Hoax

by C. L. Stone

  My heart was wild, for what was going on around us, and for him. I couldn’t talk. I wouldn’t dare let him know how I shook internally, too overwhelmed with joy to make words.

  I reached for him. He came closer.

  I wrapped my arms around his neck, pulling my body against his.

  I kissed him hard, hoping he felt the fire he ignited in me.

  He replied, his kiss intense. He pulled back only once to toss the jacket as far onto the beach as he could, and then returned.

  He held me, his arms around my back, eventually pulling me up and out of the water to wrap my legs around his waist.

  He kissed my lips, my cheeks, my eyes, then trailed back to my mouth.

  I wove my fingers into his hair, losing the tie that bound it just to grasp him.

  He loved me. I knew it. He didn’t have to say it.

  I could feel it coming from him. I needed him, loved him.

  I’d do anything to prove it to him.

  Another Bonus!

  Turn the page for an exclusive sneak peek at Black and Green, the next book in The Ghost Bird Series!

  Unexpected Call

  (Dr. Green)

  Sean Green threw open the driver’s side door to Owen’s BMW parked near their tent at the island Academy camp.

  He patted his jeans and then at the pockets of his jacket, finding only his cell phone. “Owen! God damn it. I left my keys somewhere.”

  “No time,” Owen said, jogging toward the car. He made a whirling motion with his hand. “Get in. I’ll drive.”

  Sean threw his head back. “No,” he said in a whine. “You drive too slow.”

  “Just get in,” Owen barked.

  Sean grumbled and jogged around the car, landing in the passenger seat and slamming the door.

  Owen wedged himself in behind the wheel and turned the engine over.

  Sean watched behind them as others around the camp came to their tent, including the girls Sang had made friends with in the last week. They were put to task taking down their tents and would keep their things safe until they could be delivered back to their proper owners.

  Sean and Owen had to leave too quickly to pack.

  Not only was Sang’s health at risk, but possibly also her freedom, perhaps even her life.

  Within minutes they were on the road headed back to Summerville.

  Sean pulled out his phone, and stared at the screen, prepared to call a thousand people and yet not wanting to clog phones in the crucial time they had. Now all he had to focus on was the time ticking away as Owen broke the speed limit getting back to Summerville. He wasn’t going very fast, but that he was over the limit was significant.

  Sean groaned, throaty, louder than intended, the frustration bubbling inside him.

  “I can’t risk going any faster,” Owen said. He shot Sean a look. It was one of the rare moments when Owen actually looked human to Sean. His hair was askew, blown by the breeze at the camp and then the rush to get into the car and on the road. He’d replaced his nice clothes with an old sweater and jeans meant to be worn while he broke down camps. Sean hadn’t seen him like this in months, maybe not even a year now. Owen never wore jeans.

  “Because getting pulled over and getting a speeding ticket will take more time than following the rules,” Sean said, repeating the lecture he’d often said to him. “I know, I know...”

  “She’s not hurt,” Owen said. “Her father wouldn’t risk something like her stepmother tried.”

  “The fact is, we don’t know what’s going on,” Sean said. He held onto his phone, turning the screen on every once in a while, waiting for any buzz or sound. He’d even take a shock, if any of them wanted to hit the emergency button, just to hear any news. “She doesn’t have to go in, you know?”

  “I know,” Owen said darkly, his eyes narrowing on the road.

  “We could get her out,” Sean said. “In a heartbeat. We could stop all this.”

  “We don’t know if she’d want us to,” His knuckles were turning white as he gripped the wheel. “But please, stop tempting me.”

  Sean smothered another grumble and turned his eyes to the trees they passed by along the way. He folded his arms across his chest, his windbreaker jacket making noise. When it got too warm in the car, he stripped it off and left the T-shirt underneath on, tossing the jacket into the back in a heap.

  Owen eyeballed the rearview mirror, looking at the crumpled jacket but said nothing. He tightened his mouth, too polite to grind teeth but on the verge of it.

  Good, Sean said to himself, although he didn’t mean it. He knew Owen was irritated and anxious, without anything to do other than wait.

  He was tempted to check the camera signals, but if Victor was checking on them, it would slow things down if he tried to do the same thing. The cameras were handy, but the server could get overloaded if too many of them tried viewing at the same time.

  Sean started biting his thumbnail absently.

  “You should be thinking about what we’ll need to do once we can get her to the hospital,” Owen said. “Maybe you should have someone prepare some sort of test?”

  “Because she fainted?” Sean asked, and shook his head. “There’s nothing to prepare for. I’ll do another couple of blood tests, but I bet she didn’t eat like she promised she would.”

  “She’s clearly got low blood pressure. It’s the stress.”

  “I agree,” Sean said. He stared out the window, not really looking at anything, but picturing the time Sang had been carried into the nurse’s office, looking pale and tired. She’d been getting better, but this week had been over the top. “Even if she’d been okay with her girl team, she has a lot to be stressed out over.”

  “There might be underlying causes for these fainting spells,” Mr. Blackbourne said. “She wasn’t having seizures, was she? We’re not looking at epilepsy, are we?”

  “They would have noticed a seizure,” Sean said and pulled his eyes from the outside and focused on him. “There’s no point in doctoring when the patient and the data aren’t in front of you. We’re doing guesswork.”

  Owen closed his mouth and pressed his lips together. Sean couldn’t blame him. Answers were what they were continually looking for, especially when it came to Sang. Would they ever have a day when they wouldn’t worry about her?

  Suddenly, the phone rang in his hands. Before he could even notice the number, he pushed the button immediately, bringing the phone to his ear.

  “What?” he asked quickly. “What is it?”

  There was silence for a moment and then a female and mature accented voice spoke, “Is something wrong?”

  “Mother?” Sean said with surprise, sitting up straight as an arrow in the car. He’d been so anxious expecting a call from the guys that hearing from her threw him off. “What...how...hello.” He coughed and then continued. “Hey, I’ve meant to call you.”

  He pictured his mother as he spoke. She was Japanese, shorter than him, thin, with a wrinkled face and gray at her temples in her otherwise dark hair.

  And eyes that could kill if you stepped out of line. If there was ever a tiger mom, Sean’s adoptive mother was it.

  He once made the mistake of calling her a tiger mom once, and she scolded him to remind him that was something from the Chinese.

  And that she was far better.

  There was long silence before she eventually spoke. “I am calling to let you know I’ll be in town this upcoming week.”

  Sean squeezed his eyes closed tightly and pinched the bridge of his nose. Not now. “What? Oh. That’s...nice.” Now? Right now? She always had perfect timing...

  “If that’s not a problem,” she said in haste. “Do you have some sort of trouble?”

  “No, Mother,” he said and looked pleadingly at Owen, silently asking for some help. Tell him that this emergency is way more important than his mother visiting. Give him an excuse to put her off.

  Owen st
ayed quiet, eyes on the road.

  Stifling a sigh, Sean said into the phone, “What brings you down?”

  “Work,” she said. “Temporary, but it might be a long while. Might be a month or more. I might secure an apartment close to downtown...”

  “No, I wouldn’t hear of it,” Sean said automatically. She knew full well he had a spare bedroom and she’d agonize over the cost of another apartment. Not to mention she would never let him hear the end of it if he didn’t invite her to stay. “Of course you should stay with me. The guest room is yours.” He loved his mother and appreciated all the hard work she put in raising him when she didn’t have to, but this was the worst timing.

  Owen remained quiet, although Sean could tell by the clenching of his jaw that he didn’t really think this was a good idea.

  Silence again on the phone. “Oh, I shouldn’t do that,” she said. “I wouldn’t want to impose.”

  Since his mother was Japanese, it was really hard for her to do anything but politely decline at first and make him insist she stay. It is built into the Japanese culture to decline once. It was the same dance they’d gone through since he moved out.

  If only Sang weren't in so much trouble, he might have even enjoyed her visit. This time, it felt like a shackle. She wouldn’t understand the fuss he was making about a girl.

  “Of course, Mom,” Sean said, feeling the regret drip through his body at agreeing. “Stay with me. When are you getting here?”

  “There’s a cheap flight tonight,” she said. “I can call a cab. Or Uber.”

  Sean spoke through his teeth. “No, it’s fine. I can come pick you up. Text me the details?”

  “Is something wrong?” she asked. “Why do you sound like your mouth is broken?”

  Sean coughed and then spoke properly. “Sorry, Mom. Might be the phone reception.”

  “I’ll see you tonight.”

  She disconnected. Sean dropped the phone into his lap and leaned back against the seat. “Tell me I can just sleep at the hospital and tell her I need to work overtime.”

  “Isn’t that what you do most of the time anyway?” Owen asked. “But I agree. This isn’t the best timing.”

  “She may not understand about Sang,” Sean said, rolling his head to look out the side window. Trees zoomed by, making him dizzy. “No, she wouldn’t understand. Not at all.”

  “Because she’s sixteen,” Owen said.

  “Because no one knows her the way we do. The way we all do, but...yeah,” Sean said and sighed, closing his eyes. He knew this was going to be a problem. For another two years, perhaps, he and Owen would have to feign their interest, hide their feelings about Sang, keep their distance. She was so mature and close in age, so close that in two years, it wouldn’t matter.

  But for two years, it might kill them.

  And right now, they were two of a group of nine that loved her, who needed to take care of her.

  “There has to be a way, Owen,” Sean said.

  “We’ll find it,” Owen assured him and then returned his eyes to the road. “But first, we have to get there and stop whatever is happening.”

  ABOUT C. L. STONE

  Certification

  Marvelour of Wonder

  Active Participant of Scary Situations

  Official Member of F.A.M.E.

  Experience

  Spent an extraordinary number of years with absolutely no control over the capping of imagination, fun, and curiosity. Willingly takes part in impossible problems only to come up with the most ludicrous solution. Due to unfortunate circumstances, will no longer experience feeling on a small spot on my left calf.

  Skills

  Secret Keeper | Occasion Riser | Barefoot Walker Strange Acceptance | Magic Maker | Restless Reckless | Gravity Defiant | Fairy Tale Reader | Story Maker-Upper | Amusingly Baffled | Comprehensive Curiousness | Usually Unbelievable