“It’s how things work around here. Nature is part of the faerie magic and it protects the fey. And since our magic is part of nature, it protects us too.”
“Oh.” I crinkle my nose. “Why didn’t you tell me this before you carried me down the branch?”
He presses back a grin. “Call it payback for making my own power rain on me earlier. And technically, I think that means I win this one.”
“We weren’t even challenging each other,” I argue, but he just grins smugly at me.
Instead of getting pissed off, I smile sweetly at him then pinch his nipple again, this time much harder.
“Ah,” he cries out with laughter tickling his throat. “You better watch it or I just might pinch you back.”
I continue pinching him until he’s laughing so hard his legs nearly give out on him. He removes one of his arms from around me and braces it against the branch I’m leaning against, most of his weight pressing against me.
“All right, you win,” he finally surrenders breathlessly.
Smiling to myself, I remove my hand from his nipple.
“You’re ruthless,” he breathes out, working to catch his breath with his head resting beside mine.
A grin spreads across my face. “You should remember that the next time you try to take me on.”
He chuckles before pushing back and looking me in the eye. He doesn’t say anything, just stares at me with a pucker between his brows. The longer he stares, the more drawn I feel toward him, an invisible force tugging me toward him, a force I’m not sure is created by the link, but by something inside me.
I wonder what it’d be like to kiss him…
Confusion sets in along with panic as I realize the urge to kiss him isn’t connected to anything other than my own feelings.
What the hell is wrong with me? I can’t want to kiss East. Not when I want to kiss Foster and have been kissing him. And if I tried to kiss East, it’d probably kill him!
Easton abruptly clears his throat then slants back, looking away from me and muttering, “Let’s get you down off this branch, okay?”
I nod, mortified.? Did he know I was thinking about kissing him just barely? God, he should be afraid of me. And with how quickly he gets us off the branch, I have to wonder if he is.
It’s times like this where I really miss Nina and Gage. They were always good at helping me work through my guy problems, although there were never really many problems. Still, it was nice to have someone to talk to. But even if I could talk to them now, I could never fully be honest with them.
Alone.
I feel so alone sometimes.
“You’re not alone,” Easton says as he hops off the branch and onto the ground.
With a quiet sigh, he sets me down and steps back, sweeping strands of his hair out of his eyes.
A breath eases from my lips. “Thanks for saying that, but I kind of am.” I fold my arms around myself and stare at the mossy ground. “I’m really starting to get tired of this altered link and you guys being able to feel all the stuff that I do. It’s becoming beyond embarrassing.”
“Maybe for you.” His tone turns light. “But personally, I find it amusing.”
A smile tugs at my lips, but I bite it back and narrow my eyes at him. “Well, just so you know, I sometimes feel what you’re feeling too.” When his expression plummets, I grin. “It’s not so funny when the roles are reversed, is it?”
His eyes briefly widen, but then he goes right back to his joking self, a grin taking over his face. “Nah, it doesn’t bother me.” He backs away from me with his hands stuffed inside his pockets. “Nothing ever does. And if you could really feel what I was feeling, you’d know that.”
I follow after him. “Everyone feels stuff, East.” As if responding to my statement, the link fleetingly falters with both confusion and excitement. “Like right now, I can tell you’re confused about something. And excited. Although, I don’t know what the last feeling is about, other than maybe you like being in the fey world.”
He slows to a stop, biting at his bottom lip and assessing me with a crinkle at his brow. His confusion grows and mixes with the excitement the longer he assesses me. But beneath the sensations, a hint of worry stews inside him.
“Maybe I’m excited to be here because I know I might get lucky tonight with some hot fey.” A malicious smirk rises on his lips. “The fey are kinky as hell and make awesome fuck buddies. Seriously, some of the shit they’re into…” He bites down on his bottom lip. “It gets me excited just thinking about it.”
I smash my lips together, a bit hurt, even though I have no right to be. And I’m not quite sure why I feel this way.
He leans in, his malicious smirk amplifying. “Is that embarrassment I feel?’ He searches my eyes. “And a hint of hurt? Are you jealous, lightning eyes?”
Back when I first met East, he was a jerk to me, but he stopped being one as soon as he found out what I am. He’s been pretty nice to me up until this point and while I think I may have upset him by telling him I can feel what he’s feeling, it pisses me off that he’s being a dick about it.
“Glad to see you can still act like you did when I first met you. Maybe you should drag me back to the tree house and lock me in the attic. It can be just like old times.” I dodge around him and hurry away, unsure of where I’m going, but don’t care at the moment.
I make it about ten steps before he jogs after me.
“Sky, wait a sec.” He calls out, but I accelerate my pace.
But he moves quicker and snags a hold of the back of my shirt.
“Let go of me,” I growl out, spinning around to face him and snatching my shirt from his grasp.
His lips start to turn up into a smirk, but then he sighs. “Look, I’m sorry.” He tensely massages the back of his neck, looking everywhere but at me. “I didn’t mean to be a jerk, but some of the stuff you were saying was making me feel… uncomfortable.”
“Why? All I said is that I could feel what you were feeling,” I say, watching as he squirms. “Why is that bad, especially when you said you could feel what I was feeling too?”
“I know, but…” He scratches at the back of his neck. “Look, I’m not a huge fan of feelings, okay?”
“Me neither. Mostly because feeling something intensely used to mean I’d end up accidentally setting off my powers. And since I didn’t know how to control them, there were a couple of times some really bad stuff happened.”
“Like what?” he asks curiously.
I contemplate how much I want to confide in him. Do I feel as comfortable with him as I do with Foster? Not completely, but I do trust him, even if he was a jerk to me only moments ago. But I think I understand why.
“You remember the day you guys came to move me out of my house and a huge storm had blown through the town?”
He nods. “Yeah, that was from you, right?”
“It was. And it happened because I kind of tried to hit on Foster the day before and he rejected me, and that’s what happens when I’m upset. Or, well, it used to happen. I’ve gotten a better lately with all the practicing we’ve been doing. Well, at least I’ve gotten better at controlling my powers. I still have zero control over my emotions, which is annoying.” I give a shrug like it isn’t a big deal. And it isn’t now, but back then it was.
He observes me with his silvery eyes. “Does Foster know about this?”
I shrug. “He knows his rejection hurt me that day, but I don’t know if he knows that I unleashed a storm because of it… Why?”
“I was just wondering.” His gaze burrows into me, a move that seems out of character for the usual joking Porterson brother. But then his entire mood abruptly shifts in the snap of a finger as he relaxes. “Come on, let’s finish our walk. There’s some stuff I need to tell you.”
I nod and we start through the trees, the air between us growing silent. I would wonder if he’s still upset with me, but I can sense his calmness through the link.
The farther we hike, the more
relaxed I become. That is until I spot a strange looking creature fluttering above us. The paper thin, glittery wings make me wonder if it’s a faerie, but it has a tail and furry skin…
“It’s a falopixie,” Easton says when he notices the direction of my gaze.
I blink at him. “What?”
He chuckles, laces his fingers through mine, and pulls me to a stop. Then, hooking his finger underneath my chin, he angles my head upward toward the questionable creature. “It’s part faerie, hence the wings. The tail is from its lion blood. And the rest of it is because it has pixie in it.”
“So pixies are hairy?”
“Some are.”
“Oh.” I inch closer to him as the falopixie circles above our head. “What do they do?”
“Not much other than flap around and sometimes bite the flesh of pretty girls. Their favorite ones to bite usually have blue eyes.”
Fear lashes through me.
“What…” My eyes narrow as I spot the teasing glint in his eyes. “That’s not funny.”
“It kind of was.” He tucks a strand of my hair behind my ear. “Don’t worry. Even if they preferred pretty blue-eyed girls, you’d be safe.”
Ouch. That remark stings a bit. Not that it should matter whether East thinks I’m pretty or not. Although, he has told me before that I am, so…
Guys are so confusing sometimes.
“I didn’t mean it like that,” he adds amusedly. “I meant because the charm we put on you makes your eyes look silver to everyone else besides you and us.”
I play it cool. “It doesn’t matter to me. I mean, I’m glad no one can see my real eye color, so that matters, but the part about you not thinking I’m pretty doesn’t matter to me. At all.” And now I’m rambling. Awesome. And around East of all creatures.
He examines me with an amused smile on his face. “You do realize that me and probably almost every other creature that’s ever seen you thinks you’re gorgeous. I’ve told you this before, lightning eyes.”
“It doesn’t matter if anyone thinks I’m gorgeous,” I tell him, feeling self-conscious about the compliment.
“I don’t really care if it matters to you or not. I just wanted to state the fact. Again.” He tugs me closer to him. “Saying your gorgeous is like saying the human world’s sky is blue. It’s just a fact. Just like your prettiness is.”
I give him a tolerant look despite the fluttering of my heart. “Do those lines often work for you?”
“It’s not a line, lightning eyes,” he insists, appearing genuine. “You’re gorgeous and I’ve thought so since the day I walked into your house and saw you and Foster glaring at each other.”
I grow extremely uncomfortable at how warm his words are making me feel. “Can we talk about something else besides my prettiness?”
“Only if you admit your pretty.”
“Nah, I’d rather not.”
He gives a nonchalant shrug. “Then I guess you’re going to have to stand here and listen to me sprout cheesy lines about how your eyes are as bright as the stars and how your lips look so delectably delicious that I seriously want to bite them.” He bites his lip as his gaze drags up and down my body, zeroing in on my legs. “And those goddamn long, sexy legs…” He gives an exaggerated moan. “I seriously want to lick them as I spread them open. And then I’ll lick your—”
“Stop!” I shout, my cheeks as hot as the damn sun.
He laughs, totally getting off on my embarrassment. “What’s wrong? Can’t handle a little sexy talk?”
Apparently not. Not that I’m going to divulge that to him.
I squirm. “Can we please just talk about something other than my body parts?”
“I will if you say it.”
“Fine,” I grit out. “I’m gorgeous. There. Are you happy?”
He grins at me. “I actually am.”
I blow out an exasperated sigh. “Now can we please focus on you telling me more about what’s going on with this whole soul tethering thing?”
His smile goes poof. “Yeah, I guess I probably should.” His gaze glides upward to the falopixie, then he tightens his hold on my hand and tows me deeper into the trees.
Only when we’re completely alone does he come to a stop and let go of my hand. Then he reclines against the trunk of a large tree, the branches blooming with white and pink flowers that lace the air with a sugary scent.
“I think this is far enough away.” He sits down onto the ground then pats the spot of dirt beside him.
I walk over and sit down, crisscrossing my legs. “Far enough away from the falopixie, I’m guessing.”
“That and my brothers.”
“Why do you need to be far away from your brothers?”
He bends his legs and rests his arm on his knee. “So they’ll be less likely to hear what I’m about to tell you.”
I’m so confused. “Why can’t they know?”
He nibbles on his lip. “Because I think I’m going to tell you everything and some of them are not going to be happy with me when I do, but considering what happened when you found out about Brody, I think you should know more about what’s going on.”
Pain pierces my heart at the reminder that I’m a murderer and his gaze snaps in my direction.
Frowning, he scoots toward me. “Stop blaming yourself for his death. He’s not worth the pain.”
“I know that. And I really am trying not to feel guilty about it, but it’s complicated.” I draw my knees to my chest, lower my head, and take a few breaths. “I know he was a bad creature, but the idea that I killed someone…” Breathe, Sky. Just breathe. “It makes me feel too much inside, which makes my mind want to find a way to erase it. And I think the way that it found to do that was by making my power of darkness manifest.”
“I understand that feelings can be a real bitch. Trust me, I do. And I’m probably being a total hypocrite when I say this, but I’m going to say it anyway.” He smooths his hand over the back of my head. “You’ve got to find a way to deal with this and move past it because no matter what we do, magic can’t permanently fix our emotions. It can mask them. In fact, it’s really good at doing that. But it’s not a permanent fix unless you want to constantly be doped up on magic, which can lead to addiction.”
I lift my head to meet his gaze. “Creatures can get addicted to magic?”
He nods. “Just like humans can get addicted to drugs. And the side effects of a magic addiction aren’t pretty. Trust me.”
“You sound like you’re speaking from experience?” I study him, the way he frowns, the sadness haunting his silver eyes.
His throat muscles work as he swallows hard. “That’s because I am.”
“You were addicted to magic?” I can’t conceal my shock.
“Once upon a time, I was.” He forces a fake smile. “It’s okay, though. I’m fine now.”
The doubt residing in the link reveals his lie. He gives me zero time to press for more details, though, pushing on.
“But anyway, we’re here to talk about you, not about the messed up choices I’ve made. I just want to make sure that you’ll deal with the guilt. In fact, I want you to make a blood promise that you will.”
Huh? “What the heck’s a blood promise?”
He sticks his hand out in front of him with his palm facing upward. “It’s basically what it sounds like. We cut our hands open, press our palms together, and make a promise.”
“That sounds very close to something humans do.”
He smiles. “I should also probably explain that some of our powers would mix in with our blood and magically bind the promise. So if you break it, your powers might burn you to death.”
My eyes widen. “What the heck? Why would you want to do that—”
He busts up laughing and I swat his arm.
“You and your damn jokes are starting to get on my nerves.” But I’m having a hard time not smiling.
And he completely notices too, winking at me.
“Secr
etly, I know you like it, but I’ll let you lie for now.” He disregards my dirty look, taking my hand in his. “Don’t worry. Breaking a blood promise won’t make your powers burn you to death. However, if you do break it, it’ll temporarily restrain my powers.”
“Maybe we shouldn’t do it then.” I start to pull away from him.
He snatches hold of my hand. “Nah, I think we should totally do it. It’ll give you a bit of motivation.”
“But aren’t you afraid I’ll fail?” I question. “Or what if I get so annoyed with you that I fail on purpose just so you’ll temporarily lose your powers.”
“I don’t think any of that’s gonna happen,” he replies confidently.
“I’m not so sure I share your confidence.”
“That’s okay. I’ll be confident for the both of us.”
I glance down at our hands as he lines our palms together. “Are you sure you want to do this?”
He gives a steady nod. “Yep.”
I release a nervous exhale. God, I hope I don’t mess this up. “Okay, lets do it then.”
I wait for him to pull out a knife so we can cut open our palms, but instead he shuts his eyes. Figuring I’m not fully understanding how a blood promise is made, I close my eyes too.
“What do we do now?” I ask as he shifts our hands in front of us with our palms pressed together.
“I want you to focus on unleashing a bit of your power of ice,” he utters. “I know your powers are weak right now, but I only need you to let out a drop of it.”
I’m puzzled, but still do what he asks, channeling the chill lingering inside me.
“Good,” he whispers. “Now let it carefully slip into me.”
Smashing my lips together, I allow the chill to glaze across my skin, down my arms, and to my fingertips—
He shudders as ice kisses his fingers. “Good…” he whispers, sounding strained.
I crack open my eyes to make sure he’s okay. His eyes are shut, his teeth are sunken into his bottom lip, and his chest is rising and crashing as he takes ragged breaths. Water droplets dew his skin, revealing he’s unleashed some of his power.
“Are you okay?” I whisper, worried I’m hurting him.
He nods, biting his lip harder. “I’m perfect…” He all but moans, leaving me to wonder what’s going on with him.
Iridescent Chaos: (Enchanted Chaos, Book 3) Page 10
