“Abusive, how?” she asked suspiciously.
His brown eyes widened. “Gosh, Holly, they’ve drugged you with Mentafixol since you were fourteen. They told you that you were crazy. They made you think your power was a bad thing, and that it was all your fault!” He pointed at her with his fork. “And do you know why they did that?”
“No, I really don’t.” She was angry all over again. Maybe he did have an explanation that made sense, because Kaylee’s sure didn’t.
“You’re a lot stronger than your dad,” he said. “And a lot stronger than your half sister.”
“I don’t have a ha—” The cake stuck in her throat. She coughed and coughed and coughed, embarrassed that she was coughing up cake in front of Rob.
He had perfect manners. He handed her a napkin, then stood over her with a glass of water at the ready, waiting for her coughing fit to stop.
“Kaylee,” she whispered, feeling hot tears form at the corners of her eyes.
Rob nodded, watching her with concern. “And you know, they say sisters share everything.”
She could tell from his tone that he was hinting at something else. This time she didn’t get it.
“You saw them all watching you at the dam, right?” he asked. “Your father, and your half sister, and your boyfriend? And none of them came to help you.”
“They didn’t!” she exclaimed. In the past day she’d become so accustomed to relying on herself that it hadn’t occurred to her to expect help. But yeah, it would have been nice for them to pull her from the Colorado River, instead of Nate and Violet. It would have been nice for them to rescue her from the Res, if Kaylee was truthfully so freaked out by the idea of it.
“But what are you saying?” Holly asked, putting her fork down for the first time. “That Elijah and Kaylee . . . ?”
He sighed and looked away. “I know. I’m sorry to tell you. You don’t have to believe me. But you guessed at Glitterati that they might get together. You wondered why Kaylee didn’t want to get together with Shane. And now you can’t understand why Elijah is mean to you and tries to control you, after everything you and he have”—the kitchen was lit only by lava lamps, but Holly could still see him blush as he talked about this delicate subject—“done.”
“Elijah was in on the whole thing?”
Rob nodded.
“He was never on Mentafixol?” Her voice escalated to a shriek.
Rob flinched and shook his head.
“Why the f**k did he take me to Icarus, then?” Holly was angry, but she made a mental note not to say f**k around Rob anymore. He was a gentleman, and he seemed sensitive. There was no need to take this out on him. After all, he was not at fault.
“To give you an adventure,” Rob said, “so he could seduce you, and you’d be more likely to do what he and Kaylee and your parents want. But don’t feel bad.” He set his empty cake plate down on the counter. “They drugged you and lied to you for seven years, and you had no life. None. Of course you wanted an adventure. What girl wouldn’t?” He put his hand on her knee.
Holly set her own cake plate aside and looked up at Rob. She remembered how much she’d liked him when she first met him, and why. He was handsome and fun. He was strong and official in his sheriff’s deputy uniform. He was perfect.
And then the sparkling sensation started. Not the sparkles she felt when she was levitating. This was more like what she imagined Elijah felt when she massaged him. The sparks started at her knee, under Rob’s hand, and extended up her thigh. Maybe Violet was doing this to her, or some other levitator she hadn’t yet met—but it wasn’t a good idea to wonder. It was a good idea to enjoy. Maybe Rob was making her feel this way himself, the first true love she’d ever felt: love without an aftertaste of suspicion.
“This is just an idea,” Rob said, his voice velvety like chocolate. “The Res is open to anyone with power. We’re especially interested in you, though, because you’re so strong. You could be the key to a lot of us getting out of abusive relationships and families like the ones you’ve just escaped. If you started your own magic act at the casino, and some of us helped you climb to the top with various things we could do for you . . . think how much control we could have almost overnight!”
“That’s a great idea!” Holly said with gusto. That would serve her dad and Kaylee and Elijah right. It was almost like Rob could read her mind.
Wait a minute.
“We—and some other people from the Res, of course—we could run the casino so much more smoothly than they do. Isaac would be a lot better man in charge than Mr. Diamond. I’d handle security like Kaylee never dreamed of. Your act would be a million times sexier than your dad’s. The casino would be flashier. We would set the bar for the rest of Las Vegas. We would attract a younger crowd and rake in the cash. It’s time for Mr. Diamond and your dad and Kaylee to go out and for us to move in.” Rob moved his hand from her knee up the inside of her thigh until it stroked dangerously near her crotch.
A sensation like fire followed his hand, and Holly squirmed toward him.
“What do you say?” he whispered, bending down, his lips very close to hers.
She looked up at him. His eyelashes were impossibly long. But there was something strange about his brown eyes, something missing . . . and then she realized what it was. When she’d thought about wanting Elijah, Elijah’s pupils had dilated. Now, as she thought about wanting Rob, Rob’s pupils stayed small. As she thought this, they flickered slightly bigger, then shrank to normal.
“I have more experience than Elijah does,” Rob explained, “and better control.” His words were full of innuendo, but maybe that was just Holly’s dirty interpretation, because his tone was completely innocent.
And then he kissed her. His mouth was sweet. She opened her lips for him and kissed him back and wrapped his body in every erotic sensation she could imagine, causing herself to sparkle in turn with power and lust. His fingers crept into her. She arched to meet his hand, and he finished what he had started five days before.
“Oh, Jesus, what has that girl done now?” Kaylee exclaimed. And when Kaylee exclaimed, Elijah had learned to listen. He stopped Shane’s car behind the black SUV that had abducted him in Icarus, upright but smashed as if it had overturned.
They both jumped out of the Pontiac and ran toward the SUV. Elijah’s heart pumped wildly. He dreaded what he would find if unflappable Kaylee was this upset. He stopped at the back corner of the SUV, heart exploding, hoping this was not the last moment of his life he would think Holly was alive. He jerked the hatchback open.