by Grace White
“But I—” I bite back the words. Because something tells me this is just the beginning.
And from Endo’s deafening silence, I think he knows it is too.
We had no problems getting into Earhart. Most of the girls were still at the party at Canfield-Fisher or holed up in their rooms studying. But Endo is on edge, pacing back and forth waiting for ‘reinforcements’ to arrive, as he called it.
“Endo, will you please stop? You’re going to wear a hole in my rug.” I shake my head, watching as he pauses and then starts again.
The knock at my door cuts through the heavy tension and he rushes over to it, checking the peephole before yanking it open. Ross and Cael come inside, and the mood intensifies. It’s on the tip of my tongue to ask why Sol isn’t here too but I swallow the words. The presence of the three of them is overwhelming enough.
“Causing trouble again, Kitten?” Cael smirks and I arch my brows at him. “Kitten again, really?”
He shrugs. “It’s just something I’m trying out.”
I shake my head at that, aware Ross and Endo are watching our exchange.
“Can you tell us what happened, Terra?” Ross says, taking the desk chair. Cael sits beside me on the edge of the bed and Endo remains standing, arms folded over his chest.
“I already told Endo. I was at the party. Everything was fine, but Amalia got drunk, so I wanted to bring her back here. Some guys barged into me and when I turned around to help her, she was gone. I—”
“The guys,” Cael interrupts. “What did they look like?”
“I- I don’t know. Regular guys. One had brown hair, I think.”
“Did you notice a strange smell? Anything weird about their eyes?”
“You think they did something to me?”
“We don’t know, but we’re not the only things on campus who are…” Cael lifts his chin, searching for the right word. When his eyes meet mine, they’re sparkling with a mix of amusement and caution that makes my stomach churn. “Special.”
Endo scoffs at that. “What Cael means is, there are other supernatural beings here. Some friendly, some not so much. If word's out that you’re here…”
“Guys, maybe we should—”
“No,” I shoot Ross a ‘what-the-hell’ look. After our conversation the other day, I thought I’d at least have him in my corner. “I want to know what I’m dealing with. This is my life, you can’t keep me in the dark forever. Besides…” I trail off unsure of how to broach this with them given the testosterone currently swirling around the room.
“Besides what, Terra? What aren’t you telling us?” Endo straightens and then all three of them are staring at me, their eyes searching for answers. I wonder who will catch the thoughts first. I’m not surprised when Cael scrubs his jaw and then cusses.
“It’s not the first time, is it?” Disappointment shines in his eyes and I lower my eyes.
“No,” I whisper, “but the other times were different.”
“Other times? By the gods, why didn’t you say something?” Endo is furious, anger rolling off him in waves.
“Endo,” Cael warns. “If you can’t keep yourself in check, there’s the door.”
“I’m chill.” Endo throws up his hands. “See, chill.”
“Terra, what happened?”
“I was in the cafeteria. I felt, well, I don’t know what I felt, but it wasn’t anything good.”
“It was just a feeling? Nothing changed?”
I shake my head. “I was sick the first time, barely made it back to my room. But the other day, I stood up to it, refused to let it in.”
“What do you mean, in?”
“It was so strange, but it felt like fingers. Invisible fingers clawing and searching, looking for a way in.”
“I don’t like this,” Endo grinds out. “I don’t like this at all.”
“Chill, remember?” Cael throws him a look and I peek over at Ross who is deathly still. “Why didn’t you tell us?”
“I didn’t want to…” I press my lips together because the truth is, I don’t know why I didn’t tell them.
“She thinks we’ll lock her away,” Ross says.
“Terra, that’s not what we’re—”
“I know.” I let out a resigned sigh. “But this is my life, guys. Only, I just found out it isn’t. And you’re all so intense. It’s a lot to process.”
Cael looks ready to counteract my reasons, but something flashes in his eyes and he looks to Ross and Endo. “Did either of you feel it?”
“Nothing,” Endo says.
“Ross?”
He doesn’t reply, just stares at Cael, the two of them silently communicating. “This could be a problem we didn’t anticipate. Terra,”—he settles his eyes back on me—“if anything happens like this again, whether one of us is with you or not, we need to know, okay?”
I nod.
“I’ll talk to Sol too, see what he thinks. Now back to more pressing concerns.” Cael looks to Endo, who frowns, and I can’t help but think telling them was a mistake.
Endo clears his throat and says, “Kansas is like a beacon for the supernatural.”
“A beacon?”
“Yes, the mystical properties of the area are well documented throughout history. It has a much denser population of supernatural creatures: demons, fae, elementals, witches. You name it, Kansas has it.”
“W- wow,” I whisper. “I had no idea.”
“I don’t think it’s coincidence you ended up here, Terra.” He offers me a weak smile. “Gaia knew exactly what she was doing when she bound herself with you.”
“Endo, man, come on,” Cael chimes and the two share a look I don’t understand.
“She wanted the truth.”
“So, what happens now? I can’t just sit in my room waiting for the threat to show itself. That’s ridiculous.”
“We’ll figure something out. Sol has us on Terra-watch.”
“Terra-watch?” I gape at Endo and he chuckles.
“It’s not as bad as it sounds and given what you just told us, I’d say we need to reconsider our approach until we know exactly what we’re up against. One, if not two of us, will always be close by.”
So that’s what Cael had meant when he said Endo was on duty.
“And Sol? Is he a part of Terra-watch?”
“He’s… well, he likes to think he’s in charge.”
“Hmm,” I muse.
“He’s an excellent tracker. He’s over at Canfield right now seeing what he can find out.”
“Oh.” It’s barely a whisper. I’ve gone from being alone and lost in the world to having four guys who are smothering me with their protectiveness. “So, what now?” I glance around at the three of them.
“It’s late. We should try to get some sleep. Until Sol says it’s okay, we’re stuck here.”
“All of us?” I shriek.
“Unless you want us to sleep in the hall?” Cael's brow quirks up and I let out an exasperated breath.
“Fine, but you can take the floor. All of you.”
“Exactly just how old are the three of you?” I ask Cael as we lie face-to-face on my bed. Ross is asleep in the chair, and Endo is snoring softly, laid out along the bottom of the bed, my feet curled into his stomach.
“Last time I checked.” He glances down. We’re still fully clothed on top of the covers. “Nineteen.”
“Cael.” I narrow my eyes and wait.
At first, I wasn’t bowled over at the prospect of the three of them staying here for the night—well, at least until Sol gives the all clear. But it hasn’t been all bad. Endo and Cael have entertained us with stories of their freshman year here. And since Ross and Endo finally drifted off to sleep, me and Cael have been talking about more serious things. Like Elysia and Gaia and their lives there.
Stories that at one time, I would have dismissed as fantasy. And even though I still don’t remember, I know them to be true. I’ve seen it through my dreams. Felt it.
Elysia exists.<
br />
And all that comes with it.
“We’re old, Terra. Really old.”
“But you look so...” I bite my lip.
“Handsome? Youthful? Hot?” His brows dance with amusement.
“You’re teasing me again.”
He reaches out and beeps my nose. “It’s just too much fun not to, Kitten.”
I ignore him and steer the conversation back. “So how old are we talking? Hundreds of years? Thousands?”
“Try hundreds of thousands.”
“No,” I gasp even though I know he’s being completely honest. Gaia is older than time, so it makes sense the guys are old. “But how? You don’t look a day over twenty.”
“Nineteen.” He pokes out his tongue. “Divine beings granted the right to travel freely between Elysia and Earth remain in their corporeal states.”
“But you don’t age?”
“Trust me,” he says around a knowing smile. “Inside, I feel every bit the old man I am. But time is different for us, Terra. Years can pass on Earth, and in Elysia it feels but a day.”
“Is Elysia heaven?”
“Humans and their beliefs.” He rolls his eyes. “There is a place, yes. The Elysium fields where souls rest but it is reserved for those of great virtue.”
“And hell?”
“Things are not so clear cut, Terra. When a soul departs its body, it goes to the underworld; the place where most souls rest.”
“So it isn’t a place of eternal torment and suffering?”
“That would be Tartarus, as far beneath the underworld as the earth is beneath the sky.”
“There’s so much I still don’t understand.” I sigh. “But this is good. I want to learn. I want to know everything you know.”
Cael's eyes flash with surprise. “That could take a while, Terra.” He fights a smile. “But you’re right about one thing, we should have been more upfront in the beginning.”
“Like telling me you knew Violet?”
“Ah, about that…” he mashes his lips together and gives a little shake of his head. “Violet is how should I put it, an ally.”
“I sense a but somewhere in there.”
“It’s complicated.”
“Did the two of you have a thing?” The words spew out and I want to take them back when his face screws up in disbelief.
“A thing? Really, Terra?”
I shrug, trying to play it cool. “You’re nineteen. Isn’t that what nineteen-year-old's do? Date? Have things with pretty, mysterious, elemental-wielding girls?”
He studies me and then shuffles closer, taking the air with him. “The only pretty, mysterious girl I’m interested in is you.”
“Cael, I…” My eyes flick from Ross, sleeping soundly in the chair, and then to Endo snoring softly at my feet. “Is this weird?” I peek up at him through my lashes.
“It’s not normal,” Cael whispers, inching his face closer to mine. “But normal is overrated, don’t you think?” His eyes glitter with mischief and I can’t resist grinning back at him. Because he’s right. This isn’t normal. But it doesn’t feel wrong either.
“I think I’m going to kiss you now,” he breathes out.
“Wait.” My hand flies up to his chest, keeping us at a safe distance. “Ross and Endo—”
“Are asleep. And even if they weren’t, I’d still do this.” He snags my hand pulling us closer, pressing his lips to mine. Butterflies flutter in my stomach as Cael runs his tongue along the seam of my mouth, coaxing me to let him in. And I do because there’s something so natural about it, so right. His hand releases mine, trailing up my arm and burying deep into my hair, anchoring us together. My hand snakes over his shoulder, holding on as he deepens the kiss.
My skin is alive with sensation as he explores my mouth, leading the kiss, the tempo. It’s so different to anything I’ve ever experienced as I give myself over. But I freeze when I feel something brush over the curve of my bare foot. A feather-light touch.
Fingers dancing.
Endo’s fingers.
He’s awake. Endo’s awake, and he’s touching me, smoothing his fingers over my skin, all while Cael kisses me. Everything I know, the moral and societal values I’ve grown up with, scream at me to stop. To end the kiss and get up. To remove myself from this strange situation. But I can’t.
I couldn’t move even if I wanted to.
And I’m not sure I do.
“God, you taste so good,” Cael murmurs against my lips, nipping the corner of my mouth, soothing the sting with his tongue. I slip my hands to his t-shirt, curling them into the material, tugging him closer, while Endo continues to stroke my leg, the skin along my ankle. He doesn’t speak, doesn’t make his awareness known, but I know. He knows. And there’s something thrilling about that.
Cael’s hand slides down past my waist and around the curve of my butt. He drags me closer, plastering my body to his, and I feel the hard bulge in his jeans. He wants me, and it should terrify me.
It doesn’t.
He grinds against me, slow and delicious, and heat floods my core. “Cael,” I gasp, overwhelmed by my body’s response.
“Ssh,” he soothes. “I’ve got you, Terra.” His mouth steals my soft moans as he continues rolling his hips, pressing my lower body against him.
The knock at the door sends me bolting upright and I catch Cael in the face with my elbow.
“Fuck,” he yelps, and I mouth ‘sorry’ at him over my shoulder as I clamber off the bed and try to compose myself. Endo sits up, a lazy smile on his face and our eyes meet; he shoots a discreet wink in my direction.
Holy crap. These guys will be the death of me.
“It’s only Sol,” Ross confirms from behind me. I daren’t risk meeting his guarded gaze in case he sees right through me.
My fingers tremble as I reach for the door and when Sol’s hard, assessing glare sweeps over me, I feel naked. But if he sees what happened less than a minute ago on the bed, he doesn’t say anything. Strangely, his silence makes me feel worse.
“I did a sweep of the entire campus. There's nothing.”
“But how can that be?” I ask. “I saw it, felt it. There was something evil at that party, Sol. I’m not making it up.”
“No one thinks you’re making it up, Terra.” Endo comes over and wraps an arm around my shoulder. “But if Sol didn’t find any trace of it, it must be gone now.”
“If we’re good.” Ross stands, running a brisk hand over his head. “I’m going to head back to my dorm. I need a shower and then my bed.”
“Good plan,” Cael says, his eyes lingering on me a little too long. “I’ll walk with you. Endo, you coming?”
“I, hmm.” His grip on my shoulder tightens but then he lets out a heavy sigh and says, “Yeah, I’ll come. Sol, we good here?”
Sol nods once, standing with his thick arms crossed over his chest. Just the way I’d seen in my dream. The guys say goodnight, slipping out onto the balcony. I’ve never seen Endo and Cael go that way, but nothing surprises me anymore.
“So,” I say when they’re gone.
“You want me to stay the night?” Sol’s question surprises me, and my mouth hangs open as my eyes flicker to the bed. “On second thought,” he grinds out through a clenched jaw. “I’m going to head back to Allender. Lock your door and the window. Keep your cell phone on and if you sense anything, and I mean anything, Terra, you call Ross or Cael. Okay?”
I nod, disappointment unfurling in my stomach.
He knows.
Sol knows what happened with Cael and Endo.
I open the door, checking the hall, while Sol hovers behind me. It’s empty so I yank the door wide and Sol approaches. But when he reaches me, he pauses and stares down at me. “Be careful, Terra. They’ve waited a long time for this. Don’t toy with their emotions.”
“I—”
But he’s gone.
And once again, I’m left reeling by his cryptic words.
After leaving her, he went
straight back to his dorm for a cold shower. Things had escalated quickly. Quicker than he intended. He only meant to kiss her, to taste her lips. But then they were touching, grinding, rubbing against each other with complete abandon.
While his brothers-at-arms were in the same room at that.
By the gods, what was he thinking?
But she’d been so alluring, her energy swirling with his. And he’d wanted to kiss her again since the quick kiss they shared the night he caught her in Allender’s kitchen. He thought about nothing but kissing her. He knew she wanted to kiss him too. It was right there on her breathtakingly beautiful face. There was only one problem.
He was pretty sure she wanted to kiss the others too.
How could she not?
And Endo, the red-headed devil had watched them. He almost broke off the kiss when he realized they had company, but the pull was too strong. His need for her too consuming. They were going to have to talk about it, and soon, before any of them took things further with her.
Sol was right. Things were different here, on Earth. Back in Elysia, the boundaries were clear cut. She was their Queen, they her subjects. She was one of the Original Council. Even if she did feel more for them, it wasn’t appropriate. They were her loyal soldiers, her guardians.
Her Chosen.
But what if, on Earth as Terra, she chose them for more than just her quest to save her beloved planet?
What then?
“Violet, wait up.” I dart across the grass and fall into step beside her.
She casts me a curious look. “Can I help you?” Her tone is cool, but I don’t let that stop me. I spent enough time rehearsing what I would say to her over the weekend.
“I was hoping we could talk?”
“Talk?” She frowns, picking up the pace. “What about?”
“Stuff,” I say cryptically hoping she’ll get the hint. “Cael said…”
She flinches beside me and I hear her suck in a sharp breath. “Come on, I could use a coffee anyway.”
We walk in awkward silence to Beans. It’s quieter, the morning rush already gone.
“What’ll it be?” Violet asks, and I reply, “White, extra shot, no sugar, thanks.” With a curt nod she turns her back on me and I take that as my cue to find a table. I don’t pick my usual spot, something about that being mine and Cael’s space.
