Everneath. Part 17

"Just a little bit farther-up to that bench over there."

I didn't think Will would make it, but a few minutes later the three of us were sitting on the bench. Will closed his eyes and sank lower, leaning his head against the backrest.

"He'll probably be out for a while," Jack said.

"This has happened before?"

He grimaced. "Yeah. He got out of the hospital a couple months ago. My parents stopped coming for him after about the third or fourth time. Sometimes I come and get him. Sometimes he goes somewhere else to crash."

Will began snoring.

"It's been a rough year for you," I said.

A wide grin spread across Jack's face. "You could say that. My brother got shot. I crashed my car. Crashed my grades. Beat up my best friend and a few other random people"-he paused-"and lost you. All in all, not what I'd imagined for my senior year. Right now, I'm just in salvage mode."

"I understand." It was not an empty sentiment, and Jack knew it. He nodded.

Will snorted awake and gave me a bewildered look. His head swiveled back and forth from Jack to me. "Whoa. Is it last year?" Jack and I both laughed softly as Will raised his right arm over his head and rotated it. "Nope. Still hurts." He let his arm drop back down and his shoulders sagged. "I've been shot, haven't I?"

"Yeah, Will." Jack swung his arm over his shoulder. "You ready to walk again?"

"I think so."

I helped pull him up, although I doubted I was doing any of the actual work. Will was staring at me again. He turned away, toward Jack, and whisper-yelled, "I heard Nikki's back."

"Yep," Jack grunted as Will stumbled over the curb. "She is."

"How are you doin' with that news, little bro?"

Jack looked at me when he answered. "Better every day."

My bedroom.

That evening, I was riding a strange euphoria from my afternoon with Jack when my bedroom window rattled and Cole hiked himself up through the opening. Once inside, he shook his head from the downpour of icy rain, and as he came closer, the mark on my shoulder felt more like a burn, as if it were beginning to swell. Cole had said it would get stronger as my time ran out.

"h.e.l.lo, Cole," I said without looking up.

He froze. "You seem happy."

"Not really. Just enjoying my homework." I tapped my open English lit book with my pencil. I kept my voice even. "What are you doing here?"

"I came to invite you to the Christmas Dance this weekend."

I grimaced. "No thanks. In fact, I'm pretty sure you're not invited."

"Oh, but I am. The Angels are playing at the dance, and they wanted a star appearance by yours truly." The Angels were a local indie rock band who would probably kill for the added publicity of having a Dead Elvis there too. What I couldn't understand was why Cole would agree.

I stared at him for a moment. "Why are you doing this? Why are you still here?"

"The whole band's here now. We're settling down."

"But you could go somewhere else."

"They know how much I need you. They're supporting me."

I turned back to my open book and listened as Cole strummed a few chords that didn't seem to belong to any song. "I'm not going to the dance."

Cole was suddenly at my side. "Come, Nik. I have to show you something there."

"Show me what?"

"Look at me." I turned toward him. "It has to do with what you are. I can't explain it, but it's something you have to see. I promise things will become clear."

I thought about it for a long time. Cole returned to my bed and strummed a cla.s.sical piece I had only ever heard played on a piano.

"Will you leave me alone afterward?" I asked.

"I can't." He stopped playing and leaned forward. "But I promise to leave your house."

"And never come back?"

He nodded.

"Never come in through my window? And you'll stay away from my family?"

He nodded again.

"How do I know you're not lying?"

"Because I wouldn't lie to you."

I didn't know if that was true, but if he kept his word, he'd be that much farther away from Tommy and my dad. "Fine. I'll go to the dance. Not with you. But I'll be there."

"Deal."

He let a smile cross his face. "I heard Jack is taking the lovely Jules."

My face showed nothing, even though this was news to me. "Oh," I said softly.

He breathed in loudly. "Okay, then. Before I go, what color will you wear?"

I tilted my head. "What?"

"What color dress are you wearing that night? So I can dress to match."

I rolled my eyes and turned back to my book. "Black."

"Ah. Black. How daring," he said, his voice flat. "I'm sure I can find something in my closet that will do."

Cole only ever wore black. Despite myself, I couldn't help smiling. I leaned back over my book until I heard the window open and then shut.

SEVENTEEN.

NOW.

The Christmas Dance. Two months, one week left.

At the time, I would've agreed to anything that would get Cole out of my room and out of my house for good. But as the days pa.s.sed, I started dreading our bargain. It snowed, which made everyone at school even more excited for the dance, and I realized how hard it was going to be showing up, alone, in that big farmhouse.

When the day arrived, my hands started shaking again, but this time it was mostly from nerves. Even after I'd gotten dressed for the dance, I wandered around my house trying to find the courage to leave.

My dad caught me midpace and handed me a mug of hot cocoa. "So you're really going to the dance?"

I nodded as I sipped from the mug.

"Alone?"

"Not technically. There should be other people there too."

He raised his eyebrows. "Did my sullen daughter just make a joke?" I smiled as he gave a chuckle. "You always used to make jokes when you were nervous," he said. His smile disappeared and he put a hand on my arm. "Are you nervous?"

He knew me better than I thought. "A little."

"Then why are you going? I mean, won't most everyone there have dates?" He cleared his throat. "Because Tommy and I have a mean game of Uno planned."

I hugged him. "Thanks, Dad. Wish me luck."

I grabbed my keys from their hook and took off. Even though the Meier Farmhouse was partway up the mountainside, the Rabbit had no trouble navigating the curves, because the Meier family had hired armies of workers to plow the roads and keep them clear up until the night of the dance.

I parked down the road and pulled on my boots to walk the rest of the way.

As I got closer to the farmhouse, I could hear the music drifting through the doors, floating in the air, and gradually sinking to where it disappeared in the snow. It wasn't snowing tonight like it was last year. The slush on the ground was dirty and old. The air had a stale smell to it. We needed another storm to clear it away.

Last year, I had stood in this spot in a spaghetti-strap gown, next to Jack, thinking things couldn't get much better. Tonight I wore a short, simple black dress. I normally didn't like to show so much leg, but it was the only dress I could find with sleeves long enough to cover up the mark on my left arm.

I stood for a few long moments, my breath a tangible element suspended in the frigid air.

"Miss Beckett?"

I jumped and opened my eyes. Mrs. Stone stood in the doorway of the farmhouse. "Come inside. You'll catch your death out here." She met me halfway, then ushered me through the threshold. She didn't seem surprised I was alone.

The Angels were playing a slow song to the packed dance floor. I scanned the sea of faces. Near the middle of the crowd, Jules and Jack held each other, swaying back and forth to the music, her head resting on his shoulder. The familiar pain of jealousy started clawing at me, a pain I hadn't felt full strength for over a century.

Somehow it hurt more than I ever remembered.

Everyone was dancing. Everyone had someone. The only people standing along the sides were the chaperones, most of whom were focused on their smartphones.

I was so obviously alone.

A voice behind me startled me. "Hey, Nik."

I turned around to see Cole, dressed head to toe in black. Black suit, black shirt, black tie hanging loose around his neck.

He looked me up and down. His gaze paused briefly on my legs, and his mouth opened slightly. I folded my arms.

"Um ... you ... look beautiful," he said.

"You look black," I replied.

"Thank you. That's the look I was going for." He held a hand out. "C'mon. Let's dance."

I didn't move. "What were you going to show me?"

"Dance with me first."

I shook my head.

"Look, Nik, I know you don't like public scrutiny lately. If you stand off to the side, all mopey and such, without a date, you'll stick out like a nun at a strip club." He leaned in. "Trust me, I've seen one. A nun at a strip club, that is. Everyone was staring at her."

I rolled my eyes. "Fine. As long as we stay toward the back." Away from Jack and Jules.

Cole led me to the floor and took me in his arms with smooth, graceful movements. I don't know why I was taken aback. I'd seen him dance with surprising finesse during his concerts.

I couldn't look him in the face while we danced. It was hard enough being that close to him without remembering how we used to be. How separating from him in the Everneath felt like being torn in two.

This was a bad idea. "I shouldn't have come," I said.

"Of course you should've. Otherwise I'd be fending off advances from Mrs. Stone." He raised his eyebrows, but I didn't smile. "Fine. You need to be here to see the truth of the situation. You don't belong here."

I finally looked him in the eye. "I don't belong here? What about you? You're not human. You can't even survive in my world without stolen energy, and yet you won't go home. If one of us doesn't belong here, it's you."

He blinked a few times. "Wow, Nik. Going for the jugular, aren't you?" He used the arm around my back to pull me tight against him, his eyes fierce. "You know why I stay here. For you."

"You say that a lot."

"Maybe eventually you'll believe me."

"I don't know what to believe."

Frustrated, he took in a deep breath, and as he did, I stepped closer, knowing that unless he focused on not stealing my emotions, he would naturally incorporate my top layers of pain. I didn't plan to do it, but with his face so close, I couldn't help it. I didn't even know I'd done it until it was too late. I was weak for anything that would alleviate the pain of the Surface. As he breathed in, Cole unexpectedly took a tiny layer of it away.