"Have you seen Cole?" The words slipped out of Kade’s mouth.
"Yes." Plumb sat down. “It’s my job to see him. Have you?"
Kade shook her head, staring at the steaming brown liquid in her cup before setting it on the coffee table. "I'm sure he hates me."
"No." Plumb placed her cup on the coffee table as well. "He doesn't hate you. I think it's the exact opposite."
Kade looked up. ”Why would you think that?"
"I've been taking care of Cole since he was nine. And I knew him before that through his mom and dad. I know him better than he probably wants me to, or would admit to anyone, and like I told you the other day, there are only a few people who have broken through his thick exterior and seen what's on the inside. You're one of them."
"He thinks I lied to him," Kade mumbled.
"You did. But he understands why you did. All of us do, and none of us think that you were out to hurt anyone. Your dad was your only friend, the only person you could count on... anyone in that situation would have done the same thing in your shoes. Maybe more. You could have helped him destroy everything if you'd wanted to."
"But I didn't, and I didn't know what he was planning. All Dracon ever said was that he needed me, never why, and he made feel less like a freak, and—" Tears poured down her cheeks. She didn't think there were any left.
"We know." Plumb placed a hand on her knee. "And I wish there was something I could say that would make a difference. Would a hug help? I mean, I know you don't know me very well yet, but—"
Kade's arms wrapped around Plumb.
"I know you keep hearing this," Plumb whispered, patting her back. "But you're not alone anymore."
"Thank you."
***
Kade found Cole in the only place she knew to look.
Steam and low light created distorted shadows on the walls of the cavern and Kade relished in the immediate warmth that enveloped her body. Cole's back was turned to her, his legs hanging over the edge of the pool, his feet in the hot spring.
She stopped a few feet behind him, rubbing her hands together in the silence. It had been over six days since the altercation with Dracon, or her dad, or uncle, or whoever the man was, and she hadn't seen Cole since. She thought she'd heard his voice in her dreams when she was in the hospital, but that had to have been wrong. If he'd wanted to talk to her, or see her, he would have done it by now.
She turned around and headed back toward the cavern's entrance.
"You're not going to say anything?"
Cole's voice fell over her like the sweetest, most bitter honey she'd ever tasted. Pleasure wrapped in pain. She stopped, a combination of relief and dread filling her from the inside.
"I..." She stared at her feet, not turning to face him. "I didn't think you wanted to see me."
"Then why did you come?"
"I...don't know.” Kade started back down the narrow tunnel.
"You're braver than that, Sparrow."
"Braver than what?" She whipped around, and Cole stood inches in front of her, gazing down, his light brown hair falling over his beautiful eyes.
"You should've told me."
She stared up him, the most incredible person she'd ever known, and had a hard time not bursting into tears again. "I should have," she conceded. "I didn't know how."
"You mean you didn't know if you could trust me." His tone had a hard edge in it, but his gaze remained soft, centered on her face.
"I trust you more than anyone, but he's all I have...all I had." She shook her head. "When he was normal, he was good, and sweet, and caring, and..." Tears fell down her cheeks. "And I know it wasn't real, that all of it was fake, but it never felt that way. He cared about me, Cole. And no one else did, and I had no idea what he was doing. Planning all this stuff with the Araneum. He never told me anything about that. I wanted him to get better. To stop changing into a demon." Tears turned into choked sobs. "I thought I was like him. That I had to be, and who would ever want to be friends with someone like me? Date someone like me? And after Dracon didn't come back from the night you found me by my house in the snow, I thought...maybe this time my dad was getting better. That maybe he would be okay."
"I'm sorry." Cole pulled her into his arms, and she melted against him, clung to his shirt, and lost it completely. "I'm so sorry, Kade." He held her tighter until she quieted down. "It'll be okay. I promise it will be okay. I didn't mean to hurt him. I mean, I did," Cole admitted. "But I never ever meant to hurt you. I was just so...I saw red. He was choking you, and..." He wiped her face and lifted her chin. "I'm so sorry."
"I don't blame you for any of this. I don't know what I would've done if it had been you in that situation. Something similar, probably. Or something worse."
Pain creased his eyebrows as he stared at her.
"I probably would've done it worse. Honestly." More tears fell down her cheeks. "If anyone ever hurt you the devil would come out in me, and I...don't think I'd be able to contain it. I don't blame you for anything. You saved my life."
Cole stared at her as if she had truly fallen from some angelic realm, “Serva me, et servabo te.” Save me, and I will save you.
Kade’s breath caught, and Cole pressed his lips against hers. Hard. A moan hit his throat as Kade gripped his shoulders, pulling him closer, closing off all the spaces between them. He backed her against the cave wall, heat pouring off of him, and Kade couldn't get enough. He tasted like fire, and she wanted to be engulfed by it. His fingers found the zipper on her coat, and he tugged if off, raining kisses down her neck.
Kade's hands were underneath his shirt, tracing the scars covering his back, fingers trailing down to his waist. She drew his shirt over his head, hands coursing over his stomach. His breath rushed out and he trembled. Red light surrounded his body, his corona blazing like a beacon in the dark cave. His black eyes smoldered, a look she'd never seen in them, as his chest rose and fell with his speeding breaths. He was the most beautiful person she had ever known.
His finger methodically moved over the corner of her mouth, and a shiver wracked Kade's entire body. He moved to her cheek, her temple, drawing little circles over her skin. The motion was lulling, affectionate, and electric. An electricity that radiated all the way down into her toes.
"What the hell were you thinking?" he whispered in a growl. "I told you to stay in the car. Danny was coming to get you.”
Kade's skin hummed, as he continued to draw on her face, down her neck. "It was...three on one." Her vision blurred, eyes closing.
"Three on one I can deal with." Cole shifted a hand down her neck, to her side, her waist, resting it on her hip. "You getting hurt…I can't do. You mean everything to me."
Kade opened her eyes, and Cole’s mouth found hers again. He lifted her off the ground, and pushed her against the wall. Kade's legs wrapped around his waist, her hands gripping his shoulders, pulse racing in her veins, as he ran his mouth over hers, gently, softly. His teeth grazed her lip, his tongue found hers, the kiss deepened, and Kade no longer remembered her own name. The intoxicating scent of fresh laundry and fire rushed over her senses. She moaned against his mouth, as he pushed his hips against hers, the muscles in his arms popping as he held her up off the ground. Her hands trailed over his chest, down his stomach.
“You are so hard to resist," he whispered against her mouth. "You have no idea." He heaved a breath and set her on her feet, placing a hand on either side of her head against the cave wall. "But given the circumstances I think we should stop."
"But—"
"I'm not saying never, I'm not even saying not soon." He grinned that cocky smile. "I'm just saying not right now. I know what it means to lose someone. For a second there, when Dracon had you, I thought I'd lost you, too. And as much as part of me—the cocky, asshole part—would like to take advantage of you needing me right now, and me desperately needing you, there is no way in hell that I am going to put our relationship in jeopardy by having sex with you when you're coming out of
shock, and risk you hating me for it later. Or worse, hating yourself."
She was speechless. How in the hell she ever found him, Kade didn't know, but just hearing him talk, standing next to him, being held by him, made up for every hour, every second, that she had ever spent alone.
Cole pushed off the wall, freeing her, and grabbed her coat off the floor. “But I'd love to go on a date." He smiled that shy smile of his. "A real date. No hiding or scheming. Just you and me."
"How are we going to do that?"
"We're going to walk out in public and sit down at a table in a restaurant and eat food, or we're going to go to a movie, and I don't even care what movie, or we're going to get one of those Frappuccinos, or, hell, anywhere, Sparrow. As long as it's somewhere with you."
She jumped at him, wrapping her hands around his neck. "But what about the rules?" Her words muffled against his throat, as she breathed in the scent of him.
His arms went around her waist. ”Your dating rule is out the window, obviously, and since you are a Primori, technically speaking, the Warden can't tell me I can't date you. And I'm dying to tell the world that you're mine." He stopped short, looking down at her. "I mean, if that's what you want. I'll understand if you don't...I get it ... and I'm—I won't...blame you, I—"
"Shut up," she whispered, kissing him. "Just shut up."
EPILOGUE
A KNOCK ON THE BEDROOM DOOR made Kade's head turn. Quickly yanking on her boots, she made her away across the small living room in the bunker.
Giselle stood outside in the hallway, a bouquet, bigger than her head, of yellow roses, held in her hands. "Hey."
"Hi." Kade glanced down the empty hall. "How'd you get in here?"
"Well, hello to you, too." Giselle walked into the apartment. "Okay, no fair. You get to stay here? While I'm in some little dorm room?" She handed Kade the flowers. "These are for you."
Kade's face brightened. "Yeah?"
Giselle rolled her eyes. "Why else would I be carrying them around?" She sat on the couch. "I wanted to apologize for being such a crappy friend over the past few days and not coming to see you sooner. I wasn't...you know." She shrugged. "Maybe you wanted to be alone."
"Thanks, G, really, but you don't have to apologize. I did, actually, want to be alone." Kade bowed her head for a second before lifting her gaze.
"Are you okay?"
"I am." Kade nodded. "I mean, I'm as good as I can be, considering, but I think ... it's weird, but I think I will be okay. Finally." She set the flowers on the counter, searching for something to put them in. She placed the arrangement in a tall glass. "Thanks. They'll brighten up the place."
"You're welcome. You know, if there's anything..."
"I know."
"So, you look nice. Where are you going?"
"Out with Cole. We have a date." Kade couldn't hide the giddiness in her tone.
"A date? Like, in public?"
"Yep." Kade grabbed her coat off the couch. "I thought you were him, actually. He's picking me up. Well, you know, he's coming down here to pick me up."
"How are you guys planning to pull this off? You're not allowed to date each other."
Kade shrugged. "Cole said that since I was born a Primori, the Warden couldn't hold him to the 'no dating me' rule."
"Oh." Giselle glanced at her feet.
"G, I'm sorry. That was completely insensitive. I didn't mean..."
"It's okay. Lindsey and I are good. Danny knows now, and he's fine with it, so I'm good. Better. We're good. It'll just take some time, you know."
"Danny?"
"He's my brother," Giselle said with a shrug. "I figured Cole would've told you that."
"What? No. He didn't. I can see the resemblance now that you say it. You have the same eyes."
"Yeah. No one knows. Just us."
"Um...how is Danny a Primori and you're a Primeva?"
"A glitch. It's rare. My parents are Primori. I'm like the black sheep." She gave a forced laugh. "In more ways than one."
"G—"
She waved a hand in the air. "It's fine. I'm used to it."
Kade's alarm blared. "What the? Hang on a second." She ran into her bedroom and smacked it, shutting it off, and froze. “Giselle!"
"What? What's wrong?" Giselle ran into the bedroom.
Kade's focus remained on her night stand. "Get Cole. Please. Now."
"Why? What’s wrong?”
Kade pointed, her hand trembling in midair. A small gold chain with a tiny charm of a star sat coiled up next to her alarm clock on her bedside table.
"It's my Astrum necklace."
DON’T MISS
DAEMONEUM
THE PRIMORDIAL PRINCIPLES
BOOK TWO
COMING IN 2016
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
First, I’d like to thank Booktrope for taking CRYSTALLUM on. Also my awesome editor, Mary-Theresa Hussey for going round and round with me on all the passes of this story. Appreciate your efforts so much. My Book Manager, Majanka Verstraete, my proofreader, Jessica Minyard, and my cover designer, Amalia Chitulescu who absolutely kicks ass, thank you all for bringing this story to life.
To my beta readers, Nancee Clark, Carol Brown, and Alex Nader, you keep me sane on a weekly basis. Words will never express how thankful I am for you.
Always to my family—thank you for your never ending support. To my sun and my moon, my angel children, love you both.
And of course to the voices in my head who never sleep, thank you for continuing to talk.
LANEY MCMANN
With a passion for the supernatural and all things magical, Laney developed a voracious appetite for reading fantasy at a young age. A vivid imagination helped set the stage for creating her own worlds and placed her onto the writing path.
By the time she reached her teens, she’d accumulated notebooks full of poems, which led to short stories and finally novels. Young adult dark fantasy, paranormal romance, and mythology are among her favorite genres.
A former classical dancer and chef, she grew up in sultry Florida where she still resides.
Laney is also the author of the Fire Born Novels
Connect with her:
Blog: LaneyMcMann.com
Twitter: @LaneyMcMann
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CRYSTALLUM (The Primordial Principles Book 1) Page 34
