Nightwish (An Echoes of Eternity Novel Book 1) Page 17

  “Hey, girl!” said Alexis’s dance partner. “Come back here if you know what’s good for you.”

  Alexis rolled her eyes. Without turning around, she swung a hand behind her toward her partner, and a wad of ice clamped against his mouth, making his eyes pop wide as he clawed at his lips, trying but failing to remove the ice. Frightened, he ran off in the other direction.

  Surprisingly, no one noticed, probably because the man’s huge hands covered his mouth. Everyone probably thought he was too drunk and tried to stave off the urge to vomit.

  Nevertheless, I was astounded by my sister’s ability to not only control the amount of ice that shot from her fingers, but to also hit her target without even looking.

  Judging by Alexis’s smile, she was proud to reveal her magical aptitude, since she no doubt knew that I couldn’t compete with her in that regard.

  Blood rushed into my cheeks, and I pushed down the anger that swelled inside me. My hands felt thick and heavy and, fearing that another jolt of flames would shoot from them, I crossed my arms across my chest and concentrated on cooling off.

  “So yeah,” Alexis said, “don’t think they’re gonna ask any metalheads to play here anytime soon, you know?” She pointed to the DJ on the stage manipulating the beats on a laptop. “Kinda out of your element, don’t you think?”

  I tramped down on the urge to lash out at my sister. While my band played heavy metal, we stretched as musicians by occasionally mixing in other elements as well: pop melodies with a country twang and a blues mentality. We took pride from various influences to create a style that no one could replicate.

  I tried to thwart my impulse to unleash my anger. “You should go. Now!” Fearful that I’d erupt and fail at reigning in my ability to fling bolts of fire across the room, I spun around and headed toward Brandon, who watched me with an uneasy expression. Approaching him, I said, “She wants to deal with it.” I felt the pressure inside me rising, not falling. I needed to staunch the anger inside, but the more I concentrated on doing just that, the more combustive I became. I closed my eyes, trying to find harmony and inner peace.

  “And you’re going to let her?” Stunned, he pushed away from the counter, looking after Kendall. “She’ll get killed.” He started toward the dance floor.

  I held out an arm like a turn-style, stopping him. “Don’t do it. She’ll feel disrespected if you get involved.”

  “But I can’t just let your sister get all witchy on her. Why are you okay with it? What kind of friend are you?”

  “She asked me to trust her, so I’m going to trust her.”

  Disconcerted, Brandon let out a heavy breath and looked after Kendall.

  Alexis lifted her eyebrows at the sight of Kendall. A second later, however, as though eclipsing the surprise she’d exhibited a moment before, her lips twitched with intrigue. Alexis said something, and Kendall started dancing.

  I knew that Alexis had pushed that thought into Kendall’s mind, and I was furious that my sister would resort to such manipulation. I stared at my flats in an attempt to redirect my thoughts.

  “Whoa,” Brandon said, his tone perking up. “That’s actually kinda hot!”

  Upon hearing that comment, I glanced up.

  Alexis danced alongside Kendall, now mirroring her movements, pumping a right hip with every bass line and shucking a left hip to every drumbeat. They were perfectly in sync. While I wouldn’t have reiterated Brandon’s comment, I would say that they looked like professional dancers, who had worked together for months to get their routine down perfectly. But looking closer, I noticed that Kendall was cringing, as though fearful that her body moved in directions that she didn’t twist and contort of her own accord.

  My sister stared into Kendall’s eyes with a wicked gleam in her eye, undulating to her partner’s every toe tap, a persistent smile remaining on her lips, as though challenging Kendall to maintain her rhythm.

  “Jesus,” Brandon said in a tight moan, pushing his hands into his pockets, no doubt trying to adjust a hidden erection. “I don’t think I’ve ever…no, I’ve never seen anything so hot in my life.”

  I wondered what got him so riled up: the sight of Alexis slinking across the dance floor, or the idea of both Kendall and Alexis dancing together. Or maybe both. But seeing him staring wide-eyed at Alexis, I found my answer.

  Robin Thicke’s track gave way to “Bang Bang,” a song featuring Ariana Grande and Nicki Minaj. Kendall, now setting her gaze on Alexis, who wore a stern expression now that the tempo changed, grimaced as she shadowed her partner’s every move.

  “This can’t end well,” I said.

  “Uh, huh,” said Brandon with an unyielding grin. “I know.” He seemed excited by that prospect. “You’re right.” But it was clear he was guided by desire, not rationality.

  “Are you serious?” I asked, annoyed by his excitement. “Alexis is not your type.”

  “Oh, yes, she is,” he said, not even bothering to look my way. He took a sip from his cup of rum and coke. “For a night. Or two. Hell, make it three.”

  “What about Kendall? She’s in love with you,” I said. A second later, however, my insides clenched. I’d kept that secret for four years. The mental overload during the past day must have zapped my brain, making it difficult for me to remember that I should have kept that information private. I chastised myself and hoped that Brandon hadn’t heard what had slipped from my lips.

  He bobbed his head to the music, so infatuated with Alexis that he hadn’t even heard what I’d said. A few seconds later, however, Brandon swung his gaze toward mine. It seemed my words had finally sunk in. “What? No way.” Wincing, he shook his head as though believing if he did so quickly enough, it would ring true. “There’s just…no way.”

  There was no turning back now. I couldn’t pretend that he’d misheard me, so I said, “You are a moron. She’s been into you for years. And you go off with all these women, moving from one girl to another in a quest for…what is it that you want?”

  “Fun,” he said without guilt. “Excitement. Spontaneity.” A short time later, he waved a hand at me in skepticism. “But you wouldn’t understand.” His words came slow from the liquor he’d consumed. He veered his gaze onto Alexis and Kendall once more. “The first time a woman looks at you with more than a passing interest…there’s nothing like it.” He took in a slow, deep breath that seemed like one someone would take upon the first brush of spring after a long winter. “A woman’s touch is unlike anything else. That singular motion, that soft sweep of her fingers, the heat in her eyes, the tilt of her head. It’s full of hope and excitement.” Then he set his eyes on mine and glanced away, as though he’d wasted his time trying to explain himself to someone like me…who had never fallen in lust…if not love.

  My mind flashed back to the conversation I’d shared with Nolan yesterday. I might not have been that experienced in love or sex, but that man twisted my thoughts and my heart in ways that frightened me. I hated not being in control of my life, and when I was with Nolan I lost sight of everything around me. Even worse? I liked it! Still, I hated feeling weak, vulnerable. I despised knowing that anyone had that much power over me, even if I was the one giving it to him.

  But it was obvious that Brandon had the exact opposite reaction. Correction: he loved the way a new woman gazed into his eyes with that first hint of attraction, and that automatically crossed off Kendall from his wish list. When it came to romance or rather sex, Brandon wanted immediate gratification, a relationship based on chemistry. Not love and respect.

  Rather than getting upset with him for overlooking a real relationship in place of a meaningless hook-up, I pitied him. But a second later, I abandoned that thought: at least Brandon had made an intense connection, however fleeting, with a member of the opposite sex. And I refused to get wrapped up in his sex life. It felt icky. As much as I loved Brandon and Kendall, I needed to keep my mouth shut, something I should have done earlier by not telling Brandon how Kendall felt about hi
m.

  At that moment, on the dance floor, Kendall shoved Alexis, who backed into a few couples, pushing them a few yards back. As the disrupted dancers scowled and sneered at them, Alexis didn’t even glance back to apologize. Instead, she grinned at Kendall and talked to her while Kendall’s expression grew more intense, more irritated.

  That’s when Kendall reared back a hand, prepared to slap Alexis in the face, but rather than step back to avoid the blow, my sister gestured toward Kendall’s open-palm. Half a second later, Kendall’s hand froze in mid-air…not just stopping in place, but actually frozen, icicles hanging off her palm. With each passing moment, ice enveloped her right arm, snaking its way upwards as Kendall looked on in horror, unable to fight back as her shoulder stiffened.

  All the while, Alexis had extended a hand toward Kendall’s…with a sneaky smile on her face, looking ecstatic to have terrified her victim.

  A few of the dancers around them noticed that both Alexis and Kendall stopped moving, but within seconds, they disregarded their “dancing style” as others entered the floor, suspecting that the drama with the five other women had ended, having no clue that Kendall’s right hand had crystalized white. Were they blind?

  “What the…?” Brandon raced toward them.

  Following close behind, admonishing myself for trusting Kendall to deal with my sister, I grew ever more volatile as I approached the dance floor. So far, none of the couples had noticed anything unusual.

  By the time I’d reached them, Kendall’s right side, from her leg on up to her neck was locked in ice. Standing in place with a petrified expression, her eyes popping open wide, she stared at that side of her body, half of her mouth open, the other iced tight. “Help,” she murmured, unable to put much emphasis into the word. “Help me!”

  When I reached her, I touched her right side as fright and dread battled within me. Unable to control the mounting pressure, a tremendous amount of anxiety overtook me, filling my body with an unfathomable heat. Within moments, beads of perspiration broke out on my forehead, and a wave of dizziness overtook me.

  I blocked out all of that by concentrating on my friends. I extended a hand and touched Kendall’s shoulder. A couple seconds later, my fingers melted the ice on her shoulder, the warmth radiating from my body and onto hers. Drops of moisture slid down the right side of Kendall’s face, and she grimaced, cracking off the chunk of ice clinging to her mouth.

  Brandon went to her left side, slipping a protective arm around her waist, shocked at the transformation that had overtaken her. Still, he looked at Kendall, surprise registering on his face now that he knew how his closest friend felt about him. His expression, a mixture of fright and pride, made it clear that he couldn’t decide which emotion he intended to follow.

  “You bitch!” Kendall shouted at Alexis, the words fumbling past her lips as though an anesthesiologist had rendered part of her mouth useless. Kendall stood in place, most likely because fifty percent of her body was still chilled.

  “Oh, Brandon,” Alexis said, winking at him. “You’re my hero!”

  Kendall snarled at her. “You stay away from him.”

  A short time later, as those on the dance floor stepped away from our group, the thick ice melted on Kendall’s right side. The blocks of ice crashed to the ground, splitting and sending rivulets of water plopping to the floor. That side of her body was drenched. Since she hadn’t yet recovered from the frigidity, she tried to move her arms and legs, but they shifted slowly as though she’d been bedbound for a week and her muscles had atrophied.

  A horrified scream finally rose around us as people finally recognized what happened around them. They ran from the dance floor, pushing each other, sending one another backward until we were the only four people on the dance floor. Soon enough, people were scampering for the exit, even those who weren’t aware of what had happened. Although the DJ had left the stage, the music still pumped as screams echoed in the distance. Strobe lights flickered on our faces.

  “Nice,” Alexis said to me. “But that doesn’t take much effort. Let’s see how much control you really have.” She unfurled her arm and gestured toward Brandon’s crotch.

  A second later, that area froze. Shocked, Brandon’s eyes bulged and he placed one hand then the other over his private part. “What’s the matter with you?” he asked Alexis with a grunt of pain.

  “A test,” she said, her features transforming into a darker hue. “I know you want me. So prove you deserve me.”

  Brandon stared at her, confused by her logic, uncertain how to respond. “I don’t—”

  “Don’t what?” Alexis asked. “Don’t know what to do?” She laughed. “Don’t be a fool! Don’t deny your impulses. You know what you want.” She set those dark eyes on his. “So just take it.”

  He shook his head, fighting her influence.

  “You’re not weak,” Alexis said to him. “I can tell. So stop acting like it.” She considered him for a moment. “I’ll tell you what: if you grow a pair, look me up.” She flashed a fleeting smile. “I’ll be around.”

  I used their momentary duel of will to attend to Kendall, whose saturated right side had drops of water slipping off her blouse and hitting the floor. She strapped her arms across her chest, shivering, her teeth chattering.

  “Look at her,” Alexis said with a chuckle. “So weak.” Then she set her gaze on mine. “Little Miss University to the rescue? Can’t save two people at the same time, can you?”

  I knew she found Brandon attractive, and for that reason, I knew she wouldn’t harm him, so I didn’t bother to attend to him. But searching deeper, I realized that she didn’t particularly consider Brandon dating material. I didn’t see a flicker of interest in her eyes when I’d brought up his name. Besides, the alternative was too abhorrent to consider.

  At that moment, Brandon cracked the ice in his nether region with his bare hands and breathed a sigh of relief. He bit back a groan as he straightened.

  Alexis’s gaze didn’t waver from mine. “Do you think your power really compares to mine?”

  “Of course,” I said, bluffing. “Grams passed away, but what if I received one-third of her power?” Where that confidence came from, I couldn’t tell. However, it made sense that, if she granted me possession of the grimoire and her bank account, she may have handed down the magical powers that she wouldn’t retain once she passed beyond the veil. I tried to absorb the confidence Grams would have called upon in this situation. Only complete poise would ensure that my sister didn’t notice my uncertainty.

  “Oh, you thought I was trying to hurt her?” Alexis asked. A grin surfaced. “Believe me, if I wanted to, I’d have turned the polar vortex on her, and no matter how hard you tried, you’d fail to help her.”

  “You’re evil, aren’t you?”

  “Evil?” Alexis asked, snickering. “Far from it, sister. When it comes to magic, I’m the closest thing you have to a friend.” Her expression grew thoughtful, free of animosity. “Who else could teach you?” Now she appeared full of pity. “To know that I’m a twin, that there’s a replica of me in this world, even if she’s a flawed, goody-two-shoes…” She shrugged as a smile appeared. “It’s kinda cool.” She met my stare with an enthusiastic expression. “I could teach you…so much!”

  Alexis had permitted some measure of sentimentality to enter her countenance, and I didn’t know how to take it. Had she resorted to that tactic as a scheme to disarm me, only to turn against me later? Rather than respond, because I didn’t know what to say, I rubbed my hands up and down Kendall’s chilled side to warm her up and pulled her body closer to mine to conserve heat.

  Brandon set his eyes on mine. “You should go.” Irritation marked his expression. “You’ve done enough!”

  I looked at him and felt betrayed, but after a couple seconds, I realized that Brandon not only spoke his mind, but I got the impression that he also expected me to learn more about my sister, to make certain that something of this magnitude wouldn’t happen aga
in.

  The man Alexis had danced with earlier appeared in the background, stopping at the outskirts of the light that hovered over the dance floor. He glanced around the club, puzzled as to why so many guests had vacated the area.

  Even though darkness obstructed my view of this mystery man, I couldn’t help but imagine that it was Nolan. Not that his unexpected appearance would help the situation playing out before me. Like almost every other person in the country, he probably knew nothing about the paranormal powers that some people obtained. Even more likely, given his penchant for stoicism, he would be unaffected by what took place before him. I guessed that Nolan would examine the situation, determine the likely outcome, and head in the opposite direction, not in fear but in disinterest.

  The mystery man stared at Alexis then placed his attention on me. He did another double take, as though doubting that two people could share nearly identical DNA. Then he headed toward the exit, determined not to look our way again as he left the building.

  At that moment, my sixth sense told me that Nolan had indeed left the club, that he’d figured he’d spent time with me on dance floor…until he saw both me and Alexis on the dance floor. Although he hadn’t appeared shocked, he’d certainly left the club in a rush of confusion. And who could blame him?

  I set my sights on Alexis. “I think it’s scary, having a twin sister, someone who looks exactly like me, except much better in so many ways.” I didn’t need to lie to pump up her ego: Alexis was much more beautiful and powerful than me. No one could dispute those facts. I didn’t want to acknowledge those positive attributes, mostly because of her earlier statements about wanting to kill me. But I hoped to touch on elements that she might not openly regard as important: a conscience. Of course, that idea seemed preposterous: how could she adjust her murderous intentions so swiftly?

  But when I looked at Alexis with greater scrutiny, I couldn’t detect a singular bad intention. If anything, she appeared curious, even regretful. I wondered if she talked about murdering me to placate our mother, who couldn’t fulfill her intentions due to the restrictions magic placed on that possibility.