Dhampyre Chronicles: Twisted Dreams Part 11

"So, what did you think?" he asked me, catching his breath.

"You did great."

Don't look down, I willed myself. Keep your eyes on his face. "Better than great, in fact. You're really fast."

But I couldn't help myself, my gaze traveling down his lean torso. If Flynn Matthews dressed attracted everyone's attention, Flynn Matthews almost naked positively demanded everyone's attention.

He stood before me, water droplets coursing down his tanned skin, dripping from his golden hair and eyelashes. I couldn't help but stare. The curved muscles of his biceps and pectorals, the narrow line of his waist, broad shoulders and defined muscles. I gulped. I might not have much experience-boy-wise-but I was still an eighteen year old girl, well, part girl anyway.

"Thanks." He grinned and ran a hand over his head, shaking water from his hair.

Someone get him a towel, I wished vehemently. I looked around for one, hoping I could just cover him up myself. The effect he was having on me was simply not lady-like.

"So I a.s.sume you got the places our team made?" he said, completely unaware of my reaction to him standing almost naked in front of me.

I glanced down at my notes, happy to have something to distract me. "Oh, yeah, sure. But I could do with you explaining how the seeding arrangements work."

He nodded. "Sure. Let me get changed, and then maybe we can take a walk, or something. I like to cool down after a race."

Thank G.o.d, he was going to get changed. "No problem. I'll wait here, shall I?"

"Hang on, Flynn," called Melissa, lifting her camera high. "One more for the paper."

Flynn gave a boyish grin which managed to appear both s.e.xy and shy, before he turned away from me to head off to the changing room.

I was staring again, but this time not at Flynn's fine body. Instead, something on his body had caught my attention. At the top of his back, midway between his shoulders and the base of his neck, was one of the symbols I had seen drawn on Brooke's body.

My mouth ran dry. I waited until he'd vanished from view and then rifled back through my notebook to where I'd drawn the symbols I could remember.

Yes, there it was. Exactly the same. It looked like a sideways flag, with a couple of smaller swirls coming from the base.

My heart sank. Was everyone in this town involved in something strange, or was it pure coincidence?

Melissa had sat down on one of the now deserted benches, flicking through the images on the screen of her digital camera. There wasn't any sign of the pale-faced girl, foaming at the mouth, her eyes rolling back in her head. This girl had it completely together. She'd made no move to touch me yet, not to shake my hand or anything else, but I wanted to touch her. Did she have the necklace on her now? Had Laurel told her that I'd taken it? If she had, Melissa wasn't giving any indication that she thought badly of me.

"Hey," I said, sitting down beside her. "Mind if I take a look at those?"

She gave me a half-frown, as if not expecting me to be quite so forward, but then said, "Yeah, sure," and handed me the camera.

I deliberately reached in too far as she pa.s.sed it over, the back of my hand making contact with her fingers. I braced myself.

The necklace dropped into her hand. Her fingers curled around it, and she lifted it, pressing her fist to her heart. "Thank you," she said, her gaze lifting to take in Laurel standing in front of her. "Where did you find it?"

"That girl had it. The one we've been watching."

"What? How did she get it?"

"She picked it up off the floor when your chakras were thrown out of line because of this d.a.m.n planet alignment. You should be more careful."

"I was hardly in any state to be careful."

"I know, but something's off with her. She's involved with the carnival somehow. If we're not careful she could ruin everything ..."

"Beth? Beth?"

I realized Melissa was speaking to me in the real world. I blinked, trying to regain focus. It wasn't often I picked up such clear visions. Normally they were only tiny glimpses. I could only a.s.sume it had something to do with the fact we'd all touched the necklace and had connected our energies somehow.

"Beth?" she said again. "Are you okay?"

"Yes, sorry. I'm a bit of a daydreamer." I pushed the camera back to her. "The pictures look great."

Flynn saved my awkwardness by choosing that minute to return. He stopped right in front of me. "Okay, ready?" he asked.

Melissa squinted up at him, and then back at me, clearly wondering what the deal was.

"I'm just getting some details for the article," I said, not sure why I felt the need to explain myself to her.

She lifted her eyebrows, a small smile on her lips, and gave a nod that said, sure you are.'

I got to my feet, stepping into Flynn's side. I sensed eyes watching as we walked from the pool and out onto campus. The image of the tattoo on his upper back played on my mind. Did it mean Flynn had something to do with whatever happened to Brooke?

"So where do you want to walk to?" I asked.

"How about a hike out through the forest? Not too far, but enough to get away from all the people. Having everyone shouting like that for the last hour makes me want to escape to somewhere quiet."

I wanted to suggest the library as being a perfectly decent, quiet place in which to talk, but didn't want to appear to be a total nerd. Besides, though my dreams had pointed toward the forest as containing something threatening, I couldn't avoid the place forever.

"Sounds great."

I wondered how sensible it was to go walking in the middle of a forest, in the evening, with a boy I thought might be connected with the kidnapping of my roommate, and the occult drawings I found on her body. Yet I considered myself to be a fairly good judge of character, and I didn't get any sense of darkness coming from Flynn. Not like Riley. I felt a stab of guilt at the thought of Riley, though the guilt was misplaced. After all, attraction alone didn't give you a hold on another person.

Anyway, I doubted Flynn could do me much harm, even if he wanted to. In reality, I was more likely to hurt him than the other way around. My control over my bloodl.u.s.t seemed to be getting weaker by the day. I wondered if it was this place that was causing it, the people I was around, or perhaps it was just me.

We headed off campus and turned a couple of blocks until the road led to a forest trail. Flynn walked with long, strong strides, and I hurried to keep up. We headed out along a trail into the forest. It was peaceful this time of the evening, the heat of the sun waning, insects buzzing around our heads. I swiped at a couple of mosquitoes which whined by my ear, though I didn't want to kill the bugs I shared an evolutionary trait with.

Flynn slowed, allowing me to catch up. "So, have you seen that carny guy again?" His tone was terse, and I felt myself bristle. Was this the reason he'd brought me out here?

"No," I lied. "Have you?"

He glanced at me, confused. "Why would I have?"

"Why would I?" I snapped back.

He shrugged. "I don't know. I guess he seemed kind of interested in you."

"That doesn't mean I'm interested in him." My voice was sharp. I couldn't help myself.

He held up his hands in mock submission. "Okay, okay. No need to get defensive."

"Anyway," I said, "aren't we supposed to be talking about swimming?"

"Sure. I just wanted to show you something first."

Alarm spiked through me. Was this where it was all about to go wrong?

Flynn stepped off the track and moved between the huge trunks of the old pine trees, ferns brushing against his legs.

I hesitated.

He turned back to me. "You coming?"

I'm fast and strong, I reminded myself. If he tries something, I'll rip his throat out.

I widened my eyes, staring down at the ground, shocked at myself. Where the h.e.l.l had that thought come from?

We seemed to be walking in a random direction through the forest, not sticking to one trail or another, but Flynn moved with certainty, as if he knew exactly where he was going. We cut between the tree trunks, birds settling in the branches overhead to roost for the night. The heat of the day had waned, and where the foliage grew dense, casting deep, thick shadows onto the forest floor, the air almost became chilly. In the distance, I became aware of a noise-a low thrumming and grinding of machinery, though it seemed to be coming from below us.

I frowned. "What is that?"

"The noise, you mean?"

I nodded.

"It's the Squires Mining Corporation. They own and mine most of the land around here. When they're not digging up the ground, they're chopping down the trees to make wood pellets for fuel."

"Oh, right," I said, my thoughts already drifting. Was this the same company Brooke said her parents owned? I hated to think of the beautiful forest being destroyed like that.

"How much farther?" I asked, trying not to get worried. We seemed to have been walking for awhile, and I felt like I'd completely lost any idea about how to get back.

"Almost there."

We stepped into a clearing, and my breath fell away. Several pools of water were dotted around the clearing, each one a similar size, except one, larger pool in the center. They were perfect ovals of still, gla.s.s-like water. They seemed almost manmade, the way the edges of the pools met the forest floor. A few rocks crested the sides, but otherwise they appeared to be perfect. The water was an aqua green, almost exactly the same shade as Flynn's eyes.

I turned to Flynn. "What is this place?"

His gaze cast over the pools, a proud smile on his face. "Just part of the forest I found."

But there was something more, I could sense it. The very air seemed to hum, the plants and flowers too perfect. I felt as though I'd walked into a painting, something that appeared to be real, lifelike, yet wasn't.

"I brought you here for a reason, Beth."

His voice broke me from my thoughts. I turned to look at him, half expecting him to be wielding a knife, or a length of rope. But the expression on his face wasn't murderous. "You did?"

He stepped in closer to me, closing the gap. "I like you. Haven't you figured that out yet?"

"What?" His words came out of the blue, making me step back, widening the s.p.a.ce between us again. Of all the things I'd been expecting him to say, it wasn't that.

Flynn frowned. "Why do you seem so surprised? I've been hanging around, trying to get your attention, wanting to watch out for you. You're smart, and spiky in a kind of frustrating way at times. You're crazy beautiful, but you don't dress to show off like all the other girls."

I blinked. "What?"

"Would you stop saying what?" he hissed in frustration.

I could barely believe what I had heard him say. "I'm sorry, but you think I'm beautiful?"

He laughed. "Of course you are. With those amazing, big dark eyes and your pale skin, and all those dark curls. You look like a cross between Bambi and a porcelain doll."

I almost had to laugh at his description. "And you think that's beautiful?"

"More beautiful than any other girl I've ever seen."

His words s.n.a.t.c.hed my breath from my lungs. How was Flynn Matthews-the guy at school every girl wanted to be with, and every guy wanted to be-standing here, saying this stuff to me? I remembered how he'd looked with his clothes off, water streaming down his tanned body. I'd be crazy to turn him down. But I had to. While I couldn't deny that I was physically attracted to Flynn, I had three problems. The first was that the barrage of images I suffered with every day wouldn't do anything to nurse a healthy relationship. The second was that I still didn't know what Flynn's involvement was with Brooke's missing night. And the third was that, though I liked Flynn, he didn't make my emotions surge in the way Riley did.

I shook my head. "I'm sorry, Flynn. I'm not sure I'm ready for all of this. I mean, I only just got to Sage Springs. A lot has happened ..."

His aqua eyes darkened a shade. "It's that carny boy, isn't it?"

I detected anger in his voice.

"No!" I said, though I couldn't help but wonder if that was a lie. If Riley had never entered the picture, would I be falling into Flynn's arms? Yes, but if you did, a little voice said, what would you see of him? "Nothing has happened between Riley and me."

"But you want it to."

"I don't want anything right now! I just want to settle down to my studies and be a normal college student."

"That boy is dangerous, Beth."

"What do you know? You don't even know him!"

"I don't need to know him, I know the people he is with. You stay away from them, do you hear me?"

He reached out to grab my arm, and I jerked away. "You don't have any say in what I do."

"Get real, Beth! Why the h.e.l.l won't you listen to me?" His anger was building, his square jaw strained.

From out of nowhere, my hair suddenly lifted and whipped around my face, my clothes blowing hard against my body. Above my head, the branches of the trees rustled and swayed. The wind had started as suddenly as if someone had placed a wind machine beside us.

Water splashing made me turn my head. Each of the pools were no longer still, waves rose and crashed on the edges, some splashing onto the forest floor.

"What the h.e.l.l?"

Flynn followed my line of sight and paled beneath his tanned skin. "Come on, let's get out of here."

"Hang on a minute. What's going on? Those pools were still as gla.s.s a moment ago."

"Must be the wind," he said, grabbing my arm and pulling me back toward the trees.

"Where the h.e.l.l did the wind come from?" I allowed myself to be pulled this time, freaked out by the waves lifting seemingly from nowhere, slapping and splashing. The gusts lifted leaves from the forest floor and blew them like tumbleweeds. The trees strained against the wind's strength.