Enchanting Wilder

by Cassie Graham

  Alden’s eyes slide to Declan and his shoulders fall. Declan’s expression screams protectiveness. “Oh. Sure. Go see your friend. Text me and we’ll get together next week. We don’t head out for another show until Saturday.”

  “Okay,” I reply, but my feet are already moving. “I’ll text you!”

  My boots slap hard on the ground as I make my way to Declan. My hands wring in front of my body, both nervous and excited to see him. Though it’s only been two weeks, I can’t help but feel a little relieved he’s back, again.

  Once I’m finally in front of him, Declan stands, his brows still furrowed in rage and pulls me into his embrace. His grasp is tight and firm, and I almost feel as if he’s punishing me. In his arms, I’m at his mercy. He holds me close, his power consuming his anger. I grip him with fervor.

  Cupping the back of my head, he sighs. “Mighty. I’ve missed you,” he finally says, relaxing in my clutch.

  I breathe in his scent, the smell permeating my being, it luring my contentment to the surface. He missed me? Oh God, I can’t help the words that fall out of my mouth. “I missed you.” So much. “When did you get in?”

  He lets me go, and I take a seat next to him on the ledge of the roof. My arm touches his and I can’t help myself from resting my head on his shoulder.

  He sighs. “A hour ago. Kai and Wood are around here somewhere.”

  My head snaps up. “What? They are? How did you know we were here?”

  Declan laughs. “Kai used a tracing spell. They ran into a couple of girls when we got here.” He rolls his eyes.

  I laugh. “I’m surprised Wood wanted to come.” I got the feeling he wasn’t social.

  “Oh, he didn’t. Kai talked him into it.”

  “Whoa. Good for him, then.”

  “Pretty much.” He drags his hand down my arm and clasps our hands together. “So who was that guy?” He juts his chin toward Alden, his jaw twitching.

  “Oh, uhh.” I laugh. “That’s Alden. He’s…well, I guess he’s a friend. I’ve known him for a while, but we actually talked for the first time tonight. He seems like a pretty cool guy.”

  Declan’s mouth turns down and he takes a drink of what looks like whiskey—seems to be his signature drink. He takes long pulls from his drink. His eyes narrow at Alden.

  He must sense Declan’s hard stare because he turns, his hands in his pockets and squints in our direction.

  “Am I sensing a hint of jealousy, Declan?” I arch one of my eyebrows.

  He finally looks away from Alden, his eyebrows creased. “No.”

  I attempt to hide my smile. “Mmm.”

  “What?” Declan groans, setting his glass down on the ledge of the roof. Clamping his mouth shut, his eyes skirt around the roof, avoiding my gaze. He takes a deep breath, his gaze in Alden’s direction, again.

  I look back at Alden and watch as he talks to another group of people, clearly oblivious to Declan’s hot glower.

  I snicker and Declan looks back to me.

  “I’m not jealous.”

  “Okay,” I brush him off.

  “Oh God.”

  I snicker and squeeze his hand, teasing him.

  Declan’s shoulders deflate again. “You’re impossible.”

  “So I’ve heard.”

  Declan releases my hand, moving his to my face. “So that means I can kiss you, right?”

  I lean into his hold and smile. I kind of like jealous Declan. “Well, I guess if you want to go get Alden’s permission, I can wait. But…I don’t think he’ll care.”

  Declan chuckles, giving me a pointed look, and licks his lips, bringing his mouth close. “This is the one thing that got me through the last few weeks.” He caresses my cheek. “The color of your eyes, the feel of your lips…that’s what pushed me forward.” He crushes his mouth to mine before I have a chance to swoon, and my arms wrap around his shoulders snuggly.

  Suddenly, the obnoxious party around us falls away, and only a quiet lull of the wind fills my ears.

  He tugs on my bottom lip with his teeth and my insides jump at attention.

  Then, someone clears their throat and I pull back quickly, wiping my mouth.

  Wood stands in front of us, his hands in his pockets. The awkward smile on his face is something I’ll cringe about for the rest of my life. “Uh, hey.”

  Is it possible to combust from embarrassment? No? I’d like to challenge that theory.

  Declan’s been in my life for a while now and I’ve yet to meet Wood. This isn’t how I imagined it would happen.

  “Oh. Crap.” I rise to my feet. “Hey. It’s so nice to finally meet you.”

  Wood laughs and scratches his lip. His demeanor much different than the time I saw him at the hotel. He extends his other hand to me and I take it, shaking it in a jerky movement—like an idiot.

  “It’s good to meet you too, McKenna.” The dimples on his cheeks make him look even more handsome. His longer dirty blonde hair and light blue eyes, make me feel at ease.

  Declan moves to my side and he attempts to hide his smile.

  “This is a pretty great party,” Wood says, taking a drink of something from a red cup.

  I shove my hands in my jacket. “It’s not too bad, right?”

  “Free booze and chicks? Can’t complain.” Wood eyes me with a mocking stare, and Declan smacks him in the stomach.

  “Really, man?”

  Wood shrugs. “What?”

  Declan laughs under his breath and shakes his head.

  “So,” I say, attempting to navigate from the weird place I was just put in. “What’re you guys doing in town?”

  “Strix duty, lovely,” Kai says from behind Wood as he steps into view.

  “Hey!” I greet with enthusiasm. “Declan said you were here.”

  Kai raises his hand in the air for a high five and I slap his hand, amused. “Yep. I’m really starting to like the taste of alcohol.”

  “You’ve never had alcohol?”

  “Nope.”

  “Not once?”

  “Not even once,” Kai says proudly.

  “I broke him of that habit the moment we left town.”

  “I think he shoved it down my throat that first night,” Kai jokes, his eyes shifting to Declan.

  “That’s what she said,” Wood says and then chuckles under his breath.

  I spurt laughter as Kai glances to Wood with a confused expression. His eyebrows and mouth pulled down. He’s downright perplexed.

  “Huh?”

  Declan steps in. “It’s a joke. It’s from a TV show. Any time someone says something dirty in reference to a woman in a sexual situation, you say, ‘that’s what she said.’”

  Kai takes a sip from his cup. “I don’t think I follow.”

  Wood’s shoulders bounce in laughter and I hide my grin behind my hand.

  “Yeah,” Wood helps. “Like, McKenna might say, ‘hey, that piece of meat looks downright delicious.’ And then, I’d say, ‘that’s what she said.’”

  Kai contemplates.

  “Or if you said, ‘I had to put it in my mouth because my hands were busy,’” Declan adds.

  Kai juts his foot out and his mouth thins. “I don’t understand. That seems like a completely normal thing to say. Her hands were probably full.”

  “Never mind,” Declan says, smiling into his whiskey.

  “It’s a sexual innuendo, Kai,” Wood offers.

  Kai snaps his fingers. “Oh! Because ‘it’ could technically be a penis—err, dick, as Declan says.”

  Declan’s face turns a bright shade of crimson and I howl laughter. “Exactly.”

  Kai smiles, proud of himself, and Declan bites his lip from amusement. “Nice, Kai.”

  Kai looks to Declan. “What?”

  Declan shakes his head as he looks down at the ground.

  “Hey, can I steal Wood for a minute?” I ask, turning to Declan. He scrutinizes me for second but nods, his hair ruffling in the breeze.

  “That’s what
she said,” Kai attempts under his breath and we all look to him as if he has grown a second head. He grins, cocky.

  Wood pats his back. “Not exactly, but you’re getting there.”

  Standing a little taller, Kai puffs his chest.

  Wood steps away and offers me his arm. “Shall we?” My eyes find Declan and he winks, so I take the crook of Wood’s arm and we walk away from the group.

  We stroll to the bar and he leans on the dark, stained wood. “Everything okay?”

  “Yeah. I just wanted to take a minute to talk,” I say.

  He sighs heavy. “We didn’t really get off to the best start, I guess.”

  I smile. “Not really, which is why I thought it was a good idea for us to come over here and get all the formalities out of the way.”

  A hired waitress walks up to us and I decline food, but Wood orders himself a burger, taking extra long moments to check out the girl’s gigantic boobs. Figures Jared would hire drop dead gorgeous women to serve food at a rooftop party. I’d roll my eyes and give Wood hell for so easily falling into the douchebag category, but I don’t know him well enough yet.

  When the waitress walks away, Wood turns his attention back to me. “So what formalities are we talking? Want to know all the dirty skeletons in my closet?”

  I grin to myself and grab a couple of pieces of ice from the tray in front of me, popping one into my mouth. “No, maybe another time. I just wanted to let you know I consider us all on the same page. We’ve all somehow merged into this coinciding story and I’m not looking to step on anyone’s toes.”

  “Oh,” Wood says, taking another drink of his cup. “You mean Declan. Nah, it’s all good, McKenna. Declan’s a big boy. It’s not my place to judge or tell him what to do. You seem to be good for him.”

  “Yeah?” I perk up, feeling more comfortable.

  “He’s different since meeting you. He’s still a pain in my ass, but he’s more bearable. I can’t complain.”

  I swallow. “He’s pretty special.”

  His mouth pulls to the side and he shrugs. “He’s all right.”

  I laugh and jump to the side when someone tickles me.

  “Well, well,” Candy slurs, her eyes dim. “Whodowehavehere?” It comes out in one long word.

  Wood’s expression changes to something like annoyance and intrigue all in one.

  “This is Wood. Declan’s brother,” I tell her, attempting to hold all of her weight because she decided to lean against me.

  “Wood? Like a peeny weeny?” Did she seriously just say, peeny weeny? I struggle to contain my laughter. We’re obviously sisters. We pretty much had the same reaction to his name.

  She stumbles closer to me. Crap. She’s dry-hump-a-random-guy drunk. This could get ugly. Candy isn’t the nicest when she drinks the hard stuff, and from the stench of her breath, she’s been downing bourbon all night. I wonder if that has something to do with Jared. I lean back, my eyes searching for him, but don’t see him anywhere.

  Wood’s head rears back, and his mouth twists in disgust. “It’s short for Sherwood.”

  Candy waves him off, fumbling on her feet. “Oh. Whatever. I’m Candy, McKenna’s sister. The funner one.” She trips again, and I’m forced to catch her in my arms. She pokes me playfully in the chest. I swat her away.

  Wood’s eyes widen as he watches Candy make a spectacle of herself.

  “Jesus, Candy. What the hell?” I oomph. “And funner? That’s not a word.” I give Wood an apologetic look. “I’m sorry. She can get pretty crazy when she drinks.”

  Wood clears his throat and sets his cup down. “She’s young.”

  Candy stands up straighter, attempting to look larger, but it’s moot when she realizes Wood is well over six feet tall. Her eyes blink a couple of times. “Yeah, well…you’re…I don’t know. A giant.”

  Wood’s dimples twitch and he attempts not to laugh before his stone-cold expression returns quickly.

  “All right, sister. Time for you to sober up so we can have an adult conversation.” I pull her up by her arms to look at me in the eye. “Yes?”

  She thrashes in my arms and shakes her head. She’s belligerent, but I link to her anyway, grabbing on to her arms. Breathing in through my nose and out of my mouth, I concentrate on her breathing, erratic and inconsistent. I close my eyes.

  Allowing my mind to go to my tranquil place, I close my eyes and imagine driving down a long stretch of road just outside of Summerson. The old asphalt under the tires jolts me in the driver’s seat and I grin, gripping the steering wheel tighter.

  My eyes slit open, fully at peace, and I peek at Candy. Her head is still slightly slumped, and her shoulders are forward. Her weight is mostly in my arms, so I grab onto my emotions deep inside and push them into her, imagining a bright yellow light flowing from my body into hers. Wood stands in front of Candy and I, blocking us from curious eyes and I remember we aren’t cloaked. I shake my head, angry with myself for forgetting.

  “Iiad, nu, osaric,” I chant low.

  Candy sucks in air through her teeth and stands up straight, taking all of her weight on her feet. “Shit. Thanks, McKenna.”

  I let go of her arms and give her a level look.

  “What?” she asks innocently.

  I shake my head and smile. “You’re an ass.”

  She bites her lip and glares at Wood. She almost seems embarrassed, but doesn’t say it. “Hey.”

  He steps aside, leaning onto the bar again. “Hey.”

  “So as I was saying…”

  “McKenna,” Declan snaps, grabbing my hand. “We have to leave. Now.”

  Kai runs up behind him and Wood stands at attention. With Kai’s big eyes and Declan’s erratic breathing, I can sense something’s wrong.

  “What? Why?” Candy asks.

  “Thayans and other hybrids are circling the building,” Kai informs us. His eyes skirt around, an air of uneasiness surrounding him.

  “Dammit.”

  Declan eyes Wood with caution and Wood grabs Candy’s hand.

  “What are you doing?” she protests, attempting to pull away.

  He holds on tighter. “Trying to help.”

  She rolls her eyes, but we’re dragged to a side exit and she’s unable to retort. Alden waves to me with uneasy eyes as I pass him and I give him a small smile, hoping I don’t look too worried—or kidnapped.

  Declan pulls out his gun when we’re out of sight, cocking it. The snapping sound echoes against the metal walls of the hallway we just stepped in to.

  Guns used to scare me. But the way Declan holds his, it’s almost erotic. He’s so familiar and comfortable with it. It’s almost like another one of his limbs. He owns it like some badass, it makes me feel protected. I have to stop and remind myself this isn’t the time for swooning.

  “What’s the plan?” Wood asks, releasing Candy and cocking his own gun.

  Kai slides his hand into the pocket of his jeans and yanks out a small knife. I squint to see the engravings etched on the weathered metal. They look Celtic—or maybe something more ancient. “I spelled the place before we got here, but they must feel my pull.”

  “So what should we do?” Candy asks and I’m so thankful I sobered her up.

  “Dissipate?” I offer.

  Kai looks to me, impressed. “Exactly. Can you do it?”

  Declan bites his lip and smiles his confident smile at me. I nod.

  “Candy?” He turns to her.

  “I can dissipate.”

  “Can you do it with Wood?”

  “What?” they both say at the same time.

  Kai rolls his eyes, clearly the that’s-what-she-said conversation still fresh in his mind. “Dissipate. Can you dissipate with Wood?”

  “Oh.”

  Wood clears his throat.

  “I think so. I’ve never done it, but I can try.”

  “Okay,” Declan says, grabbing my hand. “Wood, be careful. It makes you feel like shit once you land.”

  His
mouth set, Wood nods.

  “Where are we going?” Candy inquires.

  “We can’t go back to the flower shop.” Kai gives me a sympathetic look. “I’m sorry.”

  I knew this moment was coming. I had a nasty feeling if they couldn’t get to the bottom of the Thayan problem quickly, we’d have to abandon Summerson. I just didn’t think it would be this soon. “It’s….” I rub my lips together. “We’ll figure it out. Where are you guys staying?”

  “Blackbird, room four-o-two. It’s just off of the freeway, about ten miles from here,” Declan tells me.

  “Is it spelled? Can we get there without being seen?”

  “We should be okay, but we won’t have long,” Kai says, regretfully.

  “What about clothes? Shampoo? The essentials?” Panic rises in Candy’s voice.

  “They have those things in stores,” Wood mocks, his eyebrows furrowed.

  Candy gives him a hard look and my stomach drops. We have to leave everything behind. For how long? Having a home is far less important when my life is possibly in danger, but it’s still my home. I don’t want to leave it.

  Home isn’t about a place, though, is it? Home is about the people. It’s the time spent with whom you trust the most. Over the past month, these people – Declan, Wood, and Kai—they’ve become something like family to me. Sure, we have so much to learn about each other, and I know we’re going to get on each other’s nerves, but what really defines family? People who’ll look out for you? Or people who’ll try their hardest to keep you safe? Open their heart to you?

  Those three men have done all of that and more in the time we’ve known each other. I know them better than I know most of the people in my life.

  It’s not just about Declan. Wood and Kai, they care for me, too. It’s apparent in their actions. And even though, the annoyance between Wood and Candy is more than noticeable, I can tell he cares for her. Otherwise, he wouldn’t be here.

  I take in a deep breath, and watch as a sincere smile slides onto Declan’s face, encouraging me. He winks and squeezes my hand. “Let’s do this, baby.”

  I laugh and turn to Candy, my eyebrows raised. She begrudgingly takes hold of Wood’s hands and his jaw twitches.