I took a swig of my drink, the can cooling in my hand. "You mean dreamscaping?" I wasn't sure how I felt about going under again. My head had just recovered from last night's escapade, and I wasn't thrilled about another round. My body needed rest. It seemed the more magic I used within the dream, the harder the effects. .h.i.t when I woke up.

A half smile played across his lips. "Let's see if we can get you to control it, prevent or block it."

"You can do all that?"

His answer was a sunny grin.

I'll take that as a yes. "You suck," I added sorely.

He was completely unaffected by my charm. "Let's change it up. This time I'll pull you in. You'll get the feel of being on the other side, the one summoned into the dream."

At least someone was excited, I couldn't say the same. Strolling into the family room I asked over my shoulder, "So how are we doing this?"

He grinned, loving this. "a.s.sume the position sleeping beauty." His hand swooped over the couch like it was my royal chamber.

"Clever," I added snarky.

Setting the c.o.ke on a coaster, I kicked off my shoes. Hey, if I was going to take a nap, I deserved comfort. Lying on the couch, I tried every which way to get relaxed. The fact that Lukas was watching me did not help. He kneeled over me, his emerald eyes shining above me. "No funny business," I warned.

"Never," he swore, a corner of his mouth lifted. That was so not believable and did nothing to calm my unease. "Close your eyes," he instructed.

"But how are you"

He put a finger on my lips, silencing me. "Don't question. Just trust me."

Trust.

Such a complex and simple concept. Why was it so hard to trust Lukas, but Gavin I inexplicitly trusted with my life? All these thoughts and questions tumbled into my head as I shut my eyes. I a.s.sumed he did some kind of hocus pocus mojo to put us both under.

Before I knew it Lukas was calling my name. His voice had that underwater m.u.f.fled quality to it, like it was being over powered by something else. Time ceased to exist. It could have been seconds or minutes, eventually I followed his familiar voice.

A whole new world of vibrant, flashing color opened against the blackness. Music blared all around me in patterns with erratically disco lights. The floor shined under my feet.

"Took you long enough."

I whirled around at the sound of his voice, my hair flying out around me.

"Remind me to have us work on your timing. It blows." He stood in the middle of a sea of people b.u.mping and grinding, well mostly grinding, to heavy ba.s.s music.

There was a clear straight path to him like the red sea parting, I walked right up to him, and socked him in the gut.

"Ouch," he complained, but not really in pain. There was too much amus.e.m.e.nt sprinkled in his eyes.

I grinned. "Well at least I know you can be hurt here. And my timing does not suck."

He gave me a dry look. "Very funny. Whatever happens here can very easily affect us in the real world."

"I'll keep that in mind." I had learned that lesson the hard way.

I glanced around my surroundings. We were at some underground club complete with the half-naked girls hanging from the rafters, strobe lights, and ear-deafening music. I would be lucky if I don't have a seizure with the amount of flashing and flickering lights. It was out of this world. Literally.

"So this is what you dream about? Figures. Typical guy." I had to admit though, it was pretty freaking cool. And so out of my league. Gaping, I could feel color staining my cheeks. The place oozed sweaty bodies, perfume and sweet alcohol. It wasn't necessarily a bad combination.

He was unfazed by my sarcasm. Holding out a hand, he asked, "Dance?"

I bit my lip. Everyone around us was doing some form of dirty dancing. It was like s.e.x on the dance floor, a real cla.s.sy joint.

"I don't bite...much. You aren't scared are you?" he asked baiting me, knowing very well I would take the hook.

Please. "Only that I will trample your feet," I subtly warned.

He chuckled.

I put my hand in his and we swayed with the music, but I made sure to keep a reasonable distance between us. Occasionally our bodies brushed, and I couldn't help but wonder if it was deliberate. I definitely wouldn't put it past him.

"So who are all these people?" I yelled over the pumping dubstep.

With a snap of his finger they all vanished, leaving just him and me. "Nothing but a product of my ingenuity. None of their faces are real to me, just a part of the illusion I created."

Slowly I pulled away, needing some distance. We stopped dancing.

Lukas grinned. "Playtimes over, it's time to move into phase two. I summoned you here, now I want you to block my thread to your dream, pull yourself out."

I looked at him like he was speaking Greek. Here I was, in an empty underground club and he wanted me to do magic? I couldn't even think past the blazing music and the lightshow overhead.

After minutes of nothing but me standing there like a lost puppy he tilted my chin up. "Push out," he stated like it was the simplest thing. He should have known better. Nothing with me was simple.

"How?" I countered skirting near frustration.

"I'll show you. We can share magic. Give me your hands." He held out both of his. "It's easy as pie."

Nothing with magic was ever easy as pie.

Our hands clasped, on cue a bolt of energy charged the air. I had only ever shared magic with Gavin once and Morgana, if that counted. But immediately I noticed something off. An edge of darkness hugged over my skin and in my spell. It was addicting in a bad way. I like it too much and that scared me. There was a hint of something shady in it, something I just couldn't put my finger on.

Shaking my head, I started to protest, but Lukas's grip tightened. Everything inside me wanted to reject what we were brewing. I had to stop this.

Now.

Power surged inside of me as I pulled energy from the source. It emitted an electric shock from my fingers tips, loosening Lukas's hold. I ripped my hands from his, severing our connection not only to each other, but the dream as well. The whole thing happened in a matter of seconds, but my insides felt like they were being ripped in half. Inhaling sharply, I tore open my eyes. Bolting upright, I seethed with annoyance as I looked over at him in the recliner, eyes just starting to flutter. Everything all at once went to my head, dizziness overtook, and my stomach rolled.

"What the h.e.l.l was that?" I demanded, hands still tingling.

He dragged in a ragged breath, eyes beaming like a glowworm. And he didn't look pleased. "You ended things abruptly. That doesn't come without a price."

I pulled a shaky hand through my hair, starting to feel a pressure building inside my head. Before I had the chance to bombard him with a string of questions, the doorbell rang.

My eyes immediately connected with Lukas. A feeling of panic overcame me, pushing aside the irritation. Please G.o.d don't let it be Gavin. Snapping myself out of my internal dread, I began to walk to the front door. For a split second I thought about ignoring whoever was there, but as if on cue the musical chime sounded a second time.

"This better be important," I growled under my breath.

I should have known. Tori stood on the other side of the door looking impatiently beautiful. Caramel golden waves framed her frowning face. Pushing her way inside, Tori never waited for invitation and really she never needed one. "Finally. For G.o.d's sake what took you so long?" she huffed.

"Tori, this isn't a good"

Her hand flew to her heart, and she let out a tiny, "Oh." I watched as the exasperation fled from her expression and was replaced with one of keen curiosity.

Following her gaze, I already knew what captured her attention.

Lukas leaned in the doorway looking like an arch angel. His dimples twinkled, and his eyes were br.i.m.m.i.n.g with amus.e.m.e.nt. I think he enjoyed seeing me ruffled. He had both hands stuck into the front pockets of his jeans, and his college t-shirt stretched over his taunt chest, emphasizing the emerald green of his eyes.

Even I had to suppress a sigh, Tori wasn't so subtle.

Her big brown eyes zeroed in on Lukas like he was a descendant piece of cheesecake she was dying to take a bite. Then she glanced back to me uplifting a perfectly manicure brow, giving me a quizzical glare. The corners of her lips twitched. "Why have you been hiding all this hotness to yourself?" she whispered beside me. "You know it's really not fair that you have two sizzling guys and I don't have a single one. Didn't your aunt ever teach you to share?"

I elbowed her in the side, and she glowered at me.

Lukas's grin only grew.

Goodie gumdrops. How the h.e.l.l was I going to explain this? I needed to think fast on my feet. I needed a lie. Of course everyone knows that I am queen sucky at lying.

Lukas became my savior. He swaggered into the hallway giving Tori the full swoon-worthy treatment. She looked ready to collapse.

There was nothing I could do but roll my eyes.

"You never told me you had such a beautiful friend." His voice was as smooth as a honey and as lethal as a killer bee.

It was almost comical how easily she fell prey to his charm.

"I'm Tori," she purred like a s.e.x kitten.

I tried not to giggle at her trying to be s.e.xy.

He would have to be gay or a dunce to not pick up Tori's obvious and downright embarra.s.sing flirting. h.e.l.l it was even making me uncomfortable. I suddenly felt like a third wheel, maybe I should have offered them my bedroom.

"Tori, Lukas. Lukas, Tori. Now with the introductions out of the way..." I turned to Tori. "What are you doing here?"

Her eyes were still glued to Lukas.

"Earth to Tori," I called waving my hand in the air.

"Hmm. I I wanted to talk to you about the party," she tripped over her words clearly fl.u.s.tered.

"Couldn't you have just called?" Yeah I was being rude, but she caught me in a state. A few minutes earlier, she could have walked into an extremely awkward and hard to explain situation.

"You should come... to my party," Tori extended to Lukas completely ignoring me. She batted her eyelashes to sweeten the invitation.

I wanted to gag.

And it had nothing to do with jealousy. Okay maybe just a teeny, tiny tad of jealousy. As much as it didn't make sense, Lukas had only ever been mine. Mostly though it was a heavy dose of oh s.h.i.t.

I glared at her. She feigned ignorance and was going to pay for it later, when I got her alone. This was bad. Very bad. Gavin and Lukas in the same room, I internally groaned. I got that whole punched-in-the gut feeling and nearly couldn't breathe. h.e.l.l must have frozen over.

Things between Gavin and I were finally at a good place. A great place. This party was going to be my downfall.

I could feel Lukas's gaze burning at me, trying to get a read on my reaction, which was sort of a feat in itself. Tori was holding her breath. I tried as hard as I could to keep my expression blank, but it wasn't working. My eyes were pleading with him to say no.

Begging him.

If I could have forced the thought in his head or made him say no with magic, you bet your a.s.s I would have. I wanted to kick myself for not getting this whole witch thing, and then I wanted to just kick Lukas. Tori too.

Turning to Tori he gave her an impish, floor-dropping grin. His dimples winked on either side. "Is Brianna going to be there?" he asked Tori like I wasn't even in the room.

My mouth gaped open, and I crossed my arms over my chest. This was turning into an epic debacle. He had deliberately ignored my plea. There had been no mistaking that he had understood. My eyes had practically screamed it at him.

Tori rolled her eyes like it was a no brainer. "Of course she is going to be there. She's my best friend. You have to come, it will be a blast."

She was totally going into full out fan-girl mode. I cringed. Then I heard him say, "Sounds like fun. Count me in." Much to my chagrin, he accepted.

And the hardwood floor dropped out from underneath me.

No. No. No.

I was royally screwed.

Chapter 20.

I WAS SURPRISED TO SEE GAVIN waiting for me in my driveway the next morning. It had been pretty clear that he knew I would be seeing Lukas after school, I thought for sure we would be taking ten steps back. But seeing him sitting on the hood of his car my heart inflated with hope. Coping with all this uncertainty about us was wreaking havoc on my wellbeing.

Skipping off the porch, the wind blew my hair back. The cool morning breeze heightened the color in my cheeks. When I reached his car I was feeling a little breathy, entirely his fault.

"Need a lift?" His voice sounded like a dip in the ocean after a hot summer day refreshing.

My answer was a radiate smile.

He held the door open as I slipped in. The sound of his turbo charged engine tore through the quiet street as we sped to school. My b.u.t.t vibrated on the seat, but it wasn't an annoying feeling, more like a gentle lull.

The question had been on the tip of my tongue since he showed up looking heart-stopping. I was confused. Why the about face? Why now? "You make my head spin," I said breaking the silence.

That wasn't meant as an ego booster but the deadly smirk on his lips said he thought it was the highest of compliments. "I tend to have that effect on girls."