“Well it’s super awesome that you two know what’s going on and are cool with it, but I’m still confused,” I stated.
“We’re going to visit with Mrs. LaMotte as soon as we are done here,” Kian promised. “She has something to say to you and it has to be now.”
“Uh… okay?”
“No!” McCredie slammed his hands on his desk. “You two have to leave to extract my nephew now. Whatever Eleanor needs to say to Sadie can wait until she returns.”
Kian reluctantly nodded in agreement and sat down beside me, reaching out his hand for mine. I slid my fingers between his a little more roughly than usual, just to let him know I was angry about his secrets. Oh we are going to have a long talk on our trip to rescue McCredie’s nephew.
McCredie slid the file over to us. Both Kian and I reached for it, but I snatched it up before Kian, giving him a satisfied smirk before opening the thin file. Attached to the top left was a photo of a Caelian man. My eyes widened and I looked up at McCredie.
“No wonder he’s targeted.”
“Hmm… yes. His skin tone is rather alarming.”
“Which parent?”
“I’m assuming his father, although we don’t know who the man is and we’ve never come across another Caelian with the same tone.”
I turned the file so Kian could look at the man in question. Kian let out a whistle as he perused the file.
According to the description, McCredie’s nephew, Cayden Lamour, was 5’10. 150 pounds. He had wide yellow eyes obscured behind thick rimmed glasses and short, cropped hair that matched his eyes perfectly. He looked like a typical geek, but with one major hitch – his unnaturally red skin. I am Caelian and the crimson tone of his skin sent a wave of shivers up my spine, but the longer I looked past Cayden’s alarming skin tone, all I saw was a man who looked terrified.
“I can see why the norms are scared of him, but he looks harmless.” I closed the file and looked at each man in the room. They all nodded their heads in agreement.
“He’s the top in his field – microbiology.” Pride filled his voice as he bragged about the nephew he had never met. “As a child he was a prodigy. He played five different instruments and spoke three languages fluently by the time he was six. He graduated high school at 13 and received his Doctorate at 20. If he was a norm, he would be famous. Well loved. An inspiration to the younger generations, but instead he gets labeled a demon and has to hide indoors in order to be safe.”
McCredie balled his fists and sat there shaking at the injustice his nephew had been living under his entire life.
My heart swelled with sympathy for the man, and I knew that I’d do whatever I could to make sure Cayden made it to the Underground safe.
“What do you need us to do?”
Chapter 12
Press Release
Atlanta, Georgia.
Local Caelian man Cayden Lamour was arrested for disturbing the peace. His intimidating fire-red skin color incited a panic inside a local department store. Witnesses say Mr. Lamour looked like a “demon from hell” and he frightened the children with his yellow eyes. Cayden was released from custody to the Moreau family and will be fined $1,000, the maximum fine for disorderly conduct.
Protest broke outside the downtown police station demanding that the district attorney’s office pursue jail time for Cayden and for him to be apprehended until his trial.
There was no statement from Cayden or the Moreau family.
Chapter 13
Captain Monroe explained the extraction plan with the confidence born of experience. After hours of deliberation and convincing McCredie that having Luca and his pheromone sniffing abilities on our team would benefit the mission better than the random, unknown Caelian who they had originally suggested to join us, Kian, Luca, and I were on the elevator to the surface. Both men had changed into civilian clothes in order to blend with the crowds, but my standard issue Underground uniform would stand out once we left the car garage.
After my short stay in the hospital, I never got the chance to pack for my move to the Underground and now I was regretting the foresight, but at the time I had just wanted to move on.
Feeling a little self-conscious, I pulled at the bun and released my hair from its tight hold. My scalp loosened and I shook my hair out, relishing the freedom. Finished with the only improvement I could make at the moment, I noticed Kian smirking at me.
“I love it when you wear your hair down.”
I felt the heat rise up my cheeks at hearing his voice say love. My eyes widened as I thought about my reaction. Woah!
“You look younger with your hair down,” Luca noted, his hand stroking his chin as he looked me over.
I shrugged. “I need new clothes.”
Luca laughed and slapped his legs. “You haven’t officially escaped the Underground yet and you already want to go shopping. I never figured you for that kind of girl.”
“I’m not, but I stand out next to you guys.” I pointed to their casual clothes. Both men wore jeans that hung low on their hips with fitted t-shirts that strained against their muscles. Kian’s mauve eyes sparkled in contrast to his deep blue shirt as he watched me appreciate his body and he raised an eyebrow in response. I chuckled and shook my head. Men.
“You do look drab next to our awesome.” Luca pulled at his dove grey shirt. The hem brushed the waist of his jeans but was still short enough to show a sliver of his olive skin.
“Looks like I’m not the only one who needs new clothes.” I flicked my wrist at his shirt.
Luca shrugged as the elevator’s bell dinged for the final time. “This is the best I’ll be able to find around here.”
The elevator doors opened and we stepped out into the parking garage. Kian pulled a set of keys out of his pocket and pressed a button. A small black SUV beeped at the back of the collection of parked cars. We walked toward it together.
Kian opened the passenger door for me and held his hand out for me to get in. Luca snorted at Kian’s chivalry and I thought, He’s lucky his Talent gives him sway with the ladies because his manners are lacking. He probably wasn’t raised in the South.
Once we were all settled, I announced, “I’ll program the GPS.”
“Not yet. We have a stop to make first,” Kian said. We pulled out from under the car garage and my eyes watered from the onslaught of sunlight. With a quick wipe from the back of my hand, I was staring at the bluest Texas sky I had ever seen. My memories didn’t do the sight justice.
It took a few moments for my thoughts to catch up with what Kian had said. “What do you mean? The plan is to go straight to the airport to catch a flight to Atlanta.”
“Yes, that is the plan and we are only going to deviate a little.”
Luca popped his head between Kian and me. “Oh yeah?” His eyes sparkled with mischief.
“Yeah. Sadie needs clothes and I know just the place to get her a few items for our trip.”
I raised an eyebrow but didn’t respond. It amused me that Kian thought he knew where I would like to shop for clothes, especially since I didn’t really know myself. Rebecca usually did most of my shopping.
We rode in companionable silence until the streets around me grew familiar. I sat forward, watching houses, parks, and churches that I knew better than any other buildings pass by. The neighborhood hadn’t changed much in the past two months, but looked different to me because I was different. I noticed businesses with anti-Caelian signs out front and my heart broke at how segregated my community had become in my absence. Kian turned off the main street and my eyes widened as I realized where we were heading.
“No way,” I exclaimed, bouncing a little in my seat and turning to look at Kian.
Kian chuckled and nodded. I couldn’t help but release a little squeal of excitement with his confirmation.
“What?” Luca asked. He looked a little scared at my girly outburst and I laughed at his shocked expression. Luca had never seen any other side of me than the focused ang
er when training, or the cautious friendliness I showed at any other time.
“Kian is taking me home, Luca! I get to see…” I stopped talking when the gates of St. Vincent’s came into view. Their looming presence filled me with comfort and excitement at the same time. My friends were behind those walls and I couldn’t wait to hug each one.
We pulled up in front of the doors and before I could step foot on the concrete driveway, I heard a familiar squeal. Rebecca was running toward me with Madison and John following behind at a normal pace, holding hands. Without regard to how I would look to the two men behind me, I took off toward my friend. We clashed together in a tangle of arms.
“You’re here!” Rebecca screeched as she began to bounce.
“I am!” I disentangled myself from Rebecca and turned to Madison and John. The two grabbed me and pulled me into a three-person hug. The vibration of their Talents pressed against me and I felt complete.
I was home.
After a round of introductions, our small group made our way to the commons room on the bottom floor where a few of our other classmates were gathered to greet me. Emma and Joshua were at the forefront, bouncing with excitement. It surprised me how excited I was to see everyone, especially since I had pushed most of them away in the months after Liam’s death.
“You look awesome,” Emma exclaimed. “Para-military training really does something for you.” She winked before turning to Joshua. His usual wince was lessened and I cocked my head to the side. His Talent felt a little different to me and I couldn’t place it. My expression must have been questioning, for his soft response answered my unspoken query.
“I discovered my secondary. It’s sort of like a dampening field. In time I will be able to remove the senses of those around me, but for now, I use it on myself to help with the pain.”
“That’s awesome,” I replied. Joshua had the worst cost to his Talent. His senses were unmatched, but he could never turn it off and was in a perpetual state of sensory overload. It made life hard for him and I always felt bad for his daily misery. To know he finally had relief made me so happy.
We sat on the plush couches in the commons area in order to catch up. Although I was excited to hear what everybody was up to, the one thing I was itching to ask hadn’t been brought up. I couldn’t stand it any longer.
“John. Madison. I have to know the details,” the demand flew out of my mouth so suddenly and rather loudly that I gasped and clasped both hands over my mouth in shock.
“You owe me $50 bucks, John.” Rebecca snickered from my left.
“What?” I was dumfounded by Rebecca’s response and my face must have shown it. The St. Vincent’s crew erupted in riotous laughter while Kian, Luca, and I sat in silence waiting for an explanation.
“We had a running bet on how long it would take you to ask. I bet over an hour. Rebecca had under.” John paused, his eyes glittering with amusement. “Your patience hasn’t improved in the Underground.”
“I told him not to take the bet, but he wouldn’t listen to reason.” Madison looked at John as if he was an idiot. Anyone who didn’t know her would take her reaction at face value, but I saw the way her lips curved upward a fraction and how the sparkle in her eyes betrayed her true emotions.
“I see.” I looked at the two of them and asked the biggest question plaguing my mind. “So are the two of you exclusive?”
“Sadie!” Rebecca exclaimed. Her eyes narrowed in righteous indignation.
“What?” I shrugged. “We all know that neither of them were exactly monogamous before the relationship.”
“It’s still rude,” Rebecca hissed under her breath while both John and Madison answered ‘Yes.’
“I don’t get why you’re upset,” Luca piped in. Rebecca’s gaze zoomed in on Luca. John and I locked eyes and shared a look. We both knew exactly where this was going.
“Oh really?” Rebecca asked, straightening her back and lifting her chin, readying herself for a fight.
“Uh. Luca, I don’t think…” I started, before Luca put his hand out effectively stopping me. I shrugged my shoulders before leaning into Kian whispering, “This is going to get ugly. Fast.”
“I don’t see why you’re acting coy about wither your friends are exclusive or not.”
“And why is that?”
“Because you’re a siren. We’re sexual by nature. It’s who we are.”
All sound was sucked out of the room as the St. Vincent’s crew waited for Rebecca to blow. Rebecca’s lips curled into a terrible smile. One that if I hadn’t known her for my entire life, would make me shudder. “Here it comes,” I whispered to Kian.
“All I heard from you were excuses for a man to abuse his Talent and power over others to gratify himself. Nature.” She spat the word like it was something sour in her mouth. “Don’t tell me about nature. Just because I’m a siren doesn’t make me a slut. I am proud of my body because I work hard to look good and I wear clothes to show it off. It doesn’t give you or anyone else the right to categorize me. And just because others react to me in a sexual manner doesn’t mean I have to act on it. No. I have never acted on those urges and have never used my Talent for sex. My Talent doesn’t define who I am.”
Rebecca’s last words were for Luca, but her eyes strayed to me, letting me know that they were meant for me as well. I nodded to my friend and mouthed I love you before lacing my fingers with Kian’s.
Luca sat there stunned for a moment before throwing his arms in the air. “Woah! Woah! First of all, if you are insinuating that I use my Talent to force girls into having sex with me, you are so wrong. Do I use my Talent-given sex appeal? Hell yes! Why wouldn’t I, it’s the same as any other person who was born looking this good, but do I push my Siren power on them like a date-rape drug? Hell NO! You’d have to be one sick bastard to sink that low.” He paused for a moment and took a calming breath, “Secondly, You’re a virgin? A virgin siren?”
My focus stayed on Rebecca during Luca’s rant and although her mask of righteous indignation never left her face, an emotion flashed through her eyes so quick I almost didn’t catch it - attraction. I didn’t know how to process that, but she recovered so quickly that maybe that look was just some fleeting emotion instead of a burgeoning crush. Maybe I should somehow bring Luca up the next time Rebecca and I talked. What if she liked him in some twisted anger-attraction? Would I encourage it? Did I think Luca was a good guy? Sure, once he stopped harassing me and we’d worked together, but I wasn’t sure he would be good for my friend.
Rebecca cleared her throat as she straightened her shoulders, pulling me out of my internal debate.
“Yes, and I’m proud of myself and my life choices. Are you?” Rebecca waited for Luca to respond, but instead he just sat there staring at her like she was some new creature he had stumbled upon in the wild and wasn’t sure if she was friend or foe. When he didn’t respond, she turned back to me.
“You should really hear how they finally got together. It’s hilarious.”
John jumped at the opportunity to bring back the easy-going vibes from earlier and regaled the group with how he had tried to woo Madison by doing something romantic every day for two weeks, but she wouldn’t have any of it. Finally, she confronted him in the cafeteria in front of the entire orphanage, demanding for him to quit playing games. John, without saying a word, kissed her.
“Not just any kiss,” Rebecca added. “It was a full on ‘I’ve loved you forever and want you as mine’ kiss.”
I turned to Madison, “What did you do?”
“I slapped him and then kissed him back.”
Everyone laughed at Madison’s matter of fact response. I could picture the whole thing in my mind and although I was ecstatic for both of my friends, my chest hurt that I had missed out on such an important moment in their lives.
A gruff cough vibrated from Kian and everyone stopped talking. It amazed me how he could command the attention of a group with just a cough. Kian looked at me apologetical
ly and my stomach sank to my feet.
“It’s time to go.” The statement left my lips in a wistful sigh before Kian could make his announcement. He nodded and then turned to Rebecca.
“Do you have everything ready?”
“Yes. I have her bag packed with the essentials you asked for.” My spine straightened in response to her answer. Jealousy, a feeling I hadn’t felt since Amanda who was the last in our class to receive her Talent left me alone as the class freak, reared its ugly head and burned throughout my chest. I couldn’t look at anyone as I stared at the plush white throw rug, willing it to burn. The intensity of this emotion scared me. Why should I be jealous that Kian had contacted Rebecca? It was a nice surprise, him bringing me here. For him to think ahead, knowing that I’d rather spend time catching up with everyone than tearing my room apart for everything I might need, was a pleasant surprise The rational side of me knew this, but the other side that tinted my vision red wanted to scream and maybe use this new training to hurt someone.
That thought left me breathless. There was no way I could hurt a friend, especially Rebecca. The rational side won and I lifted my eyes to look at the group. Everyone was silent and staring at me. My internal conflict must have been obvious, but I refused to acknowledge it.
“Thanks for packing my bag, Rebecca.” I stood and pulled her up from her seat. Her eyes were full of anger, but for only a moment before I pulled her into a hug. We released each other and I felt her Talent settle and knew she forgave me.
Everyone stood. Hugs and well wishes were shared before the group, with the exception of Madison, John, and Rebecca, dissipated.
“You can’t tell us why you’re up here, can you?” John asked as we left the comfort of the commons room and walked out into the swelteringly humid fall evening.
“No,” Kian answered. His arms bulged from the strain of carrying my bag.
The Caelian Cycle Boxed Set Page 22