CRYSTALLUM (The Primordial Principles Book 1)

by McMann, Laney

  19

  FRIDAY, COMPARED TO THE REST of the week, was surprisingly uneventful, and Cole wasn't at school. Kadence wasn't sure what about that bothered her more: not seeing him, knowing that she wanted to see him, or still having a weird feeling that something was wrong.

  Giselle hadn't helped with that either. After the disastrous dancing lesson the night before, she'd insisted that she stay and make dinner for Kade and her dad, who by eight-thirty, still hadn't gotten home. After assuring Kade that the leftover spaghetti would be fine on the lowest setting in the oven until her dad got home to eat it, she insisted that Kade let her paint her toenails, and then her finger nails. Kadence only relented after Giselle pitched a fit. Finally, at ten-thirty, after Kade's dad pulled into the driveway, Giselle left. Nothing about any of that felt normal.

  The rumor going around school was that Cole had gone out of town on family business. Kade wasn't sure who'd spread it because Danny wasn't at school, either, and neither was Tiffany. Something about that was very unsettling. Kade couldn't stop herself from glancing over her shoulder every few minutes during History, hoping Cole would appear. Giselle kept giving her concerned glances, and unlike her usual perky self, she'd grown oddly quiet.

  Kade's transfer into Algebra II was no better. She felt as if something vital was missing, and every now and then, she would check that she had her phone, her car keys, and her wallet. Nothing tangible was missing. That in itself made her uneasy. It was Cole she missed. She had somehow become completely attached to a guy she didn't really know. If that didn't scream the definition of pathetic, nothing did.

  ***

  "I thought you said I was leaving it down?" Kade complained, as Giselle fixed her hair later that night.

  "You are. But we have to make it look good, not just stick straight like you usually wear it." She reached for the curling iron. "Why's it so damn flat?"

  "Because it's straight?"

  Giselle picked up a clump and let it fall with a plop. "It's too silky."

  "Can we just leave it alone?" Kade slumped in her chair.

  "I'm almost done." Giselle pulled one side over and pinned it, letting the rest flow down. "There."

  Happy to be free of her bonds, Kade slipped on her shoes just as the doorbell rang.

  "Hurry up. You have to make your entrance down the stairs." Giselle waved Kade forward with a frantic hand movement.

  "You can't be serious?"

  Giselle grabbed her hand and shoved her onto the staircase landing. Kade glared back.

  "Sorry. Just go."

  With a deep inhale, Kade proceeded down the steps and heard Jake's voice.

  "Good evening, Mr. Sparrow."

  "Jake," Kade's dad said. "I expect this night to go smoothly. No drinking and driving. In fact, no drinking at all."

  "No, sir."

  "Seat belts at all times. Stick to the speed limit, and have Kadence home by 11:30."

  "Yes, sir."

  Kade took the last few steps, hanging tight to the railing, and Jake let out a low breath, as she came to stand in the living room.

  "You look..." He glanced at her dad and cleared his throat. "Really pretty."

  She smiled. "So do you. You look good, I mean."

  Her dad coughed.

  "Handsome." He'd chosen a simple black suit with a white shirt and navy blue tie that matched her dress.

  "Thanks. You ready?" He held out an elbow.

  She slipped an arm through it.

  “Coats!" Giselle scrambled down the steps holding Kade's out.

  Her dad started forward. "Have a good time." She recognized his look. Don't do anything stupid.

  She nodded.

  "Okay, let's get the show on the road." Giselle hustled them toward the front door. "Good night, Mr. Sparrow. Lindsey gets mad if I make her wait too long.” She winked and fled into the cold night.

  "Could you be any slower?" Lindsey complained out of her car window from the driveway before hastily rolling it up again.

  "See?" Giselle laughed.

  "We'll meet you there." Kade followed Jake down the steps, careful not to slip and bust her butt.

  "We're following you." Giselle eyed Jake, as she slipped into the passenger's seat of Lindsey's car.

  ***

  The Fall Dance was being held at the school gym and the parking lot was crammed when they arrived. Jake jumped the curb, parking in the grass.

  "Ready to do this?" He cut the engine.

  "Ready."

  "Let me come around and open the door for you." Jake bolted out his door and around to hers. His car was way too low to the ground for short dresses and heels. Crawling out on her hands and knees would probably have been more graceful than her newly born calf exit. Standing up, her heels sunk into the snow, throwing her off balance.

  Jake's arms wrapped around her waist, steadying her. "You okay?"

  "Yeah."

  He let his hands fall from her hips. "You're way too pretty to fall and mess up all you've got going on." He made a circular motion with his hand.

  "All I've got going on?" A laugh broke through as they made their way toward the gym.

  "There's a lot going on." His face lit up. "Not complaining. Just pointing it out."

  Kade shook her head. Boys.

  Kids mingled around outside the gym, and music blared through the open doors. A long table covered in a yellow table cloth flanked the entrance. Jake handed the attendant the tickets, and Kade checked her coat and purse. The gym was decorated exactly like one of those old eighties movies she'd watched. Yellow and brown streamers attached to every surface imaginable and red and gold balloons tied to tables and chairs.

  The bleachers had been wheeled into the hallway, and the dance floor was packed, strobe lights flickering in every direction. A DJ took up the back corner of the room, calling off songs. It was nowhere near as good as Crystalline, but Kade was impressed. A slow song started and Jake's hand slid down her arm and rested in her hand.

  "Dance?" He lifted an eyebrow.

  Great. Giselle probably told him Kade's version of dancing consisted of breaking other people's toes. She glanced down to see what kind of shoes Jake was wearing. He tapped his feet from side to side. She grinned, glancing up at him. He really was cute, and so nice.

  "Yep. I'm wearing good shoes. So?" He nudged her, still gripping her hand.

  "Sure." Might as well get it over with.

  Giselle bounded through the crowd, her long pale blue dress showing off her svelte figure and dark curls.

  "We got a table over there." She pointed toward a clearly unenthused Lindsey who was dressed in a white seersucker suit with an open collar. Her dark glossy hair was pulled straight back into a pony tail. She reminded Kade of a runway model.

  "She's such a downer." Giselle shook her head. "Wanna sit?"

  "I was going to try out my shoes first," Jake said. "See how they hold up against Kade's heels."

  "So, you do know I can't slow dance?" She glanced at Giselle. "So wrong."

  Jake smiled and tugged Kade toward the dance floor. "What I really want to know is how someone whose name means 'rhythm' can't dance?"

  "Slow dance. I can dance, just not...like this."

  "I can dance for the two of us," he whispered.

  "Yeah." She cleared her throat. "I heard."

  "Did you?" He grinned. "My skills are renowned."

  "Your skills?"

  "I have many skills." His blue-eyed gaze found hers. "Dancing is only one of them." Kade's face heated, picturing what he could mean, before quickly dispelling the image from her mind. She didn't want to imagine what he meant.

  They swayed back and forth and Jake rested his hand on her hip. No weird energy rushed through her—no electric shocks were administered, and she only stepped on his feet twice, to which Jake merely grinned. It was nice. Comfortable. Like the first day they'd spent time together at the coffee shop—besides the Kyle thing. Being with Jake was just easy.

  The music sped up, a
nd he gave Kade a wicked grin. "Feel brave?"

  "Not in this dress." She tugged him away.

  "I'm going to get us some drinks." Jake wandered toward the food table.

  "So? Spill," Giselle demanded, as Kade sat at the table. "You like him. I can see it all over your face."

  Kade shrugged. "He's hard not to like, but—"

  "Is it like like, or just like?" Lindsey cut her off, her head resting on her hand as if she'd have rather been anywhere else on Earth besides the dance.

  "It's...just like." She shrugged again, not really wanting to put a name on it.

  "Cool. Then the person who just walked in won't affect you in the least." Lindsey didn't shift her bored stance as her gaze went toward the entrance of the gym.

  "What the hell is he doing here?" Giselle asked.

  Kade turned around and felt as if the ground underneath her had fallen away.

  Cole stood underneath the shifting strobe lights dressed in all black, from shoes to shirt to tie. His brown hair swept to the side over his forehead, clear blue-gray eyes shining like crystals. Tiffany stood at his side, a floor length dress in silver, her long blond hair shining like a beacon down her back. She leaned into him, talking close to his ear, and Cole grinned. A burst of energy swelled in Kade's core so intense, her chair shook underneath her.

  What the hell?

  Heat flooded her like a white hot iron, and she forced herself to shift her eyes away, wondering where the little purse she'd brought had disappeared to. It had her crystal inside it. Panicked, she realized it was with her coat. In the entrance with all the other coats. She thought she might faint.

  "Well, that answers that question." Lindsey reached for her punch.

  "Kadence, I think we should run to the ladies room." Giselle stood up.

  "I'm okay." Kade swallowed a hard lump in her throat. "Really." She swallowed again and forced her hands to fold in her lap. "I think...I think I just need something to drink. Water." Her voice sounded odd, strained and choked.

  Lindsey gave her a bored look and drained her punch. "I was afraid this might happen." She set her plastic cup on the table.

  Afraid what might happen? Kade didn't ask her, she was concentrating on trying to sit still, stop the vibration edging up her spine.

  "I think we should run to the ladies room," Giselle repeated, coming around to Kade's side of the table and reaching for her hand. Kade's knuckles were white, balled into fists. "Before Jake comes back."

  Kadence let Giselle unclench her fists, forcing herself to stand up, and not look over her shoulder again. She followed Giselle to the other set of double doors leading into the hallway outside the gym. Giselle checked all the stalls the second they stepped inside the bathroom, and pulled out a few paper towels, and got them wet.

  "Here." Giselle thrust them at her. "Put these on your face. Blot, don't rub."

  Kade did as she asked and her body cooled slightly.

  "Now, what the hell was that?" Giselle pointed toward the gym.

  "I..." Why did she look so mad?

  "You what?" Red blotches marked Giselle's face in an uneven display. "You forgot you were in a room full of people before you went all..."

  "All what?" Alarm fed through Kade's body like a bullet speeding toward its target.

  Giselle glanced toward the floor as if she knew she'd said too much.

  "What, Giselle?"

  She sighed. "I was going to say volare."

  "Volare?" Kade stared at her.

  "It means 'to fly' in Latin. It's where the word 'volatile' comes from in English. It's a word we use because we can literally fly off the handle in an instant."

  "I know what it means." The question was how did she and Cole know Latin? It wasn't like knowing Spanish. Latin wasn't an offered elective in most high schools.

  "Right. Well, we have a hard time controlling our emotions. Especially when we're untrained, or upset, or...in love."

  In love?

  "Our energy can be unpredictable and hard to control," she went on. "More so when we're still learning what it is. And volare is the word we use to describe that feeling."

  Kade stared at her, dumbfounded.

  "It's okay, Kade. I know what you are. I've known since the day you got here. We all have."

  What I am? All the air evaporated in the tiny bathroom and the walls closed in. Kade couldn't move, or breathe, or think.

  "Why do you think your dad lets you hang out with me and Lindsey?" She lifted a brow, like they were talking about dates.

  Kade's knees weakened and she reached for one of the stall doors. "I...I need to sit down." She didn't make it before her legs collapsed underneath her and she landed on her butt.

  "Oh, hell. You're going to ruin your dress." Giselle pulled on her arm, but in her dress and heels, she only managed to drag Kade a few feet. "A little help? I didn't mean to tell you. I sort of broke the rules. We've all been skirting around you for a while now, so..." She yanked on Kade again, not finishing her sentence, but Kade couldn't speak. Her brain stopped functioning. Her body was empty. Void of any feeling at all. Numb. "How you didn't recognize we were like you, I'll never know."

  She knows what I am? Not possible. As many times as Kade had wondered if there were others like her, she'd always been too afraid to give it more than a moment's thought. Her dad made sure of that. So did her reflection in the mirror. Who would ever want to be friends with something like her? Date something like her? The real her? No one. Ever.

  "What was I supposed to do?" Giselle continued yanking on Kade’s arm. "Let you blast Tiffany into the next state? She'd get a little pissed about that."

  "A little pissed?” Tiffany? She’s like me, too?

  "Come on, get up. Don't make me drag you out of here on your butt."

  Volare? What the hell? "You said, we." Her words were barely above a whisper.

  "What?" Giselle let go.

  "We? You said we fly off the handle when we get upset. Who's we?"

  Giselle squatted down, an odd look in her eyes. Kade remembered that look in her dad's eyes when she'd blasted Scott Nelson off the sidewalk when she was five years old. “You're very special, Kadey. But no one can know” he’d said.

  "I'm like you, Kade." Giselle gave an encouraging smile. "Lindsey, too. We're called Primeva. It's okay. You're not alone anymore. You don't have to hide anymore. Not from us."

  Primeva? The children of the moon. The bad seeds of the Primordial race. Kade knew that. The ones with Devil's blood. The same blood Dracon had running through his veins. Someone else had told her she was a Primeva. When was that? That's not what I am, though. A tear fell down her face. No one was like her.

  "Aw, don't cry. You're messing up all my hard work." Giselle sprang to her feet and ripped out a few more paper towels. Giselle didn't look bad, Kadence thought. Not like a bad person. Had never even acted mean in any way that she'd noticed. "Here, let me fix your face before you look like a damn raccoon." She blotted Kade's eyes, her cheeks, and smiled. "There. Beautiful, still. Come on. We'll talk more later. I give Jake about one more minute before he busts the door down."

  How can Giselle have Devil's blood? She can't be a bad seed. Not a monster like I am. Oh, god. Jake. Does he know about this? It only made sense. I shocked him. No wonder he looked at me like I was crazy. He knows. She gave Giselle a curious glance, too afraid to voice her fears, as she pulled Kade to her feet and brushed off her dress.

  "Oh, Jake won't think twice about coming in here. Trust me."

  On shaky legs, Kade followed her out of the bathroom. Under the glaring shock of strobe lights, Jake leaned against the wall with his arms over chest. Jaw set, posture stiff, he pushed away the second he saw her, and his gaze swept over her dress, down to her shoes and back up to her face.

  "What happened?" There was no warmth in his tone. Only anger and something else. Suspicion?

  "Space Kadet here, forgot to eat dinner, so she got lightheaded and almost passed out," Giselle lied, and very well,
Kade noticed. "Maybe you should feed your date."

  Jake's features softened. "Are you okay? Why didn't you say anything?" His hand found her waist. "We can leave early. Go to dinner. I'm sure your dad won't mind," he rambled, and it seemed so odd. That his concern for her, someone who he'd met only a week ago, would be so worried. "There's cake." Jake motioned toward the banquet table. "Chips? Cookies? Sugar is always good to spike your blood. I'll make you a plate. Be right back."

  "Is he always so..."

  "Freaked?" Giselle grinned. "No. I've never seen this side of him before. Huh. Interesting."

  "How so?"

  "I don't know. Come on, Lindsey looks like she's ready to beat someone to death."

  Kade glanced toward their table. Lindsey's expression was mutinous.

  "We are never coming to another dance again." She glared at Giselle. "Ever."

  "Oh, hush it. I had to put the fire out."

  Kade couldn't take her eyes off of Lindsey. She was one of them, too. A Primeva. Could they move like Kade could? As fast as she could? Did they look like she did? Like a monster? It was hard to picture. And what about the Shadows?

  "Feel better?" Lindsey asked.

  Kade nodded, lying. She didn't feel better, she felt off. Kade knew who the Primeva were. Dracon had told her, but something else was tugging at her thoughts. In the recesses of her brain. A memory of something she couldn't quite place.

  “Good. Because lover boy is walking this way." Lindsey smirked. "And I, for one, would rather not have to put you down like a rabid dog in front of the entire school if you pull another stunt like the one you did a few minutes ago." Her dark brows lifted as one line. "Got me?"

  Kade nodded, unable to move under her stare, but she could feel him. The palpable heat bubbling up from inside her, radiating like heat through the gym. The quiver on the air. It made her hair stand up and tingle the back of her neck. Made her shiver with yearning. With want.

  Cole.

  20

  THE CHAIR BESIDE KADE pulled away from the table, and Cole sat down, his black dress pants brushing against her bare leg. The scent of clean laundry and fire swirled in the air. She took it in like a drug, relishing in the way it made her head spin. She was like an addict who needed a fix.