Bad Company (Seven Deadly Sins #1) ✅ Completed

Chapter Nineteen: That Was...Strange

I stood by the counter carefully dipping the old jewelry in the special cleaning solution Aunt Celeste had given me. There were two shoe boxes full of costume jewelry I was supposed to clean and place in the display case before lunch. She wouldn’t be back till later on in the afternoon, though she hadn’t said where she was going. I figured since she wouldn't around to breathe down my neck, I could just take my time.

Since the cost for the new display case was coming out of Dante’s pay, he was also stuck with me for the day. Aunt Celeste told him he couldn’t leave until he’d sold a few things to start working off his debt early. He didn’t look too pleased to have to stick around, but at least he got stuck polishing the silver this time not me.

 The door opened and Chase rushed inside.

“Hey, what’s up?” I started to say but was quickly cut off by Chase coming around the counter and pulling me into a deep kiss. I was so shocked by his sudden behavior I stood frozen for a few seconds as he kissed me senseless.

This was…different.

Placing my hands on his chest I pushed him off me, and took a few steps back to make some room between us. “Hey…whoa. Are you feeling okay?” I asked concerned and a little out of breath. The kiss was fine…actually it was more than fine, but it was also a little too much for nine o’clock in the morning.  

Chase looked at me, his green eyes dark and more than a little dilated. “Absolutely!  Actually, I’m great. I’m so great. I’m just so happy to see you. I missed you, Eliza. I feel like I haven’t seen in you in forever,” his words came out in a rush as he took a few steps forward to close the distance between us.

I took a few more steps backwards, and made my way around to the other side of the counter, keeping the broken display case between us. Something was definitely not right with Chase.  I had a horrible feeling in the pit of my stomach, and I was pretty sure whatever it was, it had everything to do with my aunt; the same one who was conveniently gone for the day.

What had she done to him? He was definitely not acting like the guy she'd hung out with the day before.  “Chase…um, shouldn’t you be at your dad’s store right now?” I asked trying to talk a little bit of sense into him.

He nodded and stepped around the counter, trying to get closer. “Yeah, he’s probably wondering where I am right now,” he laughed, though it sounded more like a bark than a real laugh, “but I had to see you first. I woke up and you were the first thing on my mind. It was weird, but I felt like I just had to come down here, you know?”

Not really.

“Really? Why?” I asked carefully, taking a few more steps away from him. Whatever was happening, it was most certainly not good. The more he looked at me, the more he started to creep me out, even though I was pretty sure it wasn’t anything he could possibly control.  

“I felt bad that I had to cancel last night.” He smiled, and for a moment he looked a little normal again. It helped alleviate some of the growing dread that was quickly filling up my stomach. Then just as quickly as the old Chase had come, he was gone again, replaced by the weird pod person in front of me.

Out of the corner of my eye I saw Dante rise and move closer to us. I know it was totally ridiculous that his actions made me feel better because he was sort of this non-human scary guy that worked for my aunt, but right now I was just happy I wasn’t the only one in the store with Chase. I wasn’t exactly afraid for my safety, but something was definitely off with him, and that was bad enough.

“C’mon, Eliza. Let’s go to the lake. Right now. We can go lie on the beach and swim, maybe grill a little. You know, just hang out.”

I shook my head slowly. “No, Chase. I can’t. I have to work.”

He ran his fingers through his hair before nodding quickly a few times. “Yeah. Okay. I get it. How about afterwards? I can pick you up and we can go then? Or if you don’t want to go there we can go somewhere else. We can just hang out or something.”

His face was so flushed and he kept talking in this rapid fire pattern. I’d seen this behavior before, but I was pretty sure Chase was definitely not on something. He didn’t seem like the tweaker sort. “Chase, you don't seem yourself. I don’t think…”

“I’m fine!” he snapped, his face changing so suddenly it was scary. He looked absolutely furious. “Why do you keep asking me that?”

"Because you’re scaring her.” Dante’s voice cut through the shop like a whip. It was enough to even pull Chase up short.  

He looked over at Dante startled for a second, like he hadn’t even realized anyone else was in the shop with us. As I watched, his face grew even darker as he eyeballed Dante like he wanted to punch him in the face. I could relate to that – sometimes I wanted to punch Dante in the face too. Not right now though. Right now I could’ve kissed him for butting in and helping me out.  

“No one was talking to you, freak,” Chase growled in his direction. He bunched up his fists and if he hadn’t looked tightly wound before, he sure as heck did now.  

Dante crossed his arms across his chest and looked almost bored. It was clear he saw Chase as a non-threat. Thank God one of us did.

“Leave now. You're done,” he said flatly.

Chase laughed, but the sound held no humor in it. “Whatever. You can’t tell me to get out.”

“Sure I can,” Dante shrugged one shoulder but never looked away from him. “And if I have to, I’ll throw you out. So you can leave on your own or have me pitch you like a sack of trash. It’s up to you.”

“Think you can do it?” he challenged.

“Absolutely,” Dante replied.

“Chase, wait. Why are you acting like this? This isn’t like you.” I said, trying to reach the sensible part that I knew was inside him. He was acting like a total ‘roided out meathead. I knew whatever was driving him to act this way had to be something out of his control.

He looked back down at me, and this time there was nothing even remotely like the Chase I knew in his face. “You know, I woke up today and I couldn’t wait to see you. Like an idiot I thought you might feel the same way. I can see I was wrong. So what, did you hook up with him already? Is that why you’re brushing me off today?”

“What?” I gasped. He was really suggesting I'd hooked up with Dante? Scary, not-human Dante?

Chase just sneered, “That’s it, right? Think his piercings are hot, too? Couldn’t even give me a day to be sick before you moved on to the next guy? You know I was wrong about you. I thought you were different, Eliza, but you’re just like all the other clones around here.”

He brushed past me and stormed out of the shop, slamming the door so hard I was afraid it would break. That was something I just couldn't afford.

I stood there stunned for several minutes, unable to process what had just happened. Dante was staring at me. “You okay?” he asked. For the first time since he started speaking to me, he actually sounded like he might have meant it.  

I just nodded, “Yeah, I think so. That was just…weird. Thanks, you know, for the assist.”

Dante shrugged it off, but looked a little bit like even he couldn’t believe he’d interfered. I guess I wasn’t the only person shocked by his almost-normal behavior. It didn’t last long though. He turned back around and got back to his box, ignoring me for the rest of the morning.

That was fine by me. I was too busy going over what had just happened with Chase in my brain to be overly concerned with the enigma that was Dante. Chase was my main concern at the present. Whatever Aunt Celeste had done, it had worked hard and fast.

I just hoped it wasn’t permanent.

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*A/N: So the music selection for this chapter is Foreigner's Hot Blooded...because really, how can it NOT be? Thanks much for reading! =c) wendy