by Mandi Oyster
When my heartbeat steadied, I opened my door and fell into his arms. With my head buried in his chest, I whispered, “It’s happening again.”
“Oh, Dacia.” He held me against him and ran his fingers through my hair. “It’ll be all right. I’m here.”
But, will you be? I thought to myself. When you know how he makes me feel, will you be here for me? “I’m sorry, Cody. I know you were spending time with your family today. I shouldn’t’ve come.” I pulled away. Now that I was with him, I wasn’t ready to tell him what had happened. I couldn’t endure Cody’s hatred for me.
“You needed to come. I’m glad you told me.” He turned away, then turned back. “Let me give them an excuse, and we’ll talk. I’ll be right back. Please … please don’t go away.”
Leaving was tempting, but where would I go? I couldn’t hide from Cody. He’d find me, and when he did, what I had to say would sound so much worse.
When he came back out and saw me waiting, relief spread across his face. “Scoot over. I’ll drive.” He backed down the driveway and pulled onto the road. He lifted his arm, stopping before putting it over my shoulders.
“It’s healed.”
He held me close to his side. “Panther or dream?”
My head dropped forward. “Neither.”
“Then what?”
“Cody, he was here.” My voice sounded panicky even to my ears.
“He?”
“Mavros Malkin.” I plowed my hand through my hair.
Cody’s fingers tightened on the wheel. “Who?”
“First he was a mist. Then he turned into a person. I could tell he was evil, but …” My voice trailed off. I pulled away from Cody, sliding over to the passenger seat. My hands shook so bad it took three tries to buckle my seatbelt. “He …” I thought about his lips on mine, how I’d wanted more. The back of my throat ached.
Cody pulled onto the shoulder and turned the hazards on. “What is it, Dacia?” He reached toward me but dropped his hand when I pressed myself closer to the door. “What’s wrong?”
My chin trembled. “I’m … sorry.”
“For what?”
“I … I couldn’t help myself.”
He lifted my face so he could look into my eyes. “You’re okay. You’re safe.”
I took a deep breath, then whispered, “Please don’t hate me.”
“Hate you?”
“You should. I wanted him to touch me. I wanted him to hold me.” Pressure built up behind my eyes, and I fought to keep from crying. I didn’t want him to feel sorry for me. He had every right to hate me, to be angry with me. It wouldn’t be fair for me to play on his sympathy. “I … I even wanted him to kiss me. Cody, I’m so sorry.”
“What do you mean?” His face hardened, and anger flashed behind his blue eyes. “Did he?”
I’d known Cody most of my life, and I’d never seen him look like this before.
“Yes.” My voice was little more than a breath, but he heard me. “I think he was controlling my thoughts. He made me want him. He was evil, and even though I knew that, I couldn’t pull away from him.” I was so ashamed of myself.
Cody backed up against the driver’s side door, folding his arms over his chest to make himself inaccessible. He looked so hurt. I wanted to reach out and reassure him, but how could I? I’d wanted Mavros to hold me; I’d wanted him to kiss me. I wondered if it’d been so easy for him to control me because part of me wanted that. Even now, picturing his flawless face, I could see the allure. Was I so easily won over by beauty? I’d never thought of myself as being shallow before, but now I couldn’t help but wonder.
“You love me?” Cody murmured.
I looked him in the eyes and answered, “More than anything … more than I ever dreamed was possible.”
“Then we’ll work this out.” He dragged his hand down his face. “Tell me what happened.”
My gut wrenched when I told Cody about the mist and about Mavros. I felt like I was going to be sick when I told him about Mavros’ impossible beauty. As much as it pained me, I wasn’t going to hide anything. I wanted Cody to feel like he could trust me.
“Cody … I’m scared.”
He stared out the windshield. His face was stony. A muscle jumped in his jaw.
I looked down. Rocks and leaves covered the charcoal floor mat. “I couldn’t move when he was near me … except closer to him. It was like he was a magnet drawing me in.” I twisted my hands in my lap. What would I do in Cody’s place? I remembered how torn up I’d been when we’d met Aurelia last year. Cody’d stared at her, and I’d lost it.
“I couldn’t control myself. I pictured your face and concentrated on it.” I reached toward him but let my hand fall onto the seat between us. “For a minute, I felt like myself again. I was able to resist him, but it didn’t stop his allure completely. He’s going to come back, and when he does, I don’t know what’ll happen.”
Cody didn’t say anything, didn’t move. When he finally did speak, he didn’t hide the bitterness in his voice. “Make sure you think about me.”
“I’m sorry.” I reached out and traced my fingers over his hand until he softened a little. He wove his fingers through mine, stroking my thumb with his.
“Not your fault,” he said without looking at me. “I’ll try to keep that in mind, but it won’t be easy.”
“I know, but he’s not what I want. You are.” I tried to smile at him, but it felt flat. “I’m not sure what Mavros is or what he wants, but he’s not what he seems.”
“Remember meeting Aurelia?”
I huffed out a laugh. “I was just thinking about that.”
“Remember how jealous you were?”
“I hated her; I hated the way you looked at her.” At the time, we’d known she wasn’t human, but it wasn’t until later that we found out she was a dragon. In her human form, she was beautiful, alluring, and sparkly. Cody’d done nothing but stare at her and stammer. I’d kissed Mavros like he was my long lost lover returned from the dead. Cody should hate me.
“Forgive me?”
My eyebrows pulled together, and I tilted my head. “For what?”
“For being jealous and angry.”
I unbuckled my seatbelt and slid over to his side, resting my hand on his thigh. “You did nothing wrong. But me? I suck. Forgive me?”
“Yes.”
Lifting his arm over my shoulder, I snuggled against his side. As long as I was coming clean, there was still one secret I was keeping from him. One thing I hadn’t told anybody. I needed Cody to know I had nothing to hide. “There is, uh, something I haven’t told you yet.”
His hand tightened on my shoulder. His entire body went rigid. “About Mavros?”
“No. It’s nothing bad.” I rubbed his leg, trying to get him to relax. “This happened at the end of school. For now, I’d like it to stay between the two of us.”
“Okay.”
“I’ll never have to work.” I tried to keep the grin off my face.
“Why?”
“Aurelia gave me some—” I tilted my head to the side while lifting my shoulder “—well, a lot of Draconian’s treasure for saving the dragons. I don’t need my parents to pay my college tuition anymore. I don’t know how much I have, but I’m richer than I ever thought I’d be.”
“Wow,” he mumbled.
“I just wanted you to know.” I held onto his hand and stared straight ahead. A field of lavender bloomed on one side of the road, and next to it, a field of sunflowers lifted their faces to the heavens. The contrast between the two was striking. On the other side of the road, trees stretched up, reaching for the skies. “I’m afraid things are going to be pretty rough, and if, uh … well, if something happens to me, I don’t want you to think I was hiding anything from
you.”
Pain rippled across his features. “Like run off with Mavros?”
“I wouldn’t do that, Cody.”
“Not intentionally.”
“I’m going to do everything I can to keep him out of my head, but it’s not like it was with Draconian. Somehow, he gets through. Somehow, I lose all sense of myself.” I hated myself for what I was doing to Cody, but he needed to know. “That’s not what I was thinking, though. I was thinking more along the lines of if Mavros follows through on his threat.”
“You’ll stop him.” He sounded so sure.
I wish I could share in his confidence, but how could I stop somebody who had complete control over me? I rubbed my forehead. “Maybe I should run off. I doubt it would work, but I could try to hide from him.”
“Not alone.” He straightened, and his voice lowered. “We can leave tonight.”
I’d already taken him from his brothers today. I couldn’t let him leave without an explanation, and Mavros wouldn’t just let me go.
“I can’t let you do that; it would tear your family up. Besides, I don’t know what I want. I just know I can’t lose you. I’m afraid of what’ll happen with Mavros.” I turned away from him. I couldn’t bear to see the pain in his eyes again. “I’m afraid of how he makes me feel, and I’m afraid he’ll hurt you if you interfere.”
“Don’t worry about me, Dacia,” his voice was soft. “I can take care of myself, and if not, you can.” His fingers brushed against my face, asking me to look at him but not forcing me to. I tilted my head, and his blue eyes gazed into my green ones. The love I saw in them was infinite. “Want to run away, I will. I’d do anything for you.”
The tightness in my chest threatened to keep me from responding. I rubbed at it for a moment before saying, “Hopefully, after this is all over, you’ll still feel that way.”
“I will.” He kissed the tip of my nose. “What do you wanna do today?”
“I should go back to the park to get my book. I left it on the picnic table when I ran away from Mavros, and I need to find out how Will gets back to Halt and the others.”
“After that?”
I stared out the window. The lavender swayed in the breeze, bending toward the sunflowers. A year ago, clouds would have been rolling in, but I’d learned to control my powers enough to keep that from happening most days. I chewed on my lip, knowing he wanted me to stay with him, but I couldn’t, not today. “I suppose I could drop you off at home, so you can spend some time with your brothers. You realize they’re going to hate me for this, don’t you?”
“They’ll deal. They know you’re important,” he responded in typical Cody fashion. “You can hang with us.”
“No.” I shook my head. “I’ll go home and read. I don’t think Mavros will bother me again today. He said he’d give me some time … I imagine he meant more than a couple of hours.”
“Sure you should be alone?”
I set my hand on top of his, gently rubbing my thumb along his pinky. “Yeah, I’ll be okay. Maybe I’ll cook supper for my parents.”
While Cody drove to the park, he tried several more times to talk me into spending the rest of the day with him. As much as I wanted to, I couldn’t. I wouldn’t make good company, and his brothers deserved Cody’s full attention. They only had a couple more weeks to spend with him before he had to go back to college.
After we retrieved my book, Cody drove to my house. He pulled into the driveway and stopped, staring straight ahead. “Couldn’t let you drive home alone.” He gripped the steering wheel so hard that his knuckles whitened. “Been attacked twice in two days.”
I lowered my head, looking down at my lap. I knew where he was coming from, but I wasn’t ready to deal with this again. “I know.”
His head dropped forward a little, and he exhaled deeply. The tension released from his shoulders. He waited for me at the front of the truck and walked me up the porch steps, waiting while I unlocked the door. “Please don’t go anywhere. Josh and I’ll bring your truck back tomorrow.” He held me tight, his fear evident in his hug.
i
The front door opened, and my heart pounded against my ribs, fighting for freedom. The spoon I’d been using to stir the spaghetti sauce stilled.
“Dacia?” Mom sounded confused.
I exhaled a deep breath. “In here.” I stood at the stove. The smell of garlic bread and spaghetti wafted through the air.
“Where’s your truck?” Dad stepped into the kitchen. His bushy, brown eyebrows pulled together.
“Cody borrowed it. He’s bringing it back tomorrow with Josh.”
Mom followed behind Dad. Her green eyes lit up, and a smile touched her face, softening her features. “You didn’t have to make supper. I would’ve done that.”
“You always do.” I shrugged, feeling for once like the daughter they deserved. “I was home, and it was easy enough to cook it while reading my book.”
“You and your books.” Dad laughed. “You always did have your nose stuck in one or another. Are you reading anything good?”
“Yeah.” I held it up, showing him the cover. “I really like these books. It’s one of my favorite series, and I don’t get a lot of time to read between classes, studying, and my friends.”
We ate at the table like a normal family. Mom and Dad asked how my day was, and even though I hated myself for it, I lied, then asked about theirs.
After supper, I did the dishes, then went to my room. I didn’t have the energy to keep pretending life was a bed of roses. Lying on top of my comforter, I considered calling Cody to see if he’d come over. I knew he’d drop everything to be here, so I called Samantha instead.
“Are you and Dan still coming up this weekend?” I twirled a strand of my hair.
“Well … I was going to call you about that.” Her voice was full of anguish. “Dan’s parents want him to help out around the house. I guess they’re painting or something. Anyway, I haven’t seen him in a while, and I really miss him. But, if you want me to come without him, I will.”
I knew how easy it would be to get her here. All I’d have to do was bring up Mavros and the panther. If I did, she’d find a way to stay here until we went back to college, but no matter how badly I wanted to see her, I couldn’t be that selfish. “No, that’s fine.” I tried my best to sound sincere. “I see Cody almost every day, and it’s not enough. I can’t imagine being in your position.”
“Thanks, Dacia.” I could hear the relief in her voice. “So, uh, have your parents asked about your newfound control?”
“No.” I laughed at the thought of them asking, at the idea that they could put their denial aside long enough to admit I was different. “They never will. My powers have always been taboo to them … don’t ask, don’t tell.”
Samantha told me about her summer. Deana and Wayne had taken her to the ocean for ten days. The trip sounded like it had been wonderful, but my heart wasn’t in the conversation. I’d been looking forward to seeing her and hearing her thoughts about Mavros but not over the phone.
Samantha never asked if I was having nightmares or if I’d met any new monsters, so I didn’t bring it up. She’d find out when we were back on campus.
After hanging up, I tried to read, but I couldn’t concentrate on my book. Dark skin and dark eyes kept flashing through my mind. I felt his hands on my face, felt desire spread through my body.
I set the book on my nightstand and knelt on the floor beside my bed. Folding my hands together, I prayed. “Lord, please don’t let my dreams turn to nightmares. Please don’t let Mom and Dad see me for what I am. Please don’t let me wake up screaming or covered in blood. Please let me make it through the rest of summer without nightmares. Please keep me safe from Mavros. Amen.” Then I climbed into bed and fought sleep until it finally overcame me.
&n
bsp; Chapter 3
Mavros Malkin
The back yard looks magical. Mom and Dad have outdone themselves. Fairie lights glimmer in the trees. Every bed is perfectly groomed. Not a piece of mulch is out of place. Family and friends mingle, filling plates with food, dancing, and talking. The evening is warm. A million stars dot the night sky with only a few wispy clouds drifting over them.
As wonderful as it, I can’t enjoy it. Mavros stands beside me, with his arm touching mine. I can feel the warmth of his skin through his black, silk shirt.
“Dacia, who is your friend?” Mom asks. What she really wonders is why I’m with him and not Cody.
“This is Mavros. Mavros, this is my mom, Caitlynn,” I introduce them, trying to sound casual, but even to me, my voice sounds shaky.
“Mavros? What a unique name.” Mom’s red and silver hair is braided. The end dangles halfway to her waist. “I’ve never heard it before.”
“It’s Greek.” His voice is silken, and I watch Mom’s green eyes as she becomes mesmerized by him. “An old family name.”
A blush creeps over her cheeks. “Well, it’s nice to meet you. I hope you’re enjoying the party.”
“I enjoy any time I get to spend with your lovely daughter.” He reaches for her hand, bringing it to his lips.
Mom is so transfixed by him that she can’t see the anger or distress on my face. I want to warn her to stay away. I want to tell everybody to go home before he does something to them. As long as he’s here, they are in danger, but all anybody else sees is a charming, beautiful man.
“And what a polite young man, too.” My mother giggles like a silly, little schoolgirl.
“Thank you.” He pulls his hand away. “May I have your daughter to myself for a few moments?” To my mom, I’m sure it sounds like an innocent request, but I know better.
“Of course,” she answers. “Keep her as long as you’d like.”
“I’m trying my best to do just that.” He chuckles, then grabs my hand and tugs me away.
