Burning Roses

by Amanda Perry

  “I think she understood you.” Cassie takes a step closer. “You said we won’t hurt her, and she stopped trying to claw at you. That’s impressive.”

  My forehead wrinkles in confusion. “Aren’t I supposed to be able to communicate with animals? Part of my affinity for Earth? If I can understand them, they should be able to understand me, in theory.”

  “Yeah.” Cassie drags the word out, then shrugs. “Jaxon said it took him a long time to master that particular skill, and he hasn’t been worried about teaching you because it won’t help with Samael. He said it would be a while before you learned it. Understanding them and communicating with them are two different things according to him and Leanne.”

  The mention of Jaxon brings me back to the reason Cassie and I are standing around in the parking lot. I glance behind me to find Jaxon’s car slowly leaking water from several spots, and a quick look inside shows the car filled to the roof with water. The sunroof remains open and it’s clearly how Cassie managed to get the water to the top.

  Jaxon and Caleb take that moment to step around the corner on their way to Jaxon’s car. He freezes in place the second he notices it’s sprung a leak. Caleb takes a few steps away from him and searches around. When his eyes land on us, his brow rises.

  “Let’s get out of here before Jaxon loses his shit.” Cassie grabs my arm and drags me to her car. “Get in, quick.”

  Cassie releases my arm and jumps into the driver’s seat. Something stuck on my door grabs my attention and my steps falter. The kitten meows loudly and pops her head up to investigate. She watches curiously as I shift her in my arms and pick up the blue rose stuck on the handle of my door and inspect it. Caleb probably placed it on the door before they came inside as a way to apologize in advance for following us. I move it closer to me to smell it, but the kitten hisses and startles me. I drop the rose to the ground at the same time Cassie rolls down my window and hollers at me to get in.

  Jaxon and Caleb already started making their way toward us, so I quickly scoop up the rose, throw my door open, gently toss the rose into the back, and slide into my seat. Cassie speeds out of our spot before my door fully closes.

  We pass by Jaxon’s car, and Caleb watches us drive by. He sticks his thumb out like a hitchhiker hoping for a ride, but Cassie simply laughs and speeds past him. Caleb isn’t too upset about the incident in the food court or the car being turned into a swimming pool, but I find myself dreading tonight when Jaxon makes it home.

  Chapter 18

  The first half of our trip home is spent in silence. My mind plays the incident with the guys on repeat, and no matter what way I look at it, I can’t understand why Cassie was irate when Jaxon and Caleb showed up. The fact they followed us doesn’t seem like such a bad thing to me, especially since their timing to show themselves was fantastic. It was only seconds before a panic attack hit me after those creeps came to our table. While I can handle strangers easier now than I could a few months ago, I can’t handle true conflict easily. If Jaxon and Caleb hadn’t shown up, those guys wouldn’t have been content to leave us alone, and I don’t know what I would have done.

  “Hey, Cassie,” I turn toward her, “Why did you get so mad at Jaxon and Caleb for showing up back there?”

  She glances my way, then back at the road. “They were told they weren’t invited today, and they snuck out after us anyway.”

  “But why is it such a bad thing they came to help us when we needed it?” I still don’t understand her thought process.

  Cassie’s eyebrows shoot up in surprise. “Who said we needed them to swoop in to rescue us like knights in shining armor?”

  I shake my head and frown in confusion. “Those creeps who came up to us were obviously up to no good.”

  “Ri.” Cassie chuckles. “We did fine on our own. Jaxon and Caleb knew we would be fine, too. Those guys were just being dicks. We could have handled it on our own. We don’t need them to jump in and save us every time there’s an issue. If they always come to our rescue, how will we ever learn to take care of ourselves and be independent?”

  Her question seems rhetorical. I don’t have a response anyway, so I remain quiet. Cassie may be able to handle herself, but I know I lack the skills to help myself if I needed to. That’s what they’ve all been trying to teach me with the training and self-defense lessons. I also know I’ve failed miserably at it, and I may never be able to take care of myself in uncomfortable situations.

  With a long, frustrated sigh, I drop the subject. I don’t have a solution for my problems now, and I won’t find them today by dwelling on it. Instead, turn my attention to the fuzzy little ball asleep in my lap. She purrs heavily as she snoozes and the vibration and sound comfort me.

  As we turn into the driveway, I find myself wondering what my dad and Leanne will say about the kitten. They may hate cats or have allergies, or they may want me to put her back outside or take her to a shelter.

  As I get out of the car the kitty grumbles and shows her obvious dislike of being jostled. I giggle because I find it adorable, like a small toddler stomping her foot. Cassie opens the front door and holds it open for me.

  “Lucy, I’m home,” Cassie calls out in a terrible Cuban accent.

  “What did you buy me, Ricky?” Leanne yells back from the kitchen. Cassie and I giggle as we make our way to the kitchen to find Leanne and my dad behind the counter with a pile of mail in front of them.

  Dad’s head rises, and his eyes lock on the kitten. “Is that a cat?”

  “It’s a kitten.” I give her a cuddle. “She was trapped in a bush. She doesn’t have a home. Can we keep her here? I’ll take care of her.”

  He laughs heartily and shakes his head. “I don’t care, but it isn’t me you’re going to have to convince. Good luck convincing the resident cat-hater.”

  “Who?” I scrunch my nose.

  Leanne flips through a catalog from the mail pile. “Caleb hates cats.”

  Caleb’s dislike of cats is news to me. The subject never came up about which animals we liked, but I’ve always wanted a pet. I hope he doesn’t make me give her up.

  “Something tells me he won’t have a problem,” Cassie answers my unspoken worries with a wicked gleam in her eyes.

  Leanne narrows her eyes in suspicion. “I’m not even going to ask why you suddenly look like the cat who ate the canary.”

  The kitten mewls softly, raising her head and seeking out Leanne. Leanne smiles widely at the kitten. “Not you, little one.” It takes a second, but I realize quickly the kitten understood Leanne was talking about cats and birds. It piqued her interest and woke her from her little nap in my arms. The abilities of all Elementals never ceases to amaze me.

  Leanne raises her brows at Cassie who simply shrugs, giving away nothing. Leanne lets the subject drop without another word. She pushes the mail pile toward my dad as her attention flicks to the clock on the stove, then back to us.

  “I’m shocked to see you two home this early,” she muses while making her way to the living room to sit down. “I figured you’d be gone all day, then drag an exhausted Riley through the door a little while after the mall closed and they kicked you out.”

  “Oh, I’ll tell you why.” Cassie’s perky mood vanishes, and she stands with her hands on her hips and her foot tapping. “Your lovely son and my darling brother decided to play Jason Bourne and spy on us. They ruined our day before we even got the chance to map out our shopping route.”

  “They did not,” Leanne gasps, her eyes popping wide.

  Before anyone says another word, the front door swings open, and a furious and soggy Jaxon storms in. Caleb strolls in behind him with an easy grin. When he spots me, his grin widens, and he winks at me. The kitten in my arms stirs and draws his attention. The second he spots the animal his smile drops away, and his eyes grow wide.

  “What is that?” he demands, not taking his eyes off of the kitten.

  “It’s a kitten.” I pet her silky fur.

  “No, it
’s demon spawn.” He takes a few steps away from me. “Where did you find it?”

  I bow my head and hug the kitten closer to my chest as tears threaten to spill. Caleb doesn’t get upset often, and I don’t remember him ever snapping at me.

  Leanne jumps up and squares off with Caleb. “She found the kitten in the parking lot of the mall just after you and Jaxon ruined their girls-only shopping trip by following them. Even after Mark and I specifically told you both to leave them be.”

  I raise my head in time to watch Caleb’s horror over the kitten morph into chagrin from getting caught and scolded. Jaxon, who was too angry to form a complete sentence, finally lets loose.

  “Do you know what she did to my car?” he screeches after taking a few shallow breaths. “I’ll tell you! She filled it with water. My precious car’s interior is ruined. I had to drive home sitting in a damn puddle! She killed my poor car.”

  “Dude, I dried the majority of it out with heat on the way home.” Caleb sighs and rolls his eyes at Jaxon’s theatrical rant. I guess my theory about using his affinity for Fire was correct. “Don’t be such a drama queen.”

  “Stick a sock in it, Caleb!” Jaxon still glares at Cassie. “That isn’t the point! The point is she—”

  “The point is you didn’t do what you promised you’d do, and you completely ignored me and your mother,” Mark cuts him off. “Which means you just volunteered yourself to go get Riley’s new friend all of the things a little kitten will need.”

  Jaxon’s jaw drops as Cassie and Caleb snicker at him.

  “I don’t know why you’re giggling, Montgomery.” Dad turns to Caleb with a sly grin. “You’re going with him.”

  Caleb sputters and turns bright red. “You can’t be serious. I’m not buying anything for that furry demon. It needs to find a different home to terrorize.”

  I gasp at his hateful words. He truly hates cats and clearly doesn’t want us to keep her. I bite my lip to prevent it from wobbling. I’ll need to find another place for her to stay.

  “Caleb,” Dad barks his name in warning and gestures to me with a nod of his head.

  Caleb’s attention darts to me instead of the kitten. He curses under his breath, and his anger deflates while he makes his way to me. “Please, tell me you don’t want to actually keep her. It’s going to bite our feet, wake us up at two in the morning, and scratch everything. Litter boxes smell horrible, and you have to scoop their crap. Don’t you want a dog or a fish instead? Goldfish don’t scratch or bite.”

  The kitten wiggles in my arms and lifts her little head to yawn big. She lets me know without words she’s hungry, and I marvel at the way I can understand what she wants and needs with no verbal communication and no truly known language. She stretches like a tiny tiger, and it’s adorable. My eyes fill with tears knowing I need to give her up.

  She picks up on my emotions somehow and hisses, searching for a threat or reason why I may be upset.

  “It’s okay, little girl.” I choke back tears. “Everything’s fine.”

  “Shit.” Caleb sighs, hanging his head. “I didn’t mean to upset you, baby. But that’s a cat. Cats are evil and mean.”

  “I understand,” I whisper to him. I don’t want him to have to live with something he doesn’t like. The way he snapped at me earlier cut deep, and I’ll do whatever I need to in order to avoid it happening again.

  “The cat stays, bro,” Cassie announces. “Whether you like it or not.”

  “Mark, do you really want to deal with a litter box, do you?” Caleb protests.

  “Don’t even,” Cassie snarls. “She’s never had a pet. She wants the kitten, she gets the kitten. You would really deny her that?”

  Caleb goes silent for a moment, then finally rolls his eyes upward. “Fine, but she’s not sleeping in our room.”

  “Really?” I squeal and set the kitten down to launch myself at Caleb.

  He anticipates my attack and easily catches me. I hug him tightly, inhaling his smoky scent. “I’ll take care of her, and she won’t bother you at all, I promise.”

  “Yeah, we’ll see.” He sets me on my feet after barely returning the hug. “Come on, Jax, let’s go get the furry little shit something to scratch besides my legs.”

  Leanne giggles. “The things we do for love.”

  Jaxon grumbles while following Caleb. “Yeah, like not locking your girlfriend up for ruining your damn car. It must be love.”

  Caleb and Jaxon make it home from the pet store in time for dinner. We set up the kitten’s litter box and food dish and I ensure she’s happily eating before sitting down for what I assume will be an interesting meal.

  Dad starts the conversation off in safer territory than I expect. “Hey, kiddo, do you have a name for your kitten?”

  I ponder for a moment, thinking of the blue in her eyes and how it matches the blue roses Caleb keeps leaving for me. There’s also the fact I found her in a thorny bush. Blue doesn’t quite fit her, but another name pops into my head that suits her perfectly. “I think I like Rose.”

  “That’s a great name.” Dad nods between bites. “Rose the cat.”

  “It is.” Leanne’s eyes slide mischievously toward Cassie, and I know the conversation is about to take a turn. “So, what are you girls going to do tomorrow?”

  “Stay home and knit?” Jaxon asks hopefully.

  Cassie sputters, almost choking on her drink. She glares toward Jaxon, and if it weren’t for the coughing, she’d likely be cursing at him.

  “Not a chance, Jax.” Dad chuckles. “Leanne and I talked about what happened today, and we have agreed that you and Caleb get to spend tomorrow helping Leanne weed the garden.”

  “That shouldn’t take too long.” Caleb shrugs nonchalantly. “Then we’ll get to have a guys’ day. I need to pick up some things.”

  “Oh, that’s not all.” Leanne arches a brow and takes a sip of her wine. “I need help dusting the ceiling fans, cleaning out the gutters, trimming the trees, cleaning the pool—the list goes on and on.”

  Jaxon and Caleb groan in protest, which earns them satisfied smiles from Dad and Leanne. Cassie makes no move to hide her glee as she snickers at the guys.

  “We’ll probably spend the day at the mall,” Cassie states over the whining. “We’re owed a redo since somebody ruined our first attempt. What do you think, Riley?”

  Part of me wants to simply stay home with Caleb since I didn’t get to spend much time with him today. Then again, I don’t think he’s too happy about Rose and maybe giving him a day to himself would be a good idea. He wrinkles his nose every time she walks by, and he didn’t even come close to me when I was holding her earlier.

  “I don’t mind. I already told you I don’t really need to go shopping, but I’ll go if you want company.” I push the food around on my plate. I want to add, especially if Caleb is upset with me and wants time to himself, but I don’t.

  “Oh, you may want to get a new outfit,” Leanne tells me.

  “Why would I need a new outfit?” I frown. “I have a ton that magically appeared in my closet.”

  “That would be the closet fairy.” Cassie tried to keep a straight face. “She’s a gorgeous creature, or so I’ve heard.”

  “I completely agree with that statement. Plus, she has a nice ass.” Jaxon snickers, earning him a slap upside the head from Caleb.

  “Shut the hell up, Jaxon,” Caleb orders with an eye roll.

  “No.” Jaxon grins. “You shut the hell up.”

  “No, you,” Caleb growls playfully.

  “No, you!” Jaxon shouts back.

  “No.” Dad tries to hide his amusement. “Both of you shut it.”

  “He started it!” Jaxon and Caleb yell at the same time, causing laughter to erupt at the table.

  “You boys are so immature.” Cassie sighs through her laughter.

  Caleb scoffs, “You’re drinking chocolate milk with a silly straw with your dinner, Cassie. I don’t think you have much room to talk about maturity.
”

  “There’s nothing wrong with enjoying a drink with dinner,” she counters. She takes a long, noisy slurp from her pink, loopy straw. When Caleb shakes his head and returns to eating, Cassie sets her drink down and turns to me. “As I was saying before I was so rudely interrupted by children, you’ll want a new outfit for dinner tomorrow night when you meet my parents.”

  Half of the drink of water I was in the process of taking slips down the wrong tube, while I inhale the other half with an accidental gasp of shock. It takes a few tries to cough and clear my airway enough to suck in air, but as soon as I do, I’m hit with a horrible coughing fit.

  “Damn it all to hell, Cassie.” Caleb pats my back. “Did you have to tell her like that?”

  “You should have told her by now,” Cassie counters defensively. “You had all week to talk to her about it, and it’s not my fault you didn’t.”

  Caleb sighs. “I was waiting for the right fucking time.”

  “Y-Yo-Your parents?” I croak, finally gaining my breath back.

  “Baby girl, it isn’t a big deal,” Caleb tells me quietly.

  “I think this’s a very big deal.” I push my plate away as my appetite completely vanishes. “It’s a giant, huge, massive, and every other word for big that ever existed, type of deal.”

  “It’s just my mom and dad,” Caleb insists. “They’ll adore you as much as everyone else does.”

  “Plus, if they hate you, it isn’t like they can do anything about it,” Jaxon jokes. “You two are kind of stuck together forever.”

  Part of me knows Jaxon’s only joking, but I can’t help but wonder if Caleb really does feel stuck with me sometimes.

  “Jaxon,” Leanne chides.

  “Not helping, son,” Dad scolds him.

  “Come on, babe.” Caleb stands and takes my hand. “It’s Jaxon’s turn for dishes, anyway. Let’s go talk.”

  I silently allow Caleb to pull me up the stairs. While on the way, I realize Caleb never said anything about not feeling stuck with me, and my worry intensifies.