Wildfire

Chapter 10

"Where you two goin'?" the taxi driver asked.

Darren offered him directions to a building somewhere downtown and I sunk down in my seat, hugging myself for warmth.

I hope she's okay, I thought as the car eased into traffic. Darren's words were playing on a loop inside my head, "Without someone to protect her, she could get herself killed, and I don't trust witch-boy enough to keep her safe. The place attracts a lot of psychopaths." His fidgety behaviour wasn't helping either; with each minute, I could feel my patience waning, a sense of urgency taking hold of my mind.

She should have waited for me, I fumed. If she'd just gone with the original plan, I wouldn't have had to worry about her so much and Darren would probably be off doing god-knows-what as far away from me as possible.

Darren leaned forward suddenly. "This is it."

I glanced out the window, my brows pulling into a soft frown as I studied the few buildings on this section of street. The first looked like some sort of rundown residential complex, with a small convenience store located on the ground floor. The building next door had a picture of a crystal ball pasted to the window, along with the words, Got A Date With Destiny? Statues and various paraphernalia littered the window front, and gaudy lights framed the door.

The place didn't even make an effort to look un-phony.

Darren climbed out of the taxi and strode purposefully toward the destiny-shop, leaving me to pay the taxi fare.

If we manage to make it through tonight unscathed, I thought as I glowered at the back of his head, I am going to kick his ass.

I shuffled up behind Darren, rubbing my arms vigorously for warmth. The air was like tiny, needle-pricks against the bare skin of my legs and my only salvation came from the fact that it wasn't windy.

"This doesn't look like a club," I muttered dubiously as Darren knocked loudly on the door.

"It's not," was his reply.

Oh.

We waited about twenty seconds before Darren knocked again, his fist pounding harder against the wooden surface of the door. I flinched at the sound, a trickle of unease flitting through me. It was easy to slip into the antagonistic role I'd once played when Darren had been more of an important fixture in Lexie's life, but little moments like these kept jolting me out of my comfort zone.

He was very different to how he used to be, now. He was all over the place, his moods changing in little spurts, and his actions were far more aggressive than they'd been a few months ago. I couldn't afford to relax around him.

"Georgina!" he yelled.

I flinched, my panic escalating by a few notches. I could feel my heart start to pound in my ears.

"I'm coming!" a high, female voice echoed from behind the door.

Darren scowled and leaned against the doorframe, the picture of impatience. A few clicks later, the door flew open, and a tall, blond girl emerged from the shop, glaring furiously at Darren.

"It's after-hours," she snapped. Even with her face contorted in anger, the girl was striking. She was probably eighteen – nineteen, at a push – with long, pale blond hair that hung stylishly over one shoulder. She was wearing a pair of pale pink, silk pyjama shorts and a tank top – which was, quite frankly, ludicrous in this weather – and her skin was the kind of golden brown you couldn't get from a tanning bottle.