* * * *
Thirty minutes later, Bree and I were riding in Delvin’s car, headed toward the costume shop. I was sitting in the passenger seat—via Bree insisting—looking out the window, desperately trying to avoid staring at Delvin. The same glittering crap from earlier still hung around him, and just like before, it was the same vibrant shade of yellow.
Biting my bottom lip, I continued to refrain from staring at him like some creeper while I tried to wrap my head around how this ring could cause such crazy effects. Monday morning, I would be at my local jewelers, hand outreached, and waiting for them to snip this sucker off. Until then though, I was planning on ignoring the weirdness and having the time of my life, even if that meant getting shitfaced drunk in order to do so.
“You are not choosing one of your usual costumes,” Bree informed me once we stepped through the threshold of the store. “That means no cat, devil, vampire, or witch costume. Understand?”
I chuckled. She knew me too well. “But those are always the cheapest, easiest ones to pick.”
For the last three years in a row, I had been a cat, using the same costume. In fact, the ones she’d just rattled off were the only costumes I ever purchased…even as a child. They were easy, and for whatever reason, I never had any desire to be a princess like every other little girl. I had chose witch or vampire hands down every single time.
“No. Not happening this year,” Bree insisted, waving her index finger at me. “This place has so much more to offer than that.”
Delvin placed his arm over my shoulder, and pulled me into his side. “I wouldn’t mind seeing you in a cat costume…as long as the body of the thing was some tight black leather.”
I narrowed my eyes, and shifted free from his arm so I could utter a witty comeback while making eye contact, but the words never made it past my lips. The second my eyes landed on him, I fell silent. The yellow I’d seen shimmering around him before had become tinted with flecks of deep red at some point.
“What?” Delvin tossed his hands up in front of him in surrender, obviously misinterpreting my expression for something else. “I’m just saying.”
“Yeah well, it’s not happening. Kenna is going as something else this year, even if I have to use physical force,” Bree said, nudging me with her elbow.
Snapping out of my trance-like stare, I locked eyes with her. A small smile, one I knew she would be expecting, twisted the corners of my lips. “Fine, I’ll look for something other than those four. Promise.”
As we strolled through the shop, I allowed my eyes to drift back to Delvin occasionally. The flecks of red splattered through his usual yellow were fading. I kicked myself mentally for not reading what each of those aura colors had meant the moment I decided it seemed like the best possible answer for what I was seeing.
Seeing.
The first message from my mother flashed through my mind. What had her exact words been? I followed Bree down an aisle filled with various slutty costumes while thinking. “The time has come, my sweet girl, for you to find out who you really are. The Kiss of Awakening is upon you.” That had been it. My eyes studied the ring glued to my finger as Bree paused to flip through some French maid costumes. “To find out who you really are,” the words passed through my head again. Maybe I was a physic or something? Could that run in my family? What about seeing auras? The only part that truly stumped me was where she had said, “The Kiss of Awakening is upon you.” I wasn’t sure how to tie that in anywhere. No one had kissed me.
“Oh, look!” Bree spun around to face me, holding a long flowing red dress out. “We could both be devil girls.”
“I thought you said I wasn’t allowed to be a devil again,” I countered with a smug smile twisting my lips.
“Yeah, but this one is different from what you normally wear,” she protested. “It’s not the $5.97 headband and tail with that stupid little pitchfork wand you always get. This one looks hot!”
Taking in the costume she was holding, I nodded. It was a hot number. Flowing red and black fabric made up the dress. A pair of black elbow gloves and a headband with two little red devil horns attached to the front completed the costume.
“And look.” Bree spun the outfit around to show me the back. “There’s even a pair of black angel wings.”
“What is it?” I asked.
“A dark angel enchantress.” She read the tag. “So there, it’s not even marketed as a devil costume. Boom, you’re done. Now let’s find something for me.”
I took it from her, and draped it over my arm. It wasn’t a bad costume. In fact, I was positive it would make me feel sexy, especially with the high slit along the side.
“A dark angel, huh?” Delvin uttered from behind me. I turned to face him, a smile on my face. “Yeah, I guess so…”
My voice broke off. The flecks of red were back in his aura. Either I was growing used to seeing such things now, or else I had flipped off the deep end at some point, because the sight of them didn’t frighten me this time. In fact, all I wanted to do was pinpoint which emotion he was feeling that had caused the sudden change.
“Nice.” He folded his arms over his chest, and stroked the scruff along his chin with one hand. “Hopefully, I’ll get to take the two of you out on the town tonight. That way I’ll see this sexy costume on you. I’m betting it will look even hotter than the black leather I fantasized about earlier.”
The flecks of red swelled as he continued to stare at me, and I knew in an instant red meant lustful.