Toxic (Denazen #2)(10)

Technically Alex had saved me not once so far but twice. Funny thing was, I didn’t feel the least bit grateful. “You wanna go the hell away?”

“I mean it, Dez. If I hadn’t been there, you’d be dead. What the hell happened?” He stopped in front of the Blueberry Bean window. The inside of the coffee shop was dark. They used to be open twenty-four hours, but last month, they started closing at midnight. Crap. Was it really that late?

We were about three blocks from the Sanctuary, and all was quiet. I leaned against the glass. The rain had finally stopped again, and it seemed like the twins had given up.

If only Alex would do the same.

Begging probably wouldn’t help, but I was desperate. I didn’t have the energy to hit him again, and I felt a headache the size of Mars coming on. “Please go away?”

Arms folded, he glared at me. Fred—the name we’d given his happy-face labret bead—wobbled as he poked at it with his tongue. A dead giveaway that something was bothering him.

Was it too much to ask to be left alone? Maybe I did have some energy to spare. There was an itch bubbling to punch him again if he didn’t go away. With my luck, I’d end up breaking a finger on his thick skull, thus completing one of the worst nights of my life.

To top this all off, I was going to get my ass handed to me by Mom and Ginger. Kale and I were under strict curfew because of Denazen. We were forbidden to attend the nightly parties, but I’d never let a little word like forbidden stop me from doing what I wanted. I might not be able to go to the official Six-only raves, but once in a while, like tonight, one of the kids planned a little field trip. I wasn’t one to turn down an invitation.

Really, it was nice to know some things hadn’t changed.

The worst part was Kale didn’t quite get the concept of sneaking out. Without me, he’d waltz right in the front door without a second thought and get us both busted.

Alex cleared his throat.

He was still here. Apparently I needed to spell it out.

Fine.

“Are you really that dense?” I snapped as a bolt of lightning skittered across the sky. Obviously the storm wasn’t quite done with us yet. “What kind of a jackass would stand here and try to talk to me after what you did?”

“After what I did? I saved your ass!”

I took a step forward and poked him in the chest. “Are you serious? Are you seriously serious?”

“I don’t know what to say, Dez.” He swiped a hand through his damp blond spikes. “Sorry won’t cut it, and that’s cool. I get it. But I wasn’t trying to kill him.”

“Sure as hell looked like it from where I was standing.”

“Of course it did. ’Cause you’re never standing in reality,” he growled. “Do I hate him? Yeah, I do. He’s in the way of something I want. That night at Sumrun, he was in the way of your freedom, and that’s all I cared about.”

I had to tell myself to close my mouth. You’re going to let the flies in, Brandt used to say—ironically most of the time when Alex was involved. “My freedom? Because Dad would’ve really let me walk out of there with you?”

“He promised he would.”

“I’d smack you stupid if someone obviously hadn’t beaten me to it.”

I started walking again, furious. The cool breeze, combined with my wet clothes, was giving me the shivers, and judging by the increasing thunder and lightning, it was only a matter of time before the rain came again.

“How was I supposed to know he was lying?” Alex grumbled, following me down the sidewalk.

Could anyone really be that dense? Alex knew about my dad even before I did. He’d lied to me for years. Hell, he’d done better than lie. He’d started dating me to keep tabs on Dad. Even if he hadn’t tried to slice open my boyfriend, that right there would be enough of a reason to use caution approaching me. Cheating was something I might have been able to get past—someday—but using me? Not a chance.

Alex, never one to let things go, stopped short and grabbed my arm, hauling me back. “I know you care about the freak, and I’m sorry I stuck him—but you have to understand why I did it.”

I yanked my arm back and shoved him away as a particularly loud crack of thunder sounded above our heads. A second later, the sky opened up. “I know exactly why you did it,” I yelled over the sound of the rain. “’Cause you’re a selfish bastard who can’t stand the thought of not getting his way.”

Proving just how immature he was, Alex stomped his foot, sending water from a rapidly gathering puddle shooting out in every direction. “I—you—impossible!”

He gave up and lunged, arms locking around my waist and dragging me close. As the storm raged around us, he smashed his lips against mine before I could even think about what he was doing, much less try to stop him. Fred’s cool metal surface pressed into my chin as the rain poured down my face and Alex’s lips moved over mine. Warmth and a familiar, slightly spicy taste locked my limbs in place.

For a half second.

I curled my fingers—I’d actually had the opportunity to grow my nails a little over the summer—and dug them into his forearms while bringing my knee up as hard as I could. He doubled over and stumbled away, gasping as someone behind us made a very angry sound.

I spun to see Kale surge toward us, soaked and furious. Impossibly fast, he covered the short distance in the blink of an eye.