Not thinking I jumped to his defensive. “Flynn is not a bad guy.”
I could hear her eyes rolling in her words. “See this is what I’m talking about.”
“Really, he’s not that bad.” I couldn’t tell her what I knew that would vindicate him.
“Eme, Luke is a great guy. You cannot mess with his best friend.”
What, who was this person. I’ve know her all my life and she thinks I capable of that. “Maggs, you know me better than that,” I pleaded.
“Thing are just so messed up with Paul and Flynn broke up with Amanda over the phone today.”
Oh my gosh, he hadn’t told me about that, but how did Maggie know. “I didn’t know that. How did you hear about the break up?”
“Amanda called me crying a little while ago,” she said exasperatedly. The rest of her words I didn’t hear. Since when did Maggie and Amanda call and talk to each other. Specifically when were they close enough to talk about break ups?
I did something I hadn’t done to Maggie except when it came to the supernatural. I lied to get off the phone. I wasn’t sure I could continue talking to her without sounding childish. I needed to regroup and reassess. I felt like I was losing my best friend. Who would I have left after all of this? It seems as though my one kiss to Luke that fateful day had far reaching consequences. I dropped my phone on the bed wondering why everything had changed.
I lay on the bed a long time flipping channels not really paying any attention to what was on the screen. My life was in trouble. I needed to sit back and decide what was really important to me. This inner beast who knew me was leaving me with no one I’d cared so deeply about. Maybe I should leave Luke and be with Paul. Paul was my best friend. If he wanted me too shouldn’t I? Isn’t that what best friends were for.
Indubitably, I was dreaming when I looked up to the side of my bed. Things couldn’t have gotten any worst when Sebastian popped in next to me on my bed.
Chapter Twenty One
incredulity(n.) the state of being unwilling or unable to believe something.
As amazing as Sebastian’s features were, his piercing blue eyes were vacant. Now knowing he was full demon helped to understand the lack of humanity in them. But it didn’t make it any less creepy, maybe even a little more. Yet somehow his face showed signs of concern that contradicted his eyes.
“What happened?” he asked in an unfamiliar accent.
“I fell,” I answered confused by the change in his voice.
Moving forward, he removed the ice from my foot and probed it with his fingers. Despite Flynn’s claims that I would heal inhumanly fast, I still had pain. I guess it took longer in cambions like me. My existence leaning more towards human couldn’t help the speedy healing process either. When I winced in soreness at his touch, he moved his hands like he felt something hot.
“When did this happen?” he asked. His eye were deadly serious like he would waited for me to give him answers that would lead to a potential victim.
“Earlier today,” I said. He shot me a look of incredulity.
His tone took on a tone of accusation. “Why haven’t you healed?” he said sharply.
I looked at him not sure why I was entertaining this conversation in my room. It wasn’t as if I invited him. So my tone mirrored his when I finally answered. “I guess that because I am too human. So have you come to suck the demon out of me?” I retorted.
His face softened as he moved down towards the bed before putting the ice packet back on my foot. “You can have it,” I answered my own question defeatedly.
He looked at me in alarm. “You don’t mean that as that. It would result in your death.”
I turned my head. Things were quite bad in my life right now ,but I wasn’t yet seeking death. When he placed a warm hand on my cheek so tenderly, I turned to look back at him. His eyes still held no light. How could his touch be so tender and his expression be so empty?
My expression was clearly plastered all over my face. “Why are you sad?” he said.
I deflected amazing I might add. “Why are you talking in an accent?” I quickly countered keeping my eyes steadfast on his.
“What accent?” he asked back shifting to his more familiar American accent.
He was a perfect liar. He’d spoken with a prefect straight face. It didn’t matter though. I didn’t think I could trust him anyway. So why was I allowing him to remain here in my room. I should just tell him to go, but I couldn’t. “You’re incredulous. Can’t you just be honest?” I asked almost pleading with him.
I shouldn’t care, I know. But there was just something about the boy that stood before me that I couldn’t ignore. I felt the demon in me stir. She didn’t have to speak through me for me to understand she had great attraction for the him. But she wasn’t in control. I was. If I was honest with myself, my curiosity was peaked. “About what?” he asked a little innocently.
I shook my head. Neither of us had answered the other’s questions yet. Therefore it was only nature that I continue our banter. “Why are you here?”
“To see you,” he answered. I was thrown off guard. Where was his question? I felt disarmed that he actually answered.
I didn’t let that stop me though from pushing forward. “If you want to be my friend, then you have to be honest with me,” I said.
He peered in my eyes. I guessed he was trying to discern if I was serious. His gaze was intense. I nearly flinched under the crushing weight of it. “Fine, but who said I wanted to be your friend,” he said with the accent back.
“Because you know I have a boyfriend. Plus I have a lot of issues right now,” I said. Then I couldn’t help myself with a tiny grin. His face had changed to a grimace when I’d spoken. It was kind of cute. So I said the only thing I could. “Anyway, I like the accent. Irish?” I asked.
He looked back not amused. I held a breath when he spoke. “No, Scottish,” he said this time in a thick brogue.
His smoldering dark Celtic looks paired with his thick black hair suited someone of Scottish decent. He didn’t comment on my boyfriend or issues comment.
“Tell me Kayla, if you could go anywhere in the world, where would you go,” he said. The words just flowed off his tongue in his native lilt.
I laid my head back on the pillow mesmerized with his voice. Suddenly, comfortable with a boy in my room, I let his voice take me in my mind to strange and exotic places. I would have been easy for me to say Scotland or Ireland just listening to him speak. But there had been places I’d dreamed about over the years. Places I had always planned I would go in my future.
“Well, there are a few places not just one,” I said while picturing them in my head.
“Where?” he asked genuinely interested. His face lit up almost like an eager child. He almost looked human if not for his eyes.
On a satisfying breath I said, “Oh, like the pyramids of Egypt, Paris, and London just to name of few.”
“Are you dressed Kayla?” he asked.
That was such a strange question. I should have pondered it. But I lifted the cover to see that I hadn’t changed since morning. “Yes.”
“Can you sit up?” he asked. Again that should have been a hint, but it wasn’t.
I was puzzled by his questions but said, “Yes,” unsure where this line of questions was headed.
He scooped me up until I was standing awkwardly in his arms putting most of my weight on my good foot. Being so close I noticed his scent. He smelled of warm rich spices that made my mouth want to drool. All manner of thought escape me when I felt like a cork being sucked through the opening of a bottle. When my ears popped I opened my eyes unable to process what I was seeing and feeling. Fine grains of something flew over my skin and hair while a dazzling sunset slipped behind the gargantuan geometric shape.
I shook my head in disbelief. It couldn’t be. The warmth of the fading sun drifted over my skin. My feet sunk into sand when I shifted a bit in his arms. I blinked my eyes rapidly so my brain could try to
except my reality. The temperature in the air changed as rapidly as the sunset. I turned to meet those perfect but vacant blue eyes questioning without speaking what I was seeing.
“Yes, we’re in Egypt, lass” he said with a grin showing how pleased he was with himself.
If ever I was tongue-tied in my life it was now. How do you react when you cross oceans to another continent not in dreams but reality in the space of a minute? I was standing in Egypt looking at one of the Seven Wonders of the World at sunset. It had been night in the States, for the sun to be setting here in the desert. We had to have crossed time as well. Had he taken me forward or back I didn’t know for sure.
“Amazing isn’t it?” he asked.
That was an absurd question but one that didn’t compare to my reality. No matter how amazing the sights of the pyramids and sphinx were, it wasn’t appropriate for me to be here. Heck, I didn’t even have a passport. Don’t get me wrong I could appreciate the sights, but it was truly wrong to be in another county with a boy I hardly knew. One who could be potentially very dangerous.
“We should go,” I said flatly.
He face lost a bit of shine for a second. “But there is more,” he said enthusiastically. I didn’t get a chance to protest.
The warm heat of the fading sun was interchanged with cool darkness and misty rain in the air. My eyes opened when I shivered. Sebastian held me close while he walked and I hobbled to the edge. My foot wasn’t a concern at the moment. The vision of a beautiful city full of lights in the nights sky took my breath from my lips before I could speak. I looked out over a vast city with a few cars driving by below. It didn’t take much with my feet rapping against metal to know I was standing on the top viewing level of the Eifel Tower. I was in Paris. Breathing, I thought again. I was in Paris as if thinking it again would wake my brain. Overcome with the change of scenery I found myself looking about and taking in every inch of the view. I was in Paris. Apparently my brain was set on a constant loop. My voice wasn’t as strong when I spoke again.
“Take me home, Sebastian.”
Undoubtedly, I hadn’t made myself clear. “Not yet,” he said.
Again I felt sucked down a vortex. The pop in my ears was my queue and I opened my eyes. I knew where I was instantly. Big Ben, the iconic clock tower and the London Eye, an enormous Ferris wheel, sat in the distance of my view. But where was I. I started to move forward but Sebastian’s arms around my waist wouldn’t let me move.
“Don’t look down,” he said in my ear with his close proximity. I wasn’t ever sure why anyone uttered those words. Those words clearly spoken aloud meant for the hearer to look. So, I looked. Instantly I had vertigo. If I had it right we were standing atop London Bridge. How fitting.
“Please take me home,” I said shakily. It wasn’t that I hadn’t been floored by instantly transported to places I wouldn’t get to go anytime soon, but this wasn’t the way I envisioned my visits.
He didn’t speak. But when I felt the suction in my ears I knew we were on our way again. When the darkness faded against the starry moon lit sky, I turned to see the lake house. I realized the dock we were sitting on was Flynn’s. His arms were on me while our legs dangled over the edge of the mini pier. He wasn’t pleased.
“I thought you wanted to see those places,” he said darkly.
That was an understatement. I had wanted to visit those places. How I’d seen them with Sebastian was still like looking at a picture but from an upfront view. I wanted to stroll around and take in all the sights in the daylight and at night. But I wouldn’t tell him that. I feared he would take me back for an extended visit.
“I did and thank you,” I said trying to remain calm. I turned to look back at the house to see it lit up like a Christmas tree. I wasn’t sure where my mom or David was in the house or if they were even home. I couldn’t see the driveway from here. “It’s just that I couldn’t leave without letting someone know where I was going.”
His arms were around me. Strangely, his body heat was keeping me warm. He was a demon and I wasn’t sure what to expect. Was he human? Well maybe not, but was he like human.
“Sorry, I just wanted to do something for you,” he said sheepishly.
He seemed so sincere. So I opened my mouth and just said it heading off any future conversation of this particular topic. “Can we just be friends?” I asked.
He turned slightly. We were already close and said, “For now.”
I needed calm in my life and wasn’t going to debate his response. Now is all I could ask for. Everything else was so complicated, what I needed was a friend.
He moved his free left arm to point to the sky and like a magician his fingers drew lines in the sky to connect the dots of stars. No joke that when his fingers moved a trail of light was left in its wake. He rattled off names of constellations as I watched like a kid at a magic show. I couldn’t help but be dazzled by the striking guy that sat next to me. His magic let me remember he wasn’t an average boy. He was a demon, one that could steel my life in a matter of moments. But somehow he managed to spell cast me with his magic light show. Watching the stars in that light was fascinating. He talked about each star like he knew them as friends. When I found myself leaning on him after a while I sat up straight.
“Can you take me back to my room?” I asked a little too breathlessly. I thought about Luke. What had I been thinking? I could have walked to the house at that moment but I didn’t want to explain myself to my mom. I didn’t want to have to explain just how I’d gotten out of the house in the first place. I also had to wonder just how much time had passed.
“Sure,” he said. This time I was prepared. The pressure in my ears wasn’t as great as the last few times. Was it because he hadn’t taken me that far?
When he popped me in my room Flynn was sitting on my bed waiting. He looked at me then at Sebastian. He stood without speaking and walked out without a word. I felt guilty under the stare he’d given me. I hadn’t done anything or had I. Being honest meant that I had to admit I’d actually enjoyed spending time with Sebastian. Somehow it didn’t seem to matter. No matter what I did, I hurt someone. I wondered if he headed to call Luke and rat me out. Would have to explain myself again? Frankly, I wouldn’t expect my explanation to seem true to Luke’s ears as everything I did could be misinterpreted.
I looked at Sebastian. He must have read the hurt on my face. He sighed. “I guess I should leave.”
I nodded and like that he was gone.
Chapter Twenty Two
subterfuge(n.) deceit used in order to achieve one's goal.
I sat around the house for the next day and a half. I barely saw my mother or Flynn. Each seemed to be avoiding me like the plague. It was David who had stopped by to make sure I was ok. Flynn had passed along to our individual parents that I’d hurt my foot which by the way was healing at human pace. I began to wonder if the whole succubus thing was a dream.
Talking to Flynn would have been a good idea. I needed to know what he may have told Luke. But Flynn made sure he wasn’t around any of that time. I’d eventually have to talk to Luke. And I did. The conversation was short on my part with excuses of being tired. But what little we did speak it seemed as though Flynn hadn’t told him anything negative. I was being a coward. So was Sebastian because I hadn’t heard a peep from him either.
Refusing to feel guilty about the situation was my motto. I hadn’t done anything wrong. Even though I didn’t tell Luke about Sebastian I wasn’t going to feel bad about that. I had no feelings for Sebastian at least I hoped not. His absence was more than a small blessing. And he hadn’t crossed the line when we had been together so what was there to tell. Luke doesn’t reiterate every conversation he has with friends and neither should I. Was I trying to convince myself, maybe? Although Sebastian taking me all over the world the other night might be information I should share, I didn’t. Not yet at least.
I hadn’t talked to Maggie either. I was used to this treatment whenever she had a boyf
riend. You might say she had OCD (obsessive compulsive disorder) when it came to boyfriends. But what I’d really been troubled about was that she seemed to be developing friendships with Amanda and Amber. I shouldn’t be jealous, but I was. Maggie and I were forever friends. I didn’t know what I’d do without her. Yet I didn’t call her either. By Wednesday, I was more than bored.
The day was crawling. By mid afternoon the silent house was more than I could bare. I had to get up and explore. Yesterday, I’d been hobbling around. Today, I walked with a barely noticeable limp. But still I’d basically been held up in my room. As I was walking down the hall I heard a slight noise coming from Flynn’s room. He hadn’t been home this morning when I’d gotten up for breakfast. It had been David who told me that there was food before he and my mom left. He’d also told me to hang in there, that my mom and I would get past this little spat.
Now with a nerves knot in my belly, I knocked on Flynn’s door. I heard a soft ‘Come in’ that proceeded my opening the door. Flynn sat in a chair in front of his television holding a game controller. He hadn’t looked up to see me either. His focus was on the game. I looked over him thinking just how lovely he was sun kissed and bare chest with only shorts on. He looked like he was headed to the beach. His hair was just so in that spiked slight Mohawk look that only he’d perfected. I found myself biting my lip when the succubus stirred inside me.
I’d rolled my lips to privately lick them before I released them on a slight exhale of breath. I closed my eyes then opened them. He must have paused the game because he was staring at me curiously.
“Kayla,” he said stringing out the name with an indescribable look on his face. That name snapped me out of whatever I’d been thinking.
“Don’t call me that,” I retorted like a kid who just been teased. I wasn’t sure why I said it because I did prefer my middle name. But he’d said it in an accusatory tone.
Beg for Mercy - kindle edition v3 Page 20
