Devil in Disguise (Kai Parker)

Chapter Twenty: Back to Play

Meg was fairly certain he tried to kiss gently.

Like Kai could ever be gentle.

His lips burned, tasting like Zima and mint. She made a little surprised noise in the back of her throat, hardly expecting this to be happening any time soon, but it quickly turned into a groan. Kissing back hungrily, she buried her hands in his hair and pressed as close to him as she could. It was around about now that he lost all pretence of sweetness and started kissing harshly, pushing her further back against the wall. The rocks were digging into her back and her incapacitated arm was aching, but she couldn’t care when his lips were everywhere and she was on fire…

‘Where’s the stupid bear?’ he whispered in her ear, eyes blazing.

Something splintered inside her.

A coldness spread like frost over her and she smiled blankly, trying to hide the boiling fury inside her. Eyes glazed, as though she was still held in his spell, she stood on tiptoe and whispered in his ear, ‘Gone, you damned boy.’ And then she slapped him.

The sound reverberated against the walls, pounding in her eardrums, punctuated by her heavy, mad breathing. That stupid boy. That stupid psychopath. He never kissed her just to kiss her. It always had to be so he could get something.

His head was forced back, and a vicious scarlet mark was blossoming on his cheek. He laughed humourlessly, putting a hand to it gingerly. ‘OK, that’s never happened before…’

‘You’ve really got to stop manipulating me like that.’

‘Duly noted.’ he smirked unashamedly.

A shooting pain went through her stomach and she massaged it absent-mindedly, ‘Ow.’

‘You OK?’ Bonnie asked from where she stood in the circle of life, apparently finding her tongue again. There was a deep flush on her cheeks and Meg felt embarrassment join the gut-wrenching anger.

‘Fine, just fine.’ her head spiked and she rubbed it without thinking. Her eyes went to her watch; it was 12.34 PM.

‘So, little Nut-Meg doesn’t like my methods anymore. That complicated things.’ Kai pushed past Meg, who felt hot tears brimming in her eyes. Another stomach ache made her wince. ‘So, Bonnie: where’s the bear?’

‘Oh, it’s gone.’ she reassured, not looking at him. ‘I guess we’re all stuck here. Forever. Sorry.’

Kai gritted his teeth, glaring daggers at the little witch, who didn’t even glance in his direction. Her eyes were narrowed at Meg, and she was tilting her head. ‘Meg, what’s wrong?’ she stepped forward. ‘You look… weird.’

‘Erm… I don’t know…’ she said confusedly. Small, stabbing pains were tingling all over her body, like static electricity. It wasn’t uncomfortable, but it wasn’t pleasant. Her brain was overflowing with too much at once, spilling over the edge, hurting like hell. She stumbled, leaning against the wall. What was this?

Acute pain suddenly lanced through her stomach and she doubled up, coughing. Something dark and red dribbled down her chin, and some invisible force slapped her in the face, knocking her backwards so forcefully her head cracked against the wall. Fear bubbled up inside her and she clutched her head in agony.

‘Meg!’ Bonnie rushed over. ‘Meg, are you OK?’

The girl jerked her head up, eyes wild. ‘No. No, I do not think so.’ she laughed, jumping to her feet and pacing. She looked quite deranged. Her strides got quicker and quicker as she started to stop laughing, the circles she walked slower as her face fell. ‘SHUT UP!’ she screamed, although no-one was talking.

‘Oh.’ Kai’s eyes glittered with amusement. ‘This is how it’s going to go, is it?’

‘What?’ Bonnie’s head snapped around to look at him. ‘Kai, what the hell did you do to her?’

‘Nothing! I just kissed her.’

‘Ooh.’ Meg whistled, face changing completely. ‘Ooh, this is different. This is new.’ she raked her hands through her hair and patted her arms, apparently amazed. She laughed, a slow, manic look setting in on her eyes, and began walking slowly around the room.

‘Meg,’ Bonnie said slowly. ‘What’s wrong?’

‘Twenty years. God, it’s good to be back.’ she grinned, but then frowned with all the rapidity of flipping a light switch. ‘Well, not completely back. Just a little.’ With a sudden spin on her heel, Meg turned to face Bonnie. Her eyes were glinting in the darkness. ‘What’s wrong with me? Oh, my. What a question.’ she grinned. ‘Well, let’s put it this way. A dam. You leave it closed for, say, twenty years, and then open them just a tiny bit. The water comes pouring out as fast as it can out of the small hole, drowning anything in its path.’ she snarled the last bit, raising a palm towards Bonnie, whose lungs immediately start to fill with water. She spluttered, spraying sea water everywhere, as she began to choke.

‘Meg…’ she forced out, eyes bulging, before she collapsed to the floor.

‘I’ve always found sea water to be more painful than fresh water, don’t you?’ she asked conversationally while the witch convulsed. ‘It must be the salt.’

Kai whistled. ‘I almost forgot how cool you were.’

Meg’s dark eyes turned to him, and Bonnie stopped moving. Stepping over the motionless body of the witch, she walked slowly towards Kai, who was smirking. Cocking her head, she raised one finger to his cheek and stroked it softly. Nothing changed in her expression as she leaned forward and whispered in his ear, ‘If you ever try to kiss me, to steal my magic or control me in any way… you’ll find it a lot harder to do it again without your lips. Do you hear me?’

‘Loud and clear, little Nut-Meg.’ he was still grinning.

‘Good.’ she smiled. But then her vision flickered. ‘Oh, crap.’ she cursed, turning away from Kai and stepping on Bonnie’s fingers as she walked over her.

‘What?’ he asked.

‘I’m closing the dam.’ she snarled, clutching her head. ‘I’m losing my magic all over again. Why can’t I just leave it open?’

‘I thought you didn’t like your magic?’

‘It likes me today. Call it the honeymoon period.’ she forced out sarcasm, even as she fell to the floor. ‘Ugh, a million levels of magic. A million different personalities. A range of emotional heights. All stuck behind that door in the back of her head. It’s maddening!’

Those were the last words she got out before her face went slack and her eyes closed.