by Emery Skye
"You have to breathe, Lexi. Just breathe," Caity and Pierce coo. She tries to lay her pearly white hand on me, and I flinch away.
Hunter's by my side in an instant and so is Pierce. Pierce shoves Hunter, Hunter growls at Pierce, "I've helped her before. Back off," he snarls menacingly.
I'm on the verge of hyperventilating and they are having an ego war? Really?
"Guys, you're acting like idiots," Beth stands behind me and rubs my arm.
"Word choice, little girl," Caity chimes and moves to my other side.
The guys continue acting animalistic. I wonder if the credit for their shitty behavior goes to the human half or the other half?
"I'm not that little. Want to find out, little Leprechaun?" Beth retorts.
Even with my hazy vision, I watch as both sets of green eyes widen with fury.
My breathing increases rapidly. I close my eyes tightly and try to regain composure, and maybe, some balance. I've never been claustrophobic, but the walls sure do feel a lot closer than they did before.
The boys throw fists and shove each other. The girls are in an eye-to-eye standoff. This couldn't get much worse.
"Guys," I hear a distant voice. "Guys!" it’s louder than before. Everyone freezes.
"Enough," I hear a strong, stern feminine voice erupt from behind me. Everyone turns his or her heads. Pierce is caught in a headlock, Hunter lets him loose. The girls clamp their jaws shut.
FORTY
Things cool down significantly after Miss Owlson shows up. Her identity is a little cloudy, as in she didn't reveal what she is. I only know that when she arrives, the Hybrids can't get far enough away from her. Caity assures me she doesn't feel evil from her, but she doesn't feel quite right, either. Whatever that means. I know that she's someone who calms me down so that I'm no longer shining like a "light-bulb" as Beth calls it.
Personally, I think she's a nice lady. Her hair's styled in a frizzy, black bob and red paints her thin lips the color of fresh-cut roses.
She's gotta be in her late sixties and she reminds me of a mix of my Nana and Miss Lowry. Honestly, Miss Lowry and Miss Owlson could almost be sisters.
The thought of Miss Lowry brings me to a crushing realization that I haven't been in school in over a week. Students don't miss a week of school normally. At Fairmont, unless you have a good-sized check to write, you don't miss a day of school and I was at my quota the first week of the semester.
Another thought grips my focus and I envision the scene with Masterson over and over like a broken record. Caity, the newest broken record in my life, reassures me that Masterson has been taken care of and won't be causing me or the horses at Fairmont any more problems.
Apparently, he turned in his early retirement. I don't know what Hunter did to the man, but I'm grateful.
Normally, hell yeah, I would ask questions. However, Miss Owlson shushes me and tells me in a thick accent, "More will be revealed in time, child," so yeah, I quit trying.
When I ask where she’s from, she laughs. At least she's not trying to kill me. That's a start.
My light-bulb moment was over eight hours ago. Miss Owlson says the reason tension is so thick is because none of "youngins" have had a proper meal. Ha, nana would serve us some cookies with extra chocolate chips for some added energy.
I discover that nana called while I was passed out. Everyone told her that I went camping with some humane retreat and would have no service for a while. Apparently, nana accepted the story. One less person to worry about.
FORTY-ONE
Miss Owlson told everyone, I needed time to think, no one argued, so I've been sitting on the wrap-a-round porch of this odd white colonial house since.
The sound of running water as the river flows down the canyon comforts me. The air is thick with a fresh woodsy scent and heavy with a mist, obscuring the thick masses of evergreen trees that crawl up the mountainside.
The fresh scent and mist are signs of the crazy storms the Colorado Mountains have gotten for the past week while I've been... asleep. Pierce tells me that since I've been out, there has been nothing but heavy rain falling from the skies.
I vaguely hear Miss Owlson complain about the heavy rain killing her fresh petunias. I almost laugh when I think about how the lady lives in the mountains at a neutral safe house for supernaturals and she's whining about flowers. Somehow, her flowers survived the storm as they stick out like a sore thumb against the dead shrubbery and white snow.
I hear a knock and gaze over my shoulder; Pierce stands by the door. I was wondering if he would ever show up.
"Hey, Lexi," he mutters. "Mind if I join?"
I pat the spot next to me. "It's a free country," I say with a small smile.
He returns a smile of his own, perfect in its making.
When he sits on the swinging wooden bench next to me, the soft cushion sinks.
We're silent for a while, looking out onto the grey, cloudless sky. "Do you think the sun will make an appearance?" I ask. I don't get why everyone resorts to talking about the weather in awkward situations, but they do.
Pierce rests his silver eyes on me.
"I don't know. Maybe."
"Why didn't you tell me?" I ask, letting myself feel the hurt and sting of betrayal. Pierce left me when I was going through a rough time and he lied to me.
My eyes don't have to leave the sky to know his brow has dipped into a frown.
"I couldn't," he struggles with the words. "I wanted to. You have to know that, Lexi. You're my best friend. I even tried to tell you-"
"When?" I interrupt in a haughty tone. I pivot, so I’m facing him. He crosses his arms. He’s wearing his Varsity jacket and must be freezing. Or, do Nephilim feel cold the same?
I scratch my head.
His hair is shorter than usual, but his facial hair has grown out.
"At the restaurant," he tells me.
"The night you left me in an alley after I passed out?" I correct.
He frowns. "Is that what you think happened?" I nod. "You think I left you, because I wanted to?" The hurt is obvious in his voice. Of course, Pierce wouldn't leave me if he could've prevented it. "How could you think that about me?" His Adam's apple bobs in his throat as he swallows hard.
"Then, what happened?" I ask.
"That night, a group of Hordes came for you," he says.
"I'm really starting to hate those little fuckers," I tell him.
His lips curl into a small smile. "You have no idea."
A shiver spirals down my spine thinking about the disgusting, inky, soulless creatures. Pierce misunderstands my shiver for being cold and wraps his arm around me. I fall into the comfortable embrace.
Sitting here with him so close, I can feel the differences. Pierce is bigger than before. His muscles, more defined. Pierce is no longer the little kid I swung on the swings with or got caught breaking into the science rooms with or stealing candy out of Miss Detzils drawer. Nope, he's a man now.
"When they came, I panicked," he continues. He inhales and my whole upper body is lifted with his as if I'm nothing more than a fly. "You have to understand, I knew about the Nephilim society, Lexi. I grew up knowing that someday I would embrace my angel side and fight for our breed, but nothing could have prepared me for my Transition or the fear I got when those Hordes attacked us in the alley that night."
"So, you knew?" This is news to me. I assumed the supernatural parent took off and the kids eventually found out during the whole big-T fiasco.
"Yes, my mother knew. She was almost killed by a group of full-bloods, but a Keeper protected her. I grew up in a safe house," he looks around. "A lot like this one, actually."
"I thought Keepers are supposed to be all neutral and stuff," I think aloud.
He shifts his weight. "They are.”
Pierce exudes all the stillness that I remember him having. "You seem calmer," I voice my observation.
He nods. "The further I am from other breeds, the more relaxed my angel is." His eyes
are dark and focused though. He must not be far enough away to be completely relaxed.
"Then what?" I ask, wanting to get back to the night in the alley, the night this all started.
He rubs the corner of his eye. It's a gesture he does whenever he's gearing up to give an explanation.
"Just say it, you big meathead," I smile into his jacket, using the nickname Hunter has given him.
"Watch it, Lexi. I know where you're ticklish," he threatens me.
"No way. You gotta spill first," I declare.
He sighs. "I wasn't strong enough. They were getting the best of me."
I bite my lip as I stare into the shrubbery that appears to have a heartbeat and watch as a bunny shoots out.
"In football, basketball, in everything, I've always been the strong one, the captain. Losing isn't something I'm used to. I was beginning to accept I might lose the fight, but I knew I couldn't. I had to protect you."
Listening to his admission, is like a lightning strike to my heart. He shouldn't have to think about death or bear such responsibility.
He continues, "At first, I thought they were there for me, but I realized they kept trying to get past me to you. I could never live with myself if anything happened to you," he pauses.
I reach up and grab his furry face in my hand. "Pierce Aiden Thatcher, my life is not your responsibility. You got it?" I tell him sternly, staring into his eyes.
He frowns, but gives me a curt nod, probably more to appease me than anything else.
"Anyway, things changed when Caity showed up. She's scary as hell when she's mad," he says with wide eyes that make me laugh.
"Caity? Our dear, sweet Caity?" I choke on a laugh.
"Oh yeah. Not such a sweet dearie when she's pissed," he says as serious as a heart attack.
"What can she do other than that freaky calming mojo thing?"
He shakes his head with a chuckle. "You'll have to ask her. Her story's a little more complicated."
"What do you mean?"
"Caity grew up in a safe house too, in Ireland, but I'm not sure why. She doesn't talk about her life much."
"That's weird."
"Yeah, it really is. When we were twelve, the elders found us. They told us we had a quest and it started at Fairmont. It's unheard of for any Hybrid to get their quest before they Transition."
"Huh?" I muse. The information is never-ending.
"Yeah."
"Then what happened?" We keep getting off track, I'll never find out what happened that night.
"Caity and I kicked ass," he grins so big, like a kid in a candy shop.
I roll my eyes, luckily, he doesn't see it; or else the tickle fest would probably begin.
"Then Chase showed up. Hunter was outside the restaurant. I knew he’d find you. I didn't have a choice. Please understand that. We managed to hide you. Caity glamoured herself to look like you. We led Chase away but had to leave you behind."
All the pieces click together. Caity getting injured, Pierce leaving me alone, Hunter finding me. It all makes sense.
"If I would've known he was a Cambion, I never would've left," Pierce asserts.
"What do you mean? I thought you knew all along?"
"No, the tonic masks his aura. All hybrids have an aura that makes it easy to recognize one another."
"What tonic?" This is news to me. Oh, the flask, the vials, that must be the tonic.
"It represses the supernatural half. Caity doesn't need the tonic to mask her half, but others of us do."
"Why doesn't Caity?"
"To be honest, before you came around, she was the enigma. She's the first Nephilim to Transition before eighteen and her powers are greater than a typical Nephilim.
"Huh, she really is a bad-ass. Sweet!" I say cheerily.
"I guess so."
We sit in silence for a long, moment. The birds sing a song of life, oblivious to everything happening. The carefree tune makes me envious. I watch as the birds spread their wings and fly both high and low, forming serpentines in the sky with nothing but freedom.
"You know, Hunter protected me. He kept me safe," I say before I can stop myself and stare up at Pierce.
The silver eyes turn stormy and a tick works his jaw.
"He's dangerous, Lexi. Unpredictable. He can't be trusted."
I flinch away from Pierce and lift his arm off me. His eyes only show hurt for a millisecond, before turning furious.
"Don't speak about him like that!"
"You’re defending him to me?" he asks, his brows tightening.
I raise my chin defiantly. "He's done nothing wrong to you. If anything, you should be thanking him. If you really cared about me, you would. He's the reason I'm alive!" I shout.
"Disgusting. You're falling for him, aren't you?" Pierce accuses.
The word "no" hangs on the tip of my tongue, but never makes it out of my mouth.
He shakes his head with complete disdain. That headshake is like a wrecking ball to my stomach.
"When you Transition, you won't be allowed to see him or be near him. You know that, don't you?"
"What if I'm a Cambion, Pierce?"
He closes the distance between us in a fraction of a second and grabs the tops of my arms, lifting me onto my tippy toes. "Don't you ever say that! You will not be a Cambion."
"What if I am? Or a different breed. Will you hate me too?" I stare up at him. His warm breath caresses my lips.
"Let her go," Hunter's deep, husky voice breaks the intense moment.
"This doesn't concern you, Daniels," Pierce barks.
"Just let her go," Hunter repeats and the haze over Pierce's eyes lifts. He releases my arms, which I'm sure will be bruised tomorrow.
"I'm so sorry, Lexi." He marches past Hunter and into the house.
New Chapter
Now it's Hunter and me. We're alone. Finally.
"Are you okay?" Hunter asks in a husky voice.
I nod and stare into his deep, blue eyes, glistening like the river behind him.
"He's adjusting. He didn't mean it," he tells me with a tilt of the head toward the door Pierce went into moments before.
"I know," my vision is cloudy with tears.
He swallows and I watch the bob in his throat. "Please, don't cry, Lex."
I wrap my arms around myself as the chill of lonesomeness seeps into my bones.
He stands six feet from me, hands at his sides. A war wages inside his eyes.
He pulls his coat off and offers it to me.
"No, its fine. You need it."
He chuckles.
"What?" I snap.
"Take the damn coat, Lex. Trust me, my body runs warmer than most."
We step toward each other, until we're only a foot away. I reach for the coat.
" Let me help you," he holds the coat.
"I think I can put a coat on myself," I stare into his eyes, they sport a humorous glint.
"Just turn around. It's not that difficult," he orders. I relent.
He slips the coat on. My arms enter the sleeves and his fingers brush my neck as he pulls the jacket over my shoulders. The small touch brings a fever to my whole body.
The leather jacket is many sizes too big and bulks against my thin body. I pull my dark hair out of the jacket and bask in Hunter's warmth. His signature scent of evergreens and sweet mint swirl around me.
One of his perfect dimples forms on his mocha-colored cheek as his lips tip upward.
I raise a brow. "What?"
"Looks better on you."
"Hunter, was that a compliment?" I ask sarcastically, with an edge of flirtatiousness.
He shifts his weight and sticks his hands into the pockets of his jeans.
"Want to sit down?" I wave my hand at the bench. "Why didn't you tell me you were a Cambion?"
He glances at me out of the corner of his eye. "Do you think you could've handled that? Finding out your brother's a vampire trying to kill you and the guy protecting you is a half-demon, half-human hyb
rid?"
"Well, when you say it like that. Geez." I retort more playfully than I mean to.
He chuckles. "I'm surprised you're handling everything as well as you are."
"I don't have much of a choice, do I? If I freak out, then I light up. Literally."
He nods.
"You were amazing," he says.
"Huh?"
"At the warehouse, I thought I had died when I saw you there. But, knew I hadn't because you looked like an angel and demons don't go to heaven."
"Hunter…" I reach for his arms.
"Don't." He moves away from me; my stomach sours at the movement. I swallow the lump forming in my throat.
"What are you going to do?" I ask after a moment of awkward silence. I can't begin to explain how much I want to ask what "we" are going to do, but I can’t.
"All I do is cause the people around me pain," his face falls and his arms rest against his legs as he bends at the torso. He must be exhausted.
"You've never hurt me."
If it sounds like a lie, looks like a lie, and tastes like a lie, then it's probably a lie, but I don't care. The only reason he's hurt me is because I've let myself be hurt.
"Besides, that's my line.”
He’s silent.
I relax to the sounds of nature: dancing crickets, singing birds, and running water.
"What do you think I am, Hunter?"
He turns serious, "You don't Transition until your eighteen. Until then, we wouldn't know, but you are NOT a Cambion hybrid."
"How do you know?" I bite. Am I not good enough to be one of his kind? Is that why he's been pushing me away? I'm not good enough for him?
He sighs. "Lex, there's no way you could be a Cambion. You're too... good." My face twists.
I laugh, but it sounds like something from a maniacal supervillain.
He glances at me sideways.
Hunter sighs heavily and grabs the back of his neck with one of his hands. The movement causes his shirt to tug against his rippling muscles. The mess of dark waves falls into his blue eyes.
"When I was little, even before we knew I was a Cambion, I had terrible and spontaneous outbursts. My mother was so fearful of me, she would lock herself in her room when I would get upset like I was capable of lighting her on fire."