Christine Feehan - Dark Celebration 17

She glared at him. «Really? I thought you were Joshua's age. You aren't going to goad me into doing something wrong, Josef.» Which made her feel even guiltier. He might not be able to goad her, but she intended to disobey her parents. The terrible weight in her chest pressed harder, the sorrow nearly choking her. She had to make it stop-make Dimitri understand it wasn't about him or her rejection of him. It wasn't personal. She would have rejected anyone. He had to move on.

«You're just angry because I made fun of you having to wait for an adult before you could walk home,» he said. «I was only teasing you. There's no need to be upset.»

«I'm not a baby,» she snapped, pressing both hands into her wildly churning stomach. Maybe if she threw up on him he'd go away. «You didn't have to tease me.»

«Sure I did. That's what friends do.»

That brought her up short. They were friends-of a sort. She liked Josef. She just didn't like being alone with him-with any man. With anyone. She swept one hand through her hair and tried not to cry.

Josef, reading her expression, tried again. «The prince came by while I was at Aidan and Alexandria's and he said he was going to have Gregori play Santa Claus tonight. Man, that's

gonna freak out all the kids. It ought to be fun.»

«Freaking out a bunch of little kids isn't funny, Josef. Especially not when it comes to Santa Claus. You could traumatize them.»

«You're beginning to sound more and more like Francesca.» He didn't make it sound as though he was complimenting her. «I'm not traumatizing them. Gregori is-and I didn't choose him-the prince did.»

«Tonight, make sure you don't help scare the children, especially Tamara.»

They glared at one another for a long moment in silence. When Josef went to turn away with a sullen expression, she cleared her throat. «Can you shapeshift?»

He puffed out his chest. «Of course.»

She glanced toward the house. «Do you think someone who is only part Carpathian can actually shapeshift?» She avoided his gaze by rubbing her chin thoughtfully on her knees as if in deep contemplation. Josef might act like a dork around adults, but he was as sharp as a tack and he might be able to read her expression.

«Well…» He frowned. «That's a good question. Natalya turned into a tiger, which was very cool by the way, but I've never heard any of the adults mention anyone else who could do it.»

«How do you shift?»

He shook his head. «Don't even think about it, Skyler. It isn't that easy. I practice all the time and I still make mistakes.»

«You don't practice all the time. You play video games all the time.» With another surreptitious glance toward the house, she slid off the rail into the snow. Unlike Josef, she couldn't regulate her body temperature and she was stiff from sitting on the railing with the cold wind adding to her chill. At least it had stopped snowing-she glanced up at the ominous sky, laden with heavy clouds-for the moment.

Josef scowled at her. «Hey! I can shift. Watch this.» He backed up a few steps and stood, arms out. Feathers began to sprout over his body, his face reshaping several times until he had facial discs-dusky white with gray-brown mottling bordered by black. His irises turned a bright yellow, and his developing bill was gray-green with tufts of bristly feathers around its base. His body compacted, shifted, slowly shrinking with a few stops and starts until he was sitting in the snow in the perfect form of a very small owl. The body of the owl was gray-brown with an intricate pattern of stripes and bars and even spots in places. It sat very still, the body so small she was really awed that Josef had managed. The large eyes blinked up at her.

Skyler walked around the tiny creature. «Amazing, Josef. How did you get it so tiny?

Can you actually fly? Or should I just have you stuffed for ornamental purposes?»

The owl issued a whiny note and hopped several times, wings extending and flapping until it awkwardly took to the air. Josef flew around her several times, rose higher and darted back, straight at her head.

Skyler threw up her hands and ran out into the snow, scooping snow from the edge of the porch to fling it at the errant bird. «Stop it, that's not funny, Josef.»

The bird rose again and circled her, once again building speed for the attack. Skyler ran back toward the house, close to the structure as the bird rushed her. She ducked and covered her head just as Josef swooped on her. The little screech owl hit the side of the house and fell like a stone onto the ground. The bird lay perfectly still, its little feet pointed straight up, just like a cartoon.

Skyler let her breath out in a slow hiss of displeasure. «That's not funny, Josef. Get up.» There was an ominous silence. She lifted her head and took a step toward him. If he was trying to scare her-as usual-she was going to wring his neck. The little owl remained motionless, feet stiff. Her hand fluttered to her throat as fear crept in. She was afraid to move, afraid to examine the small little creature.

«Josef!» She hurried over, dropping to her knees in the snow to reach for the screech owl. Just as she went to lift it, the huge eyes popped open, the bill yawning wide and wings flapping. Skyler couldn't stop the startled scream that escaped.

«Gotcha!» Josef sat up laughing.

Skyler leapt to her feet, her heart pounding. She wanted to smash something over his head and she never had violent tendencies-well, almost never. Josef just brought out the worst in her. He loved pranks and she seemed a great target. «You're not funny.»

The smile faded from his face. «What's wrong with you lately, Skyler? Screech owls often fly into things and knock themselves silly. People think they're dead, but they're just out. I read about it and thought it would make you smile. Honestly, you're no fun.» He jumped up and backed away from her. «We're not grown up yet. There's nothing wrong with laughing about stuff.»

He walked off without a backward glance. She told herself she was glad to see him go– that he was being ridiculous, but inside the loneliness grew stronger. She didn't laugh like other kids-she didn't know how. Online, when she talked to Josef, she could be different, be someone else. No one could see her or touch her and she could just relax and have fun. But here… everyone was too close. She could feel every emotion, and it ripped at her skin and clawed at her heart until she felt so raw she thought she might just cease to exist. Sometimes, even the earth seemed to scream in pain at her.

In the distance, a lone wolf howled mournfully. The single drawn out note struck at her.

The wolf was as lonely as she was. She reached up to wrap her fingers around the pendant lying between her breasts. Suddenly, it felt warm instead of icy cold, almost pulsing in her hand. She knew better. She was going to get in such trouble if Gabriel and Francesca discovered she'd taken off again, but she had to go. She couldn't stop herself.

Skyler drew her white, fur-lined parka around her and took off at a light jog in the direction from which she'd heard the wolf. Was it Dimitri? Her heart jumped at the thought. His eyes had been so blue-so intense-and so filled with pain. She knew pain intimately –she knew people. They hid terrible inclinations, terrible secrets beneath falsely smiling faces. Was she any better than the rest of them, leaving the man to suffer because she was afraid?

She shivered in spite of her jacket. Gabriel would be furious with her and she didn't like it when he was really angry. Mostly he just gave her a look, but if he was angry, he insisted on punishing her. That usually meant she had to spend time with other kids. For others, it would have been easy, but it was always the most dreaded of all retributions. Her feet dragged in the snow and she halted, glancing back in the direction of the house. She couldn't see it anymore, having entered into the tree line. The wolf howled again, a plaintive note this time, as if he too searched for answers.