Static (16 page)

For a second, we locked gazes, and I could feel the
hitch in his breathing. Was he going to kiss me? Startled by the
thought, I pushed out of his arms. But ended up floating toward the
ceiling again. This time, he grabbed my hands in time. But instead
of pulling me down to the ground, he rose into the air with me.

In awe, I watched as he effortlessly went from
vertical to horizontal while still holding my hands. He smiled at
me as we floated all the way up the ceiling, touching the tiles
ever so gently with the backs of our feet.

My stomach rolled over as I looked down. Panic swept
over me and I struggled to stay afloat. Trevor gripped my hands
tight, forcing my attention onto him.

"Look at me. Don't look at the ground."

Taking in some deep breaths, I concentrated on his
face, instead of the urge to glance down at the ground nine feet
below. Once I felt more stable, I smiled, letting him know I was
better.

"How do you control it?" I managed to ask between
deep intakes of air.

"I don't think about it. I just do it."

"Okay, that doesn't help me. I'm a girl. I'm thinking
twenty four seven."

"Right. Good point." He adjusted his grip on my
hands. Were my palms sweaty? Was he getting grossed out by holding
them? I couldn't tell by the stoic look on his face. "Okay, then
you have to learn to control your emotions."

I arched one eyebrow. "Easier said than done. I mean
this is all a bit messed up, don't you think?"

"True, but you have to deal, you know. It's done.
This is your life. There's nothing you can do about it, except use
it to your advantage."

I thought about that. He was right. I needed to suck
it up and deal with it all if I was going to survive all of
this.

"You're right. Tell me what I need to do."

"Suck in a deep breath and then let it go. Let it all
go."

I did as he instructed, but when I let my breath out,
I dropped to the floor. Like a lead weight.

And landed like one as well.

I did have the presence of mind to turn my face to
the side so I didn't smash my nose up into my brain. But the rest
of my body wasn't as lucky. My knees were still healing from the
last time I took a crawl across the stucco ceiling of my
bedroom.

"Holy crap. You dropped like a rock."

I could hear the humor in his voice.

Groaning, I pushed to my knees, wincing from the pain
that shot through me. "I'm happy to amuse you."

He hooked his hands under my arms and helped me to my
feet. "I haven't laughed this much in years."

Once up, I glanced down and took stock of my newly
acquired injuries. My knees were red and banged up again, as were
my elbows. It was then, as I surveyed the damage on my form, that I
noticed that my t-shirt had ridden up and Trevor was staring
directly at the rhinestone star embroidered on the edge of my
panties.

I shrugged off his hands and took a step back, trying
at the same time to yank down the hem of the t-shirt. "Jesus,
Trevor. Rude much?"

He swung around, and shoved his hands into his jeans
pocket. But before he turned I could see the blush on his cheeks.
"It's not like I haven't seen that before." He wandered back to the
sofa, sat, and picked up the game controller to fiddle with it.

I gasped. "Well, you haven't seen mine. And you never
will."

"Don't flatter yourself, sweetheart. I ain't that
interested."

"Good." I stomped back into the bedroom and slammed
the door behind me. I sat on the bed with a huff. I couldn't get
over how incredibly rude Trevor was. He had no manners
whatsoever.

And like hell he wasn't interested. I'd seen the way
he was staring at me. It made me blush just thinking about it.

Huffing again, I settled onto the bed and crossed my
legs. I could get a handle on this floating thing without him. I
didn't need him to hold my hand.

Closing my eyes, I took in a deep breath and then let
it out. I did that several times trying to calm my mind and
concentrate on the task at hand. Trevor had his way of doing it; I
would develop my own way, on my own.

I took in another breath, and when I let it out
tingles radiated up and down my legs. It was the same sensation
when my feet fell asleep—the same pins and needles. Something was
happening. I risked a look and cracked open one eye. I was
hovering, cross-legged, about five inches above the mattress. I
grinned in triumph. Take that Mr. Man!

Now if I could just get higher and turn over onto my
stomach...

Two minutes later, I was dog paddling in the air
again, scrambling like mad to find some sort of stability. Up and
down I bobbed, like a fishing lure in the water. Except I wasn't
trying to catch anything, except maybe some dignity. I could just
imagine how foolish I looked clambering for some sort of hold in
the thin air. Yet there was no hold to have. No ceiling light, no
bookcase in the corner, no curtains on the window. Nothing.

Once more, I was stuck like glue to the ceiling
without any way to get down.

Well, there was one way, but I really didn't want to
take it. I'd been embarrassed enough for one night.

Gritting my teeth, I closed my eyes and tried to calm
my mind, tried to visualize my intention—which was to get off the
stupid ceiling and back onto the bed. I even imagined falling. I
didn't really want to drop like a rock to the mattress, I wasn't
sure if my body to take anymore jarring, but if all else failed I'd
rather be banged up and bruised than humiliated beyond all
reason.

But my visualizations didn't work. Nothing seemed
to.

I tried pushing off with my feet and hands, but ended
up just hanging in midair and then floating back up. Isaac Newton
be damned. In my new reality, what went up didn't necessarily come
back down.

I did everything I could think of, pushing, sliding,
cursing, grunting, but I couldn't get down. That left one thing to
do.

Taking a greedy gulp of air, I did one last
thing...

I screamed. "Trevor!"

I didn't have to wait long before the door swung open
and he rushed through. He took one long look at me, glued to the
ceiling like stucco, and then shook his head.

"Tomorrow's going to be one long day."

Chapter 18

I don't know what shook me from sleep. It might've
been the warm brush of air on the back of my neck, or the fact that
my feet were sticking out of the covers and were cold like ice.
Most likely it was the fact that Devon, her pink pigtails looking
as perky as ever, was sitting on the edge of the bed at my
uncovered feet, scowling at me.

"Who the hell are you?"

Gasping, I flinched away from Devon's outstretched
hand. It looked like she was about to rake her ragged fingernails
down my instep. I pulled my legs up and sat back against the
headboard, unsure of exactly what to tell her.

"I said, who the hell are you?" She growled
again.

"Salem," I managed to squeak.

"What are you doing in
my
Trevor's bed?"

"Your Trevor?"

She grinned at me, but it wasn't pleasant at all. In
fact, I swore I saw the tips of four fangs in her mouth. Did
succubi have fangs? God I hoped not. I reached up to my mouth and
rubbed a finger over my gums. Just in case.

"Yes,
he's mine
." She blinked and her eyes
turned to black. She didn't try to hide it. She wanted me to see
it, to scare me. Little did she know that I could do the same
trick.

Thankfully, the door burst open and Trevor stumbled
in affording me a reprieve from doing something stupid and outing
myself.

"What are you doing here, Devon?"

She stood and set her cold dark gaze onto Trevor. "I
came to tell you that we're heading to the club to set up." She
nodded toward me. "And look what I found in your bed. A stray
dog."

That put my back up and I opened my mouth to say
something.

But Trevor was quicker. "I'll be at the club within
the hour. You don't have to check up on me. And I appreciate it if
you use the doors instead of popping in here," he lowered his voice
as if to keep his next words from me, "through the
shadow-ways."

"I can come and go as I please."

Trevor snarled. "Not in my room, you can't. You don't
own me."

With a malicious grin on her face, she strutted
toward him. She stroked one finger down his arm. "Of course I do.
You should know that by now."

"Get out," he muttered under his breath.

"Don't be late to the club. Thane won't like it much
if you are."

"Tough shit."

"I'd be more careful, if I were you. The only reason
Thane keeps you around is because of me. Remember that and maybe
I'll let you keep your new pet."

With a parting sneer toward me, she sashayed out of
the bedroom. Neither Trevor nor I moved or said a word until we
heard the distinctive opening and closing of the hotel room
door.

When she was gone, I let the breath I was holding
out. "Holy crap, Trevor. She was sitting on the bed watching me." I
shuddered. The thought of her being near me for so long without my
knowledge gave me the severe creeps. It just about made me
sick.

"I'll have to ward the hotel room from now on. To
keep them from popping in and out."

"You can do that?"

He nodded. "With salt."

"How does it work?"

"You have to pour at least half a cup in each corner
of each room. It's like making a protection grid. If someone tried
to access a room that's been salted they'd bounce out of the
shadow-way."

"Like bouncing off a huge rubber ball?"

He nodded. "Yeah, just like that."

"Cool."

"K, get up and get dressed."

"Where are we going?"

"To the club. If you're going to hang around you
might as well earn your keep."

"Fine," I groaned.

He turned to leave.

"Hey Trevor?"

He stopped. "What?"

"Can't they, you know, tell what I am?"

"Only if they taste you."

"Ew."

"Not like that, sicko. A kiss, a lick of skin, would
be enough to tell."

I nodded. "Okay, got it. Don't let anyone kiss or
lick me."

"Especially not Thane. He's the one you need to watch
out for."

Trevor left the room so I could drag my ass out of
bed and get dressed. I dreaded being anywhere near Thane and the
others but Trevor said he needed me to help him bring Malice down.
I'd never had that kind of power before. It felt kind of good. Like
maybe I didn't need to be a victim. That I could rise above what
Thane had done to me. Maybe after I helped Trevor kill the demons I
could go back home to my mom, to Chloe, to my life however drab it
may have been. A girl, even a freak cambion one, had to have some
sort of dreams.

Forty-five minutes and a tall mocha latte with
cinnamon sprinkles later, Trevor and I arrived at the club where
Malice would be playing later that night. Quinn met us at the back
door.

"What took you so fucking long?" he barked.

Trevor didn't back down. "I'm here now, so
relax."

Quinn eyed me curiously. He was the shortest of the
band but definitely the biggest and baddest. I had the urge to hide
behind Trevor but instead stood my ground.

He sniffed. "She's too skinny to be a roadie."

"She's stronger than she looks," Trevor said, "Anyway
I'm teaching her the ropes. So if you don't mind?" He gestured
toward the door so we could go through.

After another sniff, Quinn stepped aside. But as we
walked past, I sensed his gaze on me. I dug my nails into my palms
to suppress the urge to turn around and flip him the middle
finger.

Trevor had instructed me to keep my cool and shut my
mouth, and avoid any confrontations with any of the band members. I
had smiled and nodded thinking ‘no problem, I got this' but I
didn't have shit. I wanted to yell and scream and hit something,
preferably him. Thane wasn't the only one that stole from me. They
all had participated in my violation, by their cooperation and
their own transgressions, which were plenty I was sure. Even if
Quinn hadn't been the one to sit on me and suck out my life, he was
still culpable in my transformation.

In my opinion, they all had to die. From that moment
on, I decided I would do whatever Trevor asked of me to help him
with that plan.

For the next two hours, I worked harder than I ever
had before. I lifted and carried equipment from the van to the
stage. I helped set it up doing everything Trevor told me to do. He
told me I was a quick learner. That had made me smile. Not that
praise from him sent me into a tizzy; it was just that he didn't
treat me like a fragile little girl.

I appreciated it. Although my muscles didn't. While
taking a break and drinking a coke, my arms felt like goo. It was
difficult to even lift the can to my mouth. I said as much to
Trevor as we sat together on the edge of the stage passing time and
quenching our thirst.

"Maybe you need to start lifting weights to get
stronger."

"I thought you said I'd be stronger because of..." I
leaned closer to him, "you know."

"I also said it'll take time for everything to kick
in. you're still learning how to control your new found power."

My stomach rumbled then. I rubbed a hand over it,
embarrassed.

He smirked. "Speaking of control."

"Hey, that's just regular hunger talking."

He elbowed me in the side. "I know. We'll get
something after we finish here, which shouldn't be much
longer."

"Cool." I drained the rest of the soda and set the
can down beside me just as Thane appeared at my other side. I
flinched. Trevor put a hand on my arm to keep me from bolting.

"Is it bring your pet to work day?" he leered at
me.

I couldn't believe that two weeks ago I'd found that
smile attractive, sexy even. Now it made my stomach roil. I had a
sudden urge to vomit.