I felt almost dizzy, and from the glowing look in his eyes, I could tell he felt the same way, too.
Looks like I finally got that kiss.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
I felt like I was floating on a cloud, practically twirling down the hallway, still living off the high from my kiss with Max the night before. It was so unexpected yet so, so welcomed that I couldn’t wipe the smirk off my face even when I was all tucked in for bed. I felt like I was some girl in junior high, excited that the quarterback on the football team gave me my first kiss. Well, not that I would know that feeling exactly. The closest I ever got to making out with a football player was when I went on a date with the water boy, but I digress.
“What’s got you looking so stupid?” Melanie asked as she crossed my path in the hallway. “You just remember I’m Grandma’s favorite and you’re trying to smile through the pain?”
“Actually, someone just showed me your GPA from High School,” I quipped,
“Shows what you know, I never even took my GPA.”
“I think you meant SAT, Einstein.”
She pressed her fingers to her temple like me talking was painful. “Stop using hyphenations, it’s confusing,” she said.
I threw my face into the palm of my hand. Why do I even try?
“That dude, Orca, is looking for you,” Melanie said.
“Aga? Aga is looking for me? Why?”
She shrugged. “I was told to tell you he wants to see you in his den.”
Oh, great, my blissful mood was in serious danger of being eliminated.
“I wonder what he wants,” I said aloud to myself. “Is he in his den now?”
Melanie shrugged. “Probably. Hey, maybe he wants to make you his love slave or something.”
“These chats are always so refreshing,” I sarcastically remarked and then walked right past her and went down the stairs. No point in sitting there wondering what Aga wanted when I could find out for myself.
I came to his den’s door and tapped my knuckles against the wood very lightly. I heard his voice from the other side calling me in, even referring to me by name. Either he knew I was coming, or he had x-ray vision. Hell, who knows with werewolves? I thought I knew what they were capable of and continued to be proven wrong, so maybe I needed someone to sit me down and explain all the rules.
“You got my message,” Aga said gleefully as I entered the room. He was standing by his bookcase, putting a few folders, loaded with papers, away and then sat down in his chair at his desk. “I wanted to see how you’re settling in.”
I sat down. “I’m trying. Given the circumstances, it’s still a little hard.”
“You mustn’t think of yourself as a hostage. Think of me as your parole officer.”
“Most people with parole officers have done something wrong.”
He curled his bottom lip into his mouth and nodded. I could see in his face that he knew I had a point. “Try to see it from our perspective.”
I said nothing. If I was some anomaly of nature, but was able to live in peace and in the shadows, and an outsider broke into my home and put it all at risk, I’d probably react the same way. It was just frustrating, from my point of view, because I knew I wasn’t a danger to them at all. They just needed to see that.
“My Brinly speaks highly of you,” Aga said as he leaned back in his chair.
“She does?”
“She finds you quite funny, said you even made her laugh. Over the years, there’s not been much that has put a real smile on her face.”
“I find that hard to believe. She seems like a really positive person.”
“Living here was never a part of her plans, and I believe deep down she has a lot of resentment toward my son for sending her to live with me. There’s not a lot of other women here for her to relate to, so I think your presence is welcomed.”
“Well, she was nice to me. Not many people are nice to me.”
“Why is that?”
I shrugged. “I must have one of those faces.”
Aga had a good belly laugh that made him sound like Kris Kringle. “On the contrary, you have a very friendly face, like a young Rita Hayworth.”
I scoffed unapologetically. “You just lie to outsiders or do you do that to the people living here as well?”
Aga smiled. “Speaking of which, how are you getting along with everyone? Brinly was supposed to introduce you to everyone.”
“I met a few people.”
“And?”
“They were nice,” I said. I didn’t know what else to say. I had only properly spoken to Brinly, Daggett, and Kerry. Everyone else gave me the glare from hell. Was I to tell him that, too? Max made it seem like my popularity was vital to getting out of here and if I told Aga no one was willing to trust me that wouldn’t exactly make me look good.
“I’m sorry I left early the other day,” Aga apologized. “I had pressing matters to attend to and was under the impression you were a lot less in the dark than I realized.”
“All I knew was werewolves existed and if you got bit you were turned into one. I had read a book last year that talked about a bunch of theories, but I had no idea what was true and what wasn’t.”
“It’s likely you’ve heard many theories because no one is completely sure how we came to be. Werewolves can be traced as far back as the fifteenth century, but as far as the very first werewolf created? No one can be positive of its origins. What we do know is there was a pack of werewolves that invaded a small village in northern Canada and that’s how it spread.”
“And here I thought Canada was supposed to be the peaceful country.”
Aga reached into his desk drawer and pulled out a bag. “Almond?” he offered to me.
“You have almonds just chilling in your drawer?”
“My drawer isn’t refrigerated, so technically, no.”
I pointed at him. “I see what you did there.” I then snatched an almond and bit down hard on it. It crunched so loudly I blushed.
“I’m all ears now, if there’s anything you’d like to know,” Aga offered. His wording felt like a really bad werewolf pun, or maybe I was reading too much into it.
An idea sprung to mind. “Out of curiosity, what is the little plaque on the front of the gate?”
A look came over his face, as though he had anticipated werewolf related questions and now had to visualize what was hanging on the outside of his gate. “It’s the West African adinkra symbol for the moon and the star.”
“Ah, so it was a star on the top. I thought it was a sun or some kind of odd looking gadget. Is it because of the whole werewolf thing?”
“It’s a symbol that represents the harmony that exists in the bonding between a man and a woman.”
“Oh,” I said, slightly disappointed. I figured it was a sun on top of the moon to represent their internal struggle with nature and the hold the moon has over them. Maybe I was being a tad theatrical.
He caught onto my less than pleased tone and said, “Was that not what you were wanting to hear?”
“No, no,” I backtracked quickly. “I just thought, considering your arrangement here, that it would be a little more… beastly?”
“On the contrary, this symbol has everything to do with what we are. Lycanthropy isn’t just an infection or a disease, but a birthright, and one that has been bred for many generations through carefully aligned partnerships. Without the love and harmony of a man and a woman, our bloodline would be no more.”
“I don’t get the impression you’re talking about the family name.”
“Not quite,” he responded with a twinkle in his eye. “I am a pureblood, a werewolf born, as were my parents and their parents before them. My children have since taken that responsibility.”
“So, when you said aligned partnerships, you really meant arranged marriages.”
“Nothing is arranged, only encouraged. It’s a way of life for the Clementine bloodline. From a very early age, we are introduced to other pure
bloods like ourselves, and it is in our best interest to choose a compatible partner.”
“Sounds like a really coy way of saying arranged marriage.”
“To an outsider, it may seem strange, but for us, it is very logical.”
I scoffed. “One thing I’ve learned about people in love is that logic is very rarely a part of the equation.”
He chuckled loudly and leaned back in his chair, staring at me with fondness in his eyes. “That sounds like something my late wife would have said.”
“And was she a compatible partner?”
“Till the day she passed.”
“Sounds like you were lucky. Not many people in arranged marriages get people that are good to them, or right for them.”
“That’s why I said they’re compatible. We wouldn’t arrange two opposites.”
“And you’re okay with Brinly dating a typical werewolf?”
“Who ever said Paul was a typical werewolf?”
There it was; Paul was a purebred just like them. God, were they in an arranged marriage? There was definitely something off about them as a couple, but I thought it was just my general disdain toward assholes. Maybe this was a factor after all.
I was suddenly distracted, and every bit of small talk Aga tried to make with me went through one ear and out the other. I knew I was supposed to be asking this guy a million questions and showing him how trustworthy I was, but my brain kept hopping back and forth between Brinly and Paul and…my kiss with Max. My so, so, so perfect kiss with Max. God, I could still taste him on my lips. I could still feel the warm material of his jacket as it tickled my neck while he held me. It was still so vivid to me that all I needed to do was close my eyes and I was there again.
“Cora?”
I popped my eyes open and realized Aga was staring at me. “Sup?” I asked vacantly.
“I thought I lost you there for a minute.”
Christ, had I been that obvious? “Sorry, I’m just tired.”
“No doubt after being out all night.”
I was like a deer caught in headlights. “You know I went out? Oh, God, I’m not in trouble, am I?”
“No. You were with someone and you returned, which is a sign of good character on your part. A little warning for you in the future. If you are to leave, you should notify one of us ahead of time.”
“I will,” I said and bowed my head like he was my samurai master or something.
“Now, onto business. Since you and your cousin will be staying here, we can’t allow you to use our resources and not pull your weight, so for the remainder of your stay, you two will be in charge of laundry duties. You’ll collect clothes, sheets, bed spreads and you will wash and dry them every morning. Is that clear?”
“Yes.”
“Good.”
“Since we’re discussing what I can and can’t do, is there any way I could use your phone and call someone?” I could see he was none too pleased, so before he could speak I tried to clarify what I meant. “I wouldn’t tell anyone what I’m doing, it’s just… when I came up here, I had a friend babysit my cat. She was only supposed to have him for a night and, if I don’t call home, she’ll get suspicious and think I’m dead or something.”
“What exactly would you be telling this person?”
“That something came up and I have to stay a while. Please, I promise I won’t rat anybody out. I just need to make sure my cat is taken care of. He’s an annoying little shit, but he’s all I’ve got.”
Aga nodded. “You can call home, but only with supervision. I’ll have Brinly monitor you.”
“Thank you. That’s all I ask.”
Aga grabbed his cellphone and dialed up Brinly, and in a few minutes, she made her way from her bedroom upstairs and met me in the den. Imagine having a house so big you have to use a cell to find your granddaughter. My Grandma usually spoke quietly as though I were standing next to her the whole time and then expected me to hear it and got pissy when I didn’t. Oh Grandma. I missed her.
My cell had been confiscated long ago, so Brinly took me to a small library that no one seemed to use and directed me toward a vintage black rotary dial telephone. I picked it up like it was a foreign object, unsure if the thing even worked. It looked like it was from before the Titanic sank. I dialed Priscilla’s number, which I thankfully remembered, and waited as it rang. It picked up, and I heard Priscilla’s droning voice say, “Hello?” There was a tiny pep to it, and I could tell it’s because she didn’t know who was calling.
“Priscilla, hey, it’s me Cora.”
“Cora?”
“Yeah, your best friend,” I teased.
That pep I had noted earlier immediately dissipated. “Where the hell have you been? Your cat ate my underwear and he keeps staring at me like he wants seconds. If you don’t get your ass here quick I’m going to make soup out of his rear end.”
“I’m so sorry, but something came up with Max and I needed to stay longer.”
“Is that code for sex? You filthy whore, off getting laid while you make me watch your cat. You better give me details or I’ll kick your ass.”
“It’s nothing as interesting as that, I promise. Things got a little hectic and I’m going to need to stay a few more days. Is it okay if you keep Biggie a little longer?”
There was a long pause. “How much is a little longer?”
“Like…” I gritted my teeth. “Two weeks.”
“You’re kidding. You must be kidding.”
“You pretty much said you and cats are kindred spirits.”
“I take that back. Your cat is fucking insane. He scales the curtains, shits in the shower and yesterday I found him hanging from the refrigerator door. It’s like you taught him to be as immature as you are.”
“I’m not immature, you…crotch.”
“I have scratches all over my body. I promised myself only a man in the throes of passion would put scratches on my body.”
“My cat is all man, you leave him alone.”
“I don’t think I can handle a few more days of your cat.”
“Look, I will pay you back big time, okay? Like Disney World vacation big. Just please do me this one favor. I’ll never ask anything of you ever again. I’m just in way over my head and I’m not physically able to come to your place. Not yet.”
Priscilla groaned. “Fine. You better pray your cat doesn’t destroy anything else or I’m selling him on eBay.”
“Love you, too, sweetheart.”
Our call ended.
I set the phone’s receiver down and turned back toward Brinly. “Thanks for that. Must be annoying having to watch over me like I’m a baby.”
“You just called that person a crotch,” Brinly said, her face completely neutral like she was trying to wrap her mind around such a ridiculously immature statement coming from me.
“Yeah… that was my friend, Priscilla. She likes being called crotch. It’s like… our thing.” I’m not sure why I thought she’d believe that.
“How old are you guys again?” she asked, and I knew she wasn’t being bitchy but actually interested to know. Brinly was probably in her early twenties, yet I was the one who sounded like the kid.
“We’re, uh, young at heart. Or, I guess juvenile at heart.” I laughed and then snorted. Jesus fucking Christ.
“Okay then.” Her eyes were speculative but I could tell she wanted to move on. “I was going to say if you’re not busy tonight a whole bunch of us were going to go out to the pub.”
“From the way you talked, I got the impression no one ever did anything here.”
“I kind of threw it together myself,” she said as she wrung her hands nervously. It almost looked like she was looking for my approval. Had I inspired this?
“That sounds like a lot of fun,” I told her. “You sure it’ll be okay me coming along? I know Aga said it’s fine for me to leave as long as I have supervision, but…”
“It’ll be fine,” she responded with a wave of her hand. “We
’re all going to be there so it’s not like you could run away if you tried.”
“Right.” I tried to smile but her wording made me feel a little awkward.
An excited smile came over her face and she bent her knees like she was restraining from doing a happy hop. She was so chill the other day that this was strange to see. “I’ll let the guys know you’re tagging along.” I thought she was about to leave the room, but she waited by the door a little while longer. “I have a feeling tonight’s going to be great.”
“If you put it together, I’m sure it will.”
That seemed to make her smile even more, and when she left the room, she looked downright blissful. I could hear her voice all the way down the hall talking to other people, trying to coerce them into tagging along to the pub. It was such a simple idea, going out for a night of drinks, but from the information I gathered after staying here a little bit, it wasn’t too surprising to see her get so giddy over it. It wasn’t even her choice to live at the compound and she was surrounded by stuffy werewolves who thought low of her just because she hadn’t turned before. It sounded like such an isolated life for Brinly. Seeing her smiling over this lifted my spirits, because I knew I was helping just by agreeing to go.
I left the room and headed downstairs, but before I could even figure out where I was headed, I felt a warm hand wrap around my wrist and effortlessly whip my body toward a dark corner beneath the staircase. It was so fast I didn’t have a moment to register what was happening to me. It was like a gust of wind had taken me. My back collided into a wall and when I had a moment to register what was going on I saw a pair of magnificent cerulean eyes beaming at me. Max’s.
With him standing there, all six feet and two inches of him, his body mere inches away from mine, his hands on both my shoulders as he trapped me against the wall, all my mind could do was go back to last night. It was like my body had a memory of its own and by me being in his presence I involuntarily yearned for him to kiss me again. I yearned for him to hold me the way he had before.
Lunar City Page 17