A Want So Wicked (A Need So Beautiful #2)(38)

Even just watching, I feel like I’ve been punched in the stomach. But Onika only smiles as the pale skin on her face cracks, revealing the gray beneath.

Monroe steps back from her, repulsed. Onika takes in a deep breath, as if she’s inhaling his fear. And then she licks her dry lips and smiles.

“I could make you jump off this building with just a whisper,” she murmurs sweetly as if it’s a love poem. “But I won’t. Instead I will take all of your Forgotten. You can’t hide them from me because I’ll seek them out and extinguish them one by one for all of eternity. And know, lover”—she reaches to run a finger across his cheek—“I will haunt your dreams until the day you die.”

With that, she disappears, leaving Monroe alone on the roof until the sky opens up, pouring rain all around him.

I wake with a start, bolting upright in bed. The clock reads 3:00 a.m. and the temperature in my room has to be below sixty degrees. I think about the dream that’s fading quickly, but something else catches my eye.

My angel stone is on my bedside table, smashed to bits.

The next morning, I clean up the shards. I’m devastated by the loss of my stone, but more importantly, I don’t know how it happened. Pieces of my dream are still with me—Onika and Monroe even clearer in my head now. I want to pretend that they’re parts of a reccurring nightmare, but I’m not entirely sure what’s real anymore. All I know is that I have to keep going, have to get through this. So I dump the remains of the angel in the trash and push away my fear.

When I walk into the kitchen, Lucy’s sitting at the table, staring into her cup of coffee.

“You okay?” I ask.

She glances up, the dark liner having run under her eyes as if she hadn’t bothered to wash it off the night before. Her hair is matted, her skin pale. “Sure,” she answers, her voice heavy with indifference. “Just not sleeping well.”

“Me either.” I pour a cup of coffee, hoping for a caffeine boost.

“Not to mention I was stuck on the side of the road with Dad for several miserable hours last night,” she says. “I had to sit through a lecture about responsibility while we waited for a passerby to rescue us.” She sighs. “I swear I’m going to burn my car for the insurance money. We didn’t get home until after midnight.”

“Yeah, well. I don’t even remember going to sleep last night.” I glance around. “Where is Dad?”

“Church. By the way,” she says, “he wanted me to remind you that you said you were bringing Abe to services tomorrow. Is it getting that serious between you two?”

My stomach knots at the mention of Abe. I feel awful for how I’ve treated him. He brought me donuts, but I was so tired, I’m not even sure what I said to him. I just hope he doesn’t hate me.

“Uh-oh,” Lucy says, standing to cross the room toward me. “What’s changed?”

I lean closer and lower my voice. “I kissed Abe the other night,” I say, my anxiety spiking. Exactly how much do I tell my sister about what’s going on with me?

Lucy’s eyes widen. “You what? And you didn’t wake me up and tell me?” She looks hurt.

“No,” I say. “Because it didn’t go all that well. In fact, I’m not even sure why I let him kiss me in the first place. And when he did . . .” I’m trying to think of the best way to describe it without letting her know I’m a freak. “I got a shock.”

“Like static electricity?”

I shake my head. “No, Lucy, you know how I told you strange things keep happening to me?”

“The reflection, the creepy old woman . . .” she says, gesturing for me to elaborate.

“Well, this was another strange thing. I actually felt repelled by Abe. It was painful to kiss him.”

“Did he hurt you?” She sounds like she might track him down and beat him.

“No. It was me. My body sort of freaked out—cold and shaking—and I ran to my room and locked the door. It was all fairly dramatic and traumatizing.”

“Wow,” she says, leaning against the counter, processing.

“And then yesterday,” I continue. “I talked with that customer I told you about—the one I said I’d probably never see again? Anyway, I bumped into him, and then Abe saw us. He went a little caveman on me. I’m not sure where we stand anymore.”

My sister looks scandalized. “You’ve certainly broken out of your shell.”

“Things have definitely gotten complicated.”

“Sounds like it. Is there anything I can do?”

I shrug. “Rewind time? I wish I never agreed to go out with Abe. How am I supposed to work with him when I feel so horrible about everything?”

“Elise,” Lucy says, before moving toward the fridge. “Abe Weston is a big boy. I’m sure he can handle himself, even if he’s not used to rejection.”

“I hope so.”

Lucy grabs out the entire stack of cold cuts—ham, turkey, salami—and tosses them onto the counter before getting a Coke.

“Hungry?” I ask sarcastically.

“Ravenous. And I want lunch for breakfast.” She pops the top on her drink and starts downing it immediately. Under the edge of her shirtsleeve, I notice a glint of gold.