“Well, she told you that after it changes to silver, he has to keep it on.” Now her eyes widen. Aphrodite never told Kallos that. It must have shown on her face because she hears him mumble a swear word. “Who did it change for?”
“Well, you see, that is why I am here. It changed for both of them.”
“Impossible! It only changes for your true soul mate. Unless…” Kallos clasps his hands tighter this time. She needs to know what’s going on, and since she hasn’t seen Aphrodite, she is going to get answers from Ares.
“Please, tell me! Unless what?” she asks.
“Unless it finally happened that our souls all fit together. Do you know how long we have waited for this? Well, you probably don’t, but let’s say forever. Do they both take away some of your pain?” She nods. “Do you know all of you carry a part of us with you? I’m sure you guessed that Sean got my attitude.” He gives her a devilish grin and starts laughing.
Ares is laughing so hard that he starts crying; she doesn’t even know that Gods could cry. He moves away from her and turns his back to her. Walking back to Kallos he hands her a stunning large pink and white flower, smiling back at him she sniffs the flower and feels as if the smell of this flower is radiating through every pore.
“This is beautiful, and it smells delightful. What is it?” She smiles at him.
“It’s dahlia. It has a beautiful meaning, and it fits you well.” Ares says.
“Well, are you going to tell me the meaning, Ares?” She asks and slaps his arm. He chuckles and nods.
“It’s a symbol of a commitment and bond that lasts forever.” He reaches out and touches her cheek. “You are the first person to have two soul mates. I can’t wait to tell Apollo.” He turns away like he’s leaving, but she remembers something she needs to know.
“Ares wait!” he stops and turns back around. “Why can’t the boys take off their necklaces?” His smiling, cheerful face turned into something she can’t explain.
“It will tear their souls from their very being. The necklace is now a part of them. It will also connect you to them. They will know you are in pain before you need them. You must go, Kallos.” Then Ares does something that she has seen Aphrodite do; he vanishes. Kallos is left standing alone with all of these new thoughts running through her head. At least she isn’t confused anymore; she just has two soul mates.
Kallos thinks of her soft bed, her pillow filled with the softest down and her dark comfy room. She needs to tell Sean and Ian about the necklaces. She doesn't like how it feels when she returns. Going there isn’t too bad, but waking up is never pleasant; it simply hurts. The numbness spreads throughout her whole body. A sharp pain makes it increasingly difficult to take a breath let alone calm herself. The words escape her as she wants to call out for help.
All of a sudden Kallos’ bedroom door slams open, and there are two figures standing in the doorway. The two figures are in the doorway for only a brief moment. Her relief of the boys’ presence is shown as one of them grabs her hand and the other places his hand on her bare leg. She glances up at the door again and sees her parents standing there. The worry on their faces is heart wrenching.
As the pain lessens she can take in a full breath of air and fill her now anguished lungs with much needed air. Kallos squeezes the hand that is holding hers. Looking up she sees Sean’s gray eyes looking down on her in a silent panic. Propping herself up against Sean she looks down her pained body at Ian still lightly caressing her bare leg.
“Mom, Dad, I’m fine. You can stop worrying about me. And thank you Sean and Ian; I feel better.” She lies; she doesn't want to worry them. Sean and Ian start to pull their hands away from her. “No, please don’t let me go. Not yet.” The boys didn’t say anything; they just returned to Kallos. “I need to tell you two, something. I went to see Aphrodite, but I didn’t find her; I found Ares.” She looks at Sean when she said Ares because she can feel the heat radiating from his body.
Kallos doesn't know if it is bad heat or a good heat, but she decides to continue. “He said all of our souls have finally found a way to fit together and you can never take your necklaces off. Ares said that it would destroy you and the necklaces will keep you connected to me. You’ll know what I’m feeling and when I need you.”
“Are you saying that if we take off our necklaces, it would kill us?” Ian asks. His hand isn’t moving now. Kallos just nods. “That’s how we knew you were in pain before we heard you. I know I felt a strong pull to be next to you. Did you Sean?” He looks up at Sean.
“Yes, I wanted to be next to you, and I could almost feel your pain before we opened the door.” His thumb is rubbing circles along her knuckles. “Kallos, what do you have in your hand?” He looks nervous. Kallos looks to her other hand and sees the flower that Ares gave her. It still looks and smells wonderful.
“Ares gave it to me,” she whispers, and she can tell that he is upset.
“I don’t understand how you are able to bring things from there. We have been going forever and never could bring anything back. And trust me, I have tried,” Ian says. Kallos doesn't understand where this jealousy is coming from. She speaks carefully.
“I don’t know. The first time Aphrodite told me that she would allow it, and this time Ares didn’t tell me that I could or couldn’t bring it with me. He just gave it to me and then he had to go.” He glances at her and smiles.
“Sweetie, now that we know your fine we are going to go to bed. We love you,” her mom says and comes over to kiss her cheek. Kallos' dad follows.
“You two can stay in here for a little bit. Good night KD,” he leans in and kisses Kallos' forehead. Her parents walk over to the door and walk out without saying another word. Since the boys put on their necklaces, Ian hasn’t been the same. It’s like he blames her for something. Even now, when he’s touching her, she doesn't feel the same warmth.
The entire time he has been in her presence the warmth and compassion that once was there seems to be clouded by something else something darker. It’s starting to break her heart, and she doesn't know how to stop it. Kallos closes her eyes because she can't bare it anymore. She can feel Sean squeeze her hand.
“Baby, are you still in pain?” Sean asks Kallos. She is in pain but not a pain that he can help. She opens her eyes, and he is inches from her face. She gives him the best smile that she can get out.
“I’m not in that much pain anymore. Thank you guys so much. I felt like I was dying.” Sean gives her a light kiss before moving away. She notices that Ian is finally looking at her.
“We should get going. I don’t want to make your parents mad on our first night,” Sean says. “Besides now we will know when you’re in pain, so that will help. Good night, Kallos.” He turns to walk toward the door and Ian follows.
“Ian, can I talk to you for a minute?” Kallos asks. He stops right in front of the door. Sean turns around and nods at him. Sean gives Kallos a wink and walks away, leaving Ian and her alone.
“Ian, can you come here, please?” At first he doesn't move, but he makes his way slowly to her. All she can see is the top of his silky black hair; the front of his hair is now covering his bright blue eyes. Kallos can feel something inside of her breaking because of him. She wants her sweet Ian back. “I’m sorry, Ian,” she hears her voice break, and she knows she is going to be in tears soon. Kallos buries her face in her hands to hide the tears. “I'm so sorry!” She knows it’s stupid to be crying. What she feels for Ian and Sean is more than love, and it's killing her to know that Ian is mad at her. She feels his arm go around her, and he holds her tightly.
“Shh, you have nothing to be sorry about,” Ian whispers into her ear. Kallos is still crying, and she is starting to feel the wetness soaking into his shirt.
“You don’t have to stay here with me if you don’t want to. I still have Sean.” She is really hoping he will stay. He pulls away from Kallos and stares into her eyes.
“Kallos, I want to be here. What gave you that impress
ion?” He is looking at her, and she can see something dark in his eyes again. Suddenly, when he blinks, it's gone. When she is just about to tell him that he gave her that impression, he shakes his head. “I did. Didn’t I?”
Kallos doesn't say anything; she just looks down. He lets go of her body and put his hands on her face. “Oh, Kallos, I’m the one who is sorry. I’ve been scared since we put on these necklaces, and confused. But when we came in here and saw you, I almost lost my cool. Sean and I knew what you were feeling and felt it firsthand. Since you have two soul mates, what will you do?” That is the big question; what is she going to do? She can’t be with both of them, right?'
“I don’t know yet. You guys have to give me some time. I mean I just found out that I have not one but two soul mates.” She has only known them for a few days now.
“We aren’t going to rush you, Kallos. I better get going before your parents freak out. Good night, Kallos.” Without a good night kiss, he leaves, and she drops her head into her hands. There are so many things she is discovering about herself in such a little amount of time, Kallos is afraid she might break. She doesn't know how much more she can take. She runs her fingers through her hair, and decides to go back to sleep. The last thing she remembers thinking, I hope I have normal dreams, as she drifts off in a deep slumber.
CHAPTER NINE
The sun from her big picture window wakes Kallos up. After what happened last night, Kallos forgot to close the blinds. Since she is waking up almost an hour early, she decides to get up and take a shower. Now that there are two new people in the house, she wants to be the first one in the shower. Kallos grabs her fuzzy black robe with light pink hearts on it and walks to the bathroom. When she goes to open the door, she finds it locked. “Crap,” there goes her plan. She slumps down across from the bathroom.
Kallos isn't sitting there long before the door opens, and Ian is standing in the doorway. The sight of him takes her breath away. A dark blue towel is wrapped around his waist, and his gorgeous black hair is still wet and messy from the shower. She can't take her eyes off of his bare body. His abdomen looks like it was sculpted from stone, and she badly wanted to reach out to run her finger tips down each well-defined muscle. When she finally looks up at his face, he is smiling. Kallos can feel the heat rushing up her face. As she quickly looks down, she notices his sculpted body, which makes her blush even more. He starts to chuckle.
“Good morning, Kallos,” Ian says sounding pleased. She decides that looking at his feet is the best thing she can do.
“Good morning, Ian. Did you save any hot water for me?” Kallos is flustered from being caught staring at his perfect abs, her quickly turning crimson cheeks show her deep embarrassment.
“I’m sorry Ian,” Kallos apologizes as she stands up. “I slept deeply for the first night in a long time, but woke up too soon. What about you and Sean?” She rises up on her toes so that they are almost eye-to-eye.
“We slept great, just woke up fifteen minutes ago. Sean was going to take a shower next, but I’ll let him know that you are.” Ian looks down at Kallos and gives her a full smile.
“That would be great. I can come and get him when I’m done.” She can feel her mouth getting dry just by him looking at her. She looks down, forgetting that Ian is only wearing a towel. She really needs to get into the bathroom and stop embarrassing herself. She looks down to hide her blushing. She tries to walk past him, but he holds onto her arm.
“Kallos, never hide your face from me. I love it when you blush.” He gently lifts her chin so that she is looking him in the eye. He smiles and brushes his fingertips along her cheeks. Then he pulls her into him and kisses her. Kallos wraps her arms around his neck in order to get as close as possible to him. Feeling her knees starting to give out on her, he tightens his hold on her, which only pulls her tighter to his body. Pulling away Kallos places her trembling hand on his chest feeling his warmth… “That was a great way to wake me up.” Kallos looks up from his chest, and smiles.
“Go take your shower.” Ian's bright, beautiful, baby-blue eyes stare down at Kallos. He kisses the top of her head and pushes her towards the bathroom.
****
As Ian walks into his and Sean's bedroom, he can still feel Kallos' happiness, and by the look on Sean's face, he can, too. Ian can tell that this necklace is going to cause problems. He doesn't want to feel it every time Sean is with her. He walks over and grabs his clothes.
“What took you so long? I've been waiting,” Sean says as he is heading to the door.
“You have to wait; Kallos is taking her shower,” Ian says, and Sean turns to face him.
“You know I can join her. We will save water and help the environment.” Ian isn't in the mood to hear his brother's smart mouth. The darkness inside of him is trying to take over, and it wants to pound Sean. Ian takes a deep, long breath and cools himself down. He can't have Kallos and her family seeing his dark side. Ian knows that Kallos has seen his eyes change, but she doesn't know what he and Sean have inside them.
“Watch it, brother!” Ian doesn't want anyone talking about Kallos like that.
“Dude, I am joking. You know I wouldn’t treat her like the rest; she’s different. She deserves so much more.” Ian nods in agreement. “We need to be nice to each other for her. She is the only one that matters,” Sean pauses. Ian can see his brother's eyes change. “When you were with her, I could feel everything,” Sean whispers. That is something Ian doesn't know if he can handle. With this necklace, he knew the moment she woke up this morning. When she was nervous, he felt it.
“Well, I'm going to go downstairs. She’ll be done soon.” Ian walks out of the room.
****
Kallos walks into the steamy light blue bathroom and shuts the door. She takes a deep breath to steady herself. What would have happened if her parents saw her kissing a boy who was wearing only a towel? Her dad would flip.
Kallos doesn't want to take long, so she quickly washes her hair and seems to rub her body raw in a rush. She doesn't want to be the reason why everyone else has to take a cold shower. She gets out, wraps her hair into a towel, and puts on her robe. She opens the door and heads to the boys’ room. Kallos knocks once, and Sean opens the door. He smiles and she smiles back.
“Good morning, Babe,” Sean says as he leans in and kisses her cheek. He is inches from Kallos' face; she feels her insides turn gooey. Catching herself as she is staring at his beautiful blue eyes she slowly moves them to his full mouth. She feels like she’s just swallowed glass as she realizes her heart is probably in her throat from her excitement. She hears someone behind her clear their throat, Sean looks up from her face and the color drains completely from his face. Their playfulness is short lived when Sean clears his throat and says “Good morning, Sir. She turns around slowly and smiles innocently at him.
“Good morning.” That’s all her dad says as his glare almost burns a hole into Sean. Kallos wanted to laugh but held it in.
“Dad, I was just letting Sean know that I was done with the shower. That’s all.” He spares Kallos a glace and turns his gaze back to Sean.
“Well, I think he knows now. Don’t you, Sean?” Her dad glares. Sean just nods. If her dad is mad about a kiss on the cheek, how would he act if he saw Ian and her earlier?
“Okay, Dad, I’m going to get ready now. Please be nice,” she says before she turns away and walks to her room.
Since Kallos already made her dad mad this morning, she decides that she better wear something he would agree with. She grabs her long sleeved black shirt that say’s Angel across the chest in light blue rhinestones. It is one of her favorite shirts and is last year’s birthday present from her best friend Breanna. She always wore her faded blue jeans with that shirt. Kallos loves how they are tight on her legs and flared out at her ankles. Her long, dark brown hair is starting to curl, and decides to leave it. She puts on little make up and gives herself one last look.
Kallos' mom calls for them to eat. She walks
downstairs and into the kitchen; she can see Ian, and her dad sitting at the table and the only spot open is next to her dad. She rolls her eyes and sits next to him. Kallos' mom brings her plate of bacon and eggs; she directs her attention to her food in front of her as she realizes she is suddenly famished. She looks across the table and smiles at the boys.
“Mr. Dean?” Kallos looks back up at Ian and so does her dad. “Sean and I were wondering if we could walk to school. It’s not supposed to be cold, and we aren’t supposed to get rain today; I checked.”
Sean walks into the kitchen, when his eyes meet hers he winks. He walks over to Kallos’s mother and whispers something to her for only her to hear, she laughs and shakes her head; she turns around to sit at the table. Kallos smiles at seeing Sean carrying two plates of food to the table. He gently sits one in front of her mother, and then sits next to her. He looks up and smiles at Kallos, and she returns one.
“That should be fine.” Kallos’ mom says as she looks up from her food and her dad gives her Mom the look. “James, it will take them less than ten minutes to walk to school.” She glares back at him, and Kallos has to hide her smile.
Fifteen minutes later, they are walking the door and heading to school. Kallos is in between the boys. Every once in a while, one of their hands brushed against hers, and she would feel her birthmark tingle. Kallos used to be afraid of that feeling and thought it meant something bad, but this isn’t a bad feeling. This was a connection with someone. Suddenly, Kallos went from the girl that never had a boyfriend to a girl that may have two.
“What’s that face for?” Sean asks her; Kallos looks at him, but she doesn’t want to tell them. “You’re still freaked that you have two soul mates. You know that you don’t have to be with both of us.” He pulls on her arm to get her to look at him. Sean and Kallos stop and so does Ian.
“Or either of us. Just because we’re soul mates, we don’t have to be together.” Ian says which made her look at him. She already knew that being with both of them isn’t an option, but she can't imagine not being with one of them. Her heart doesn’t know if it wants a bad boy or a good boy. She knows that is something she needs to figure out later, and by herself. She reaches out and grabs each of their hands.
Kallos (Kallos Series) Page 8
