Staked!

by Candace Wondrak

  Gabriel’s mouth dropped, and he didn’t speak for a moment, quietly contemplating. He was very slow in saying, “I knew it. It’s because I’m a man, isn’t it? Because I don’t have boobs, like Kass.”

  “Gabriel, you’re so stupid,” I said, like it was the simplest thing in the world, and to me it was.

  “I knew it. But still, if I would have known…I would have read more.” Gabriel started to walk towards Raphael, who was waiting with an irritated look on his face, turning to yell, “That book makes a great pillow by the way.”

  “Oh, my bruises,” I whined, simultaneously enjoying the recline and softness of the couch.

  “That’s nothing.” Gabriel sat next to me, feeling the same as me. This couch was really comfy after you got a beating. Not a real beating, of course, but it was pretty much the same. Raphael had quizzed us on the book, and since neither of us knew anything, he made us fight.

  We were pooped. I’d never been so sore in my life. And that’s the truth. Raphael was a damn good fighter. To think he was holding back. It made me wonder how good he was when he wasn’t holding back.

  Michael sat in his chair, the audience to our whine fest. He listened as Gabriel and I tried to one up each other by our injuries.

  “I have bruises on my bruises,” Gabriel muttered, holding out the arm that had a purple bruise.

  Michael took off his glasses and started cleaning them, shaking his head. “I don’t see how you’re going to top that, Kass.”

  I sighed, because it was probably true. Winning a competition with Gabriel was impossible. And comparing our injuries was no different. “You’re right.”

  Michael got to his feet. “Before I forget, I have a surprise for both of you.”

  Gabriel and I met eyes. There were two kinds of surprises: the bad kind and the good kind. When Michael was involved, you never really knew which one. We followed him into the kitchen, where a huge box sat on the counter.

  I cocked my head. “I have a feeling it has something to do with that box.” My mind ran through all the possibilities.

  Gabriel jumped up and down, holding his hands together, like he was five years old and receiving his first book about Demons. What a strange, strange boy.

  “I hope it’s a garden gnome” was what came out of his mouth.

  Out of all the possibilities that I had just recently ran through my head, I could honestly say that was not one of them.

  “What? A garden gnome?” Michael questioned, eyebrows high.

  Gabriel defended himself, “It’s not my fault that they were the only semi-colored things in the game I just played. Those people were subconsciously trying to get our generation addicted to garden gnomes.”

  “Right,” I said slowly, wondering when he played this said game. Gabriel’s never home playing a game. He’s always busy with girls, purifying, or more girls.

  Shaking his head, Michael took the top off and sifted through the box. “Now, I ordered one for each of you, so as to not make either of you jealous. Because, I have noticed that, upon occasion, you both turn into two small children. Ah, this one is Gabriel’s.” He lifted it out and handed it to Gabriel.

  For a moment, all he could do was stare at the long, shiny metal object. Why? Because it was beautiful.

  What was wrong with me? Why couldn’t I be normal and think that an outfit was cute and a ball gown was beautiful? Leave it to me to think that the face Gabriel made when I told him I accidentally dropped his toothbrush in the toilet (which I so haven’t done…on purpose) was cute and that a sword was beautiful.

  But I couldn’t help it. The sword was expertly crafted and designed, with what appeared to be silver and gold. The golden part was hand-crafted into thorns and a single rose on the top, making the blade appear as if it were the stem.

  “Oh, wait.” Michael took the sword from Gabriel, who still hadn’t said a thing, and handed it to me. “This one’s yours.” He began to rummage through the box once more, saying, “I must need new glasses.”

  I could not take my eyes off it, figuring it cost a mini-fortune. Once I got a hold of myself, I said, “It is understandable. Sometimes Gabriel can act pretty girly. No offense.”

  “Okay, thank you for that. And how come when someone says no offense they really mean don’t kill me for what I’m about to say?” Gabriel tapped my back. “And who’s the one here that hasn’t had their first kiss yet? I worry about you all the time, Kass.” His blue eyes stared straight into mine, because he knew he struck a death blow there.

  But I pretended like what he said didn’t bother me a bit. Even though it did. It wasn’t my fault that I hadn’t been kissed yet. I didn’t exactly have the time to go around kissing guys. I was always off purifying, killing evil and all that fun stuff.

  I shrugged as Michael finally pulled out Gabriel’s sword. His was manlier, that’s for sure. Other than the rose theme, it was basically the same. In place of the rose, it had a dragon’s body, and in place of the thorns was the dragon’s head, making it out as if the sword came out of the dragon’s mouth.

  Okay, his was pretty awesome too.

  Gabriel and I surrounded Michael in a huge hug. “Thanks,” we said in unison.

  He laughed. “You are welcome. I take it this means you both like them? I had them specially created for each of you. They were going to be your birthday presents, but I decided that you needed them now more than ever.”

  “So,” Gabriel swung his around, showing off how skilled he was with the blade. “Want to take them out for a test run tonight?”

  I eyed him up. “Didn’t you have a date?”

  I thought that he forgot, but he shrugged it off, like it meant nothing to him, and it probably didn’t. “Eh, I’d rather use this baby.”

  I laughed and agreed. But deep down I was a little scared.

  He just called his sword his baby.

  The smell of coffee permeated through the Starbucks store. My nose wrinkled; I never liked the smell of coffee. It’s just gross. But who’s the one standing by themselves waiting in line to buy Gabriel some coffee? Certainly not Gabriel. I wasn’t even sure why I was here, because we had coffee beans at the house, meaning there was no real need for Starbucks. But Gabriel wanted Starbucks, and here I was.

  Thanks, Gabriel. Thanks a lot. Stupid boy and his stupid birthday coming up. He’d play the birthday card for the next week for every little thing.

  I peered around the people standing in front of me. There were still about five people in line before me. Great. And I was right by the door too, so every time someone came in or out, I felt a blast of heat, even though it was six at night.

  This North Carolina air, I swore.

  Speaking of the heat, someone walked in, giving me a rush of the humidity. His head was bent down toward his phone, his attention clearly elsewhere. It gave me the chance to study him. The body attached to this man was spectacular. Muscular, defined, tall. I bet this guy had his first kiss already, I thought bitterly, thinking of what Gabriel said a few hours ago. The way this guy handled himself, I could tell that he’d probably kissed a lot more than one girl.

  The man was now looking out the window, completely oblivious to the little girl in front of him who had just been thinking about if he was a good kisser or not. The side of his head was very attractive.

  That’s when I told my mind to stop, and that’s when the guy turned and faced me, when I realized that the guy I fantasized about for the last two minutes was John.

  He immediately recognized me. “Hey, Kass. Didn’t think I’d find you here. You don’t seem like the type of person who likes coffee.”

  You had to be a type of person to like coffee? That was news to me. But while I thought this, my mouth went and defended me, as pointless as it was, “I love coffee.” Lie.

  “Really?” John cocked his head, as if he wasn’t sure if he believed me or not. I couldn’t blame him. I wasn’t the best liar around. It’s a good thing he didn’t bring up my previous engagement with
Aunt Flo. “What’s your favorite?”

  Without thinking, I answered, “I like it black.” Another lie. Black coffee was even worse than coffee full of cream and sugar. “How about you?” Like I cared, and I didn’t (but I kind of did). I felt like an idiot around John.

  “I just like coffee. With lots of sugar. You see,” he paused and leaned down, closer to me, “deep down I’m really a simple guy.” A smile spread across his face.

  And soon I knew his smile was contagious, because I started to smile like a complete idiot. I was so gone that if someone whispered something about free money I would not have noticed.

  “I doubt you’re that simple, John.” The truth. For once. We took a step forward. Man, this line was going really, really slow. And yet, it didn’t bothering me one bit anymore.

  “Why? I’m not one of those guys with secrets. Believe it or not, being dark and mysterious is not on my agenda anytime soon.” John winked. And I could not help myself as I thought that he’s insanely cute when he winked like that. “Hey, who say, uh, after we get our coffee we sit and talk?”

  Talk? He wanted to talk? About what? Why?

  I found myself nodding rapidly, even though the coffee wasn’t for me, I hated being around the smell it, and there was a graveyard screaming my name, along with Gabriel’s.

  Chapter Ten – Kass

  “So,” John set his coffee down and pulled out a chair, sitting on it shortly after.

  “So,” I repeated after doing the same. My finger traced the lid. I could feel the steam trying to get out and escape through the top. I wondered how I was going to explain why his coffee was cold. But then I figured I’d worry about that later.

  “About last night.” John took a sip of his coffee. “I…I’m sorry.”

  “Sorry about what?” I asked, trying to recall what he was talking about. Days for me felt like years.

  “I feel like I acted kind of like a…” John took another sip of his coffee, as if it would help him come up with the right words to say. Maybe he thought that sipping his drink would make time stop, like in those Twix commercials.

  “Dick,” he finished.

  For a second, I stared at him, then I looked down at the coffee. And then I took a sip. And then I wished time would stop so I could figure out the right thing to say.

  “What?” I said, trying to be perfectly okay, even though I had just sipped the most disgusting thing in my life, and I felt like heaving it right up. “You were not acting like a…” I trailed off. “You were fine,” I corrected myself.

  “No.” John shook his head, his black hair getting in his eyes. “I wasn’t. After the great time we had at the diner…” He placed his hands on the table and intently watched me, like he was staring deep down into my soul. And he didn’t need to be looking there.

  “John. It’s okay, really. You were caught off-guard by Gabriel. He has a habit of doing that to everyone.” I took another sip of the hot coffee, hoping it’d taste better the second time. It didn’t, and it left a gross feeling in my mouth, one that lingered even after the sip was long down my throat.

  “I just up and left after I found out that, uh, you two live together.” John ran a hand through his hair, pushing it away from his eyes. “And that was so not what I wanted to do, trust me.”

  Right away I wanted to drink more of the revolting coffee, because I did not know how to respond to that. What did that even mean? Well, I knew what I thought it meant, but maybe John meant it in a completely different way. That’s definitely possible.

  “What do you mean?” My mind had just gone crazy going through all the potential things he could have meant by that.

  “You’ll find out,” John said before finishing his coffee.

  Wait. What did that mean?

  I could admit this: I was beginning to find the passenger’s seat in John’s car abnormally comfortable. Like, the if-my-butt-never-left-this-seat-for-the-rest-of-my-life-I’d-die-happy kind of comfortable.

  I couldn’t believe he was driving me home. Again. But anytime he asked me, I couldn’t say no. It was like…ugh. I refused to say it.

  But here it was, anyway.

  It’s like I was a girl when I was with John. That’s not to say I astoundingly turned into a man when I wasn’t around him. It meant that I felt like a girl when I was near him. I felt pretty. And, let me say, with all the purifying, bruises, and torn clothes, I never felt pretty. It’s like this guy made my hormones go crazy, and I could hardly keep them in check.

  This was not acceptable. I could not be falling for John…could I?

  Well, where’s the law that said I couldn’t like John? Sure, Koath had said it was bad news to like someone out of my profession, but he hadn’t strictly forbidden it. And I didn’t exactly feel like dying young and alone, no matter how hard it was pounded in my head during my training. Michael himself wasn’t opposed to me dating.

  So, technically I could like John if I wanted to. Here’s the big question: did I want to like him? I heard that you couldn’t help it when you liked someone, and denying it just made the feelings stronger.

  Right now I wasn’t sure about anything, so…maybe I’d have to sleep on it.

  John pulled the car into the edge of the driveway. “Seems like I was just here,” he joked.

  “Huh,” I spoke with a grin. “Imagine that. I wonder if it has anything to do with the fact that you’ve been offering me rides all willy-nilly?” I unbuckled my seatbelt. All willy-nilly. I seriously just said that? I was astonished that he’s even trying with me, after half the stupid things I’d said to him.

  Instead of mocking me, like Gabriel surely would have, John threw his head back and laughed. That was a relief. “It’s not my fault that you don’t have a car and seem to be stalking me, is it?”

  I playfully hit his arm. “I am not stalking you.”

  He nodded. “Keep believing that, then. I’m not so sure. You showing up every place I’m at is starting to creep me out, Kass.”

  “Creeping you out? Right,” I teased. “I was at Starbucks first, so you’re the one stalking me.”

  “Is that so?” John questioned, turning his body towards me as he pretended to think, rubbing his chin in a comical way. “Personally, I don’t think so.”

  “Yeah?” I questioned. “I think you’re wrong.”

  “Am I?”

  “Totally.”

  “Maybe you’re wrong,” he whispered, suddenly inches from me.

  My breath was short as I managed to ask, “Am I?”

  Oh, no. Was this really happening? Because, if so, then I didn’t know what to do.

  “You are,” John spoke in a hushed tone, dark gaze falling to my lips.

  His face was so close. At this level of intimacy, I was finally able to discern how good-looking he was. His lips looked…well, like they always had. But they were closer than ever, which made me uncomfortable. And yet I was excited. Uncomfortable and excited. Not a good combination, in my opinion.

  That’s when he leaned in.

  Oh, God. He’s leaning in. What do I do? What am I supposed to do? What does he expect me to do? I asked all these questions to my mind, but I didn’t have any answers for myself, because I didn’t know what to do. I didn’t know what I was supposed to do. And I didn’t know what he expected me to do.

  But what I did, let’s say I didn’t think either of us expected it.

  At the very last possible second, somewhere between freaking out and being excited, I decided that the best thing to do was turn and look in the backseat and say “Oh, I love the material.”

  Yes. I love the material was all my brilliant mind could come up with.

  And, adding to the embarrassment of not having anything cool to say about his backseat, John’s lips landed on my cheek, on account of the fact that my head was still turned, because I was too mortified to turn back.

  This day was fantastic. He probably hated me now. He probably wanted to…I didn’t know. Maybe he was secretly glad I tur
ned at the last moment, because now he had time to think it over and realize that it was all one big mistake.

  But, for some reason, John’s lips didn’t leave my cheek as he said, “Well, this wasn’t how I thought it’d turn out. But I can’t complain. Your cheek is really soft.” His breath was hot on my cheek, and each word sent a tingle down my spine.

  I kept my head facing the back, and if I had laser vision, I swore I would have burned a giant hole in the middle of his backseat. “Well.” I began after a few moments, “Thanks for the ride. Again.”

  I turned to jump out of the car as quickly as I could, but John grabbed my face with both of his hands and said, “Someday I want to find out if your lips are as soft as your cheek.”

  But instead of kissing me forcefully, he let my head go. I smiled an awkward smile and got out of the car. I was beginning to turn to head up the driveway when I heard his window roll down.

  He leaned over, a huge grin on his face. “Someday, Kass.” Still looking, he rolled his window up and drove away.

  “Someday,” I repeated.

  And I hoped with all my heart that it wasn’t a lie.

  Chapter Eleven – Kass

  As soon as I opened the front door, Gabriel ran over to me and looked down at my empty hands. “You were gone forever. Where’s the coffee?” The blonde’s eyebrows furrowed.

  “Oh.” I realized that I had thrown it out after I spoke with John. I couldn’t tell Gabriel the truth, could I? I didn’t want to deal with a jealous Gabriel. I decided to make up a whole intricate story: “I, uh, forgot it. Oops.”

  So much for the intricate part. And the story part.

  I tried walking around him, but he got in my way, knowing that I was trying to dodge his questions. “What do you mean you forgot it? You were going to Starbucks. You don’t just go to Starbucks and forget to buy the coffee. Starbucks is a coffee shop.” He held up his hands in despair, like it was the end of the world and he was giving up.