House of Leights (Secret Keepers, #3)(6)

A body bumped me hard; the dance floor was getting so crowded. I stumbled forward. By the time I regained my footing and turned to the wall, he was gone. Without thought, moving in a frantic, almost trance-like state, I ran to where he’d been standing. But there was no one even close to this spot now.

What the hell just happened?

Had I literally just imagined that? Could my drink have been spiked after all?

“Maya! For shit’s sake, girl.” Lace reached out and grabbed my arm, startling me. “You’re gonna give me a heart attack. Don’t just run off like that, lookin’ like you just saw an axe-wielding psycho.”

I blinked at her slowly, and she examined me closer. “Was there actually a psycho?” she asked, her eyes roving around just like mine had done. Courtney joined us then, face creased in concern.

I shook my head. “I thought … I thought I saw something … or someone. Never mind … I might just be losing my mind.” I shook my head again, more vigorously, and hoped some sanity would return with it.

I didn’t feel drugged, just a little buzzed. But maybe this was something new, undetectable except for weird hallucinations of fantasy men. My burst of laughter did nothing to ease the concerned looks on my friends’ faces.

I waved it away, shaking my head. “It’s all good. Come on, let’s dance again.”

Neither looked convinced, but they did turn to head back toward the crowd. As I took the first step, I noticed something on the ground, almost hidden in the darkness. Leaning down, I picked it up, praying it wasn’t a used tampon or something equally as gross.

Lifting my hand toward the light, I blinked a few times. It was a leaf, but not like any leaf I’d seen before. The stem was a bright golden color. At first I thought it was one of those artificial plants, but as I closed my hand on it crushing the leaf, a strong scent of pine and mint drifted to me.

With a shake of my head, I dropped it back into the darkness. There was too much weird happening for my liking. I needed to go back to my normal life.

There were no more glimpses of gorgeous strangers for the rest of the night, just the standard Dae students and a few newbies from neighboring schools. I found Brad later, playing poker with Mitchell and a few other football and soccer jocks.

He caught my eye as I stepped into their corner of the room. I lifted my wrist and pointed to my watch. He picked up his phone, and realizing it was almost 1 A.M., threw down his cards and gathered up his money.

“Ready to go, Maiz?” he said when he reached me.

I nodded. “Yep. My feet are killing me. I’ve hit my dance quota for the night.”

As we walked toward the stairs – the place was still mega-packed – I asked him, “Are you fine to drive? How much did you have to drink?”

“Totally fine,” he told me. “I only had that one beer when we first got here, and I didn’t even finish it. I’ve been on water since.”

I wasn’t surprised. If there was one thing Brad would never do, it was drink and drive. He’d lost his cousin a few years ago; the college junior wrapped his Beemer around a pole. Now, if Brad caught any of his friends even thinking about getting behind the wheel after drinking, he was right in their faces until they gave him their keys.

The further up the stairs we got, the colder the air was, and by the time we stepped out onto the lawn I was shivering. “This weather is the worst,” I whined. “I’m probably going to get a chill and die.”

“You’re so dramatic,” Brad said with a shake of his head. “You’re not going to die in the two minutes to the car.”

“How can you know that for sure?” I countered.

If he didn’t think it was completely unmanly, he’d totally be rolling his eyes at me right now. “Come on, you annoying brat.”

He ruffled my hair, and I bit back the curse words just waiting to be flung at his annoying ass. It took longer than it should have to reach the car, because Brad had to high-five and fist bump every idiot along the way. At least my glare and chattering teeth kept him from lingering any longer than the bare minimum.

Once I was inside, I started bouncing in my seat. “Hurry up and get the heater on!”

The car started with a roar, and I got a deadpan look. “Anything else, your majesty?”

Considering it for a beat, I finally shook my head. “No, I’m good. Just get me home in one piece.”

He winked at me. “Consider it done.”

As we pulled out of Mitchell’s little subdivision, a bunch of police cars and dark SUVs screamed past us. “Think they’re going to break up the party?” Brad asked, turning a confused face in my direction.

“Um … four police cars and four undercover cars is a little excessive, don’t you think?” Guess it was possible. There were a lot of kids there.

Brad shrugged, before inclining his head toward his phone in the center console. “Can you text Owens, just in case. Let him know he needs to shut down the underage drinking.”

Opening up the app, I quickly sent out a text to Mitchell, explaining what we’d seen. Brad’s phone buzzed almost immediately with a “thx dude.”

I gave Brad the message and he relaxed. “You’re a good friend,” I told him, sinking back into the heated seat. “Despite my continued annoyance at your inability to treat women decently.”