Page 62 of Just Dare Me
Charlotte raises a shaking hand, placing her fingertips on his, surprised to find that she can physically feel him. The despair on her face turns to calm, then serenity, then, finally, a hint of a smile. In response, Matt flashes an ear-to-ear smile.
And then he fades away, returning us to darkness and silence. Nobody moves. We’re in shock. It happened so fast, like ripping off a Band-Aid. Takes the breath out of you. But mostly I think we’re waiting to see what Charlotte will do. The longer we stand there, the more nervous I get.
All of a sudden, she inhales deeply—taking a long, rattling breath. As she slowly lets it out, she turns to look at us, and I can see how much she’s concentrating on her breathing. She inhales again, and it’s like she’s amazed by how it feels. She blinks, and her eyes are surprisingly dry. She looks at me, breathing in and out and in and out. With one final exhale, her whole body sags with relief, and she closes her eyes, savoring the feeling.
When she opens her eyes again, I see a different person. I see softness and vulnerability, but with clarity and brightness. No suspicion or grief or guarded vagueness. I guess you could say that it’s like meeting Charlotte for the first time again, because that’s kind of true.
The look on her face is complicated. She seems relieved, to the point of even hinting at a smile, but then her brow knits, and her eyes wrestle against contrary emotions.
“Confused?” I ask with a wince.
Hearing my voice seems to break the spell. Committing to the side of her that’s relieved, she throws her arms around me and says, “It’s incredible. Is that bad? I want to feel bad.”
At first, I’m too stunned to move my arms to return the hug. This night just keeps getting more surreal by the second. Both Russo and Jay are grinning at me. Jay gives a nod, like,Go ahead. So I hug her, awkwardly at first, but then with a smile. “I think for a while you’re going to feel a little of everything. Welcome to the club.”
She tightens her grip around me and says, “Thank you.”
And that’s just too weird for me. “Yeah, you’re definitely in shock right now. Why don’t we get you inside?” I gesture to Russo. He hurries up the steps to open the door to my room. As they go inside, I fall against Jay, exhausted. “Okay, this day needs to be done already. I don’t think I can take any more emotions.”
“Enjoy it while you can. At sunup, we’re right back to work.”
I blow a strand of hair out of my eyes. “I know. Maybe that’s what makes me nervous. This feels a lot like the calm before the storm.”
Jay makes a grunting noise. “Yeah, but that’s a good thing this time.”
“Really? How do you figure?”
With a sigh, he casually explains a matter of fact: “Because this time, we’re the storm.”
I’d laugh, if only his bravado didn’t appeal so much to my dominance, which zings fierce approval through my whole body. When I smile, it’s a predator’s thrilled grin, flashing sharp teeth and a hungry gleam in the eyes.
Hell, yeah.
“Here’s one for all ofyou,”I say. “Would you rather…have the public find out about the underworld, or have all us underworlders suddenly become human?”
Several answers come through my earpiece at the same time. The only one I hear clearly is Elle saying, “Become human, definitely.”
“Wait, I can’t hear when everybody talks at once.” I reach to flip the heater off, but Jay beats me to it, turning the dial to the lowest setting. The blast of hot air from the vents dies down to a low hiss. “Elle, you said go human?”
“In a heartbeat. First of all, I don’t need powers to enjoy sex, fashion, or food. And second, the public already hates rich people. Do you know what they’d do if they found out we also have magic?”
Oliver chimes in. “They’d assume the worst, which is that many of the richest families in the world got that way by using magic to manipulate the system. Which also happens to be 100 percent true.”
“Okay, Mr. Self-Loathing, but that was hundreds of years ago. I had nothing to do with stealing all that money. I justspendit.”
“I see. So, you’re actually trying to right the wrong by giving as much of that wealth back to the people as you can?”
“Exactly. Imagine what Robin Hood could have done with two dozen no-limit credit cards.”
Dominique’s sultry French accent says, “I can attest to Elle’s incredible commitment to spreading great wealth every opportunity she gets. Wherever we go, cash registers sing with joy. It’s an inspiration to watch.”
“See? Lady D gets it.”
There’s a crackle of static, and then Parker’s voice brings me back to the mission at hand. “Shayne, I’m in position here. Just need a green light.”
“One sec.” I sit up, reaching for my binoculars from the dash, but, once again, Jay beats me to it, handing them to me. Pressing them to my eyes, I quickly find the visual: on the far side of the property, past equipment sheds, parking lots, and mountains of rock salt sparkling in the moonlight, I see a giant tower surrounded by scaffolding and staircases. At the base of the tower, barely visible in the nighttime shadows, two East Side thugs guard a pair of sliding doors.
I switch the binocs to infrared, and suddenly I not only see the bright orange shapes created by the thugs’ body heat, but I also see another heat signature on the flight of stairs above them. This shape is bigger than both men combined. “Terrance? I see you’re in position. Give me the go signal. Show me those fat fingers.” A thick limb juts out of the giant orange heat blob, and the unmistakable outline of a middle finger rises up. I smile, thrilled by the irony that Terrance used to be my boss, and Parker is my current boss, yet both of them are now waiting for my orders.
