Page 36 of Blood Moon
After, we rushed through the crowd out of the stadium. A flash, and I thought I saw Julian ahead, his hands in his hair, pushing those dark waves back while he stood beneath the shadow of a tree, waiting for me. He wasn’t.
Naomi’s hand drew me further from the idle bodies, away to a path that was free of people. Again, I swore I saw him. Ahead of me, beside me, behind me. It was only a figment of my imagination. He was everywhere and nowhere.
As we pulled further away, my necklace warmed. The feeling filled my belly with anxiety. Up ahead, sitting cross-legged on the Founders’ Fountain, was a younger woman. Her beauty was intoxicating, alluring in a way that felt familiar, even as water splashed onto her auburn hair.
Our gazes locked, and a smile set in. She watched me like she knew me intimately, waved her fingers at me. It made my skin prick, but at the same time, it made me want to go to her.
My body scorched with an invisible flame, and Naomi dropped my hand. “Girl,” she said, searching my eyes. “You are burning up.” She dug through her bag to hand me a bottle of water, but it didn’t relieve me from the smoke in my chest.
A look back, and the woman was gone.
A look ahead, and my phone vibrated.
It was Seven, sending me an invitation to an after-party.
CHAPTER21
Every war I’d seen, she’d seen twice.
Article VI, Lost Letters from Aadan the First
At the end of a cul-de-sac was a one-story house with gray siding and black shingles.
Cars were parked bumper to bumper up and down the barely lit street, and students were scattered everywhere in twos and threes.
A group of them lay in the grass, glancing up at the starlit, foggy sky while they laughed incoherently. Some lounged in the driveway against bumpers, while others tossed a ball around. A handful of them were packed on the porch, listening to two people tell a story. Their eyes rimmed red. Their cheeks raised in laughter.
Inside, primary colors bounced off the wall from small lights, adding a glow to the darkened house, and the bass scratched at my ears. There were bodies in every possible corner of this home. Dancing. Laughing. Holding plastic cups.
Smoke clouded the air in puffs, and each inhale made me feel like I could float. I held Em and Naomi’s hands tightly as we navigated through the house, and they held onto Stevie and Abi. We bumped into people while we moved, and at times, it felt like we were glowing. The lights illuminated the apples of our cheeks and our button noses; the gloss on our lips shined slick like ice; our skin shimmered like diamonds.
And at once, I found myself splitting in two. In one corner of the house was Seven, in the other corner Julian. They traced these walls like the Earth and the moon. In the liminal space between, I felt like the tide, being pulled in and out.
In darkness, Julian’s hair masked the sides of his face as he raised a cup to his lips. He leaned against a wall next to his friends, inhaling smoke.
Underneath a track of bright lights was Seven. He spotted me immediately, waving me toward him with a smile so wide it made my heart flutter.
I went to him, moving quickly through the crowd. Abi and Stevie broke away, but Naomi and Em followed.
Seven stood with some of his teammates as they exchanged commentary on the winning play of the game. When Em and Naomi joined their conversation, their body language changed, welcoming them in like they’d known them forever. I breathed a little easier after that.
“There she is!” Seven opened his arms, wrapping me in a hug. He was so warm and large, I felt swallowed by him. In a swift move, he grabbed my hand and kissed my knuckles. The feeling made my stomach hurt. It was a good kind of pain.
He whispered, lips stopping at the tip of my ear, “I wondered if you’d come. I was surprised to see you at the game.”
“A good surprise or a bad surprise?” I pulled away to see the sparkle in his eyes.
His lips spread wide, and he broke our gaze to say, “A good one,” as if looking away from me made it all the more true.
“Then my job here is done. I guess I can leave now and forever rest in peace,” I said, turning away, but he brought me back to him, curls flopping as he laughed. I joined him, laughing until we were both smiles. He observed me, truly seeing me, and I twitched from the closeness.
I pushed my hair behind my ear, glanced away. “You were great out there.” And he was. The way he moved, dived, threw, it was mystical. Had Bobby witnessed it, he would have been impressed.
“Couldn’t have done it without the team, but honestly, it’s one of my favorite places to be. The field is a different beast, but it’s mine, you know? I feel lucky.”
“Youarelucky.”
“I mean … this is also a favorite place to be. Here, next to you.”
