Full Moon (8 page)

He glanced
back and forth between the two of us. His face then broke into a
half-smile. “You do make a sexy slave.” He walked over and reached
for the necklace’s pendant. It seemed to burn with his touch. His
fingers cooled the skin against my collar and neck.

My breath
caught. “This isn’t Caleb’s, is it?”

He chuckled.
Leaning forward, he gave me a tender kiss on the forehead. “It’s
definitely not Caleb’s.” He tucked a stray curl behind my ear.

My head spun.
I wasn’t sure if it was from the moment as it seemed like something
deeper than just words were being said, or if it was Michael’s
close proximity, or the fact I’d forgotten to breathe.

Grace sighed
quietly. I guess we should get going.”

We headed down
the stairs. I stared at Michael’s almost bare back. Nice tight
muscles, smooth skin with slightly protruding boney shoulders. The
guy probably had zero body fat.

Sarah waited at the bottom with a digital camera. She snapped
a photo and looked at the screen. “There’s a back flash from
Rouge.” Sarah glanced up and stared at my neck, her eyes grew big.
“Michael, did you put the
Siorghra
on her?” She sounded…almost hopeful.

I stopped on the second to last step.
What the heck’s going on?
These
people seemed to be leaving half their sentences inside their
heads.
What’s a Senora, or whatever they
called it?
There was obviously some hidden
meaning. More strange secrets. I intended to find out, after I
knocked the necklace against the back of the head of
Grace.

“
Grace put it on.” Michael winked.

At me or
Sarah? I couldn’t tell.

“
It suits the outfit, doesn’t it?” Grace, grinning like a
madman, finally spoke up.

“
It looks gorgeous. Rouge looks gorgeous.” Sarah opened a
closet door. “Sweety, take this scarf wrap, in case you get cold.”
She held a sapphire blue scarf out to me.

“
Thanks.” I wrapped the pretty scarf around my wrist not sure
if I’d need it.
Better to have it and not
need it.

We drove to
the school in Michael’s car. My gladiator would never ride in a
tiny Smartcar. The music could be heard from the parking lot. I
climbed out of the car, setting the scarf on top as I flipped the
seat forward so Grace could crawl out.

We walked
around the side of the school and found Simon leaning against the
wall outside the gymnasium, dressed as Tuxedo Ken.

He grinned
when he saw Grace. “It’s about time. I was beginning to think you
were going to stand me up! Damon said—”

“
He here?” Michael glanced around.

“
Damon?” Simon’s eyebrow’s mashed together. “No, he had some
family function or something.”

“
Probably couldn’t find a date.” Grace whispered.

We headed
inside. The gymnasium had been transformed. There were flickering
lights set against the walls to look like fireplaces, roughly hand
made tables and benches lined one side and students sat drinking,
snacking and laughing. Painted brick patterns covered the walls and
floors. A pair of thrones sat on the stage with stage. An ancient
castle made to look present day. A big cauldron filled with fruit
punch stood to the left of the stage.

“
I’ll get us some drinks.” Michael gave my hand a light
squeeze before disappearing into the crowd.

I shivered.
The janitor had probably put the fans or air-conditioning on in the
gym. Realizing I’d left the scarf on the hood of the car. I leaned
toward Grace. “I’ll be right back.”

Jogging to the
car, I hoped it hadn’t disappeared. It wasn’t on the top where I’d
left it. Bending down, I looked under the car and frowned. Not
there. I straightened and checked the top of the trunk and hood.
The wind had blown it against the wiper and luckily it had caught
on the end. I wrapped it over my shoulders.

I turned
around to head back to the gym and nearly jumped out of my skin.
Damon stood before me, his arms crossed tight over his chest.

“
Sheesh. You scared me.” I swallowed. “I didn’t hear you come
up.”

“
Did you come with
her
? Simon said he was going as her
flippin’—Ken.” He spat on the ground and then leaned forward, his
pitch black eyes and hot breath smacked against my face like a
slap. “I’m obviously concerned for his safety.”

This guy’s freaking nuts
. “I’ve no
clue what you’re talking about.”
Was he
drunk
? As I looked into his eyes to see
the tell-tale red on white, Damon stepped back, like
I
terrified
him
.

“
You are so going to burn in hell for this one. You think you
can squirm your way into that family?”

He was crazy
.
“You’re the stupidest person I’ve ever met, and believe me
I’ve met some real idiots.”

“
Listen, bi--” he stopped mid-sentence and reached for my
neck.

Jammed between
him and the Mustang, I had nowhere to go. My hands curled into
fists and rose by my neck, trying to protect it. Was he going to
strangle me right in the school parking lot?

Instead, he
stepped back again, pulling one hand back like I’d burned him. He
swiped at my throat with the hand still in the air.

He’s trying to grab my necklace.
I
clutched the pendant, worried he’d lean in and rip it
off.

Instead, he kept his distance, but the venom in his voice
couldn’t be missed. “So help me, Rouge. If you
ever
come near me again, I’ll
destroy you. I know exactly what their
kind
are. And I’m not alone. More
know. Lots more.” He snorted, pointing at me. “Yeah, you tell your
precious Michael that. Let him know we’re going to annihilate him.”
He turned and ran off into the darkness.

He’s definitely crazy.
I couldn’t
move. I’d forgotten how to breathe. My brain told my body to walk
back to the gym, to get there as fast as I could, but I stood
frozen, clasping the pendant protectively in my hand.

“
You okay? What’s taking so long?” Michael walked around the
front of the car.

I jumped.
Dazed, I stared at him. What had Damon meant about Michael’s kind.
“I, um, left Sarah’s shawl on top of the car and came out to get
it. D-Damon stopped by…” my voice trailed off.

“
What?” Michael swung around, doing a three sixty. “Where’d he
go?”

“
I dunno.” I raised my hand and twirled my fingers and then
snapped. “One moment he was here and the next, gone.” I stared into
the darkness where Damon had disappeared.

“
Let’s get outta here.” He unlocked the car doors.

I blinked,
trying to focus. “We can’t just leave Grace.” Damon could go after
her.

“
I’ll let her know.”

“
No. You wait here and I’ll ask Simon to drive Grace home.” I
needed a moment to catch my breath and my nerves.

“
I can – never mind.” He shook his head. “Go. I’ll make sure
Damon’s sorry ass isn’t poking around.”

“
I’ll be right back.” I sprinted off to the gym. My wobbly
legs needed to run out the adrenalin stuck inside them.

Grace wasn’t
hard to spot on the dance floor. She looked like she’d been
expecting me. Simon seemed to be dancing on his own.

“
Do you mind driving Grace home?” I asked him.

He replied
before Grace had a chance. “Love to! What kind of Ken would I
be?”

Grace shook
her head, looking directly at me. “What’d he want?”

Did she mean Damon?
I hadn’t
mentioned a thing.
I swallowed. Damon had
taken off in the other direction. He wouldn’t come back
tonight.
“Michael and I just want to hang
out.”

Simon put his
hand up for a high five, which I slapped, not understanding
why.

“
You go, girl!”

“
You’re still sleeping over, right?” Grace asked.

“
Yeah, I’ll see you back at the house.” I gave her a hug and
went to meet Michael waiting in the car.

We sat in
silence as Michael drove. Staring absently out the window, I tried
to figure out Damon’s weird behavior. Maybe he was on drugs. Maybe
he had something wrong with the processes in his brain. The lack of
cars and streetlights stopped my train of thought. A bluish hue
covered everything from the bright night sky. “Where’re we
going?”

“
We have a cabin by the lake. I figured we could hang out
there for a bit.” He let his foot off the gas. “That doesn’t sound
right at all. We hit a Tim Horton’s.”

“
Should I be scared?” I teased. “You’re taking me to a hidden
cabin in the woods and next week will I be the front headlines in
all the national papers?”

“
Ha-ha.” He laughed sarcastically. “The place is like fifteen
minutes away. I just thought it’d be easy to talk there. I go when
I want some peace and quiet.”

“
Then let’s go. We’re almost there now.” I trusted Michael and
I had a few questions myself.

He flipped the
blinker on and headed onto the exit. “It’s just a couple miles down
the road from here.”

Ten minutes
later he pulled onto a gravel lane. He drove the car easily through
the dark forest. A cabin stood in the distance with a glass lake
stretching behind it. The cabin was the kind you saw in those
country magazines. Modern, with a vintage look but absolutely
gorgeous. Michael, still in his Spartacus outfit and oblivious to
the cool air, opened the door and switched lights on as I followed
him in.

Simple shades
of beige colored the walls, mixed in with wood and brown leather
furniture. My gaze caught on the six tall windows facing the lake.
The lack of style inside the cabin disappeared by staring out those
windows.

“
I’ll get a fire going.” He opened a brass ornately decorated
box and started to toss the wood into the brick fireplace. He had
the logs snapping and flames dancing in moments.

Taking my
hand, he pulled me over to the couch.

My legs barely
touched the leather, and he leaned in to kiss me.

I returned
with frantic kisses while his hands roamed down my back, his
fingers finding their way to rest along the spaces between my ribs,
his nails scraping against my shirt. Everywhere he touched shocks
of longing started on my skin and ran through my blood to my heart.
I swear I was going to explode.

Groaning,
Michael gently, but firmly, pushed me away. I didn’t want to stop,
he tasted like I needed more of him. I leaned in to fill the space
between us. The fire’s reflection danced against his bare
shoulders.

“
Rouge,” he whispered, “we need to talk. If you keep doing
this, we’re not going to get anywhere.”

“
I really don’t have anything important to say.” If we talked,
something would change. Don’t know why I knew it, but I did.
Couldn’t I just have this moment -- for like ten
minutes?

“
Rouge.” The warning tone in his voice made me straighten and
watch him. He was right. We needed to talk.

Michael stared
into the fire, resting his elbows on his knees and rubbing his
hands together. He sat quiet, both of us trying to catch our
breath.

Finally, he
sighed. “What did Damon want?”

I shrugged.
“He doesn’t like your family much.”

Michael sat
rigid. “Tell me exactly what happened.”

“
It was stupid. Total loser. He acted all worried about Simon.
Then he looked at me like
I
scared him.” I paused, waiting for Michael to
stop clenching and unclenching his hands. “The guy's psycho. I
thought he was going to steal the necklace.”

Michael
inhaled and exhaled loudly, his nostrils flaring.

Something about Damon’s comments gnawed at me. I tapped a
finger against the top of my knee, not sure if I should ask Michael
or just ignore Damon’s useless babble.
Honesty or nothing.
I took a deep
breath. “He said he knows what you are. What the heck’s he talking
about? Is Caleb part of some sort of mafia?”

Michael
snickered then covered his mouth. “Sorry. That was rude of me.
Trying to picture Caleb eating spaghetti like some TV mafia-guy...”
He shook his head. “If you knew Caleb, you’d get it.” He moved, and
shifted me as well, so we sat facing each other. He took my hands
and rested them on his knees, laying his on top.

More strange talk
. Maybe there was
something wrong with the water here. I pulled a hand out of
Michael's and touched the pendant. “What is this
necklace?”

Ignoring my
question, Michael stared at the window behind me. “Damon knows what
the pendant stands for. He knows who we are.” He removed his hands
from mine and began picking his perfectly clean fingernails.

Why the sudden nervousness?
“What?”
I’d get answers tonight, if I had to shake them out of him. “Whose
necklace is this?”

“
Mine,” he whispered, not looking up.

I slid the pendant along the chain.
Not really a surprise, is it?
“What’s inside?”

“
Blood…my human blood.”

Wha-?
I didn’t expect that as a
reply. The pendant dropped with a clunk against my chest. “If it’s
you’re blood, why wouldn’t it be human?”