“That’s her name.”
My body froze and I was just left there to stare up at him with about a million more questions racing through my mind but I couldn’t even get out a word.
“Dirk?”
“Huh? Yeah. I heard you. I just—you know already?”
“Your mother had mentioned the final member to me and I knew you’d like to know about it.”
“Ah, yeah. Thank you. When do I get to meet her?”
“About the time Seth will see Cadence again.”
It was a long time just to think about. “Really?”
“Don’t be nervous. Just keep continue doing what you’re doing. Time will go by faster for you. It was just an update I promised to give you.”
“Okay. Yeah. I should go. Don’t want to be late.”
“I won’t keep you any longer. Go ahead and try to get Seth more social today.”
“I’ll try that.”
He smiled and held my horse so I could get on steadily. “It would be appreciated by more than one.”
“See you later, father.”
“Have a good day.”
I rode out of the palace gates and rode a little faster than usual to catch up to Bryce. At this point, he was trotting slowly with Seth walking next to him.
“Hey.” I said as a normal casual greeting.
“What’d your father want?” Bryce asked.
“Nothing. It was nothing. So what are we going to do after this boring day?”
“What do you want to do?”
I answered while looking down at Seth walking without a word. “Maybe grab a few girls and go make-out by the spring.”
“Okay.”
I knew Bryce was into it but I wanted to get Seth to respond. “What about you, Seth?”
“Maybe some other time.”
“Sorry, I’m not taking no for an answer. You need this. You don’t want that Cadence girl to think you’re inexperienced.”
“She wouldn’t think that of me.”
“You never know. All this time waiting and you end up disappointing her?”
I kept looking at him, knowing he was going to give in and he did. “Fine. All right? Will you stop if I go?”
“Maybe. I know I’ve shared this wisdom with you before but you haven’t been acting on it much. Just think about who you want to bring and ask her at lunch.”
“Maybe you should think about that.” He said. “I’ve noticed that you still have your two little admirers, can’t bring them both.”
“I could.”
Bryce laughed. “No you can’t! They hate each other.”
“Then you can bring one.”
“So, they can wish they were the one you picked. No thank you. You should just take Janie. No one else really seems to like Lynn still.”
“I’ll think about it. Who will you bring?”
“Can we stop worrying about it and just get there?” Seth asked. “We have to get through the day first.”
He started to sound mad so we shut up after that and rounded the corner to the stables. I was just happy he agreed at all and we got some of the other boys interested in our plans throughout the day so by the end, there were almost a dozen pairs that would come to the spring.
I liked going there. It was like an underground oasis a short trip down one of the alleys by the Academy. A natural spring bubbled up warm water and slivers of natural light shone down around it. The rock formations made great cozy seating for the purpose of our activities and tunnels beyond it for more privacy. Apparently, kids have been coming here for generations as a nice quiet place to explore their sexuality. It wasn’t the first place I’ve done it but I have done it here and Seth needed to—tonight.
He was much too stressed lately not to. A glass of blood every morning wasn’t exactly my idea of total relaxation. We just had to make sure he was really into it enough to stay. Most kids that come here still make sure they’re home for dinner but tonight was going to be a good reason for him to miss it. I even made extra attempts by talking to the girl he’d bring, making sure she pushed the matter so he couldn’t refuse. It wasn’t a problem of course. Who wouldn’t have agreed? He was Seth and him finally showing someone else attention was a good thing.
I ended up bringing Lynn despite what Bryce had advised. She was someone I knew had to be home by dinner so that meant I would be too and could cover for Seth much easier if I wasn’t as distracted. I wanted to be, sure but he desperately needed it more and Becca was the right girl for the job. She was very persuasive after kissing him by the spring for a little bit that she got him to follow her back into the tunnels.
“Ready to walk me home?” Lynn was next to me, tugging at my arm for us to go.
“Yeah. Of course.” I signaled to Bryce what I was doing and left with her, walking my horse all the way to her house since her father was still strict about letting her ride.
“I had a good time. Maybe next time you want to hang out, we can do it here where it’s not so crowded.”
I smiled. Her parlor was the first place I’ve done it and when her father had to work, it was safe because he’d never come in the house.
“I’d like that. Maybe tomorrow.”
“We’ll see. Goodnight, Dirk.”
I kissed her goodnight and rode off to the palace so I could make it there by dinner.
Bryce was already in the stables, putting his horse away. “There you are. Right on time.”
“Did Seth stay?”
“Yeah, looks like he won’t be joining us for dinner.”
“Like he really ever does but that was my plan. Come on.”
We headed inside and our parents were waiting for us.
“Where have you been?” My mother asked.
“What? We’re not late.” I argued. “We just stayed later with some friends.”
“Where’s Seth?” Zayden asked. “He hasn’t gotten his dinner yet.”
I looked at Bryce when we sat and I tried not to look too happy when Bryce answered. “Oh, him? He’ll be along.”
“Where is he?” Mother asked.
“We just got him some company, all right?” I replied. “Why are you always on our case about where he is? Ask him.”
“If we could ask him where he is, we would already know.”
“Well, see? Then why are we having this discussion?”
“Dirk!” My father bellowed my name so I would look. “Don’t be mad at your mother for asking a simple question.”
“I’m not mad.”
“Really because your hair is on fire.”
I patted down my head so the brief flames would be snuffed out. “I’m not mad. We don’t exactly have tabs on Seth all the time. He does what he wants.”
“And right now that’s being with a girl?” Adele asked.
“I made sure she’d be persuasive. He needed to get out and be around someone besides himself. Isn’t that a good thing?”
Adele looked at Zayden and I don’t think she quite approved about his company being a girl. Maybe she didn’t think he’s done anything like that before but it’s not exactly something we’d have a lengthy conversation about with our mothers. Our fathers were a bit more open to understanding so they at least knew.
“We think it’s a very good thing.” Zayden said. “Getting him to be more social is a step in the right direction.”
“So, why are we still talking about this?”
“Dirk, don’t be rude.” My father said. “You should have stayed and left with him.”
“Sorry that I have my own life. I walked Lynn home so she wouldn’t be late then came straight here. I wasn’t going to go back to see if he was done with her.”
“Dirk!” My mother shouted at me this time. I apparently couldn’t say anything right tonight.
“What?”
“No one wants to hear that.”
“Well, I wasn’t. I’m sure he wouldn’t appreciate spectators.”
“Dirk—” My father said. “Stop
talking. Adele does not want to hear about what Seth is doing with his dick right now.”
“Darius!” Adele’s voice was clearly raged and I was thankful I wasn’t the only one that was getting yelled at. “And that’s helping?!”
“Well, you don’t—do you?”
She grimaced and fled the dining hall like this morning only she was madder about this than sad.
“Thank you.” Zayden said while getting up. “Could you have made my work a little harder?”
My father laughed. “Relax. Go put your dick to work and she’ll forget all about it.”
I wanted to laugh too but I held back to watch Zayden’s reaction. He wasn’t being a stiff about it like I expected. He actually laughed and playfully punched my father’s shoulder. “Be realistic. That’s never work.”
“Unless she’s angry.” Troy said.
Zayden’s eyebrows raised and he stepped towards him.
Troy was on the defensive and held his hands up before he could be punched next, maybe for real. “Not that I know that! Just an observation of trying to get her out of the current mood.”
“No watching. I don’t want to give out my secrets.” Zayden ended his comment with a smile and almost everyone laughed while he left.
“Stop acting like children in front of the children.” Jaylyn said.
“It’s fine.” Troy replied. “It was harmless.”
“Are you two having sex?”
My fork dropped when my mother asked out of nowhere and Bryce and I looked at each other oddly.
“I’ve never even thought about having sex with him.” I said.
Bryce shoved me. “Gross! That’s not what she meant!”
“I was kidding! I know what she meant.”
“Well?” My mother’s arms were folded and her eyes were on me, flashing red once.
“Do we have to talk about this over dinner?”
“Apparently we have been since you sat down. Answer me. Have you killed anyone?”
“But that’s a completely different question.”
“Dirk.” My father stopped me from arguing and gave me a long look.
“I haven’t killed anyone.”
My mother was surprised. “Then you have had sex?”
“This feels weird to talk about.”
“A simple yes or no would suffice.”
“It’s still weird.”
“Dirk!”
“Yes.”
“Bryce?” Now that my mother got the answer she probably didn’t want to hear, Jaylyn had to ask.
“What?”
“Don’t play dumb.” Troy said.
“Why are we talking about this exactly?”
“Yes.” I answered for him because I knew there was no point to dance around it. I already tried that.
“Hey!”
“What? It was inevitable.”
“Fine. Dirk catches fire when he does it.”
“Bryce!”
“What? It was inevitable.”
I knew I was going to be catching fire now. I could feel it moving my hair.
“Is that true?” My father asked.
“Not all of me so it puts anyone in danger. My hair and shoulders mostly. Sometimes maybe my back. It depends on the position.”
“All right, that’s enough.” My mother said. “You don’t need to go into detail but you need to be careful, not just with the fire; other things.”
“Mother, please don’t make this any more uncomfortable than it already is. I know all about that and I have been careful.”
“Good. I’m proud of you.”
“Still uncomfortable.”
She smiled which at least meant she wasn’t angry about finding out. I guess that was a good thing but I really expected more.
Seth walked in normally while we sat in silence and started up conversation again. He must have known his parents had left already.
“Hey, any for me?”
“Well, evening there, Seth.” Jaylyn smiled. “Of course there’s some for you sweetheart. Have a seat.”
He sat down and started to pick at his cold meal in front of him.
“Are you just getting in?” My mother asked.
“Yeah. Later than I expected but I’m here.”
“We’re glad.” Troy said. “We’ve been missing you at the table.”
“So, tell us.” My father had this growing smile he tried to keep dormant. “How was she?”
My mother and Jaylyn kept quiet. They didn’t even yell at him for saying it which I was extremely surprised for. It was more like they were actually waiting to hear his response. At first, maybe he didn’t know what he was asking or that they all knew but he didn’t take it in the direction my father intended. He was more down about it.
“Not who I wanted it to be.”
Was it sad that even I was feeling bad just by his tone? He just came back from finally getting laid but it wasn’t who he wanted it to be? It depressed more than just me.
“Oh, sweetie, don’t worry.” My mother said, showing a lending hand from across the table. “You’ll get to see her again. Cadence is a wonderful girl.” She sat back and my father was looking at her in complete wonderment. “What?”
“Nothing. I just didn’t know you thought that about her.”
“Why wouldn’t I? She’s really nothing like her witch of a mother.”
Seth’s mood heightened. “You hate her too!? I thought I was the only one!”
My mother laughed. “No. She’s a completely horrible person. Why do you think that? What did she do to you?”
“She doesn’t want Cadence anywhere near me. What’d she do to you?”
She was real hesitant on answering at first but even I wanted to know and she pointed with her thumb to my father. “Him.”
“You’ve been with Meg?” I know Seth asked it but I was thinking the same thing, only I just didn’t get it out fast enough.
“It’s nothing to talk about.” My father said. “It was a long time ago.”
“Still. That’s disgusting.” Seth went on. “Have you seen the outrageously gorgeous woman next to you? Why would you want that other thing?”
My mother laughed. “Thank you, Seth. That’s sweet of you to say and completely true. I didn’t know what he was thinking either.”
“Can we not discuss it?” My father demanded.
My mood was now with his. “Yeah and tone down how gorgeous you think my mother is.”
“Dirk, honey. It’s okay.”
“Not to me. I’m going to bed.”
I got up and went right upstairs. I no longer wanted to be a part of this discussion.
Chapter 39
Seth
I didn’t mean to make him leave but it was okay. For once I wanted to be here. It felt good to know that someone else hated Meg besides me. Ruby could probably relate best to me right now and I’d like to talk with her some more.
“Bryce, why don’t you go upstairs and get yourself ready for tomorrow.” Jaylyn said.
She looked between us and it was easy to see that they wanted to talk to me alone like they had to be my parents now. Bryce went with it with a nod and got up to leave.
Everyone stayed quiet until he was out the door.
“How long are you going to keep this up?” Jaylyn asked.
“Keep what up?”
“I think you know what she means.” Troy said.
“How much longer are they going to be ruining my life? Maybe the rest of it.”
“Two years isn’t the rest of your life.” Ruby said.
“It may not be just two years. I heard that woman who birthed me wanted to stop our union all together.”
“Don’t be hateful towards your mother, Seth.”
“You know about it?” Darius asked.
I looked at all of them and it seemed none of them knew that I knew.
“Of course I know.” I said. “But that’s not why I care about it so much. I care about Cadence. I didn’t find out abo
ut that until after I met her.”
“Maybe you misunderstood what she meant.” Jaylyn said.
I didn’t like talking about it and they should have heard that in my low voice. “No. She was pretty clear. She’s worried about what Wyatt will want of us when it happens.”
They looked at each other and I just knew they knew something they weren’t telling me.
“What? What do you know?”
They were hesitant but I got something at least.
“We know that Wyatt is a psychopath.” Darius said. “And worry of his plans may be true.”
“No! I won’t let it be!”
My eyes grew black and they leaned away.
“Calm down.” Troy said. “Your parents know how much you care about her and they’ll think of a way. They always do.”
I calmed. I didn’t mean to get mad. I understood my parents worry but if it meant I couldn’t have Cadence, I didn’t know if I could live with that.
“What do you think they’ll do?”
Troy hesitated while he looked at everyone else. “I think, considering the circumstances, they’ll do the right thing.”
“Meaning, saving the country from possible doom or our family?”
They all did that eye shift again.
“Isn’t it all the same thing?” Jaylyn asked. “Saving the country would save our family.”
I sighed. “I love all of you like family, you know I do but I was talking about just the three of us.”
“You’re reading too far into it.” Ruby said. “Your mother and father love you very much and of course your happiness matters. They don’t want you to feel this way. They’ll find a solution so you can have her. We know they will.”
“Like killing her mother?”
Ruby smiled. “If there’s ever a reason, it’ll be my job but you can bask in my glory.”
“I’d like that very much. Thank you.”
“Don’t get your hopes up.” Darius said. “She’s been praying on that thought for years.”
“Yes and as exciting as that sounds, we should all be getting upstairs to bed.” Jaylyn said. “Long day tomorrow.”
“What’s happening?” I asked.
“Did you seriously just ask that?” Troy said.
The moment he said it, it clicked. “Oh! Your birthdays. I didn’t forget. I’ve just been thinking about other things.”
Blooming Life (Fate's Intent Book 10) Page 22
