flooded through my body. Unfortunately, it
couldn’t last very long without taking a toll on my energy
level.

Check my ID.

He did.

Step back and let me
through.

Again, he obeyed. I snatched my
license back, and we slipped through the metal door.

Music blared, practically assaulting
me, as we entered. Blotches of yellow, hot pink and orange paint
lit up the black floors and ceilings as if someone had taken a
paintball gun to the place. Lights bounced off walls and the jumble
of wild, dancing people. “HOW’RE WE SUPPOSED TO FIND ANYONE?”
Again, I stretched as tall as I could, seeing a bar smack in the
middle of the vast room. To the left of it, a huge rainbow-colored
staircase spiraled up to another floor.

When Aiden didn’t respond, I turned
around. His eyes narrowed as he slowly scanned the
cluster.

“
HELLO?”

His lips moved, but his voice got lost
in the noise.

“
WHAT?”

Wincing, Aiden lowered his face to
mine. His minty, fresh breath cascaded over my cheeks. “You don’t
need to yell and let everyone know what we’re doing. I can hear you
perfectly.”

I strained to keep my eyes locked on
his, even though they felt like they might jump out of my head to
get a peek at his lips.

“…
okay?” He straightened
his stance.

I blinked
and took a step back. “O-okay.”
Even
though I have no idea what you said.
Hopefully nothing important.

Turning back toward the crowd, I
started forward. Aiden grabbed hold of my arm and turned me left. I
could’ve sworn he said something about selective
hearing.

I glanced over my shoulder.
“HUH?”

He motioned toward the left side of
the bar. “GO!”

Now
that
came
across loud and clear. Not all of us had freak hearing. I weaved
through dancing bodies, accidentally touching sweaty arms and
nearly being trampled by some guy shaking his beer
belly.

Stopping below the rainbow staircase,
I peered up. “WHERE—” I stopped myself before I blew his eardrum
and lowered my voice, unable to hear my own words. “Where
now?”

My body stiffened as Aiden leaned in.
“Why don’t you listen?”

“’
Cause you wouldn’t know
what to do if I did.” I rolled my eyes. “SERIOUSLY, I CAN’T HEAR
JACK SH—”

He jerked away like I’d blown a
foghorn in his face. He grabbed my hand, obviously finished trying
to communicate with me, and pulled me up to the second
floor.

A dozen sheer black tents descended
from the ceiling, each flowing gracefully over some kind of
bed-couch thing. The lights dimmed and surprisingly, the music
wasn’t as loud. Only, now there was an annoying ring in my ears. I
cringed and quickly turned away, afraid of encountering something
eye-gouging.

Aiden looked through the glass wall,
staring intently at the crowd below. His warm skin, still wrapped
around my fingers, heated my whole body.

Hating to admit it, even to myself, I
liked the feeling. I considered asking something situation-related
to distract my thoughts and feelings. Something like, could he
could pull voices through a window. “At least there’re no naked
people dancing on poles.”

His mouth twitched.

Again, I waited for a
smile.

He bit his lip, visibly fighting it
back, and nodded. “There are a few Kembers here…I’ve seen two
members of the Guard already.” His fingers, loosely intertwined in
mine, released.

He placed his hands on the rail. A
funny tingling filled my stomach. “Members of the Guard?
Why—”

An icy liquid cut through the back of
my shirt. I gasped and spun around. Damn drunks.

A sneer spread across some blond
dude’s face. Behind him a group of girls and guys
snickered.

“
Oops.
Sorry
.
Must’ve tripped.” He glanced down at his empty cup and started
walking again. “Didn’t mean to provoke the mentally
unstable.”

One of the girls behind him giggled.
“I still can’t believe she attacked that Drea.”

“
I know,
right?” Someone else chided. “The Authority must not be too bright
if they can’t figure out who killed Delmari. Haven’t they
met
her
?”

Everything stopped. The drumming in my
ears took the place of music and laughter.

My fists coiled, ready to beat every
one of them to a bloody pulp. Ian’s threats about my anger left my
mind—he could go to hell. No matter what anyone said, that last
accusation hurt more than a boulder crushing me to
oblivion.

I tried to jump forward, but Aiden
caught me around the waist. “They’re trying to get to you. You know
it’s not true.”

The second I fought against him, he
released me. I staggered away, refusing to meet his gaze. A sharp
pain squeezed my chest, and it took everything I had not to tear
after that son of a bitch. Unable to stop it, moisture built in my
eyes. By the accusing tone, I had a feeling he wasn’t the first to
say such a horrible thing.

“
Taylee…” Aiden watched me
carefully.

Restrooms. The neon sign blurred, but
came in clear enough for me to recognize, at the back of the club.
I headed there. The tears in my eyes burned to break free; one
blink and they’d fall. A sick feeling tightened and twisted my
stomach. I hadn’t been the one to kill Delmari, but I hadn’t
stopped it, either. I ran. Like a coward, I saved
myself.

Aiden grabbed my wrist before I
entered the bathroom. He didn’t say anything. I was sure he could
feel all he wanted to know.

Seconds later a lady emerged. He
waited another moment, probably making sure no one else was waiting
to steal me, and then released my arm. “I’ll be right
here.”

The music and laughter diminished as
the door closed behind me. The walls must’ve been soundproofed or
something. Only the sporadic hum of bass indicated the party going
on downstairs. I walked to the sink and stared in the mirror just
in time for a single tear to fall from my eye, followed by another
and another. Quickly wiping them, I sank to the floor and leaned my
head against the wall. The lights above buzzed like a thousand
pissed off bees and flickered every few minutes. My body shook from
anger and grief, but I didn’t give in to the sob in my
chest.

After minutes of fighting the pain,
control found me again. I twisted the cold water nozzle and patted
water on my cheeks. Milky foundation covered the dark circles
beneath my eyes. Mascara and eyeliner made them stand out and
improved the whole ensemble. That on its own should’ve brought a
little sparkle into my eyes. It didn’t. Even with all the makeup,
they never brightened.

A gust of air rushed by, tossing my
hair. I stopped and looked behind me through the mirror, half
expecting to see a window blown open.

There were no windows.

A chill crawled up my spine, making
the hair on my arms stand on end. Slowly, I reached forward and
turned the water off. I couldn’t help but shake off the paranormal
vibe. Ridiculous. Ghosts hadn’t been a part of my vocabulary since
I was, like, five.

Stepping
away from the sink, I tilted my head and looked toward the stalls.
No one. The bathroom was still empty. I took a deep breath, trying
to slow my heart rate.
What the heck’s
wrong with me? My imagination’s acting like it’s on drugs or
something.

Rubbing the goose bumps on my arms, my
flip-flops clicked obnoxiously as I quickly moved to the
door.

I reached out for the handle. My
fingers barely brushed the metal when a force yanked me backward,
off my feet. I opened my mouth to scream but silently gagged as it
caught in my throat. The lights flickered once more before
submersing the room in darkness.

Chapter 13

The black veil stretched like thick
fog throughout the bathroom. My heart pounding in my ears, along
with my frantic breathing, furthered my struggle to hear anyone
approaching. Dangling midair, like bait, I flailed my arms, feeling
nothing but open space.

Taylee.

A low, dead voice echoed in my head. I
winced and squeezed my eyes closed. Concentrating every ounce of
energy I had, I opened my senses and mentally reached out. A warm
sensation tingled through my body as I felt another’s
mind.

A splitting pain shot through my head,
making me grab it with both hands. A scream bubbled in my chest,
but no sound escaped.

Someone
stood close.
Very
close.

Don’t
try it.
The voice echoed in my
thoughts.
We’ve been through this before.
You can’t invade my mind.

Breathing deeply through my nose, I
reluctantly released my head and looked up.

A pair of ocher eyes glowed a few feet
from where I floated.

Him
. Sparks of heat rushed through my
body. I thrashed, kicking my legs and throwing my arms, trying to
hurl myself forward to grab him. I’d strangle
him!

Slowly,
after every one of my muscles became tired and heavy, my adrenaline
plummeted. I was stuck to this spot. I couldn’t make the slightest
sound. Even my ragged breathing quieted. Here I hovered, helpless
and right where he wanted me. I still only cared about one
thing.
You sick son of a
bitch!

Two flames appeared, illuminating the
Kember’s palms. He flattened his hands and the infernos formed into
balls. Slowly, they levitated toward the ceiling, casting a dim
light over the entire room.

You killed him!

Now visible, his lips lifted into a
small smirk. I half expected the Kember to be this brawny guy with
a red and black face and spikes for hair. Now I felt stupid. He
stood tall and slender with light brown hair and, of course, those
yellowy eyes. Scary enough, he kind of seemed like your everyday
nice guy. Except for the fact I was floating and fire practically
exploded from his hands.

He stepped forward. Blood rushed to my
ears and I bit into my lip to keep it from quivering. His finger
trailed my jaw, sending ice cold chills through my body. I
trembled.

The Kember’s rough hand cupped my
chin. His gaze smoldered like the sun: A frozen, dead, life-sucking
sun. I stared down so as to not look him in the eyes—the eyes of a
killer.

You feel
it, don’t you?
he asked.

Let me
down and I’ll give you something to feel.
I
gritted my teeth, ignoring his question.
Why’d you do it?

His lips
slid into an eerie smile.
Perhaps you need
a bit more time, hmm? Even I can feel it burning deep within you.
It’s just waiting to surface.

I ignored
his comment. I could only think of Delmari.
You killed him. You bastard.
I wanted
to hit him—no—I wanted to kill him. I wanted him to suffer like I
suffered. Feel the horrible pain I felt every moment for the past
few weeks.

Feels
good, doesn’t it? To hate someone to such a degree, you’d actually
wish your worst on them?
He tsked, shaking
his head.
What would Delmari have to say
about that?

You—

Asshole,
I know.
He waved it off
. By all means, yell at me. Call me every name your clever
mind can think of. You’ll soon learn I’m not the bad
guy.

Do you
tell yourself that so you feel better?
My
eyes burned as I fought back tears.
If you
wanted me, you should’ve taken me and left him
alone.

I’m not so foolish to
think he’d let you go without a fight. Besides, who said this is
about you? Seeing as you’re still alive—

Oh heck,
the girl.
I see your glitch. You’re a
psycho pedophile who stalks little girls in your spare time. What
do you want with that girl in the forest? I know. I saw your
buddies chasing her.

He
studied me with knowing eyes, in a way that made my hair stand on
end and my mouth turn dry. He stepped away, stroked his chin and
paced the floor. Finally, he turned back toward me.
I’m not here to answer your
questions.