Chapter Six

Deme stood with her back to the window, the thoughts in her head spinning like so much debris in an F5 tornado. The air in the room was thick, hard to breathe. "I don't know. Just don't let it happen again." She pushed away from Cal and gathered her clothes.

Cal shoved a hand through his hair, standing it on end. "You weren't fighting me."

"Fine. I won't let it happen again," she reassured him, her lips firmly pressed into a line, even as her body tingled with awareness of his nakedness standing within reach. Inside, her blood raced through every organ, vein and the furthest reaches of her body, burning a path downward to her core. She ached with need and she still wanted him. Damn him! She turned away, gathering her clothing. "This isn't about you and me."

"I know. It's about finding your sister."

Deme faced him, pressing her jeans to her chest. "That's right. This is about finding Aurai. It can only be about finding Aurai."

"Message heard. It's not as if I'm asking you to marry me. I learned my lesson. So don't feel like you have to disappear again."

That barb hit dead center and guilt burned in her gut. She drew herself up to her full five feet nine inches and faced him. "I had to leave. There are things you don't know about me. Things you wouldn't understand."

"You didn't give me a chance to understand. You didn't give me a chance to get to know you." Cal grabbed his jeans and slipped his legs into them, dragging them up his body. "I didn't even know you had sisters. Seems like something a lover should know about the woman he's sleeping with. The woman he proposes to."

Deme couldn't respond. She wanted to stop him getting dressed—wanted to drag his jeans down and take him into her again. Wave upon wave of desire slammed into her like a freight train.

Her mouth watered with the need to taste every inch of his body, to lick, bite and rake her fingers over him in penalizing thoroughness. Her tongue swept across her lips to moisten their sudden dryness.

Scratching at the window penetrated the fog of desire encroaching on her ability to think.

She turned to discover that what she'd originally thought was English ivy growing outside her window was a dark brown tangle of vines whose thorns scratched against the glass, tapping…tapping…as if to gain entrance.

"What's with the vine?" Cal walked to the window and shoved it open. When he reached out to push the vine away, he yelped, pulling his hand back. A drop of blood oozed from where a thorn had gouged his thumb.

Deme grabbed a box of tissues and hurried to his side. "Let me see."

He held out his hand. "It's nothing, just a prick."

"You're bleeding." She pressed a tissue to the wound, absorbing the blood. As she stood so close, inhaling the musky scent of their lovemaking, she made a decision. "Maybe it's time you know a little more about me." Deme let go of his hand and took a step back. She closed her eyes, gathering her inner strength, summoning her ability to feel nature, to influence it. She breathed in and out, the air unusually thick.

She entered a fog of internal awareness, blocking out the room she stood in, the man she'd made love to and the desperation with which she sought her sister, only for a moment.

"Goddess of earth

I call to thee

Guide me now

Set me free

We are one

You with me

Grant me power

Blessed Be."

With her senses she reached out to the thorny vine, wrapping her mind around it, sending soothing thoughts, pushing it toward the ground, away from her window on the second story of the dormitory. A strange tension filled the room, as though her calming influence had run up against a wall, blocking her attempt to communicate with the vine.

Deme pushed against the wall, gently at first. The more it pushed back, the harder she concentrated. So wrapped was she in the inner battle, she lost track of time, forgot where she was until a voice penetrated her consciousness.

"Deme!" Strong arms scooped beneath her knees, lifting her up off her feet.

Her eyes opened and she stared into Cal's anxious face. "Why did you stop me?"

He raced for the door. "I don't know what's happening, or what you were doing, but you aren't safe in here."

Dragged from the fog of her connection to the goddess, Deme struggled to focus on the dorm room. A sickly aroma of decay filled her nostrils, gagging her with its intensity.

As her vision cleared, she saw what Cal was talking about. The thorny vine that a moment ago had been outside her window had draped itself down over the sill and slithered across the floor like a deadly serpent aiming for the two of them.

She shook her head, her arms circling his neck, her pulse racing. "But that can't be."

"I don't get it either, but we have to get out of here."

"No!" She stopped him, forcing him to drop her to her feet. "I can't go out into the hall like this." She motioned to her nakedness.

He hesitated only a moment, then pushed her behind him. "Stand back." Cal grabbed the comforter from the bed beside him and advanced on the vine.

Deme watched in horror as the vine lashed out, the thorns raking across Cal's legs, penetrating the denim, ripping into his skin.

"Cal!" She rushed toward him.

"Stay back!" With the blanket wrapped around his hands, he grabbed the thorny vine and wrestled it toward the window. He twisted and grunted, attempting to keep the vine from wrapping around his legs and arms.

As he neared the window, he shoved the vine, comforter and all, through and slammed the window down.

A bend in the vine stopped the window from closing completely, allowing the leaves to slip through the crack.

Cal leaned his weight into pressing the window downward. "Get something to shove it through!" he yelled.

Deme's gaze searched the room for something to use to poke the vine through the narrow slit. She grabbed a number two pencil and raced toward Cal.

Without thinking, she shoved the pencil at the vine, pushing it back through the opening. The window slammed down on the sill, the leaves retreating at the last moment to the other side.

Cal twisted the lock and leaned his back against the wall, breathing hard. Then his gaze captured Deme's. "I think you have some explaining to do."

Cal slipped his shirt over his head and tugged it down across his chest. What had just happened completely defied explanation. Never in his life had he had a vine attack him. It was as if the plant had come alive, intent on causing them harm. Surely he had imagined it.

The pain in his shin and thumb where jagged thorns had torn his skin reminded him it wasn't in his mind. He wasn't going crazy. And the sudden urge to ravage Deme's body that had taken him over was beyond any anger he might have felt at being ditched. He truly couldn't have stopped if she'd said no.

As Deme pulled on her jeans and a T-shirt, her gaze never left the window and the vine tapping against it. "I don't understand."

Residual anger simmered beneath the surface as he waited for her to finish dressing. He fought to remain in control, refusing to give in to baser instincts of a moment ago. "I don't know what's happening, but we can't talk in here."

"I agree." She straightened from slipping on her shoes, tugged the strap of her purse over her shoulder and met him at the door. "We need to get out of here." A chill chose that moment to track down her spine. She shivered as he opened the door for her, casting one last glance at the thorny vine pressing against the glass.

In the hallway, Zoe Adams stood with her back to the wall, her arms crossed over her chest. "Having troubles?"

Blood rushed into Deme's face as she thought of the violent sex she and Cal had just experienced behind the R.A. room door, probably breaking a few dozen rules. Despite her guilt, Deme managed to frown at the girl. "No troubles. Can I help you?"

"You can help by leaving." Zoe's lips twitched at the corners and she stared so hard at Deme, it was if a shaft of heat burned into her head.

"You're not scaring me, Zoe." Despite her tough words, Deme's hand raised to press against the bridge of her nose, applying pressure to the sudden headache.

Zoe flipped her hair over her shoulder and pushed off the wall. Without another word, she strode down the hall, her feet crossing over each other like a runway model's, her hips swaying perfectly.

"Did you feel that?" Deme shook her head, the pain easing slowly.

"Feel what?"

Maybe she was imagining it. Deme shrugged. "Nothing. Let's go to the student commons. Maybe we can talk there."

Deme couldn't leave the dorm fast enough. The farther away from her room she got, the better she felt. When she stepped out into the cool evening air, she stopped just outside the dorm entrance and breathed in, absorbing the scents and aura of the surrounding trees.

Cal stood silently beside her, his brows set in what appeared to be a permanent V.

"By the goddess…this is better." She stood for a long time sucking in light, fresh air, filling her lungs, cleansing her aura of the darkness that had invaded her in her room. When she felt closer to normal again she turned to Cal. "Something is not right about that room."

"You're telling me." Cal hooked her arm and steered her toward the student commons. "Now that we're out of there, we have some catching up to do. I want to know everything you haven't told me." He squeezed her arm tight enough it got her attention. "Everything."

Being hurried along like an errant child on her way to the principal's office didn't make Deme happy, but nothing could erase the level of pure lust she'd experienced in her room only a few minutes ago. Knowing she was in control of her own emotions once again felt almost like freedom.

As they passed the administration building, the offices closed and dark, a scream ripped through the air.

Cal let go of Deme's arm and ran toward the sound.

Deme followed. In good shape, she still had trouble keeping up with Cal, his stride leaving her far behind.

Deme neared the garden fence at the center of the campus, her chest heaving, the air growing as thick as it had been in her dorm room. She struggled to fill her lungs, the darkness more menacing with each step closer to the wrought-iron gate.

Cal stood with his feet apart, his fists up in the fighting position. Behind him on the ground was Rachel, her face in the shadows, her shoulders shuddering with muffled sobs.

"What's going on?" Deme stepped up beside Cal.

Standing in front of him was Mike Hubbs, Rachel's date, his shirt torn, hanging out of his waistband, his hair mussed, his eyes wide, glazed and wild. "She's mine," he said, his shy voice low and guttural, unrecognizable from the young man Deme had met in the hallway of the dorm.

"Don't let him touch me. Please." Rachel huddled on the ground, her knees drawn up to her chin, her arms wrapped around her legs. "Please." Another sob shook her body and she whimpered.

Deme dropped to her haunches beside Rachel. "What happened?"

"I don't know…" She took a shuddering breath and wiped her arm across her eyes. "One minute we were walking, the next he…he…tried to…rape me." She sobbed, burying her face in her hands.

Mike lunged for Rachel.

Cal stepped in front of him, landing a punch to the young man's jaw that sent him flying backward. He landed with a thud on the ground and lay still for several seconds.

Rachel cried out, attempting to rise.

Deme's hand on her shoulder kept her in place.

Mike pushed himself to a sitting position and gazed at the people staring at him, his eyes wide, the glaze gone, confusion taking its place. "What are you doing here? Where's Rachel?" He struggled to stand.

Cal stepped in front of him, blocking his access to the troubled girl on the ground. "I suggest you leave Rachel alone."

"But we have a date."

"Date's over." Cal held his fists at the ready for round two.

"I don't understand."

"I bet you don't." Deme snorted and stood, adding her body as a barrier between Mike and Rachel. "For your information, most girls don't like to be raped."

"Rape?" He shook his head. "What are you talking about?" He leaned to the right, peering around Deme. "Rachel? Are you all right?"

"No thanks to you." Cal grabbed Mike's arm when he tried to step around Deme. "You aren't getting near her. I'm calling the police."

"No." Rachel lurched to her feet, streaks of mascara making dark tracks on her face. "Don't call the police. It may have been my fault. I never should have done it."

"Done what?" Deme asked.

"I never should have changed."

"No man has the right to rape a woman."

"But he didn't mean to, did you, Mike?" Rachel tried to push Deme aside, but she refused to let her by.

"I would never rape Rachel. Hell, I'm still a virgin." He clapped a big hand over his mouth, his face turning so red that even in the shadows Deme could see the glow. He removed his hand and said softly, "I wouldn't know how." He shoved his hands through his hair. "I swear I didn't rape her. I wouldn't try. I respect her too much."

As much as Deme tried not to, she couldn't help but believe that Mike meant what he said as the truth. "Then explain why you attacked her."

He shook his head. "I don't remember attacking her. I must have blacked out. I swear, Rachel, I would never hurt you."

"But you did." Her voice hiccupped on a sob.

Mike backed away a step, tears glistening in his eyes. "I'm sorry. I don't remember." He took another step. "I wouldn't…" Mike turned and ran.

Cal started to follow, but Rachel's voice stopped him. "Please, don't." She laid her hand on his arm. "Let him go. He wasn't himself."

"He can't get away with this," Cal said. "What if he tries it again?"

"He won't." Rachel stared into the darkness where Mike had disappeared.

"How can you be sure? You have to turn him over to the police." Deme took Rachel by the arms. "What if he tries to rape someone else?"

Rachel shook her head side to side and jerked out of Deme's hold. "It's not him. It's me."

"What do you mean, it's you?"

"It happened that night."

"What night?" Deme grabbed the girl's arms again. "The night Aurai disappeared?"

"Yes." Rachel's head hung down, her eyes shadowed, unreadable. "Everything happened, everything changed."

"Tell me." Deme shook her gently.

"I can't." Rachel broke free, backing away much as Mike had done. "They'll kill me."

"Who will kill you?" Cal asked.

"Leave me alone," Rachel pleaded. "Please."

"What happened that night, Rachel?" Deme demanded. This girl knew something, and she'd shake it out of her if she had to. "Where is Aurai?"

She shook her head, tears streaming down her face. Rachel turned toward the Gamma Omega dormitory.

Deme captured her arm and spun her around. "At least tell me where it happened."

The younger girl looked into Deme's eyes and whispered, "In the garden." She glanced over Deme's shoulder and gasped, her eyes round. Before Deme could stop her, she'd knocked aside the hand holding her and ran away from the dorm and into the darkness.

Deme glanced behind her.

A group of five girls emerged from the shadows near the gate to the wrought-iron fence surrounding the central garden. A garden Deme had been told was strictly off-limits to all students and faculty.

At the point was Zoe Adams, her blond hair shining in the light from the windows of the Gamma Omega dormitory.

She didn't advance on Deme and Cal. She stood with the others fanning out to each side of her. Five girls in all, each as beautiful as the next.

"There's something not right about them," Cal muttered.

"You're telling me." Not in the mood for another confrontation with the Stepford sisters, Deme hooked Cal's arm and led him toward the parking lot. "Come on. Let's get away from campus. I'm supposed to meet my sisters at Burger Barn at nine o'clock. You might as well meet the rest of the Chattoxes."

Cal took the lead, guiding Deme to where he'd parked his motorcycle. He slung his foot over the seat and jerked his head. "Get on."

Without hesitation, Deme climbed on the back, wrapped her arms around his waist and held on. The danger of falling in love with Cal all over again seemed minor compared with the sinister darkness of a face-off with the leader of the Gamma Omega sorority.