My shoulders tensed and relaxed all at the same time. What would Wicker do next?
“Try three.”
“I can’t do that,” she cried out.
“Just try.”
She did. All three hit the target dead center.
“You ever use a bow before?” Wicker asked.
“No.”
Wicker shifted to the rocks. “Try the rock then.”
He meant for her to blow it up or something. I gave her a solid no look when she asked with her eyes what I wanted. No slam-dunking on the show off stage.
Emma concentrated. Her hands shook making me want to run to her, comfort her. I didn’t like the feelings she felt making herself try to destroy something. Her heart didn’t like it. I was just about to hurry over to her when the rock lifted off the ground and hovered for a second too long.
“Wow, for a newling you’re magnificent. Joshlin will have a field day. What else can you do?” Wicker eyed her curiously, then me. Time to exit. Stage left.
“We have to get going now.” I said to Wicker and nodded to the group around us. I had a mental image of her choking Wicker and watching the life leave him. I needed to escape here, with her.
“What’s the hurry, Cahn?”
Oh, you telling her more information than she needed to hear. She already confirmed her non-humanness. She didn’t need to know yet she was something more.
“She just got lucky today. It was nothing.” I saw her drop her shoulders making me feel like a heel. I needed Wicker on my side, but I should have come early and warned him. Having no choice in front of the newlings, I shrugged it off as nothing to him.
Emma swooped in close to my face and whispered, “Is he why you want me to make my bite less grittier?”
“No,” I kept my eyes ahead on Wicker eyeing us.
“They why?”
She was waiting for an answer. I wasn’t sure how long I stood there watching the depth of silent understanding in her eyes. She was just being a dang female now.
“Er, no reason.”
“Right. But you will tell me later.” A quick nod sent her back in Wicker’s direction.
She and her amazing mouth came out with, “Sorry, Wicker is it?” She shook her rear as she stalked him. “I have plans for my friend Ames here. So if you don’t mind, we’re done here.” She poked a finger in his direction.
Wicker’s mouth dropped like my own. I quickly closed it back before anyone saw, but Wicker shot me a look of pure hatred. He hated what I had. I swelled with the opposite emotion. Mine!
EMMA
Wow! That was amazingly clarifying. I could control the power better than I thought. I had some I didn’t know I had because I’d kept it so hidden and was always afraid to let it show. At first, I thought having Ames watch me would cause a disaster, but he made me feel like I could do it. He didn’t ask if could hold back the power, he just told me too.
The others around us moved back to their spots that proved to be stations of sorts. I went to stand by Ames and watch before he took me away from there.
I was bold in front of him. I’d learned from years of snarky boys the difference between harmless flirting and all out suggestive inappropriateness. He was still teasing me the way a guy does when he thinks you’re a great “girl” and not a candidate for dating. The whole kiss thing before was probably all my imagination.
The first girl tried and tried and couldn’t make her pumpkin move an inch. The second one made the top blow off. A guy next to her hit the tree stump instead. I see now why Mr. Wicker the wicked thought I was some kind of wonderful. And Ames wanted it silent for some reason. I would know that secret if I had to find a power to get it out of him.
“She will improve with your lessons. Be sure to have the needed items for one soon. It will be private.”
Ames directed this at Wicker making me detect a change in his body language. The authoritative way his voice composed like an army captain or someone who at least gave orders to others gained my notice. I’d caught the controlled precision of how he spoke to others, but with this guy it was as if they were officer and enlisted, so to speak.
The huge mass of a man named Wicker stood above me now. He couldn’t be that much older than me, but his voice was so deep—way beyond puberty.
“You were just wow.” Wicker shook his head and finished his sentence choppily, “Words don’t say what you are.” He fought a smile but it peeked through twitching upward.
Ames was just watching me with curious eyes. A hint of amusement toyed around his mouth making me twist my anger button up a notch. Something bigger than my power alone was going on here. He brought me here for a test, but upon arrival his position changed. He told me to hold back. I didn’t because I selfishly wanted to see the reaction. It wasn’t often that my gift was seen as a good thing.
I turned on Ames the second we hit the pavement away from the rest. “Now tell me what you are and what this is right now. I promise to listen and not run.” I won’t promise to tell I was thinking how his lips looked moist and kissable right then. I’d eat mud before I’d ever tell him that.
I felt him spike with energy and start to worry as he rubbed his chin then ran the same hand through his hair. It feathered out forward and then fell back into place. While a certain part of me wanted to like that he was worried about me, it also made my anger resolve to do what I had to do to get answers.
He pulled his lip in and I saw him chew on the side of his mouth. “I don’t want you to leave just yet now that we are friends.”
No freaking duh! Figured that part out, bud.
“Quit saying that. If you say you’re a vampire or werewolf, fine. Heck I’ll join the zombie league if you’re one of those. I’ll even think about chopping up your veggies if you’re a vegetarian, just tell me already.” My hands went to my hips in wait, my voice sounding breathy and uncontrolled in my own ears. “I’m not moving till you do.”
I think I just said I liked him.
AMES
And if she stood there long enough she might just find herself hosed of all possible outlets.
“Legends hold that once there were those who lived under the ground and forged gold. And others who wanted gold. And still others who harvested the gold for aid or the opposite. Selfish gain. On one hand you have those who make the gold and use it as trade for other goods for the advancement of their people. They had a great king who cared deeply about his people but then he died and his son was in charge. A son who grew up and is without a wife. A restless one.”
I watched for her to catch on but I was being ambiguous on purpose. I kept on when she didn’t flinch.
“The others, the greedy ones in this tale, lost all bets when they tried to steal the king’s gold among other things. It forced all manner of warlike acts to come out in the king and it got him dead. His son took over and the thieves were taken as slaves. Over time they became trusted in small ways. There are guards, various upper positions the king allows.”
“You say this like it’s something you are very familiar with,” Emma claimed to me tapping her foot in unison to my fingers drumming my chin. A habit I didn’t think she knew she owned.
“It is. I hold a part in the tale.” She didn’t want to know yet how much. A spineless neutrality wasn’t honorable and I preferred to hide it.
“Are you indicating that creatures exist like,” Emma rolled her eyes upward to avoid saying to me, “elves, vampires, werewolves...goblins?”
I shook my head. She almost had it. “Not the vampires and werewolves part.”
“And you’re going to leave me hanging I see,” she said coyly, trapping me in those glittery-sapphire colored eyes. This was no game and that only reminded me of how innocent she was as well as the danger she didn’t know she was in.
“Not yet. But I will tell you this. You are in danger. I will protect you, but there are those who will expect for me to treat you with forcefulness. I was sent to take you back to your home.”
> “Why is that bad? Not that I want to go or have even given my consent otherwise,” she held her hands up derisively.
“I know and before too long you will have to choose, Emma. But hiding will prove exhausting and the king will not be stifled for too long.”
“Are you saying I have no choice?” she started backing up like she might run.
“I’m saying that you need to listen and learn all the facts before you decide where your own fate lies. Not all are here for your best interests.” Including me as of days ago.
“Then lead the way, Ames Cahn. And let me decide for myself,” she said boldly. Her mouth drew out in a long breath and she added. “After you tell me what I am, as well as yourself.”
Her energy spiked to a swell all time high compared to the previous one I’d witnessed. The man in me said she couldn’t hurt me, but could she? It did things to my libido it shouldn’t so why not physical pain. She wasn’t afraid to face the unknown. Perhaps she overestimates her power.
A difficult task to decide, I settled for half. “You are descended from a later king in the world of gold hoarding who died and left behind a legacy of honest trade.”
“I’m like...a goblin.”
She crunched up her nose in disgust.
“Mostly. Your mother gave you other talents.”
Her eyes wide, she mouthed without speaking the word mother. I’d get to that later.
“Not in the way of fairy tales like in your head, but more along the lines of what the truth is. Humans turned us into ugly creatures over time, but really we are a group of highly developed magical creatures who look not unlike you or me. The name just took effect and stuck.”
“More hot guys in my fairy tale. Alright!” She smiled wide and laughed.
I stopped my story long enough to ponder what she said with a grin. “If you are equating that to me then I would have to say something along the lines of ‘thank you’ but that would be insinuating that you think I’m hot and if you’re laughing I hope that it’s because of the shock and not because the hot comment was some type of irony.”
She blushed just like I planned. The beast inside me was happy for the millisecond I knew I might get to keep her. Then it left with her next statement.
“So I’m some kind of relative of the king. Why does the current king want me there then? Just to see the long lost relative doesn’t jive with me all too well.”
I’m not telling her that much yet. It would have to wait.
EMMA
So it seems I am the long lost relative of the goblin king of yesterday and the current one wants to have a tea party and introduce me to the cousins. Great.
And that meant I was one too. Even better. I wanted to be disgusted initially by the mere mention of the word goblin, but he just told me that I was one too. Always been. And he wasn’t exactly...ugly. Not by a long shot. More like...drop dead gorgeous.
The amount of energy I used in front of people was just amazing even if they didn’t know how to explain it. But I could now. It wasn’t anywhere near what I could have. I know my emotions had to have been high on the heartbeat monitor for Ames to deal with, but wow!
My mind couldn’t read his, but if I could, I’d want to know exactly why he gets turned on by my power and not me. Even if I couldn’t read his every emotion, I could read it all over his face. I hated to trick him, but the truth was close. Ames seemed to have my best interest so I would just stay on my guard.
And I could handle all this if it meant finding out more about my powers and what it meant to have them. Or get rid of them.
As long as I didn’t have to stay.
“I’ll go.”
Ames turned with a jerk when the Jeep door opened and closed. He hurried around to the driver side and jumped in. Click. The doors locked.
“What do you mean you’ll go?” Ames instantly lost his easy smile he kept as his jaw tightened making his lips curl in. This emotion from him was the opposite of moments ago. It was pure anger. At me?
I was freaking out now. “I will go meet these relatives, say hi-de-do and come back home. What could it hurt?”
I watched him start the Jeep and put it in drive. We went onto the freeway and silence loomed in the air until we were parked in front of my house. I was lost in my thoughts replaying what all had just gone down. I could do this. I was strong. Going to meet this crew would make my heart settle it’s longing to know the truth. I might finally know what I am and know fully what I can do. Hearing it and seeing it are two different things entirely.
So...I opened up my iPhone and googled goblins. It wasn’t pretty.
AMES
I’d screwed up. Big time. “You can’t just walk in there and say hi. It’s more complicated than that.”
That man would cannibalize his youngest if it meant keeping himself in the king’s seat.
“You just said they were like me. If that’s true, then why can’t I just see a part of that world that I come from and decide myself where I want to be? I live here. I don’t want to just up and say goodbye to the good people who’ve raised me, quit high school, and run away to fairy tale land. And if this hero could get rid of these powers, I’d be good with that.” Her hand finally stopped tapping the phone. I wondered who she was texting or what she was typing.
She was in denial. That’s it. It had to be. “But you’re not human. Once you know who you are, you will want to embrace it? Take over and the damage will be done. With this crew, you will need to have severe control. They will need to see you have nothing in the way of power if you want to survive, but not lose yourself forever.”
Her confusion didn’t alert me to my mess-up, but her hand to her mouth did.
“You want me to go in there and make waves with these creatures? Pretend I’m weak. What are you not telling me?”
Those creatures were just like her. And not really. But I do want to take her far away and hide her from anyone else who would take her from me. Unfortunately, that was impossible. Suddenly, denying my true calling to be king wasn’t such a bad idea if it meant possibly saving her.
In front of her house we shuffled around the truth al ittle more and still only came to one conclusion. Take her to him and make her appear weak so he wouldn’t want her.
Finally, when there was nothing else to be said that I could offer she came out with, “I thought goblins were supposed be ugly and nasty, trickster like creatures.”
“Does that describe you?” I asked.
She scrunched her nose up like she does. I liked her most unsavory faces more than I thought. It made me wonder even more what she might be thinking.
“It says you’re mischievous and a bunch of troublemakers.”
I looked at her phone again putting the pieces together. “What are you reading, the tabloid papers?”
Her hand jerked away when I tried to take it. “No. Wikipedia says that you’re dangerous to humans and kidnap people by turning yourself to look different. Is this how you really look?”
She backed far up on the seat like the distance might make her safe from any kind of hostile “kidnapping” ordeals. I couldn’t help but enjoy her dramatic little show.
“Legends are just that. With any supernatural occurrence the human world feels the need to give merit to its existence. Naturally, rumors get started. I am not hiding another form that would reveal warts or long ears. I am who you see. We don’t look any different than humans, although our ancestors were reasonably shorter. Mating with humans over the centuries made our attributes distinguishably different and therefore created the legend of our dwarf-like features. I assure you, I am not dwarf-like in any way.” I didn’t stop the sarcasm or the innuendo that would gain me one of her little gasps.
And oh, did it work.
She blossomed into a fiery red on her cheeks making me want to say more things that would cause such a reaction. When she gathered her voice enough she asked, “What about the story of the Tengu dude who takes humans and some of the other stor
ies?”
“He wasn’t real. All made up. Some even say it was the goblin kind who invented the martial arts. Don’t they know honorable hard working men accomplished those skills and passed them on to others? The things humans believe sometimes.”
I shook my head getting lost in the myths Emma was just trying to prove or disprove. “Either way, I am one hundred percent all me with a little magic and,” I smiled not being able to stop myself, “…and a lot of that mischief up my sleeve. So maybe that was true, but humans are too. That trait lies with all who exist. And besides, our goal is not to hurt others, just survive and live. It’s the humans who tamper with wanting to experiment on those who they can’t understand. Witches and other creatures that have been around deep into the beginning of time have created curses that can’t be lifted. If they would leave well enough alone, we’d all come out and make aware of just how many different life forms there are.”
Man, I gave her too much information. I needed to control my mouth around her. And my jacked up head that just spun in circles when she was close.
She dismissed her silly notions and let me tell her goodbye. I needed to take care of another assignment for tonight. I should tell her goodbye forever and let someone else take over her retrieval. I didn’t need complications in my life.
School was minute the next day compared to the day before. It was just going through the motions in human style. I didn’t even feel like teasing Emma with the way the other girls followed me around or bark at the ex who suddenly found her a gold mine again. I let everything just happen. When the girl in question who kept me at odds like no other scooted her hip over to me at lunch, my mind went to dangerous grounds. Her hand slid under the table and she squeezed my knee. Oh! My!
She gave me a knowing look of understanding. A friend to friend look. I needed to get out of here.
“Emma. Can I talk to you?” I turned to her pretty face for the first time since lunch started. She knew I was upset and that bothered me so much because it meant she cared. I had decided early this morning I shouldn’t care.
Denial (Goblin's Kiss Series Book One) Page 9
