by Amanda Carol
“No, I don’t, but I can sing. Or so I’m told.” I shrug. “I mean, I’m not terrible at it. Declan would play and I would sing at the bonfire our mutual friend, James, would throw after each school year. It was his ‘we made it another year’ party.”
The memories of the bonfire the night before our lives changed forever come rushing back, making me smile.
Hunter looks at me for a moment, a mischievous grin spreading across his lips. “Interesting. Well, I guess we should have a bonfire, then. I mean, it’s hot as hell out here, but we can make it work.”
I giggle. A bonfire in the middle of June in the middle of New Orleans. It almost sounds perfect. We reach the top of the hill when Hunter stops, looking down at me. I glance up at him, realization kicking in. His cabin must be in the opposite direction of Luna’s. I feel a sting of disappointment.
Hunter runs a hand through his hair as his blue eyes meet mine. “Do you maybe want to come back to my place for a beer?”
I give him a small smile. “Sure. A beer sounds good.”
We don’t talk much on the walk to Hunter’s cabin. I don’t need to fill the silence because I feel at ease just being in his presence. I’ve never felt that way with anyone in my life. Just being around him is enough for me.
His cabin is along the edge of the woods, not far from where we were. I notice that his has one of those garages attached to it, like some of the other cabins I saw when I first got here.
When I step in through the front door, he turns on the lights. I blink, but then let out a gasp. To my left is a wood stove, and a chair that’s big enough for two people is placed in front of it. I see his guitar hanging on a hook in the far corner. To my right is the living room, which consists of a sofa and a coffee table. A huge flat screen TV is on the wall across the room. A set of stairs leads up to the second floor to what I’m assuming is his room, because when I look up, I see a loft.
“Wow. This place is amazing,” I whisper, spinning around to face Hunter.
He’s staring at me intensely. My eyes lock onto his and I bite my lip. Immediately, his gaze narrows in on my lips and his eyes start to glow, causing my breath to hitch in my lungs.
“So, how about that beer?” I ask.
“Right, yeah.” Hunter blinks, letting out a nervous cough, and leads me to his kitchen. He opens his fridge, grabs two beers, pops the tops off, and hands one to me while taking a swig of his. “So, how was magic training?”
I take a drink, then frown. “It went well after I managed to relax and focus. Declan was a natural as usual. I was able to float a stick, though.”
I tip my beer at him before I take another sip. I haven’t had beer in so long that I’d almost forgotten what it tasted like. But rum? I will never forget rum. Rum is delicious. Okay, now I sound like Jack Sparrow.
“Would you like to see?” I ask, then flush as realization hits me. He grew up around this stuff. Why would he want to see a floating stick?
“Absolutely.” He smiles widely, revealing his dimples.
Hunter sets his beer on the counter before walking over to the door in the kitchen and going outside. He returns a few seconds later with a stick. I start laughing and set my beer down next to his.
“Okay, put it on the ground,” I command, and he does what he’s told.
He takes a few steps back to give me some space. I close my eyes, focusing on the slight hum within the stick. I can feel the power coursing through my veins. Within moments, I feel the familiar roughness of the bark and close my hand. When I open my eyes, I see Hunter grinning at me; he seems to be a little closer than he was just a moment ago.
“You’re amazing.” He whispers as he takes a step forward, removing the stick from my hand, placing it on the counter. “Really, you are.”
He takes another step forward and the tips of our shoes are touching. I glance up at him and his eyes flash a brilliant blue.
“Thanks,” I breathe.
He reaches up to cup my cheek, his gaze flicks down as his thumb caresses my bottom lip. When he leans in close, I can feel his breath on my lips. I close my eyes and our lips barely touch when the front door bursts open. Startled, I flinch back. Hunter sighs, releasing my cheek as he takes a step back.
“Hey, Hunt, you in here? Have you seen…” Bennett walks around the corner and stops just inside the kitchen. “Oh, hey, Blondie. We’ve been looking for you.”
He eyes the two of us and a smirk emerges on his lips. I narrow my eyes at him. I guess I’d better get used to my new nickname.
“Well, here I am.” I comment, crossing my arms over my chest and trying not to make it seem like I was just caught with my hand in the cookie jar. By the look on Bennett’s face, I’m failing miserably.
“So it seems.” Bennett mimics my position, leaning on the doorframe. His smirk is now a full-blown smile. “I’m sorry, did I interrupt something?”
“No,” I say at the same time as Hunter says, “Yes.”
I feel my cheeks burn red as I glance up at him. He lets out a nervous chuckle and runs his hand through his dark hair so it falls lazily back down across his forehead. I can see his dimples again. Yeah, I'm in so much trouble.
Dimples.
They get me every time.
“What’s up, Benny?” Hunter clears his throat and leans his body back against the counter.
“Okay, don’t panic but—”
I cut Bennett off before he can get any further. “You saying ‘don’t panic’ ensures that there is a reason for us to panic!”
Then it hits me. Declan. I uncross my arms, feeling myself start to panic.
Damn it, Bennett.
“Calm down, Blondie. Declan is fine. Well sort of. There was a bit of an accident tonight when he was training with Zayne,” Bennett tries to reassure me.
It’s not working. Something must be wrong if he’s here looking for me.
“Where is he?” I ask as calmly as I can, my fists clenched at my sides.
“He’s at the barn,” Bennett says just as I rush past him and out the front door.
I have one guy on each side of me as we run together to the barn. I’m a good head shorter than both guys, so I know they’re not running at full speed. To hell with being short.
I don’t stop until I reach the steps of the barn, taking two at a time. I swing open the door and immediately turn left to the medical room with Hunter and Bennett right on my heels. I burst through the door and my eyes instantly land on my brother, who is completely fine and sitting in a chair next to a bed.
What the hell?
Tearing my gaze away from my brother, I look around the room. Ciera is sitting up in the bed next to Declan and Zayne is standing behind him. I quickly make my way over to them.
“Out of the way!” Kora shouts as she pushes her tiny frame between us.
I get pushed up against Hunter, who wraps his strong arms around me so I won’t fall flat on my face. He gently sets me upright and lets go, but he’s still standing close to me.
“What happened?” Kora is at Ciera’s side.
Gently, she picks up Ciera’s arm and examines it to find that it’s severely burned. Ciera’s face is pale, and her eyes are red like she’s been crying. Declan looks upset as he holds her good hand.
Zayne pats my brother on his shoulder as Declan’s head falls. Declan has always been careful about every move he makes. He always thinks of every possible scenario and is prepared for whatever outcome. To see him so bent out of shape means that something happened that he never saw coming.
“It’s fine, Grandma. I’m okay.” Ciera’s voice is shaky, but I can see she’s trying to stay strong for Declan.
As she says that, Declan raises his head and he’s got this guilty look on his face.
His voice cracks. “No, it’s not okay. I’m so sorry, Ciera. I didn’t mean to hurt you.”
She looks over at him and her face softens. “I know, but accidents happen. I knew what would happen if I stayed, and I stayed anyway.
I’ll be okay.” She turns back to Kora. “Right, Grandma?”
Kora nods and places Ciera’s arm gently back down across her stomach. She turns around and walks away to grab some supplies. I watch as Declan reaches for her arm and suddenly his palms start to glow with a bright white light that has a yellowish tint to it. His eyes grow wide, but then he takes his palm and hovers it just above Ciera’s arm and the light surrounds it. When the light finally fades away, he pulls his hand away.
“Oh, my gosh!” Ciera shouts, lifting her arm up and looking at it closely. Then her eyes land on my brother, who looks just as shocked as the rest of us. “Declan, you healed me.”
“Well, I’ll be damned.” Zayne whistles, leaning in to get a closer look. “That’s a nifty little power.”
Kora walks back over, and we all take step back because she is seemingly unaware of what just happened. She sets some bandages, Gumba Paste, and a vile of reddish-looking liquid down onto the bed next to Ciera.
“Grandma, I don’t need any of this stuff.” Ciera tries to get Kora’s attention but fails.
“Nonsense, sunshine. I won’t have my grandbaby in pain. Now, be a dear and place that arm over here, but gently, now,” Kora demands, still not looking up to see that Ciera is now completely healed.
Ciera rolls her eyes and does what she’s commanded, placing her arm in front of Kora.
“Ciera Paige Campbell, do not play games with me,” Kora says sternly, finally looking up and narrowing her eyes.
Ciera raises her voice. “Grandma! Look.” She holds her arms up, showing Kora that both are fine. “Declan healed me. See? All better.”
Kora drops whatever she was holding and gasps, her eyes going wide.
“What? How?” is all she manages to say, and she turns her attention to my brother.
Declan shrugs. “Honestly, I have no clue. All I know is that I felt really bad, and I wanted to make it better for her.”
Ciera reaches for my brother’s hand and he glances at her. She gives him a reassuring smile and squeezes his hand before she lets go. Kora stares in disbelief for a moment longer. And to be completely honest, I’m right there with her.
“I need a drink,” she says as she gathers up all the materials and turns on her heels. She sets them in her bag and then walks quietly out of the room.
Bennett raises a brow at Ciera. “Kora drinks?”
“Occasionally. Usually only if something freaks her out. Since she’s a witch, there’s not much she hasn’t seen. Well, until today, that is.” Ciera giggles.
“Glad I could help.” Declan smiles for the first time since I’ve been in the room.
“Alright, what happened?” I ask him and Zayne, not caring who answers.
“Well, I was teaching him how start a fire. He was doing pretty well with it, so we decided to try something a bit more challenging.” Zayne is the one who answers, and I focus my attention on him. He shoves his hands in his pockets and rocks back on his heels. “We tried to throw fireballs.”
I blink.
Bennett snorts next to me as Hunter squeezes his eyes shut and pinches the bridge of his nose. I don’t understand what is so funny.
Hunter glances up at him. “Zayne, you know you aren’t allowed to do that anymore right? Or have you forgotten about the dumpster incident?”
If I wasn’t standing so close, I would’ve missed the ghost of a smile forming on his lips.
“Yes, and if I remember correctly, your drunken ass told me to ‘light the bitch up.’” Zayne chuckles. “Look, that night aside, I had it under control. I’m good at what I do. You know this.”
The muscle in Hunter’s jaw ticks and I see he’s battling something in his head. Apparently whatever battle he’s fighting is won rather quickly and he relaxes his jaw.
Hunter sighs. “I know. Sorry, Z.”
Zayne throws his hands in the air. “Don’t worry about it. I get it. Anyway, we were practicing that when Ciera showed up. And, well, I’m guessing you can put two and two together.”
“Hold on,” Bennett interrupts suddenly, and we all turn to him. “Didn’t Luna say they would each get a power or powers like Apollo and Artemis?” We all look at him and he rolls his eyes. “Don’t tell me you all forgot.”
I try to go back and remember. I had a lot of information thrown at me today.
I gasp and bring my hand to my mouth. “Oh, my God. He’s right.”
“Yeah, duh. And it seems as though our Declan here has the power to heal, just like Apollo,” Bennett explains smugly.
We all stare at him in disbelief.
He taps his forehead with his finger and smirks. “What? I’m smarter than I look. I’m beauty and brains.”
“You know what, Benny? I don’t care what anyone says. You’re not that bad.” I pat him on the shoulder and smile up at him. I hear everyone in the room chuckle, even Hunter. “But wait, what power would I get?”
I still need to brush up on my Greek mythology. What can I say? I’ve been kind of busy today.
“Well, Artemis was the goddess of childbirth,” Ciera answers for him.
I stare wide-eyed at her.
“But she’s also the goddess of the moon, the hunt, and archery. But that’s all I know,” Ciera quickly adds.
“Have you ever tried shooting a bow and arrow, Aria?” Hunter’s voice is low behind me.
I turn and look up at him. He quirks a brow as I bite my bottom lip. His blue eyes narrow on my lips and glow again, but he quickly blinks, meeting my eyes again.
“Well?” he prods.
I shake my head. “No, I haven’t. I’ve always used my dagger. Or anything else that was handy.” But using a bow and arrow sounds awesome.
“I’ll show you. I’ll talk to my father and see what he thinks. It’s worth a shot at least,” he says.
I nod at him and then turn to my brother.
“Why do you get the cool power?” I pout.
“Guess I’m the favorite.” Declan winks.
I scowl at him. It was always a running joke in our family about who was the favorite. Declan always thought it was him, but really, I was the favorite.
“I’ll help you with your new power, Declan. I’ll do some research and we can work together to help you be able to conjure it on command,” Ciera tells him.
He nods in agreement.
She turns to face Hunter. “Tell your father that I’ll work with him.”
Hunter just nods.
We all set up a game plan and then leave the medical room. Declan says he’s going to walk Ciera back to her cabin. Zayne and Bennett rush off to Bennett’s cabin to play video games. So that leaves me with Hunter. And now all I can think about is our almost kiss earlier as we start to walk back to Luna’s cabin.
I want to invite Aria to come back to my cabin since our time together was cut short, but it’s late and she looks tired, even though she doesn’t let on that she is. She was so excited about showing me what she had learned tonight with Kat. She was just so happy, and I get the distinct impression that she hasn’t been this happy in a long time.
I also can’t believe I almost kissed her tonight.
I can’t believe she was going to let me kiss her.
But seeing her smile, and the way she bit her lower lip in concentration, made me want to taste her. To feel her lips moving against mine.
“When can we start?” Aria’s soft voice drags me out of my thoughts.
It takes me a second to realize she’s asking me about the bow and arrow, when all I can think about is her lips, among other things. Things that are making walking a bit difficult now. It’s a good thing my pants are baggy, or she would be getting a full view of exactly how much she affects me.
“I’ll talk to my father tonight and see if we can start tomorrow,” I tell her, and her face lights up.
We’re walking along the lighted path now. I grew up around magic, so I have seen firsthand what witches are capable of, but it still amazes me what they can do. I look over
at Aria; her green eyes shine under the twinkling lights. Her blonde hair blows in the warm Louisiana breeze, and in this moment, she looks like a goddess. Which is fitting, seeing as she is a demigod.
“Well, this is me,” she says as we reach Luna’s cabin. She steps on the first step and turns so she’s facing me. “Thanks for walking me back. And for the sip of beer.” She chuckles softly.
The breeze catches her hair again, and without thinking I reach up and tuck a lock of hair behind her ear. I keep my hand on her cheek, unable to bring myself to stop touching her.
“Well, maybe we can drink a whole beer next time.” My voice is gruff even to my own ears.
I take a step forward and I hear Aria’s breath catch. Her gaze flicks up to meet mine, then down at my lips as if she’s expecting me to try and kiss her again. God, do I want to. But to my surprise, I hold back and press my forehead against hers, closing my eyes.
“If I’m going to try and kiss you again, I’m going to do it where we won’t have interruptions,” I breathe.
Aria lets out a small breath as I pull away to place my lips on her forehead. When I release her cheek and take a step back, her eyes open and her lips part on an inhale. Her usually pale green eyes are now a darker hue.
Yeah, I'm going to regret not kissing her.
But I meant what I said. I want to do this right, and I sure as hell don’t want any interruptions.
I smirk, flashing her my dimples, as I take a few more steps backward. “Goodnight, Aria.”
“Goodnight, Hunter,” she smiles, turning to walk up the steps. When she reaches the door, she glances over her shoulder at me before stepping inside and closing the door behind her.
I shift into my wolf and take off running toward my parents’ house. I sniff the air as my paws pound on the ground. I close my eyes briefly, feeling the wind against my fur. I love running this way. It’s liberating. When I reach my parents’ place, I leap into the air and shift back, landing on two feet instead of four paws on the front porch, and open the door without knocking.
“Mom? Dad?” I call as I shut the door behind me.
