Between the Lives Read Online Free PDF Page B

laughing, drinking, dancing eighteen year olds. And every time I turned around, Dex was there, looking handsome and with a full glass in hand to exchange for my empty one.
    I knew what he was doing. He’d been waiting a long time and I hadn’t made it altogether easy. But I wasn’t going to sleep with him tonight, so I took the drinks and let him kiss me up to second number ten on a number of occasions. The effects of the drinks even helped me relax enough to let him go up to second eighteen a few times. But then I discovered that other things happened to Dex’s body after second fifteen …
    I went back to calling it quits at ten seconds shortly after.
    It was a mystery how many people actually turned up. At least the hundred and fifty Lucy had predicted. At some point there might have been more, but just my luck, my other brother, Lucas, turned up sometime before midnight. He offered to keep an eye on things and help pull the plug on the party at 2 a.m. before Mom turned up.
    ‘Did Mom tell you to come?’ I was a touch offended I hadn’t been trusted.
    Lucas shoved his hands in his pockets. It was his standard uninviting pose, the one that always made me feel as though he thought I was beneath him or something. ‘No. Just thought you might need some help if things got out of hand.’
    ‘Oh.’ I eyed him suspiciously, knowing it wouldn’t be out of character for Mom to have sent him. But Lucas generally told the truth, so I let it go. ‘Do you want a drink?’
    ‘No. Not really my crowd.’ It was a dig. Lucas approved of very little when it came to me. He thought I was a spoiled brat who got everything she wanted.
    If only he knew.
    Then again, it wasn’t like any crowd was his type. Lucas, with his broody-yet-clean-cut look, was as much of a loner as anyone in this town could get away with. I think that’s why he chose to go live with Dad. It meant he could avoid having to deal with more than one other person on a continuous basis.
    ‘I’ll just go hang out in the front room. If you need me, come get me.’ With that, he walked stiffly past me, leaving space between us as if we were strangers instead of brother and sister.
    ‘Thanks, Luc,’ I said to his back, which earned me a semi-shrug in return.
    Lucas and I didn’t often see eye to eye, but unlike Ryan I tended to trust him. Even if he didn’t particularly like me, he was honest and I knew he’d do as he promised. It was hard to remember that sometimes there was only two years between us. Part of me wished he’d just grab a drink and have a chat with me, loosen up. But simply making an appearance was about as friendly as Lucas could manage, so I let him hide away in the front room, knowing that at least with him there I could relax and enjoy the party.
    At 11.30, I was itching for an out. It had always been part of my plan – to just slip away for a while so I could go through the Shift in private. But when I started searching for rooms, there was someone, or someones , in all of them. I barged into my own room only to bolt back out when I got an eyeful of Brett and Miriam – which was no doubt now permanently scorched into my memory.
    ‘Shit,’ I said to myself over and over. It was 11.50 p.m. and I was still desperately pushing through hordes of people trying to find a private space to Shift worlds. But there was nowhere, even the bathrooms had queues of people waiting.
    ‘Shit, shit, shit.’
    I picked up the pace, heart racing. Only one option left. I headed for the basement door through the kitchen, passing an almost topless chick I did not, thank god, recognise surrounded by three guys I did recognise trying to talk her into letting them do shots off her. I threw them a disgusted look before I pushed through the door and stumbled down the stairs in the dark. I just needed to find somewhere quiet. Midnight was only a few minutes away and I needed to be at least sitting down. I felt around in the dark, my arm jerking away when it caught