The Thorn Chronicles-Books 1-4: Kissed, Destroyed, Secrets, and Lies

by Kimberly Loth

  Jordan leaned into me and smiled. My stomach tightened. He seemed to have more of an effect on me than the other boys.

  “We still on for tonight?” I asked Ginny.

  “Of course, six-thirty okay?”

  “Sure.”

  “You won’t need to make Ale dinner, just put him in bed when it’s time. I’ll be home around midnight.” She paused for a second, then spoke directly to Jordan. “And no eye candy allowed tonight.”

  Jordan didn’t even acknowledge Ginny, but he did look at me. “See you at nine.” I didn’t know how to respond to that. Most of the boys I kissed would ask to see me again, but it was usually of the whining or begging variety. Jordan didn’t even stop to think that I might not want to see him again.

  I sniffed. Spearmint. Ginny narrowed her eyes, but didn’t say anything. Jordan had influenced her to not argue with him. Clever.

  “I’m going to go find Naomi,” I announced and walked out of the room before Ginny figured out what was going on.

  Yet again, Jordan followed me. We found Puck and Naomi arguing in low voices in the library. Naomi stopped talking as we walked in and smiled at us.

  “Come on, we are going to work on my roses.”

  I forced a smile and resisted an eye roll. She stormed out of the library and I followed, without looking at Jordan.

  Once in the greenhouse, Naomi closed her eyes and breathed deeply for a few seconds. When she finally opened her eyes, she smiled.

  “Today I’m going to teach you how to bleed power into the roses. It makes both you and them stronger. They can also replenish your energy when you’re weak. The rose itself will actually take on a little bit of yourself in the process. Pick one and we’ll try.”

  I wandered around the garden and finally settled on a bright red climbing rose. Ginny always had cuttings of it in her room. “This one.”

  Naomi looked up from the pink rose she was tending. “Sorry, you can’t have that one.”

  “Why not?”

  “Because that was Alejandro’s rose, and it’s all Ginny has left of him. If you put your energy into it, the flowers won’t feel the same to her when she puts them in a vase on her dresser.”

  “You mean he bled his power into it?”

  “Yeah, sort of. He put a lot of himself into it.”

  That was odd. “Did he already know he was going to die?”

  Naomi wouldn’t look at me. “No, he didn’t. Pick another rose.”

  I found a yellow one that seemed suitable and waved Naomi over.

  “The first thing you need to do is identify your power,” said Naomi.

  “What do you mean?”

  “It should feel like a light inside of you.”

  I closed my eyes and searched. Sure enough it was there, glowing bright. It filled every cell in my body. I was so used to having it, I never really thought about it being separate from me.

  “Okay, found it.”

  “Good, now gather a small part of it. I often picture mine as a ball. Now push it out through your palms.”

  I nodded and concentrated.

  “Wait,” said Naomi. She took my hands and placed them in the dirt of the yellow rose. “Now, go.”

  I gathered the energy into a small ball, like she said, and pushed it out my palms. It buzzed a little as it entered the rose.

  “That was easy,” I said.

  “Now that one is yours,” Naomi said, grinning.

  I wondered if I could bleed power into my pictures. They always felt like me, but I’d never done so intentionally. That was probably just as easy.

  I wandered around the rose garden and noticed that most of the roses felt just like Naomi. But a few roses had different energies.

  “This one isn’t yours,” I said, pointing to a bright pink rose. “It doesn’t feel like Alejandro either.”

  “That’s one of my grandmother’s roses. If you were to walk in my garden in Arkansas you would find many that hold her power.”

  My heart panged. I wished my mother had been a Guardian. Then she would’ve left behind a part of herself too. In a way, I envied both Naomi and Ginny because they still had part of their loved ones with them. Though, I wouldn’t trade places with Ginny for all the money in the world. The rose was literally all she had left of her dead husband. She faithfully replaced those roses on her dresser every day, because once they were cut they began to die. But maybe I could give her something more permanent.

  “I know that Alejandro’s rosebush is very important to Ginny, but can I take just one flower? I want to try something.”

  “What do you want to try?”

  “Just something with my art. If it works, it would mean a lot to Ginny. Can I?”

  “I guess.”

  Naomi cut a bloom off for me and I took it into the kitchen. I’d made homemade paint before, so the first thing I did was blend the petals and water in a food processor, using as little water as possible. Then, without using my own power, I set to work on creating the flower on paper. I wanted to see if Alejandro’s power would transfer. The paint color was much lighter than his rose, but I captured everything else just right. When I finished, I went to find Naomi.

  She was still out in the garden, but she was talking on the phone. I stopped in the entranceway and waited for her. Of course I eavesdropped.

  “I thought you supported me,” she said in her quiet, deadly voice.

  Then I heard her gasp.

  “What the hell did you tell Kai for?” she shrieked.

  Another pause.

  “Jason, if you aren’t on board then I’ll just do this myself. But I swear, if you tell Puck, I will come back and take what’s mine. I’ll take what’s yours too. You know I’m capable of it.”

  Then she slammed the phone down on the table and turned around. She paled when she saw me standing there.

  “How much of that did you hear?”

  “Not enough to understand what’s going on, but enough to wonder why you’re talking about Kai and what you want to keep from Puck.”

  Naomi frowned. “It’s complicated.”

  “Why is Kai hanging with Jason?” Even I knew that Jason was the leader of the Destroyers. And Naomi hadn’t mentioned Kai since she got back to Vegas three years ago. I had met him briefly, but I suspected there was a long history there.

  “That is a good question. But he and Jason have always been good friends.”

  I took a couple steps into the greenhouse. Whatever was going on, it was a big deal. I felt a little bad for Naomi having to deal with it all on her own.

  “You know, if you have a problem, I can help.”

  She smiled. “I know you can, that’s why you’re going to Arizona, but right now I’m still figuring stuff out. Once I have a plan, I’ll bring you in on it.”

  I leaned against the table. “Does this have anything to do with the fact that you don’t want me to become a Guardian?”

  She met my eyes. “Yes, it has everything to do with that. That’s all I’m telling you right now. I’m assuming you came out here for a reason.”

  “Yeah, I wanted to show you this.” I handed her the picture. She took it from my hands and her eyes widened.

  “This is incredible. I can feel Alejandro. A little bit of you, too. How’d you do it?”

  I explained the paint. “The thing is, I want to be able to make the color brighter and stronger. Can you help me with that? I want to make something like this for Ginny, but this color is too weak.”

  She nodded. “Yes, of course, I can help you with that. If you bring me the paint you want to use, I can make it feel like Alejandro.”

  I sniffed. “Why can’t you show me how to do it?”

  “Because you aren’t ready.” If I wasn’t so intent on being agreeable I would’ve argued with her, but not today. Not while operation Stay-In-Vegas was in effect.

  I nodded. “Okay, but I’ll need you to do it to several different colors.”

  “Not a problem.”

&nbs
p; “I also need to see some pictures of him.”

  “I didn’t know you could do portraits.”

  “I can do just about anything,” I said, pretending I was offended. “I don’t like portraits and that’s not what I’m going to do, but I’ll still need to see some pictures.”

  We walked back into the house together. I left her by the computer to find the pictures and ran to my room to find my oil paints. I selected a few shades of brown, bright red, green, white, and black. I preferred sketching and pencil drawing, but I was a decent with paints too.

  “Is this too many?” I asked when I came back downstairs.

  “Nope, that’s fine. Here are the wedding pictures. Hopefully you can find something that will work.”

  Naomi disappeared outside and I scrolled through the pictures and found three or four that would help me, but I looked at all of the rest anyway. What shocked me was how different both Naomi and Ginny appeared, the way they both carried themselves. They were carefree and happy. Naomi’s features were soft and sweet. She wasn’t as polished as she was now. Ginny didn’t have any fine lines on her face and she was always smiling. Now, she carried an air of sadness with her. I supposed if my husband had been murdered, I would too. It hurt to see the difference four or five years had made in both of them.

  I stopped at the picture of Naomi dancing with Kai. She was smiling at him as if he were the only boy on earth. What the…?

  Puck walked into the room. He glanced at the computer screen and scowled. “Do you know Kai?” I asked.

  “Yeah. He’s my brother.”

  “Your brother? You never talk about him.”

  “We don’t really speak much anymore.”

  “Why not?”

  “You can’t tell?” He nodded toward the computer.

  “Naomi?”

  “Yep. Where is she anyway?”

  “Greenhouse, I think. She’s helping me with some paints.”

  He creased his eyebrows. “I’m not following.”

  “I’m working on a project and I need the paints to feel like Alejandro’s rose.”

  He scowled. “She should just have showed you how to do it.”

  “That’s what I said, but she said I wasn’t ready.”

  “We’ll see about that.”

  Ale was easier to manage outside, so I put him in a life vest and then we jumped into the pool. He was actually a pretty good swimmer, but I didn’t want to take any chances since we were alone. He chased Lincoln around the pool while I watched. It wasn’t until it was close to Ale’s bedtime that I finally managed to coax him out.

  I was toweling him off when the sliding door opened and Alejandro’s brother stepped out onto the patio with a beautiful woman I’d never met before.

  “Una Jule!” Ale ran and wrapped his chubby arms around Julio’s legs. Julio set down the paper bag he was carrying and picked up the little boy. Then he looked at me.

  “I called Ginny and she said it was just you two at home tonight. I brought ice cream. Ginny said you like Snickers concretes.”

  The woman didn’t wait for an introduction. She held out her hand. “I’m America.”

  I shook her hand. The buzz of power around her was strong. I looked up at her, shocked. She smiled wide.

  “I’m Sunday.”

  Julio didn’t spend a lot of time here. I think it was hard for him, but he came over once a month or so and spent time with Ale, usually with a different girl on his arm each time. Most were gorgeous. I wondered if he knew this one was a Shade. I didn’t know how he could have missed it, she practically glowed.

  Julio set Ale down and opened the bag. He handed me a concrete and knelt in front of the boy. “I got you chocolate.” Little Ale clapped his hands, then took the cup and the spoon from Julio and sat himself down on the ground, ready to eat.

  I settled in a chair. Julio and America sat across from me. We all watched Ale effectively get more ice cream on himself than in his mouth, but I could spray him down before we went inside.

  “I heard you are going to stay with my parents for a little bit,” Julio said.

  He heard wrong, since I wasn’t actually going, but right now I had to pretend that it was still the case.

  “Yeah,” I said and hoped he would drop it. But America latched onto the topic.

  “Julio is taking me to meet them this weekend.” Then to him, “I’m sure Sunday would like to know a little more about them.”

  She thought wrong, but whatevs. She probably wanted to know what she would be up against. This must be serious if he was taking her to meet them. We both looked at him expectantly.

  Julio immediately startling rambling.

  “Nan’s a social butterfly. She’s involved with everything in Tombstone. Don’t tell her any secrets, she’s the town gossip. But you’ll love her. Though she’s had a hard time since Alejandro died. Not quite the same. Maybe you can help her.”

  Good to know. Except I wouldn’t be going.

  “What about your dad?” America asked. Yep, she was definitely asking for herself.

  “Dad’s the opposite of Nan. Quiet. Hard to crack, but fiercely protective. He’ll have your back if any of the boys give you a hard time.”

  His parents sounded like decent people. It’d be nice to visit them, but I didn’t want to live there. The whole summer.

  I so had to get out of this.

  Julio rinsed off Ale and then offered to put him to bed. Putting that kid to bed took no less than a half hour since it involved a bath, a drink, and at least three stories. I gladly handed the responsibility to him. I spent the next thirty minutes chatting with America; she was very easy to talk to. After she and Julio left, I checked on Ale and found him sound asleep with Lincoln curled up next to him. This was the only time Lincoln actually liked the little boy. Still, I knew that at some point in the middle of the night the cat would come to my room. I couldn’t remember the last time I woke up on my own.

  I went into the kitchen to grab a bottle of water, then I was going to watch a movie while I waited for Ginny to get back.

  I stopped short in the doorway when I saw Jordan sitting at the counter. He beamed at me, and I couldn’t help but smile back.

  “Ginny said you couldn’t be here,” I said and grabbed two bottles out of the fridge. I handed him one.

  “Well, I don’t know where else I’m supposed to go since I’m crashing here until I can find another place.”

  Oh, this could be fun. But I was supposed to be good. He certainly wasn’t going to make it easy for me.

  I climbed up on the stool next to him. “Didn’t Puck tell you that I was off limits?”

  He took a drink of water and I watched his lips. I wanted to kiss him so bad I had to lean away to resist temptation. But he leaned forward.

  “No, he didn’t tell me any such thing. But he did tell me that you were a Shade.”

  My hands shook a little and I brushed my hair back behind my ears. “What are you talking about?”

  “I’m on Puck’s council. He told me about both you and Naomi.”

  “Really?”

  He nodded and scooted closer. The boy was so darn tempting. He leaned in for a kiss and I drew away and fell right off the stool. Of course he caught me. I felt like I was in the middle of some incredibly cheesy romance novel.

  His arm was strong against my back and his voice breathy in my ear.

  “But I didn’t come here to talk about Puck.”

  I looked into his dark brown eyes. “Then what did you come here to talk about?”

  “Nothing.” He kissed me then and for a half second I forgot myself. I never forget myself. This kiss was different than any of the other ones I had. Our energies mixed together and the chocolate and cinnamon taste heightened, and before I knew it I was dizzy with pleasure.

  He pulled back. “Holy hell, what was that?”

  “Sorry,” I said. “I let my shield down.”

  “Well, you’ve totally ruined me from kissing another gi
rl ever again.”

  Jordan grabbed my hand and pulled me into the library. He pushed me up against a bookshelf and leaned into me. He looked deep into my eyes and trailed his fingers down my arms. I shivered. The air suddenly smelled of lavender and I closed my eyes. I felt our energies mixing once again. His lips met mine and moved furiously against each other. The books bit into my back, but I didn’t care. My hands found his and I wove our fingers together.

  He smiled and tugged me over to the couch. We kissed until our lips were raw. The taste ranged from vanilla ice cream to dark chocolate. Lust to love and back again. We couldn’t get enough of each other. I fell asleep on his chest and sometime around one, Ginny woke me up.

  “This is not what I meant by babysitting Ale.”

  I sat up.

  “I’m sorry. I really am.”

  Jordan sat up too. “This isn’t Sunday’s fault. She didn’t know I would be here. I did wait until Ale was asleep though. I’m sorry. I’ll be going to bed.” He leaned down, pecked me on the lips, and escaped out the library door.

  Ginny sighed. “Perhaps it’s a good thing you are going to Tombstone. That boy is nothing but trouble.”

  I crossed my arms and wouldn’t look at her. A sour taste filled my mouth. Operation Stay-In-Vegas was in jeopardy.

  Sunday

  Most cacti take years to grow. The Saguaro cactus can take ten years to grow two inches. But some cacti, like the Pereskiopsis, can grow several feet in a year. I like the Saguaro better, but I think I’m more like a Pereskiopsis.

  WHEN I CAME DOWN TO THE LIBRARY for my morning lessons, I found both Puck and Jordan waiting for me. My heart skipped a beat and I hesitated in the doorway. My face burned when I thought about what we’d been doing in here the night before. I took a quick breath and made my way over to my seat. Jordan smiled at me as I sat down; I smiled back and my head went a bit fuzzy.

  He sat next to me and put his arm around me. Puck leaned back and put his hands behind his head like he didn’t have a care in the world.

  “This doesn’t bother you?” I asked.

  He shook his head. “No, why would it?”