"If this doesn't cheer you up, then I don't know what will."
"We'll have to see about that." Intrigued, she played along.
Before Xavier started, he turned around, his back facing hers and removed his polo top. Deep gashes marred his back, diagonal lines on each side of his back. They ran from his shoulder blades, down to his lower back, joining together in what could only be described as a very faint v.
“You’re back,” she said. She stiffened up and licked her lips. The tell-tale sign of a fallen angel was right in front of her face.
“I’m not what you think I am,” he said, and dressed in a fresh tank top.
“And what’s that?”
Xavier came up behind her, the heat of his body absorbing into hers. Luxor was overcome with a sense of calm and her worries dissipated. "Ready? I'll start. I'll look up at the Heavens; out of the clouds, I'll make a picture out of it. You have to try to guess what it is."
"You'll make a picture?" She arched an eyebrow.
"You'll see." He faced her, a sweet smile on his beautiful face. "I spy with my little eye something starting with c."
Luxor peered up into the clear blue sky realizing it was cloudless. "I don't know."
"There's a cave."
Either I was going blind or Xavier was hallucinating.
"I'll play along. Where?" she asked. Xavier placed his warm hands on her shoulders, softly turning her around to the direction of the waterfall. "Follow me."
Without hesitation Luxor followed him through mint coloured grass along the banks of the waterfall. Droplets of water sprinkled onto her forehead, and Xavier intertwined his fingers with hers to lead the way. She didn’t pull away, a calmness settling over her, a safety blanket there to prevent her from falling. They cross a path of stones and stepped onto a ledge which lead to an arch.
"Are you ready?” He smiled at her, the flecks of green in his pale blue eyes twinkling.
The manifestation of butterflies erupted, and she burned under the intensity of his gaze. "Make my week," Luxor whispered. The cave was warm but pitch-dark as she followed him blind into the unknown. "Where are we going?" A hint of fear crept into her voice, as he kept going down deeper down a narrow tunnel. But just as quickly it disappeared.
Xavier squeezed her fingers in assurance. "You don't like surprises, do you?"
"Nope, I love control."
"Trust me, I'm going to make you happy." He held her close. "Are your eyes closed?"
"Umm I can't see anything anyway," she replied, irritation creeping in.
"Close them for me," he breathed at her ear. She closed her eyes, but behind her eyelids there were flashes of light. "Open."
She blinked twice, her eyes adjusting to the lights. A whirlwind of fireflies brightened up the cave, with a magnitude of colourful iridescent butterflies dancing gracefully around them. "What? How?" Her eyes widened, as she followed them around. Each butterfly unique in its own beautiful way painted with stripes that glowed in the dark.
"Like it?" Xavier said after a while, having left her alone to soak in the beauty.
"It's beyond beautiful."
An explosion of butterflies fluttered in Luxor's stomach. She bit her lip, not able to tear her eyes from his hypnotic gaze, leaving her to be rooted to the spot.
Why couldn't time stand still? I want to stay forever.
Luxor craned her head up, going up on her toes. Her hands trailing under his top and up to his back, tracing her fingers along with the V, and he flinched. "How'd you get these scars?"
His face contorted in pain, and for the first time, she wished she knew what he was thinking. "I broke the rules," he replied softly.
Luxor leaned into him, and snuggled in close, pushing them to the back of her mind, desperate to forget about Hunter. She tilted her head upwards, locking her gaze and drowning in those blue orbs. She gripped onto Xavier, as he saved her mind from being drowned in a whirlpool of misery.
His eyes lingered down to her lips, up to her eyes again, and down again. He dipped his head, and she breathed him in.
Sunshine.
Xavier encapsulated comfort and she craved more. He licked her bottom lip, inching forward, asking for access. His lips brushed against her, soft as a feather and pillowy, with no or demand or dominance, just purely tenderness. He parted her lips, his warm as he exploring hers. Her mind hazed over, eradicating any thoughts or sounds, except the ocean which sung in her ears. She leaned in and met his lips, and they moved in sync, it was slow, yet her heart raced away, booming out of her chest. One arm cradled her head, his fingers running through her hair, whilst the other held her hip, his thumb circling the bone.
Luxor let out a deep sigh, her knees weakening as she succumbed to his kisses. More, she needed more. No darkness, he drew the darkness away. The more she pulled him towards her, the more she was pinned against the rocky cave.
A blur of colour and a whoosh of lights ignited, cracks forming, tiny pieces of rubble. The fireflies circled the cave in a frenzy, following the butterflies flying out to escape the vibrations.
Xavier pulled away, taking a breath. "You taste like apples," he murmured into the crook of her neck, nuzzling her ear.
She blinked out of her daze, and let out a small sigh. "So, I've been told."
"It's now my favourite fruit." He gave a quick peck on her lips, linking her fingers through his. "Did I make your week?"
Again, it had been resorted to pure darkness, only this time she was confident for Xavier to lead the way. "More than that," she breathed out. "You make me forget."
Xavier moved forward, cupping her face. "You don't even realise how unique you are." His arms embraced her hips, pulling her in close.
Luxor was in a daze, a euphoric sensation where her mind and body were claimed. Overtaken in the moment she was willing to stay in the cave, to protect her heart and soul from the one person who had kidnapped it and held it for ransom.
What price would I pay to retrieve it?
Luxor feared Xavier would be the only one who could save her from the hurricane.
The sound of pitter-patter on the roof awoke Luxor, laying back in bed she stared at the blank ceiling. No matter how much she tried forcing herself to go back to sleep it was futile.
Xavier had the lead role in her dreams, she didn't need to dream, instead, she recanted every glorious moment she spent with him. The way he held her, the tender way he kissed, and his laugh drawing her into him. She could have bathed in the warm bubble, soaking up those pale, blue eyes. Luxor had stayed near the waterfall until the sun had well and truly disappeared, she wanted to stay a little longer, not wanting to think about Hunter. He was a dull memory, but still there.
Later on, he'd dropped her off at home, walking her to the front door. "Goodnight Luxor." The way he spoke her name, such softness and sweetness released some of the heaviness off her chest.
"Goodnight Xavier." Her fingers thread through his, and she didn't want to let go. "Can I see you again tomorrow?" She was needy, his presence required for her to forget all the things that troubled her.
His thumb stroked her cheek bringing in the all too calming heat. "Until tomorrow." Leaning forward the sweet pillars of his lips coated hers, only to be stopped all too soon.
Xavier had made the pain disappear, but it had come back tenfold.
That was the problem with blissfulness, once the mist dissipated, reality would come hurtling back like a wrecking wall. The rejection and humiliation from Hunter stung, and again she didn't understand the rules of the sadistic game he continued to play.
Was he trying to mess with my mind?
The questions would always be the same. Why would he get physically and emotionally close to her? It was a litany of why's that had her going crazy.
Luxor was on her way out of her room when Pandora slunk in, her hands behind her back. “Somebody had a late night.” She smirked. “Details please.”
“Same old drama,” she said not willing to divulge in wh
at happened with Xavier because she honestly didn’t understand how it got that far. “How was patrol?”
“Same, same, Becky is still crazy.”
Luxor laughed. “But a life saver.”
Her phone pinged.
Evie: Snow, get outta bed I'm on my way with coffee
From past experience, if Luxor wasn't ready, she'd have to deal with a lecture as loud as the horrendous music Evie listened to. Except this time, she'd be the one lecturing, to get to the bottom of her association of the Facebook page.
“I’m guessing that’s Evie,” Pandora said, slipping into a jean jacket. Luxor nodded. “I was going to see if you wanted to go see Becky and see any deal takers updates.”
“Tell her I’ll come to the theatre soon.”
“Okily, dokily,” Pandora said, and left with a quick wave.
Ten minutes later a knock sounded at her door before it swung open. "Morning Snow, are you decent?”
“Yep.” Luxor leant over and laced her sneakers, folding up the ends of her jeans.
Not again.
Because of her death, she had grown another two inches, and she was relieved that she didn't replace them from her last growth spurt otherwise it would have been a waste. She wished she stopped growing, six inches in six months was causing her great pain.
Evie's studded boots clunked and approached, holding out a steaming latte. "How much do you love me?"
She propped the coffee on top of the dresser, and slipped on a knitted beanie to cover her ears. "Not much," she told not hiding the bitterness in her tone.
Evie waved her hand, bouncing at the edge of her bed. "Whatever." She leant back on her elbows, in a jovial mood. It was in contrast to her attire of a rock band T-shirt, checked shirt, denim shorts, with ripped fishnet stockings and purple Doc Martens.
"Morning." Ayla slipped in quietly, her pink ballet flats shuffling against the floorboards, and headed straight to Evie. She had her hands sticking into the pockets of her white vintage dress, printed with pink feathers.
They were positively day and night, but exchanging identical glances they appeared to be on the same page.
Luxor’s stomach grumbled. She perused through the cupboard and after finding nothing she made a mental note of all the items to buy and gathered a bundle of plastic bags. Maybe mindless shopping would help gather her thoughts and nourish her brain.
"What's going on? You both have that intervention face on?"
"Nope, more like an interrogation." Evie tapped her hands on the counter in a drum roll. "What was up with you and Xavier?" She jumped right in her usual fashion with the questioning.
Luxor groaned, divulging information about what had happened wasn't her main priority. "Nothing. We kicked back and talked."
And kissed, and hugged.
"We saw you leave, thanks for the heads up by the way. Why was your hair wet? And messy?"
Luxor frowned. “Do you want to add any more questions?” she asked. “He said he told you.”
“He told me,” Ayla said.
“Well?” Evie prodded.
"I took a dip."
And wanted to kill myself.
Evie sat up straight, and bounced on the stool. "Hmm with no bathers, did we go el naturale?" she uttered in a bad French accent.
She scrunched up her nose. "No, what do you think I am?"
A psychopath who can't stop voices in her head.
"Thank God for that. So, Hunter is non-existent now?" Ayla asked, not convinced, her fingers crossed.
"Ayla, you can't just disregard him, although after standing you up I'm contemplating sinking this ship."
"Yep, Hunter's out of the picture," she told them convincingly, already breaking her no lying rule. Yet another explanation was needed, the 'why's' were torturous. Ayla's face beamed, not even trying to hide her smile. "Besides kissing one guy and then hopping to the next is a sure-fire way to become Scarlett."
Ayla paled, her eyes widening. "What do you mean you kissed?" her voice rose an octave, and she jerked upright.
"We kissed."
"Was there tongue?" Evie asked amused by Ayla's reaction. "Or more?" She wiggled her eyebrows.
"How can he do that?" Ayla paced the length of the room, shaking her fingers out.
"Use tongue? I'm figuring it's easy, slip the tongue in, swirl around…" Evie laughed wickedly. "Did he have wandering hands?"
"Evie stop," she said frustratedly, aiding Ayla who'd almost turned blue.
Luxor was unsure what to do, she'd never experienced someone else suffering an anxiety attack. She didn't have any brown paper bags, the next thing she figured would help was to open up the bi-fold doors airing out the room.
A whoosh of air blasted in bringing in a frigid gust of wind. She helped Ayla down rubbing her back but was shoved away. Luxor tried again to calm her down bringing a cup of water to her lips Evie had gotten from the fridge.
"That's a bad thing kissing him...b-bad, b-b-bad." Ayla faced away, struggling to breathe.
"Why? I mean isn't that what you've been pushing for? You seem to think we're a great match," Luxor reasoned.
"He's not supposed to kiss you!" Ayla slumped on the cold, hard ground. She gasped for air, and her fingers scrunched her dress, creating deep creases.
Evie leaned against the door frame. "Woah, woah, woah what century are you living in? It's not like they're going to get married and have babies, it's just a kiss. Right?"
"That's not the point, you can't kiss him, you just can't," Ayla rambled, pressing her head against the rails.
"What is wrong with you? You don't get to dictate my life. If I want to kiss a hundred boys that's my prerogative," she snapped, moving away and roughly slipping on her sports jacket.
"Not him. He's not allowed to," Ayla stumbled, flitting out of the room in a blur.
“Well we did, so get over it,” she said gathering a bundle of plastic bags.
The whole trip to The Hive, Luxor continued to receive the evil eye from Ayla who refused to talk to her, instead of uttering a series of monosyllable words. By the end, Ayla had calmed down. Slightly. The whole scene in her kitchen was bizarre, an uncut scene from the poltergeist. Ayla was irrational as if possessed by an evil spirit.
Luxor did a quick grocery shop, picking up the necessities before Evie complained she was on the verge of fainting from the lack of food. She had to admit waiting to cook lunch wasn’t ideal and she too wanted to eat.
She shivered out on the footpath, letting out a string of sneezes from her red and ruddy rose. Extra time was needed to compose herself before joining them. If she was honest, she questioned the whole friendship, it was in such disarray. By the end of the day, it would be a mini-miracle if she had any; Evie being a somewhat traitor and Ayla crazier than she was.
Maybe some Valium could be slipped into Ayla's tea.
The Hive was crowded, the raucous eruption of voices evident from the outside. Evie bolted towards their usual booth pointing smugly at the reservation sign Inez had stuck on that morning. Luxor slid in next to Evie, craving a latte and a chicken Caesar salad. It brought images of Hunter supplying it at The Renaissance Centre, but any thoughts of him was better than none despite of what happened. She held up a hand signalling for the waitress, and followed her line of sight.
Hunter was at the counter dressed in a pair of black jeans and singlet. Melita was by his side, her finger grazing his, peering adoringly at him. As if sensing Luxor's presence, his head turned in her direction. His tense body approached.
"Where did you disappear to yesterday? You missed an amazing drop bomb Evie did of the pier," Ayla asked too loudly, waving her hand in front of Luxor's face.
Luxor rolled her eyes at the not so subtle way Ayla was employing the clear jealousy ploy to slap Hunter with, but it was unsettling rubbing it in his face.
Maybe there's was a genuine reason, her mind urged her.
No, he's a player and a liar.
Hunter blocked her exit but it didn't ma
tter, she wouldn't allow him to affect her and give him that power. This was the game, he'd hurt her, apologise, be sweet and get her hopes up and then he'd do it again.
"You ended up going after all?" he grunted.
"Of course, I had the most amazing time." Luxor's voice was sugar sweet. "Shame you didn't turn up." She kept the humiliation and being stood up out of her voice.
Hunter slammed his fists on the table. "Are you serious? You're laying this on me? You cancelled! Typical, you never admit to faults."
"Next time then," Ayla said hastily absentmindedly flipping through the menu. "Let’s order."
"No, I didn't." Luxor shot back. "As usual, you're playing a stupid game."
"You're mentally and completely screwed up." Hunter whipped out his phone from his back pocket and passed it over. "Read."
There was a text sent to Hunter from her phone yesterday morning.
MY SWEET APPLE: Raincheck
That was it. One word.
"You didn't miss much. Luxor was AWOL most of the afternoon." Ayla sipped her honey lemon tea.
She furrowed her brow. "I didn't send this."
"Lies, why aren't I surprised?"
Luxor shook her head, trying to wrap her mind around the mystery text her fingers tingling. Where had the message come from? It sure as hell wasn't from her. She thumbed over the time stamp. Six-oh-six.
Luxor wasn't coherent at that time, let alone able to send a text.
"You've got to believe me. I didn't send it," she urged him to believe her. "The day was a bust, I took a look around and ended up getting lost." She recalled veering off track and not realising she'd gone that far. Omitting the Xavier part, Luxor told him everything.
"Where'd you end up?" Ayla asked, shoving the book to the side. "A guy helped you back, didn't he?"
Shut the fuck up!
Fire flared in his eyes, and his jaw clenched on the edge of eruption. Hunter hovered over the table, his fists clenched against the surface. "Lucky guy, who was he?"
"No one." She played with the salt and pepper shakers, her head bowed and Luxor unable to meet his eyes, as the truth would have been harder for him. "You should go it's really nice. There's this pier you can jump off." She deflected the line of conversation.
Betrayed: The Chronicles of Luxor Everstone Book Two Page 30
