“Only that Rat can call you that,” he said hissing back at me. This isn’t the way I hoped the conversation would go.
“His name is Sebastian,” I said coldly.
“I’ll remember that the next time I talk to Luke,” he said then looked away. So maybe he hadn’t talk to Luke yet about Sebastian.
“There is nothing to tell. We’re just friends,” I said.
“Whatever,” he said. He turned back to his game. I felt slighted. I almost back out of his room when he turned his winter blue eyes on me and asked, “What do you want?”
I wasn’t sure anymore. Originally I’d really wanted company to hang out. But now it was clear now he didn’t want to hang out with me.
“Never mind,” I said quietly backing down from our stand off. I started to back out of the room not sure where I was going but he stopped me.
“Wait,” he said. The tenor of his voice had changed. In that one word he sounded almost sorry. I turned back still holding his doorknob ready to bolt if there was any sign we were going to argue more. “Everyone is hanging out tonight, you want to come,” he said looking at me expectantly.
I was taken aback by his quick change of tone and offer. But tonight meant, I would be still idle for several more hours. I found myself saying, “Sure.” With it all decided and nothing more to say, I walked out closing the door behind me. My eyes were still wide with astonishment. His cold and warm response had moved way too fast for me. I had to wonder if he was an accomplished liar. No one should be able to shift moods that quick unless you were bipolar. Was he bipolar?
I didn’t go back to my room. In fact I went down to the docks and sat looking at the wildlife and thought for a long while. I should call Luke, I thought. But I didn’t. I even passed on calling Maggie.
Later, I even sat alone in the hot tub for a while not wanting to go back to my room. I couldn’t avoid it forever. This vacation was starting to go downhill.
Eventually, I did go to my room only to get ready for tonight. I didn’t put any extra effort into my look. Ok that’s not true. I didn’t want to look like I dressed in the dark if I ran into Flynn’s fan club. But I wasn’t necessarily trying to get any more attention from anyone.
Feeling pretty seemed to bright my mood. Things were going so badly with Paul and eventually Luke would find out about Sebastian. I know I was avoiding a possible fight, but heck I just couldn’t deal with that far away from him. I thought I would have a better chance of explaining in person.
When I stepped out of my room, I found Flynn in the hall. I watched how he looked at me and I was certain I passed his scrutiny. Competing with supernatural girls and the Barbie twins had me taking more care in how I looked. Maggie was always in my ear about flaunting your best assets. When Flynn appraised me silently then held a hand out to me, I took it not thinking any further.
Walking again to the camp grounds reminded me that we hadn’t walked since the first time. No longer holding my hand, Flynn moved with purpose keeping a few steps ahead of me. In fact Flynn hadn’t really held my hand that long. The gesture had only been to get me to move forward. I found myself nearly jogging to keep up with him. But I held back not wanting to sweat in the cool night air. It wasn’t yet dark so I was able to see Flynn clearly when abruptly he stopped and turned to face me.
“I should tell you something,” he said cryptically. “We are meeting Chris” he said.
“Oh.” I didn’t know how to respond.
“The other night when we met he told me some disturbing news about the deaths that are occurring here in Maryland.”
His face was drawn and I didn’t know what to make of it. I hadn’t really thought about those women since he had mentioned it the other day. I didn’t make a habit of watching the news, so I’d been oblivious to all that was going on.
“Have there been any more deaths?” I asked somehow nervous about the answer I may get. Although the question I really wanted to ask was, why did you wait until now to tell me this?
“No, but a woman went missing yesterday,” he said apprehensively. His face looked grim. I wanted to reach out and touch his face with sympathy for the angst on it, but I held back.
“Is she from around here?” I asked not sure why I already knew the answer.
“Yes,” he said solemnly. All of sudden things started to make sense.
“They think our kind had something to do with it. They think we are using subterfuge to cover our culpability,” I said. All the deaths were happening in close proximity to where we were. A chill ran through me.
“No,” he said hastily. Then he amended and said, “I’m not sure but certainly it doesn’t look good.”
I looked directly in his eye capturing his attention. “What do you think?” I know he must have thought about this. He wasn’t a dumb guy. He’d shown his capacity to command SAT vocabulary of late. Points for him.
“I think we are going to have to figure this out,” he said soberly. There was wariness in his eyes that frightened me more.
When we made it to the camp, the fading light haloed the building. Chris and his group stood in front of the doors in their familiar triangle pattern. Everyone but Chris looked confrontational with arms folded and eyes suspiciously on Flynn and me.
Before anyone of us could say anything a tall girl clad in a taupe leather vest and animal print painted on pants with golden tones of blond hair hastily pulled back in a braid materialized in front of us. She was a vision to behold, appearing out of thin air.
“Where is he?” she demanded.
I’m sure my eyes were wide because she focused on me. Her golden eyes burned in to me like fire. I had a moment of choice to fight or flee. “Who?” I asked boldly surprising myself.
Her eyes narrowed into slits when she spoke mimicking the shifters with her stance. She gave no notice to my tone with her hands folded across her chest. “The rat fink who cheated on me with my sister,” she said coolly.
“Bernadette,” a voice said behind me.
I whirled around as did Flynn who’d been standing beside me. Sebastian was poised directly behind me. He was gorgeous dressed in a charcoal shirt and dark wash jeans. He stole my breath way just with the sight of him. My heart rate leaped more than it had when the mysterious girl appeared in our path.
I turned back around when the girl Bernadette began to speak again. Her arms where no longer folded in front of her. Instead they were extended in front of her. “Rat,” she said sternly. Her eyes were on fire. “How could you kill my sister?”
Lighting fast, her hands were a glow in fiery orange orbs. Revving up, like a pitcher at a baseball game, I noticed Flynn move for the first time. He began with timid steps forward. Even though things moved quickly now, I caught every detail that happened. I felt arms come around my waist and the darkness begin to invaded my eyes. I knew what was about happen. Before the obscurity overtook my vision, Bernadette’s attention was on Flynn. I had a moment to see her blasted him back with a fiery ball before I’d been transported elsewhere. I had no way of knowing if he was ok.
I didn’t even let Sebastian speak, “What the hell? Take me back!” I yelled. With the trees still surrounding us, I knew we were still in the woods but that wasn’t my concern.
“I just wanted to make sure you’re safe,” he said calmly holding out his hands in a gesture of peace from my wrath.
“Flynn could be hurt,” I exclaimed.
He nodded and a moment later he was gone. I hoped he was going to get Flynn because if he wasn’t he wouldn’t have to worry about Bernadette. He would have to worry about me. With life and death an issue, I’d found who I was. I was a fighter not a flighter.
If the events of the evening weren’t scary I might have laughed when Flynn and Sebastian reappeared in an embrace. They looked at each other for a second before separating rapidly. I securitized Flynn. He appeared to be ok so, I had to assume he was.
“What the,” Flynn began to say when a voice boomed out from not far awa
y.
“I know you there Rat. You can’t hide from me.” I recognized that voice even though I’d only heard it once. Bernadette had found us just that quick. I saw the glowing balls of fire in the distance. Sebastian came to me at that moment.
“I don’t want to leave you, but I think if I do I will draw her away. I’m sorry for this. I’ll be back to check on you as soon as I can,” he said in a whisper before disappearing from my existence.
His assumption was wrong. “So you’re the girl he’s with now,” Bernadette said from about thirty feet away looking at me.
Yes, he’d most assuredly been wrong. She hadn’t left. Crap. So, I answered her with an emphatic, “No.”
She hadn’t waited for my answer and it was too late for me to react. I stared like a deer in headlights. A glowing ball of heat was already headed my way. Flynn saw it before me and his reflexes had been better than mine. I was on the ground with him on top of me when the orbs soared by. The burning ball of flame narrowly missed him with the slight exception of a burn on his right arm. The orbs blasted bark off a tree they hit that had been behind us.
Bernadette was closing in on us now. This time it would be impossible for her aim to miss. Bleakly, I thought it would be a great time for Sebastian to make a reappearance. A bright light like car lights shined through the trees casting a white glow onto her. For whatever reason her face grew paled, then she dissipated.
I shifted under Flynn’s weight turning to see what made the illumination, but it was gone. Besides being in the woods, I wasn’t even sure where we were. There must have been a road nearby and the beam of car lights somehow frightened her away. I wasn’t sure why car lights would frighten her but I wasn’t going to knock the gift horse that saved us. What I hadn’t expected was the figure to appear through the trees.
“If you weren’t my best friend, I would have to question why you are laying on top of my girlfriend in the middle of the woods,” Luke said.
Flynn turned around then lifted himself up with his forearms getting to his feet. “Luke, you made it,” he said. Luke clasped Flynn’s arm helping him up. There was something I caught in his eyes before he turned away. Before I could think about it, Luke was at my side.
Luke asked, “Are you ok?”
Looking into the pools of his warm blue eyes I said, “Yes.” And frankly I was a whole lot better with him here.
“What happened?” Luke asked looking at me then Flynn. He helped me to my feet when he noticed me wincing with pain. I gave a little hop and placed more of my weight on my uninjured foot. Apparently, Flynn’s tackle had reinjured my ankle. Kneeling down at my feet he placed his hand on my hurt ankle and it was warm despite the chilly air.
“It’s not broken. Can you walk on it?” he asked.
I leaned back on my foot and it didn’t hurt as much as I thought it would. I nodded. Leaning into the comforts of his arms, I gave into his open embrace. We started by walking through the woods holding hands, unable to not touch each other.
Stepping on a fallen branch that snapped under my weight brought me back to reality. I became conscious that Flynn and Luke had been talking. My mind was reeling with recent events. I hadn’t been paying attention.
The next thing I heard was “Bernadette was smoking hot,” Flynn was saying with wide gestures as if Luke didn’t get the point. I on the other hand didn’t understand how Flynn could even think about what she looked like after she tried to kill us. If a cute boy tried to kill me, you could bet nowhere in my story would his attractiveness ever enter. What he looked like would be lost on the simple fact that he wanted to end my life. But indubitably, that same principle didn’t hold true for guys or maybe just Flynn. At least Luke didn’t say something like ‘Really’ because then I’d have to take away cool points from him.
“So this Sebastian guy is into Mercy. And he calls her Kayla,” Flynn said mockingly. I rolled my eyes wishing I could go back to the blank space I’d occupied moments before and not here this part of the conversation. The best I could do was walk ahead when Sebastian’s name came up.
Luke finally chimed in and asked, “Why would he call her that?” I assume he didn’t ask me because I was ahead of them. I turned and decided to answer because I didn’t like the direction this conversation was going.
“My middle name is McKayla. And for whatever reason he started calling me Kayla. I didn’t care because I doubted I ever see him again after we left this place. He and I are only friends and he knows I have a boyfriend,” I said in a pool of words that filled the night air. I turned back while Luke and Flynn stood looking stunned at my sudden outburst. I didn’t stay to watch. Instead I stalked off.
In the distance, I heard them resume talking again but I no longer listened. There was a lot on my mind. I wondered when Sebastian would make an appearance and I hoped it would be soon rather than later in my room. If he popped in there, it would be monumentally disastrous. In addition to that I wasn’t sure I was up to dealing with Sebastian’s subterfuge. There was a lot more to this guy and I was certain that I shouldn’t trust him.
One thing I did note was that Luke wasn’t in shock when Flynn explained the fire wheeling she-demon. So, I concluded that Luke was in on all the secrets and most likely even mine. I didn’t get a chance to ponder that last thought because we broke through the trees and on the gravel drive of the lake house.
Following the worn path Flynn had put us on, we’d made it to the house. Luke came up beside me and placed his arm around my waist. Maybe I could have protested but it felt nice to have his arms around me. It also let me know that he wasn’t that mad at me after finding out about Sebastian.
When we made it up to the house, my mom and David sat on the front deck in each other’s arms. It was the first time I’d seen their affection for each other outside of the proposal. They looked down from the stars to see us. Luke’s arm was still around me.
Maybe I should have shrugged out his Luke’s embrace, but instead I decided to shove this bit of my boyfriend’s affection into my mom’s face. A bit petty maybe, but I needed to make a point. “Mom,” I said. “Have you met Luke?”
She didn’t answer me out loud, but nodded. Luke said to me, “I came here first before finding you guys on the trail.” We’d passed his BMW parked next to the Range Rover on are way up here.
“Well, that good. But I should also inform you he’s my boyfriend,” I said to her before catching the shocked look on both her and David’s face. Flynn shifted uneasily side to side looking at his father. Luke dropped his hands from my waist and stood a little taller. I ignored this all and proceeded to walk through the front door heading in the direction of my room. Luke followed me while I processed the look on my mom’s face. It had been fear not anger. But actually there’d been fear there prior to me dropping the bomb. What had she been afraid of?
Chapter Twenty Three
delineate (v.) to describe, outline, shed light on
I walked in my room solemnly. I’d only left it less than an hour ago. Then, I’d been primped for a party and feeling better about myself, yet now somehow I felt worse. I shouldn’t have treated my mother like that. I know she loved me and must have her reasons from keeping truths from me. Even still, I believed I had a right to be mad, but maybe it was the fear in her eyes that woke me up to my reality.
When the door clicked close behind me, I turned in a near pirouette. Luke stood facing me after he clicked the lights on. He looked like pure sunshine in the mustard yellow long sleeve top with jeans. His halo of golden curls lay attractively messy around his face. His expression was blank but mine was full of need. I moved quickly to him wrapping myself in his arms. He held me for a long while smoothing my hair and letting the emotions escape me.
Glancing up at him for the first time, I saw the raw emotion in his face when he leaned down to kiss me. The fog cleared my brain before his lips met mine. I had no protection for him so I turned away disengaging myself from his embrace.
I slumped to
the floor leaning my back against the bed. Luke misreading my emotions came and sat next to me. “Is there something more between you and this Sebastian?” he asked facing me.
I moved my head from my knees to face him. “What? No!” I exclaimed.
“Then why’d you turn from my kiss?” he asked.
That was the million dollar question and it was time for me to answer. I’d never gotten Flynn’s response to the question if Luke knew about me or not but I had a feeling based on his reactions to everything tonight he knew.
“You know why?” I said keeping my eyes on his, not backing down.
“I don’t,” he replied.
I sighed. I didn’t really want to delineate my story. “I know you know what Flynn is, so therefore you must know about me.”
He turned away giving his own sigh. “I guessed.”
It surprised me he hadn’t confessed that Flynn had told him. “How long have you known?”
“When his dad and your mom got together it fit with the fact you didn’t want to kiss me, but when you did I wasn’t sure anymore.”
Ah, the kiss that had turned my world upside down. If only I could take the cursed thing back. I put my hands over my face in disgust of the memory.
“I was able to kiss you because of the balm,” I said recanting the story about David’s gift to me.
“Well, that answers that question,” he said.
But I wasn’t quite finished with the story. I went on to tell him about Paul and how he was the catalyst to my finding out what I was. Then I told him the full truth about the most recent kiss between Paul.
“I wish you would have told me,” he said.
I wished I had too. “I was under orders from my mother not to delineate our little family secret to anyone not even Maggie,” I said in disgust.
“She doesn’t know?” he asked.
I shook my head. “So I don’t have the balm on right now. That’s why I turned from your kiss.”
Beg for Mercy - kindle edition v3 Page 21
