His explanation didn’t add up; in a situation involving a paranormal entity, Jared’s focus bordered on obsessive. “You can’t afford to be distracted in that kind of situation. What the hell were you thinking about?”
He turned away.
“Jared.” I grabbed his sleeve, wheeling him around to face me. “What were you thinking about?”
For a moment, he didn’t respond. “You,” he finally said, softly. His eyes moved up my neck slowly until they found mine, and suddenly my heartbeat sounded so loud I was sure he could hear it, too. Jared ran his finger down the side of my face, lingering at my jawline to tuck a wet strand of hair behind my ear. “I can’t explain it. But when you’re not with me, I can’t stop wondering where you are, and if you’re okay. Andras is out there somewhere, and I keep imagining what will happen if Andras finds you.”
Me too.
But I couldn’t admit it to Jared, not when I was trying to persuade him to leave me here. Not when all I could think about was the way his touch made me dizzy. “That’s crazy.”
“Call it whatever you want, but it’s not something I can just turn off.” He hooked his fingers through the belt loops of my jeans and pulled me against him. “I’m safer with you than without you. And you’re safer with me. I know you’ve heard about the missing girls, Kennedy. Are we going to talk about the fact that they all look like you?”
I swallowed hard. “Why me? I’m not even a member of the Legion.”
“I don’t know, but I’m not letting you out of my sight until we figure it out.”
The backdoor of Anderson Hall banged open, and a path of depressing, florescent light cut through the rain.
One of the dorm mothers squinted into the darkness. “Who’s out here?”
Come with me, he mouthed, tugging my arm.
For nineteen days, Jared had lingered at the edge of my every thought. Wondering if he was safe, and worrying he wasn’t. That fear had terrorized me in a place even the nightmares couldn’t touch.
I pictured a jagged piece of glass slicing into Jared’s abdomen, and his bloodstained hands clutching the wound.
He was thinking about me.
Jared’s blue eyes pleaded silently.
Even if I wasn’t part of the Legion, I had to find a way to keep him safe.
When we reached the edge of the woods, I heard voices.
“No one touched your precious demon slayer belt, Buffy.” Elle’s voice carried over the rain, irritated and unmistakable.
“Just keep your idle little hands off my stuff,” Alara snapped.
I squeezed Jared’s hand. “Elle’s with you?”
He smiled, and I took off through the trees.
“Ladies, let’s spend more time worrying about not getting arrested and less time arguing.” Priest leaned over the front seat of a beat-up, black Jeep Commander, trying to referee.
Lukas’ arms were crossed on the steering wheel, and his head was buried in the crook of his elbow, like a kid who had fallen asleep on his desk during class.
“Elle,” I called.
With the windows rolled down, it only took her a second to hear me. She spun around, her red hair swinging over her shoulder.
“Kennedy?” She scrambled out of the car and threw her arms around me. “You’re okay. I thought they were giving you shock treatment or something in there.”
“It wasn’t like that.” I returned her death grip of a hug.
Elle was exactly the same—from her skinny jeans and vintage leopard print jacket that only looked cool on her, to the red hair and killer smile that drove guys crazy, everything about her was unrestrained and unedited. Two qualities I had always envied. Now the idea of possessing either seemed dangerous.
“Well, you look like hell.” Alara had one hand on her hip and an elbow propped up on Priest’s shoulder. The hood of her fitted, black parka was pulled over her wild, brown waves. She’d added a stud next to the silver ring in her eyebrow, undoubtedly piercing this one herself, too. Her leather tool belt, stocked with a plastic soda bottle filled with holy water, and an EMF, among other things, hung low on her hips over a pair of the army surplus cargos I remembered. The black eyeliner that usually winged out at the ends to create the perfect cat eye was smudged. Otherwise, Alara was still the prettiest and the toughest girl I’d ever met.
“Thanks.” The corner of my mouth turned up.
“Real nice.” Elle shot Alara a look that sent most girls running for cover. “She was practically institutionalized. Let’s have a little sensitivity—”
Alara and Priest plowed through Elle. They each hooked an arm around my neck and hugged me.
“Things weren’t the same without you.” Priest pushed his blond bangs out of his eyes. His signature headphones were hooked around his neck, underneath his hoodie. “Alara moped around, and Jared trashed this hotel room we were staying in.”
Jared jammed his hands in his pockets, but instead of staring at the ground, he kept his eyes on me.
“Why don’t we move this party before somebody figures out Kennedy’s gone?” Lukas walked around the side of the Jeep, wearing a crooked smile—one of the few noticeable differences between the Lockhart twins. Aside from Lukas’ smile and black, nylon flight jacket, and the scar above Jared’s eye, the two brothers were mirror images of each other.
He glanced at Jared and caught me an awkward hug. “It’s good to see you.”