Ink (Book 1 of the Ink Series)

Drive home

I counted all the motorcycles passing by Nona's pricey sports car. I had hit twenty before Nona busted through my thoughts.

"Did you two have a fun time?" she asked from the front seat. Her cheeks overly rosy. Most likely from the drinks she managed to get her hands on while we waited for Karsen's flight.

"Yeah, I always have fun with Karsen," I said with a sluggish nod. I was barely functioning from lack of sleep. My bed was calling my name. I needed to get in about six hours of sleep so I could feel half normal again. Because right now I felt like I was teetering on the edge of death.

I closed my eyes as Nona and Claude started up a discussion about the new restaurant nearby that had just opened its doors for business. I let the sunlight warm my skin, slowly drifting away from reality. The backs of my eyelids ignited in flashes of light.

"You went and saw Slade again," Ezra said all of a sudden.

I jerked my head forward, letting out a gasp of air. She was trying to slip into my subconscious again. Well, I wasn't going to let that happen. I smacked my face with my palm, bringing myself back to life.

"Is everything alright back there, Hope?" Claude asked in his usual soft mutter with a sprinkle of a French accent.

"Just... fine," I said, stifling a scream. Ezra was sitting next to me in the back seat now. Her legs crossed and resting in the middle of the divider of the front seat. She was wearing a long, gauze-like dress.

I stared at her, not sure what I was supposed to be doing.

"Go ahead, say something. They already think you're nuts."

I'm not saying anything, I silently thought, knowing Ezra was probably capable of listening in on my every word.

"Works for me," Ezra said, her mouth pulling just the slightest at the corners, creating a conceited smile. "I'm a witch. I can hear your thoughts."

I swallowed down the bitter feeling that coursed my veins. Then what do you want?

"You went and saw him. And I warned you against that."

I jerked my shoulders ever so slightly, afraid Nona or Claude would see.

I went to see what was happening to the girls at the concert. I didn't go to see Slade. And I am never going back there again, so leave me the hell alone, Ezra. You can have him!

Ezra's eyes widened. Her fingers gripped the leather upholstery. She took long, steady breaths. "This may be the only warning I am willing to give you, do not mess with me."

The intense glare was enough to send my heart into quicker beats. I pleaded with my inner thoughts to stay silent. I was finished talking to Ezra. And I was not letting her slip back inside my mind.

Nona gave me a sympathetic gaze, her eyebrows hitching up and creating several wrinkles in her forehead. "How about a big, fat, juicy steak to cheer you up?"

I dropped my jaw. Was she really offering me meat to stifle down the intense dread and depression I was going through? I missed my best friend. No part of a cow would ever mend the emptiness I now was hiding deep inside.

But it didn't matter if my guts were back to Jell-O and that I felt abandoned. Or that my feelings were badly stepped on. Nona was going to force me to suffer through a morning feast with her and Claude whether I liked it or not.

Claude jerked the car to a stop. He let out a dry cough. "Well, shall we?"

I shrugged my shoulders, before I let out a long, crabby groan of approval.