Kiss of Awakening Read online

CHAPTER NINE

  “Kenna?” The feel of Bree’s hand smoothing along my back startled me, and I flinched. “Are you all right?”

  I nodded. “Mmm-hmm.”

  I was sure I didn’t seem convincing. How could I? I was freaking out! Was I having a stroke? Were these the signs for something like that?

  Rubbing my eyes, I opened them reluctantly. No glitter swirled around Bree, and for a fraction of a second, I thought everything was okay, but then I remembered there never had been anything around her. It had only been around Delvin—and every other male in my line of vision.

  “Do you have a headache or something?” Delvin asked, concern swelling within his words.

  “Yeah, a slight one,” I lied. How the hell was I supposed to tell them I was seeing shit floating around every guy I looked at? Delvin would think I was nuts, and Bree would be worried sick. “It hit me out of nowhere.”

  Bree smoothed her hand over my forearm. “Maybe something to eat would be a good thing for all of us.”

  “Sure.” I nodded, rubbing my temple to add to my headache excuse. “Let’s grab something.”

  “There’s a place around the corner,” Delvin said. “Do you feel like walking or should I drive us?”

  I couldn’t look at him. If I did, I’d see the glitter shit again and be right back where I was seconds ago—on the verge of a panic attack. Had that witch put some sort of spell on me without me realizing? Surely not. No matter what I had just told Delvin about thinking she was the real deal as well, witches, magic, all that mumbo jumbo, it didn’t exist.

  Did it? Was this what she meant about me having questions later on?

  “Walk, walking would be good.” I let my hands fall to my sides. Plastering a small smile onto my face, I risked a glance at Delvin. The golden specks floating around him had dulled in color. I took this as a sign that maybe whatever was wrong with me was beginning to fade. “I think some fresh air would be good for me right now.”

  We followed Delvin around the corner, and down the street. A café caught my attention near the end, but not for the right reasons. The colors of the place were vibrant, but it was the group of people standing outside the doors that captured my attention and held it.

  Five people—three guys, and two girls. To anyone else, they most likely appeared normal while they stood talking to one another, but to me, there was something strange about the way their shimmering glitter seemed to float around each of them with no prejudice to their sex as I’d seen before. My eyes shifted back to Bree, thinking this thing—whatever it was—must be getting worse, but when my eyes focused on her, there was nothing there. She was shimmer free still.

  What was going on?

  Risking another glance at the group as we approached them, I noticed something else odd—each of them had the same color lingering in the air around them. It was golden brown. The longer I stared at the group, the more noticeable their color became. When my eyes locked with one of the girl’s, my heart stopped and I forced myself to contain a scream at what I saw.

  In the course of one heartbeat, her face had morphed into a wolf.

  My hand flew to my mouth as the entire group shifted to look at me, each of them no longer having a human face.

  What had been on that witch’s finger? It was the only thought spiraling through my head. She had to have drugged me with something seriously trippy for me to be seeing this shit.

  Dropping my stare to the sidewalk and slowing my speed, I waited three breaths before shifting my gaze back to them. Their eyes were still trained on me, but they were no longer wolves. The golden brown still hung suspended in the air around them. Smug, knowing smiles plastered on their faces as they each gave me a slight wave as I passed them into the café. It was the type of gesture bikers gave one another on the road in passing, the signal of acknowledgement that you’re one and the same. An eerie sensation slithered along my spine as panic laced my every thought. Was I becoming something like them?

  Bree leaned into me. “Well those hotties sure did notice you,” she whispered.

  I attempted a smile, but it fell flat. Bree’s brows pulled together, and she looped her arm through mine. “Let’s get something to eat, and then we can go back to the hotel and relax.”

  I nodded. “Okay.”

  Maybe that’s what I needed, to relax. If I ate something and then took a nap, this craziness might go away.

  “This is one of my favorite places to grab a quick bite to eat,” Delvin said from behind us, oblivious to the crazy moment I’d just had and the conversation Bree and I shared. “They’ve got soups, salads, and sandwiches. My favorite is the French Dip.”

  “Sounds good.” Bree nodded. “I think after we eat we’re heading back up to our room to relax for the afternoon.”

  “Oh, all right.” There was a slight amount of disappointment etched his words that caused me to shift my gaze to him for a split-second. The moment my eyes landed on him, I noticed the shimmering yellow that had surrounded him earlier was now dotted with tiny flecks of gray. “Are you still wanting to get costumes for tonight?”

  In all of this hoopla, I’d completely forgotten about it being Halloween. Bree paused to stand behind a couple waiting to place an order. I got the impression she was waiting for me to answer him this time.

  “Sure.” I shrugged.

  I didn’t want to disappoint Bree by staying in all night on our final night in New Orleans. The Halloween experience here had been the reason I agreed to come in the first place. Also, I was still holding onto the idea that food and rest would make these colors and strange visions of people shifting into creatures vanish.