A pillow knocks into me, throwing me down, right back into the same pillow pile that I just jumped into. Laughing and quickly attempting to retaliate, I grab the first pillow my hand touches. Suddenly Evan came around and hit me while I was down. I can hardly catch my breath from laughing so hard, and I dizzily stand up. In front of me, Evan and Lucas are both standing next to each other, pillows raised. I look over to my right and I finally see Charlie, who stood up after being attacked, like me. She gives me a nod and we charge.
I acted like I was going for Evan’s stomach and he anticipated it. But just at the last second, I raise my pillow and I sock him right in the head. He stumbles, but he recovers just as fast, ready to attack again. He looks at me with wide eyes and a surprised smile as I sinisterly grin in continuing charging towards him. For a minute, I got so lost in the pillows flying around that I didn't even know who I was hitting anymore. And I definitely didn't see Mack and Derek walk in until her loud voice stopped us all.
“What the hell! Not freakin’ fair, y’all! I am the queen of pillow fights.” Mack grumpily yells. The four of us, holding pillows midair, fall to the floor to laugh. My stomach is cramping and my cheeks hurt. Derek loudly gasps and I pick my head up to see what happened. He’s by the end table, above the peanut butter cookies, with his head towards us and a mean look on his face.
“You only left us four of these? Not cool!” He chastises us. That sobered me up and I stood with my arms crossed. “Actually, there’s a whole batch I left in the kitchen for when you guys got back.” I inform the dramatic Derek. He wiped the mean look off his face and replaced it with a look of pure joy. “Yes! Thanks!” He shouted, as he clapped his hands and rubbed them together. I run to the kitchen to grab the rest of the cookies. And when I come back, Mackenzie turns to us. “I'm goin’ to go change. Do not have any more fun without me! I mean it!” She races off into her room as Derek turns to his brother. “Luke, you wanna get drinks?” He lifts his eyebrows once and Lucas nods his head in understanding.
“Wanna help me, babe?” He asks Charlie. She smiles and takes his outstretched hand as they walk into the kitchen. The second they disappear, I hear a snap and immediately look at Evan, but he shakes his head no. Then he looks at Derek and I follow his line of sight. Derek is there with a smirk on his face because he casted his clothes off. Now he’s got gym shorts and a T-shirt on. He shrugs his shoulders and goes in for another cookie. “God, these are so good.” He takes two more and sits down on the floor in the piles of pillows. Mack comes skipping through the hallway and takes a seat next to Derek, more like on top of Derek and Charlie and Lucas walk through the doors hands full of drinks. Mack claps her hands and turns to me.
“Well, Derek and I got you somethin’. That’s what took us so long. We had to go pretty far for it. But as soon as I saw it, I knew it was perfect for you. It’s geeky, so I know y’all are goin’ to love it.” She stands to get a large bag by the front door. She comes back and pulls out a box with a picture of a telescope on the front and I gasp as I jump out of my seat.
“I love astronomy!” I exclaim, as I pull Mack in for a hug. “I knew you would. I did some research on the way here and it says there’s supposed to be some kind of planet alignment tonight,” she explains. Without letting her finish, I grab the telescope and I run outside to set it up. Evan leans up against the balcony door as I set up the impromptu perfect gift.
“You like stars, huh?” He asks, as he watches me work. I nod my head and quietly answer. “More like love.” I say proudly. I get back to setting up the telescope and happily clap when I find what I was looking for. “Wanna see Mars?” I excitedly ask him. He looks down into the telescope and I hear his oohs and ahs as I explain each star. The rest of the group joins us out on the balcony, each taking turns as I gush about our starry night.
***
Back inside, as I lay on the floor next to Charlie. We stare up at the ceiling as I think about how incredible this birthday has been. Evan and Lucas are looking at the board games and Mack is with Derek, setting up Twister. Charlie turns her head over to me and says, “Scar, I'm really glad we met. I had friends in high school, but none that really got me. Not like you. You're my best friend.” With a smile on my face, I quietly respond, “Same here, Charlie. You're my best friend, too.” She grabs my hand and holds it. Startled, I jumped into sitting position when Lucas’ deep voice spoke to us.
“You're not trying to steal my girl from me, are you, Scarlet?” He says, as he looks at our linked hands. “I mean, I know it’s your birthday, but…” I throw a pillow at him, cutting him off. As we laugh, I jump up from the ground, now in a totally different type of mood. I'm ready to do something fun. “Twister!” I shout, while sliding to where Mack is. Looking at me, she laughs and nudges me softly.
“Guys against girls?” Derek says daringly.
“Definitely,” Mack competitively replies. Evan steps forward and puts his hand on the small of my back. “I’ll spin. Birthday girl goes first.” he says, before kissing my forehead. “Left foot, red,” says Evan, as I follow his direction. Weirdly enough, as the game progresses, Charlie, Mack, and I are tangled within each other, and Lucas and Derek are barely even touching. Realizing they might be using magic, I turn my head up to Evan. Giving me a confused look, I try to concentrate as hard as I can. I say the same thing over and over again until I know he hears me in his head.
“Are your cousins cheating?” When his eyes get big, I know he heard me. “It’s going to be a while until I get used to you doing that to me,” he says inside my mind. “But I have no idea. I’ve been too busy watching you. But honestly, yes, they probably are,” he says with a smirk. If I bring my right foot to where Derek is balanced, I can kick him from the back, he’ll fall right into Lucas and they'll both lose. So thinking of a way to cover it up, I fake a sneeze and kick my foot back.
Exactly like I hoped, Derek loses his balance and went head first into Lucas’ butt. Now that they have touched the floor first, the girls and I fall to the floor with tears in our eyes. “Hey, that’s cheating!” Derek says, as he rubs his head. Laughing, I look up at him with squinted eyes. “Is it now?” I ask him. He shakes his head and looks away, walking towards the cookies, knowing I caught him cheating first. “I'm hungry,” he says, as he stuffs his mouth. That was enough for all of us to get up and join him for a midnight snack.
The girls and I agreed to let the guys sleep over. We were all exhausted but we didn't want to say goodbye. It’s 3 a.m. and we all just separated into our rooms. I didn't realize how tired I was until my door was almost closed. I wanted to lay down so badly. I spun around to see Evan shirtless, laying on my bed with his left arm behind his head. He looks like a model, with his tight abs and thick biceps. I didn't know my mouth was watery until I had to swallow the drool that was attempting to escape my mouth. He gave me his smirk and I almost lost all control. I felt the goosebumps rising on my arms and shivered. His jaw tightened as he watched me get lost in him. I took my first step towards him and he snapped his fingers. The room went pitch black. “Evan?” I say quietly, not able to see anything.
He snaps his fingers again and the entire room fills with small floating lights. They look like stars. They illuminate the room just enough for light and shadow to intertwine, and we see bits and pieces of each other. I feel like I'm standing on top of the earth. It’s a surreal moment that I don't want to end. Walking up to the one closest to me, I slowly lift my hand, palm up. I push up directly under one of the stars, so I'm now holding it in my hand. It feels as light as a feather. I stare at it as it glows brighter. Evan’s hand comes up under the hand holding the tiny star and he brings his lips to my ear, whispering, “Happy birthday, Scarlet.” I close my eyes and savor every passing moment. I smell his apple scent, I feel his warm skin on mine, his soft lips on the back of my neck, I can’t stop thinking about his body and how bad I want him.
“Scarlet?” Evan says a little louder this time. I open my eyes and see that the star i
n my hand is so bright that it’s lighting my room as if the light was on. He takes the star out of my hand and tosses it in with the surrounding stars, and it begins to dim to the same dull brightness as the others. He takes both of my hands and leads me to my bed. After we’re both in and facing each other under the blankets, he quietly surprises me, “If you didn't have magic in your blood, you wouldn't have been able to light that star,” Leaving me speechless, all I could do was stare into his eyes. Do I really have magic in my blood? Am I a caster? After all this time, could it really be materializing now?
“How is that possible?” I say under my breath as he lightly shrugs his shoulders, just as confused as I am. “I'm not sure. But if you want me to, I can try to find out,” he offers. “That would be helpful.” I say to him as he puts his palm to my cheek. I feel like I can see directly through his eyes to his soul. I can feel the desire in them. I can feel the growing love. I can feel the urge he has to claim and protect me. He licks his lips and comes in slowly to place them softly on top of mine. I close my eyes, cherishing him and I let out a small moan.
He pushes himself a little closer to me and the smell of apples is so delicious and distinct that I moan again, this time louder and longer. He pushes himself even closer and places his lips on mine, softly slipping his velvety tongue into my mouth. My stomach explodes into millions of electric butterflies and I feel the warm tingles make their way down my spine, causing me to shiver and get covered in goose bumps all over again.
“You're so beautiful,” Evan whispers as we try to catch our breaths I place one sweet kiss on his lips and tangle my feet in his so that we’re one. Smiling, I move my face closer until our noses are slightly touching. My left hand comes up to his cheek and I feel my eyes getting droopy. Evan’s deep whisper sounds softly in my head.
“Scarlet, I wanted to wait for the perfect moment to ask you to be mine. But I can wait no longer. My soul wants to be a part of your soul. My heart together as one with yours. Will you give me the honor of being your boyfriend?” I smile as my eyes close, using the last of my energy to focus on Evan’s mind. “I would love nothing more.” I respond. We look into each other’s eyes until we fall asleep. With a full and happy heart, the last thing I remember is feeling Evan kissing my forehead as he said goodnight.
What a wonderful birthday. I’ve dreaded this birthday for years and now that it’s here, I wouldn't change one thing. My family, my friends, and my boyfriend have all shown me how happy I can be just being a regular mortal. But as I fall asleep I can’t help but wonder, how remarkable would it be if what Evan said is true? Me, with power.
Chapter 16
Babysitting
Evan
Scarlet’s family was everything and more. Getting to know Rick and Dimitri on a more personal level is more than I could have ever hoped for. I’ve always looked up to them and their fighting skills and have always wanted to meet them since the day I learned of who they were. I was training with my cousins and uncle when the news of their record projected in the empty space around us. I remember that day I set a goal to reach their record and maybe one day fight alongside them.
After I received my power, I hit a record of my own and a meeting was set for the several young demon hunters that showed the most promise as hunters to meet the infamous demon hunting Winter brothers. But something came up and the meeting never took place. I was devastated. They slowly disappeared from the spotlight as my cousins and I moved into it. It was exhilarating at first, but it quickly turned overwhelming.
New faces fighting beside you every day, you didn't know who you could trust to have your back when the fighting got tight, who wanted to be your friend, or who wanted to use you for the fame. Sure enough, I repeated history and became like the Winter brothers. Hard to track and meet, but fast to summon for a demon hunting mission. To this day, though, I still think it would be a dream to fight by their side. Even with seeing their soft sides. I never would have pegged Dimitri to be a man who killed it in the kitchen. And you can easily see the love Rick has for his family.
Before Rick had his first daughter, he was like me, uninterested in relationships. I would hear my aunt gossip with her friends about all of the women who have been turned down by them. I found it amusing that the women would get worked up about it. There was a longtime rumor that Dimitri had a thing with Ava, the head Elder. But it was just a rumor because it was never confirmed, but it was enough for the other women to back off of him. No caster woman would try to compete with the head Elder.
After there was news that Rick had his first child, all the desperate women resented him for not giving them a chance. My aunt heard he met his Anima Partem, which made things easier for the single women to swallow their arrogance. And even I felt happy for him. I would always see Rick in the Marked meetings, but I decided to leave him be and not to make an effort to disturb him. I hoped that there would be a time where we met under favorable conditions and I knew I would be ready when that time came. If only I knew how ready I should have prepared myself to be. Falling for his youngest daughter, his mortal daughter, was not what any one of us were expecting. But I wouldn't change it for anything in the world. I do wish they didn't keep so much information from her, though.
I know for a fact that Scarlet has magic in her blood and as the days go on, I can feel it getting stronger. She has no idea. And I don't think it’s time to tell her yet. We haven't even had a chance to have a first date yet, and she’s busy with classes and work at the cafe. If I tell her or anyone finds out that magic is sprouting in her blood, she’ll be dragged into this mess in Eden and the prophecy. She doesn't deserve to be thrown into that chaos. And there are a few things I want to test out before anyone learns the truth. There has to be a reason why three different demons have had such a strong interest in her. I'm most worried about their attention to her. Usually they only seek those that have committed a sin. The only reason she hasn't been taken by one is because I have been there each time one has shown up.
I also have to get the specifics of her visions. She insists they're dreams. But I know they're not. It must not be good if she continues to call them nightmares. There has to be something missing. She wouldn't be having them if they weren't of importance. Lucas pulled me aside the other day after I killed that Tahr demon and he told me he can feel new magic around us, but he can’t place where it’s coming from. I can tell by the way Lucas set his jaw that all the demon sightings at Syracuse were troubling him, too. How can Lucas not feel the magic in her? Why am I the only one that can? But even I know the answer to that. Her being my Anima Partem has everything to do with it. Our souls are connected. Bound to be together, for all of eternity. I didn't think it would ever be possible for me to have one. I didn't envy many caster couples. Not until recently. I came to Syracuse for a new beginning. And that’s exactly what I got. But it’s more. It’s much, much more.
When I returned to Eden to speak with Ava about Scarlet’s situation, I came back just as empty-handed. Now I know how Scarlet feels. Ava left me with one message. “I know it’s tough to decipher Scarlet’s situation, and I can only imagine how you're feeling. But there is not much I can say to help you. Rick Winter has been searching for an answer for years of Scarlet’s condition. And not once has he found anything. If she hasn't shown any hint of magic in this stage of her life, it will not come. Let her live in the world that she will better associate with, in a world where there is no magic, no demons, and no prophecy.”
I know Ava was busy, but it sounded like she said something she’s rehearsed over and over again. It looks like I'm going to have to do my own research. Maybe Rick missed something. But first, I must test her. And I have to do it without her knowledge. It seems that everyone around her has given her the same message in different variations.
Ava gave me the same advice she gave Scarlet. And after hammering it into her head all her life, it has affected her judgment. No wonder she doesn't have any interest in becoming a caster. She probably b
elieves her father has exhausted every venue and there is no reason to keep trying. And I can’t blame her. She’s searched for years, only to get the same empty answers. Is it wrong of me that I actually want to look for myself? Regardless if she is caster or not, I’ve fallen for her and I won’t let something like magic keep us apart. I don't care how hard it’s going to be. I will make it happen.
Scarlet
It’s only been three days and I miss my family so much already. I'm glad I agreed to babysit today. And I'm extremely glad that Evan came along with me. I want to show him the cave, which I’ve never brought anyone to before. It makes me nervous, but I think he’ll really like it. We’re almost to Demi’s house and I feel the excitement growing. I feel my leg fidgeting as Evan places his hand on my thigh. “Excited, are we?” He says with a smirk. “Very,” I say. We pull into the neighborhood and it takes me a minute to realize we’re barely moving. I can walk faster than this. I look over at the speedometer and it says we’re only going ten miles per hour. Realizing Evan is torturing me on purpose, my eyes squint and my mouth falls open.
“Evan!” I shout at him. He laughs and moves the car faster. “Not funny!” I continue. But his laughter is contagious and I can’t stop the smile from spreading on my face. I roll my eyes and say, “Okay. That’s the way you want to play it? Game on.” His eyebrows lift up so high that they disappear under his curls and his smirk comes back full force. “Oh, yeah?” He says to me, like it’s a challenge. What did I just get myself into? I nervously laugh as I look out of the window. I think I just messed up and started a war I may not win. Shaking my head, I get out of the car and he takes my hand. Before we could knock, the door swings open.
Winter's Awakening (Light Coven Chronicles Book 1) Page 14