by Sarah Carter
Claire shuts up quickly. “I can’t talk to you about that.”
“Well, I think you need to talk to someone. Does anyone else know what happened between you two?”
“Oh, hell no. My brother would take Alex down in a heartbeat, and Alex is more powerful of a fighter. Being what we are, my human friends wouldn’t get it. So, no, I haven’t talked to anyone.”
With a quizzical look, Damien inquires, “You have no Neturu friends to talk to?”
“The only friends I have that are Neturu are Alex, my brother, and Felix, who’s a little goofy. I don’t have any friends that aren’t human.”
“So, you have no one to talk to about this?”
“No,” Claire exhales, shaking her head.
Damien swims over and takes her hands. “Listen. I’m a trustworthy person. I have to be. If you need to open up to someone, I’ll happily listen and give some advice. I really like you and would love to be your friend.”
“I don’t know.” Claire swims over to the side of the pool. She lifts herself up and sits on the ledge. Damien follows her and takes the seat next to her. “Are you sure you can keep it a secret?”
“I give you my oath as a council member. It’ll never leave us. Now, what happened?”
Taking in a deep breath to steady herself, Claire says, “Six months ago, Alex and I went on a retreat of sorts. We wanted to do some hiking and outdoor stuff. We’ve done things together on our own before. Well, we were sitting next to each other by the fire the last night and were just talking. It was nice. He’s been a huge part of my world for a long time.
“Anyway, we were talking and laughing, and then the next thing I knew, we were kissing each other. Now, I had only kissed human boys before, so this was a whole new experience. It was intense—so intense—and I blocked my energy.”
“You did what?” Damien asks, confused.
“I blocked my energy, so that no Neturu can feel anything from me.”
“Is that even possible?”
“It’s a skill I discovered when I was young. I can harness my energy and then shut it down.” She closes her eyes, and then— “There, I blocked it.”
Damien actually jumps a little bit. “I see you, but I can’t feel your presence at all. I didn’t know that was possible.”
“Give me your hand,” Claire instructs, sticking out hers. Damien does and she takes it. “Now, try to meld our energies together.”
“Damn,” Damien stammers. “That’s incredible. I can’t—I can’t even feel you. Can you still go to shima like this?”
Claire shrugs her shoulders, “I’ve never tried.”
“You should test your boundaries. That’s insane, Claire. Did your grandfather teach you that?”
She nods. “Yeah. He said he’s only known of three Neturu who could do it. Me being one of them.”
“How does no one know? You really need to join the guard. You’d be a wonderful asset,” Damien states seriously.
I wish. That could never happen. Vigorously, Claire shakes her head. “No one should know but Alex, Ben, my grandfather and me. My parents don’t even know. I have no idea why I told you.”
“So, you blocked your energy when you kissed Alex. Did he notice?” Damien asks.
“Yeah, but he sort of understood why.”
A few seconds of silence sits between them. “So, you guys kissed each other and never talked about it?”
Clicking her tongue, Claire says, “No…it wasn’t just kissing. We—we kind of slept together.”
“Oh,” Damien replies quietly. “And you never talked about it?”
“Well, we sort of did. He wanted to make sure I knew he didn’t take advantage of me. I said I knew. We never did it again. He started calling me all the time and I answered every single call, yet we never talked about it. And then soon after that, he left for his guard training. So now, he wants to talk about it and I don’t know what to say.”
Damien looks at her. “Do you have feelings toward him?”
She returns his gaze. “You know what? I have no idea. I love him, of course, but I don’t know if it’s the right kind of love. Honestly, I don’t know what he’s going to say, so how am I supposed to know what my response is going to be?”
“Well, I think you need to figure out how you feel. Can you see yourself being with him?”
Shrugging, Claire replies, “I don’t know. I’ve had two serious boyfriends, but even then, I never really pictured myself with anyone. The drive has never been heart-pounding. I mean…even when I was with Alex, I was more nervous than anything.”
With a half-snort, half-laugh, Damien says, “So…you didn’t enjoy yourself?”
“Oh, shut up,” Claire snaps, pushing him. “That isn’t what I meant. It’s just, you read these stories in books where people take each other’s breath away. I have never felt that way.”
“I think you should keep that in mind when it comes to Alex. You don’t want to be with someone because you think you should. Do you like romances?”
A smirk twitches on Claire’s face. “You’d think because I’m such a bad attitude, ass-kicking girl, that I wouldn’t, but I do. Every girl wants to feel butterflies.”
“Then I think you should wait until you feel butterflies, or wait to see if you end up feeling that way about Alex. Maybe you’re over-thinking it,” Damien suggests.
“Maybe,” Claire murmurs. “I’m just really nervous about this conversation.”
Nudging her with his shoulder, Damien says, “Maybe you should just let things naturally flow. Go with your feelings.”
“Yeah,” Claire whispers. “I also worry about Ben. He won’t be happy if he finds out.”
“Are you sure about that? He likes Alex, and Alex is a good guy as far as I can tell. You could be with worse.”
Claire raises her eyebrows, “That’s true, but if Ben found out he was my first time, he would probably punch him in the face…hard.”
“I guess that’s true. You can just leave out that little fact,” Damien says. He turns and looks at Claire and she returns his gaze.
They sit there for a minute, just staring at each other. Looking into his beautiful eyes, a knot forms in Claire’s stomach. Damien opens his mouth to say something and then doesn’t.
Finally, he says, “You should feel butterflies. There should be that spark.”
“Yeah,” Claire barely exhales, “A spark.”
“A big spark,” Damien murmurs. After a few more seconds of staring at each other, Damien finally looks away. “Well, we should probably head upstairs.”
Feeling a little awkward, Claire agrees. “Yeah. You need your sleep if you’re going to bring your A-game.”
“You too,” Damien says. “Come on.” He stands and extends his hand. Claire takes it. Damien lifts her up, putting them face-to-face. They stop and pause for a second. Quickly, Claire moves and goes to get her towel.
They don’t say anything all the way back to their room. When they get inside, Damien lets Claire change first. She puts on a tank top and pajama pants. Looking down, she wishes she brought something more attractive. Finally, she leaves the bathroom and walks back into the bedroom. Damien has already changed. Again.
Laughing, Claire says, “You need to be careful. One of these times, I’m going to walk in on you naked.”
“That will only be a positive for you,” Damien retorts, with a grin.
“Oh, geez,” Claire groans, walking over to her bed. She pulls back the blanket and gets in. Damien turns off the main light. He walks over and gets into bed too. Laying down he turns and faces Claire. Feeling awkward, she lays down too. She whispers, “Good night.”
Damien chuckles, “Good night. I hope you don’t snore.”
Claire giggles. “No, I don’t. But I have been known to talk in my sleep.”
“Oh, now I may stay up to hear that.”
“Shut up and go to sleep,” Claire snaps playfully.
“So bossy for a girl I just met.”
<
br /> Turning she looks at him. “Oh, you have no idea. Good night Damien.”
“Good night Claire,” he chuckles, turning off the lamp on the nightstand.
Chapter 4
Claire awakens the next morning to a darkened room. She turns and notices that the heavy curtains are light-blocking ones. Stretching, Claire yawns. She rolls over and looks at Damien. His head is barely out from underneath the blanket and he’s fast asleep.
Sitting up, Claire isn’t sure what to do. She doesn’t want to disturb him. Thinking about it for a moment, she realizes she should leave the room. With light footsteps, Claire creeps across the floor and goes into her suitcase. She takes out her jogging stuff and sneaks into the bathroom. Claire brushes her teeth before getting dressed.
When she finally puts her running shoes on, she comes back out into the room. Damien is still asleep. Carefully, Claire tiptoes over to the door. When she opens it, she’s surprised to find a girl standing there.
The girl is shorter than Claire. She has brown hair with purple highlights. Claire just stares at her and raises an eyebrow.
“Hi,” the girl giggles. “Is Damien here?”
“Uh, he’s still sleeping,” Claire replies, pointing into the room. “Can I help you?”
“Oh, good. I want to wake him up.” The girl darts past Claire. Claire is about to yell at her, but the girl is too fast. She jumps on Damien. “Wake up!”
Damien groans. “Usually I like to wake up to hot chicks jumping on me, but with you it’s inappropriate.”
“I don’t care. Wake up!” The girl laughs, still sitting on him.
Damien throws back the blanket. “What would your boyfriend say to you being in your ex-boyfriend’s bed, Kayla?”
Kayla shrugs. “He knows where I am. I came to wake you up. Rise and shine, valentine.”
“Thank you for the wakeup call,” Damien mutters as he sits up. Feeling really awkward, Claire turns to leave. Before she gets to the door, Damien says, “Are you running off before even saying good morning?”
She turns and says, “I thought I’d give you some privacy.”
“Privacy? What? Oh…this is Kayla. Kayla, this is Claire. She’s my roommate for the week, and a new friend.”
Claire waves. “Hey.”
“Hi,” Kayla replies with a grin. “Have you been keeping Damien on his toes?”
“You could say that,” Claire says. “Umm, I’m going for a run. I’ll see you guys later.” She turns to leave.
“Wait,” Damien says. “I thought I was running with you?”
Claire turns around. “Well, you seem a little preoccupied right now, and you were sleeping.”
Damien pats Kayla’s leg. “Get off of me.” She quickly jumps off the bed, and he sits up. “No. I want you to show me what you got. If that means running this morning, it means running this morning. Just give me a minute to wake up.”
“Alright. I’m going to get some coffee then,” Claire says, pointing to the door.
“Would you get me a cup?” Damien asks. “Black.”
“Sure,” Claire replies. She turns to walk out the door.
“Wait,” Kayla says. “I want coffee. I’ll come with you.”
“You drink too much coffee, Kayla,” Damien states, throwing back the blanket on the bed.
“Shut up,” Kayla snaps, rolling her eyes. “Anyway, I have to tell Claire all your embarrassing secrets.”
Grumbling, Damien says, “Whatever Kayla, go, I need coffee.”
“Come on. Let’s go.” She walks out the door and Claire follows, a little weary. When the door closes, Kayla turns around. “So, you’re surviving staying with Damien? Is he behaving himself? I sure hope so.”
With a nod, Claire replies, “He’s been a perfect gentleman.”
“He’s pretty good at doing that,” Kayla replies. “He’s a great guy. So, do you have a boyfriend?”
“What?” Claire stammers, “No, what?”
“Just curious,” Kayla quips. “You know…Damien’s single.”
Claire raises her eyebrow. “Umm, yeah, that would never happen.”
At the elevator, Kayla says, “Why not?”
“He would never want to be with me. Trust me on that.”
“Well, what are your interests?”
Totally bewildered, Claire stutters, “What…what does it matter?”
“I’m just curious,” Kayla replies. “So, what are your interests?”
“Fighting, martial arts. It’s what I do. I’m helping teach the fighting class here. My other passion is motorcycles. I own one and ride with my friend Alex.”
Kayla gets a big grin. “You’re right up Damien’s alley.”
“No. No, I’m not.” Claire somewhat snaps. “I’m the last thing Damien would want. It’s not like that with us. Again, trust me on that.”
“I know Damien.” Kayla sighs happily. “You’re the type of girl he likes.”
Furrowing her eyebrows, Claire retorts, “No. You are the type of girl he likes, a girl who can shift into anything.”
With her jaw dropping, Kayla says, “He told you about that?”
“Yeah,” Claire mumbles. “You’re who he’s supposed to date, not me.”
“Why not? What do you shift into?” Kayla asks.
“That isn’t important,” Claire replies, stepping into the elevator. Kayla follows her. “The council wouldn’t let him be with me, and we can leave it at that.”
The doors close in silence. Kayla crosses her arms and then looks at Claire. “Damien is his own person outside of the council. He follows his heart. I wouldn’t presume to know what he would do about anything.”
“I would,” Claire says. “There are certain things that no Neturu can get past. Can we please change the subject?”
“Yeah,” Kayla exhales. After a second, she smiles. “So, how old are you?”
Frustration starts to build inside Claire. “18.”
“Us too!” Kayla exclaims. “Are you going to go to college?”
“Yup, with you.” Claire forces a smile.
“No way. You’re going to Stanford?”
Claire nods. “Yup.”
“Oh, then we really need to get to know each other, to actually have a shifting friend there. That would be awesome.” Kayla cheers. “I’m excited.”
Claire take a deep breath in. “Yeah, I don’t know many Neturu.”
“I don’t know anyone,” Kayla mumbles. “My only interaction has been with a few people, Jackson’s family and Damien’s family. I like his sisters, but I don’t know any female Neturu. That’s why I’m excited about this.”
“I really don’t know any girls either,” Claire replies, feeling somewhat defeated as they walk into the dining hall. “So, we’re in the same boat.”
Kayla puts her hands out. “Okay, I’ll be honest then. I’m usually not this hyper. I’m excited and really nervous at the same time about this week. I mean, I only found out about us a year ago, and I was kidnapped by a madman. People are going to know and I don’t want to be stared at.”
“Oh my gosh,” Claire retorts. “I hate that feeling. I don’t know anybody and I’m really nervous about being here. You at least have your boyfriend and Damien.”
Going to the coffee maker, Kayla says, “Well, let’s make a deal then. If we’re both nervous, why don’t we stick together? Then we can talk to each other if either of us is uncomfortable.”
“Really? You want to do that?”
“Hell, yeah. I need a friend here. I say we stick together. That way we don’t need to be as nervous.”
“I’m super nervous and shy right now. You have no idea.”
Kayla nods. “Good. Then we can stick together. Anyway, maybe Damien will stay in check, then.”
“A little crazy around girls?” Claire pours her and Damien’s coffees.
Kayla shrugs. “Not lately. Girls get all stupid around him and bat their eye lashes. He barely notices. Honestly, I think he was so overloaded wi
th girls all the time that he’s immune to it now. He wants something special.”
“Maybe it’s not my place, but have you ever thought he’s hung up on you?”
Kayla snorts. “No. We’ve had that conversation multiple times. He really wants a serious girlfriend, not some fling.”
“Well…there are a lot of girls here,” Claire replies. “He’s bound to meet someone.”
“You?” Kayla quips.
“No.” Claire laughs. “I have enough guy problems right now.”
Getting a big grin on her face, Kayla says, “Oooo, who’s the guy?”
“Oh, I don’t want to get into this. He’s just a close friend. We’re at a very awkward point. It’s complicated. I talked to Damien about it and he swore he wouldn’t tell anyone.”
Kayla replies, “No, he really is trustworthy. Incredibly trustworthy. He won’t tell a soul.”
“That’s good to know.” Claire picks up the coffee. “Boys are complicated and stupid.”
“Well, once you meet the right guy, it’s not as complicated and stupid. They’ll still baffle you, but I think we baffle them just as much. You just need to meet the right guy.”
Claire looks down at the floor, and her mind drifts to Damien. She shakes her head to rid herself of the thought. Claire knows there’s no chance of that ever happening. Taking a deep breath in, they walk back to the hotel room.
Kayla talks nonstop. She is telling her all about Jackson and how they met. Claire can definitely tell that she’s in love. She’s actually warming up to Kayla. Her personality is strong, but Claire likes that. They get back to the hotel room and Kayla opens the door.
Inside they find Damien bent over, stretching. He looks up. “Two lovely ladies, what a great morning.”
“I brought you some nice black coffee.” Claire hands him the cup.
“Thanks.” Damien takes a sip. “Mornings aren’t the same without this stuff.”
“Life isn’t the same without coffee,” Kayla says. “So, you guys are going on a run?”
Damien nods. “Yeah. I have to see what this girl can do.”
“I’ll outdo you in everything,” Claire laughs. “Good luck keeping up today.”
“You think I can’t?”
