by Desi Lin
When I made my way back to where the guys waited, trying not to move my injured wrist while appearing totally natural, I found them leaning against the wall near the door. Souta caught sight of me first, a wide smile lighting up his face as he practically flew across the room to engulf me in another huge hug. I sucked in a short, surprised breath and stiffened automatically before reminding myself not to. Though I didn’t return the hug, I forced myself to relax. Souta narrowed his eyes and made me wonder if I should try to hug back.
Instead, I backed up and moved my gaze to JJ and Brooks. JJ raked his gaze over me, a spark jumping to life and lighting them up in gold. Brooks strolled forward, took my unwrapped hand in his and raised it to his lips. His warm breath ghosted over my knuckles, and a shiver ran down my spine.
“Come on!” Souta grabbed my hand, the good one thankfully, and pulled me toward the door. “We got a lot to do today, and you are gorgeous by the way. Love the torn tights, boots and leather wrap bracelet, where did you get it?”
I didn’t know how to react to him or what to say, instead I made a noncommittal noise as JJ took my hand from Souta. His thumb stroked over my palm and those damn butterflies took off again. His smile stretched a bit wider, making me wonder if he caught some hint of my butterflies. As we followed Brooks and Souta out, I wondered what on earth I got myself into.
CHAPTER FIVE
The guys took me to a little Italian joint called Cristiano’s. By the time we made it to the restaurant, lunchtime rolled around and nearly twenty-four hours passed since I last ate. They raved about the pizza, and like any teenager, I loved pizza, but their fried ravioli caught my eye, and my mouth watered at the description. When they came out all steamy and crisp and smelling like a plate full of heaven, my stomach growled loudly. The guys chattered, trying to draw me into the conversation, but the ravioli held my focus. I couldn’t care less about whatever the guys talked about.
When I bit into the ravioli warm, melty, delicious cheese exploded with flavor in my mouth. I suspected I died and went to heaven. A tiny moan slipped out as I dipped it into the pesto aioli and took another bite. My eyes drifted shut as I enjoyed the pure deliciousness of the ravioli, my mind rapidly evaluating them to try to copy the recipe at home. Three of delicious little morsels got eaten before I registered the silence of the table.
As I sucked some of the pesto from my fingers, I opened my eyes and glanced around. The boys sat, all their eyes trained on me, pupils blown wide. Souta and Brooks hands clasped the table in white knuckled grips. Beside me, JJ breathed in short, ragged pants, and he squirmed in his seat.
Before I could figure out their weird behavior, the low sounds of wanton moaning reached my ears. Startled, I realized the sound came from me. I pulled my finger out of my mouth as the heat crawled up my face.
“Sorry,” I muttered.
Even through my embarrassment, I wondered at Brooks’ and Souta’s reactions. JJ’s reaction made sense, though. Not being blind, I caught on to his obvious interest in the past week. Souta and Brooks didn’t seem to be the kind of couple to be completely wrapped up in each other, but I never noticed any signs of interest from either of them.
Could it be possible I missed them, given their personalities? Souta flirted with everyone. I never took his flirting with me seriously. Brooks tended to stay quietly in the background most of the time, but he often held doors for me and the like. After noticing the barest hint of a twang, I wrote it off as southern gentlemanly manners.
The brush of fingers against my cheek drew me out of my head. Glancing around, I noticed something on their faces, something I found mildly uncomfortable. JJ gave me a smile filled with secrets, making my insides squirm. Not good with people, I never got close to anyone. All this attention made me want to bolt faster than an eight-legged critter.
Instead, I grinned and grabbed up a slice of pizza. “Isn’t this pizza supposed to be the best on the planet? You guys keep sitting there, and I’ll eat it all. Don’t think I can’t.”
My words broke through whatever stupor they fell into with my impromptu ravioli show and it didn’t take long for the pizza to disappear. A spirited debate on what to do next followed. I sat back and watched them, still failing to understand why they wanted me to join their group. It hurt being close to people and then leaving them behind, but a certain date crept closer. A date meaning I might not need to leave people behind. If it happened, I didn’t know how I would handle things. Perhaps, I could figure it out with the guys help, though.
“Hey guys,” I interrupted them. They quieted, turning their gazes my direction. “I have plenty of time to play tourist in the city. We could...I don’t know...spend time getting to know each other?”
Oh, god, could I sound any lamer?
Wide grins spread over the guys’ faces, and their eyes meet in a silent, three-way conversation. They dragged me out of the booth, paying the check and dropping a tip on the table in the process.
JJ kept hold of my hand as we made our way to some unknown-to-me destination. A sense of comfort and rightness shot through me even as I mentally freaked out a little. We hit a residential section, and I realized we must be headed to one of the guys’ house.
Our final destination wasn’t much different than the others we passed. We approached a simple home, single story with a well-kept and fenced yard. JJ led us to a gate on the side of the house and around to the back. A large building took up a good portion of the back yard. I hesitated to call it a shed and discovered the truth when JJ led us inside.
A gasp escaped at the sight greeting me. The large interior split into two distinct spaces. Walls of windows lined two sides of one half, letting huge amounts of natural light stream in. The entrance wall contained shelves lined with tools I couldn’t imagine the purpose of and stacked bins held chunks of stone and other materials pried from the earth. A large cabinet sat in a corner next to a blank canvas on an easel. Two pedestals sat in the center of the space, one about waist height and average width and the other shorter and wider. The short, wide pedestal contained a work in progress, if the large sheet meant anything. My fingers itched to yank the sheet away and discover what beauties it hid. I loved a well-done art piece and admired anyone who created them. My best art consisted of kindergarten level people and cars.
Fingers grasped hold of my chin and directed my attention to the other half of the large room. I wanted to whoop and jump and high five them, but my wrist hurt enough from lunch and the walk over. The other half of the space held instruments, a drum set, bass, and a mic with another bass and a couple guitars on the wall. A garage style, rolling door took up one wall. The simple space seemed like a practice area. Or so I believed. Another gentle twist from the fingers still holding my chin, led me to a glass partition and the small sound studio setup beyond.
My eyes went wide, revealing my excitement, and the guys grinned. Souta released my chin to high five Brooks and JJ. I didn’t know what to comment on first. Instead, I walked over and sank onto the black leather bench in the practice space.
“Sing for me?” I begged, craving to hear one of them.
Music was my first love, my escape, my addiction. I liked to sing and could hold a tune, but my real love rested in guitar. Everything inside me screamed to grab up one of the beauties on the wall and wail away, but I knew my wrist couldn’t take it.
The boys moved, and I grinned when they took up their instruments. Their choices made perfect sense, fitting into their personalities.
Brooks hid himself behind the drums, while JJ took up the bass with a wink in my direction, and Souta held the mic in both hands, a wide grin on his face, and the tap of his foot revealing his need to move. With his outgoing personality and flirty nature, Souta made the perfect front man for a band.
They tore into a rendition of one of my favorite rock songs. Souta moved like liquid sex, his voice a sultry growl rolling over me, in complete contrast to his delicate appearance. I loved his almost feminine features, the beauty o
f him comparable to a sculpture or a painting. He removed his glasses for the mini show, and without them, his whole appearance transformed. Still beautiful, he seemed at the same time rougher. His voice cast a spell on me. I lost myself to the music, and my eyes drifted closed.
~
“Sera? Sera.” A soft voice pulled me from sleep. My wrist banged against the couch, and I bit back a cry. JJ’s golden gaze greeted me. His hand brushed a lock of bright, neon-red hair out of my eyes, and then trailed down the side of my face. “Hey, Sleeping Beauty. You missed the show.”
“What can I say? You guys were just that dull.” The response left my lips before I could censor myself, my defense mechanism kicking in. I swore when hurt flashed across his face, but it passed quickly, and I told myself I imagined it.
“Yeah, I know. We need an actual guitarist. I know I got skills, but bass alone doesn’t cut it.” He reached for me, but I stood before he could grab hold of my injured wrist. I couldn’t let them catch on. Who knew what Aguirre would do if the guys knew about her abuse? I nodded at the art studio half of the space.
“Who’s the artist?” I figured I knew the answer. I could easily imagine Souta in there. “Is it Souta’s space? Do you think he’d mind if I looked?”
The howl of laughter stopped me dead. “Sou... Souta?” I glanced at JJ to find him wiping a tear from his eye. “Souta does not have the patience for sculpture. Not to mention he’s a bit, um, distractible? He’d start one, then go to another and never manage to finish.” JJ’s laughter finally died, and he leaned over, kissing my cheek. “After all my drawings on your neck, and I know you’ve seen my sketchbook, you went to Souta as the artist?” As he said it, heat crawled up my neck at my stupidity. “It’s my studio, Sera. And no, I don’t mind if you see.” His gaze softened as he grasped my hand and led me over to the other space.
The quick whip of a hand removed the sheet from JJ’s work in progress. The piece underneath took my breath away. Smooth, shiny stone, like granite although I couldn’t be sure, formed a structure standing waist high to me. Each side revealed a separate element with the colors matching. The green speckled side contained a tree merging seamlessly into blue speckled waves and then melding into silvery gray speckled swirls. The final side revealed the beginnings of red speckled flames. Something carved into the finished sides made me move closer to inspect the marks. I found the guys’ names.
“It’s stunning. What will it be when finished?” I could imagine a tall vase, one of those uber-expensive types you found in the entryways of mansions and palaces.
“I don’t know yet. And I won’t know until we find our Ignis.” He ran a loving hand over the piece. Part of me wanted to be the sculpture right then. I told that part to shut the hell up. “It’s a representation of our Genus. What it becomes depends on what we become.”
His hand ran over the unfinished flame side, the stone beneath moving as he lost himself in the moment. A section that remained untouched began to take on the general outline of flames.
I stood there, completely unworthy of witnessing this moment in time and feeling like a total ass for my earlier comment. My fingers reached out to brush against the smooth, cool stone, but I yanked them back at the last minute and wrapped my good arm around my middle while the pain in my injured wrist reduced to a dull ache. JJ startled at my abrupt motion and tossed the sheet back over it, turning to me with a rueful smile.
“Sorry, I tend to get lost in my art.” Splotches of red spread over his cheeks as he took hold of my good hand, tugging me out of the studio and toward the house. “Lets go find out what Souta and Brooks are up to.”
We found them in the house. Brooks managed to curl his long, lean frame into a plush armchair and seemed absorbed in a book whose title hid from me. Souta lay stretched out on a matching plush couch watching one of those celebrity gossip shows.
His eyes lit up, and he bounced off the couch, flinging an arm around both me and JJ. “Come on. My favorite show is on.”
I stumbled over my feet as Souta led us to the couch. Brooks glanced up from his book and gave a fond little grin at the oddball picture we made, like a demented version of a three-legged race I imagine.
“Um. I don’t really like gossip,” I confessed. The horrified expression falling across Souta’s face cracked me up and I couldn’t contain the howl of laughter. “Sorry,” I gasped out. “I don’t like fiction, either.” Now Brooks’ expression matched his boyfriend’s, and it took everything in me not to fall to the floor and roll around like a loon. “I just...prefer...dealing in...” I fought out the words between trying to gulp down giggles. “Facts.” I managed to regain control of myself and wiped a tear from my eye. “Too many half-truths and outright lies and broken promises in my early years.”
Sadness and pity filled their eyes, but I smiled and shrugged it away, then distracted them by making ridiculous comments on the show playing on the TV.
We hung out and enjoyed the afternoon, and I found myself becoming more relaxed in their presence. The three of them together seemed to almost balance out. Brooks’ quiet strength, Souta’s easy affection, and JJ’s pure confidence mixed together perfectly. Still, I noticed they seemed the tiniest bit off. Or I thought they seemed off because I knew they lacked an Ignis. I wanted them to find their fire, to find the one person who would ignite the passions in them, both separately and as a Genus. They deserved it.
Evening fell faster than I liked, and the boys prepared to get me back to the dorms. As we walked out, a car pulled up and out stepped an older, debonair version of JJ. The guy smiled as his eyes found us. His confident stride brought him to us quickly.
“Hey Junior. Who’s this?” he asked, ruffling JJ’s hair in the process.
JJ grunted, smiled and straightened his hair. “Dad, meet Sera. Sera, my dad, Jared Harris Senior.” JJ made the introductions before turning back to his dad. “She’s new in town and school. Be nice.”
A light went off over my head as I registered the introduction. I wondered what JJ stood for and now I knew. JJ and his dad talked for another minute before he excused us to get me back.
The return journey flew by, and I became reluctant to leave them. I didn’t know what waited for me, but Aguirre had all day to plan her revenge.
I plodded into the dorm after dragging out the goodbyes as long as I could. Cold ran up my arm as I pushed through the entry only to be greeted by silence. Well, the TV blared but everyone in the common area sat enraptured. A tiny woman barreled into the room and grasped my hands. I managed to bit back the cry but I couldn’t contain the wince. Careful of my now aching wrist, I pulled my hands from hers.
“Hello! You must be Seraphina! I’m glad to finally meet you!” My eyes went wide at the hyperactive bunny act she seemed to put on. It couldn’t be real. I hoped she ate a bunch of sugar right before I got back. I preferred it to Aguirre but it would get old fast. “I’m Kira, the other house monitor! Aguirre is off on weekends but she’ll be back Monday!”
I breathed a sigh of relief at the unexpected reprieve and dragged myself off to my room, Kira chattering excitedly behind me.
CHAPTER SIX
By the time Monday rolled around, I discovered the hyperactive bunny act of Kira’s wasn’t as awful as I imagined it would be. Over the weekend I managed to get all caught up on class work and even went out Sunday to gather a few supplies to get me through a week with the warden. Slipping out first thing in the morning, without running into her seemed momentous. I wondered if she was even back yet or if she returned later in the day, either way I appreciated escaping without a confrontation on a weekday. I walked out into the courtyard, dim, gray clouds hung heavy in the sky and promised rain in the near future.
“Hey beautiful!” A familiar, enthusiastic voice greeted, and my head whipped up to find the guys waiting for me near the door to the dorm.
Souta’s graceful stride brought him to me before I could react, and he enveloped me in a full body hug. He pressed us together tight
ly, making me a tad uncomfortable, but I didn’t stiffen automatically. I called it progress. He pulled back enough to run his gaze over me, and I blushed under his perusal. It seemed I did a lot of blushing lately. Never one to blush before, something about the way the guys’ aimed looks at me made me heat up inside, in a good way.
“Elements, look at you. You are delicious. I could eat you up.” A low growl inserted itself into his voice, sending pools of warmth southwards.
A chuckle behind him made me glance over his shoulder. My gaze found JJ and Brooks. Guilt washed away the warm, fluttery feelings Souta inspired. Souta already had a significant other, and I wouldn’t mess his relationship up. Besides, I didn’t want to date anyone, the guys included. Sure, my inner bitch sneered, if you keep telling yourself it you might actually believe it.
I lost myself in my head again, and the rest of the world faded away. When a pair of lips pressed light and quick against mine I jerked back in surprise. Little more than the barest brush, a breath of a kiss. It sent sparks shooting along my nerves as I swallowed down a nasty, defensive remark.
More chuckling, then someone pulled Souta away. JJ took up residence in the spot vacated by Souta and ran a finger down my arm. It didn’t help the shooting sparks at all. His eyes caught mine, though I tried to avoid them, and his smile made statements I didn’t want to interpret.
“He’s right.” JJ leaned down and whispered in my ear, “This little goth outfit you have going is hot as fuck.”
Teeth grazed my earlobe, tugging at the earrings enough to smart. My breath caught, and the sparks shot down my spine in an array worthy of any Fourth of July show. My head spun, and my normal defenses seemed to be annihilated under this new assault. I needed to put some distance between us and wondered if I should have stayed here Saturday.