– which was no doubt now permanently scorched into my memory.
‘Shit,’ I said to myself over and over. It was 11.50 p.m. and I was still desperately pushing through hordes of people trying to find a private space to Shift worlds. But there was nowhere, even the bathrooms had queues of people waiting.
‘Shit, shit, shit.’
I picked up the pace, heart racing. Only one option left. I headed for the basement door through the kitchen, passing an almost topless chick I did not, thank god, recognise surrounded by three guys I did recognise trying to talk her into letting them do shots off her. I threw them a disgusted look before I pushed through the door and stumbled down the stairs in the dark. I just needed to find somewhere quiet. Midnight was only a few minutes away and I needed to be at least sitting down. I felt around in the dark, my arm jerking away when it caught on something sharp. I gasped, feeling the sting, and grabbed at my arm, trying to see how bad it was.
The door at the top of the stairs opened, spearing just enough light into the room to glimpse the blood beading from the cut on my forearm. I looked up in time to see the light disappear behind someone who had let the door close behind him.
‘Sabine?’
Shit. It was Dex. I considered not answering, holding my breath and pretending no one was home. But he’d obviously seen me come in. Hell, he could probably hear my pounding heart from where he was. Could things get any more out of control?
‘Down here. I’m just … I’m …’ Just hiding in the basement in the pitch dark so I can Shift between my two lives in private.
‘Needed a minute?’ he suggested.
I considered telling him about my arm to distract him, but quickly ruled it out – he’d just insist on taking me up to the kitchen to clean it. The Shift was so close I wanted to be sick. ‘Yeah. I’m just … you know. I’ll be back up in a minute.’ But then I half jumped, because he’d followed my voice and was right in front of me. His arms slid around my waist. ‘Ah, Dex …’
‘Shh. I know you don’t want to tonight. But that doesn’t mean we can’t do other … things.’ His hand slid up my side, grazing the edge of my breast. I fought back the urge to swat his arm away.
‘Dex, I just … I think I’m drunk,’ I tried, which was true and not helping at all at that moment. I knew I only had about a minute left to get out of the situation, but my stupid mind wouldn’t work. My airways felt like they were closing in on me.
I wriggled a bit, but since Dex chose that instant to move closer, he interpreted it in the very wrong way.
His voice deepened. ‘I’m good to wait until you’re ready, but just so you know … I’m ready whenever you are.’
Evidently.
I opened my mouth to tell him I needed to be alone, but I was too slow and his mouth was on mine and suddenly I was up against something uncomfortable.
Oh no. No, no, no. This isn’t happening.
But it was.
On second four, his hand tightened on my waist … and I Shifted.
CHAPTER FIVE
Roxbury, Saturday
I gasped for air, kicking my feet out as if trying to escape from invisible restraints.
As I thrashed around, something that felt like a lead pipe smacked me on the forehead, forcing me to finally take stock of my surroundings.
‘Shit, shit, shit!’ I’d just Shifted with Dex’s tongue down my throat. I was going to be sick. In some bizarre screwed-up way, for the next twenty-four hours Dex was going to have his tongue lodged in my mouth until I Shifted back and threw him the hell off me.
‘Shit,’ I said again, swallowing back the urge to throw up and concentrating on slowing my breathing. I had to get a grip.
The lead pipe that had hit me in the head was in fact my plastered arm. I wiggled my fingers and could feel the familiar pain flare up. Still broken. Interesting.
What was going on? I pulled my right arm out from under the covers and felt my stomach slide to an all-bad place.
The cut I’d just given myself in the basement – the cut I was just looking at – was gone. Not so much as a scratch. And though I’d never really experimented