Nightstruck - Jenna Black Page 0,67

seem even remotely upset about it, which I supposed meant she was kidding. But how could anyone make a joke at a time like this?

Piper laughed, for no reason I could discern. “Here and there. Out and about. You know.”

Luke stared at her with his mouth open, as if he was trying and failing to come up with something to say. I couldn’t blame him.

I thought Piper had acted weird yesterday, but that was nothing next to today.

“Are you on drugs?” I asked. Not that I believed any drug known to mankind could explain what was going on with her right now.

“Nope,” she said cheerfully. “It’s just that I’ve had a major…” She thought about it a moment. “… attitude adjustment.” She laughed again, the sound strangely grating.

Bob’s constant barking was giving me a headache, and I bet Luke’s arms and hands weren’t feeling so great either, as he struggled to hold the dog back. I really wished Bob would shut up—I’d gotten the hint already—but I knew from a combination of experience and common sense that yelling at him wouldn’t help the situation.

“If it’s not drugs, then you must be some kind of body snatcher–like thing,” I said. I didn’t actually believe that, but I was racking my brain to find some explanation for how much she had changed. “Like a pod person. Or you’ve got some parasite inside you. Or maybe it’s a glamour.”

“Or maybe you’ve watched too many horror movies,” Piper suggested. “It’s really me, Becks. I just have a whole new way at looking at the world now.” She dropped down into my dad’s favorite chair, sprawling like she owned the place. “We were being superstitious, frightened little gerbils last night. Running away from the best thing that could ever happen to us because we didn’t understand it.”

I gaped at her. “So the best thing that ever happened to Mrs. Pinter next door was to have her head sliced off?” I shuddered and tried to push the memory of last night’s horror into a back corner.

Piper snorted. “Not everyone is capable of expanding their horizons.” She looked over her shoulder at Luke. “You might want to stay inside all night, every night, sport. You’d be doomed out there.” She turned back to me and cocked her head. “You, on the other hand, have potential.”

“What the hell are you talking about? What happened to you?”

“Last night, while you were busy checking on the old lady next door, I peeked out the front window and saw our mutual friend standing outside the house, watching.”

“Our mutual friend?” I asked, but then realized who she meant before she explained. “You mean Aleric.”

“That’s the one,” she agreed.

“Who the hell is Aleric?” Luke asked. I could barely hear him over Bob’s ferocious barking.

“The guy I’m dumping you for,” Piper said, fanning her face. “He is so incredibly hot. Don’t you agree, Becks?”

The Piper I had known had dumped a lot of guys, but always gently and always in private. She knew the importance of letting them have their pride, and she’d never deliberately hurt anyone. Very much unlike the person who sat in my house right now.

Luke hid the pain he must have been feeling behind a mask of stoicism. He’d been pretty frustrated with Piper lately, but I believed he truly loved her.

“I think you’re not yourself, and we shouldn’t take anything you say too seriously,” I said.

“Ah, denial,” Piper mocked. “Gotta love it. I was in denial myself, last night. Till I saw Aleric standing out there. When he motioned for me to come out, I just knew it was the right thing to do, that it would change my life.” She closed her eyes, her cheeks flushed pink, as she drew in a deep breath through her nose, looking for all the world like she was sniffing the world’s most delicious chocolate cake, savoring the moment before she dove in.

She opened her eyes again, and with a start of surprise I realized she didn’t look exactly like the Piper I remembered after all. Instead of Piper’s storm-cloud-gray eyes, she had eyes the color of emeralds in the sunlight. Eyes just like Aleric’s. My hand tightened on the gun, and I just barely resisted raising it. Maybe my crazy-sounding theories had been right. Maybe this wasn’t really Piper after all.

“It was amazing, Becks,” Piper said, and those eyes took on a distant, dreamy expression. “It’s a different world out there. A world where you can do anything you want and