Evanescent - By Addison Moore Page 0,27
we were in the eye of some demonic hurricane.
“Shit,” I say it low. Jen must have got her wires crossed, and morphed us into middle earth. A blue glow emanates from the right, and Jen pulls me along until we hit a rectangular walkway. From the other side, a blazing fire stretches high and wide as the eye can see.
The heat prickles over my body. The flames are far too close. They make this dress feel like one too many layers of clothing, and my face starts to singe.
“We need to get out of here,” I shout over the dull roar of the flames.
“I’m getting out of here,” she says, shoving me toward the wall of fire. “You’re staying. This is where Wesley said to bring you.”
I just stare at her stupefied for a moment.
“I don’t care what Wes says, I’m not going in there.” I point to the room ablaze like an inferno. “In the event your blonde brain hasn’t picked up on the smoke signals, the room is on fire.”
“Don’t be silly, Laken.” She gives me a hard shove through the door. “Every good girlfriend does what her boyfriend wants.”
“Your ex-boyfriend wishes!” I scream, as a stone rolls over the entrance and seals me into the room of doom.
The flames move and dance in a circle, forming a large ring of fire with its inferno-like walls as high as the eye can see.
“Laken.” My name sings from behind, and I turn to find an entire slew of familiar faces staring back at me. Fallon and Carter with their warm smiles. Kresley and Grayson with their stone-cold stares—standing beside them are a few other girls I remember from the slice and slaughter.
I speed over to Carter, and she hands me a long velvet robe reserved for unholy midnight gatherings such as this.
“He’ll be here soon.” The words escape her lips sweetly enough, but I’m betting something wicked this way comes.
“Who’s that, Satan?” I ask, slipping the robe over my dress. Oddly, I suddenly feel cool and comfortable, not at all like I’m about to be served up grilled and crispy.
“No, you goof,” she laughs while adjusting my hood. “Wesley. He’s the guest of honor on your behalf. He’ll be officiating the ceremony tonight.”
Wesley. He mentioned he would be here early to help set up.
I chew the inside of my cheek, a nervous habit I’ve taken to doing ten times a day since I’ve arrived, and now I’ve permanently deformed the inside of my mouth.
The girls around me break out in a choir of “Hallelujah.” I’m shocked I can actually recognize the hymn for once, so I decide to sing along to make it look as if I actually want to be here.
A dark-hooded figure emerges from the fire. I recognize those sea green eyes, those dimples pressed in without a smile. Dear God. It’s Wes. He just walked through a wall of flames like a god, and I suddenly have the urge to bow before him.
As if everyone in the room shares my longing, every knee curtsies to him as he passes through our circle and settles in our midst.
Wes doesn’t take his eyes off mine as he proceeds in my direction, and it’s only now I notice he’s cradling a gilded bowl in his hands. There’s something erotic about the way he keeps his eyes over mine. The way he demands for me to do the same. A prickling feeling comes over my skin, and I have the intense desire to rake off his clothes and have my way with him.
A strange series of thoughts riffle through my mind—Wes and me with our limbs locked over one another, rolling around at the lake, the two of us on his bed in a compromising position, his mouth fused to mine while experiencing one lush hormonal exchange. It’s electrifying, intoxicating.
Wes stops just shy of me, the bowl still extended from his person.
“Kresley.” He pulls his lips in a line, disappointed he needed to call out her name at all. But his eyes remain over me. His focus is completely mine from beginning to end. “As the chapter leader, I ask you to conduct the initiate’s birthright.”
Kresley steps forward. Her wicked brand of beauty sparks a rise of adrenaline in me. I’ve never seen her look so sharp, so well hewn from the pages of a magazine. I’m sure any casting couch in Hollywood would be thrilled to have her.
I glance past her at Grayson then the girls from school who