Arianna Rose: The Awakening (Part 2) Read Online Free Page A

uncomfortably, waiting for him to speak, to yell, anything.  Heat crept up her neck and touched her cheeks.  She was suddenly thankful for the darkness of the club and the loud music as well.  Had the music not been playing, she feared Luke and the rest of their group would hear the mad pounding of her heart.  She wondered whether he suspected her of lying, whether a part of him believed his sister’s claim about her eyes glowing red.  Of course, he would have been correct in doing so; Stephanie had told the truth, as preposterous as it had sounded.  Regardless of his motivation, Arianna was unnerved.
    “Luke!” Stephanie said again.  “Take me home, now .”
    Stephanie’s words had broken the spell and Luke released her from his gaze.  Arianna breathed a silent sigh of relief.
    “Fine, let’s go,” Luke said.
    “So that’s it?” Bulldog asked.  “No one’s catching a beating tonight?”
    “Nope, not tonight, Bulldog,” Luke said and offered a thin smile.
    Luke led them through the club to the main entrance.  Arianna, Bulldog, Beth, Mike, Carrie, Ryan and Christa filed b ehind him.  Stepping out into the cool, quiet night air, Arianna felt the crushing squeeze anxiety had placed on her lungs begin to subside.  Once they’d reached the parking area, everyone began to disperse.  She was left alone with Luke and Stephanie. 
    “I’m going to take Stephanie home first then drive you home if you don’t mind,” he said to Arianna.
    Arianna felt her heart make a leap from her chest to her throat.  “Uh, okay, if that’s what you want,” she fumbled.  “Seems like a big production to go to your house then my house then back home, don’t you think?”
    “I don’t mind.  I really want to be alone with you, and talk to you,” he said and looked at her again in that peculiar way he had in the nightclub.
    “Fine.  If that’s what you want,” she said and hoped she didn’t sound cold or cruel.  Any other night before this night, being alone with him would have been exactly what she would have wanted.  But this night had not been like any other.  And she wanted to be alone. 
    Luke’s face sagged a bit and she realized she’d hurt him.  “Sounds great,” she added for his benefit and watched him brighten.  “I’d like that.”  He smiled, his usual warm smile, and she found herself smiling back at him .  He pulled his seat forward and she climbed into the back seat of his pickup truck.  Stephanie assumed her position in the front seat and Luke drove. 
    The drive to Luke’s house was silent, painfully silent.  The tension in the air had been so thick, Arianna swore she could see it seep from the car in ribbons when Stephanie opened the door and climbed out.  Arianna said a quick “Good night” to Stephanie, which was ignored, before positioning herself in the front seat.
    She watched Stephanie stride in impossibly high-heeled shoes to the front door.  When she looked away, she slid Luke a glance and saw that he did not watch his sister, but her instead.
    “I can’t believe what happened tonight,” he said.
    “I know.  It was, just…crazy…what happened was crazy.”
    “I’m so glad you’re okay.  You’re taking it much better than my sister.”
    “Different people handle things differently I guess,” was all she could come up with.
    “Yeah, you’re right.  You’re a strong person, Arianna.  I knew that from the first time we met.”
    “I wouldn’t be so sure,” she said, the irony of their exchange weighing on her.
    “I am sure,” he said.  “You have this, I don’t know, energy about you, like you can handle anything.  Shit, you fought off not one, but two guys tonight.”
    He spoke to her without the slightest hint of sarcasm or suspicion, but with what she could only name as reverence.  His admiration pained her for she was no ordinary high s chool girl who had fended off a pair of assailant s .  No, she had had an advantage, a tremendous