Burning

by Carrillo, K. D.

"The two of you look like hell. Go get some rest," I ordered.

  "Go on, Chloë. I have to ask Grey a question." Finn kissed her on the top of her head, and she slowly went up the stairs ahead of him. "Why is she worse than I am?" he asked when she was out of hearing distance.

  "Her biology was not meant to bond, let alone survive a partial bond indefinitely," I answered.

  He nodded repeatedly as he considered what I’d said. "I hate this. I don't want her to commit herself to me before she's ready. Too many choices have been taken away from her. I won't let marrying me be another one."

  "She is already committed to you. You don't have to get married now, only go through the bonding ceremony. While you wait, the life is literally draining out of both of you. I admire the way you worry about her. You've grown up. I believe you are now man enough to deserve her. Talk to her, ask her what she wants, and give it to her, but do it quickly. That is the only advice I can give you," I said and patted him quickly on the back.

  "Thanks, Grey. I never thought I would say this, but you're not so bad. I actually kind of like you," Finn grudgingly admitted.

  "Same here," I said succinctly.

  Finn's eyes narrowed slightly, and he paused at the base of the stairs. I could tell he wanted to tell me something. I tipped my head to give him permission.

  "It seems like Leah has a thing for you."

  "I picked up on that," I said with a smirk.

  "What are you going to do about it?"

  "I'm not sure yet," I answered honestly.

  "I know Chloë wants you to be happy. Leah seems like a really nice girl," he said.

  "She's pretty too," I supplied.

  Finn's eyebrows curved up and he nodded. Then he turned and hurried up the stairs, while I returned to the living room to say goodbye to Leah. Staying near the feisty shifter was messing with my head. At least that was my intention—until I was in the same room with her.

  "I'm so bored!" she exclaimed.

  "Where is your sister?" I asked.

  "With Cooper, picking up the lovebirds," she said and rolled her eyes.

  "Why don't you see what Bridgett is doing?" I asked.

  "Are you kidding me? She's awful." Leah shuddered.

  I gave her a half smile. I agreed with her—Bridgett was a nightmare.

  I took a moment to really look at Leah. I hadn't let myself see any women since I’d left Chloë; none of them had held any appeal for me. I had thought Leah was pretty, but that was inaccurate. She was stunning, but in a more subtle way than Chloë.

  They both had distinct Native American features, although Chloë, with her French and Native American ancestry, had an exotic look that could be mistaken for Egyptian, Mexican, or Italian. Leah, on the other hand, had the sharp bone structure and copper skin of her tribe. Her hair was stick-straight, thick, and a deep blue-black. It fell to her shoulders, and the blunt end curved toward her neck.

  Leah's eyes were large and slightly almond-shaped. They were so dark they appeared almost black. Her lips were full and naturally pouty. She was short. Sure, she was taller than Anita, but maybe only by one inch, which made her about five two or three.

  After studying her for several moments I felt a shiver run down my back, and I heard Leah gasp. I had an overwhelming urge to toss her over my shoulder and fight every man who looked at her, let alone came near her. Without thinking about it, I found myself lightly stroking her cheek.

  "What was that?" I whispered.

  She turned her face into my hand. "I'm not sure. I've never felt anything like it. I've heard stories about the moment you recognize your mate, and that is what that felt like to me, but isn't it impossible?"

  Her large eyes stared up at me, trusting me to have the answers. I suppose after a thousand-plus years, I should have the answers, but I had never felt anything like that before. The love I’d felt for Chloë seemed like a distant memory, something vague and incomplete.

  "I think you and I should go out to dinner and get to know each other better." I let my hand trail from her cheek, slowly down her neck, brushing lightly down her arm until I laced our fingers together. Leah smiled at me and my heart started pounding—slowly, but I felt it.

  "Do you even eat?" she asked confused.

  I laughed at the cute way her face crinkled when she thought too hard. "I'll drink, you'll eat, and we'll talk. How does that sound?"

  She swept her free hand in front of her. "Lead the way."

  Anita

  "I don't understand why you don't just get it on and get it over with," I said while lining my eyes with black eyeliner.

  "Wow. That is so hot. I should go up to Finn and say, 'Hey, sexy. Let's do it so we can stop passing out.' That'll turn him on," Chloë sarcastically replied.

  "Okay, all joking aside. You aren't a virgin, you love him, and your body is demanding you complete this bond. Why are you waiting?" I asked.

  "It's because I love him," she responded, confusing the hell out of me.

  "You lost me," I said.

  Chloë sighed. She wanted me to understand without explanation, but I honestly couldn't see what was holding them back.

  "Finn is my forever. I just want everything to be perfect. I want to know he isn't going to regret being tied to me. I really wanted to wait until college was over until we got married, and it sounds like we have to be married to complete the bond."

  "No, that was just Dean. You do have to formally commit yourselves, but you could have the bonding ceremony and still get married later. I don't want to sound cold by saying this, but the two of you aren't at full strength while you are figuring all of this out. Chloë, there are honest-to-God witch hunters after us. You need to be ready at a moment's notice."

  Chloë swayed a little on her feet, proving my point. I threw open the door, and Finn stood ready in the hallway. He rushed in and wrapped her in his arms. It seemed the only way to fix her dizziness was with his touch, and vice versa.

  "How are we going to handle school if you two can't be apart for the time it takes to put on the small amount of makeup you wear?" I challenged.

  "We changed our class schedules to be in the same classes," Finn answered for Chloë.

  "Yeah, that's normal. Do you still have Geology at ten?" I asked Chloë.

  She nodded. "Yeah. Finn needed the science credit too."

  The class was full when we arrived at the science building. I had to use some intimidation tactics to clear three seats together. My eyes glowed dimly and my fangs partially emerged, which gave me a menacing appearance, but not "Oh my God, it's a vampire." I only wanted three seats, not to clear the room. I should have looked who was seated nearby before I chose though.

  We sat down and the high, overly cheerful voice of Cynthia squeaked out behind us. Cynthia lived in our freshman dorm and fancied herself to be Chloë's competition for Finn's affections.

  "Finn! I missed you. How was your summer? OMG, you should totes come up here and we can catch up!"

  "Totes?" I mouthed to Chloë. Her eyes were a blazing green color. She failed to see the comedy in Cynthia's new way of speaking.

  Everything about Cynthia was fake. She had dyed-blond hair, which I suppose some guys liked, but it looked a tinge orange to me. And her chest size seemed to be larger than last year.

  Either she spent some time under the knife or Victoria’s Secret made a mint off of selling her push-up bras. She was sporting a spray tan, which was also a little orange, and acrylic nails. To me, she looked like a female Oompa Loompa with claws. Which proved my point that men (some, at least) are stupid, because several were checking her out.

  Finn tossed his arm around Chloë's shoulders, probably to calm her down. "I'm fine where I am. Thanks anyway," he replied without looking back.

  "Whatever. It's your loss," she scoffed.

  "Orange is not his favorite color," I ridiculed.

  "Freak," she responded.

  "Skank," I shot back.

  Somehow we managed to act like adults once th
e professor entered the lecture hall. I also managed not to bite her, which took enormous restraint. Basically, it was a pretty successful first day. You know, considering I completely hated her.

  Dean was waiting for me in the hallway when class was out. The three of us met up with him to go grab a coffee before our next class. Cynthia and two of her cheer clones pushed her way forward, trying to block out Chloë and me. Finn grabbed Chloë around the waist and held on to her. I had a hold on Dean's hand.

  "Hey, Dean! I was just telling Cami and Tammi that we should totally invite you and Finn to our party this weekend. We got a house off campus and we are going to throw like the biggest back-to-school party ever!" Cynthia stated overenthusiastically.

  "No thanks," Dean answered and began to ignore her.

  "Oh come on! You can live without these two losers for one night. I promise to keep you entertained," she insinuated.

  I hissed and my fangs began to protrude. Maybe I congratulated myself for not eating her too soon.

  Dean pulled me closer to him and started soothingly running his hand up and down my back. "I'm not going to a party without my wife, and I doubt Finn will go anywhere without his fiancée."

  Cynthia's eyes widened, and she noticed my ring. Probably because I waved in her face, but whatever. Then she glanced at Chloë's hand. "She isn't wearing a ring. How about it, Finn? You were always down with hanging out before." She gave him what I think passed for her flirty look. I thought she might have had something in her eye.

  Finn didn't seem to notice. "Times change. I don't want cheap, meaningless distractions anymore." Then he turned to Dean. "Fiancée?"

  "Chloë, do you want to marry this guy or not?" Dean asked, ignoring Finn.

  "Yes," she said, not taking her eyes off Finn.

  "So ask her already," Dean instructed and gave Finn a nudge. "How much time do we have before your next class?" Dean asked me.

  "About thirty minutes. Why?" I answered suspiciously.

  "Wanna go make-out in the library?" he said, smiling mischievously.

  Oh boy, did I ever. "Race you there!"

  I heard his roaring laugh as I blurred out of sight.

  Finn

  I grabbed Chloë's hand and walked toward the Japanese garden. "Take a walk with me." Inside the garden, I led her to a bench the most secluded corner. She sat down, and I paced in front of her.

  "Finn, stop pacing and talk to me." She grabbed my hand and pulled me down to sit next to her.

  "Did you mean what you said to Dean?" I asked nervously.

  "I did. There are only two things that have been holding me back." She stared at me like I should already know what those two things are.

  "Give me a hint please," I begged.

  "First, I only want you to ask me because it's what you want. Not because it's expected or because of some magical bond," she began.

  I reached over and caressed her face. "I love you. I guess I haven't done a good enough job showing you, but I'll do better. What's the second reason?"

  "That's simple. You haven't asked me yet." She smiled wide, and her eyes sparkled playfully.

  I shook my head. "That's it? It is that simple?"

  She nodded and bit her lip, trying not to laugh.

  My dad had given me a ring that had been in our family for generations. It was given to the first-born son to give his bride. When I was born, my father bought my mother a new one. When I left for college, he gave it to me. I strung it on a chain and had been wearing it around my neck ever since.

  I unhooked the chain from around my neck and dropped the ring into my hand. It had a platinum band with a scrolled vine pattern around the band. In the center was a large, square-cut emerald.

  I got down on one knee in front of her. "Chloë, from the moment I first saw, you my heart has been yours. I fell for you faster and harder than I ever expected, and it scared the hell out of me. I tried to push you away. I tried to push you out of my heart, and I was miserable every second."

  I took a deep breath and continued. "I don't know how I earned a second chance, but I know I'll never be stupid enough again to think I don't need you. I would love nothing more than to spend the rest of eternity with you. Will you marry me?"

  She nodded her head, and tears streamed down her face.

  "Should I take that as a yes?"

  "Yes!" she yelled.

  I slid the ring onto her finger. "I don't want you to think this is why I asked, but we should perform the bonding ceremony soon." She scowled at me. "Hey, don't look at me like that. You have been getting so much weaker than I have been. I worry about you. I honestly believe I would die if something happened to you."

  "I want to wait to get married. I know the bonding ceremony is forever, and I want forever with you. But..." Chloë hesitated.

  I swallowed hard. She had accepted my proposal only seconds ago, and now she was changing her mind?

  She sank down to the ground in front of where I was still kneeling. "Hey, it isn't what you think. I don't want to rush our wedding. Plus, I never thought I would be married until after I graduated from college. I know it doesn't make sense, but it isn't the forever part I'm getting hung up on."

  "It's the married part?" I asked, confused.

  "Exactly. I want us to be together, but I'm not ready to have people look at me like I must be super religious or knocked up," she responded.

  I laughed. It was weird logic, but I got it. We didn't live in the isolated bubble most supes lived in. We went to college and had human friends. Well, Dean had human friends, and we occasionally interacted with them.

  I looked into her eyes. "Marriage is important to me because I didn't grow up knowing about the supernatural world. But I didn't picture myself getting married at the beginning of my sophomore year of college either. I think, if we were human, I would have proposed to you now, but I would have wanted to wait to get married until after graduation. We could look at the bonding ceremony like a really formal and very permanent engagement."

  "I like thinking of it like that. This is still so crazy to me. If someone had told me last fall that we would be getting engaged in a year, I would have laughed. Especially since you seemed to be interested in every female you saw," she answered insecurely.

  I kissed her softly and quickly. "I wasn't really. I was trying to push you away. Maybe not consciously, but I wasn't ready for you to appear in my life at eighteen. I was immature and stupid. When you started dating Grey, I thought I had lost you forever. It made me reexamine everything I’d thought I needed to do before we could be together. Nothing I thought mattered meant anything without you there beside me."

  I looked down, unable to finish my confession while looking into her dark eyes. "I was pretty hopeless there for a while. I didn't expect him to walk away from you, especially when I never managed to leave you behind. I still don't know what I did to earn a second chance, but I'm grateful you have given me one."

  "You were there for me when he wasn't. You said you didn't know what caused me to give you a second chance, but it was the moment you stood by me while fighting Angeline and Simone. I was scared to fight my sister. Angeline is much older than me, and I had always looked up to her. My confidence was more than shaken. It was in pieces."

  Chloë placed her finger under my chin and brought my gaze back to her face. "Anita was focused on getting her revenge against Alexander, Dean was focused on protecting her, and Grey was determined to avenge her. I felt like the weight of the world was on top of me, and I was alone. Then you told me you were there for me, and I knew. In that moment, I knew you were the one. I was able to let go of all the other times you let me down, because when I needed you most, you were there."

  "Why did you hold out on going out with me again for almost ten months?" I asked, bewildered.

  "We screwed everything up the first couple of times we tried to be together. I wasn't sure I had it in me to crash and burn again. I wanted both of us to be ready. Jumping back into a relationship with you
after ending one with Grey seemed like the perfect recipe for destroying us," she explained.

  I picked up her hand and kissed next to her ring. "It must have been sound logic, because here we are." I glanced at my watch. "Damn, we are also about twenty minutes late to class."

  "Tell me again why we're taking biology. We are already in geology. Don't you think that is overdoing it, especially since neither of us is getting a degree in science?" Chloë asked.

  "I guess we suck at compromising. Let's get a drop slip and see the prof after class to have him sign it." I took her hand and headed toward the Registrar’s Office. We grabbed the paperwork we needed and walked back toward the science building. I noticed a lot of students leaving the building. It was odd because the class still had another fifteen minutes.

  "Can you believe the professor ended class early?" I overheard a passing student say.

  I didn't think anything of it until their friend answered. "I know, but he's new. I'm glad he did though. It was really weird the way he stared at everyone like he was looking for someone in particular. And what was all of that nonsense about human evolution continuing to give us enhanced abilities?"

  "I don't think we should go and see this professor," Chloë whispered.

  "I agree. Let's call everyone and tell them to meet at the house."

  Chloë

  I grabbed my laptop and pulled up the faculty directory on the school website.

  "Neither of you went to class, did you?" Cooper asked, worried.

  Grey entered the room and observed Cooper pacing anxiously back and forth. "What is it, Cooper?"

  Cooper grabbed my laptop and turned it around on the coffee table to show Grey the screen. "Recognize this guy?"

  "He's here?" Grey asked, pointing to the picture. He moved in closer to read the screen. "Dr. Garrett Tuttle. He is a geneticist specializing in the human genome. This is his first year teaching at Central. I think they've infiltrated the school. Cooper, call Carlos. We might have a lead on Nik Athenos."

  Anita walked between Cooper and Grey to force them to pay attention to her. "Earth to Watchers. Can someone explain what has you so freaked out?"