by Anna Kyss
formatted by E.M. Tippetts Book Designs
Books by Anna Kyss
PARANORMAL ROMANCE
Wings of Shadow (The Underground Trilogy, Book 1)
Wings of Memory (The Underground Trilogy, Book 2)
DYSTOPIA
Cerulean
NEW ADULT ROMANCE
Wander and Roam (Wander Series Book 1)
Rebel and Soul (Wander Series Book 2)
Maddie
I NEVER thought I would be the girl with a cheating boyfriend. I try to swallow as the landscape races by outside my window. At least I figured it out in time, before I ended up with an unfaithful fiancé. Andrew planned on proposing tonight. Good thing I fled.
My cell rings, just the pre-programmed ringtone, rather than a carefully selected song like other girls choose for their beaus. Andrew and I never had a special song. Before, I always wished we had a special-song type of relationship. Now, I’m just grateful I never fell in love with him.
The train vibrates as it rushes along the tracks, and I shift in the narrow seat, trying to put a little space between my seat buddy and me. Twenty-something hours is a long time to sit next to a complete stranger.
“Not going to answer? How did he piss you off?” My neighbor glances down at Andrew’s picture on my phone as I swipe the ignore icon.
While he’s looking down, I study him for the first time since he sat next to me. He’s cute enough, with his sandy-brown hair and icy-blue eyes, but the piercings—one through his upper lip and another in his left eyebrow—ruin his hotness factor.
I’m partial to conventionally good-looking guys. At least, I think I am. As Andrew’s clean-cut face fades, I wonder if I truly prefer the country-club look or if that’s one more thing that I’ve been cultured to believe. My father would never allow me to date anyone who wouldn’t fit in at Twin Aspens, Denver’s most prestigious country club.
My phone plays the ominous theme song from TV’s most famous legal drama. This call, I can’t ignore, not unless I want to be tracked down by the full force of the legal system. My father has connections.
“What do you want, Daddy?” I know exactly what he wants. The minute my bag disappeared from the hotel room, Andrew contacted my father, his biggest ally.
“Madison, where are you? You have everyone—your mother, myself, Andrew—worried sick.” He lets out an exasperated sigh. “Andrew spent months planning for this weekend. Honestly, I don’t know what you were thinking.”
My father had given me all the details of Andrew’s surprise proposal then sent me off on a pre-engagement shopping spree with my girlfriends. He wanted to ensure I look my best for the embedded photographer who would document our engagement. Daddy couldn’t have sub-par photos gracing Denver’s society page, after all.
“Did Andrew tell you why I left?” I blink and breathe deeply. I can’t let my father get to me.
“He did.” An awkward silence lingers after his words. After nearly a minute, he continues, “Listen, Madison, men have needs. I know you’re young and naïve, but—”
“But? You’re really going to make excuses for him? I walked in on him with another woman on what should have been the most romantic night of my life. How can you just dismiss that?”
“You know how important this merger between our families is. When I’m up for election—”
I end his call mid-sentence before turning the volume off. When I learned about Andrew’s infidelity, I felt more like a business plan had gone wrong than my relationship had ended. Talk about a wake-up call. I know my father is completely focused on his upcoming campaign, but I’d never thought he would willingly sacrifice my happiness and dignity to advance his career…
This is the last straw. I have been the model daughter: straight-A student, esteemed musician, and two-time winner of the Presidential Award of Volunteer Excellence. Yet my father is willing to sell me to the highest bidder, regardless of my happiness. Is this really the twenty-first century?
“No offense, but your dad’s an ass.”
I should be offended, but I can’t keep from smiling. My father deserves every crass word this guy can throw at him.
My seatmate shakes his head. “Eavesdropping on that conversation almost makes me glad I don’t…”
I give him more than a minute, but he never finishes his thought. My manners finally kick in. I can’t very well ignore him when we’ll be on the train together all day. “Nice to meet you. I’m Madison. Madison Bentley.”
Instead of shaking my offered hand, he cups it between his palms. “It is lovely to make your acquaintance,” he says, using an affected accent. As soon as he releases me, he starts laughing.
I am so sick of men. Boyfriends. Fathers. Overly talkative seatmates. I turn back toward the window and watch the flat Midwest roll by.
“Hey, I’m sorry.” His voice softens. “It’s obvious you’re going through some tough shit right now.”
When he lays his hand on my shoulder, I face him again. He examines me with his piercing stare. His eyes are surrounded by lush, dark lashes. The silver glint of his eyebrow ring highlights the iciness of his pale eyes. Maybe piercings aren’t all bad. Especially when they come with eyes like his.
“Are you okay?” He gently squeezes my shoulder.
“I’m fine. I was just…” How long was I even staring? I’m usually so together, but ever since I walked away from Andrew, I’ve been spiraling.
“Mesmerized by my movie-star gaze? Yeah, I get that all the time.” He winks, making his silver ring dip.
I can’t help but wrinkle my nose. Andrew was overly cocky. Look where that relationship got me.
“Hey, I’m kidding!” He throws up his hands then takes a long sip from his water bottle.
I really need to chill. I must have left all of my social skills back in that hotel room, because I’m entirely too uptight right now. I force a smile. “Your movie-star gaze? I would have guessed you for a mascara model.”
He laughs mid-swallow and spits water all over himself. “Well played. You just earned yourself an introduction. I’m Soul.”
“What kind of—” The last thing I need is to make more rude comments. Why should I care whether the random stranger assigned to sit next to me has a weird name? I hold out my water bottle to toast. “Here’s to a good train ride.”
“Where are you headed?” he asks.
“Back to school in Boulder.”
He raises his pierced eyebrow. “University of Colorado or Naropa?”
“CU, of course. Do I look like a hippie chick?” Since both campuses are so close to each other, students have running jokes about the stereotypical people who attend each college.
“CU? Same as me.” He taps his water bottle against mine. “I think I’m going to enjoy chugging across the country with you, Maddie.”
“Madison,” I automatically correct him.
He presses his lips together and shakes his head. “I don’t know. Hopping a train to flee your engagement? Sounds more like a gutsy Maddie than a proper Madison.”
Before I can insist on Madison, my phone vibrates on my lap. I should turn the darn thing off, because my father and Andrew are going to take turns all night assaulting me with guilt-inspiring messages and texts.
But when her name pops up, I answer immediately. “Abby, how is he?”
Soul
JUST MY luck. Sitting next to anybody at all is bad enough. I was hoping there would be room on the train for me to spread out over a few seats, but every car was jam-packed. Most seem to be students, like me, taking the cheapest way back to school for the spring semester.
My luck gets even worse when I get a load of the girl I’ll be squashed next to for an entire day. With her fancy clothes and uppity attitude, she should be
assigned to the first-class car, or even better, a private jet. Who has money and doesn’t fly?
Besides maybe a crazy activist like me, of course? Sage’s mom offered to purchase my airfare home, but flying leaves a bigger carbon footprint than any other mode of transportation. I’ll take a few days of discomfort over a few hours of environmental destruction. Besides, I need time to put myself together after my best bud’s surgery. That was some scary shit.
I shake off my feelings about Sage when Maddie wipes at her eyes and sniffles again. She seems to be on the train because of her intense personal drama. Strike three. Am I supposed to be all supportive for the entire ride? Just kill me now. I don’t do girl drama, not when so many real problems plague the world—real problems like people raping the planet… and best friends with cancer.
When her phone rings—again—I gather up my backpack. How many phone calls is this girl going to get? Maybe if I give her some privacy to cry out her problems to a friend, she’ll get it out of her system. I take off, hoping the dining car’s open already.
But the caller’s name and bits of the conversation cause me to halt in the aisle.
“Oh, I’m so glad he made it through his surgery,” Maddie says. “You must be so relieved.”
No way. Weird stuff happens all the time. She could know a different girl named Abby, who has a boyfriend who had a different surgery.
I can almost hear Sage’s voice, reminding me that the simplest answer is usually the correct one. Occam’s razor. He loves that philosophy crap.
Well, only one way to find out. I march back down the aisle, grab Maddie’s phone, and place it to my ear. “Hello, I was wondering if you might be the Abby who starred in an epic Australian romance with my friend, Sage.”
“Soul? Didn’t we just say goodbye this morning?” Abby says. She’s totally the same girl I left at my buddy’s bedside.
“What are you doing on the train with Madison?” Abby asks.
That’s what I need to figure out. I’ve hung out with Sage long enough to not believe in coincidence. He would tell me the universe is sending me a message.
“It was nice talking with you, Abby,” I say. “Goodbye, for the second time today.”
I’m about to hand back the phone when she asks, “Did he really call our time in Australia epic?”
“You have the sort of romance they make movies about.” I give her the kind of sappy answer that girls love. Guys don’t talk about romance crap with one another, but girls never seem to get that. She makes Sage happy, though, and he needs a little happiness with all the crap he’s going through. “Hey, watch out for him, okay?”
“You know I will.”
I hand the phone back to Maddie, who’s looking back and forth between me and her phone, completely bewildered. She might have a million questions, but she can ask Abby. I have a message from the universe to decipher.
Maddie
AFTER HIS impromptu conversation with Abby, Soul doesn’t return for nearly an hour. When he gets back to his seat, he quietly arranges his backpack and settles in. Fifteen long, silent minutes pass before I can’t hold it in any longer. “You know my cousin?”
“Hmm. Cousin?” Soul studies me for a moment. “I was trying to figure out if she was friend or family.”
“But you know her?”
“When I came for my buddy’s surgery, I met her.” His voice softens. “We both were going a little crazy, so we talked. A lot. It’s easy to freak out when your friend’s lying on a table with his brain sliced open.”
“That must’ve been horrible.” I want to comfort him, but despite my prep-school training, I can’t think of a proper response.
“He was supposed to have his surgery back in January. But—” Soul’s voice cracks, and he closes his eyes.
“He had another seizure, right?” I’ll never forget the night that Abby called me, sobbing. We finally reconnected, but under the scariest of circumstances.
Soul’s eyes widen, then he nods. “He was too sick to operate on for a while. Am I the only one freaked out by how we both know this story?”
Definitely not. The entire situation feels weird. After an awkward silence, I finally say, “Abby told me he’s recovering.”
“He made it through the surgery, but he still has chemo and radiation and all kinds of other crap to survive.” Soul closes his eyes and sighs.
“I’m sorry.” I run my hand down his arm. While I intend the gesture to be soothing, he jumps like I seared him with my touch.
He shifts sideways, so that his arms are out of reach. “Hey, what did Abby say about me?”
Abby’s not only my cousin. She’s also my best friend. Even though we grew up on opposite sides of the country, we spent nearly every summer and holiday together. Well, except for last year. She’s the only one who can truly understand the burden of growing up with an overbearing father, because she has one, too.
“Should I be worried?” He glances at me.
I’m the one who should be running from this train. After Andrew burned me so badly, I’m not ready to get close to anyone, especially not this counter-culture boy.
But Abby told me Soul is a good guy with a heart of gold.
“Well? What did she say?” He leans back and studies me.
“She said we should get to know each other,” I finally admit.
He nods, as though getting better acquainted is inevitable. “Yeah, I’ve been thinking the same thing.”
He is? He’d obviously spent the first few hours on the train judging me. What changed?
His phone buzzes. He has one of those old flip phones, the kind that only makes calls and sends texts. Sage’s name appears.
Are you really on the train with Abby’s cousin?
Yes, Soul types back.
I know I shouldn’t be reading his texts, but he’s not trying to hide them, even though they’re focused entirely on me.
Ask her…
Soul frowns at the half sentence. ???
If she believes in coincidences.
“Well, do you?” he asks.
He totally caught me reading his texts. I should be mortified after making such a social gaffe, but if he doesn’t care, why should I?
“I don’t know. Maybe.”
A minute after Soul texts my answer, his phone rings. He listens for a moment then turns on his speakerphone. “Sage wants to speak with us.”
With us? I’ve only heard of Sage from Abby’s late-night phone calls. I owe him, though. He brought my cousin back from a really dark place. She didn’t call me for the entire second half of last year—the longest we had ever gone without talking. I had no idea she’d even gone to Australia.
I guess that’s depression, though. It leaves people feeling alone, paralyzes them so they don’t respond to their messages, and causes them to abandon their families. I owe Sage for bringing my cousin back to me.
Sage barely raises his voice above a whisper, so I have to listen intently. “How can you believe in happenstance? There are a gazillion ways to get between Chicago and Denver. Even if we narrow it down to your particular train route, a different train travels that track every single day. If we focus only on today’s train, there are still hundreds of seating possibilities.”
“Let’s not forget this one,” Soul says, making sure the phone’s speaker is positioned near his mouth. “Out of all the times Maddie could have caught her man cheating, it just happened to be today. Right before my train was scheduled to leave.”
Thanks for sharing my private information with the world. When I glare at him, he presses mute. “This is the most I’ve heard Sage speak since his surgery. I need to encourage him.”
“I’m glad to be of help,” I mutter.
Sage begins to cough. His long, raspy gasps fill the silence.
“His throat has been real sore since they yanked that surgery tube out,” Soul whispers, even though his finger’s still on mute.
“Do you really think Andrew cheated on me other
times?” I’ve been wondering the same thing. If he couldn’t be faithful on the night he planned to propose to me, how could I expect loyalty during the rest of our relationship?
“Once a cheater, always a cheater.” Soul waves off more talk of Andrew and takes his finger off the mute button. “Hey, man, are you okay?”
“Yeah,” Sage says hoarsely. “I think you’re being pushed together for a reason.”
This conversation is getting way too loopy for me. Am I really supposed to believe that fate led me to catching Andrew in the act? Or that Soul and I were destined to sit next to each other? Despite how hokey his ideas seem, I don’t want to upset Sage. I have the feeling if I make a snarky comment, Abby and Soul would jump down my throat. “What kind of reason?”
“I have no idea, but you have to find out.” Sage begins to cough again, and the phone disconnects.
Soul stares at the still-open phone. I can tell he’s worried, and for good reason. His friend sounded terrible. I’m afraid—really afraid—for Abby. If she loses someone else she loves, she’ll return to her dark place, and I’m not sure I would ever get her back again.
Soul’s phone buzzes. Promise me.
He slowly types out, Promise what?
Find out why the universe pushed you together.
“I knew he’d bring up the universe,” Soul whispers. He gazes at me, his eyes brimming with tears. “We have to. We have to promise, for Sage’s sake.”
In that moment, Soul loses his hard edge. I don’t even notice his piercings. I just see a worried boy scared of losing his best friend. The same feelings probably reflect in my eyes because if Sage doesn’t make it, I’m just as terrified about losing my dearest friend.
“You really think it will help?” I haven’t broken our visual connection.
Soul blinks. “I know it will. Sage loves this stuff.”
If there’s something that will help Abby’s current love, how can I say no? I nod my acceptance.
“Thank you!” Soul’s quick hug is unexpected, but my body shivers from his touch long after his hands have left me.
