by Deanna Chase
A great way.
A way that made her forget that there were things like monsters in the world. That he was one of them. It was just her and Cain underneath the moonlight and it was enough.
He scooted farther down the bed until his knees barely grazed hers. The heat pouring off him coated her and prickled along her bare arms as the cool night breeze rubbed languidly against the thin cotton top on her back.
“I think Katy knows about you,” Flint whispered.
His jaw clenched even as he gently took the piece of hair out of her fingers and slowly rubbed his thumb along it. “What makes you say that?”
It was getting more and more difficult to think straight with the way he kept looking at her. Then his hot hands were framing her face and he just stared. Didn’t move in, didn’t do anything other than study her, as if memorizing every line, every bit of her face.
Her chest heaved for air and she moistened her lips.
Flint’s lashes feathered along her cheekbones as she closed her eyes, unable to hold his hypnotic gaze any longer.
“Princess,” he said, his mouth so close to hers she felt the warmth of his breath tickle her lips.
She sighed. Couldn’t help it.
Then he released her, and just like that, the weird pull was gone and she was suddenly cold. She snapped her eyes open, rubbing her arms.
He shook his head. “I don’t know what’s happening to me,” he gritted out.
“What do you mean?”
Leaning back on her bed, he closed his eyes. “I can’t stop thinking about you. Wondering what you’re doing. Who you’re doing it with. I don’t know…”
She felt the exact same way. It was scary, this overwhelming need that she felt for him. Like the world was all wrong, she was all wrong, if he wasn’t around, if he wasn’t sharing her space, breathing her air. It was wrong and sick, and so scary perfect it made her stomach heave.
Holding the blanket tighter to her, almost like a shield, she nodded mutely.
“I shouldn’t be around you, Flint. My kind and your kind, we don’t mix. Like oil and water. It never works out.”
She swallowed hard.
Scrubbing a large hand down his face, he asked, “Why do you think Katy knows?”
Trying to remember the conversation while forgetting the swarm of kamikaze butterflies in her stomach, she said, “Because she mentioned something about good versus evil and an ancient war. She knows, Cain. Do you think she’s…” She licked her lips. “The queen?”
His brows dipped.
“I’ve been thinking about this all night. When I got attacked…”
He shook his head.
Flint finished her thought anyway. “She was there. Right before it happened. She poked her head inside, and I can’t remember what she said, but I remember feeling like it wasn’t right. It was weird.”
Cain shook his head harder. “Are you sure? It can’t be.”
“Why not?”
His look was piercing, the blue eyes looking almost black in the darkness. “Adam would know. He’d know. The queen wouldn’t be so stupid to be right under our nose.” But he didn’t sound like he believed his words.
She shrugged. “I think you should keep an eye on her, just in case.”
Running his palms down his thighs, he nodded. Heaving himself to his feet, he looked down at her as he walked back to her window.
Gripping the windowsill, he stared at her for so long she became aware of just how loud the room actually was, from the breaths they took to the ticking of her art deco wall clock.
“I’ll see you tomorrow?”
Stomach a quivering mess, she nodded.
“I’ll pick you up in the morning.”
The shuffling of feet snared her attention and made her jump. Her father was waking up. “Not here,” she whispered. “My dad won’t—”
But when she turned back, Cain had already left through the window.
A second later, her father knocked on the door. “Flinty, are you talking to someone?”
Squeezing her eyes shut, she scrubbed her face and shook her head. “No. Talking to myself, can’t sleep.”
“Want some hot milk?”
She smiled that he remembered. Whenever she’d have a nightmare as a child, he’d always bring her a mug of hot milk and tell her it would chase the monsters away.
Getting up, she opened the door. His hair was sleep tussled, and a hint of a beard whiskered his cheeks.
“Sure, Daddy.”
He smiled and wrapped his arms around her.
Tomorrow she’d figure out some way to ride with Cain so that her father wouldn’t see.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Flint yanked the curlers out of her hair, deciding for once she’d try to do something with it other than pull it back in a messy ponytail. Her hair flounced around her shoulders in soft waves as she gripped her stomach, trying in vain to squelch the nerves threatening to make her lose her bite of toast this morning.
Her green knitted top made her hair look even redder. Frowning at the mirror, she touched the pale skin under her eyes and ran her finger along the bridge of her freckled nose.
Things had changed and she couldn’t help wanting to look her best.
She glanced at her wristwatch. Cain was probably going to show up any second now.
“Flinty!” her dad cried and she dropped the glass she’d been holding into the sink. “Your friend’s here.”
He sounded chipper and not at all growly like yesterday.
Not a little curious, she yanked her book bag onto her shoulder and headed toward the front door.
Janet waved cheerfully at her. Flint frowned, scanning over her shoulder.
“Umm…”
Dressed in a baggy navy-blue sweaterdress, leopard tights, and furry boots, Janet was a strange sight in more ways than one. “Tell you later,” she whispered in Flint’s ear as she hugged her.
Walking up to Flint, her dad clapped her shoulder. “Show tonight. Will you bring her to the circus, Janet?”
“Sure, Mr. DeLuca,” Janet chirped as the black sprays of hair encircling her head like a peacock’s plume bobbed. “But we’ve got plans.”
“Plans?” Flint shook her head.
“The dresses, remember?” Ja winked.
“Oh, yeah… the dresses.” That they’d never set a date or time to go shopping for. Janet was up to something.
“You gonna do the show tonight?” Her father wasn’t looking at Flint.
Janet shook her head. “Night off, strained my calf muscle. So is it cool?”
Flint glanced at her dad and smiled.
“Yeah, sure.” He hugged her. “Now hurry up before you’re late for school.”
“What was that all about?” Flint asked the second they were well out of earshot.
Janet rolled her eyes and then stopped, all playfulness gone. The girl looking back at her suddenly seemed ancient, immortal. Crazy clothes or not, she was not someone to be messed with, and she was pressing the hardness of that gaze into Flint like steel.
“What the crap, Flint!” She smacked her arm.
“Ow.” She cried and rubbed her throbbing arm. Tiny she might be, but the little Asian demon-ghost packed a wallop when she wanted to. “What was that for?”
“I told you to stay away from Cain, didn’t I? Do you have any idea what you’re doing, what you’re getting yourself into?”
They were walking past the bus stop, heading toward the busy road.
“I’ve tried. But… I don’t know, it’s just…”
“Crazy? Obsession? Insane? Stupid?”
At the last one, Flint frowned, hurt that Janet would go there. “I don’t expect you to understand, because I’m not even sure I do. But I can handle myself.”
Stopping, Janet grabbed her arm. “Look, I’m just gonna tell it to you straight. I’m his guardian—all I’ve ever wanted is for him to be happy. But I’ve seen Cain in a way I’m not even sure he’s seen himself. All
I’m saying is be careful and don’t try to be the martyr. Don’t think you can save him. And when he blows it, run. As fast and as far as you can.”
“Why aren’t you even giving him a chance? Why does everyone think he’s going to lose it like that?”
“Because he’s berserker, it’s what they do. And I like you—you’re my first human friend, and I’d like to keep you around for a while. That’s all.”
Pulling Janet into a hug, Flint said, “He’s stronger than you think.”
Then she stilled. He was here. Pine and moonlight. Smiling, she turned.
Cain leaned against the side of his car with his hands in his pockets. Something that looked almost like a smile played along his lips. “You said your dad didn’t want me around.”
Pulse thundering so loud in her ears she’d barely heard him, Flint nodded mutely.
He didn’t move closer to her, but the weird thing was happening again—the one where the world dissolved into a tunnel of light and white noise around them. He was wearing jeans and a black leather motorcycle-style jacket. His hair blew in the wind, reminding her of an Abercrombie & Fitch model.
He was gorgeous and looking at her like he thought the same thing about her.
“Gimme a ride to school, I missed the bus,” Janet said after a bit.
Crazy, but for a second Flint had completely forgotten about her. Rolling her eyes, Ja tromped toward the car, grumbling under her breath about “disgusting” before getting in and slamming the door shut behind her.
Cain chuckled. “I guess she warned you off and you said…”
“To trust you.”
A bright luminescence covered his eyes before they dissolved back to the familiar blue, but he didn’t say anything. Instead he grabbed her book bag off her shoulder.
At some point she must have walked toward him.
His large hand lingered on her upper arm. “Like the hair, princess.”
She rolled her eyes. “Didn’t do it for you, caveman.”
He snorted and then opened the car door for her.
She could be cool, act like his nearness didn’t bother her. Didn’t threaten to send her heart into cardiac arrest. That Cain was just another guy. A good-looking one with an awesome car who just so happened to have major Hulk issues every once in a while.
No big deal, right?
His car smelled like him. It was everywhere, anywhere, she turned. Even the strap of the seat belt smelled like him when it snicked into place.
The car started moving.
“Your girlfriend and I are going dress shopping tonight,” Janet said without preamble.
Flint jerked, staring dead at Cain’s face. Girlfriend? Had Janet actually called her that? They weren’t that. Right?
Holding her breath, she waited for Cain to correct her, but he grunted instead. “When will you be done?”
He wasn’t looking at Janet.
Fighting the urge to grin, Flint shrugged and placed her suddenly trembling hands under her jeaned thighs. “No idea. Didn’t even realize we were doing that tonight.”
Jaw flexing, he glanced away.
Surely Cain knew what they were going dress shopping for. Not that Flint wanted to push the issue or anything, but was he ever going to ask her?
“You’re not going alone.”
“Duh.” Janet rolled her eyes. “Rhi’s coming too.”
He glowered. “You know what I mean.”
“Oh yeah,” she said snippily. “I heard you, I was just ignoring you. Don’t forget that Rhi and me, we’re pretty bad-a, don’t need boys, especially not the ’roid-rage kind.”
Flint pulled her lips in, trying hard to hide the smirk. It was kind of funny to see Cain get some of his own medicine.
Glancing at her from the corner of his eye, he said, “I’m glad you find this funny, princess. But if I don’t go, you don’t go. Period.”
That pissed her off. Made the hot Italian temper flare. She was so not one of those girls and he’d better learn it quick.
“Excuse me, I’m right here: (a) you’re a fool if you think you can stop me, and (b) I’ve seen Rhi turn hive into powder, so I’m pretty sure I’ll be just fine.”
Red pinpricks circled his irises and she patted his arm slowly, up and down, like one would a feral dog with its hackles raised.
“Cain, listen… I think this is kind of your caveman and wildly misplaced way of telling me you’re worried about my safety—”
His nostrils flared.
“And it’s sort of… sweet?” She shot Ja a look.
Janet smirked and held up her hands as if to say “it’s all you, babe.”
“But I’m just going to the store. A crowded mall to shop for a homecoming gown. Nothing is going to bother me there, and if they do I’ll scurry away like the good little monkey I am.”
She grinned, fluttering her lashes in what she hoped was a sexy smolder and not an “I’ve got a lash in my eye and look like an idiot right now” kind of way.
And instantly she felt the heat, the tension gathered in his arm dissolve. He laughed. “You’re killing me.”
“Yeah, well…” She studied her nails. “You love it.”
Giving her that slow, secret smile of his that always made her toes curl and her stomach heave, he finally said, “You fishin’, princess?”
It took a second for his meaning to sink in. With a disgusted huff, she smacked his shoulder. He laughed and looked back at the road. They were almost to the school; streams of cars and yellow buses filed into the parking lot ahead.
“Oh, so gross. Berserker flirting. Somebody save me before I hurl.” Janet moaned from the back seat.
“Whatever.” Flint slouched in her seat, but not before she stuck her tongue out at him. Then her stomach growled loudly. She hadn’t really eaten breakfast.
With a cocky smirk, Cain reached into his pocket and tossed her a candy bar. King size.
She snapped it out of the air. “I could kiss you!” She ripped the wrapper open and groaned with delight as chocolate and caramel slid down her throat.
“Well, Cain, now you know what you need to do if you want to get a little sum-sum from her. Box of candies and she’s all yours.” Janet snorted.
“Yeah, I’ll remember that.” His deep voice purred, and if she hadn’t been so hungry, she might have been embarrassed, but she was starving, so she licked her fingers and ignored them.
Once they’d found a parking spot, Janet hopped out. Cain grabbed Flint’s forearm. “Wait,” he said, just as she was ready to get out.
“Hmm?” She frowned, tucking the empty wrapper into her pocket.
His look was serious, his eyes incredibly blue. “You look really pretty today.”
She smiled as warm heat slipped through her tummy. “What, you mean I didn’t turn you off with my candy fetish?”
Chuckling, he shook his head as his fingers toyed with her sleeve. “It’s kind of cute actually. I like buying you candy.”
Heat rose in her cheeks, and all she could do was smile. Hard. Like, getting a charley horse in her cheeks kind of hard.
“I’m not going to the dance.”
It was like someone blowing out a candle; all that heat and fire was gone in an instant. “What? Why?”
Licking his lips, he shook his head. “I haven’t forgotten the hive, or the fact that they’re still gunning for you.”
“I haven’t been attacked in a while, Cain.”
He shrugged. “Doesn’t mean anything. They’re patient and plotting. My gut tells me they’re going to try something that night. I need to hunt. Me and the guys.”
Hurt didn’t even begin to describe how she was feeling at the moment. She crossed her arms.
“I’ve already asked the girls to keep an eye on you.”
“You what?” she exploded.
And yeah, maybe she shouldn’t have. But she was getting sick and tired of being treated like a pathetic, puny china doll who couldn’t do jack for herself. He was only trying t
o watch out for her, but it was homecoming, and call her pathetic and stupid or whatever, she wanted to go with him. Not stag.
“My mind’s made up. I’ve got to keep searching. I need to find the queen.”
“And what about what I told you? Katy?”
“I told Adam, and we’re keeping an eye on her. If she moves, Adam will know, but I gotta tell you I don’t think it’s her. We would have seen the signs already. She’s human, princess. Same as you.”
Why did the way he’d said it make it sound like some sort of an insult? Her spine stiffened.
“And what if somebody asks me?”
He inhaled deeply, staring out the windshield. “Then I obviously can’t stop you. It’s not like we’re dating, right?”
Ouch.
Just when she thought they’d moved beyond all this crap, here he was acting like the ignorant dork she’d first met.
“You know what, you’re right. We’re not dating.”
The muscle in his jaw tensed and his fingers dug into his lap hard enough to make the knuckles turn white. But she wasn’t going to apologize. If that’s the way he wanted to play it, then so be it. She was sick of not knowing, of all the games. She had a right to live her life and have fun.
“I like you. A lot. But I’m not doing this with you, Cain. So you either grow up and decide what exactly it is you’re doing with me, or leave me alone.”
Getting out of the car, she slammed the door behind her, hating that her heart ached and that a huge side of her wanted to get back into that car and scrub the past five minutes from their lives. Things had been so good.
“Umm.” Janet pulled her lower lip between her teeth. “Just heard that. Totally wasn’t trying to eavesdrop, but ouch. You okay?” She rubbed Flint’s arm.
Flint shook her head, fighting back tears, and plastered on a smile. “He’s right, we’re not even dating. He never said anything, or promised me anything, or…” Her voice shook.
Janet shook her head. “For what it’s worth, I’ve never seen Cain act with anybody the way he does with you. In the car, when you touched him…” Her lips quirked. “Just be patient.”
Flint stopped walking. They were at the steps that led into the school. A group of kids were hanging out on the stairs, and some were behind it as they sneakily tried to smoke a quick cigarette.
