Shimmering Chaos (Enchanted Chaos Series )

by Jessica Sorensen

  Gage: I hope you didn’t get in too much trouble. Let me know if you need anything.

  Nina: Dude, why aren’t you answering my messages?

  Nina: Man, you missed it. Grey had to be taken to the hospital.

  The last text makes my heart sprint in my chest as I frantically text her back.

  Me: What do you mean he went to the hospital? What happened?

  She doesn’t answer right away, probably because it’s so early. Truthfully, I don’t expect her to answer until at least noon, so when I receive a message from her as I’m heading downstairs, I’m shocked. But what’s in her text shocks me even more.

  Nina: Dude, don’t ever message me this early again! The only reason I’m responding is because I had to get up to pee. But anyway, I’m not sure exactly what happened. From what people were saying, someone tasered Grey last night and he passed out.

  Me: Is he okay?

  Nina: One of his friends said he was released from the hospital, like, an hour after he was taken there, so I’m assuming he is. Seriously, though, I want to find out who tasered him and shake their hand. That asshole totally deserved it.

  She’s right, but that doesn’t mean I feel any better about the reality. The reality that I’m fairly sure my kiss is what tasered him.

  Chapter 3

  I’m feeling a bit gloomy over the message I received from Nina. Not that I care that Grey got a little hurt. But it’s hard dealing with the fact that a simple kiss from me is what did it to him.

  As I exit my bedroom, with a Charlie Brown sized frown on my face, I bump into Max. And by bump, I mean literally walk right into him with so much force that I knock my head against his chin.

  “Oh gods, are you okay?” Max asks as he steadies me by the shoulder.

  I nod, pressing the heel of my hand against my forehead as I tip my head back and meet his gaze. “I’m sorry. I wasn’t paying attention.”

  He offers me an adorable lopsided smile. “Neither was I, or I would’ve put a stop to it before it happened.”

  I start to return his smile when his words click. “Wait. How would you have stopped it?”

  His lips kick up into an amused grin. “With my powers.”

  “What sort of powers?” A memory dances in my mind of seeing glowing, green eyes my first night here. Seconds later, I fell asleep. Or, well, more like passed out. “Wait … Did you, like, hypnotize me my first night here?”

  Max pulls a wary face. “It’s not really hypnotizing so much as pushing a thought into someone’s mind.”

  “That sounds an awful lot like hypnotizing,” I say with amused suspicion.

  He chuckles. “Maybe you’re right, and I’m sorry I did it. I just panicked when you looked out the window and saw us wandering off toward the forest.”

  “Where were you going anyway? To one of your”—I make air quotes—“ ‘tournaments?’ ”

  He shakes his head, stuffing his hands into the pockets of his black jeans. “I was actually working that night.”

  “You mean, tracking an outlaw?”

  His brows dart up in surprise. “How’d you know about that?”

  I shrug. “Foster explained it to me after Ollie chased me into the bathroom. He said Ollie helps you track creatures.”

  He surveys me with a strange look on his face. “You don’t sound very frightened about that fact.”

  “Should I be?”

  “I don’t know … The creatures I track can be dangerous. And sometimes that danger occasionally follows me home.” He shifts his weight, strands of hair falling into his green eyes as he tips his head forward. “Not that I’d ever let anything happen to my family, but there has been once or twice that …” He pauses to take a breath then lifts his gaze back to me. “But yeah, anyway, that’s what I do for a living and what I was doing that night when I pushed a thought to go to sleep inside your mind, which again, I’m sorry about.”

  “No worries,” I say, even though I’m kind of wigged out. “But, who else was with you that night? I thought I saw two other figures.”

  “One was Ollie and the other was Porter.”

  “Does Porter track outlaws, too?”

  Max shakes his head, his expression neutral, guarded. “No, but sometimes I ask him to help me when I’m searching for a specific creature.”

  His hesitancy makes me not want to ask, yet I find myself doing it anyway, too curious to keep my trap shut.

  “What sort of specific creature?”

  His lips tug up into a plastic smile, then he lightly tugs on a strand of my hair. “You, beautiful, curious creature, need to get going before you’re late for your first day. Plus, Charlotte is making waffles, and if you don’t get down there soon, you’re going to miss out. And trust me; you don’t want to do that.” His smile turns real. “Charlotte makes the best waffles in all the worlds.”

  I smile back, but the move feels a bit rigid due to his purposeful avoidance from answering my question.

  When I first met Porter, I sensed something was different about him, an allure flowing off him that made me dizzy. And, when we did the merging enchantment, I felt a lot of weird feelings flowing off him. In particular, there was this intense hunger to devour something. I didn’t feel enough to know what that something was, but between that, the conversation with Max, and the allure I felt when I first met Porter, I’m wondering if perhaps there’s something different about the Everettson brother with the lavender eyes. The question is: what?

  And why does everyone seem so hesitant to tell me?

  Chapter 4

  Max walks with me downstairs in uncomfortable silence. I’ve never been good at striking up a random conversation, especially when it’s pretty clear he doesn’t want to talk to me. So, I let the silence be until we enter the kitchen, where a sixty-something-year-old woman with grey hair and glasses is busy cooking away. Her smile is bright and welcoming, along with the scent of waffles flowing through the air.

  “You must be Sky,” she greets me. She’s standing near a waffle maker on the kitchen island’s counter. “It’s so nice to finally meet you.”

  I adjust the handle of my backpack higher onto my shoulder. “You’re Charlotte, right?”

  Her smile brightens. “The one and only cook extraordinaire.”

  I smile, but inside I feel miserable after hearing the news about Grey. Sure, he’s an asshole and maybe deserved what happened, but him having to go to the hospital because he kissed me only cements the fact that I can’t be with anyone else except Foster. Which, yeah, he’s been nice to me over the last twenty-four hours, but probably because of what I am.

  If I ever do fall in love, I want it to be with someone I connect with, who gets me, who is my other half or whatever, not the only person—creature—I can fall in love with.

  Sighing, I lower myself onto a barstool beside Foster, Easton, and Max, and Foster glances up from his plate of waffles. Unlike the last time I saw him, he has a shirt on now, along with a pair of thick boots, and his dark hair is no longer wet but styled. His eyes are also silver. While he still looks gorgeous, I kind of miss the lightning-blue eyes.

  “You put eye drops in already?” I quickly bite down on my tongue, my gaze skating to Charlotte.

  Crap, was I not supposed to say that in front of her?

  “It’s fine,” Foster assures me. “Charlotte is one of the few who knows what I am.”

  I breathe a sigh of relief then face forward on the barstool as Charlotte sets a plate down in front of me. “Thanks,” I tell her. “I don’t mind serving myself food next time, though.”

  “And I don’t mind doing my job.” She hands me a fork and a bottle of syrup. “In fact, I love my job. It’s way better than working anywhere in Elemental.”

  My brows knit as I open the top of the syrup bottle. “Elemental? That’s the world where elementals are originally from, right?”

  She nods as she picks up a measuring cup from the counter. “It used to be a lovely world until it started shrin
king and became overpopulated.”

  “Worlds can shrink?” I ask, pouring syrup onto my waffles.

  She nods, shoveling a cup full of waffle batter into the waffle maker. “It can when it’s dying.”

  I gape at Foster. “Your world is dying?”

  “Our world is dying,” he corrects, twisting on his barstool to face me. “It’s been going on for a while, though, so we’ve all sort of gotten used to the idea. Not that it sucks any less.”

  “Can’t you do something about it? I mean, you have powers and …” I stuff a bite into my mouth.

  “It’s beyond anyone’s power at this point, unless someone can create elemental gods and goddesses again,” he explains, adding a glob of butter to his waffles.

  “Why? What happened to the other ones?”

  “They died just under a couple decades ago. And since their energy created and fueled Elemental, it’s now withering as the remnants of their powers fade. And only gods and goddesses are powerful enough to fuel a world.”

  “What about elemental enchanters? We’re powerful, right? So, why can’t we do it?” And why do I feel so sad that Elemental is dying?

  “We’re powerful, but not powerful enough for that. At least not just the two of us.” His knees press against mine as he rotates sideways in his seat. “And you feel sad about Elemental dying because your powers are linked to it.”

  “How did you know I was sad …?” I shake my head. “Never mind. The creepy, merge-y thing.”

  “Merge-y.” Easton chuckles as he stands up and stretches his arms above his head. “Our sis uses funny words.”

  “Don’t call me sis,” I warn as Foster shoots him a glare and says, “You can’t call her that.”

  Easton arches a brow at Foster, his smile taunting. “Why not, bro?”

  “Because,” Foster grits out, pinning him with a withering glare.

  “Yeah, you’re probably right. It’s not a very good name for the situation.” A funny look passes across his face that leaves me feeling mystified. “I think I’m going to stick with lightning eyes.”

  “Or Sky,” I protest. “That’s pretty cool, too. And it’s super short so you probably won’t forget it.”

  Easton arches a brow. “You act like I have a hard time remembering names. Like I’m a dummy or something.”

  I bat my eyelashes innocently at him. “Well, you do seem to have a hard time remembering mine, so …” I give a half-shrug.

  He narrows his eyes at me, but a playful glint twinkles in them. “You and I, lightning eyes, are going to have a lot of fun.”

  My lips twitch. “Sky. My name is Sky. S. K. Y. You know, like that big, blue thing that’s always above us.”

  “That big, blue thing that you constantly strike lightning across,” Easton stresses with a toothy grin. “So, if you really think about it, my name’s more fitting.”

  I give him an unimpressed look, a snarky comeback tickling at the back of my throat, but Holden enters the room and interrupts us.

  “Please tell me there’re some waffles left,” he says as he waltzes in, breathing in the syrupy air.

  “I’m whipping up another batch as we speak,” Charlotte replies to him with a smile.

  He returns her smile then his gaze travels across the rest of us, ultimately landing on me. “Hey, Sky, can I talk to you for a minute?”

  “Um …” I shrug. Even though he seemed nice when I first met him, after he called me weak last night, I’m a bit apprehensive about Holden. “I guess so.”

  He gives me a small smile then signals for me to follow him as he walks out of the kitchen.

  Confused, I start after him, glancing at Foster as I pass him.

  He smiles reassuringly, but confusion dances in his eyes. His confusion makes me even more apprehensive.

  What could Holden possibly want to talk to me about? Clearly no one else in this house appears to know.

  Chewing on my thumbnail, I leave the kitchen and meet up with Holden in the foyer. He’s leaning against the banister, waiting for me when I approach him.

  “Hey.” He straightens, scrubbing his hand across the top of his head, his eyes zeroing in on my fingernail chewing. Sighing, he lowers his hand to his side. “You don’t need to be nervous, Sky. If anything, I should be nervous… Some of the stuff I said last night was uncalled for, particularly about you being weak.”

  “It’s fine.” I lower my hand from my mouth. “It’s not like it wasn’t the truth.”

  “Truth or not, I acted like an asshole.” He stuffs his hands into his pockets. “And you’re not weak. You just need to learn how to control your powers, but once you do, you’re going to be very powerful.”

  “Thanks,” I say, although I still feel a bit wary about this whole being powerful thing.

  “It’s a good thing to be powerful.” It’s as if he’s reading my damn mind again.

  “But dangerous.” It’s not a question. They already told me enough about my powers now that I know the more powerful I am, the more in danger I’ll be.

  “You’ll be safe with us,” he says instead of trying to sugarcoat the truth, which I appreciate.

  I nod, giving him a smile. “I think I’m starting to believe that.”

  “Good. After what I said last night, I want to make sure you understand that.” He tensely massages the back of his neck. “Sometimes I can get really protective of my family, but that doesn’t give me an excuse to be a jerk.”

  “You weren’t a jerk.” A partial lie, but he apologized and I don’t need to be a grudge holder. “And I think it’s nice that you guys are protective of each other. In fact, there were a lot of times while I was growing up that I wished I had siblings so I could be part of a family who cared about me.” God, I sound like a pathetic, mopey girl looking for a pity party.

  “Well, you’re part of ours now, so you no longer have to feel that way.” He steps forward and gives me a hug.

  Warmth spills through me, soft and welcoming.

  This has happened a few times when I’m around him.

  “What is that?” I ask. “That warm feeling you give off sometimes?”

  His arms tense around me then he quickly draws back. “It’s nothing really. My powers sometimes just have a mind of their own.”

  “So they just do things all by themselves?”

  He nods, looking a bit squirrely. “And while I’d love to explain more, we don’t have time right now.”

  He’s avoiding telling me something, but with how twitchy he’s acting, I decide to let it drop for now.

  “We should probably get back into the kitchen before East eats all the waffles.” He places his hand against the small of my back and pushes me toward the kitchen.

  I move forward and push open the kitchen door, stepping inside. Holden follows behind me and a grin breaks across his face at the sight of the plate of freshly made waffles on the countertop.

  He hurries over and dives in,. “Thanks Charlotte, You’re the best.”

  She grins and stacks another waffle onto his plate.

  “I’m trying not to take it personally that you always give Holden more food,” Easton gripes to Charlotte. “But I kind of am.” He juts out his lip. “Is he your favorite?”

  “All of you are my favorites,” she replies, then puts a waffle onto Easton’s plate. “If you want more food, just say so,”

  Easton grins then stuffs half a waffle into his mouth.

  Guys and food. Seriously

  I move back toward the counter where my plate is, my stomach grumbling with hunger.

  Easton catches my gaze. “Are you hungry, lightning eyes? Or did you eat a baby gremlin while you were out in the hallway?”

  “I’m hungry…” I pause as his words sink in. “Wait… do gremlins exist?”

  They all bust up laughing, leaving me perplexed and flustered.

  “She’s so adorable,” Max muses as he stabs his fork into a waffle.

  Holden glances at Max with his brows knit while
Foster frowns at him. Max doesn’t appear to notice, though, too fixated with his breakfast.

  As tension laces the air, Easton lets out a cough.

  “Here’s a little tip, lightning eyes.” He grins at me as he gets up from the barstool and sets his empty plate in the sink. “Leaving food laying around in this house is as risky as dancing with a faerie. You’re lucky I haven’t eaten your food yet.”

  I move my plate closer to me. “There’s no way you could’ve eaten all of these and the ones you’ve eaten already.”

  His grin widens as he rounds the counter and reaches to steal my plate from me. “I could finish these off in like thirty seconds”

  I swat his hand away, and his eyes flicker with surprised delight.

  Suddenly, the faucet turns on, spewing water all over the sink.

  Holden chokes on a bite of waffle while Max glances from the sink to Easton with a curious look on his face.

  “I did that on purpose,” Easton stresses to no one in particular, his cheeks a bit flushed.

  “Sure you did.” Max collects his plate in his hand while giving Easton a strange look, to which Easton responds with a glare.

  Max reaches over the counter and slams the handle of the faucet down so water is no longer spewing out.

  Their exchange is peculiar, but since Easton is blushing—yes, actually blushing—I think it might be better not to ask what’s going on.

  “You guys should get going,” Max says. “You’re going to make Sky late for her first day of school, and I really doubt the secretary is going to accept the I-was-late-because-Easton-and-Foster-were-bitching-at-each-other excuse.” He smiles at me as he carries his plate to the sink. “I used that way too many times every time these guys made me late for school.”

  Smiling, I stuff a forkful of waffles into my mouth while Foster grimaces, and Easton scoffs, his blush still evident.

  “Whatever, man.” Easton snatches up a backpack that’s hanging on the back of a chair. “We learned our bitchiness from you, so …” He smirks at Max then pushes through the door, exiting the kitchen.

  Foster rubs his hand across the top of his head then looks at me. “Max is right. We should get going.” He takes my plate with one hand then threads his fingers through mine with the other.