Sorry about your car. Doug plopped onto a black leather home theater chair without even glancing at me.
Um But before I could finish the nonthought, he waved off my reply and picked up a video controller from the arm of his chair.
My dadll pay for the damages. The rental place is supposed to deliver your loaner this afternoon. I got you a V6.
Just like that? Was he serious? I got weird death visions and a supersonic shriek, and Doug Fuller got unreasonable wealth. That was a serious imbalance of karma.
Trust meits a step up.
My fists clenched in my coat pockets. How could Emma stand him?
Um, thanks, I said, for lack of anything even resembling an intelligent reply. I looked at Nash with both brows raised, silently asking what he was waiting for. He dropped onto a black leather couch and I sat next to him.
So was your dad pissed about the drug test? You must have been high as a satellite to hit a parked car. Nash slouched into the couch, sounding almost jealous, and that must have been the right approach because Doug grinned and paused his game.
Dude, I was in orbit. He set the remote on the arm of his chair and grabbed a can of Coke from the drink holder. But the test came out clean, other than a little alcohol. The E.R. doc told my dad I was probably euphoric from shock.
What the hell were you taking? Nash leaned forward and took two Cokes from the minifridge doubling as an end table.
Somethin called frost. Its like huffing duster inside a deep freeze, but then youre high for hours.
Chill bumps popped up all over my skin and I shuddered at the memory of dozens of creepy little fiends crawling all over one another in the Netherworld, desperate for a single hit of Demons Breathpreferably straight from the source.
Nash handed me a can and raised one brow to ask if I was okay. Hed noticed the shudder. I nodded and popped the top on my Coke.
Whered you get it? Nash leaned back on the couch and opened his own soda.
From some guy named Everett. I think thats his last name. I got a physical next Tuesday, and he swore this frost shit wouldnt show up in a blood test. Dougs focus shifted to me.
Hey, Kaylee, do you know if Ems working tonight?
Yeah. I think shes closing. Actually, wed both be off by four in the afternoon, but I didnt want her hanging out with Doug until I was sure he wasnt going to freeze-dry her lungs with every kiss.
Nash set his can on the minifridge. You have any more of this frost?
Nah. I had an extra balloon, but I sold it yesterday. One corner of his mouth twitched twice, and my stomach flipped. The fiend wed met in the Netherworld had twitched just like that, from withdrawal. And I huffed the last of mine last night.
It comes in a balloon? Nash frowned and his irises suddenly went still, like hed flipped the off switch on his emotional gauge.
Yeah. Black party balloons, like the kind we used to pop in the back of the class to watch Ms. Eddins substitute jump. Remember, back in eighth grade?
Nash nodded absently.
What friend? I demanded, my hands both clenched around my Coke. Who did you sell the other balloon to? But I knew the answer before Doug even opened his mouth. Because thats just the kind of luck I had.
Doug picked up his game controller, his hand twitching around the plastic. Scott Carter.
My heart dropped into my stomach. I was right. Hed sold his other balloon to my cousins boyfriend. And Sophie was cold enough on her own, without exposure to secondhand frost.
4
THATS JUST GREAT! I buckled my seat belt as Nash shifted into Reverse. Doug exposes Emma, then sells half his supply to Scott, whos just going to turn around and drag Sophie into the whole mess. Its an epidemic. How are we supposed to stop an epidemic?
Its not an epidemic. Nash twisted in his seat to check behind us while he backed down the driveway. Its two guys who have no idea what theyre into. The car rocked as the tires dropped from the brick driveway onto the smoother surface of the road, then Nash settled into his seat facing forward.
And I really dont think they could expose Emma or Sophie to secondhand Demons Breath. Or would that actually be thirdhand? He tried on a halfhearted grin to go with his joke, but couldnt pull it off.
But you dont actually know that, right? You cant know for sure that they havent been exposed.
No, but I dont think
Why are you trying to brush this off? This isnt like having a drink at a party or lighting up behind the shop building. Were talking about humans inhaling the toxic life force sucked out of a demon from another world. Quite possibly the weirdest sentence Id ever said aloud And according to your mom, if they survive addictionand thats a big iftheir scrambled brainsll make Ozzy Osbourne look rational and coherent.
And as far as I was concerned, insanityincluding the risk of being locked up in some mental wardwas worse than death, which would simply put an end to the terminal drama and angst of human existence. Unless you were stupid enough to sell your immortal soul like Addy had
Nashs silence drew my gaze, and I found him staring at me, rather than at the road. You asked my mother about Demons Breath? His voice held a hard quality Id rarely heard from him before, like his words formed the bricks in a wall I was destined to crash into.
In reference to Regan. I rubbed my palms over the denim covering my legs. I didnt mention Doug or Emma. At least, not in the same sentence as Demons Breath. Im not stupid, Nash.
Neither is she! His palm slammed into the steering wheel and I jumped, then a sharp jolt of anger skittered up my spine.
She knows. You ran your mouth off, and now she knows everything. Great, Kaylee. Thanks.
She doesnt know. What is wrong with you? I demanded, fighting to keep from shouting.
Even if she doesnt know yet, if this gets as bad as you seem to think it will, shes going to figure out why you were asking, and then were both going to be in serious trouble, Kaylee!
I rolled my eyes. If this gets as bad as I know it will, having your mother mad at us will be the least of our problems. I paused, waiting until my point had a chance to sink in, and when his grip on the wheel eased, I continued, trying to ignore his clenched jaw and tense posture. We need to know if Scotts tried it yet. Thus, whether Sophie was in any potential danger. And we have to get that balloon away from him, then figure out where this Everett guy is getting his supply.
Nash exhaled heavily and answered without looking at me. Yeah. Youre right. But he didnt seem very happy about it.
The rest of the ride was quiet and uncomfortable. I was mad at him for getting mad at me, and I didnt know how to deal with any of that. Wed never had a real fight before.
So we rode in silence and I got lost in my own head, trying to figure out how Demons Breath had gotten into the human world in the first place, and how best to wrestle it from the privileged, demanding hands of the Eastlake football team without turning both of us into social rejects.
I didnt even realize Id fallen asleep until I woke up in the Cinemark parking lot with my face against the cold passengers side window. Confused, I blinked and sat up to find Nash watching me, frowning, his hands clenched around the wheel again.
You okay? He looked upset, but made no move to reach for me across the center console.
Yeah. I stomped on the floorboard, trying to ease the tingling in my left foot, which hadnt woken up along with the rest of my body. Just worried about this whole frost mess. I glanced at the dashboard clock, surprised to see that my shift started in ten minutes. And tired, I guess.
Nash nodded, but his worried look held. Hey, Im sorry I got mad. Ill find out if Scotts tried it yet.
Thanks. I smiled, determined to take him at his word. I didnt understand his change of heart, but Id take it.
You need a ride home? he asked as I opened the car door and hauled my duffel into my lap from the rear floorboard.
Em said shed take me. Ill call you when I get home.
His grin that time looked more natural. Is your dad still working overtime?
Yeah.
Ill bring pizza if you pick up a movie.
Deal.
He leaned in for a kiss, and I kissed him back, trying to believe everything would be okay. Dont worry about Scotts balloon, he said as I got out of the car. Ill take care of it.
I CHANGED INTO my ugly red-and-blue polyester uniform in the bathroom, then pulled my hair into a ponytail and met Emma in the box office, where she was already counting the cash in her drawer. Somehow shed scored us matching shifts selling tickets, which almost never happened. Usually one or the other of us got stuck scooping popcorn or emptying trash cans.
I counted my own drawer in silence, trying to decide whether or not to tell her to stay away from Doug. And what to cite as the reason.
I wasnt sure if she knew what he was taking, and even if she did, I couldnt tell her what frost really was. Not without scaring the crap out of her, anyway. And my policy on Emma and Netherworld stuff was to keep the two as far apart as possible, for as long as possible. How was I supposed to know Netherworld trouble would find her all on its own?
Finally, after two hours, a steady stream of customers, and a snack break during which Id done little more than nod along with her chatter, she went suddenly silent on the stool next to mine, sitting straighter as she aimed a bright smile through the window in front of us. I looked up to find a familiar face halfway down the line across from Emmas register.
Doug Fuller.
I had to nudge Emma into giving change to an elderly lady taking a small child to see a PG-13 comedy. Emma slid the change and receipt under the window, then glanced at me as her next customer ordered two tickets for a Japanese horror flick. Dougs here, she whispered.
I ran a debit card through the scanner, then dropped it into the dip in the counter beneath the pane of glass. I see him. And I didnt like what I saw.
Oh, I understood the attraction. He was tall, and dark, and undeniably hot, and was just edgy enoughhe didnt care what anyone thought of him, including his own friendsto intrigue Emma. But Doug wasnt just shes so drunk she doesnt know what shes doing dangerous. He was spend the rest of your life in a padded cell dangerous. And that was the best-case scenario.