Chapter Seventeen-Dating In A Crisis
Pounding stirred me from sleep seconds before the door burst open and flew into the wall. Aiden and I both sat straight up, and I desperately searched for my dagger.
“Sadie Tabors!” Mel screeched. “You’ve been asleep this whole time?”
Realizing the fear of danger was misplaced, I relaxed and rubbed my tired eyes. “Hi, Mel.”
Aiden flung his body back on the bed, covering his face with the pillow.
“You just left us to shack up with the boy? How could you?” she kept on.
Cursing her in my head, I swung my legs over the side of the bed and faced her. “Mel, calm down. I didn’t leave you. Grandma sent y’all to your room and I had to go do some stuff concerning this Bram situation. Then I came up here and fell asleep. I blame jetlag.”
“We transported here, Sadie. You only get jetlag when you fly.”
Lifting my hand, I gestured into the air. “In a way, we did fly.”
She rested her hands on her hips and tapped her foot. “You didn’t let me or Tessi know anything.”
“There’s nothing to tell,” I responded. “Is there something wrong?”
She threw her hands up in frustration. “Only that we were waiting around for you and you were sleeping with the boy!”
“Mel,” Tessi said from somewhere in the hall. “Don’t be so upset.” She appeared beside her, giving me a grim smile and rolling her eyes.
We were used to Mel’s over-dramatics.
“We sat around doing nothing,” she whined.
“Not true,” Tessi said. We got everything unpacked and we toured the castle. We barely even had time to realize Sadie wasn’t around.”
Mel lowered her eyes. “I guess.”
Mel was acting out, and while it wasn’t completely out of character, it seemed to be more than usual. “Let’s go for a walk, Mel.” I jumped up, finding my boots tossed in the floor and slipping them on. Turning to Aiden, I said, “I’ll be back in a bit. Wanna go find food when I get back?”
He grinned that sexy grin which caused my knees to grow weak and nodded. “Sure thing.”
I winked at Tessi as I passed and grabbed Mel by the arm. “Show me the castle.”
“You didn’t see it?” she asked, surprised.
I shook my head. “I had to go have a meeting with Grandma and then Allison. No time.”
“I’m sorry,” she said as we started down the hall. “I didn’t mean to flip out.”
“You can talk to me, Melody,” I said gently.
She sighed. “You’re keeping something from us. And I don’t like it. I know you were on your own for years and Tessi and I are still new to this, but we’re a team. We work together, and I don’t like you not telling us the whole story.”
Dammit, she was right. “Ok. You have a point. I’ll tell you, but you can’t say a word to anyone.”
She held her hand over her heart. “I promise.”
“You know about the Bram visit and how he said I’m the key? Well, I’ve been thinking about it. And I’ve been reading up on Clorva. That place is old, Mel. So old. I can’t let anything happen to my family, to you, so I’m going to open it when I have enough intel. I’m going to destroy The Six and close it off.”
She gasped. “By yourself?”
I nodded. “I’m the dark sorceress. The prophecy says my power grows, and I’ve already proven I can escape Bram’s binds. I can do this.”
“Sadie,” she said cautiously. “I know you’re a badass and everything, but this seems bigger than that. You can’t go into a different realm that you didn’t even know existed a few days ago, and kill a powerful sorcerer that was resurrected from the dead. I mean, who knows if he can even be destroyed? There are too many ifs in this.”
I shrugged and said, “I’m not asking your permission, Mel. You wanted to know what was going on and this is me telling you. I’m doing it.”
“How do you unlock it again?”
“By accepting who I am and revealing my deepest secret.”
“Who you are? The dark sorceress?”
“I dunno,” I said. Looking at her, I stopped and realized we’d made it out of the castle. “Where are we?”
She grinned and tossed her long hair behind her shoulders. “The gardens. Aren’t they beautiful?”
Beautiful, indeed. The gardens were rich and vibrant with life. Roses, gardenias, lilies, and a plethora of other flowers grew wild around our feet. I was almost afraid to walk, scared I’d step on one of the beauties. The fragrance of them all was overwhelming. “There are a lot of flowers.”
She chuckled. “Lucas said your grandma really enjoys them.”
Laughing, I nodded in agreement. “That she does.”
We stood admiring the nature before us. She wandered around, running her fingers over the soft petals of the lilies. “So, what’s your secret?”
“What?” I asked.
“Your deep secret. You have to reveal it. I think you’ve already accepted who you are.”
“Oh,” I said. “I dunno.”
“Sadie,” she scolded. “You have to know.”
I shook my head. “I really don’t.”
She rolled her eyes but dropped it. “Well, tell me about Aiden, then.”
“We knew each other as teenagers. He was with my family for a few months, and we grew close. I was scared, though, and didn’t tell him how I felt. He ended up with a memory wipe from the last head of the council. That was when I realized how much I cared for him, and it was too late. No one could find him, but when Grandma came to the apartment last week, she told me they’d found him. He remembers me, us, now,” I explained.
She cocked her head. “How did he remember? You can’t come back from a memory wipe.”
“He’s not entirely human….”
“What?” she snapped. “He doesn’t have an aura, so I’m pretty sure he is.”
“He’s…his power…it’s dormant.”
“Dormant,” she repeated.
I nodded.
She wiggled her finger around in the air in front of me. “You’re keeping something from me again.”
Growling, I clenched my hands at my side. Why could she read me so well? “He’s an elite.”
Her brows rose as she stared at me, unblinking. “An elite…as in…an elite?”
I nodded again.
She covered her mouth. “Holy shit.”
Grinning, I said, “Yeah.”
“Why’s he dormant?”
I shrugged. “No clue, but he is. He’s shown no signs of abilities.”
She pondered the words. Taking the time to do my own thinking, I wondered myself why he was dormant. Was it meant to be that way? Were all of the Crimson Calamitous’s descendants dormant? Did anyone in his family even know where they came from? Would he gain his abilities later on? Was he simply bound, or did it run deeper?
“Sadie,” Mel was saying. “We need to go. You don’t want to keep that hunk of man waiting.”
“Oh, Mel,” I chuckled. “You have such a way with words.” Walking away from the gardens, I directed myself toward the sidewalk.
“You need to get those powers moving in him. Oooh!” she squealed. “Maybe you could sex him up and it’ll open the floodgates for him to become a sorcerer.”
Horrified, I stopped in my tracks. “What?” I spun on my heel and glared at her. “Stop.”
“You know you want to,” she teased.
“Want to what?” Aiden said as he hurried down the walkway.
“Nothing,” I said quickly. “We were talking about how hungry I am.”
He grinned, his eyes sparkling as the smile reached them. “Good. I have dinner waiting.”
Surprised, I smiled. “Oh. Well, ok. Let’s go.”
Mel cooed, “Oh, she’s starving, Aiden. Please take good care of her.”
He chuckled awkwardly. “Ok.” His eyes asked the questions I knew he was mentally asking.
I glared at her for the innuendo and took his hand. “Let’s go.”
As fast as I could, I practically dragged Aiden from Mel. She was determined to interfere with my love life, and I wasn’t going to let her. One of my best friends or not, she wasn’t going to scare Aiden away or embarrass me.
“What was that about?” he hissed once we got inside.
“Nothing,” I said. “Mel likes to be silly.”
“She seems cool, though.”
“I love her, but don’t listen to anything she says,” I instructed him.
He laughed and gripped my hand tighter. “You got it.” He pulled on my arm, leading me toward the stairs.
“I thought we were eating?” I questioned. “Isn’t the kitchen that way?” I pointed behind me, but I really wasn’t sure. The tour Grandma gave was quick and I had other things on my mind.
He glanced over his shoulder. “We’re eating in the room.”
Dragging my feet, I climbed the first few steps slowly. “Why?”
He dropped my hand and flung his hands around. “Why can’t you just come with me? Don’t ask questions for once and come on.”
Confused, I furrowed my brow and took another step. “Gee, ok.”
“Thank you,” he snapped.
What was with him? I followed him the rest of the way to the room, my anger rising a little more with each step. Why was he mad I was asking a question? Since when did Aiden get grumpy with me? By the time we got to the door, I was steaming.
“Listen, I dunno what the deal is, but all I wanted to know is why we were eating up here. Why did you get all snappy with me?” I said the moment he turned the knob.
The door swung open and inside were candles. Lots and lots of candles. A small table was set up in front of the window with two plates on warmers.
He turned, grinning shyly. “Sadie Tabors, would you please be my date for the evening?”
I’m an asshole. “Date?” I stuttered out of my shocked mouth.
“Date,” he repeated. “I wanted to surprise you. Tessi helped me set it up when you ran off with Mel,” he explained. “I know there’s a lot going on, and I would have asked you first, but you were gone. We haven’t had a real date, Sade. I want you to know how special you are to me, and this isn’t ideal, but it’s better than nothing.”
Still stunned, I nodded. Stepping closer, I took his face between my palms. “It’s perfect, Aiden.” Then I stood on my tippy toes and gently brushed my lips against his.
He guided me in and shut the door softly behind us. Waving my hand the length of it, I sealed us in. No one was going to disturb us on our first date. He pulled out my chair, something I wasn’t expecting, and sat nervously in front of me.
“What’s wrong?” I giggled.
He rubbed his hands together. “I dunno. I need to make a good impression.”
I laughed loudly this time. “You’ve already made an impression, Aiden.”
“But not on a date,” he said. He was more adorable than I could have ever imagined.
Grinning, I lowered my gaze. “Well, you already impressed me.”
Clutching his chest, he gasped. “Oh, don’t get all sappy, Sade.”
I threw my napkin at him. “Shut up.”
He waved to the food in front of us. “Eat up. I have other plans after.”
I raised a brow. “Intrigue.”
He grabbed a fork and motioned for me to do the same. We ate in silence, since we both slept through lunch and were actually starving. When our plates were clean and our bellies stuffed, he stood and reached for me.
“What now?” I asked.
He squinted his eyes and grinned, holding a finger to his lips and shushing me. He took the remote from the table, punched a few buttons, and music drifted around us. He pulled me close, with one arm around my waist and my hand held in the other.
“What are you doing?” I asked in a panic.
He tugged me closer, our bodies pressed against one another. “I’m dancing with you.”
“Why?” I asked lamely.
“Because I want to.”
Dumbfounded, I had nothing to say. He started to sway, so I moved with him, surprised at how much I actually enjoyed it. I’d never danced with anyone before. School dances weren’t my thing for the brief time I attended, and going out on the town definitely wasn’t something I enjoyed.
Once I became comfortable, I rested my head on his shoulder and allowed the music to wash over me. He moved his hand from my waist up to gently run his fingers through my hair. He dropped my hand and wrapped his other arm around me, holding me even tighter. I snuggled closer, resting both hands on his back as we moved around the room.
He hummed in my ear, the vibration moving through my cheek and down my neck. He sung a few of the lyrics, his voice soft and husky in my ear. I moved my head slightly, finding his lips waiting for mine. He moved against my mouth, the sensation stronger than ever before.
Dizzy and delirious on all that was Aiden, I clutched him tighter as he kissed me into oblivion. My head spun as his touch sent tingles down my body. Our dancing stopped and we simply enjoyed each other’s touch. His kiss was like fuel for my body. Every part of me was in overdrive as my heart beat like a drum and my muscles grew weak.
I didn’t know how much more I could take.
He broke free, kissing along my jaw and down the nape of my neck. Each touch of his lips turned my mind into a little more mush. Each kiss was one more second I was closer to collapsing into his arms.
His stubble scratched my face and neck, but I didn’t care. He continued on until I was mad with desire. I snaked my hands to his hair, clenching the ends in my fists and driving his mouth back to mine.
I kissed him with all that I felt for him.
When we finally broke free, we both fought to control our breathing. He held my hand in front of his, locking our fingers and grinning. “Wow, Sade.”
“Yeah,” I agreed.
We stood there, allowing our lust to simmer and the fire to fade to a slow burn. We spent the rest of our date watching a movie, curled in each other’s arms on the bed. The events and stress of the prophecy were forgotten for a short time.
Scornful Sadie Page 26