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

by Kimberly Loth

  I knelt down near it. “Can I touch it?”

  “No, it glows. Remember what I said?” Morgan asked.

  “Oh yeah. It’s poisonous.”

  “But it won’t kill you, just make you really sick,” said Wyatt. “They are vicious. They lock their jaws, then chew to distribute the poison. You can’t get them off and they’re also nearly impossible to kill, so you just have to stay still until they let go. I heard it’s very painful. My stupid uncle picked one up a few years ago. Got bit on his hand. Only a handful of people in Arizona get bit every year and it’s usually because they are doing something dumb, like harassing it. Come on, let’s go.”

  When we got back to the truck, Andrea climbed up into the bed and held her hand out to me.

  “Come on.”

  I took her hand and hauled myself up. Morgan followed, but Wyatt stood on the ground with his arms crossed.

  “We should go.”

  “Why?” Andrea asked. “The night is nice and it’s still early. Just because Sunday’s getting on your nerves doesn’t mean the rest of want to leave. Besides, it’s my truck. We’ll go when I want to go.”

  Andrea sat down with her back to the cab and I joined her. Morgan sat across from me, and after a minute Wyatt finally climbed up and settled next to Morgan.

  Lincoln jumped up into the truck with us and curled up right on Wyatt’s lap, further securing his traitorous status.

  “What can you tell us about the other Guardians?” Wyatt asked. For someone who didn’t want to be discovered by the rest of the Guardians, he sure wanted to talk about them a lot.

  I shook my head and lied. “I don’t know that much about them, I just know when I’m being influenced. And I like kissing them.”

  Even in the dark, I could see all three blush. Why on earth were they embarrassed? Obviously, these were not your typical Guardians. Not at all. The ones I knew from Vegas were cocky and confident about their abilities. Especially their kissing skills. Plus, if they weren’t kissing girls, how were they getting their energy? I knew there were other ways, but kissing was the most efficient.

  Morgan recovered first. “What makes kissing Guardians any different than kissing regular guys?”

  I laughed. All Guardians knew the influence they had on girls. It was probably the benefit they exploited the most.

  “How do you replenish your energy if you’ve been using it a lot?” I asked.

  Morgan shrugged. “It’s different for all of us. I work with my dad on the farm. One of the other guys is a teacher and gets positive energy from being around happy and carefree three-year-olds. A few others meditate every morning for a couple of hours.”

  “And Wyatt?” I asked, almost positive I knew the answer to this.

  Morgan smirked.

  Wyatt crossed his arms. “That’s none of your business.”

  “I bet he made out with his girlfriend.” This was a lesson I learned from Naomi when she saw me eyeing all the boys by the pool. Using Guardian energy is exhausting. It needs to be replenished on a regular basis. There are many ways to do so, but the easiest and the fastest is kissing. Naomi warned me that the boys would want to kiss me because of that. After I kissed the first one, I didn’t care about his reasoning.

  Without warning, I leaned forward and kissed Morgan. He went stiff, shocked, but after a few seconds he began to respond. The kiss was sweet, definitely a Guardian kiss, full of sunshine and warmth, but he didn’t have the ease of someone who was experienced.

  I pulled away and Morgan stood up.

  “Holy hell, Wyatt, you’ve been holding out on us. No wonder you always had more power than everyone else.”

  “What are you talking about?”

  “I’d have to work for hours on the farm before I’d replenish even half the energy I just got from a thirty second kiss with her.”

  “I had no idea. I thought it was just my relationship with Beth. She and I started dating before I found out I was a Guardian. But the bigger question is, Friday, how do you know all this?”

  I didn’t answer him. I wouldn’t. Not until he called me by the right name.

  Unfortunately, Morgan, who was much nicer, asked the question again.

  “Yeah, Sunday, how do you know all this?”

  I looked at him when I answered. “Because the Minor Guardians were always over at Puck’s house. The girls get more out of the kisses than you boys do. I hate to tell you this, but if Beth thinks Wyatt’s kisses are the norm, she’s going to be sorely disappointed when she kisses another boy.”

  Wyatt smirked. “Good.”

  “Why don’t you want the other Guardians to know about you? It’s not like you guys fight for leadership.”

  “That’s none of your business.”

  I crossed my arms and huffed. Why wouldn’t they tell me anything? I could try to influence them. Naomi taught me how to coax the truth out of a person, but I didn’t want to alert them to my own power. Then another thought occurred to me.

  “Are there Destroyers around here?”

  “Hell no,” said Wyatt. “Isn’t that the job of a Guardian? To get rid of Destroyers?”

  I creased my eyebrows. My understanding was that the Guardians and Destroyers were supposed to balance each other out. So, although they didn’t like each other, they didn’t actively try to get rid of each other either, unless they were doing something that crossed a line.

  “You look confused, Monday. Are you telling me you’ve met Destroyers? How is that possible, when you live with the Major Guardian over Las Vegas? He shouldn’t have Destroyers anywhere near him.”

  “Vegas is a lot bigger than Tombstone. Plus, it’s Vegas, they’re everywhere.” I don’t know why I felt like I needed to defend Puck.

  “Well, we keep them out of Tombstone.”

  “How?”

  But the boys never got a chance to answer that question, even if they were going to. Andrea interrupted.

  “Guys, my curfew is approaching. We gotta scoot.”

  Wyatt and I didn’t fight as much at work the next day. But he still refused to call me Sunday, so I didn’t talk to him. I also didn’t say goodbye to him as I headed over to the diner. Esteban said he was working late and I didn’t want to face Nan for dinner.

  I hesitated as I approached the boot shop. Would it be weird if I went inside? Probably. But I needed to spend more time with that girl. Maybe I could influence her so she wouldn’t think it was weird. But she knew how to build a shield so she would probably be able to tell if I influenced her. Who cared anyway? If she could tell what I was, then maybe she’d open up about what she was.

  I opened the door and the bell jingled. She looked up from a book she was reading. Her face brightened when she saw me and she smiled. That was a good sign.

  “Sunday! Did you have fun last night?”

  “I did.” Maybe I wouldn’t have to influence her after all. Naomi cautioned me so much on revealing myself that I was a little nervous to just flaunt it.

  “Listen, I have to eat dinner at the diner tonight because Esteban won’t be home early enough to eat, but I don’t want to eat by myself. I know this may sound a little weird, but do you want to join me?”

  She hesitated. I took a few steps backwards.

  “If you don’t want to, it’s okay. I just wanted company.”

  “No, I do. It’s just you are friends with Andrea and Wyatt, and I don’t want that to be weird.”

  I smirked. “I can be friends with you both.”

  She hesitated for a few seconds more and I almost broke out the mint and Michael Jackson, but she responded before I had to.

  “I guess I can lock up a little early.”

  She closed the shop and we headed over to the diner. We got a booth and ordered chocolate milkshakes and hamburgers. I couldn’t sense any power on her. Maybe it was just someone who had walked into her shop. We chatted about unimportant stuff like school and her shop. I kept trying to figure out how to bring up the Shade thing but there wa
s no natural segue.

  “How’s Wyatt?” she asked, not looking at me.

  “He’s fine. Annoying, actually. How’d you two get together?”

  “How does anyone get together in a small town? He was there and he liked me. We kissed at a party and suddenly we were a couple.”

  “Why’d you break up?”

  She sighed. “Because we’d been together since seventh grade and I wanted to know what it was it like to date someone else. It can feel stale, living here. I wanted to experience something new, a change, and he seemed like a good place to start. But I miss him.”

  “I think he misses you too. I imagine if you wanted him back, he wouldn’t hesitate.”

  “You’re probably right, but I don’t want to get trapped in Tombstone. Wyatt will never leave this place. Besides, I kinda like being single.”

  The door jingled behind me and Beth looked up. Her face continued to look calm, but her energy changed and I knew instantly that she really was a Shade. Once again, it was only a flicker. She immediately put up her shield. But her anger was obvious. The bitter taste of cough syrup lingered in my mouth.

  Andrea slid into our booth.

  “Hey Sunday,” she said and snatched a French fry off my plate. “Hey Lizard,” she said to Beth.

  Beth rolled her eyes. “What you want?”

  “To talk to Sunday. Pissing you off is just an added bonus.”

  “What’s up?” I asked, trying to diffuse the brewing fight.

  “Tomorrow, after work, you wanna go swimming at my house?” A pool. Oh heck yes. It’d give me a great excuse to continue prying into their secret Guardian group, while having a good time.

  “Sure.”

  “Good, you can just follow Wyatt over.”

  She stood up and snatched a couple more French fries. Then she leaned over, put her hands flat on the table, and stuck her face right in Beth’s.

  “You should know, Wyatt has the hots for Sunday. Just in case you were planning on running back to him. Don’t bother.”

  I waited until the door shut behind Andrea before I spoke. “You weren’t kidding about her hating you. How’d that happen?”

  She sighed. “I have no idea, but she hasn’t liked me since I moved in. I’m used to it.”

  “That doesn’t seem like something you would get used to.”

  “Well, it was fine when I had Wyatt, but it’s been hard since we broke up. They were pretty much the only people I hung out with, so it’s been rough.”

  My heart ached for her. I totally understood loneliness. That was exactly what would make her go crawling back to Wyatt even if she didn’t really want to.

  “For what it’s worth, I think she’s lying about Wyatt. I don’t like him anyway.”

  She grinned. “It doesn’t matter. Wyatt’s charming. Even if you don’t like him now, you will. Do you have a boyfriend back in Vegas?”

  I froze. I wasn’t expecting that. Just like that, all the hurt I felt because of Jordan ditching me came rushing back.

  “No,” I said but I could feel my cheeks redden.

  “But you did?”

  “Sort of. I don’t really want to talk about it. What’s there to do in this town, besides playing in the desert?”

  She wrinkled her nose. “Besides the touristy stuff? Nothing.”

  “Then let’s go do the touristy stuff. I haven’t seen anything yet.”

  Beth grinned and stood up. “That sounds like fun.”

  We spent the rest of the evening walking around Tombstone, checking out all the Wild West stuff. I tried to sense her power again, but she had an incredibly strong shield that I couldn’t penetrate. Maybe I needed to get her into situations where her power would come out unconsciously. Andrea could be good for that.

  “You wanna come swimming with us tomorrow?” I asked.

  She snorted. “I was clearly not invited.”

  “I’m inviting you.”

  “To Andrea’s house. No, I don’t think so. But we should totally hang out again. I’ll message you. Give me your number.”

  That wasn’t the answer I was looking for, but hopefully tomorrow could still be productive.

  I brought my swimsuit with me so that Wyatt and I could head over to Andrea’s right after work. I was a little sad that Lincoln wouldn’t get to come, but I didn’t want to go all the way home for him.

  I thought about the Guardian situation on the way to Andrea’s house. Naomi needed to know about this. About the boys and Beth. Puck probably needed to know about this too, but Naomi said I wasn’t allowed to share with anyone but her what was going on in Tombstone. I figured I’d wait a few days until I had something worth sharing. I didn’t want her to be disappointed with my info like she was when I told her about the Shades in Tucson. I wanted to impress her with what I found.

  The boys were powerful, especially Wyatt, but they didn’t seem to know much about how their power worked. I couldn’t press for a lot of information without giving away what I knew. Beth seemed to be an anomaly, but she was heavily shielded most of the time, and that meant she knew exactly what she was.

  Andrea’s mom met us at the door. Wyatt gave her a quick kiss on the cheek and disappeared down the hall without so much as an introduction. The woman smiled at me and pulled me in for a hug. I was surprised by her warmth, since Andrea was not the hugging type. But I appreciated her embrace. She pulled away but kept her hands on my shoulders.

  “You must be Wyatt’s new girl, come on in.” She stared at me with piercing blue eyes that danced with amusement.

  “Um, we’re just friends. Is there somewhere I can change?”

  “Sure, the bathroom down the hall. First door on the left.”

  I made my way to the bathroom and changed quickly. My bathing suit was a bright pink and orange bikini. Andrea’s mom raised her eyebrows when I entered the kitchen.

  “That’s a little skimpy, ain’t it?” She wiggled her eyebrows.

  I shrugged. “It’s what I always wear. I swim a lot at home.”

  She chuckled. “Those boys aren’t gonna know what hit them. Beth always wore a one piece, and Andrea doesn’t swim.”

  I sat on a stool, figuring she might give me more info than the boys. At least on the gossip side of things. She seemed very friendly and open.

  “Haven’t there been other girls?”

  She wiped the counter down. “Morgan has girls over sometimes but most of them are Beth’s or Andrea’s friends. There isn’t much choice around here. New girls don’t come around too often.”

  That explained the guys’ inexperience in kissing. I was curious about Andrea too, but I figured she wouldn’t say anything that might be perceived as weird.

  “What happened with Beth and Wyatt?” I suspected Beth left out a good deal of the story.

  “Now, that’s none of my business. Ain’t yours either.” Her smile turned to a scowl and I knew I had overstepped.

  I smiled politely and climbed off the stool. She wasn’t going to be good for gossip after all.

  The kitchen opened out to a patio and an in-ground pool. Lawn chairs were scattered around the pool, all shaded by enormous white umbrellas. Directly across from me were two tables, also under umbrellas. Both Wyatt and Morgan were in the water, but Andrea wasn’t.

  “Incoming,” I yelled and canon-balled into the deep end.

  When I came up for breath, both boys just stared at me. I looked down to make sure I hadn’t lost any important pieces. Nope, everything was all still covered up.

  Wyatt recovered first. “We didn’t think you’d actually get in the pool.”

  “What’d you think I came swimming for?”

  He shrugged. “To lay out in the sun.”

  Ten minutes in the sun and you’d probably be fried, I thought to myself. I looked up and saw Andrea sitting at a table, wearing a t-shirt and basketball shorts. She had a thick book opened in front of her, as well as a notebook and a pen. That wasn’t exactly chilling in the sun. Or the shade, for
that matter.

  What kind of a girl spends a summer day at the pool studying? This was weird. I hopped out of the pool and adjusted my bottoms so they covered up everything. I glanced back and both Wyatt and Morgan looked away quickly. I chuckled. Boys.

  I sat in the chair next to Andrea. “What are you doing?”

  “I don’t swim.”

  “Why not?”

  She looked up and shrugged. “Because I don’t like it.”

  “Then why do you have a pool?”

  “Because I have older brothers. Beth didn’t like to swim either, but she lay out under the umbrellas and read a book. She never wore a bathing suit like that.”

  Why was everyone so obsessed with my bathing suit? I tried to shrug it off and focus on my mission. This was my chance to secure as much gossip as I could. Maybe I’d even learn something useful.

  “What’s up with you and Beth anyway?”

  She put her pencil down. “What do you mean?”

  “You hate her.”

  “What gave you that idea?” She smirked.

  “You totally trashed her yesterday. That was rude.”

  She frowned. “Don’t let her sweet disposition fool you. The hatred goes both ways.”

  “Why?”

  “Honestly, I don’t even remember how it all started. I’ve never really had girl friends. Wyatt and Morgan have been my best friends since kindergarten. Beth started pursuing Wyatt in seventh grade and she was never a good girlfriend to him so I called her out on her crap.”

  Huh. I’ve never really been friends with boys before. This was kind of fun.

  “You don’t mind if I’m friends with them too?”

  Andrea raised her eyebrows. “You think they’re just your friends?”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Neither one has taken their eyes off of you since you showed up. Besides, you kissed Morgan.”

  She dropped her eyes and fiddled with her pen. Maybe she liked him. If so, kissing him wouldn’t earn me any points in her book. Good thing I didn’t really like him.

  “I did that to prove a point. I’d do it again too, if I had to. But I’m not interested in him. And I think Wyatt is an asshole.”