Center of the Universe (Twelfth Keeper)

by Malory, Belle

  Warmth spread over her cheeks, and she hadn’t even taken a sip from her wine yet. She watched him as he rifled through his picnic basket. He found what he was looking for, a small black box, then opened it and withdrew a shimmering chain.

  She held her breath.

  It was a cross embedded with tiny amethysts and crystals. He unlatched the chain and held it out for her. “Come here.”

  The jewels within the necklace caught the dim lighting, glittering at her. She held her hand up to it, mesmerized, and immediately drew back.

  There was no way she could accept a gift like that. “It’s too much.”

  “Anything I could give you would never be enough,” he argued.

  “I don’t want it.” A blatant lie if there ever was one. She loved jewelry and would be thrilled to own something so pretty. But deep down, she knew she couldn’t let him give it to her.

  He lowered the necklace. “Why are you doing this?” Black eyes sharpened on her beneath furrowed brows. “It’s just a present.”

  She bit her lip, debating what to say. Certain boundaries existed between people, and sometimes things were better off that way. Some subjects were better left untouched. This was one of them. But how was she supposed to refuse such a beautiful, thoughtful present without crossing that line? “Phoenix…” she didn’t know how to finish that sentence.

  He tucked a stray strand of hair behind her ear. “What is it? Tell me.”

  She twisted the brace on her wrist nervously. “It’s just, well, I didn’t think you were very religious.”

  He let out a long sigh. “That’s not what this represents. This,” he said, placing the lightweight chain around her neck. “Represents your belief in something greater than yourself. I admire that kind of faith.” He grinned and added, “Plus, you’ll think of me when you wear it, which is like a bonus.”

  She lifted her hair so he could fasten the clasp, feeling some relief in his words. When he was finished, she picked up the glittering cross, looking at it more closely. “It’s beautiful.”

  “Glad you think so.”

  “And I suppose it passes as romantic.”

  He leaned towards her again, brushing his lips lightly against hers, and then trailing a path of kisses along her jaw. Each one made her skin grow warmer than the last. “You suppose?”

  It was bad enough he could so easily send her heart racing, but it was just unfair that he knew how much he affected her on top of that.

  “All right, it definitely passes as romantic,” she admitted.

  He smiled and drew her close for a longer kiss, leaving her breathless and hot all over. Maybe it was the candles and the stars, or maybe it was the way Phoenix’s kisses took away all ability to think clearly, but her next words tumbled out of her mouth before she could stop them. “Phoenix, what are we?”

  She imagined she looked as shocked as he did. She couldn’t believe she had just asked him that question. Someone needed to sew her mouth shut. Seriously. Controlling the things that came out of it was next to impossible.

  Phoenix got it together before she could. “Whatever this is, Kennedy, it’s absolutely perfect.”

  His words were nice, and they made her feel a little less embarrassed, but she still wasn’t sure what they meant. And since the question was already out there, floating around in the air, she might as well ask him to be more specific.

  Okay, think about what you say before you speak, dummy. Will asking him to define “perfect” make things more awkward?

  Probably.

  But she was going to do it anyway. “So what exactly does that mean?”

  He smiled and gathered her closer. “You want me to put a label on perfection?” he asked, shaking his head. “I can’t do that. You mean more to me than some silly label.”

  Kennedy wasn’t sure how she felt about his answer. It left her strangely unsatisfied, and she probably should have said so. This feeling would only worsen, but for the time being, she stamped it down.

  Phoenix had never given her a reason to believe that the way he felt about her wasn’t special. That should be enough.

  Deep down though, she knew it never would be.

  ~ ~

  Present Day

  Kennedy twirled her necklace around her fingers, weaving the small cross between them. She let it drop against her chest, then took one last bite of her eggs before pushing her plate aside.

  She sat back against the mahogany chair. It was new, and so was the table, for that matter. The wood gleamed beautifully without so much as a scratch, unlike the table she had grown up with and its chipped tiles and rickety legs. She, for one, was glad to see it gone. Nostalgia could prey on people who enjoyed regularly spilling their juice.

  It was nice to see Ashley had spent some of the money DOE poured into her account on Kennedy’s behalf. Actually, it would be nicer to see her spend a bit more. Years of living without the proverbial man of the house had turned their home into something of a disaster. The roof leaked. The pipes made ghostly noises. Several floorboards had come loose. And God help them if repairs were needed. Ashley’s idea of a hammer was one of her red pumps—because those had the sturdiest heels.

  Kennedy couldn’t understand why she didn’t buy a new house. It wasn’t like she couldn’t afford one; she could probably buy ten new houses if she wanted to. Kennedy brought it up once, and her mom fed her some nonsense about this crap house having sentimental value, so she dropped the subject. It still didn’t make any sense to her, but she let it go.

  Vibrations tickled her arm. A message waited to be opened on her brace. Kennedy idly scanned it and straightened when she saw it was from Phoenix.

  Finally.

  She had been driving herself crazy wondering what he was doing, and if he ever planned to contact her. She’d even considered calling him first, just to make sure he was okay, to hear his voice, to see his face. Being kept in the dark was killing her. Good thing her conscience had reminded her that those irrational girl fears were better left under the surface.

  She pressed the button and immediately backed up. A giant blue heart soared out of the brace, expanding before her eyes. The hologram changed from its cool blue into a vibrant plum purple, and then brightened into a fiery red.

  Kennedy watched as the heart went up in flames, melting into sparkling drops of red. The drops merged together to spell out letters, and in the end, they formed three of the most beautiful words her eyes had ever read.

  I miss you.

  Smiling like an idiot was unavoidable. Her heart was doing a happy dance beneath her chest.

  He missed her.

  And he was okay.

  Warm little fuzzies spread all the way down to her toes. Nothing could ruin the perfection of this moment. Absolutely nothing.

  “Well, well, little sister.” Reagan sauntered into the room with her hands on her waist and wearing a smile. “I see the romance department has been treating you well these days.”

  Perfection officially ruined.

  “So who’s that from?” Reagan cooed. “Hunter?”

  It was no secret how her neighbor felt about her, as much as she wished it were. And dammit if Reagan didn’t like to make fun of her for it. You’d think the whole “keeping the world safe from evil” would boost her up some on the respect-giving scale, but oh no. Not with her older sister. It wouldn’t even surprise her if Reagan busted out singing the kissing-in-the-tree song at this point.

  “Are you going to tell me who it’s from?” she tried again.

  “No.” Blunt answer, but she didn’t care. “It’s none of your business.”

  Ha. Take that, sis.

  End of conversation. Or it should’ve been. Except “none of your business” never worked on her sister, and Kennedy would’ve been wise to have remembered that fact.

  Reagan’s hand shot out to grasp her wrist. Before Kennedy realized what was happening, her sister had gotten a good look. She snatched her arm back, but it was too late.

&nbs
p; Whereas Reagan had looked a good deal shocked before, her expression was completely floored now. “Phoenix Jorgensen?” she screeched.

  Kennedy didn’t miss the not-so-subtle undertones in there. And sheesh, Reagan didn’t have to make it sound almost impossible to believe. Phoenix could be interested in someone like her. That kind of stuff happened.

  Okay, if she were being truthful, she’d admit it was still surreal to her. But she wasn’t about to say that out loud.

  Reagan leaned against the kitchen counter, shaking her head. It wasn’t often she was struck speechless.

  Kennedy shot a small glare towards the ceiling, feeling like the universe enjoyed making her look like the butt of its demented jokes. Do I ever get a break? Or had her home become a cloud of perpetual humiliation?

  Reagan surprised her by saying, “I gotta admit, I’m a little jealous of you, sis.”

  Whoa. Hold up. Jealous?

  That had never crossed her mind, but now that she thought about it, she vaguely remembered Reagan going on and on about how gorgeous Phoenix was, back when he’d come to verify whether or not she was the twelfth keeper.

  Reagan crossed her arms over her chest. “I need details,” she said. “Come on, spill the beans.”

  Kennedy shifted in her seat. She had never done the whole boy-talk thing with her sister before, but then again, there had never been any boys before. “It’s nothing.” She shrugged, lying.

  Part of her wanted to tell Reagan every little detail about Phoenix, to gush excitedly as she described all the ways he gave her butterflies. It would be a normal sisterly thing to do. But the more rational part of her wanted to keep it private. Reagan saw Hunter on a daily basis too, and Kennedy wasn’t sure just how much was safe to say. Telling Hunter about how she felt still scared her.

  “That message didn’t look like nothing,” Reagan said, unconvinced.

  Kennedy twisted a strand of hair around her finger. Maybe it was dumb feeling so nervous about ending something that had never really started. But she did feel nervous. She had always felt bound to Hunter in an unspoken way. Silently, they’d made a promise to each other, and she’d broken that promise. If he ever found out about Phoenix, he would look at her differently. He would see her as the one who destroyed what they could have had. Their friendship might survive it, but she wasn’t so sure it would ever be the same. Was she prepared to handle that?

  “Come on, sis,” Regan whined. “I don’t live an exciting keeper life. Let me live vicariously through you.”

  Kennedy snorted. If her studious, wholesome sister only knew the extent of that so-called “excitement,” she’d want nothing to do with keeper life.

  She casually sipped from her glass of water, then asked, “Why are you all dressed up?”

  Reagan looked down at her outfit, a white cardigan paired with a navy pencil skirt. Her dark brown hair was pinned back with a pretty beaded headband. “Don’t think I don’t know what you’re doing,” she said, narrowing her eyes. “I’ll let the subject go for now, since you’re desperately trying to change it, but trust me when I say we will revisit it.”

  Fantastic. She was so looking forward to that.

  Reagan walked to the coffee pot. “Anyway, I’m dressed up because I’m going to the historic district with you and Hunter.”

  Kennedy nearly choked on her water. Good God, please let her be joking. She slowly set the glass down. “Yeah, sure. We can drop you off. Do you have something to do in town today?”

  Reagan chuckled as she poured cream into her mug. “No, silly. I’m tagging along. I figured I’d hang out with you guys.”

  Oh holy hell—she was being serious!

  Spending all day with Hunter-turned-Casanova was bad enough, but the thought of Reagan being there too made her skin itch like crazy. This could not be allowed to happen. “Why?”

  Reagan turned around, eyeing her sharply. “Am I not allowed to spend some time with my sister whom I haven’t seen in months?”

  “I didn’t say that—I only figured that you would have better things to do on your spring break. Don’t you have plans with Dean?”

  “We broke up.”

  An awkward silence filled the kitchen. Kennedy felt awful. Reagan had been with Dean forever, since they were kids in middle school. She hadn’t known things had gone south between them. And she should’ve known. Good sisters knew these things.

  “I’m sorry, Rea.”

  Reagan shrugged off her sympathy. “We were going to different colleges anyway. It made sense.” She took a deep breath, staring into her coffee mug. “Besides that, we share all the same friends and being around them isn’t the best idea right now.”

  Oh man. She was making this really hard.

  Reagan straightened and put on a smile Kennedy could tell was forced. “I need to get out of this house. And I’d rather hang out with you anyway. Who knows when we’ll have this chance again?”

  Dammit.

  There was no way she could blow her off now.

  Not only that, but with Reagan going off to college and the high probability of evil aliens blowing up the planet, there really weren’t going to be many more opportunities to spend some quality time together.

  Kennedy sighed. She would be the most god-awful, heinous person in the world if she refused her sister under those circumstances. Chances were she was already halfway there for considering it. “Agreed, Rea. That sounds like fun.”

  Those words, sounds like fun, echoed inside her head like a broken record.

  This was bound to be one very long day.

  Four

  Phoenix pounded on the steering wheel, cursing under his breath. After trying to blow them to smithereens, the man from the house made a quick getaway. And as if he’d prepared for this, he had stowed a Vespa in the woods, right off the highway. Fang was a fast runner but couldn’t get to him in time.

  “This was the way he went,” Fang said, her eyes furtively darting down the road. “It’s not like he’s getting anywhere very fast on that scooter. What do they top out at—like sixty miles per hour? Speed up, maybe we can catch him.”

  Phoenix put more weight against the pedal. Flooring it crossed his mind, but the roads were icy, and he was already having a hard time keeping the car steady. Living on Olympus hadn’t given him much driving experience—especially manual driving—so he didn’t want to push his luck.

  “Now reaching dangerous speeds,” said a voice from the dash.

  Both of them simultaneously shouted, “Shut up!”

  “This is the only road back into St. Petersburg,” Nika said in a small voice. It was the first thing she’d said since they left the burning house.

  “Which means he couldn’t have gotten very far,” Fang added. “Who the hell drives scooters in Russia anyway, I’d like to know.”

  Just as they entered the city limits, Phoenix caught sight of a white Vespa up ahead. “Look, there he is.” The driver was dressed in all black and wore a matching black helmet. Phoenix shook his head at the sight of him. “That dude has to be freezing on epic levels.”

  Fang gripped the handle above her seat. “Faster, Nix. We can’t let him get away.”

  He pressed down harder against the pedal, pushing their little car to its limits. He couldn’t keep it up for long though. The buildings grew taller and the traffic became denser the farther he drove into the city. He had no choice but to slow down.

  Fang’s anger came to a boiling point when they were trapped at a red light. The Vespa ran it, but Phoenix couldn’t fit the car around the others to follow. When the light turned, she screamed, “Let’s go, people! What shade of green are you looking for?”

  Nika leaned between the two front seats, trying to get a better view. “I’ve been here before. This is a marketplace.”

  “There he is,” Fang said just as the Vespa rounded a corner up ahead. It sped off down a side street. “He must’ve seen us.”

  “The way he took is a dead-end.” Nika pointed to the right.
“See that, over there? It’s blocked for vendors. He’ll have no choice but to either turn around, or to leave the scooter behind.”

  If that was the case, they were better off parking and going after him on foot. “Are you positive?” Phoenix asked. Now was not a good time for her to be wrong.

  Nika met his question with silence. He wasn’t all that surprised; he would’ve ignored himself too if he were her.

  Oh, what the hell, Phoenix thought, and slid the car into the nearest parking spot. Time to run.

  They slammed the doors behind them in a hurry. Fang took off down the street, the faster runner by far, but Phoenix was close on her heels. “Do you see him?” he shouted.

  “Yeah—he’s making a run for it!”

  Phoenix urged his feet to go faster. Biting winds and snowflakes whipped against his face. A stronger gust of wind breezed past his legs, and it caught his attention. He looked back to see Nika jump through the air, soar straight past him, and then land on the ground again.

  Whoa. Did that just happen? The cold weather must’ve frozen his brain. There was no way his eyes were seeing this.

  And then she did it again.

  Stretching her arms out, Nika summoned a giant gust of air, and it propelled her yards ahead of them.

  Fang turned around, her eyes rounding incredulously. “Did this chick just fly?”

  “I think it was more of a giant leap, but yeah, she did.”

  “Someone sign me up for a change of element, because that was the most amazing thing I’ve ever seen.”

  No argument there. Sparks of envy ignited inside his chest as well. “She’s going to catch him,” he said, fully believing she would.

  “I think she already has.” Fang tilted her head towards the end of the street, blocked off, just as Nika predicted. Their mystery man tried to climb the fence, but Nika yanked him by the back of his coat. He landed on his back, likely getting the wind knocked out of him in the process.

  Phoenix watched as Nika took charge, sitting on top of the man, holding him by his collar, and yelling, by the sound of it. “What is Project 27? Does it have a purpose?” She shook him when he refused to answer her. “Tell me why you have that list of names!”