by Aimee Ash
“Yes, I think so.”
I placed my hands in front of me, touching his shoulder, and he turned away. Now my heart was racing; I wished I hadn’t said anything.
“Just forget what I said,” I told him. “It’s not like you feel the same anyway. Is it?” I had to know and now I thought my heart would explode with anticipation. Part of me wanted him to confess his undying love for me, for us to fall into each other’s arms and make passionate love. The other part of me wanted him to be disgusted with me for crossing such a forbidden line.
Seb ran his fingers through my hair and leaned toward me. Feeling him so close sent shivers through my body. We had undeniable chemistry.
“I’m so sorry,” he whispered in my ear.
I felt sick. “It’s okay. It’s probably just a stupid crush. As if you feel the same—”
Seb gently pressed his finger to my lips.
“I’m sorry because I have feelings for you too. I wish that I didn’t, but I can’t help it,” he said. Before I had a chance to respond, Seb placed his hands on my waist and said, “I have to confess how I feel. After keeping away from you, I’ve found myself wanting you more than anything. I know I can’t have you. I shouldn’t have you.” He turned away from me again.
I had gotten my answer. Seb had feelings for me, but knew that he could never act on them. Despite our mutual attraction, we could never have each other. It was like a bee that could never thrive on nectar, like a child who was denied candy, a plant withering without water. It was unfair.
Perhaps it was that Jack’s attention had flattered me into thinking that I had feelings for him. With the combination of flattery and the curse, which seemed to have taken over my mind and body, I had been tricked into living a lie. Because of this curse, I had now destroyed the one chance I had of true love. If I told Jack that I’d fallen for his brother, he would die, and consequently, Seb would die too. I was overwhelmed and trapped in a nightmare, and I wanted to be free..
With my heart beating faster, I felt Seb’s hand glide gently into mine. Our fingers entwined and I instantly knew that this felt different, natural. He turned to face me and I gently pressed myself into his chest. He then wrapped his arms around me, fully aware of the danger of our actions. I knew that if I kissed Seb, I was kissing Jack goodbye.
Seb’s body was naturally responding to mine. Feeling for his face, I ran my hands through his hair, moving closer to him. Our bodies shuddered as we touched, and our lips met. Then Seb pulled away and hung his head.
“Kate, we can’t.”
I didn’t know how to respond, but then I didn’t have to; I heard footsteps and the lights came on. Grabbing my bag, I ran out of the library, past the janitor, not daring to look back. I drove home, gasping for air between tears. I thought about telling Jack, but by telling him the truth, he would die.
I felt dizzy and hit the brakes.
As I opened my eyes, I looked around. I was on Jack’s bed and he was lying next to me. Turning my head, I saw Seb standing on the other side of the bed.
“Don’t worry, Kate. Relax. Seb told me what happened. You’re fine; it was just a nasty knock to your head, nothing serious,” Jack said calmly.
Seb looked at me guiltily; he had obviously not told Jack the truth.
Jack looked at me and kissed my cheek. “You’re lucky that Seb found you. He recognized your car as he was driving home. He has some exciting news. Tell her, Seb.”
“What news?” I was worried about what he might say.
“I’ve been invited to spend another semester in France for an art program. Professor Livingstone submitted a piece of my work and the art directors in France were so impressed that they want me to join the program immediately. I leave tomorrow.”
I rubbed my eyes, trying to avoid Jack seeing my disappointment. I didn’t want Seb to leave, even if we could only ever be friends. I needed him in my life in some way.
“I thought you were enjoying Art and English? Our classes have been great.”
“He’s not going to pass up an opportunity like this,” Jack said. “I’ve spent the last few hours convincing him to go for it!”
It seemed that Jack couldn’t wait for his brother to leave, and I knew why. Seb sat in silence; he couldn’t even look at me.
“Wait! What about our plan? We have to see out our plan.” My voice was overly desperate. Thankfully, Jack didn’t seem to pick up on this, but I was sure that Seb had.
“Kate, we can see the plan through without Seb,” Jack said, trying to convince me.
“No, we can’t do it without him. All I’m asking is that you stay for a couple more days. What’s the rush, anyway?” Jack’s face tightened with my reasoning. “A couple more days won’t make much of a difference,” I pleaded.
“Okay, let’s see out the plan tomorrow then,” Jack decided, without consulting anyone else.
“Is that okay with you, Seb?” I asked.
“I’ll stay if you want me to, Kate.”
I nodded, knowing that he wasn’t just referring to staying for the plan, and I wanted him to stay more than anything.
Seb looked at his brother and left the room. Jack lay next to me, swamping me in his arms. As he held me, my heart throbbed for Sebastian, and the guilt made me sick.
CHAPTER 23
Later that afternoon, I awoke in Jack’s bed and the throbbing in my head had subsided. I looked out the window and saw Jack and Seb talking in the garden, probably discussing how they were going to capture this stranger to get answers from him.
I headed down the hallway to the bathroom. I held the handle of the bathroom door and stared at Seb’s closed bedroom door for far too long. The house was so quiet that I could hear myself breathing. I took my hand off the handle and tiptoed down the hallway toward Seb’s room. I opened his door and closed it quietly behind me.
Unlike Jack’s bedroom, Seb’s room was clean and well organized. There was a huge bookcase crammed full of books on art, sculpture, and Shakespeare. But a large sandy-colored sketchbook caught my eye. I slid it out and sat at Seb’s desk. To my surprise, the book was full of sketches of me. The last sketch was of Seb and me standing together, gazing into one another’s eyes. It seemed that I’d underestimated his feelings for me, and although I was surprised, I was also thrilled. But before I had the chance to turn the page, the book snapped shut. I looked behind me and Seb was standing there looking at me. I jumped up out of the chair.
“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t be here,” I said.
“What are you doing in my room?” Seb walked over to the desk and, taking the sketchbook, he placed it back on the shelf. “You shouldn’t be going through my things.”
“I’m sorry.”
“Jack would go ballistic if he knew you were in here. If he sees you, it could jeopardize our plan for this evening. You have to go.”
I knew he was right, so I headed for the door. As I reached for the handle, someone knocked on the door.
“Seb, are you in there? I can’t find Kate!” Jack shouted.
Seb ushered me behind the door. He took his shirt off in a hurry and threw it in my direction. I caught it as he opened the door just enough to peek into the hallway.
“I’m getting changed. I just saw Kate; she’s gone home to get changed too.” I could tell he felt guilty having to lie to his brother, and it was my fault.
“Oh. She never mentioned that to me.”
“She told me to tell you. Sorry, I forgot,” Seb lied again.
I couldn’t help staring at his body. Without realizing it, I found myself running my hand down his back. Seb spoke fast, trying to sound convincing as he told lie after lie, so that Jack wouldn’t find out that I was in his brother’s bedroom.
“Jack, I’m sure Kate won’t be long. I need to freshen up before we leave. I’ll meet you downstairs in half an hour.”
I continued to run my hand up and down his back.
“Are you okay? You seem edgy.” Seb nodded and Jack remained at the d
oor. “Thank you for agreeing to leave. It’s for the best. I managed to get you the last spot in that art program. I’m sure you’ll love it.”
I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. Jack had planned everything. He had asked Seb to leave and through guilt, Seb had graciously agreed.
“I’m just anxious about tonight,” Seb said.
“Okay. See you in half an hour.”
Seb closed the door and spun around so fast that my hand was now caressing his chest. He reluctantly moved my hand away.
“Kate, what are you doing? I’m lying to Jack for you, telling him that you aren’t here and you’re, you know, touching me.” Flustered, Seb walked over to his closet.
“I’m sorry. It just feels so natural being with you. You can’t deny that you feel the same, not after what I saw in your sketchbook.”
“None of that matters. Kate, this can’t happen again. We have to stay away from each other as much as we possibly can. If Jack finds out that we have feelings for each other he’ll be destroyed; he’ll die.”
“And you’ll die too,” I said, feeling anxious.
“Yes. I’ll die too.” I could see that Seb wanted to comfort me, and I’d instantly welcome his arms around me.
“Seb, I’m scared. I’m holding both of your lives in the palm of my hand.”
“I know. Jack was selfish to allow this to happen. I’ll do everything I can to protect you.” Seb’s mood was soothing. “Try to focus and let’s hope that we find this guy tonight; he might have information that might help us.”
“Tell me,” I began. “If we could break the curse, would you want to be with me?”
Seb’s eyes were locked on mine. “Of course. I’m crazy about you.”
“Then don’t leave. I know Jack asked you to, but I can see that you want to stay. Stay with me, Seb,” I said.
“If I stay it’ll be hard. With the curse having such a powerful hold over us, we can never be together.”
“Please stay. I need you.”
“What will I tell Jack? I can’t tell him the real reason why I want to stay.” He hung his head.
“Tell him anything, but promise me you’ll stay.”
Seb moved closer to me and with all my willpower, I had to stop myself from reaching out for him.
“I promise,” he whispered in my ear.
We looked into each other’s eyes and leaned into toward each other, inches away from locking lips.
“Kate, you have to go. There’re only so many times I’ll be able to resist you. Jack will be expecting you back soon.”
Seb was right.
I sighed. “I’ll go, but how will I explain still being in the same clothes?”
Seb walked over to his window and looked outside. “Your balcony doors are open. You need to rethink your ideas on security.” He smiled. “Tell me what you need and I’ll get it for you.”
I described a green, striped top and a pair of black skinny jeans and watched Seb disappear out the window. He was back within a couple of minutes with what I’d asked for.
“Thanks. Now there’s the small matter of changing into them.”
He turned away from me.
“How will I know you won’t peek? You’re so fast I’d never know, would I?”
Seb laughed. “I guess you’ll just have to trust me.”
As I changed, I knew that he wouldn’t peek, but I wanted him to.
The evening arrived and it was time to execute our plan. We left the house and Jack and I walked ahead, knowing that Seb wasn’t far behind us. I spent the entire walk hoping this stranger would turn up and solve our problems. Otherwise, I knew that Seb and I wouldn’t have a future together.
Jack steered the boat to the same spot where we’d seen the guy a couple of days before. He held my waist and I wrapped my arm around his, inhaling the salty air and trying to maintain normalcy in my fraudulent relationship with him. I knew that we were both hoping for freedom from the curse, but for different reasons.
Jack cut the engine. It seemed like we’d been waiting forever before there was a glimmer of hope. Over my shoulder, Jack saw a silhouette and calmly whispered into my ear, telling me what he’d seen. Jack spun around, launching himself off the boat and onto the cliff. In a bid to catch the stranger, Seb joined Jack, and both of them powered their way up the cliff in different directions.
I watched, and soon, they were both out of sight. The waves rippled as I stood on the boat, looking in every direction in search of them. Then, three figures appeared at the top of the cliff before jumping in the water. My heart skipped a beat and I hoped that the stranger had the answers that would set us all free.
Reaching the boat, neither Jack nor Seb were out of breath. Oddly enough, neither was the stranger. They dragged the guy onto the boat and as they released him, he fell and sprawled out on the floor. Jack crouched down beside him and Seb walked over to me.
“Kate, are you okay?”
“I’m fine. So who is he?” I asked.
“That’s what we want to know,” Seb said.
Jack, Seb, and the stranger exchanged stares. When the stranger stood and ran his hands through his hair, I noticed that he towered over me, and was just as tall as Jack and Seb. His thin lips curved into a smile, like he was pleased to have been captured, and he stood awkwardly, like his body wasn’t his own.
“Well, explain yourself. Who are you?” Jack demanded.
“My name is Ethan Anderson. I pose no threat to you.”
“Okay, Ethan Anderson, tell us what you’re doing spying on me and my girlfriend.”
We all stared at him, waiting for a response.
“I’m not some weirdo, okay? I’m not spying on you.”
“Well, why were you watching us and shouting out things that nobody else should know?” Seb asked.
“Has someone sent you?” Jack asked impatiently.
“Nobody sent me. I’ve been watching you, making sure I had the right people before I said anything.”
“Who are you to us? What do you want from us?” Seb questioned.
“I’m your half-brother,” Ethan said, his thin lips once again parting into a zealous grin.
“You can’t be,” Seb said.
“There’s no mistake. I’ve seen what you’re capable of. I can do the same things. We have the same father,” Ethan blurted out.
“How old are you, Ethan?” I asked.
“I’m seventeen. I’m guessing I’m around a year younger than my brothers?”
“Ethan, what is it you’ve seen us do?” Seb asked cautiously.
Ethan grabbed a bottle of water and threw it so high that it was completely out of sight. He then leapt off the boat and disappeared. We all looked up at the night sky, and with great speed and accuracy, Ethan landed on the boat with the bottle in his hand. The boat rocked and Seb caught me just before I fell overboard.
Jack and Seb looked at each other and Ethan stood with folded arms, waiting for a reaction.
“Is that proof enough for you?” he asked.
“So you have some of the same skills as us, but you’re not as fast,” Jack said sarcastically.
“Just because you share our skills doesn’t mean you’re related to us,” Seb said. “But I’m interested to know how you gained your powers.”
“I swear I’m your brother.” Ethan took a pocket knife out of his jacket, held up his hand, and sliced his palm. Purple blood slid down his arm and he wiped it away with the ocean water. As he took his hand out of the water, he held it up for us all to see: the cut had already healed.
“You’ve proved your point. So what do you want?” Jack asked.
“I’m here looking for you and a Jonathan Jones; I think he can help me find my father.”
Seb and Jack looked at each other with confusion etched all over their faces. I was positive we were all wondering how Ethan had heard of Jonathan and why he would think he could help him find his father.
Ethan continued explaining. “Jonathan was our fat
her’s best friend and I’m hoping that he can help me find him.”
“Let’s take a break. There’s obviously a lot we all need to discuss,” I said.
I was attempting to be the voice of reason and it worked. Everyone sat down, and after a few minutes of silence, Seb was first to speak.
“Ethan, it seems that you know more than us. We have no idea who our father is; we don’t even know his name,” Jack said.
“Our father’s name is Marcus Anderson. I’m sorry; I assumed you would know. If you don’t want to know anything else, point me in the direction of Jonathan, and I’ll go. I have no intention of disrupting your lives.”
“Ethan, we want to know what you know before we point you in anyone’s direction. We need to know everything,” Jack said, folding his arms.
“Unfortunately, I’m the result of a meaningless one-night stand. Until a few months ago, I’ve been living with these powers in secret. My mother told me on her deathbed that my father had twin sons born a few weeks before she got pregnant with me. She told me a man named Jonathan Jones would have answers for me. He probably has answers for you too.”
“Ethan, I’m sorry about your mother,” I said.
Jack reached out to shake Ethan’s hand and Seb looked at him with raised eyebrows.
“Sorry for the hostility, Ethan. I’m pleased to meet you,” Jack said. Ethan shook his hand and smiled.
“I’m finding this a little hard to take in. How did you find us?” Seb asked.
“My mother told me the town you were born in, so I took my chances in traveling down there, and it paid off. An old man who lived near a secluded beach told me that you had moved to Long Beach. I’ve been watching you all for weeks to be sure that I didn’t reveal myself to the wrong people. I’m hoping Jonathan Jones can help me find our father. Do you know him?”
“Yes,” Jack and Seb said in unison.
“Great! How do you know him?” he asked excitedly.
“He’s our adoptive father,” Jack answered.
Ethan’s eyes widened. “Didn’t Jonathan tell you that he was best friends with our father?”
