Beyond the Eyes: YA Paranormal Romance

by Rebekkah Ford

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  The morning of the funeral turned into a big blur, like looking through a pair of prescription glasses you didn’t need. My head ached, and my stomach churned. But then I saw Brayden, and somehow, seeing him sparked what life I still had inside me, and the blurriness faded.

  Both he and his mom were late. I didn’t see him until he marched up the aisle and stood on the pulpit. I was sitting in the front pew with Nathan, wearing round black sunglasses, surprised to see him brazenly standing before a church full of people without breaking a sweat.

  He had grown since the last time I’d seen him and looked to be as tall as six feet. His black, short sleeve T-shirt, hugged his tan muscular arms, and when I looked at him before he began his speech, our eyes connected. Of course he probably didn’t know I was looking directly at him since I had my sunglasses on, but when he looked at me, something flickered in his eyes. Nathan must had seen it too because he hugged me closer to him. Brayden’s gaze shifted on Nathan, and Nathan stared at him until he looked away and turned his attention to the people waiting for him to speak.

  After the service, all the hugs, and everything else that went along with it, I saw Brayden plowing through the crowd of people–they were heading toward another room where food was set out–to get to me. Tree and Carrie were following close behind. When they reached us by the front entrance, Nathan let go of my hand and stepped aside to talk to Tree.

  “Paige,” Brayden said, taking my hand. Nathan’s eyes were glued on Brayden’s hand in mine, and he had a hard look on his face. “I want you to know, I won’t leave Astoria until you’re okay.” I saw that flicker in his eyes again and was able to identify it this time. Love.

  I pulled my hand away—even though it felt normal to hold it—and stepped back. He glanced over my head, and then clutched my arm, moving me toward him. I knew by the look on his face what he wanted to say and wished he could save it for another time.

  “You left me, and I’m in love with Nathan,” I said, hearing the exhaustion in my voice. “I appreciate you being here and what you said about Mom, but I belong with Nathan.” I couldn’t help but think how good he looked with his short black hair, messy on top. And somehow, through all my grief, my stomach dipped, stirring emotions that could have been his, but would never surface because what I felt for Nathan surpassed them.

  “Not true,” he objected. “I can help you through this better than he can because we’ve known each other since we were toddlers.” His hand moved down into mine, once again holding it. “I know you better than he does.”

  I hung my head and sighed. “No, you don’t, Brayden. You may think you do, but don’t. There are things about me only Nathan knows.”

  He lifted my chin so I had to look at him. “Does he know how silly you get when you’ve had too much caffeine? Was he there when you fell from a tree when you were nine and thought you broke your leg? He wasn’t, but I was, and I carried you all the way home. Was he your first kiss?”

  His lack of sensitivity aggravated me. This was the last thing I needed right now, and he should know that. I removed my hand from his, squared my shoulders, and threw him a curve ball:

  “You may be my first kiss, but Nathan was my first…” I stopped, not needing to go any further, and watched all the color drain from his face. He staggered backwards, covering his mouth, and the hurt I saw on his face caused my heart to twist in pain. I spun to leave and bumped into Nathan. He’d heard everything. I could tell by the dark warning look he aimed at Brayden.

  “Brayden. Dude, chill out,” Tree said, bracing Brayden against the wall when he tried to lunge at Nathan. Brayden’s blood-red face and flaring nostrils shocked me. I’d never seen him this mad before. “You knew they were together,” Tree told him.

  Nathan pushed me behind him, which fueled Brayden’s anger even more. I jerked my head around, thankful nobody could see us behind the short wall that blocked us from their view. Carrie stepped beside Tree to help calm Brayden.

  “How dare you push her behind you,” Brayden spat at Nathan. “I’d never hurt her.”

  “Shut up, Brayden,” Carrie said. “Paige has been through enough already.”

  “You can’t keep me away from her,” Brayden continued, struggling against Tree.

  “Try me,” Nathan said. “If you continue to disregard her feelings like you did now, knowing she’s in a fragile state, I’ll– ”

  I ran outside, not able to take it anymore. Today was one of the worst days of my life, and I never expected Brayden to behave in this manner. He was supposed to be like Tree and Carrie, not like this. He acted like he had dibs on me and used the bond we shared as leverage. How could he do that to me at a time like this? And yeah, he knew things about me Nathan hadn’t discovered yet, but so what? Those were petty things compared to what Nathan knew.

  My ears were ringing, and I spotted her right away, standing next to a black SUV. It was the same blonde who approached us in the parking lot at the grocery store. Aosoth must have decided to stay inside that vessel after all. She waved, and a strong urge to beat the crap out of her engulfed me. I didn’t know what came over me, but I took off running with the intent of doing just that, staring at her cruel smile head on.

  “Paige! No!” Nathan yelled. I felt his strong arms around my waist, and he swung me in the air away from her. “She’ll kill you!”

  A dark and taunting laugh echoed around us.

  “No, she won’t.” I kicked my feet in the air and pushed my body forward, wind-milling my arms. “She wants that damned ring too badly to kill me right now.” I wanted to pound her face into the asphalt and submerge it into the puddles of water that were left from this morning’s rain. She had some nerve to show up here, and I had enough of her threats.

  He turned his back on Aosoth, and dropped me to my feet. I dashed to get around him, but he seized my arms. Damn it! I just wanted to hit her once.

  “Listen to me,” he stressed, slightly shaking me. “You will get your chance, but not now.”

  Angry, hot tears escaped my eyes as the rational part of my brain took over. He was right. This wasn’t the time or place to be doing this. But when would that be? When I turned immortal? I found myself not caring again, and the heaviness in my heart reawakened in full force, sparing me no leniency.

  I slapped a hand over my chest, curling my shoulders over, swallowing hard as the searing pain moved to my face. “Take me home,” I whispered.

  Nathan’s eyes moved anxiously across my face. He glanced over his shoulder and back at me. “She’s gone”–he took my hand–“C’mon, I’ll get you home as quickly as possible.”

  I concentrated on the warmth of his hand in mine and moving my feet forward. I noticed a red lollipop stuck to the ground and imagined the kid who must have dropped it, in an attempt to distract myself from the extreme weakness coming over me. But my attempt was futile, and the ground spun. I stumbled forward and closed my eyes, no longer able to fight the darkness that was reaching for me.

  “Paige!… Paige!…” Nathan’s panicked voice called out in the far distance. And then the darkness snatched me away from him.

  Chapter Nineteen

  Brayden’s Promise