Lunacy Page 7

  “I saw… My eyes were…” he trailed off, still staring at his reflection like he was waiting for his eyes to duplicate the unnatural complete change of hues.

  “Yeah. I saw it, too.” I agreed, my heart pounding beneath my ribs like a caged bird. “Should we go to the hospital?” My question instantly made his shoulders tense and I felt the atmosphere grow heavy with his anxiety.

  “No,” he said finally. “No hospitals. Whatever the hell that was, the last thing I want is some white room full of people hooking me up to machines and cutting me open to see what makes me tick. Hell, I don’t even know what this shit means, but I know that I feel fine. Aside from being freaked the fuck out, I don’t feel sick. So, no. No hospital.” His words were all spoken very quickly with little to no breath in between them. He must have been more upset than he was letting on. And he was spazzing hardcore on the outside, so he must have been on the verge of a heart attack, internally.

  Jynxx turned and looked at me solidly for a moment, his gaze heavy while he leaned back against my dresser, slouching deliciously so the muscles in his stomach bunched in a manner most enticing. He looked positively appetizing, and I was walking towards him, looking through my eyes like I was watching a movie and I wasn’t even in control of my body anymore. Jynxx went very still as I stalked toward him. I felt like I was prowling, the movement of my hips and arms predatory.

  I stopped so close to him that our bodies could have pressed flush against each other with a deep breath. My skin thrummed from the nearness and I had a very strong urge to touch him. The moment I thought it, my hands were moving to caress him of their own accord. I forced my hands away from temptation, trembling with the effort, and placed them on either side of Jynxx’s hips, gripping tightly to the edge of the dresser. The contact with something solid and not made of flesh was helping me to regain my focus. What in the hell was wrong with me, all of a sudden?

  I looked up at Jynxx and his eyes were wide with fear, a spooked horse about to bolt. I was about to ask him what was wrong, but he shook his head and leaned slightly to the side so I could see myself in the mirror. My heart skipped a beat and I blinked rapidly, hoping to chase away the fact that my normally greenish eyes were now the glowing white-blue of a mountaintop at noon in the dead of winter.

  As if that alone wasn’t weird enough, Jynxx leaned in and heavily inhaled, reminding me of a bloodhound trying to catch a scent. “You smell like the forest after a snowstorm, Kacea. Green, wet, frosty…”

  The black melted from his eyes again and we stood there silently, the light from our eyes reflecting on each other’s faces. In that moment, I was no longer afraid. And neither was he. Through our collective calm, I managed to find my way back to the realm of reason.

  “I don’t know what’s happening, but we need to get out of the house. This keeps happening when it’s just the two of us, so logic dictates that we should be safe if we’re around other people.” He nodded. “So… I should probably take you home, then.” He crossed his arms over that broad chest and it drew my gaze, but still he didn’t move. Rather than making any of the lewd comments coursing through my brain, I mirrored his pose and said, “Well? What are you waiting for?”

  A smirk curved the corners of those full lips and he countered, “Short of picking you up and moving you, I’m kinda trapped here, Kaysh. And with how badly we’re reacting to each other, I don’t think me touching you is the best course of action.”

  I had the grace to be embarrassed at the voice of reason, and the light from my eyes suddenly wasn’t showing on Jynxx’s face anymore. Interesting. I stepped back and the amber color seemed stuck in his eyes, but he was otherwise relaxed. “I’ll go get dressed and we’ll take off, okay?”

  He gave me a soft smile that should have been terrifying with those predator’s eyes, and his voice was just as gentle. “Sure thing, Kitten.”

  I headed into my walk-in closet and pulled the chain to turn on the light. It was more than big enough in there to change, and I’d put a full length mirror against one wall for just this purpose. I didn’t really have anyone to impress, so I grabbed a simple burgundy baby doll tee and threw on a pair of clean jeans, pulled my hair back in a low ponytail and called it good. I emerged from the closet, feeling just a little sad that Jynxx had put all that pretty muscle away.

  “I preferred the outfit you had on a few minutes ago,” I said aloud with a teasing grin, feeling more confident than before. Now that we weren’t totally invading each other’s personal space, it seemed like the air in the room was lighter, easier to breathe.

  Jynxx laughed, his eyes still yellow. "You were the one who put the kibosh to that one, remember? Kick your own ass for me being dressed right now, not mine."

  “Yeah, yeah.” I waved it off, still a little edgy about the fact that his eyes hadn’t returned to normal.

  We headed downstairs and I locked up as we left, piling into the car and beginning the long vehicular trek to the house Jynxx shared with his younger brother and band mates.

  Chapter 10

  We drove for a few minutes in comfortable quiet aside from the stereo, enjoying the warmth of the car that cut out the early fall chill with Jynxx sitting in the passenger seat.

  “I would have made you a proper breakfast if we hadn’t had to take off so quickly. Now I’ll have to make you lunch once we get back to my place, instead.”

  I glanced at him from the corner of my eye, focused on the road ahead of us. “Don’t tell me you can cook,” I said, starting to think he had to be a serial killer or something. The kid was too good to be true.

  He laughed and slouched comfortably in his seat. “Alright. I won’t tell you, then.”

  “So… You’re hot, can cook, and have a brain and sense of humor, on top of being a kickass guitarist.” He shrugged. “Why are you single, again?”

  “I guess you could say I’m selective.”

  “Selective?” I scoffed, turning slightly to look at him. “You must be the pickiest mofo going! You’ve got to have girls throwing themselves at you, left and right!”

  “I’m more antisocial than you might think.”

  I had an odd itch on the back of my neck, then; not an itch to be scratched, but a nervous itch. I felt like there was someone watching us, like we were being followed. I must have let some sign of my anxiety show on my face because Jynxx turned the stereo down a little. “What’s the matter?” he asked, turning slightly from his lazy slouch low in the seat.

  I shook my head, eyes to the road and not wanting to tell him any details about the nightmare I'd had. “I had some pretty fucked dreams last night. Guess they're still making me twitchy is all.” I glanced in the rearview and both side mirrors, seeing no evidence of pursuit, but unable to shake the feeling of apprehension that was the tickle of a dagger's tip between my shoulders.

  “It’s gotta be more than that, Kaysh.” He sat up straighter in his seat and looked over his shoulder, also checking around us in the mirrors. “Do you think there’s someone following us?”

  I started to shake my head and deny my suspicions when he sat up suddenly and pointed to the road in front of us, half shouting: “Look out!”

  My eyes darted back to the road and I swore loudly, stomping on the brakes and ducking in case the giant dog I was about to hit came rolling up the hood and through the windshield. I kept the wheel straight until the car finally came to a screeching halt a few mere seconds later, although it seemed like the squealing of rubber on asphalt went on for centuries. My Dad had always said never to swerve to avoid hitting an animal. Your situation could go from scary to deadly in a matter of seconds.

  I looked up and around and saw no sign of it anywhere. We hadn’t hit it, but I pulled over to the side of the road and parked anyway, just to double-check and calm down enough not to crash due to my shot nerves. I got out and let the door slam behind me, the noise it made hardly registering. A quick inspection showed me that my car was fine, aside from the rubber I’d lost off my tires f
rom about sixty feet back down the road. The skid marks were going to grab people’s attention for a good long while.

  Jynxx was out of the car only seconds behind me. “You okay, Kaysh?” he asked, coming to stand beside me.

  I answered him with, “Is it just me, or did I almost just annihilate a dire wolf with my car?”

  “A what?”

  “Dire wolf, Jynxx. They’re supposed to be extinct. Think like a gray wolf, but longer and heavier, with almost Sabertooth Tiger teeth.” I shook my head, my eyes darting back and forth as I scoured my memory for the information from a report I’d written for biology a few years back. “But they have shorter legs. Lower to the ground…”

  Jynxx nodded. “That thing wasn’t short at all. It was like, pony-sized.”

  I agreed and sighed loudly, shaking my head again. “What a friggin’ way to start the day…”

  We got back into the car and managed to make it the rest of the way to Jynxx’s place without incident.

  It was a cute place. I was surprised at how huge the house looked in the day light. The place Jynxx called home was dark green with mahogany trim. A large bay window with sheer curtains that nearly matched the siding took up a good portion of the front of the place. I assumed it was part of the living room.

  I parked my car by a few others that must have belonged to Jynxx’s band mates, and we headed to the small front porch. While Jynxx fished for his keys, I took a minute to appreciate their very old front door. It was beautiful, an antique with a large frosted glass oval window. Its color matched the trim on the rest of the house perfectly.

  Just as Jynxx was about to unlock the door, it opened of its own accord. On the other side was a lanky boy who stood slightly taller than me and looked eerily similar to my classmate. Aside from his smaller build and platinum blond hair -natural, from the shade of his eyebrows - they shared facial features and had the same dark eyes. It had to be Jynxx’s…

  “Jynxxie!” He slurred, half falling into a hug with the taller boy.

  The smell of booze on his breath as he leaned near me made my eyes water and I covered my nose and mouth with my hand as politely and discreetly as possible. Jynxx looked at me and rolled his eyes towards his brother, mouthing the words ‘I’m sorry.’

  “Jesus, Jimmy! Are you still drunk?” he asked his younger brother aloud.

  Jimmy shrugged and help up his hand, forefinger and thumb about an inch apart. “Only a l-little,” he replied, his slur making me laugh. It drew his attention to me in a way I wasn’t expecting and he gave me a crooked smirk, all traces of drunkenness sliding away to reveal a charm that was honestly hard to resist.

  His arm slid around my waist and he pulled me against the solid heat of his body like I belonged there, or like I belonged to him, at least. “And who might you be?” he asked, dark eyes so like his brother’s looking down into mine.

  “Kacea,” I said simply, trying my best not to struggle.

  “You are a vision,” he teased, looking over my shoulder to Jynxx. “Clearly a much better catch than the ones he usually brings home.”

  Vision? Who the hell did this kid think he was? Robert Redford?

  My automatic outward response: denial. My nervous laughter probably didn’t help matters any. “Oh, no! Jynxx and I aren’t, you know, dating or anything.” As much as I wished for the exact opposite to be true…

  Two sets of funereal eyes snapped to me. Jynxx’s full of warning, and Jimmy’s full of heat and darker things.

  Well, shit.

  Alarm bells rang in my head as he lifted my chin with his fingertips so I had to look up at him. Everything slowed as he caught my eyes with his, and I felt trapped like a mouse by the gaze of a snake. Slow motion became time-lapse photography as I grabbed his wrist and did something like a Judo toss, ending up with him flat on his back faster than I’d ever moved - or seen anyone move - in my entire life. I still had a hold on his wrist and I sat in a low crouch, my pulse like thunder in my ears. The back of Jimmy’s head was barely an inch away from getting cracked off the deck.

  They both looked just as shocked as I was, but before I could move or apologize, a woman I didn’t recognize appeared in the doorway behind Jimmy. She was short, barely above five feet tall, and busty. Her hair was long and wild, brunette and untamed with streaks of shiny grey throughout. She looked like she’d just run a marathon through the nearby forest.

  “You must be the one the boys have been talking so much about.” Her accent was thick, Germanic, and she knelt down to pull the still-stunned Jimmy to his feet. “Get your happy ass back inside, Birthday Boy. The party is over.”

  He looked to me again for a second, the look in those dark eyes telling me that this wasn’t over yet. Then he did as he was told without question, and that made me wonder who this woman could be to all of them. Maybe she was someone’s mother? But she looked so young. She couldn’t be more than a few years older than we were. Could she?

  Wait… Why the hell had the guys been talking about me?

  “You’re glowing again, darling.” she said simply, a small and knowing smirk curving the corners of her ruby red lips.

  “Again? How do you..?”

  “The time for answers is soon, child. But come inside, before you scent draws them all to the door.”

  I had no clue what the hell she was talking about, and I had a moment of panic remembering the giant dog we’d almost road pizza’d. Her logic made perfect sense in that moment and we headed inside. She owed me some answers, and it looked like Jynxx’s band mates did, too.

  ***

  We were sitting in the sizeable living room, and I couldn't help feeling like I was about to experience an intervention of some sort. Everyone was clustered in a close semi-circle, and they all looked nervous. Not guilty, well... Jimmy looked guilty and like he enjoyed it, but that kid was another matter entirely. Teigan and the lady were the only ones who looked comfortable.

  Jynxx and I were still glowing, amber and snowstorm white, and it was starting to piss me off. It couldn't be radiation or it would've messed with the other boys, too. And since nobody was glowy but us, logic dictated that it was some sort of reaction to each other. But what the hell could be causing it? Possession? Magick of some sort?

  The wild woman caught my attention with a little wave of her hand, noticing that I'd been spacing out and lost in my own thoughts. "Stay with us, dear. All your worries and doubts shall be assuaged."

  I was skeptical, and still a bit jumpy, so I did my best to be civil. "And who, exactly, are you?" I leaned forward a bit and Jynxx grabbed my upper arm in warning. "More importantly, lady, what are you?"

  The tension in the room was suddenly thick enough to choke on and I finally noticed in the dim lighting that her eyes were glowing as well. But hers were like liquid quicksilver. They were the same as the streaks in her hair that I'd mistaken for grey. The highlights in her hair made me think of tinsel, and it was only magnified when she laughed and the sound was like the melodic tinkling of bells.

  "Ah, the impudence of youth! You always were good for a laugh, Skadhi." Before I could interject, she went on. "My name now is Elomina. What is happening between you and Jynxx will become more commonplace, so you need to prepare. You, Kacea, are special. You've been noticing strange things of late, such as your ninja take-down of Jimmy earlier." I nodded. "You possess the essence of Skadhi, Norse goddess of the mountains and winter, beloved of the Wolf."

  "Essence? Meaning?"

  "To put it most simply, you are the reincarnation of Skadhi, the Ulven Elskerinne, Mistress of Wolves."

  Not skipping a beat, I countered with, "Shouldn't a goddess be immortal? Why would they need to be reincarnated?"

  "Popular misconception. A god can be killed, in a physical sense. They are much harder to kill, and it may seem impossible since they tend to heal more quickly, but there are ways." She looked a little green at the thought of what it took to kill a god. "But the spirit, essence, soul...That part is indeed immortal.
This is true of all beings, but most are not aware of it. And so, their soul goes where they believe it will after their vessel, their body, is worn and no longer functions. But gods remember, they maintain their knowledge, their... Powers, so to speak."

  I was quiet as I pondered it over. Denying it when my eyes kept lighting up like the Aurora Borealis would be foolish. "Say I'm willing to buy this. A good friend of mine's a pagan and her mother's mildly clairvoyant, so I've seen some weirdness in my life. What does that mean for me? And what's that say for Jynxx?"

  "He is ulven. A wolf born into the body of a human. They are capable of shifting shape, if they're of such a mind. But if they haven't consciously done so by a certain stage of their life, the wolf will free itself." Her eyes flicked to Conner for the barest of seconds before returning solidly to me. "Sometimes to disastrous effect."

  My head was spinning, and not in a nifty projectile pea soup kinda way. “Let's see if I’ve got this. He's a werewolf, and I'm a goddess reborn." Elomina nodded, and I was strangely comfortable with it. But part of me needed some more empirical evidence.

  "Let me guess. You would like some proof aside from your eyes being lit up like a mountain peak at noon?" She turned back to Conner, whose eyes weren't glowing, but a more subdued version of Jynxx's that I'd foolishly mistaken for hazel. "Would you be so kind?"

  He gave her a sheepish and crooked grin, and I now noticed that his upper and lower canines were, well... More canine. They were much longer than they should've been. "I, uh... Spend more time being free than the others do." Conner pulled his shirt up and over his head, tossing it onto the couch blindly behind him. His socks joined it, then he undid his belt and the button on his jeans.

  I held up my hands, a touch uncomfortable by him taking off all his clothes. "Whoa, whoa, whoa... Naked? Why?" Go, me! That was articulate.

  He gave me a soft, reassuring smile. “If I have to shift with my clothes still on, you owe me a new outfit, rich girl.” he said teasingly.