His lip twitches, his eyes glinting wickedly. “Keep it up.”
“Oh, I’m going to,” I assure him.
The room grows quiet as we smile at each other like two idiots and that’s when I realize that I’m actually smiling. I honestly didn’t think it could happen.
“Well, at least she’s smiling,” Porter says, breaking the silence.
“Of course she is,” East says, winking at me. “She’s looking at me.”
I roll my eyes. “You’re such a cocky shit.”
Max snorts a laugh and my gaze shifts to him.
“And as for you.” I point a finger at him. “The last time I saw you, you put me to sleep with your little mind power pushing-thoughts-into mind ability thing or whatever you call it.”
“Yeah, I’m sorry about that.” He stuffs his hands into his pockets, strands of his dark hair falling into his vibrant green eyes. “You were asking so many questions and I didn’t know what to tell you, but it was wrong of me to do that to you.”
“That’s the second time you’ve done it,” I say. “Please don’t do it again… It makes me uncomfortable.”
He nods. “I won’t. And again, I’m sorry I did it at all.” The corners of his lips pull into an innocent smile. “Please forgive me.”
I shake my head, wrestling back a smile. “What is with you Portersons and trying to charmingly smile your way out of everything?”
“I think she might be on to us,” Porter snickers and I almost look at him, but I’m still a bit hesitant to do so, worried about what I’ll feel.
So instead I look at Foster who’s assessing me with his brows dipped.
“What’s wrong?” I ask self-consciously.
He shakes his head, erasing the look. “I was just thinking about something.”
I wait for him to explain what, but he remains silent, staring at me in a way that makes my skin hum with heat and my powers spark, lulling underneath my skin, and sending a gentle breeze through the air. The vines dangling from the branch-like ceiling begin to sway, reminding me of where we are.
“How long do we have to stay here?” I wonder, glancing back at Foster.
He silently stares at me for a moment longer. “Probably until we can figure out our next step. We need to warn you about the faeries, though. They can be tricky, sneaky creatures so you’re going to need to be careful around them. We did put up a couple of temporary protection charms on all of us and on the link, so we should be safe for now.”
I shiver at the for now part.
Then it really hits me, where we are, what’s going on, the bigger picture of it all.
“The fey world… Faeries…” I shake my head as I attempt to grasp what he said. “How is this my life now?”
“I know it’s a lot to take in,” Foster tells me, brushing his knuckles across my cheek.
A low, reverberating growl has him pulling back with a sigh. Then he throws a glare in Porter’s direction. My gaze strays to him too.
Unlike the last time I looked at him, his face is now visible thanks to the twinkling lights glowing from the vines above us. Looking at him in the light, I’m reminded of how gorgeous he is. All of the Porterson brothers are, but Porter has more of a, I guess prettier quality to him is the best way to put it; with short blond hair, full pierced lips; and lavender eyes. He’s also tall and lean, and his skin is heavily inked with tattoos similar to the ones on Max’s arms.
As our gazes weld, I regret looking at him at all, as the feelings I felt when he drank my power from me resurface, some of them wonderful but some of them terrifying.
I want to crawl out of my skin and slip inside him…
What the actual effing hell? Where did that thought come from?
“Calm down,” Foster snaps at Porter, his tone conveying a warning.
A smirk rises on Porter’s lips as he glances at Foster. “Are you telling me what to do, little brother? That’s… “ he rubs his jawline. “Amusing.”
“You promised,” Foster reminds him with a pressing gaze.
Porter’s smirk fizzles. “I know. And I’m doing my best, but between the link and this…” He bites at his bottom lip as his gaze skates to me. “This is more complicated than I thought it was going to be.”
My stomach flutters, sending shivers across my body and a flurry of snowflakes drift from the ceiling, ice glazing across the vines and turning them into icicles.
“Complicated is an understatement,” Easton mutters, glancing up at the winter wonderland that has now taken over the ceiling.
I’m not sure what just happened with my powers, but I have a feeling I should be embarrassed about it.
Easton loudly clears his throat. “I think everyone might need a time out.” He takes my hand and effortlessly lifts me to my feet. “How are you doing with all of this? I know it has to be a lot to take in.”
While Easton may usually push my buttons, but I’m grateful for the subject change he’s giving me.
“I think so. Honestly, I’m not even positive what happened. I mean, I know that Porter had to… Because I…” And just like that, any amount of contentment I felt evaporates.
A lump wells in my throat as guilt presses down on my chest. Blood on my hands. I have blood on my hands. Darkness starts to fill my veins, but an invisible force sweeps through and erases it.
My heart thunders in my chest as I cast a quick glance at Porter.
What exactly did he do to me when he tethered my soul to his?
His lips on my neck…
Sucking…
Drinking…
Hunger…
It felt so good…
Porter’s intense gaze sears into mine and he bites down on his bottom lip hard. “Good Gods, I can’t take this,” he mumbles, then reels around and strides out of the room.
Silence stretches between Max, Foster, Easton, and me. And awkward silence that I don’t fully understand.
“Sorry,” I mutter to no one in particular.
“Don’t be. It’s not your fault,” Easton says. He’s still holding my hand and he skims his finger along the inside of my wrist in a soothing gesture. “We should’ve told you from the beginning about Brody. Maybe if we had, things wouldn’t have gone down the way that they did.”
“I thought I was doing the right thing by keeping it from you,” Foster mutters, looking at me with remorse in his eyes. “I’m sorry. I feel like this is all of my fault.”
“It’s not your fault. No matter when or how you told me about Brody… I still would’ve reacted the same way…” I almost lose it again as guilt claws under my flesh. But that invisible force pulls me back—pulls me away from the darkness. Whether it’s the link doing it or whatever Porter did to me, who the hell knows. Honestly, at this point I feel like I don’t have a clue about anything going on.
Poor, clueless, Sky. I’ve been called that before. A lot actually.
“I’m still not sure what’s going on with Porter… “ I shift my weight, pulling my hand from East’s, but only so I can wrap my arms around myself. “What exactly did he do to me?”
A frown etches onto Foster’s face. “He didn’t explain it to you?”
“He told me that he was going to tether my soul to his, and that it was the only way for me to return to my body without darkness possessing me forever. But he didn’t explain how darkness was able to possess me so badly, or how him drinking my power would keep darkness from possessing me. And I’m not even sure how he did it… What he is… He wouldn’t tell me much about anything.” I pause, waiting for one of them to give me an explanation, but they all appear hesitant.
Damn them and their secrecy.
Foster rubs his hand across his jawline, uneasiness masking his expression. “When Porter’s kind feed off someone’s powers, it temporarily tethers their soul to theirs, which means that right now your soul is connected to Porter’s and vice versa.” He lets out a quiet sigh. “As for the draining your power part of it, which is what happened when P
orter fed off you, that’s how he got darkness temporarily out of you—by sucking it out of your body. But if we don’t find a more permanent solution, he’s going to have to keep tethering your soul to his, because once an elemental enchanter unleashes their power of darkness, it won’t leave their bodies. At least not without some magical help. But I’d rather not have Porter continually feeding off you,” he mutters the last part.
I feel the slightest bit less confused, but let me stress the slightest bit part. “Does that mean I don’t have any power right now?” I glance up at the icicles melting above me—icicles I created only moments ago. “Never mind. Obviously I do.”
“You still have a little bit of power,” Foster explains. “But it’s probably pretty weak, so you’re going to need to be careful until the tethering fades. Hopefully by then, we’ll have a more permanent solution for all of this.” I’m about to mention that Porter said a more permanent solution was that I become like him, but then Foster sighs and rubs his hand across his forehead. “I don’t think I can do this.”
Max places a hand on his shoulder. “Go. We’ll explain the rest to Sky.”
Foster throws me an apologetic glance, his expression a portrait of misery. Then he walks out of the room, heading in the same direction as Porter did.
I suspiciously eye Max and East over. “What’s going on?”
Easton glances at Max with his brow raised. “Do you want to do the honors or should I?”
Max shrugs. “I’m fine with doing it, but she knows you better than me so it might be easier for her to hear it from you.”
East rolls his eyes. “Fine, I’ll be the bearer of bad news since you guys are all too chicken shit.”
“I’m not afraid of doing it,” Max stresses. “And if you want me to do it, just say so.”
East shakes his head. “I’ve got this. I was just pointing out that clearly I’m less chicken shit than the rest of you.” His lips quirk. “Something you should all remember from now on.”
Max lets out a quiet sigh then looks at me. “I’m sorry, Sky. I really am.”
My brows dip. “For what?”
He simply offers me an apologetic look then exits the room the same way his brothers did.
Speaking of his brothers…
“So where’s Holden and Hunter?” I ask East. Mostly I’m wondering where Hunter is, since he’s the one who can fix the altered link.
“They’re both here in this world. They’re just working on a few things,” he replies vaguely then tugs me with him as he strolls toward a branchy wall woven with vines. “Let’s take a walk.”
“Into a wall?” I joke as he heads straight for the wall.
Amusement glitters in his silver eyes. “Oh, lightning eyes, how you disappoint me.” He raises his hand to the wall and the branches spread apart, revealing an exit to the outside. Then he flashes me a cocky smirk. “You should know by now that nothing is what it seems.”
“Sorry I don’t understand the concept of faerie tree houses,” I quip. “To be fair, though, human science classes don’t cover the magical movability of trees.”
Chuckling, he ducks out of the doorway and hops out onto a thick tree branch covered with green moss, blooming violet flowers, and crisp autumn leaves. Halfway across the branch, ice glazes across the bark. The contrast of seasons is a startling sight to behold and I can’t figure out how they can all coexist in the same area.
“It’s called magic,” East says as if he can read my thoughts. He wiggles his hand from mine, spins around, and reaches toward me, placing his hands onto my waist. “The seasons coexist in this world, mostly because faeries get their power from the seasons.” With a grin, he picks me up and sets me down onto the branch beside him, startling me so badly my fingernails dig into his shoulders.
“I could’ve gotten out here by myself.” I pry my fingernails out of his flesh. It has to hurt yet he doesn’t show any signs of being in pain.
“Yeah, but that way was much more fun.” He winks at me then whirls and starts across the branch.
I peer down below me at the long drop to the ground. I’ve never been a fan of heights, but I don’t want to appear weak either, so sucking in a breath, I put one foot in front of the other and follow him.
My legs are shaky at best, and I nearly fall a couple of times.
“Where are we going exactly?” I grab onto some vines above me to keep my balance.
“I already told you—for a walk.” He turns around and eyeballs me over. “You’re not afraid of heights, are you?” He taunts with a smirk.
“No,” I lie, gripping onto the vines tighter as the wind picks up and makes the branch I’m standing on sway.
“You’re not, huh?” The wicked glint in his eyes makes me tense.
“Whatever you’re about to do, don’t,” I warn. “Or I swear, I’ll—”
“You’ll what?” he questions with amusement. “Clutch onto that vine tighter?”
I narrow my eyes at him. “I’ll kick your pretty boy, raindrop ass.”
He grins. “How many times have I told you not to tease me with that sort of stuff?”
A comeback bites at my tongue. “One day I’m going to—” I screech as the branch jolts and sends me flying forward.
I close my eyes and brace myself for the fall, wondering if it’ll kill me or if I’ll just break a few bones. But instead of hitting the ground, I slam straight into Easton.
He lets out a grunt as my body collides with his. Then his arms enclose around my waist. I clutch onto the bottom of his shirt, my heart slamming against my chest.
“Relax.” He smoothes his hand up and down my back. “I’ve got you.”
I let out a shaky exhale then slant back to meet his gaze, which is filled with amusement.
“If that was your attempt at kicking my ass, I have to say I’m a bit disappointed,” he says with an amused grin.
Rolling my eyes, I let go of his shirt and move to step back. But the branch sways again and I immediately clutch onto him, squeezing my eyes shut.
“Okay, you win this one,” I whisper in defeat. “I’m afraid of heights.”
Surprisingly he doesn’t laugh at me, although hilarity rings in his tone as he says, “Are you? Huh? I wouldn’t have guessed with the way you’re clutching onto me like you’re afraid you’re going to fall.”
I shake my head, my grip constricting on his shirt. “Will you please just help me get off this branch? If you do…” I take a preparing breath before whispering, “I’ll owe you.”
His chest shakes as he chuckles. “You act like that’s painful to say.”
“It feels like owing you a favor might lead to me having to do something humiliating,” I admit, wrapping my arms around his waist as that stupid branch moves again, this time more violently.
His muscles ravel into knots and his hand on my back stiffens.
“Are you okay?” I start to lean back, but he pushes on my back, pressing me closer.
“I’m fine.” His voice is thick and fear is leaking down the link.
What’s going on with him?
“Let’s get you off this thing, okay?” Then he scoops me up in his arms and urges my legs around his waist.
For a fleeting moment, I feel extremely uneasy about how much of our bodies are touching. But as the branch continues to dance in the wind, I shove the uneasiness aside and latch onto him.
“Please don’t fall,” I whisper, burying my face into his shoulder.
A soft laugh escapes him, his muscles unwinding a bit. Then he starts walking across the branch again. “I like this vulnerable side of you,” he teases. “I mean, think about it. Right now, I could totally take you on and win.”
“Please don’t,” I beg. “Besides, even if you did win, when we get down from the branch, I’ll just take you on again and win.”
“Actually, you wouldn’t.” He positions his arm underneath my ass as he shifts my weight in his arms. “You’re powers are still too weak from the soul teth
ering.”
“Right.” It dawns on me just how vulnerable I am at the moment.
“I won’t let anything happen to you,” he promises as if he can read my thoughts. “I know I tease you a lot, but I’d never let anyone do anything to you.”
“Liar,” I say. “Admit it. Deep down, you’d love to watch some powerful elemental protector kick my ass in a power battle.”
“No way,” he insists. “Kicking your ass in a power battle is my job.”
“Well, then you totally suck at your job,” I quip, smiling to myself.
“Maybe, but personally, I think getting my ass kicked by you isn’t that bad.” He gives a short pause then amusement creeps into his tone. “In fact, it turns me on sometimes.”
“Dude, I’m so going to kick your ass when we get down from this tree,” I threaten, glad he can’t see my face since I’m pretty certain my cheeks are flushed.
“You say that like it’s a punishment, but it’s not.” He pinches the back of my thigh.
I yelp, my legs tensing around him. I lean back to glare at him.
He smirks at me. “I think I win this one.”
My jaw ticks, but then I plaster on a cocky grin. “Don’t count your winnings just yet.” I reach down and pinch his nipple. Hard.
Of course, as I get caught up in one of our challenges, I somehow forget that we’re standing on a branch way above the ground and that I’m totally relying on him to get me down safely. I’m painfully reminded of this, though, as he stumbles forward.
“Shit,” he curses as he skitters around, struggling to get his balance.
As his feet skid across a patch of ice on the bark, we end up twirling around and spinning toward the edge of the branch. At the very last second, though, he manages to swing us around and press us up against a vertical branch sprouting from the branch below.
“Holy crap,” he breathes out with wide eyes. “You just about killed us.”
“I’m so sorry,” I say, feeling awful. “I didn’t think before I pinched and I…” All of my guilt evaporates as he grins.
“I’m just fucking with you, lightning eyes,” he says as he struggles not to laugh. “Even if we fell, the wind would catch us.”
“What?”
Iridescent Chaos: (Enchanted Chaos, Book 3) Page 9
