Miss Mayhem (Rebel Belle #2)(4)

But, as I’d reminded him, what was the point of having superpowers, superpowers he could actually use now—safely—if we didn’t, you know, use them?

“Ladies,” David said with a little wave, and they both scowled at him.

“What is he doing here?” Abi asked, and I rolled my eyes.

“He’s my boyfriend. He drove me here, obvs.”

The twins were looking at David’s car like it might give them a disease, and while I was irritated, I couldn’t really blame them. David’s Dodge was a total clunker, full of dents and dings and scratched paint, and . . . the truth was, I might have done some of that damage myself during a car chase last fall, but the point was that it barely looked drivable. I didn’t know why David insisted on hanging on to that thing. He still had his aunt’s car, and while Saylor’s Cadillac was of the old-lady variety, it certainly wasn’t in danger of having its engine drop out.

Abi opened the back door, delicately kicking a stack of books off the backseat and onto the floor. David winced as the books fell, and the corners of his mouth jerked down as he cut his eyes at me.

However, when Amanda tossed his ratty messenger bag out of the way, he twisted to look into the backseat. “Hey,” he started, and then he winced.

I wondered if Amanda had pushed his bag onto something and broken it—there was no end to the random stuff in David’s backseat—but then I felt my own chest seize up in pain, and knew we were in for something way worse.

A vision.

But those didn’t just pop up the way they used to. David’s powers were under control now. Thing was, David didn’t know that me and Ryan were using the wards to keep his powers under control. But it was for his own good. The smaller visions didn’t leave him sick and shaking.

Or looking so scary.

“What the hell?” one of the twins squawked from the backseat, and David fumbled with his door handle, shaking his head.

“David,” I said, reaching across the car to grab his arm.

Fingers closing around the handle, David shoved the door open, spilling out into the street.





Chapter 2


I WAS ALREADY out of my seat and moving around to him, barely paying attention to the twins, who were climbing out of the backseat.

David fell to his knees, hands pressed to his head. Golden light poured out of his eyes, so bright it hurt to look at, and from behind me, I heard one of the twins make a sound somewhere between a gasp and a breathy scream.

“What is wrong with him?”

There was a part of my mind already on the phone with Ryan, asking him to work his mind-wipe mojo on the twins ASAP, but for right now, David was the only thing that mattered. I didn’t know if it was my Paladin powers or the way I felt about him that made my chest hurt, but I knelt down next to him, taking his hand.

His skin was clammy, but he grabbed my hand tight, fingers curling around my palm. “It’s all right,” I heard myself say, even though the power coming from him was making my teeth ache. I’d only seen him like this once, the night of Cotillion. Right now, light in his eyes, body vibrating, he looked a lot less like my boyfriend, and a lot more like a powerful supernatural creature.

Which, I had to remind myself, was exactly what he was.

But still, he shouldn’t have been having visions like this, not anymore.

“We have to go,” he said, his voice sounding deeper and echoing slightly, like there were two people talking. “Now. We need to go to them.”

I’d never known cold sweat was a thing people could actually feel, but that’s exactly what popped out on my forehead.

I held his hand tighter. “Where?” I asked. “Is Bee there?”

David’s head swung toward me, and I flinched at the glare.

My best friend had gone missing the night of Cotillion, kidnapped by Blythe and taken who knew where. Of everything that had happened that night, even Saylor’s death, losing Bee had been the worst. I couldn’t stop feeling like I’d failed her.

“Bee’s at cheerleading camp.”

Glancing over my shoulder, I saw that the twins were still frowning at us. Well, Amanda was. Abi was just staring at David, shocked.

“Seriously, what is wrong with him?” Abi asked, and I winced.

“It’s nothing,” I said, lifting my and David’s joined hands to look at his wrist. I never wore a watch, but David always did, so I checked it now. It was nearly eleven, and I’d promised my parents I’d be home by midnight.

David’s vision was already fading. I could feel the power draining out of him, and his breathing was starting to slow, the light in his eyes going dim. “Pres?” he croaked, and while there was still a little echo, he sounded more like himself than like the Oracle.

Sucking in a deep breath through my nose, I forced myself to think. First things first, I needed to get the twins home and dealt with. I could worry about my parents and where David was meant to be taking me once Abi and Amanda were handled.

“Okay,” I said, overly bright, as I clapped my hands together and rose to my feet. “Everybody back in the car.”

David stood, too, lurching for the driver’s side, but I caught his arm and steered him back toward the passenger seat. The twins stood there, arms folded over their chests.

“What the hell was that, Harper?” Amanda asked, and Abi echoed, “The. Hell.”