I decide not to tell him that he’s wrong. That they’d take care of family first, but I choose not to. He’s just trying to make me feel better, so the least I can do is pretend it’s working. So I force a smile that twists my mouth, hiding how I truly feel.
“A movie sounds perfect. Thank you, Arius.”
He beams at me causing my heart to give a strong kick. I secretly admire how handsome Arius is. With his bi-colored eyes, golden locks and straight white teeth, he’s everything a girl could dream about. Well, any girl but me. I have too many problems for a man to want to take on, especially not one that is only around to be my bodyguard. Best to just forget those ideas.
While I ruminate on how complicated my life has become, Arius releases my hand and walks across the room to retrieve a remote from a side table. When he arrives back, he takes the seat right beside me, our legs brushing together, and turns the TV on. Clicking on the red logo for some movie streaming app.
“What do you like to watch?” he asks, and though I see plenty of titles that look interesting, I just shrug.
“I don’t know. I never had time to watch TV. I was usually practicing my act or spending time with Sal. I don’t… I mean, I didn’t even have a TV back in my old trailer. Bailey always refused to allow it. Something about it being a waste of time and making me lazy,” I say, brow furrowing as I think about how I had allowed him to rule over me without even minding it.
Arius must see that my thoughts have turned dark because he leans in and bumps his shoulder with mine. Well, with our height difference, it’s my shoulder, but his upper arm. “Well then I guess now is the perfect time to learn. What do you say? Up for some Game of Thrones?”
Having no idea what that is, but unable to say no to his eager face, I just smile and nod as he begins from the first season.
“Who the fuck is Khal? I don’t remember anyone by that name in the Kingdom.”
Kendric’s harsh voice interrupts my dreams, and I wake quickly, eyes snapping open as I sit and look at my surroundings. Still on the couch, my feet are now stretched across Arius’ lap, but the screen is no longer playing. Instead, Daruk and Kendric stand before me. Both looking at me expectantly. Relieved they’re okay, I relax back into my seat.
“You’re back! Is everything okay with your sister, Daruk?” I ask, needing the reassurance to release the brick of nerves that have sat heavy inside of me all night.
“Thank you for asking, she’s f—”
“Draga is fine. Now, tell us who this Khal is? Did he hurt you? You were moaning his name!”
Embarrassed beyond belief, I cut my eyes to where Arius sits and see that he’s barely keeping in a laugh. He knows exactly who Khal Drogo is, and if he heard me moaning in my sleep, then... Oh no!
Jumping up, I go to leave the room until I can get past my mortification of Arius knowing I wasn’t having a nightmare, but a heated dream about a certain long-haired barbarian, when Kendric steps into my path, eyes blazing and jaw clenched.
“Excuse me,” I say as I go to step around him, but his arm shoots out and blocks my path, nose flaring as his penetrating gaze demands answers I don’t want him to have.
“Who, Princess, is Khal? I don’t recall anyone named that, but your memories have been resurfacing through your dreams. So, who am I about to kill?” he asks hotly, and my mouth goes dry at the intense way he’s staring at me.
Swallowing hard, as the moisture seems to have left my mouth, I try not to let him see the effect he’s having on me. “He’s no one. And no, he never hurt me. Can I go to my room now?”
“No, you can’t. Not until you tell me who the fuck he is and why you’re covering for him. If he touched you, I’ll skin him alive and bathe in his blood. Now. Who. Is. Khal?”
He leans in close as he makes his demand, so close that I feel his hot breath across my face and can see the specs of color in his brown eyes. Frustrated that I’m thinking about his eyes at a time that he’s thinking he can boss me around, I straighten my spine and place my hands on my hips, not caring that I’m dressed in only a tank top and loose sweatpants. Or that he towers over me.
“Back off, Kendric,” Arius says, finally coming to my defense, but I don’t look away from Kendric’s glare that’s only inches from my own hot gaze.
“Why do you even want to know, Kendy? You plan to search out every person that’s ever been mean to me? That’s ever tried to hurt me? Why? You don’t even like me! I’m nothing but a job to you.”
My breathing is coming hard, but if he cares about how angry he’s making me, he doesn’t show it. Ignoring the question, he steps in closer one last time, bringing him so close that our chests now brush with our fast breathing.
“You don’t know as much as you like to think, Princess. This is the last time I’ll ask. Who is Khal, and did he hurt you? Know that before you try to lie, I will go back to that circus and rip apart every trailer there until I get answers. Tell me!”
Fed up, and no longer caring to be embarrassed, I reach up and push him away. He barely budges, only freeing up an inch or so of space, but with him not touching me, I find I can think a little clearer.
“Fine, you asshole. You want to know? Khal is a character in Thrones and Games! He isn’t real. I was moaning because I was dreaming about him. And let me assure you, the only thing that hurt was waking up and being bitched at by you!”
Finally spinning away, I move while he’s still stunned, fleeing from the living room, and the three sets of eyes that follow me out. Daruk’s question of if I meant Game of Thrones, the last thing I hear as I proceed down the hall.
Alone in Daruk’s room, I fall onto the bed, arm thrown across my eyes as I work to keep from yelling expletives into the empty space. Who does he think he is? Demanding I give up every secret, or what he thinks is a secret anyway, when getting anything out of him works about as well as baptizing a cat.
“Arrogant, self-centered, pig-headed, ass—”
“I guess I deserve that, but before you go any further, I feel I should at least get the opportunity to defend my ass, as it’s not responsible for my mouth. I’ve even been told it’s a fine ass.”
Kendric makes sure to speak loud enough for me to hear, and I don’t look his way as I groan.
He’s irritating and I just want a few minutes away from him. At least until I can get the redness that my embarrassment caused to leave my cheeks.
“What do you want? Can’t I just die of humiliation alone? Did you come here to gloat? Or wait, are you going to lecture me now about wet dreams? Because if you are, save it. I’m too tired to hear it tonight,” I say, not tired at all after my nap, but he doesn't know that.
Sitting down onto the bed beside me, I peek over to see him leaning forward with his head in his hands, the strong muscles in his back showing through his thin t-shirt.
“I came here to apologize. Daruk seems to think I may have been too rough on you. It wasn’t my intention to hurt your feelings. I just…”
When he pauses I sit up, just barely able to hear him lying down, but this brings me up right next to him, and I tuck my wings in a little closer when they brush across his arm.
“You were being an ass, but I’ve had worse,” I say with a shrug, and he swings his face to the side, nostrils flaring. “Stop right there, Mister. You can’t go find every person who’s ever been mean to me. I worked in the public. Believe me, it’s a long list. But I can deal with it. I have for a long time.”
I twist my hands together as I talk, thinking back on all the times it would have been nice to have Kendric watching out for me. Even if he is a big jerk, it would have been satisfying to watch him put a few of those customers, and even performers, in their place. I’ll just never understand why people think that if someone is in the spotlight, or put themselves out there, that it’s okay to treat them as an object.
“You shouldn’t have had to do it all alone. I should have been there to take care of you. I don’t know if Arius told you, but I was to be you
r personal guard. That’s why I was always with you, and why we became so close as children. It wasn’t just because you needed a companion. It was because the queen felt that a true guard is one that knows their charge so intimately that they can predict where they’ll be, how they’ll react, and how best to soothe them.”
As he speaks, he reaches down and places his large hand over mine, stopping me from wringing them, and I look up at him, shocked and confused at how nice he’s being. Yet, despite his earlier attitude, I don’t like to see his face tight with anger.
“You were just a kid, Kendric. You can’t blame yourself for what I went through. Besides, it made me learn to depend on and stick up for myself. If you’d been there, I wouldn’t have.”
He catches me completely off guard when he laughs, moving his hand from mine as he falls back onto the bed, and for a second, I get a glimpse of the carefree boy I once knew.
“Princess, you would have been like that anyway. Even as a kid you were strong willed. It was one of the things that I simultaneously admired, while being equally frustrated by. It’s also why I never took on another charge after you were taken. I knew you’d be okay, and one day, I’d finally serve my duty as your guard.”
Mouth slightly hanging open, I look down at him while he speaks, and note that the longer he does, the more he seems to draw back into his hard shell, until finally, no laughter remains on his face.
Standing up so quickly that he almost bumps his head with mine, he quickly makes his way to the door without meeting my eyes.
Unable to think of anything to say after what he’s just admitted, I don’t try to stop him as he goes to leave, but he freezes and looks back over his shoulder. Those sharp eyes of his focused intently on me.
“Oh, and Princess?” he says, gaze never wavering from my own.
“What?” I ask, not sure what else there is to say, but tensing as I wait for asshole Kendric to make his return.
“If you need some better material for your dreams, don’t waste your time on some actor. I could show you things that would have you moaning a hell of a lot more than you were.”
At a loss for words, again, I just sit there and blink at his retreating form, and try to keep my mind from straying to what he could mean. I may still be a virgin, but I’m not completely innocent either. There had been a trapeze artist that had taught me a few things, but had sadly left the next day without even saying goodbye.
Bailey had shown up to my trailer that day with the news, stating another troupe had snatched him up and he’d abandoned us. Thinking about it now though, I can’t help but wonder if someone had caught us while we were up on the tiny platform of the trapeze. I thought we’d been alone, but knowing what I do now, I fear he hadn’t left at all. Not while still alive.
Chapter Sixteen
Having too much on my mind, I barely sleep. So I wake early the next morning and head to the kitchen, thinking I’ll have a few minutes alone.
Yet, when I arrive, I draw up short at the woman before me. Though not identical, she favors Daruk enough to realize that this is Draga, his sister, and I note that she too shares those intricate markings that swirl across their skin. And just like her brother, they only seem to add to her natural beauty.
“I didn’t wake you did I? I was trying to be quiet,” she says, voice light and airy, and I shake my head.
At her look of disbelief, I point to my right ear. “This is the only one that works. And I woke up sleeping on it. Which means I didn’t hear anything. I’m Lorelei, and I’m guessing you’re Draga?” I say, despite knowing I’m right.
Rather than grow awkward at learning of my disability, she just smiles wider, and holds out a cup in my direction. “Good. Glad to know that you’re awake for a different reason. I don’t feel like having Daruk lecture me. If he thought I woke you up... well, he can be quite aggravating.”
I laugh with her, but not because I agree. Daruk has been nothing but kind. I laugh because even though she’s rolling her eyes, and acting put out, there’s a love that shines from her face when she talks about her twin, and I feel a twinge of loneliness at not having Sal with me. She’d been the closest to a sibling I’d ever had.
Accepting the cup, I bring it to my nose, ready to let the steam and smell envelop me. However, when I take a whiff, I immediately push it away, stomach protesting the sour stench.
“Um, Draga? Something’s wrong with your coffee.”
Smiling, she doesn’t seem to take offense, but accepts the mug back. “Damn, I was hoping to sell you on my tea. It’s my favorite, but none of the guys like it, so I always have to go look for the right leaves myself.”
Cautiously taking the second cup she offers, I hesitantly bring it up to my nose, but as I do, the bitter sweet scent of coffee reaches me, and I slowly take a sip of the hot drink.
“Sorry, but I have to agree with the others on this one. I like some teas, but that was…” I trail off, searching my brain for a word that won’t offend her, but another voice beats me to it.
“It’s horrible. Dra, don’t you think it’s too early to be trying to convert Lorelei?” Daruk asks as he joins us in the kitchen, and proceeds to fill his own cup with coffee before motioning that we all take a seat at the table.
“Ha! I haven’t even been to sleep yet. I found a new book and binge read the series last night. Besides, my tea is good for you and helps you concentrate. What does coffee do?”
“It keeps me from going on a killing spree.”
I don’t look directly in Kendric’s direction when he walks in, my thoughts turn back on the night before and what he insinuated, but when he sits down across from me, he doesn’t appear to be thinking the same. No, back to serious Kendric it is. I’m going to get whiplash with his mood swings.
“Oh? Coffee is what stops that? Maybe you should drink more then, you know, to help pull the stick from your ass?”
Coffee squirts out my nose when Draga says this, and both her and Daruk push napkins in my direction. Ignoring my sputtering and the mess I’ve made, Kendric looks at her with narrowed eyes.
“What are you even doing here so early, Draga? Are all the malls closed?”
Raising her hand, middle finger proudly displayed, Draga gives him a big smile. “I’m here, for her,” she says, pointing in my direction. “Since we know how Bailey was tracking her, we can take her home now. I figured she’d like another woman around. Especially since all she’s had is a bunch of testosterone-filled companions for the past few days. Besides, she’s going to need to get some clothes soon, and who better to take her shopping than yours truly?”
Excitement and fear mix at learning I’m going home today, so much that I miss Arius joining us in the kitchen until he lays his hand on my shoulder.
“What?” I ask, worried he’s been talking.
Smiling, he hands me a few wrapped protein bars and a bottle of water. “We’re about to leave, so you should eat. We’re not too far, but it will still take us a few hours to get there.”
I gratefully accept them, hoping they will help to settle my nerves, and immediately rip one open and shove a piece into my mouth, enjoying the chewy, nut flavor, and see that the others are doing the same.
Swallowing, I look at where Draga sits, tapping something on her phone. “Draga?” I say, and wait for her to look in my direction. “Buying some new clothes would be great,” I add, and she smiles at me, revealing a line of white teeth with two very sharp looking canines.
“Oh, Lorelei, we’re going to get along just fine.
As I watch Draga interact with the others, demure, but able to hold her own, I know she’s right. We will get along.
Back in the van, this time with Draga occupying the seat at my side while Kendric broods about something, maybe the existence of butterflies or the clear blue sky, in the back, I try my best to keep up with her running commentary, but it’s not easy. Whereas her and Daruk favor, that’s where their similarities end. I’m learning that Daruk is the type to only
speak when he has something of importance to say, content to fade into the shadows and watch, but the same can’t be said of Draga. She never stops, but I don’t mind. It’s a good distraction from my impending reunion with my family.
“With your hair and wings, I bet we could find some killer outfits that would complement both. I mean, you can go either way. Dark with you black wings, or spring colors to go with those cute pastel curls. Do you have a preference on color? If not, I’m thinking we should start you off by trying on all white and all black. Get a feel for how your skin tone looks against each. Then, shoes! You’re so tiny, so I definitely think we’ll need to check out the shoe department and get something with a little heel. What do you say, three inches? Four?”
Overwhelmed and unable to keep up with her, I just smile and nod, which seems to be all Draga needs as she gets started on tops, and how they’ll need to be tailored to allow space for my wings. As she says this, I look up toward the front, and catch Daruk looking at me in the rearview mirror. His face, though angular, is relaxed right now, and there’s a twinkle in his white-blue eyes that tells me he’s enjoying watching me with his sister.
Seeing that he’s caught my attention, he gives me a kind smile before looking back at the road. It’s early, and we’re the only ones out right now, but as much as I find myself relaxing around Daruk, I also like the van on the road.
“Lorelei, did you hear me?” Draga asks, and rather than admit I wasn’t paying attention, I smile sheepishly and point at my ear. It’s not an outright lie, since I don’t say anything, but it has the intended effect, which is to not have her find out my mind had drifted while she spoke.
“She might not be able to hear you, but we can. Shut up, Draga. If I have to hear one more thing about getting your eyebrows waxed, I’m going to jump from the moving car. Nobody cares about your eyebrows! Believe me. When men see you, that’s probably the last thing we consider, since our focus is usually much lower. But for the love of humanity, woman, stop talking about them!”
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