Lifting my head, I narrowed my eyes. Surprisingly? Please. I rocked and he knew it. “Excuse me, but I am pretty kick ass. I have an A in combat and beat all the guys in sword fighting. Plus, you saw Finn. The other end of my fist is not where you want to be.”
“No need to get your panties in a twist. That’s my job.” My skin crackled with tiny bolts of electricity as he wrapped his arm around my waist and yanked me into him.
“So what, I belong to you now or something?”
A blush filled his cheeks. A look of nervousness and uncertainty he never let show. “Only if you want to.”
“What do you think?” Unable to control the smile taking over, I leaned down and explored the smooth lines of his mouth.
His warm hands pushed the hair from my face and he pulled back, staring me in the eyes. “I want to hear it.”
“Hear what?”
He teased me by kissing one corner of my mouth. “You know.”
A certain part of Mom’s letter emerged in the back of my head. The sentence about love. In that moment, I found myself at a crossroad, because being here with Wolf made me feel so much more than love. Comfort, hope, courage. How could I lose it because a woman I didn’t know said my love would end tragically? I wasn’t my mother. I was much, much stronger.
“I’m yours,” I said, knowing with all my heart it was the truth. “Only yours.”
“Forever,” he whispered before his lips molded with mine and we sank deep into each other.
If someone had told me months ago, I’d be here, in fairy tale high, making out with the Big Bad Wolf reincarnated, I would’ve told them they were bat shit crazy. But now I couldn’t imagine anyone else.
We kissed for minutes or hours, I wasn’t sure. But time passed slow as we explored each other in a different way than we had before. There was no urgency, no threat, no fear of losing the other. I loved him and I knew he loved me too.
He pulled away and rested his forehead against mine. I wondered if I’d ever get used to how breathless I felt after kissing him. One single kiss turned my insides upside and shattered my world, destroying everything I thought I once knew.
“I’d better go.” His long fingers twisted the hem of my shirt. “If I get incarcerated then we’re both screwed.”
“True.” I laced my fingers around his neck for one more kiss. “Speaking of trouble. Any way you can cause a scene so I can check on April?”
He narrowed his eyes, holding in a smile I knew he wanted to release. “You’re lucky I like being used by you.”
Running my hands through his messy hair, I pulled his head back and took a good, long look at him. Though softened, his eyes were fierce and powerful, captivating me with a single glance. They hummed with energy and desire.
“I’d never use you.” I brushed the loose strands from his face. “Well, a little.” I grinned. “But only in the nicest way possible.”
Wolf chuckled and rose to his feet, towering over me. “We’ll see about that.” He kissed me and headed to the door, but not before tapping my butt. “I’m off to cause a scene.”
“Try not to blow any houses down.”
“The pigs aren’t really on my hit list.” He winked and opened the door. “Take the back stairwell, it gets less traffic.”
The door shut and I sat against the frame of the bed and sighed, wishing he didn’t have to leave so I could spend all night with him again. Doubt turned over in my stomach as I wondered when I’d see him again. Who knew what punishment I’d get for punching Danielle. Finn wasn’t in too much trouble for hitting Al, but then again, everyone liked Finn and he was a prince. No one liked me. The one who brings change.
Couldn’t she have given me a different fate, like the one who changes light bulbs? For the most part, light bulbs were perfectly safe. Everyone needed a little light in their day. The change I brought only stirred drama and hurt people. If I ever meet my mom, I’m going to give her a piece of my mind.
After waiting twenty minutes, I poked my head outside the door. Empty. Good. Like Wolf instructed, I used the back staircase which went along the outside. No one usually traveled this way. The ground was freezing so I shivered most the way down. Dim lights flickered along the wall. Murmurs drifted up stone. I froze in place, praying it wasn’t guards or Danielle.
“Can you believe someone clogged the toilets in the bathroom?”
Somewhere a door opened and the voices drifted with it. Toilets? Nice. Point for Wolf.
A few flights down, I drew open the door enough to ensure no one was lurking in the hall. Nothing. I let out the breath I’d been holding most of the walk down and hurried toward April’s room, praying and praying Danielle wouldn’t be there. According to the time on the grandfather clock I passed, tea was still going on. Who knew if they were having tea after the fight today, but somehow I doubted Danielle had it in her to cancel plans, especially so close to the winter ball. Appearances are everything, Norah.
I didn’t knock when I got to their room. Instead, I turned the knob, expecting it to be locked, but it wasn’t. Poking my head in, the room was dark and empty. The only light was the tiny flicker from inside the washroom.
The door clicked shut as I entered, slowly taking in the mess on April’s side of the room. Shredded papers masked her bed, along with photos. I picked one up and ran my finger over the red X over my face. The ink spread over my fingertips. Setting the picture down, I pushed the door to the bathroom open, and as I did, my heart sank to the floor and a scream erupted from inside my throat.
Blood dripped down the shower wall. Lying beneath the gory waters of the tub, my sister lay in nothing but a white slip. Her eyes were shut and her face peaceful and unharmed. As if she’d already left me. My knees slapped against the claw foot tub as I dragged her body out, together we fell onto the floor. Open wounds covered her wrists, slashing the way she would to kill herself. The opposite way she usually cut. Because before, she only cut to bleed out the pain and misery. Now, she wanted to die. She wanted to die because of me.
For the second time since I’d arrived, I cursed myself for not knowing CPR. Using all my strength, I lifted April up and hurried out of the door, only pausing to find a way to open the bedroom door.
I ran with all my might, screaming at the top of my lungs for help until one of the dorm guards rounded the corner and saw me, tears soaked my face, blood drenched my clothes, barely strong enough to hold my sister and run at the same time, yet somehow I did. The guard came and took her from me, yelling into his headset for back up. I followed behind, staggering.
Please don’t be dead, April. Please, please don’t die on me.
A year ago, I caught April cutting herself. We’d moved for the umpteenth time and over the past two years or so, she’d gone from semi-normal to a recluse. I didn’t think too much of it, we all went through phases, right? When I was thirteen I lived in this heinous striped sweater with a grizzly bear wearing pearls on the front. I found it at a thrift shop and thought I was a trendsetter. Totally classy and ferocious.
Nevertheless, I kept April’s secret, hoping if I did, she’d actually like me. But she didn’t. In our new school she got picked on a lot. At least, that’s what she said. I never witnessed anyone actually harassing her.
“It’s your fault, Norah!” she’d screamed at me. “You have to make everyone love you while I’m the freak sister. Do you have any idea how much it blows to be in your shadow?”
Fumes of anger built within. “Don’t blame me, you’re the one who sits in the dark and scribbles freaky drawings all over your body!”
Her eyes darkened. “Oh, I bet you told them too, anything to make yourself look perfect and almighty in front of your friends. One day someone is going to knock you off your pedestal and I hope I’m there to watch you fall.”
“Ohmigosh, do you even hear yourself?” I stepped closer. “Get your own life and stop obsessing with mine!”
April stormed away, slamming the door to the bedroom we shared. Afterward, I was so angry
, I marched into Dad’s office and told him about the cutting.
We had family counseling sessions and one-on-ones. It took me awhile to understand April and the whole living-in-the-shadow feeling. Still, I wasn’t sure if I could ever understand what it was like to be her. Why having me for a sister was so unbearable. No matter what I said in sessions or after them, being around April was like walking on already cracked eggshells.
“Norah.” The sound of Wolf gently speaking my name stopped me from pacing in the waiting room outside the infirmary. Kate walked in behind him, her eyes rimmed red. With my hand clamped to my mouth, I hurried to his side and flung my arms around his midsection. “Damn guards, took me forever to get here.” He softly growled and tilted my head back.
“How is she holding up?” Kate asked.
“She’s stable, barely. If I hadn’t got there…” she’d be dead. My baby sister would’ve died. Chills bit at my skin.
“But you did. She’ll be fine.” His hand brushed along my hair, soothing me as I rested my head on his broad chest. “Everything will be fine.”
His lips pressed against the top of my head. I felt better with Wolf here, holding me, touching me.
“I just heard, is she—” I tensed at the sound of Finn’s voice. When I dragged my head up, I saw him standing in the doorway. I worried that we’d combust under the heat of his glare. “What’s all this?” Finn glowered.
Wolf raised an eyebrow. “This is me comforting my girlfriend. Or has mommy not explained the birds and the bees to you, yet?”
Finn ignored Wolf and kept his gaze trained on me. “I didn’t realize you were seeing someone.”
Wolf’s hand stayed firm on my waist, holding onto me as if I’d somehow float away from him.
Finn’s nostrils flared. “You know, you’re not as different from them as you think you are, Norah. In fact, you’re just like her.”
Wolf’s hand fell and he shifted in front of me, closing the space between him and Finn. The material of Finn’s blue shirt bunched in Wolf’s thick hands. “You need to leave. Now.” He released Finn, shoving him back to the door.
Kate grabbed my hand and with one tight squeeze, my jaw snapped shut. I was not like Danielle. Not one bit.
Finn let out a strained, sinister laugh and pointed right at me. “You just made a very bad enemy.”
“Prick.” Wolf grimaced as the door slammed.
We stood in silence, Finn’s words lingering between us until Kate spoke. “You and Wolf, huh?” For the first time since everything went down, she smiled. “I called it from the beginning.”
“Oh, shut up, you did not.” I pushed her arm.
“Yes I did!” she cried. “When you came to my room and gushed about him, I knew it was only a matter of time.”
My cheeks burned red as Wolf looked at me, a pleased smile swept over his face. “You gushed? Nice.”
Ohmigosh. Kill me now. “I did not gush. I simply stated you weren’t a bad kisser.”
“Sure you did.” He winked. His fingers laced in mine as he yanked me into him and kissed me. God, I could kiss him forever.
The door creaked open and the nurse entered. The clipboard was tight to her chest. In that moment everything else slipped away. “I spoke with your father and Headmistress Madrina.” My head perked up at the sound of his name. “They’ve decided to send April to a school more suited for her talents.”
“What?” My mouth stopped working. April was leaving. Dad said it would happen but I’d hoped it wouldn’t be so soon. I’d hoped we’d find a way through the drama and be friends.
“April would do well in a healthy environment where she can talk openly and candidly about her feelings,” she said. “I know this must be difficult for you, Norah, but your sister has a sickness. Being here won’t help.”
“When does she leave?”
“First thing in the morning.” I’m afraid you can’t stay any longer. Headmistress instructed you return to your dorm.”
“But, I have to stay till she wakes. I have to say good-bye.”
A frail, pity smile washed over her face. “This isn’t good-bye, Norah. You’ll see her again.”
How did I know that? After everything that had happened, the future was unknown. My chest ached as if someone had stabbed me. Wolf and Kate walked me back to my room and left, but not before giving me a gift from Beth. A small compact that was supposed to show me whatever I wanted. Kind of like a gateway to spy on April.
Guilt weighted me down, the second I entered my room I collapsed to the ground and cried. I cried harder than I ever cried before. My actions had caused April to try and kill herself.
If I hadn’t been so abrasive and obsessed with destroying Danielle, April would’ve been happy. Happy with a boy who used her and a girl who pretended to be her friend to get back at me. This was one-hundred and fifty percent my fault. God, I was such a screw up.
I cried so hard, I didn’t hear the door open until Wolf was by my side, lifting me off the floor and onto the bed. His strong arms held me as I sobbed into his chest, and he rocked me, promising it would be okay.
The smile Danielle wore in the cafeteria, after I punched her, told me she’d won. All along her plan had been to destroy me through my sister, through my lack of control and, with one kiss, one look, one punch, she achieved her goal. Destroy me. Destroy April. And I lost.
Time held little value anymore. The tears dwindled and my breathing slowed. I loosened the death hold I had on Wolf and wiped my eyes.
“I’m the worst sister in the world.”
“Don’t be so hard on yourself.” His fingernails trailed over my back. “You punched Danielle. The entire school won’t stop talking about it. You’re a legend.”
None of that meant anything if April hated me. What good was popularity if nothing good came of it? Danielle still walked around ruling the school while I was stuck in my room, awaiting severe punishment.
“They’re going to take me away too, aren’t they. Like they did Koyte?”
Images of Koyte ran through my mind like a bad film. In all the haste I hadn’t had a chance to even ask Wolf why Koyte hated me so much. If the council knew about me, how I was meant to change the future, then this was the perfect opportunity for them to lock me up. They’d been looking for a reason, and I’d served them one on a silver platter.
Wolf’s silence only instilled a fear I had tried so hard to ignore. I didn’t want to die. I didn’t want some crazy people to take everything from me. But I had a sinking feeling I had no options anymore.
“I’m scared,” I whispered, admitting something I’d been too stubborn to admit before.
Wolf cupped my chin, his mouth hovered delicately over mine and I drank in his piney scent. “As long as you’re mine, as long as we are both living and breathing, I won’t let them take you from me. Ever.”
“Promise?”
“Promise.” The gold flecks of his iris brightened. “I love you, little princess.”
And then his lips were on mine, soft and slow, yet full of passion. So much passion my body quivered and I curled my leg around his, binding us together so we might never part. His hands grasped my face, holding me in place as we kissed, our lips touching, and then parting, like a teasing game of who’d cave first. And I was not going to let him win so fast.
My Big Bad Wolf.
The bedroom door flew open, rattling against the back wall and startling me awake. I wasn’t sure when I fell asleep, but I had. The last thing I remembered was kissing Wolf. He left before curfew and I must’ve fallen asleep still dressed.
Men in black coats and silver masks barged in. The man in front, rounder than the others, seized me from the bed and lifted me to my feet as if I weighed nothing. My reflexes slowed, sand still in my eyes from sleeping. I barely registered what was going on until they tied my hands behind my back.
“Norah Hart, by order of the council, you are under arrest.”
No, no, no, no. This is not happening. I thrashed
in their grasp. Arrested? You can’t arrest a seventeen-year-old! Were these people insane? Well, technically they could arrest a minor, but still, on what grounds? Fighting? How ridiculous!
One dragged a cloth around my mouth, jerking it in so hard, I yelped. then I was being hauled out the door. I tripped several times, their speed beyond my own. At the end of the hall was a steel elevator I’d never seen before. Glass heels were the first thing I noticed, then the hem of a white dress. Danielle. Another person was beside her. Dark hair, red jeans and a familiar heart necklace. My throat tensed, my body losing all feeling as they pushed me inside. The doors closed with a bing yet I couldn’t move, paralyzed by the sight of Desiree. My friend.
“Sorry, Norah. This is the only way,” Desiree said.
Son.Of.A.Bitch.
I skidded across the cold cement, my knees no doubt bleeding through my jeans as the Men in Black tossed me into the cell. With my hands freed from the ropes, I tore the bandanna away from my mouth and gasped for air. The metal bars rattled closed and on the other side, the multi-colored eyes of my friend stared back at me. The eyes of a person I trusted.
“How could you do this?” I whispered. “We were…” friends dropped from my lips, and I blinked back the tears I refused to shed.
“Don’t act so surprised, Norah.” Desiree blew on her crimson nails as if they were wet. “I’m sure you’ve heard the expression, keep your friends close and your enemies closer.”
“How the hell am I the enemy?” my voice escalated to the point of insanity. “Look at all she’s done. She’s an evil bitch!”
“All we’ve done.” Danielle slipped her arm through Desiree’s. In that moment, the world seemed to shrink in. “If it wasn’t for Desiree I’d still be a peasant, trading chicken eggs for coins. I have to give you credit, you put up a good fight, but no one can stop me from rising to the top.”
Desiree grinned and for the first time since we met, I realized how truly evil she was. She refused to help me because she’d sided with Danielle. That’s how Danielle knew my every move. Desiree had to be the go between, the one who tricked me into trusting her. I’d never felt so deceived in my life.
The Forgotten Fairytales Page 22