Lady Renegades (Rebel Belle #3)(2)
It had been stupid to come here. Not only had he wasted money he really didn’t have on food he barely ate, but now he’d freaked the girl out, and he hated that. David wished he could say it was because he didn’t like scaring people, but the truth was, he didn’t like being reminded of what he was. The more time he spent alone, the weirder he felt when he had to join the public.
It felt worse now than it had before. Back in Pine Grove, he might have been an Oracle, he might have had the glowing eyes and the occasional vision, but he’d had friends, too.
He’d had Harper.
Then there was the other part. The other truth. The reason he was spending so much time alone these days, no matter how many times he told himself that he couldn’t be sure what had happened those other nights . . . to those other girls.
Hands shaking, he tipped the remains of his dinner into the trash, already planning out what he would do when he got back to the motel that night. Put the few things he had back in his bag, see if there was any extra change around the vending machine, and get the heck out of—
Then the pain came on, fast and immediate, and so intense he felt like he might actually die from it, like you couldn’t hurt this much and not die.
Blood on a yellow dress, the taste of salt on his lips. More blood? Tears?
As if from a distance, David heard the clatter of the tray hitting the ground and gritted his teeth against the sudden fire inside his brain. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see the girl moving closer. Even though he’d scared her, she was still coming to help him, concern overriding her fear.
People were better than you’d think they’d be. Another lesson from the road, and one that broke his heart now.
She was just at his elbow when the golden light shot out of his fingertips, sending her reeling back, her broom flying from her fingers to smack against the glass doors, her lips parting with both the shock of her fall and the jolt of power David had just sent her way.
“I’m sorry,” he said, and his voice was his and not his at the same time. “I didn’t mean to.”
He said that every time.
Chapter 1
“IT’S WRONG that I’m kind of hoping someone starts to drown, isn’t it?”
From her spot in the lifeguard chair next to mine, my best friend, Bee Franklin, took a sip of Diet Coke, her shoulders lifting underneath the straps of her bright red bathing suit. “It would be if I thought you really meant it,” she answered, and I sighed, pushing my sunglasses back up the bridge of my nose.
It was mid-July, the weather was End of Days hot, and the large rectangle of cool turquoise water shimmering beyond my chair looked like it would feel amazing. But, if I were being honest, I’d have to admit that wasn’t the only reason I wished someone might get into some aquatic danger.
I was bored.
Turns out, being a superhero with no one to save is something of a bummer. I was a Paladin, a kind of magically charged knight, my sworn duty to protect the Oracle. Only problem was, the Oracle was my ex (well, one of my exes) and he’d taken off nearly two months ago, leaving me with no boy, no Oracle, and a whole summer with nothing to do stretching out in front of me. I’d never really liked summer vacation. I was always happiest doing things, being involved in projects, and throwing myself into as many school activities as I could manage.
Sure, there were other things to do in the summer. I’d tried camp when I was younger, but that hadn’t worked out. (I might have made a good counselor at some point, but I was not cut out to be a camper. Bug spray, no private showers, and outdoor “plumbing”? Yeah, no.) I’d helped my mom teach Vacation Bible School for the past few years, but that was mostly grabbing glue and glitter from the supply closet or reading the occasional picture book about Jonah and the whale. No, what I needed for this summer—the last one before high school ended—was something meaningful, something . . . distracting.
Hence the lifeguard gig.
Blowing my whistle, I pointed at a little towheaded boy currently dunking a towheaded girl I assumed was his sister. “No horseplay!” I called out, and, once I’d decided he looked appropriately abashed, I settled back into my chair.
It made sense, this summer job. While I was supposed to use my powers to protect the Oracle, with him absent and my powers still present, I figured I could at least put them to good use. Plus the Pine Grove Recreation Club was desperate for lifeguards this year, and once I’d passed the test (I’d actually had to fake being tired during the part where I treaded water holding a brick over my head), the job was mine, complete with red bathing suit, shiny whistle, and a tall chair where I could sit all day, scanning the pool for anyone in distress and trying not to think too much about my own problems. Like the fact that while most bad breakups went something like “He sent me a text,” mine was “He literally ran away and nearly blew up the entire town to do it.”
So, yeah, I needed a distraction, hence the lifeguard job. A solid plan, but I’d been working here for over three weeks now, and not once had I needed to dive into the pool to save anyone. Which meant that I’d basically sentenced myself to a summer sweltering to death in a tall chair with only my thoughts for company.
Well, my thoughts and Bee’s.
She’d applied for a lifeguard position here, too, both to keep me company and because, thanks to a tricky spell back in the fall, she had Paladin powers, too. So really, this was the most guarded pool in the entire state of Alabama. Maybe the most guarded pool in the entire country . . . but no one had the decency to drown even a little bit.