Ceaseless (Existence Trilogy #3)(12)

Leif started to take a step forward and Gee was in his face in less than a tenth of a second. She’d moved at inhuman speed and I looked around quickly to make sure no one had seen her.

“You take one more step this way and I will cut.you,” she hissed.

“You need to leave. This is your final warning.”

Leif didn’t argue. He was gone.

Gee cursed and spun around to look at me, “Dammit. I was hoping he’d stay here. That woulda been fun. I’ve been wanting to beat his voodoo ass for a year now.”

“That would have been fun to watch, “ I agreed. “But we need to get to work. There’s been an earthquake in Haiti. It’s a bad one.”

Gee sighed, “Guess you’re taking me too, this time.”

Surprised at her lack of enthusiasm I stopped and raised an eyebrow her way.

“Oh, don’t look at me like that. Can I help it if I like being a college student? It’s a helluva lot more fun than dealing with dead people.”

Chapter Six

Pagan

Miranda was standing at her closet with several outfits laying over both our beds and the desks when I walked into the room. I’d spent the rest of the day checking out my classes, meeting with professors, and finding a coffee shop close enough to stop by in the mornings on my way to each class.

“Did our closets throw up?” I asked as I closed the door behind me and took in the mess in front of me.

“Maybe,” she nibbled on her bottom lip nervously. “I have nothing to wear. Nothing.”

I knew for a fact she had enough clothes to clothe a small country. What she meant was she didn’t have anything to wear on a date. Must be someone she really liked because I hadn’t seen her go this crazy over what to wear in years.

“Who’s the lucky guy?” I asked, moving over a blue jean skirt that belonged to me and her royal blue scarf shirt so I could sit down on my bed.

“Nathan. The guy from the club,” Miranda clapped her hands excitedly, “And get this! He is in the same fraternity as Jay. They want both of us to go out to dinner tonight and go see a movie.”

Uh-oh. That wasn’t going to work.

“Um, well, see here is the thing. Jay has a girlfriend or is obviously in a relationship. I saw it last night at the club. You know I don’t do drama and that is some serious drama there. You’ll have to tell Jay ‘no thanks’ for me.”

Miranda’s face fell and she dropped the red jacket she’d been holding up in the mirror. “Pagan, please. This is important to me. Nathan is, he is like, I just haven’t felt about anyone like this, since, well since,” I saw tears well up in her eyes as she stared pitifully at me.

“Since Wyatt?” I asked.

She sniffed and nodded. “It isn’t as strong as what I felt for Wyatt, but I just met him. He makes my heart race and I get all tingly when he touches me. He isn’t Wyatt. No one will ever be Wyatt. But when I’m with him my heart doesn’t hurt.”

Well, crap. She finally finds a guy to move on with and he is a friend of my ex. Just freaking perfect.

“I’m sure Nathan will still want to date you even if I don’t go out with Jay,” I assured her.

Miranda walked over and pushed the clothes beside me out of her way and sat down. “I am sure he would. But I don’t know him that well. We just met. We had coffee today and ended up talking for hours. He kissed me. It was… wow. I just want to have you there with me on our first official date. I’ll feel better knowing I’m not alone.”

Double crap.

“What about Jay’s girlfriend?” Please tell me she is a psycho and she may come after my head if I go anywhere with him. This will be my only way out.

“Nathan said that Jay and Victoria aren’t an item. She is in the sorority that does things with their fraternity. She has been after him for over a year. Jay puts up with her clinginess but until he saw you walk into the club he hadn’t had a problem with it. Now he is putting a halt to things with Victoria. Nathan said you are all he’s talked about since he saw you. Come on, it’ll be fun. I need you there.”

This was trouble. I looked at Miranda’s pleading eyes and knew I wouldn’t be able to tell her no. “What time are they going to be here?” I asked and she jumped up and squealed.

“At seven,” she replied. It was only three. What was she doing getting ready now?

“We have four hours. Why the clothing panic?”

Miranda rolled her eyes, “because it’s gonna take me four hours to do all that I have to do to be presentable.”

I gathered the clothes up that she’d left on my bed and took them over to hers and dropped them. “You put the clothes away. I’m taking a nap. If I have to do this then I definitely need some sleep. I’m exhausted.”

“Fine. I’ll find you something to wear. But promise me you’ll get up in plenty of time to shower and shave your legs. I’m going to pick you out a mini. Jay always liked your legs.”

Ugh.

Dank

A teenage girl not paying attention to a stop sign. It was all too familiar. The difference was, I hadn’t been stalking this soul. She hadn’t intrigued me. The crumpled car was wrapped around an electricity pole. Her parents stood over to the side crying as the desperate hope in their eyes stayed focused on the car. They wanted there to be some chance that their daughter had made it. That when the Jaws of Life pulled the car free they’d find her alive inside. I knew she wasn’t. He soul was releasing as it sensed my presence.