Free Evanescent by Addison Moore

he didn’t score. Not that it surprises me.
    Laken’s eyes widen as if she’s just
remembered something.
    “What’s wrong?”
    “Oh, it’s nothing.” She glances onto the
field and lowers her gaze. “So, after the ceremony, we’ll be closer
than ever. I mean, I’ll be in all the same clubs that you are,
right? I want to do everything with you, unless that freaks you
out.” A nervous smile twitches on her lips.
    “Of course, I want that. You couldn’t freak
me out if you tried.” The Tenebrous Woods flash through my
mind—those dark, twisted tree limbs that are set to decapitate if
you take the wrong turn, the screams—those horrible, deafening
screams. I mentioned it once to Edinger. He said they were looking
into severing the vocal cords of repeat offenders, but I think the
silence would be worse. Just knowing they wanted to cry out and
couldn’t, would be far more heartbreaking.
    Laken’s eyes tear up, and she gives a hard
sniffle.
    “You okay?” I wrap my arms around her and
brush a tender kiss over her cheek.
    “I think I might be catching a cold, either
that or allergies.” She shakes her head. “So you never answered the
question. Am I all caught up on your extra curricular activities?”
She looks crestfallen as if she already knows the answer long
before I give it.
    “Yes.” I push out a little smile. “Sort of.
There might be one more thing, but it’s a surprise.” God, I’d love
to bond with Laken that way. Bring her to the woods and teach her
how to take blood—to take the powers that are rightfully
ours to begin with. Although, I wouldn’t be so anxious to watch her
suck off some guys neck, and I doubt she’d be thrilled to watch me
guzzle down on Skyla, the Celestra that picked me out of a crowd to
personally drain her. She’s pretty, but she’s no Laken. And somehow
I don’t think Laken would approve of me touching my lips to some
hot Celestra even if it were completely platonic—even if my only
thought while doing so was of Laken the entire time. Who knows? She
might classify it as cheating.
    Laken flushes a bright pink over the apples
of her cheeks. “I’d better go.” She tries to pull away, but I reel
her in and dot her lips with a kiss.
    “I love you—you know that?”
    She looks up at me a very long time. Her
brows knit as she inspects my features as if searching for
clues.
    “I love you, too, Wes.” Laken wraps her arms
around me and heaves a ragged breath. “Everything I do is because I
love you.”
    I pull back and dig in a smile.
    “The Treasure ceremony is going to be
special,” I assure her.
    “Okay.” She winks. “It’d better be.” She
blows me a kiss and takes off in the direction of the gym, her hair
bounces from behind with a rhythm all its own.
    Tomorrow night is going to be far more
special than she could ever imagine.
    Flanders catches my eye in the distance and
nods.
    A dull laugh rattles from my chest. Flanders
wishes he could have Laken the way I do.
    And after tomorrow night, Laken just might
be mine forever.
     

     
    After practice, once the team clears the
pool, I decide to hang out and swim a few laps, solo. The cavernous
room holds the thick scent of chlorine. The windows that line the
back expose the deep welt of evening.
    Laken runs through my mind, the thought of
her accepting the proposal I’m going to offer tomorrow night
incites a rush of adrenaline through me. I can picture the two of
us together in the Tenebrous Woods or, as the less informed like to
call it, the tunnels. If I knew she wouldn’t judge me—hate me, if I
knew she wouldn’t be appalled by what goes on down there and
why—I’d take her today. We would drink our fill and become the
beings we were always meant to be. In my mind’s eye the fantasy
takes a U-Turn and I imagine the two of us locked in a heated kiss,
Laken stripping to nothing right there in those gnarled woods.
    The steady beat of footsteps snap me back to
reality. I glance up and catch Demetri