The Impossible Engineers (The Doorknob Society Saga Book 2) Read online

  “Everything okay?” she asked looking at me quizzically.

  “Yeah, of course.”

  She smiled at me and kissed my cheek. “I’m here if you need to talk, sweetie.”

  I walked into the house wondering why she would think I needed to talk, unless Dad had told her about Mom. There I was again right back to thinking about all the problems in my life. I pushed the nagging thoughts out of my head. Tonight, for once, I was going to dance and not think of anything except having fun.

  We all gathered together and took picture after picture until everyone had finally gotten every combination, angle or single shot they possibly could get of us. I looked at the clock and saw that we needed to get going and pointed it out to Jess and we let them all take one last picture. Then we opened a portal through the front door and walked through to the dance.

  Chapter 18

  Status: I go dancing and of course it all goes to hell.

  “Hi guys!” Faith called out to us with a big smile and a name tag plastered on her chest that shouted her name and asked if she could help.

  The main hall of the Paladin Academy was filled with students dressed and ready to party. People all around us were buzzing with excitement as a set of doors opened that lead to the main dance area, not that I could see it passed the crowd.

  “Hi, Faith.” I waved her over and she rushed up and gave me a quick hug.

  “I got your texts. Sorry I didn’t respond, my parents didn’t want us taking our phones on vacation. You said you wanted to talk with me?”

  I hadn’t had a chance to talk to Faith about Jasper and Val and I didn’t think starting the dance off that way would be a good idea. Plus I was still upset Edgar was spending the night studying instead of with us. “Yeah, if you have time later I want to talk.”

  She nodded and ran off as someone else with a name tag called her away. Slade stood beside me beaming as we were swept along with the crowd toward the massive doors that I had somehow never before noticed in the main hall.

  “I heard they open a special portal once a year into the edges of space time for the year-end dance,” Jess said answering my befuddled look at the doors.

  We stepped past the teachers who were there to chaperone and passed through the doors. The tingling sensation of a portal crawled over me as we crossed the threshold and I figured that Jess was right; we were no longer in the school. Another crawly sensation and a shiver told me that a containment lockdown had been placed around the room. The only portals that could be opened were the one we had just walked through.

  My breath caught in my throat as I entered the room. The floor was made of glass and stretched out over what looked like empty space with stars that shined brighter than I had ever seen dotting the vast blackness. A massive dome stretched high above us and in the distance a cloud of purple and blue gases swirled in a beautiful ballet of movement in outer space. A blue star slowly drifted off in the distance until it was out of sight.

  “My God,” was all I could think to say.

  “It’s beautiful,” Jess said.

  Music played and I turned to see a band set up at the far end of the room, the complete opposite side of the tables where we would be sitting. Jess grabbed my arm and pulled me eagerly along to table twelve. I went willingly too enthralled with the view to do anything else.

  We no sooner as set up at our table then Jess yanked me out on the dance floor. We moved along to some great music, the acoustics in the room making the sound reverberate all around us. It was sort of like being plugged into your own personal iPod but minus the ear buds. The dance floor filled up quickly, the band keeping the rhythm fast and fun, so that everyone easily lost themselves in the music. Slade came out and danced a few times with me but moved on to talk with some other Engineers when I told him I wanted to keep dancing. I danced with Jess, Faith and a few of the guys I knew from DS. It was a whirlwind of spinning and turning and I was enjoying every single moment of it.

  When the band called for the dinner break I was bummed but made it back to my seat to find Jess and Faith talking animatedly. I heard Slade laughing a few tables away with his Impossible Engineer friends and Nightshade was off who knows where.

  “Jasper is dating your friend?” Faith asked me as I took a seat beside her and Jess.

  “Yes, I ran into them the other day. We’re supposed to meet them tonight after the dance.”

  Faith bit at her lip as if hesitant to talk but then finally said, “Jasper left me messages the entire time I was on vacation saying he wanted to talk to me.”

  “Maybe he just wanted to tell you that he has a new girl,” Jess offered, though Faith didn’t look convinced.

  “Maybe, but you might want to warn your friend to stay away from Jasper. He’s possessive and doesn’t respect boundaries. You saw that yourself, Chloe.” Faith nodded at me and I recalled how I had no choice but to punch him. It made me even more annoyed and suspicious that the slime-bag was hanging with Val.

  “I’ll have a talk with her tonight.” I nodded though I knew it wouldn’t be easy but it was necessary. I didn’t care for the fact that friends like Val and Faith would be left on their own, unprotected while the rest of us were at the Reliquary. We needed to find the Artifact as quickly as we possibly could. I wouldn’t put it past the First Kind to go after innocent bystanders to get to me.

  “What’s going on?” Nightshade slid into the seat beside me. He had removed his suit jacket, rolled up his shirtsleeves and his tie hung loose below his top two, undone shirt buttons.

  “We’re discussing Faith's boyfriend Jasper.” Jess smiled at Nightshade as she spoke.

  “He’s my ex.” Faith quickly reminded.

  “Loser boy, yeah I remember him. Aren’t we supposed to see him and Val tonight?” He looked to me for the answer.

  “Yes, I’m going to talk to her about him; I don’t trust him.”

  “I could have a talk with him.” Nightshade’s eyes sparked with an evil gleam and I wondered just what his version of a chat would entail and if Jasper would make it out of it unscathed.

  “No, it’s okay; I’ll talk to Val.”

  “You’re all going out after the dance?” Faith asked and I knew what she was asking before the words even came out of her mouth. Jess shot me a look that could turn sand to glass but before I could answer, Nightshade cut in.

  “Yeah, you should come with us.” He smiled and winked at her, Faith blushed and Jess’ knuckles turned white from the fist that she made. For a moment I thought she might clock Faith in the head, but to my amazement she kept her cool.

  “Great, it’ll be fun. I’ll see you guys later.” Faith jumped up and patted Nightshade on the arm as she left the table.

  “Why did you invite her?” Jess asked, frustration brewing in her eyes.

  “Why not?” Nightshade shrugged.

  “I don’t know, maybe because we’re on a date?” The anger in her voice was unmistakable.

  “A date really?” he asked a touch of anger in his own voice. “Funny I thought we were just friends.”

  I wanted to leave the table, give them privacy to hash this out, but I was rooted to my seat—no, I was trapped—I felt like a mouse caught between two angry cats.

  “What’s that supposed to mean?” Her voice grew louder and she slapped her hand on the table knocking over two glasses of water.

  “I stopped by Gavin’s,” —his voice grew deeper as he spoke and Jess paled— “to check on his progress. You forgot your coat last night.” Nightshade pushed his seat back, stood, and walked away from the table.

  “Oh God,” Jess whispered and her face turned pure white as she grabbed the edge of the table to steady herself.

  I reached out placing my hand on her knee trying to calm her. “Jess?”

  “I just... I mean... I didn’t want to do anything... I just thought he was so cute and you know...” Jess looked at me, her eyes pleading for help but I didn’t know what to say.

  “What happened?�
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  Her voice cracked as she confessed to me. “I kissed Gavin last night.” Her eyes started rimming with tears and I grabbed her arm and quickly pulled her from the table. Slade was just sitting down as we rushed past him. He tried to speak but I waved him off and got her out of there. We got to the bathroom so quickly that I don’t think anyone got a chance to see how upset she was. Tears fell slowly down her face and she hurried to wipe each one away with the tissues I shoved in her hand.

  “I didn’t mean for it to happen.” She looked up at me as she kept wiping at the tears. “Oh, who am I kidding, I did want it to happen.”

  She was shocking me senseless with every word out of her mouth. “Why did you go there?”

  “I don’t know. Nightshade has been so preoccupied lately. It’s not like we’re a real couple; it’s always me pining after him.” She threw her hands up as if surrendering, sending the tissues sailing through the air.

  “But you do it the night before your first real date?”

  “I know, I know.”

  “You need to talk to Nightshade and tell him the truth.” I sat down beside her and shoved more tissues in her hand.

  “Ever since we read Lauren’s journal I’ve had doubts about my feelings for Nightshade. I thought I loved him, but I’ve questioned if it was more that I wanted to help him get over her death.” She shrugged and sighed, her tears having finally stopped falling.

  “You were all so close; I can see why you would want to help him. But take it from someone who is broken; we don’t get fixed easily.” I smiled at her and she managed to return a small smile.

  “Thanks, Cuz; I don’t know what I’d do without you.” She pulled me to her, hugging me tightly and I rubbed her back.

  “It’s going to be fine. He’ll get over being mad. Trust me if he was willing to talk to me again, you’ve got nothing to worry about.” I laughed and so did Jess.

  “How is my face?” she asked, tilting her chin up so I could get a good look at her.

  “You need to fix your makeup.” I opened my handbag and pulled out what makeup I had brought with me and dropped it all on the counter behind us as Jess turned to check her damage in the mirror.

  “I look like a raccoon,” she chuckled “I’d be better off leaving it this way since I’ll probably look the same after I talk with him again.”

  “Stop it.” I gave her shoulder a playful shove and leaned against the counter as she reapplied her makeup. “Are you going to be okay?”

  “I hope so. Give me a few minutes.”

  I nodded, checked my own makeup and left the lavatory making my way back to our table. Slade was eating dinner, which I had completely forgotten about while the rest of the plates sat untouched. Faith was sitting across from him seemingly uninterested in her food and Nightshade was nowhere to be seen. I slid into my seat and looked down at the food, my stomach grumbling.

  “Is everything alright?” Slade asked.

  “Everything is fine.” I said and managed a brief smile, though I really thought that the dance was turning out to be as hellish as I expected but for a different reason.

  “The way Nightshade stormed off and you got Jess out of here, I figured they were fighting.” I kicked him under the table and he grunted. Faith’s interest suddenly piqued and she was paying rapt attention to our conversation.

  “What happened?” she asked and I wanted to kill Slade for saying anything. All Jess wanted was some time to clean herself up before she talked with Nightshade. I didn’t want Faith rushing to his side in hopes of picking up the pieces.

  “It was nothing, they had a squabble and everything’s good now.” I tried to brush it off.

  “Maybe I should go check on them.” Faith stood her eyes searching the room like a predator hunting its prey.

  “Sit down.” My voice was stern and strong and all too clear. Slade gulped his food and gave me a sideways glance.

  “What?” Faith’s predator look faded to be replaced by a wounded-feel-sorry-for-me one but at this point I wasn’t in the mood to be sympathetic.

  “It’s private and they can handle it, Faith. Sit down and leave them alone.” Faith blinked as she wasn’t quite sure how to take me, though she slowly sat back down.

  “I wasn’t trying to interfere, I only wanted to help.”

  Right, I thought, you only want to help Nightshade.

  “Nice of you, but it’s between them and no one else. We’re better off leaving them alone.” I smiled sweetly at her... as sweetly as I could manage. Then I finally grabbed my fork and all I could think of was I’m finally getting some food. I cut a piece of chicken and was about to bite it when the band started playing again.

  I glanced up from my plate to see the dance floor getting crowded once again and I spotted Jess and Nightshade talking. They weren’t screaming, but they didn’t seem to be super friendly either.

  Another student who was helping with the dance motioned for Faith and she hurried off. I think she was relieved to get away from the table. I like Faith well enough, but you don’t mess with my friends. It’s that simple. If she wants to be one of our friends she needs to understand that we don’t try and muscle in on each other’s date.

  “You okay?” Slade asked pushing his empty plate away from him.

  “Fine, mostly hungry.”

  “You didn’t have to jump at Faith, she was just worried.”

  “No, Slade, she saw an opening to get to Nightshade and was about to take it. Even if Jess and he don’t work out, this isn’t the time for her to be making a move on him,” I said so sharply that he threw his hands up and leaned back as if fending me off.

  “What the hell made them fight anyway?”

  “Jess did something stupid,” I said.

  “What?”

  “None of your business, if she wants to tell you she will.” I pushed my own plate away, my appetite gone.

  “I get it protecting the cousin,” he smirked.

  “Something like that.”

  “Slade!” A group of Impossible Engineers from another table suddenly surrounded us and they were soon all talking with Slade about some new contraption they were working on. I listened for a few minutes and got bored silly surrounded by a bunch of burly guys who only wanted to talk rivets and gears. I decided to head back to the dance floor. The band was ripping the place up and I wanted to make this night last as long as possible before it came time for lock up in the Reliquary.

  The glass floor shook from the over-crowded dance floor and I lost myself in the horde. I didn’t want to think about Artifacts, First Kind or my mom. I wanted to let loose and feel normal for a few hours.

  I lost myself in the rhythm of the music, my eyes closing and letting the pounding bass pour through me. Here I was dancing in a glass bubble on the outer edges of space. Moments like this were what made all the crap worth it.

  The music slowed and I opened my eyes realizing that the band had slowed the tempo. Dates were grabbing one another for what I knew was the first of many slow dances. I pushed myself up on my tiptoes and saw that Slade was still engrossed in his conversation with the other Engineers. If I wanted a slow dance with my date it looked like I was going to have to go get him.

  “Where are you going?” I turned to find Nightshade standing next to me on the dance floor.

  “I was going to grab Slade for a dance.”

  “No.” He reached out, grabbed my hand and pulled me against him. His other hand found the small of my back and held me as if I belonged to him, and then he began to move. It was as if we glided along the floor. Never had I danced so smoothly, so effortlessly. Who would have thought that Nightshade would be such a good dancer?

  “Everything okay?” I asked since he should have really been dancing with Jess. Though I had to be honest, I was glad he was dancing with me.

  “Why do we always seem to talk about other people when we’re alone?” His head was tilted toward mine and his voice low, but I could still hear him over the music.

/>   “I want to make sure Jess is alright.”

  “No more talking.” He leaned in pulling me closer, our bodies pressed together as if one and moving in unison. I opened my mouth to speak but snapped it shut, I don’t know why but I didn’t want to disturb this moment we shared.

  We swayed to the rhythm and instinctively, as if I’d done it a thousand times before, I rested my head on his chest breathing in his familiar scent. And even though he wasn’t wearing leather the potent rawhide scent still clung to him. His hand slid from mine down along my waist to my side and onto my hip. He turned his head, his lips faintly brushing my forehead so faintly that I wondered if I imagined it. The world fell away. There was nothing else, nothing mattered except breathing in unison with Nightshade. We were surrounded by people but it felt as if we were the only ones in the universe.

  I slid my arms around his neck, locking them tight and pulling him even closer to me. It’s not like we were doing anything wrong, it was only a dance. I mean even if his lips touched my forehead would that be so bad. I felt myself melding with the music, melding with Nightshade and never wanting the song to end.

  He moved his head again resting his cheek to mine. He felt so good beside me, next to me, against me; it was all I could think about.

  “Chloe,” he whispered my name, though it sounded more like an urgent need or desperate craving.

  The music grew silent and then suddenly the bass returned breaking the spell and speeding the tempo. I eased myself away from Nightshade and I swore it felt as if he didn’t want to let me go. And then he had to go and stare at me with those two different colored eyes, though it was what I thought I saw in them that made me realize that I needed to put some distance between us.

  I turned to leave the dance floor and his hand grabbed my wrist and yanked me back to him. I slammed into his body, his heat pouring into me and I tried to step back but his arm wrapped around me and held me firm. He never intended for me to leave his arms.