Eternal Hope (The Hope Series)

by Rose, Frankie

  “Hey!” Kayden cried, shooting him a disgruntled look. “What are you doing?”

  “No, what the hell are you doing?!” Daniel hissed. “Tell me you didn’t just go into my room and wake Farley up so you could steal my sound system?”

  A look of amusement flashed over his face. “There was no one in your room. I knocked and everything.” He turned back to the frying pan he had on the stove and began pouring a thick batter into it. The gloopy mixture solidified on contact, hissing.

  “Kayden…” His name huffed out of Daniel like a reprimand. Why couldn’t he even try and be congenial, just for one single day? “It’s six thirty a.m. Why are you blaring out offensive music when people are trying to sleep?”

  “No one’s asleep. I checked. And this music isn’t offensive. It’s Glassjaw.” He gave him a saintly grin. “I got it from your room.”

  “I know.”

  “So chill out.”

  Daniel did his best to ignore the overwhelming urge to smash the other guy in the face. Kayden had always known which buttons to push in order to provoke a reaction. Invading Daniel’s personal space was just about the worst thing anyone could do, and so Kayden had made a habit out of finding as many ways as he could to do that. Nothing was sacred where he was concerned. He’d even hacked his email account a few years back and changed all of his passwords.

  “You’re a dick, you know that?”

  Kayden didn’t say anything, but the small smile fell from his face. He tensed his shoulder muscles and turned his focus back to the frying pan. A small movement caught Daniel’s attention out of the corner of his eye. Oliver was out on the basketball court slowly pacing the perimeter of the fence; his head was down and his hands were buried deep in the pockets of his track pants. A curl of mist issued from his mouth where his breath streamed out warmer than the morning air. Daniel squinted at the dark-haired guy, feeling a twist of something tight in his gut. The power, the hundreds of souls, so quiet recently, stirred anxiously inside him.

  Daniel jolted when the music suddenly cracked loudly back into the room. The bass made the rims of the china cups in the drying rack vibrate audibly against one another. The singer was screaming out harsh lyrics about his girlfriend cheating- a pleasant early morning song, for sure. Kayden slid the contents of the frying pan onto the plate beside him.

  “I know what you’re thinking,” he said. He turned a dark look on Daniel, his eyebrows pinching together. “You should leave Oliver alone. It’s not worth it.”

  “And how,” Daniel growled, “do you know what anything is worth?”

  As he stormed out of the kitchen, Daniel snatched up the plate of pancakes and yanked open the back door. “Thanks for breakfast.” When the door slammed closed, cutting off Kayden’s protest, the noise rang out like a gunshot in the heavy morning air. Oliver’s head snapped up. He looked worn around the edges. Daniel pushed down the uneasy feeling at the back of his mind as he stepped foot onto the basketball court. Oliver gave him a smile that pulled his left cheek up to one side.

  “Morning.”

  “Morning,” Daniel replied. “Kayden made pancakes.” He offered out the plate. Oliver just stared down at it blankly, still pacing. “Yeah, I can’t say I trust his cooking much, either.” Daniel set the plate down on the disintegrating white smudge that had once indicated the court’s base line. The sounds of the forest were missing this morning, like the trees were holding their breath, waiting. Daniel felt like he was holding his breath, too.

  “Oliver?”

  Farley’s brother stood still. His eyes were eerily the same color as his sister’s. “Yeah?” There was something different about the way Oliver spoke. Sharp. It was almost enough to make Daniel rethink what he was about to do. But not quite.

  He bit down on his lower lip, wondering if his actions would ever be considered forgivable. “There’s… there’s something I wanted to ask you.”

  Fourteen

  Pancakes

  Farley had tried to go back to sleep in her own bed but it was cold and she was too awake. She’d fled Daniel’s room before her eyes could focus properly; he hadn’t gotten around to giving her permission to study his photographs, and she still felt horrendous after what had happened between them. It wasn’t so much that she was embarrassed about getting carried away, but that he had looked at her like she was going way beyond where he was prepared to go, and that made her feel sick. Those feelings were all neatly tied in with the little gem Anna had let slip about Daniel sleeping with Cassie. Why was he okay with getting down and dirty with that prissy midget, but when it came to her…?

  She slammed her balled up fists against the mattress and forced out a frustrated, “Uggghhh!” It was no good. She would get up and slink off to the library. She was pretty sure with all the books in his own room, Daniel wouldn’t find it necessary to go in there. At the bottom of the stairs, however, she caught the scent of something sweet and stumbled zombie-like toward the kitchen.

  Kayden sat at the huge table eating pancakes. His blond hair was scruffy and unkempt, falling into his face. He smiled broadly when he caught sight of her and gestured to the chair beside him, pulling it out for her to take a seat. In a few short movements he’d collected a plate from a cupboard and sat back down, pressing a three-inch stack of pancakes between his fork and thumb. He deposited them on the plate in front of her.

  “Thanks,” she murmured. She was starving. After yesterday’s breakfast she hadn’t eaten more than a power bar at dinner, and now her body was complaining bitterly at the mistreatment. A sugary waft of maple syrup made her stomach roll.

  “Y’know,” she said, around a mouthful of food, “cooking while half naked is strongly ill-advised, but cooking that requires a frying pan? That’s asking for trouble.”

  Kayden eyes bowed into half crescents as he smiled, shoveling a huge wedge of pancake into his mouth. “I like to live dangerously.”

  “So I see.” She used the edge of her fork to cut her food into bite-sized pieces before drowning it in a sea of sticky amber syrup. “Seriously, though. I know it’s stinking hot but put some clothes on!”

  “Your wish is my command. Don’t want to be accused of driving the women of the house into a frenzy.” Farley shot him a churlish look, which he ignored. “I’m just not used to my own body yet. I feel different,” he mused, absentmindedly running his hand down the front of his chest. Razor thin white lines criss-crossed over his skin where he’d healed from the multitude of cuts the Quorum’s interrogator had given him. There were even a few subtle ones traced across his face, but they weren’t all that noticeable. She preferred him this way. Before, he had looked a little too perfect and the effect had been unnatural. Somehow, now, he looked a little more…human.

  “I’d be grateful of those scars if I were you,” she told him.

  Kayden paused, his fork halfway to his mouth. “Oh yeah? And why’s that?”

  “Because you don’t look like a member of some genetically modified boy band now. You look like a warrior.”

  He let his gaze fall from Farley and cleared his throat. “I’ve always been a warrior.”

  “I know.” It was true. Every cell in her body told her that when she sat near him; the power he gave off was intimidating and a little frightening. And after seeing him yesterday entirely made of fire, there was no disputing the fact that he was down right scary. Yet she couldn’t bring herself to be afraid of him. He was just too sad. “What are you doing today?” she asked.

  He shrugged his shoulders with the quirk of a smile on his lips. The concept of being utterly purposeless was clearly entertaining to him.

  “Don’t you have any hobbies or anything?”

  Kayden considered this for a second before declaring, “Yeah. I like to paint.”

  She nodded, squirreling away the information for later. It made perfect sense. When he came and helped them back in the Tower, he had been covered in flecks of multicolored paint.

  They ate the rest of their fo
od in silence, and Farley practically groaned when she finished. Kayden must have noticed her expression, because he instantly dropped his own remaining pancake onto her plate, grinning at her. The grin melted off his face an instant later, though. His whole body stiffened as he looked over Farley’s shoulder out into the hallway. Cassie stood there wearing a baby blue sundress that hung loosely off her tiny frame, exposing the fact that her tattoos didn’t stop at the tops of her arms, but swept up and over her shoulders too. A nasty, bile-like flavor flooded Farley’s mouth. She’d been lucky enough to avoid talking to Cassie so far, but she probably wasn’t going to get away with it now. The small girl stepped hesitantly into the kitchen, walking cautiously over to the fridge.

  “Kayden. Farley,” she said stiffly by way of greeting. Kayden watched her out of the corner of his eye as she rifled around in the fridge searching for something. He ran his tongue over his teeth in a thoughtful way that made something click in Farley. She squirreled away that piece of information for later, too.

  He caught Farley’s glance and raised his eyebrows at her. “What?” he mouthed.

  She pulled her mouth down at the corners and shook her head like she meant nothing by the way she was looking at him. He scowled.

  “Farley?” Cassie said, still buried in the fridge. Her echoing voice sounded light. Too light. Forced. “I know you’re not feeling that great, but I was hoping I could talk to you today?”

  Farley placed her fork down on her plate with great care, staring at the congealed sugar that was crystallizing there. “I don’t think so. I’ve got a migraine.” It felt supremely childish to be difficult, but part of her enjoyed it all the same. Cassie emerged from the fridge empty-handed.

  “Okay. I understand.” Her rich copper-brown hair twisted in thick, loose curls down past her shoulders, making Farley hate her even more. No wonder Daniel had wanted her. Cassie gave Farley a nod, her eyes flickering over to Kayden. He didn’t look at her, just stared down at his plate in silence. After a second she nodded again, as if to herself this time, and left the room.

  “Well, that was fun,” Farley sniped, picking up her fork again so she could scrape its tines through the goo on her plate. Kayden reached over and took it out of her hand.

  “Stop that. I take it you heard about Daniel and Cassie’s planned addition to the gene pool, then?”

  Farley didn’t answer; she was sick of talking about it. She picked up his plate and stacked it on top of hers, carrying them over to the sink. Kayden followed after her, picking up a dishcloth.

  “I wouldn’t feel too bad about Cassiopeia, y’know,” he said, waiting for her to hand him one of the plates she scrubbed at furiously under the hot water. She ground her teeth together, trying to shut out the other girl’s proper name. Why couldn’t she have been called Maud?

  “How can I not? She’s stunning,” Farley shoved the dripping plate a little too roughly into his hand. “A fact I know you haven’t failed to notice. I saw you just checking her out.”

  Kayden pouted, as though nonchalant was his middle name. “I think you’re imagining things.”

  “Yeah, sure.” She rolled her eyes. “I mean, she’s like some delicate, exotic doll. I know guys are into that. I’m almost as tall as Daniel. And she’s named after a star constellation, for crying out loud. How am I going to compete with that?”

  “Who says you have to compete for anything? And do you know the story of Cassiopeia?”

  “No.”

  “Didn’t think so. Shall I tell you?”

  She cut him a sour look. “Is it going to make me want to gouge out my own eyeballs?”

  Kayden shook his head. “In the time of the gods, Cassiopeia was the proud, arrogant wife of the Ethiopian King. She proclaimed her daughter was more beautiful than any of the goddesses. This made them furious, naturally, and so Neptune sent a sea monster to attack their coasts. In order to save their people, Cassiopeia had to agree to sacrifice her daughter to appease the sea monster. Perseus swept down to save the daughter, Andromeda, before the sea monster could eat her, and they ended up getting married. Cassiopeia didn’t agree with Perseus’ marriage to her beautiful daughter, so he captured her and took her to the gorgon, who turned her to stone.

  “In death, Cassiopeia was given a place in heavens amongst the other stars, but Neptune wanted to humiliate her one last time, and so he seated her throne facing the North Star, Polaris. Because of this, Cassiopeia is made a mockery, suspended for half the night upside down.” Kayden stacked the clean plates and carried them over the cupboard, putting them away.

  Farley watched the muscles in his back shift under his skin as he moved, distracted for a moment by the thick black lines of his tattoo. “I guess that does make me feel a little better,” she conceded. It would have sucked if her story was one of the romantic, beautiful ones.

  She dunked the frying pan in the water and glared balefully out of the window. It was then that she noticed Daniel and Oliver prowling around each other on the basketball court. They moved like opposingly charged magnets, repelling one another, but it was impossible to figure out who was the positive and who was the negative. Daniel held his hands out to Oliver, as though appealing to him in some way. Oliver shook his head and flinched.

  “What are they doing?”

  Kayden stood at her back so close she could feel the heat of his presence. His proximity made her skin prickle dangerously. “I could hazard a guess, but it’s not my place,” he said.

  Farley swallowed, ignoring the fact that his chest was pressing against her shoulder. The guy didn’t seem to know much about personal space. “Why does no one like to gossip around here?” It was infuriating. Everyone knew everything about each other but no one wanted to tread on any toes. Just once, just one time, she wished someone would come out with a straight answer to a question. She was about to say as much when the thunder of running footsteps rumbled down the hall.

  “Hey, has anyone seen my… boyfriend?” Tess barreled into the room, pausing mid-sentence. She was probably shocked at how close Kayden was standing to her, along with the fact that he was nearly naked. Again. Farley jumped, dropping hold of the frying pan so that it splooshed back into the sink, a jet of water and soap suds soaking the front of her shirt.

  “Fantastic!” she sighed. “Yeah, Oliver’s outside with Daniel.”

  Tess eyed Kayden warily and went the long way around the kitchen table to avoid walking too close to him. It was weird that she was unnerved by him. He gave her a broad grin, pretending he didn’t notice the detour, and winked at Farley. “Guess I better go put on some clothes.”

  “Guess so.”

  With that he stalked away, leaving her alone with Tess. Her friend’s eyes bugged out of her head. “Did you see that?”

  “See what?”

  “That guy creeps me out, Farls. His body looks like it went through a meat grinder.”

  “No, it doesn’t.”

  “Well, it did when he showed up here. How can you act like he’s normal? He nearly died. All over you!”

  Farley didn’t even attempt to hide her smile. “And we’re so the experts on normal. You’re dating an Immortal, and I’m some messed-up genetic freak, prophesied hundreds of years ago.”

  “Hmm,” she grunted, “don’t forget your boyfriend’s a freak, too.”

  “Yes, and my boyfriend’s definitely a freak, too,” she agreed, staring back out the window. Something wasn’t right. Daniel and Oliver’s conversation looked tense, and Daniel was pinching the bridge of his nose between two fingers. They were both pale and washed out.

  “Oh, well,” Tess sighed. “Could be worse.”

  Farley didn’t know how it could be worse, or want to know for that matter. Tess nipped her arm. Farley shot her a hurt look, rubbing at her skin. “Jeez! What the hell?”

  Tess’ face transformed with a look of mischief. “Our men look busy. How do you feel about a little adventure?” She pulled something out of her back pocket, grinning like a nau
ghty five-year-old. It took a moment for Farley to focus on what dangled from Tess’ fingers. The small black object stilled just long enough for her to read two words: Jeep Cherokee.

  Fifteen

  One Horse Town

  “Grayson knows about this, right?”

  Tess gunned the burgundy Cherokee down the narrow single track as it hair-pinned back and forth down the mountain. Three grimy quarters and a dime sat in small well in the console; they slid dramatically each time the four-wheel drive rounded a corner. The fact that Tess had coasted the first hundred meters away from the cabin before turning on the engine wasn’t a good sign. At least Tess hadn’t snaked Daniel’s keys. Taking the Viper would have been begging for colossal trouble.

  Tess grinned impishly and made a show of putting her foot flat to the floor. The last time they’d been on this road it had been pitch black, and Farley hadn’t made out anything beyond the shadows. In daylight, the forest wasn’t half as foreboding. It kind of reminded her of the forest in Aldan’s mind that she’d walked through with Daniel, but that forest had been full of vines and moss.

  Here, the trees bare trunks were their own, crinkled and textured like paper, once screwed up and then hastily pressed flat. The floor of the forest was dry tinder brown and orange, carpeted in a thick covering of pine needles from years past. The air smelled rich and vibrant in a way that made Farley’s nose tingle at her sinuses, almost making her eyes water when she pulled in a deep breath.

  At the break-neck speeds Tess employed they soon ran out of dirt road and found tarmac highway waiting for them at the base of the mountain. A road sign indicated Gun Creek was four miles to the west. Tess signaled right and headed in that direction.

  “So, that Kayden guy looked as if he was about to pounce on you back there in the kitchen. Anything you wanna tell me?” Tess asked off-handedly as they sped down the open stretch of road. This- her proclivity for pushing machines to the brink of their capabilities before they ex or imploded- was why Farley had never let Tess borrow her truck. Admittedly, it had blown up anyway, but that was a different story.