Waking the Dead (The Second Rising Series Book 1), Page 4

  Eyes focused on my purple hair, it took him a second to respond. I wondered if Brit told him who I was, or more what I was. With two large dimples and another round of blushing, he shook my hand and nodded. “Good thanks. It’s nice to meet you.”

  Shifting my bag to the other shoulder, I turned my attention to the other young man sitting across from them. Dark, close cropped hair, blue eyes the color of the deep ocean, and a smirk unmatched by any other, I knew who this was. And when recognition slapped me in the face, I felt another wave of nausea roll inside my stomach like a tank.

  “Hi Cressa,” he said softly.

  “Randy,” I said, making no attempt to hide my disappointment.

  “Randy and Carson were out together and I just happened to run into them. Isn’t that great?” Brit squealed and almost knocked her drink off the table. Carson gently grabbed her hand and helped lower her back into the seat. As I watched his eyes, that only focused on Brit, I knew…Carson was in love.

  I spared a glance at my roommate, knowing full well that this meeting was not a coincidence. Randy and I had gone on one date last year that ended with an embarrassing moment for both of us. Or maybe more for him. After several rude comments about magic users and how our existence was unnatural, I’d thrown my drink in his face and walked out of the restaurant with the sound of cheers behind me. I also believe that an anonymous Caster helped that drink spread to his lower groin area, making it look like he’d pissed himself in fear.

  But at the beginning of this semester, Randy had apologized for his behavior and asked me out again. I declined, but he refused to hear me. And now that we had two classes together, it made it hard to avoid him. Why would I ever date someone who thinks I’m a second-class citizen? Brit and I would have a nice little talk later tonight, or maybe tomorrow, I suspected, if Carson ended up getting his way.

  “You want a drink?” Randy asked, sliding toward the edge of the seat to go to the bar.

  I held out my hand to stop him. “I’ll get it,” I said a little too quickly and Brit shot me a glare. I gave her a look right back and then forced a smile on my face. Turning toward Randy, I said, “Thanks, but I always have to tell them how to make it.”

  Randy accepted my answer, even if I knew he wanted to push the subject. If I let him buy me a drink, then he’d think this is a date, and I certainly didn’t want that. I moved to set my bag down with the group, but then decided that I didn’t trust the present company enough. Making it seem like I was just shifting it around again, I threw the bag back over my shoulder and headed toward the bar.

  Passing the onion smell and ignoring the eager looks I received due to my Mystical Marianna outfit, I pressed forward. Only a small number of stools had been placed around the three sides of the bar, and all of them were taken. In fact, I had to shove my way through a few obnoxious students just to get to a spot where I could make eye contact with the bartender. When someone’s elbow crashed down onto my shoulder, the memories of tonight came swarming back. Reaching underneath the shawl, I felt the new scar again. And I also felt that tingling sensation I’d experienced in the alley. Had I done something wrong? Did I bring too much of the kitten’s soul back with it?

  “I think you just missed your chance.” A deep, manly voice reverberated in my ear, sending shivers down my spine.

  I turned slightly to my left only to see the smooth, defined curves of an amazingly perfect bicep. When the bicep moved and revealed the face of the man who’d just spoken to me, I stopped breathing. For a split second, my whole body trembled with anticipation and strength, and some of that same energy I’d experienced earlier. Taller than most, this man could demand attention without even saying a word. Dirty blond hair hung freely, framing his face in a way that looked messy yet styled. Slight stubble caught the bar lights, highlighting his lightly tanned skin and igniting something in me that I hadn’t felt for a long time. While his smile reeked of mischief, I was captivated by his lavender eyes.

  “Excuse me?” I asked, voice not as strong as I would have liked.

  The man laughed, a sound that drowned all others in the room. The tingling was back and I tried to think about why I was reacting this way, but couldn’t get a grip. “The bartender. He asked for your order, but when you didn’t reply, he moved on.”

  “He spoke to me?” What had I been so distracted by? Oh, yeah, my new scar.

  “Yes, he did.”

  I sighed, leaning against the counter and wondering if I should just go home. The man laughed again and I rolled my head to look at him. “You think this is funny?”

  He snapped his lips together, studying my face to see if I was joking. When the corner of my mouth lifted in a teasing, and somewhat flirtatious manner, I was graced with yet another smile from him. I think I saw dimples. “Hilarious,” he said.

  “Well, after the night I’ve had, this pretty much tops it off,” I groaned.

  “You want to talk about it?”

  I snapped my head up and looked at those mesmerizing eyes that contained a hint of amusement sparkling near the surface.

  “No,” I shook my head and let out a small laugh. “I don’t want to talk about it.” Another patron suddenly pushed into me, and I was shoved into the side of my new bar companion. The moment our bodies touched, electricity shot through me from head to toe. Not in the cheesy way people describe love at first sight, but in a magical way. Like a very magical way.

  This man was not human.

  “I’m…I’m sorry,” I said, trying to mask my shock with embarrassment.

  “That’s quite all right. It’s not every day a man gets smashed by a can-can dancer.”

  His laugh at my fake scowl sent me into a fit of giggles again. Yes, I giggled. Like a smitten little girl. I blamed the intense magical energy.

  “What do you want?” he asked.

  “Huh?”

  “To drink?”

  With his smile distracting me and his unknown magical background intriguing me, I couldn’t think of anything else.

  “What can I get for you?” A sharp female voice cut through my inner inquiries, but when I refocused my eyes, I noticed she wasn’t speaking to me. Her barely-there tank top covered just the essentials and the black leather pants screamed for attention…and tips. I realized with a jolt that I’d dressed for the exact same outcome tonight.

  “I’m good, but my friend here would like a drink.” The man wrapped his arm around my shoulder in a friendly, yet terrifyingly comfortable way, indicating that the woman bartender was to take care of me. He smelled of fresh cut grass and ashes, and the warmth from his arm heated every part of me.

  Tearing her gaze away from the man, the bartender narrowed her eyes at me. “What do you want?” she snapped with irritation. “I ain’t got all day.”

  I sidled up to my new friend a little more. “A Corpse Reviver,” I answered with a forced smile. “And make it a double.” Brit always laughed at my choice of drink, but it contained the few types of alcohol that wouldn’t give me stomach issues all night.

  “I don’t know what that is,” the bartender said a little too quickly.

  “Well, I’m sure you can look it up,” the man said before I had a chance to open my mouth and say the same thing in a not-so-nice way.

  This time he got the glare as the woman turned to the center island and pulled a book out from underneath the register.

  “What’s in that?” the man asked, arm now resting lower across my back. I tried to ignore the heat.

  “A mix of gin, contreau, absinthe, and a few other things.”

  “A Corpse Reviver, huh?”

  I nodded my head and laughed. “Yeah, it’s kind of a joke.”

  “A joke?” he asked quickly.

  “Nothing. Never mind,” I said, not wanting to reveal too much.

  “I’m Noah, by the way.”

  I looked over to his outstretched hand and hesitated only a second. “Cressa.” Our skin touched and the surge of energy that pulsed through me al
most knocked me to the ground. Noah, on the other hand, seemed unfazed. As I tried to hide my reaction, I wondered again what he might be. Definitely not another Necromancer—that I would’ve picked up on right away. Not a Conjurer or Warlock. Perhaps a Fiend, as they were pretty good at hiding themselves when needed. But even then, he didn’t feel like any other Fiend I’d encountered before.

  “That’s ten dollars,” the bartender said, slamming my drink down and not even bothering to put it on one of those little napkins.

  I reached into my bag and grabbed one of the twenties. Handing it to her, I felt that I needed to tell her that I wanted change, but she wasn’t paying attention to me.

  “Add it to my tab,” Noah said and the women left with a curt nod.

  “You don’t need to buy me that drink,” I said, a bit of warmth trickling through me again.

  “I know,” he said with a crooked grin.

  “Well, thank you.”

  “You’re very welcome my purple-haired friend.”

  I reached up to touch my hair, forgetting that I still had the wig on, when Brit shouted my name. “Cressa! Hurry up!”

  I turned in time to see Carson escorting her back into the booth again, and knew that I should probably join my friend. “I kind of have to go,” I said to Noah.

  “I know.”

  “Thanks for the drink.”

  “You’re welcome.”

  Not wanting to leave, I struggled to find more small talk that wouldn’t sound awkward. But I came up empty. With a smile, I detached myself from underneath his muscular arm, and felt a strong sense of longing when we broke contact. Jesus, what was going on with me?

  The further away I walked, the stronger the pull felt. I didn’t usually hang out with too many magic users, because that would often cause us to get flagged by the Imperium. I’d only ever dated one and that was back in high school. So I didn’t really understand why I felt such a strong connection to the mysterious, magical stranger who’d bought me a drink.

  “There you are,” Brit yelled a little too loud. “What took you so long?”

  “I had to teach them how to make my drink again,” I said, plopping down in the seat next to Randy. He didn’t move over very far and our thighs touched. I noticed the severe lack of electricity when our bodies made contact.

  “The Corpse Reviver?” Randy asked.

  Stunned that he knew, I turned and stared at him. “Yes?” I said more as a question.

  “Brit told us it’s your favorite. She thinks it’s hilarious.” Randy set his hand on my thigh. “I do too.”

  Wiggling closer the edge, I slid out from under his hand. The temptation to turn around and see if Noah was there overwhelmed the urge I had to slap Randy for being so presumptuous. He cleared his throat and scooted closer to the wall. Good.

  “Were you working tonight?” Carson asked, pointing to my hair.

  “Oh yeah,” I said, hand going to my wig. It suddenly started to itch and I decided I was done being Mystical Marianna tonight. Yanking off part of my costume, I ran my hand through my long, dark hair, letting it fall where it may. I had no control over it anyway. “Your girlfriend dressed me.”

  Carson’s face turned two different shades of red, Randy laughed, and Brit huffed, obviously ignoring my “girlfriend” reference. “Well, did you get a good tip?” she asked.

  I thought back to the events of the night, shuddering when I remembered how I was forced into saving that kitten. “Yes,” I said, unwilling to talk about it right now. In fact, I probably wouldn’t ever tell Brit about all of the evening. Maybe I’d tell her about Noah though…

  Don’t turn around. Don’t turn around.

  “So, did Randy tell you what happened with Dr. Boading the other day?” Carson started a conversation that I was, at most, only half invested in. For the next, I don’t know, twenty minutes maybe, I listened to them babble on about some teacher getting busted with his graduate student and how his wife interrupted his class and ripped into him in front of everyone. Brit cheered and Randy goaded her into a conversation about how it was his right since humans aren’t meant to be a monogamous species. I truly hoped Brit would remember this conversation tomorrow and understand why I wanted nothing to do with Randy and his obscene views on life.

  As I sat there trying to decide if I should go home or get another drink, Brit suddenly stopped talking mid-sentence and cleared her throat.

  “Cressa?” she said, and something about her new tone caught my attention.

  “Yeah?” I asked, lifting my head to meet her gaze and suddenly feeling a wave of electricity rush over me like a drug. I looked to the side and saw Noah smiling down at me. Brit’s jaw almost hit the table and the two guys instantly stopped smiling.

  “Sorry to interrupt,” he said. “I just wanted to tell you goodnight.”

  Still stunned, and attracting the attention of most of the women standing nearby, I felt the first signs of a blush creep up my neck. With an overwhelming urge to reach out and brush his skin again, I found it hard to form words. Or even coherent thoughts.

  Noah smiled, a half grin that only one in a hundred men could pull off, and my cheeks heated. He leaned forward, close enough for me to smell his intoxicating scent, and close enough that Randy pushed up against my side. “By the way, I love the dark hair,” he whispered.

  I reached up to run my fingers through the tip of my unruly mess, wishing deep down that it was Noah’s fingers instead. Nodding to the rest of my friends, Noah stood straight again and flashed me another smile. Before I could reply, he turned and disappeared into the crowd.

  “Thank you,” I breathed, totally aware that everyone was staring but not really able to do anything about it. The tingling sensation began to fade but I certainly couldn’t forget what I’d felt. It was the magic, I told myself over and over until Brit’s squeal shook me out of my trance.

  “Holy shit, Cressa! Do you know him?”

  I looked at her eager face, and felt Randy’s cold body against my side. “He helped me get a drink. That’s it.”

  Brit continued grilling me, but I had nothing more to add. Randy let out a deep breath and Carson tried to distract him with a new conversation. My thoughts quickly drifted away to a dead kitten, a dark shadow, and a mysterious man with purple eyes.

  Three hours of sleep wasn’t enough to get me through my morning class, but I couldn’t afford to miss it either. It’s not like I’d stayed out too late, I just couldn’t sleep after everything that had happened the previous night. My scar ached, even though it existed only in my mind. And the visions of Noah’s lavender eyes by my side, made for a restless, sexually frustrating evening.

  It didn’t really help that Brit stayed out all night. She’d sent me a text in the early morning hours to tell me that she was safe and at Carson’s. At least someone got lucky last night.

  I found it hard to concentrate in my economics class. Who wanted to teach this stuff at eight in the morning? And who else, aside from the twenty of us in here, had been stupid enough to sign up for this torture? For the hundredth time today, I reminded myself that I needed this class as part of my business degree requirements. And I need my business degree so that I could make the most out of what I had. Without a solid understanding in supply and demand, how else would I be able to know what my clientele wanted?

  “Ms. Ravensdale? Do you have an answer?”

  The professor’s voice barreled into my distracted thoughts like a herd of rolling tumbleweeds. What was his name anyway? Something like a fiend or Hell or—

  “Ms. Ravensdale?”

  “Sorry, Dr. Helling.” Yep, Helling. “I must not have heard you.” I smiled, hoping that it would buy me a little bit of a reprieve this morning. I felt the stares of the other students bore into me like I’d just completed a walk of shame. How dare they? Like they were paying attention.

  Dr. Helling tipped his chin to the side and narrowed his eyes at me. Dark, brown eyes that debated whether or not to push me any furthe
r. I had a feeling the professor knew of my otherworldly abilities, and my suspicions were confirmed when he nodded and moved on to another unsuspecting student.

  Sometimes being different had its advantages.

  As Dr. Helling droned on about free markets and global economic beliefs, I tried to focus. I really did. College was important to me. No one in my family had gone this far before. Granted, my parents hadn’t needed to rely on a human education to succeed in their magical fields. And my brother found his calling when he betrayed us and joined the Imperium fresh out of high school. But I wanted this. I wanted to succeed. And so I tried to focus.

  Twenty minutes later, I looked up to see that I was the only one in the room. As the door slammed shut, and the last of the students vanished, disappointment rolled through my gut. I wasn’t usually this distracted, and I hated being this way. Then when I looked down at my notebook, I sighed. Instead of taking notes, I’d drawn a hundred different cat eyes. Each one staring at me no matter which direction I turned the artwork, like one of those antique portraits. Raising that kitten from the dead had really messed up my head today. Reaching for the scar on my back, I let my fingers brush over the bumps like a calming crystal. This was a part of me and who I was. I just hoped that no one else knew that I’d broken the law in order to earn a few extra hundred dollars.

  The crisp autumn air snapped me back into the present when I stepped outside. The leaves had just started to turn, hinting at the change of seasons lurking nearby. Magic flourished this time of year. My dad had always told me that the separation of the living and dead would thin, allowing those of us with special gifts to tap into the phenomenon. These events coincided with the harvest moon, Day of the Dead, Halloween, and other types of macabre celebrations that occurred every fall. I always thought he was full of it—especially since I’d been able to raise corpses at any time of the year without difficulty. But maybe one day I’d ask Mr. Padlo if his spirits were more…intense during this season.

  “I barely recognized you without the corset.”

  I tripped over myself, ashamed at how that voice slithered through me like an invitation. Sensations swirled over my skin as though a thousand fingers explored my body for the first time. My vision swirled and the electricity in the air encouraged me to do things I would never dare. The tingling touched every inch, a smile lit my face before I even looked at the man who’d spoken to me.