Unbound (Unbound, Book 1) ~Formerly Casting Power~

Chapter 21

The party was in full swing when we arrived.

If Jules hadn't been with me, I would've taken one look at the overcrowded doorway and turned back, but he pushed me forward each time I hesitated until we made it through. Nobody could hear the noise from outside because of the soundproofing. Kids were everywhere, drinking and playing games, dancing, making out—even making out while dancing.

Her father had had a massive contemporary house built after he'd become successful and most of their front-facing walls were made of glass. The built-in waterfall in each hid the party from a random passerby, though it could be shut off at will so that the people within could see out.

As soon as we entered, I waved at Nancy, who seemed to be keeping an eye out for my arrival. She bounced over in excitement, somehow still managing to appear as a come hither, sexy femme fatale. The closer she got, the more her bouncing became a saunter, complete with a well-practiced pout and sashay of her hips. She'd seen that Julian had come—she'd have never put that show on just for me. She was wearing a red mini with a body-hugging bandage design that stopped just before mid-thigh.

I bit my tongue in amusement and reminded Julian to be nice under my breath, thinking I'd be inaudible over the music now that we were inside. Somehow, he heard me and nodded, and his eyes never wavered from Nancy.

"I thought your mother was dropping you off," Nancy accused with a purr. She twirled her only accessory—a large ruby ring displayed on her right ring finger—and lowered her lashes in a practiced move. "You should have told me Julian was coming, and I would have dressed up."

"This isn't dressed up?" I asked. It was cruel to mock her in front of Julian, but the girl was borderline auditioning for Jersey Shore.

"You look great, Nancy," he said.

They locked into each other and it was as though I no longer existed.

"I'm just going to go over"—I looked around and pointed at some friends from art class— "there. You two have fun, um, getting to know each other again and all that."

By the time that I had made it through the crowd, my friends had moved, and I couldn't place them again. I walked around and said hello to some other friends, but there was no one that I wanted to spend time with, so I people-watched for a while after getting bottled water. The party looked like a success but was working on my already irritated nerves. Whenever I looked for Nancy or Julian, they were together—same intensity, different location. I bet myself that Nancy would only talk about Jules on Monday, gossiping and bragging about the guy she's seeing.

It wouldn't matter that everyone we knew already knew him—he was a college guy.

As I took a sip of my water, I saw Jason and his friends coming through the door. I coughed as my drink went down the wrong way, pursing my lips to keep from spraying any of the people beside me. Edging along the wall, I started towards the front door, knowing that they would be gone before I arrived. As soon as Jason was out of my line of sight, I went to the front yard of the house and took out my cell phone, hitting the speed dial for my mother.

Unsurprisingly, she was too busy with Zachariah to come and get me.

Finally, after hedging about why Julian was breaking her rules—no, he wasn't drinking and was perfectly capable of driving himself home—I got her off the phone by promising that I had the money for a cab home, but the night was clear. It was only a few blocks. I'd make it before a cab would arrive. We may live in the gated community, the least populated but most expensive area of Briarville, but cabs frequented the East and West Flat neighborhoods more than up here. They didn't waste their Friday night on us. Everybody and their dog—except for me—had their own car if they lived in the East Hill Gated Community.

So, I walked.

We didn't have any crime. Or, at least we had none that was talked about. Every so often we'd hear about someone from the bottom of the hill getting the nerve to try break into the community, but they never got past security at the gate. I was sure they only told us those stories so that we knew that anything threatening our safety would be dealt with before it became a reality.

Whatever.

If somebody was stupid enough to try anything with me, I'm sure my latent power would rear its ugly head. It had to be good for something, right?

*****

It took an hour to get home rather than a half-hour because I'd decided to stop at the park along the way. I let myself into the house and tip-toed my way to the stairs leading to my bedroom, sure that if I was caught, I'd be grilled about why I came home early. I didn't want to explain, though I did text Nancy to let her know why they wouldn't find me if it dawned on them to look. If I managed to get to my room before my mom saw me, I could feign innocence if questioned about the time I arrived.

"Vavila, you cannot protect her from everything. I know that you hate forcing her to accept who and what she is, but Nora needs to be able to do some things on her own. If we don't teach her soon, the time will come that she will be left vulnerable, and you know it."

I took a deep breath and pinned myself to the wall outside the kitchen.

It was weird to hear Zachariah reasoning with my mother in my defense. I put my fingers to my mouth to silence Onyx when she bounded out of the kitchen, sensing I was home. She sat beside me, tail swishing as though she had understood my command. I squatted in muted motions onto the chocolate rug running down the wooden steps, knowing that the only way I would learn anything was to listen undetected. Inwardly, I hoped they couldn't see Onyx sitting at attention.

More than anything, I wanted to know what they'd been hiding.

I needed to know since it was apparently all about me not knowing.