The Gathering (Darkness Rising 1)

A thump on the sofa made me jump. Rafe vaulted the back of it, and landed beside me.

"I thought they'd never leave." He stretched out his legs, hit the coffee table, and sent my drink shaking. "Whoops." He grabbed it. "Yours?"

I nodded. He reached over me to put it on the side table, then wedged his beer bottle between his thighs.

"Sam and Brendan, huh?" he said. "Now that I wouldn't have guessed."

"They just went to get a beer." I motioned to his. "Or fight over the last one."

I stopped myself before I asked where he'd been. That would imply I'd been disappointed that he'd left. So I just nodded at his drink again and said, "Did anyone tell you house rules?"

"When it's gone, it's gone. No BYOB. No dope." The corners of his mouth quirked.

"Yes," I said. "I'm sure we're very quaint compared to your big city bashes."

"Wouldn't know. Never been to one." When I gave him a look, he said, "Big parties, sure. Just not big cities. Growing up, we were strictly small town, usually rural."

I must have looked skeptical, because he said, "I'm being me tonight, remember? All truth, all the time. The big city crap is just that."

"Okay, then." I twisted to face him. "If you're being honest, what about the accent? If that's supposed to be Texas, you really need to work on it."

He laughed. "You accusing me of using a fake drawl? Don't you think it's sexy? Every other girl up here does." He grinned, a little of that old arrogance seeping back in, but in a way that didn't seem as bad as usual. He leaned forward, voice lowering, though Daniel and Nicole were too far away to hear us over the music. "It's real. A real mongrel mess. Part Texas, part Arkansas, part New Mexico, part wherever else Mom felt like living. We moved around a lot." He eased back a little, still close enough that our legs touched. "What about you? I heard you weren't born here either."

"Oregon," I said. "We moved when I was five."

"And is it true what I heard? You were found on the steps of a church? Wrapped in swaddling clothes? With a secret necklace that will unlock your true destiny when you turn eighteen?"

I laughed. "That would make a much better story. No church, necklace, or swaddling clothes. But, yes, 'foundling' is the correct term. Very Dickensian."

Rafe was about to say something, when he noticed Daniel watching us. He leaned over and whispered, "Any chance I can get my thirty minutes without the chaperone?"

I glanced at Daniel. He mouthed, "Want me to get rid of him?" I shook my head. Nicole followed the exchange, then stood, plucking Daniel's sleeve and saying something I couldn't hear. Daniel hesitated, then nodded. They got up and headed toward the kitchen.

As they passed, Nicole leaned over the end table and whispered, "We're going outside. Get some air." She winked. "And leaving you two alone."

"Thanks," I said.

They left, but the music was still booming, and Sam was heading back in through the dining room, which promised an even bigger problem.

"Want to go someplace quieter?" Rafe asked.

I nodded. He took my pop and his beer and followed me out. There was a back TV room and that's where I went first. All seemed quiet until I pushed open the door, and found Hayley and Corey making out on the couch ... and not completely dressed. Before I could shut the door again, Hayley jumped off Corey and yanked down her shirt. She started to snarl something at me. Then she saw Rafe standing at my shoulder.

"Hey, Hayley," he said. "Corey."

The look she leveled on me was lethal. "You bitch," she said. "You scheming little--"

I closed the door fast.

"Thanks, guys!" Corey yelled.

"Sorry!" I called back.

"How about outside?" Rafe whispered. He caught my look and said, "Just on the porch or something."

"I think that's where Daniel and Nicole went. I have an idea."

I led him upstairs. As I pushed open the door to Daniel's bedroom, I said, "It's a way station not a destination."