“Yes. How did you know?”
“I was listening when you showed up, of course. I had to make everyone leave.” He sounded put out. I remembered how upset the girl was who’d been kicked out.
“Oh. Sorry. Can I borrow your phone to call him?”
He handed me a high-tech gizmo that I turned in every direction before he took it back and got the touch screen to show a phone keypad. I dialed Jay’s number.
“Hello?”
“Hi, Jay. I just wanted to let you know that, um, Kaidan is going to drive me home.”
“Ohoho!” I couldn’t bring myself to laugh with him, but I saw Kaidan grin out of the corner of my eye. “Sounds good, chica. Call me later.”
I couldn’t figure out how to hang up, so I passed the phone back to Kaidan.
“Where do you live?” he asked. “Here in Atlanta?”
“No. Cartersville. It’s over thirty miles away. Is that okay?”
“Yes. He’ll expect me to be gone awhile.”
My stomach was still churning from the encounter with Pharzuph, not to mention Kaidan’s own perplexing actions toward me. He’d been cold and confrontational when I got there. And then his father showed up and he was... what? Protective? It made no sense. Even now, he was driving me home instead of taking me somewhere secluded and introducing me to the dreaded black bag, among other things.
“Who’s Marissa?” I asked, surprised by my own nosiness.
“Nobody,” he snapped. His face went hard and his jaw clenched. Why was he mad?
“You are the most baffling person I’ve ever met,” I mumbled.
“Me?! Neph don’t just show up uninvited to one another’s band gigs and homes unless they’re looking for trouble.”
Had he felt threatened by me? The thought was so absurd that I laughed at the irony.
“I didn’t even know I was Neph until after that party,” I said.
“I realize that now.”
“Only, you were right. I’m like you, but... I’m also not.” I paused.
“I’m listening,” he prompted.
I’d said too much. I was crazy for wanting to tell him about myself. There was something about him that made me want to abandon all caution. But he was in his father’s back pocket, and I shouldn’t risk it.
“Never mind,” I said.
“No. You may as well tell me now.”
“How do I know you won’t run back and tell him?”
“I don’t tell him anything if I can help it. Maybe you didn’t notice, but I tried to protect you from him back there. I thought if I could distract him and make him think I was working, maybe he would leave us and not see what you were.”
“I did notice.” My voice softened. “Why did you do that?”
“I’m not sure.” He glanced at me, but pulled his eyes away again, studying the road. “I suppose I wanted to figure you out for myself. I wasn’t expecting him home until later this evening. He’s usually not home during the week, but I suppose Marissa called him. You caught me off guard when you showed up. I wasn’t listening, and that’s not like me.”
Although I couldn’t see his colors, I believed him. Still, I didn’t like the insecurity of not knowing for sure.
“Why can’t I see your emotions?” I asked.
Kaidan let out a single laugh, as if the answer were obvious. “Because I don’t want you to.”
He could hide his colors on purpose?
“Is that something you can teach me?”
“I suppose. It would take time to learn, though.”
More time with Kaidan wouldn’t be so bad. Then I remembered—that was exactly what his father wanted.
“What will happen if I don’t, you know, do all of the stuff your father told me to? Because I’m not going to.”
“Oh, really?” He sounded amused. “And why not?”
“Because, well, drugs—you saw what they do to me. There would be no moderation. I just can’t do it. I won’t. And I’m definitely not going to push them on other people. And as far as having... you know...”
“What?” he asked.
My chest heated and it spread through my face and limbs.
“You’re too embarrassed to say it? Sex. Go ahead, give it a go. Sexsexsex.”
“Please just answer my question. What will happen if I don’t?”
“We could both be punished. If you refuse to be ‘trained,’ then you’ll need to lie low. Don’t come to my house again, and don’t do anything that might come to his attention. Neph are the least concern of the demons in our world. You’ll be forgotten and overlooked within a matter of days. But if he finds out you’re still a virgin, you’re on your own. I’ll tell him I tried and you refused. And you should know that if he does pursue you, and you continue to outright refuse to do as you’re told...”