Chapter 5

“That’s them,” I heard a woman next to me say. “And neither one of them knows who they

really are.”

“Shh,” the man said. “They’re kept in the dark for a reason!”

“Does it matter if they hear us? They’ll be dead before sunrise if Drake gets his way.”

I wasn’t comfortable by the woman’s words. But obviously, they had mistaken us for

somebody else.

When the chatter and laughter resumed, much to my relief, I nudged Julie. “We should

leave, I said. “I don’t feel comfortable here.”

“Oh, don’t be a party-pooper,” Julie replied. “Look at all these hot college guys. Maybe I’ll

even snag one.”

“Really, Julie, I think it’s best we leave,” I pleaded.

She put her hand on her hip and turned to face me, then actually stomped her foot like a

spoiled toddler. “Seriously? You wanna go back to your boring house? Let’s just have a drink

and chat a little. If you still want to leave then, we will.”

I looked around uneasily and swallowed hard. “I already know I want to leave now.”

“Well, you didn’t drive,” she said.

My lips pressed into grim lines. I didn’t like being forced into such a situation, and she

knew it.

“Oh, all right. If you wanna leave, we’ll go,” she said over the loud music. “But since we

got all dressed up…one drink would be nice.”

She shot me that stupid puppy dog face and. stuck her bottom lip out.

Just like that, I caved. “Fine. One drink, but then we’re heading back to your house.”

She smiled at the compromise. “I knew you’d see it my way,” she said smugly

I was sure one drink wouldn’t kill us, but I still couldn’t wait to get out of there. The stench

of smoke wafted past me, and I stepped away from the girl who was blowing at me. I jumped

when another girl hurled right beside my feet. I frowned when Julie pulled me away and into the

crowd.

“You ladies want a drink?” asked a blond guy in his twenties.

Julie grinned saying, “Sure.” When he walked away, her grin grew even wider. “See?” she

said. “We fit right in.”

“I guess it’s better than sitting on the porch and listening to frogs and crickets,” I said with

a shrug.

“That’s the spirit!” She suddenly grabbed my arm. “Hear that?”

What? The loud music or the roaring laughter? I thought. “Hear what?” I asked.

“Only my favorite song in the whole wide world!” she answered, swaying her hips to the

beat of the music.

The music pounded louder as the blond guy finally returned with our drinks.

“Thanks,” I said.

Just as I opened it, he slammed his bottle against mine in some kind of impromptu and

uninvited toast, beer splattered my face and started to fizz all over the place.

I started to wipe my face. “Ah! What was that for?”

“Gotta pay better attention, little girl,” he said with a wink and a laugh.

I didn’t see what was so funny, and in a rage I turned to Julie. “I’ve been here less than

five minutes, and I’ve already been soaked with beer, accosted by smoke and almost puked on!”

“Don’t pay him any mind. He’s drunk,” she said, pulling me further into the crowd. “That

spot won’t take long to dry, and then no one will even notice. C’mon. Let’s have some fun.”

A tall guy with pretty green eyes reached for Julie, she giggled flirtatiously as he twirled

her around. “I see you love to jam,” he said, eying her up and down. “Wanna dance?”

“I’d love to,” she said. “This is my favorite song.”

He shot her a smile. “Mine too.”

She glanced at me. “Do you mind?”

I couldn’t possibly refuse to let her go because the invitation to dance with a college guy

had her looking like she’d just won the lottery. I didn’t see the harm in letting her bask in the

light for one dance or two. “Have fun.”

He looked deeply into my eyes. “You’re far from regular.”

“I wish,” I replied, sure I must be blushing by now and hoping it was too dark for him to

notice.

“You’re the talk of the immortal world. And you have a destiny you cannot control.”

The music was loud and I wasn’t sure if I heard him right. “What?”

“Just know that you are very special, very unique.”

I smiled again and said thanks.

He pushed a strand of hair from my face. “You can give my enemies everything they need,

and that’s why I’m debating whether or not I should kill you. But you’re so captivating that it

would be such a waste to hurt you.”

I took a step back. “What?”

“You were led to the party so we could destroy you.”

“Destroy me? Why?”

“Because I can’t have you siding with my enemy.”

The man was crazy and delusional. “I would never side with your enemy. And I don’t play

Dungeons and Dragons.”

“They’ve already put their plan into action. And you’re a key part of it. But if you’re dead,

it will slow them down tremendously. And I have to think about the greater good.”

“Killing me is for the greater good?”

“Don’t you realize everyone wants you dead? You’re dying one way or the other. Does it

matter if I kill you now, or if your people kill you on the destined night?”

Just as I was about to bolt from the nut job, a woman cut in. “Drake’s had way too much to

drink. We’ve been playing Dungeons and Dragons all night. He’s losing touch with reality with

all this booze.” She tapped him on the back. “Remember, we need to keep the princess alive.”

“Why?” he asked. “So our enemies can destroy us?”

“You are cut off,” she replied firmly. “No more beers for you.”

She shot me a smile as she led him away. “Sorry, sometimes these guys get a little carried

away with their fantasy role play. Especially when they’ve been drinking.”

A little puzzled, I decided it was time to find Julie, who of course wanted to stay longer,

even though I was beyond ready to call it a night. I told her about crazy Drake, and the cute guy

she was with brushed if off, saying Drake got like this when he played Dragons and Dungeons. I was told to just ignore him. Julie told me the same thing and assured me that nobody wanted us

dead. She and I did shots, but all in all, she drank far more than I did. After the drinks loosened

me up a little, I did dance with a few other guys and made lots of small talk as the minutes ticked

by.

After a while, Julie leaned on my shoulder in a drunken stupor. “He wants me to go

upstairs with him. Should I go? I mean, I’m totally turned on right now, and—”

“You’re drunk,” I said interrupting her and snatching the drink out of her hand. “Consider

yourself cut off and you’re definitely not going upstairs with him or anybody else on my watch.”

“What!?” she shrieked. “Why am I cut off?”

“Because you have to drive us home. I can’t drive a stick.”

“You’re right,” she admitted. “I’ll start trying to sober up. Besides, the last thing I need is a

bad reputation already. I just got here!”

“Exactly.”

When she leaned on me with all her weight, I almost stumbled. “I’m so glad you’re here to

watch out for me,” she said. “You’re my new best friend. We girls gotta stick together. And you

know what?”

“What?” I asked.

“Where’s the guy who promised to bring me coffee? My head feels like there’s a

thunderstorm in it.”

“I didn’t know somebody was getting you coffee.”

“Not just somebody,” she said, with a dreamy look. “An angel. The caffeine angel.”

I almost laughed at her, but I didn’t feel that would be appropriate. “You’re so wasted,” I

said instead.

“No really,” she said, “a blue-eyed angel offered to bring me a cup-a-jo. Blue eyes like

Heaven, where he comes from.”

Wait…light blue eyes? Maybe….periwinkle eyes? My heart began to thump in excitement

that I hoped wouldn’t be for nothing.

In the next second, she turned to a guy and smiled. “You’re back…and you really did bring

me coffee. How sweet. Thank you.”

When I could muster up the courage to glance up at her hero, I found myself staring right

into the eyes of my own, my handsome stranger from the forest. My heart pounded out a symphony all its own, as I stared into his intense, vivid blue eyes. I couldn’t pull my eyes away

from his face, drinking in every detail of his sharply chiseled face. I’d never seen such a

beautiful face before, such a masterpiece of strength, contours and beauty. It was like something

off the cover of a romance novel or some dapper leading man in a classic romance movie. This

time he was wearing a white shirt, dark blue jeans and a well-worn bomber jacket. I was

immediately envious of all that cotton, denim and leather, tightly hugging his gorgeous body.