“Yeah. Crazy.”
He leans in uncomfortably close. “Whatever the case may be, at least something good can come from it since now you’ll have more time to ensure you get an A.” He takes a step back. “Well, I better go. I’ve got football practice.” He stuffs his hands into his jacket pockets and walks backward down the hall. “See you around, Indi.”
“Yeah, see you around.”
He wouldn’t have put a snake in Miss. Landry’s supply closet because he was mad over the C he got, or to give me extra time on my assignment, would he?
No. No that would just… No. He wouldn’t do that. I’m just being paranoid again because I spelled him to skip over being mad at me, and it’s messing with my head. Making me jump to conclusions when there’s nothing to jump to. Even Taylor said Evan is fine, and it’s me who’s acting strange.
Besides, I have no real proof any of the things I’m thinking are even remotely true. The only thing I have to base any of this on is the weird feeling in my gut that there’s something wrong with him. But gut feelings aren’t always right, especially when you add in magic and guilt.
30
My back hits the ground, knocking the breath from my lungs.
“And you’re dead.” Sebastian straddles over me, his hand held out to help me up. “Try again.”
I growl and slap my hand in his. We’ve been sparring for over an hour and I’ve probably spent more time on the ground than I have on my feet. At this rate, I will never be good enough to hold my own against the supernatural forces wanting to take me out.
“You need to learn—”
“To anticipate your enemy’s moves. I know.” I shake the tension from my shoulders then take my place across from him on the mat.
He slowly moves to the left, and then to the right. I watch his movements, the twitch of his fingers, the way he crosses one foot in front of the other, the slight shift in his weight to his right leg just as he’s about to lunge. I lean back just out of reach, grab his arm, then shove against the back of his shoulder with my other hand, pushing him away. For half a second I think I’ve finally gotten him, but then my legs are swept out from underneath me and my back is once again on the ground.
I slap my arms down on the mat. Gah! He’s so freaking fast.
“Try again.”
“What’s the point? This is where I’ll end up, anyway.” I stare up at the white tiles making up the ceiling in an all white room. What is with these chasers and their all white rooms? Do they hate color or something? Everything is so blah. The abandoned warehouse upstairs has more personality than the facility hidden beneath it. Hell, Chester’s flannel shirts have more personality and color than this room does. Even the stupid mats in here are white.
“Why don’t we call it a night? We’ll pick back up again on Monday.” Sebastian grabs a bottle of water from the floor, then downs half of it, while the rest runs down his chin. He lifts the hem of his shirt up to wipe the wetness from his face, giving me full view of his abs… and the giant bruise on the side of his ribs.
“What happened to you?”
“Huh?”
I point at his ribs.
He looks down. “Oh this? Some idiot vamp tried to get the drop on me last night. He hit me with one hell of a kick. But in the end, he couldn’t defeat the stake I jammed in his chest.”
“You were fighting vampires last night?”
“I fight vampires most nights. It’s what I do. Though I’ll admit I’ve been looking for one in particular.” He drops his shirt back down.
“The one who attacked your sister?”
“No. The one who attacked you at Night Life.”
“You have?”
“He hurt you, Indi. And while he may have gotten away once, he won’t be so lucky the next time we cross paths. I will make him pay for what he did to you.”
I rub the spot along my throat where Seth had sunk in his teeth. Unwanted memories assault my mind, taking me back to the way it felt having his hands hold me down. Being powerless to do anything to save myself no matter how hard I fought against him. The piercing sting and bliss his bite brought as my heart slowed. I never want to feel like that again.
“While I appreciate your willingness to risk your life to exact revenge in my name, I need to be the one who confronts Seth. He took more than just my blood that night. He took my peace of mind too when he showed me the true horrors of the world. The only way I can get it back, the only way I can feel safe again is by facing him. It’s why we’re training. I need to be prepared to defend myself against any supernatural being who paints a target on my back, including Seth. I have to be able to rely on nobody but me.”
“You can rely on me.”
“Maybe for now, but you won’t always be here. You can’t protect me forever.”
“Maybe I want to protect you forever.”
“We don’t always get what we want.” Though I really wish we did.
I watch him approaching from the corner of my eye. When he’s close enough, I pop up into a crouch and sweep my leg out to the side. He hits the floor with an audible oomph followed by a grunt as I sit on his thighs. Pressing my hand down on his chest, I hold an imaginary stake over his heart. “And you’re dead. See, my fighting skills aren’t totally bad. I got you didn’t I?”
He grabs me by the wrist and before I know what’s happening he’s got me pinned beneath him. “Who says I didn’t let you?”
“Did you?”
He flashes me a devilish grin in answer.
“You’re such a jerk.”
“And you’re cute when you’re angry.” His gaze drops from my eyes to my mouth. The slight downward shift is enough to have my heart thudding against my ribs. A satisfied smile forms over his face as if he can sense my reaction. His tongue glides over his bottom lip, his mouth so close to connecting with mine. I wish I could drink him in until I’m drowning in every sensation he has to offer. I wish I could let the world fall away for a few minutes and not worry over whether things are right or wrong. I wish I could give in to the connection linking us together without caring why it’s there. I wish a lot of things.
“We should go before it gets too late,” I whisper into the space between us. He hangs his head, the soft breath of a sigh tickling over my chin. “I still have magic lessons with Liv and Jack.”
He rolls onto his back, lying down beside me. “Why do you do that?”
“Do what?” I ask, pretending to be oblivious when I know exactly what he’s talking about because I’ve been doing it for the better part of the past week and a half.
“Pull away.” He turns his head to the side, so he’s looking at me. “I really like you, Indi. I’m drawn to you in ways I can’t explain. I feel it in the very center of my being. It’s like a tether right here,” he presses the palm of his hand against the center of his chest, “connecting me to you. The closer you are, the more it reels me in. I know you feel it too and I thought we were on the same page. But since you got your memories back you’ve been pushing me away. Is it because of what happened when we were kids? Do you still hold me responsible for the course of events that led to your mom’s death? I’ll understand if you do. After all, I told you to blame me.”
“It’s not that. And I don’t blame you. I never really did.”
“Is it Evan? Do you regret breaking up?”
“No. Evan and I were never meant to be more than friends.”
“Then what? Why do you keep pushing me away?”
“For the same reason you want to get closer. Our connection. I feel it like you do, but it scares the hell out of me because I don’t understand it. Is it there because I brought you back from the dead when we were kids and in doing so linked you to me in some fundamental way? Is this bond between us the only reason we’re drawn to each other like we are? Would we still feel the same way about one another if our paths had never crossed until now?”
“Yes,” he answers without hesitation. “While it may be true, our conne
ction draws me to you, it’s your stubbornness, and your bravery, and your strength, and the way you blush when I look at you a certain way, along with a million other things that are making me fall.”
The weight of his words both stops and starts my heart, sending my insides into a flurry of fluttering butterflies. I turn toward him, my gaze locking onto his. There are no lies held within his eyes. He means what he says. “You’re falling for me?”
“So hard it hurts.” He flips himself up off the floor, then holds a hand out for me. “Come on. I’ll take you home. Jack and Liv are waiting.”
I take his hand, my mind in a daze as I let him lead me toward the door. He’s falling for me? Really falling for me? I stare at our hands held between us before shifting my gaze to his face. He watches me from over his shoulder with the tiniest of smiles gracing his lips. I question it, and I fight against it, but when it comes down to it, I can’t deny I’m falling for him too. Maybe it’s partly our connection. But maybe it’s not. Maybe it’s everything else that makes him who he is that has me tumbling head over heels. And maybe—for real this time—I should ignore my brain and stop questioning every little thing and just go with what my heart’s been telling me this whole time.
I pull my hand from his. He turns back, a curious look on his face as one eyebrow rises. “Jack and Liv can wait a little longer.” In less than two steps, I take his face into my hands, as his arms wrap around my waist. The soft touch of his lips move in sync with mine, taking and giving, while demanding more. I pour everything into the kiss. My hopes, my desires, my soul, everything that makes me who I am, as I let everything else fall away. No more worries or doubts. No more questions to give me pause. In this moment, it’s just Sebastian and me and the way we make each other feel.
He spins me around, backing me into the wall beside the door. He pulls away to take a breath, his eyes a heavy shade of blue surrounding the most perfect spot of brown in his left eye. “Took you long enough.” His lashes lower as the corners of his mouth turns upward in a smile right before his lips find mine once again. Every single butterfly I’ve ever held back spreads its wings until I feel like I might float away. If not for Sebastian holding me in place, I actually might.
Something jumps up onto my bed and immediately bounces up and down. I crack my eyes open with a grunt. It’s Saturday, my sleep all-day day off, day.
“You came home late last night.” Liv flops down onto her belly, propping her head up on her hands. “Anything you want to tell me about, hmm? Sebastian keep you late for extra training time, or for something else a little more fun?” Her eyebrows reach for the heavens while her smile insinuates all the dirty things she leaves unsaid.
I grab my phone, checking the time. 7a.m. “Really Liv, you couldn’t have let me sleep for like at least five more hours?”
“Nope. I’m awake and bored and want to live vicariously through you. Now spill. Have you finally stopped freaking out over whatever in the heck you’ve been freaking out over the past week and a half and stopped denying your feelings for Sebastian and acted on them? Because you totally should. The chemistry between you two is so hot. I saw the way he kissed you at the water tower. Which also begs the question. What kind of kisser is he? Sebastian looks like a good kisser. Chuck was a sloppy kisser. Come on. The faster you tell me about it, the sooner I’ll leave and you can go back to sleep.”
I throw my arm over my eyes, shielding them from the sunlight spilling into the room. “I’ll answer your questions only if you promise not to ask me a hundred thousand more like you always do.”
“Fine. You’re no fun.”
“Then yes, and absolutely amazing. Now go away so I can go back to sleep.”
“Really? That’s all you’re going to give me? The bare minimum?”
“Yes. And now I’m sleeping.” I cover my face with a pillow.
“You suck. Now I’ll have to go bother Jack.”
“Love you too,” I yell out when I hear her reach the door. She mumbles something under her breath I can’t quite make out with the pillow over my face. It’s probably some sarcastic reply I don’t want to hear, anyway. And then the door click shut.
Yes. Finally. Sleep here I come.
I fluff up my pillow, stuff it under my head, pull the blanket up over my shoulders, and snuggle back in. Eyes closed, I sigh; content to drift back off to dreamland.
Not even five minutes later Coco barks somewhere in the house. Outside my window a car backfires. And then the loudest vehicle on the planet rumbles as slowly as possible down the street.
“Grr.” I crush the pillow back over my head to drown out the sounds. For half a second it sort of works. And then comes the buzzing of a chainsaw.
Seriously?
I throw the pillow onto the floor, along with half the blankets on my bed as I stomp over to the window. Across the street Mr. Thomas is up a ladder, sawing away at his neighbor’s tree branches hanging over the fence line.
So much for a day of sleep.
Flipping Mr. Thomas and his annoying chainsaw off, I turn from the window only to end up stubbing my toe on the trashcan by my dresser. “Fffffuuu—” Uncle Caleb picks that exact moment to open the door. He pops his head inside, finding me hopping on one foot while holding the other. “—dge.”
“Nice save with the fudge. I’m making breakfast downstairs if you want some. I’ve got some new ideas I want to try out for this morning’s Frittata. I think you guys will love this one. It’s going to have Mango in it.”
“Sounds good. I’ll be down in a few.” Mango has got to be better than his last Frittata idea, which included hot dogs, sweet relish, and bell peppers. It wasn’t a good combination.
Uncle Caleb closes the door and I hobble over to my bed. A picture of Evan, Taylor, Paige, and me sitting on the nightstand catches my eye. I pick it up, a half smile forming over my lips as I reminisce over a happier time. It was taken the day after Evan and I decided to try our hand at being a couple. Everything was new and fun then, but now I know Evan and I were only ever meant to be friends. I wish I had realized that then instead of now. If I had things wouldn’t be so messed up right now and I wouldn’t be suspecting him of terrible and creepy things.
I fidget with the charm around my neck. A tiny zap of static electricity tingles through my finger as my gaze lands on my backpack where the Book of Shadows resides.
Maybe I should just take a quick peek. If the book does contain a spell to reverse what I did to Evan, I’d be a fool for not having at least looked. Right?
Sitting the photo back down, I grab my backpack from the floor and dig inside. A burst of energy surges through my fingers the moment I make contact. Curiosity and fear tangle within my chest as I slowly pull out the Book of Shadows. The longer I hold it in my hand, the more it whispers for me to forget all my perceived notions of it being dark and evil based on the one and only spell I’d ever cast from it. The sanguinary spell. Because how evil was it, really? So it made a vampire bleed from every orifice I could see. So it was killing him in a messed up torturous way. Was it really anything less than what he deserved for being a bloodsucking monster who more than likely never thought twice about the pain or horror he inflicted on his victims. If anything, my only regret should be in not finishing the spell.
Flipping it open, I lie on my belly and thumb through the book, watching the words appear over blank pages. The beginning spells are mostly tame with things like changing your eye color. Or hopeful with spells for healing and love. But by the time I reach the end, things get a little more questionable in their intent. The sanguinary spell, for instance, is in the back of the book. There was so much power contained within its words when I cast it on the vampire that day on the jogging path. I literally held his life in my hands. A few more whispered words and I would have ended it. I had complete control over him. I was like a God.
Whoa, where did that thought come from? I was like a God? No one but God is like God.
I slam the book shut and shove it
into the back of my nightstand drawer.
Lingering effects of its energy crawl over my skin, making my fingers itch to pull it back out. The pendant resting against my chest warms to the touch as though it too is calling out for what the book could offer. I could use it to solve my vampire problems so easily by casting the sanguinary spell over the entire Night Life club. I could take every single bloodsucking fiend out in one fell swoop. I would be free. At least until the dark magic witches make their move, and Heaven’s bounty hunters figure out where I am. And then there’s the pesky problem of there being non-supernatural people inside the club who might get caught in the blast. But when is there ever a war without some kind of collateral damage?
Holy crap. Collateral damage? I can’t believe I just thought that.
Or considered it.
Stomach acid heaves up into my esophagus, burning all the way up my throat. This book needs to go. I grab a shirt off the floor, using it as a buffer to keep it from coming in contact with my skin. The more I touch it, the more connected to it I feel, and I don’t want to be. Not when it whispers inside my head to do despicable things like risking the lives of innocent people by casting a spell that seriously crosses the lines of being justified. Vampires may be monsters, but it doesn’t mean I need to become one to vanquish them. That’s not who I am, and it’s definitely not who I want to be.
I shove the book into a box of old board games in the back of my closet. I should toss it out, or bury it in the woods somewhere, but for now this will have to do. Besides, I should find out more about it before getting rid of it so I don’t unknowingly endanger someone else who happens to pick it up. Or at least that’s what I’m telling myself I’m doing, and that it has nothing to do with the quiet voices still murmuring in the back of my mind telling me to keep it.
31
I tap a knuckle on the doorframe to Jack’s room, as I will the contents of my stomach to stay down. Throwing me a glance over his shoulder, he pauses his PlayStation game then swivels around in his desk chair. He drops the remote onto his lap as he stretches out his legs. “What’s up?”
Of Blood & Magic: Blood Descent Book 1 Page 33
