Page 46 of Unleashing Chaos

He shakes his head, which is a complete contrast to the words that flow from his mouth. “All right. I trust you to bring me home in one piece.”

I bounce on the balls of my feet. “Oh my gosh, Jace. Thank you so much.” I fling my arms around his neck. “You don’t know what this means to me. I owe you so big. What do you want me to do for you? Anything you want. It’s yours.”

“Keep your lust-smelling brothers away from my house. And—”

“Done. And?”

“Finish watching Star Wars with me. I’m going to need a distraction to keep my mind off the wild agreement we just made.”

I pull him down onto the couch with me and click on the TV, throwing the blanket over our laps. “Consider it done.”

Fifteen

JACE

I pull my BMW up to a deserted bus station at the edge of town, narrowing my eyes as I put the car in Park. The blue and white awning over the front entrance is sun bleached and ripped to shreds. What used to be a glass door is boarded up with plywood and cracked open. The only redeeming quality about this place is the neon-colored graffiti marking the dingy exterior, the purple and green horned demon with a pointed tail being my favorite of the edgy art pieces.

“You’re sure this is it?” I ask.

“Yep,” Desi says, looking down at her phone and the instructions she got from the medium yesterday.

“If this isn’t some seedy shit, I don’t know what is,” I grumble, jabbing my finger against the ignition button.

“At least it isn’t the last stall of a rest stop in the middle of nowhere. That’s how Mandis, Glen, and I came in.”

I wrinkle my nose as we get out of the car and unload our two suitcases. “Disgusting. I do not like the sound of that. In fact, that would have been when I bailed.”

“Yeah, you would’ve had a meltdown for sure,” she teases, bumping me with her hip. She looks up at me, and in the predawn light, her freckled face is pinched with worry. “Hey, are you okay? You sure you still want to do this?”

“I’m scared as hell, but I trust you. This’ll be fine.”

I’m not lying. I do trust her.

But I’m putting on the bravest face I can because I don’t want her to think I’m a coward. My anxiety already puts me at a disadvantage, keeping me from the social events and experiences that it seems every guy my age has. Others see it as weakness. Something I should just get over. I say screw that; it’s pure self-preservation.

I dread panic attacks—the anxiety over feeling anxious. The tight feeling in my chest and the fight to take my next breath. Sometimes I think I’m on the verge of death when it crashes down on me. I drown in a sea of hypothetical scenarios, each growing worse as my mind spirals. Sometimes I drift in the stormy waters for hours. Desi was my lifeline the other night. She eased me back to the surface and stayed with me until I caught my breath. Not once did she make me feel like less for losing control.

“Will it help if I explain what’s about to happen?” she asks, holding her hand out to me. Her slender fingers wiggle, urging me to take hold.

Butterflies. Goddamn butterflies beat their wings in my stomach and my palms become sweaty. For fuck’s sake, Wilder. Get it together. You’ve held her hand in public before. You’ve danced with her in front of a big crowd while they all watched and applauded. What’s the big deal now?

But that was before.

Before we locked eyes through our bedroom windows and crossed whatever invisible line we’d drawn.

Forget crossing the line. We’d obliterated it.

But I agreed to go with her to her home realm and convince her family that I want to be her eternal partner. If I can’t even hold her hand in an abandoned parking lot, I’m definitely going to fail.

And I will not fail her. Not when she’s come through for me every single time.

I wipe my palm on my jeans and slide my hand into hers. The second she touches me, my mounting worry slowly recedes. She grounds me to the here and now. I fall into step with her as we walk toward the bus station.

“Do you want me to explain it?” she asks again.

“Yeah, it will help. Kill the element of surprise.”

“The medium is like a ticket agent. Their job is to make sure no one enters or leaves this realm without being approved. They’re like the guardians of the gates.”

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