I stacked up my books and stuck them into my book bag. I’d spent the last two hours in the library studying. Miranda was getting ready for another date with Nathan and she was too chatty to allow me to get anything done. This hadn’t been much better. My thoughts had kept going back to last night and what I could have done wrong.
The night breeze was abnormally cool tonight. I pulled my books higher on my shoulder and made my way toward the dorm. It was almost a mile but I figured the walk was good exercise. I didn’t like trying to park Miranda’s SUV. I could see myself scratching it up.
“Dank, stop,” a giggling female voice came from the darkness. My blood froze. Stopping in my tracks I waited to listen for more. Surely I’d heard that wrong.
“I want a taste,” a familiar deep voice replied. My stomach felt sick.
“I can’t get nak*d out here. Someone may come by,” the girl whispered and then let out a small moan.
“Open your legs,” he replied.
I wanted to move my legs. I wanted to move away from the voices. But I couldn’t. My legs weren’t cooperating.
“Right here?” the girl asked breathlessly.
“Yeah,” he said a small groan came from him. Yeah, I was going to be sick.
“Ah, Dank, Mmmmm that feels so good.”
I took off running. I didn’t look back.
Dank
I’d worked all day to make up for my late night with Pagan. Tonight, however, I intended to spend it with her again. I walked into the empty park just outside of Pagan’s dorm before appearing. Leif sat on the bench facing the dorm with one leg crossed over his knee and his arms folded across his chest. What was he still doing here? She didn’t know him nor did she want him. Now that her soul was free of his claim she couldn’t even remember him from one week to the next. A week from now she’d forget about the strange guy who’d ordered her coffee correctly and questioned her. She had a soul. He didn’t. There could never be a lasting connection. A spirit born of Voodoo could never connect with a soul born of the Creator. It was that simple. He knew it too.
“Why are you here?” I didn’t bother to announce my arrival.
“Because I owed you one,” was his only reply.
What the hell did that mean? I glared down at him, “Explain that.”
Leif shrugged. “Not much to explain Dankmar. You took Pagan from me. She’ll never remember me. I lost all I’d ever known and loved. So, I thought you deserved the same thing in return.”
He still made no sense. I knew Pagan was safe. He could no longer touch her soul. I held the life of her soul in my hands. “She never chose you. She chose me. You have no power here.”
Leif stood up and took a step back away from me. He nor his father liked to get too close to me. They knew their place in the scheme of things. My power was never-ending; theirs was conjured by the beliefs of humans. The weight of power lay heavily in my court.
“Let’s just say, we’re even now. If you’re lucky you’ll figure it out, but the damage is done. Goodbye, Dankmar,” Leif glanced at Pagan’s dorm one more time before he vanished.
His solemn tone was the only thing that concerned me. He seemed worried about something. Unsure. He only had feelings for one person. No one else weighed on his conscious. Pagan.
I had to find her. Closing my eyes I sensed her soul. It was hurting. She was in the dorm. I snapped my eyes open to find Gee standing in front of me.
“You’re in a shitload of trouble. I can’t figure it out exactly but I know it’s all kinds of f**ked up.” Gee shook her head and pointed back to the window of Pagan’s room. “She thinks you were doing the wild thing behind the library with some chick. She is positive it was you. The girl called your name out and you talked back to her. It ain’t pretty.”
Fuck.
“It ain’t like she is in love with you. Since she can’t remember who the hell you are but she obviously feels betrayed. She is spouting off about listening to her first instincts and how glad she is she found this out sooner. Rockers are shitheads and that you are scum. I think that about covers it.”
I sank onto the bench and buried my head in my hands. How the hell was I going to fix this? I’d made progress. When Jay’s soul started connecting with hers I was going to have the upper hand. I was going to have found a way into her heart again. But now? She thought I had screwed some other girl? Outside? When?
“When did this happen?” I asked Gee.
“She came slamming into the room about fifteen minutes ago. Calling you very colorful names I didn’t know she was aware existed.”
We’re even now.
Leif’s words replayed in my head. He’d been watching the window to her room. He had been acting as if something was bothering him. Pagan was upset. He knew why. He had done this. I’d taken Pagan from him and he’d returned the favor.