Shimmering Chaos (Enchanted Chaos Series )

by Jessica Sorensen

  Foster’s shoulders sag as he sighs. “It’s a long story, but basically, she’s this girl who’s been trying to get me to go out with her for a couple of years. At first, she just flirted with me. But then things got really weird when she broke into my room and waited for me on my bed in nothing but her underwear.” He slips his hands from his pockets and fiddles with the clasp of a leather band on his wrist. “I’m not going to lie. I was a dick to her and probably could’ve handled the situation better, but sometimes, it’s hard … I’ve been forced to be so cold and indifferent for so long that I forget what emotions feel like and that most creatures and humans do have them.”

  My heart aches for him. “I’m sure you have feelings, too.”

  “I do, but they’ve been buried for so long that I sometimes forget what they’re like.”

  “I kind of get where you’re coming from. Or, well, I know what it’s like to have to force myself to stop feeling things because I worry the sky might erupt in flames. Honestly, I’m not sure I’ve ever really felt. I’ve always kind of had to rein in my emotions.”

  He hesitates. “Do you ever wonder what it’s like? To just feel?”

  “Sometimes,” I admit. “But I’m kind of afraid, too.”

  His gaze flicks to my lips, his eyes burning with what I think is desire. The floor quivers and panic sets in. But when Foster takes my hand, the shaking slowly stops, along with the panic.

  “Me, too … I’ve thought about it a lot. What it would be like to feel what I want … to have what I want …” He leans in, as if to kiss me. And part of me wants to let him. Wants to feel his lips against mine. Wants to let everything I’ve ever kept buried deep inside me out. But the other part of me questions if he’d even want to kiss me if I was the human girl who tried to hit on him that day in the parking lot.

  My heart slams against my chest as I turn my head. “I’m sorry,” I mumble.

  He takes a steadying breath. “It’s fine.” When I refuse to make eye contact with him, he sketches a path along the inside of my wrist. “Sky, I promise it’s fine. I probably shouldn’t have tried to kiss you anyway. Not here and not now and not when you don’t want to.”

  Sucking in an inhale, I meet his gaze.

  He offers me a small smile. “We should get to class. We’re already pretty late.”

  I nod, grateful he isn’t making a big deal out of this, unlike my heart that seems super peeved at me right now.

  “So, we have this class together, but not the next class, right?” I ask, desperate for a subject change.

  “Yeah, my next class is History of the Water Element.” He pulls a face.

  “Is it a boring class?” I wonder.

  “No, it’s okay … but sometimes it sucks not being able to attend classes that actually pertain to my element.”

  “So, there’s none at all for … well, what we are?”

  He shakes his head. “As far as most know, our kind is extinct … It almost was,” he adds as an afterthought, glancing at me.

  It starts to hit me then just how rare we are. Rare in even a magical world. And I can’t help wondering how much of my kind had to die for things to become this way.

  As I enter the classroom with Foster, my thoughts shift as thirty sets of eyes glance at me. Curiosity sparkles in some of them, while others carry disdain. It makes me want to turn around and run. I’ll go to Nina’s and hide out, spend my days doing whatever I want, just like I used to. I wish I could do that, but knowing what I know now … everything’s changed.

  I’ve changed.

  When I went to the Everettsons’, it changed everything. It changed me. It changed the life I once knew.

  But maybe that life never existed to begin with.

  First period isn’t too awful, but mainly because Foster is in it with me. I’m a bit apprehensive about my second class, but when I walk in, relief washes over me as I spot Easton sitting at one of the desks. He smiles at me when I enter.

  “Aw, look, it’s my favorite creature in all the worlds,” he teases as I drop my bag onto the desk beside his.

  I lower my ass into the seat. “Do you ever let up?”

  “Let up from what?” he asks innocently, but with a twinkle in his eyes.

  “Hey, East.” A girl with long blonde hair waves at Easton as she walks into the classroom. But her smile falters when she notices me. “Who’s this?”

  “This is Sky.” Easton gestures at me.

  The girl’s forehead creases as she stops beside Easton’s desk. “Is she the girl that’s living with you?”

  “Yeah. And FYI, you can ask her questions directly,” Easton tells her with a teasing grin. “She can totally hear and even knows how to speak. It’s seriously the most miraculous thing I’ve ever seen.” He winks at me.

  I roll my eyes at him for probably the tenth time today.

  “Oh… yeah… right.” The girl forces out a high-pitched laugh, then she sticks out her hand in my direction. “Hey, I’m Jane. It’s so nice to meet you.”

  I shake her hand, highly aware that she grips the shit out of my fingers.

  Either this girl has got super strength or she’s pretending to like me.

  “It’s nice to meet you too,” I manage to get out then pull my hand away from her’s, resisting the urge to massage my aching fingers.

  She gives me an exaggerated friendly smile. “We should totally hang out sometime. I know how hard it is to make new friends.”

  “Okay, yeah. That sounds awesome. Thanks.” I force a smile and try not to squirm, but her crazed smile is really starting to creep the hell out of me.

  “Awesome.” She gives me one last fake smile then turns to Easton, a real smile settling on her lips. “Are we still on for the party this weekend?”

  “Actually, I’m not sure if I can go. I may have to do some family stuff,” Easton replies, half distracted by his phone.

  Her smile fumbles, but she hurriedly plasters it back on as he glances up at her. “Well, let me know if you’re down. Tammy’s party is going to be amazing.” She waggles her fingers at him then she takes a seat in a desk a few rows up and leans over to talk to girl with long, brown hair sitting the desk across from her.

  “Is that your girlfriend?” I ask, trying to ignore the subtle nasty glances Jane and the brunette are giving me.

  Easton shakes his head and stuffs his phone into his pocket. “We’re just friends.”

  I raise a brow at him. “Does she know that?”

  Easton shrugs. When I continue to stare him down, he lets out a groan.

  “Look, I don’t do anything to lead her on,” he insists, slumping back in the chair. “I’ve even told her I just want to be friends, and she says she’s cool with it, so...” Another shrug.

  “She may say that, but I think she likes you,” I tell him.

  “I know, but I don’t feel the same way about her. She’s a good friend, though. Always has been.” He combs his fingers through his hair and sighs. “I have a feeling that one day I’m going to lose her as a friend when she realizes I won’t ever reciprocate her feelings. And that just makes me sad.”

  “Maybe she’ll eventually move on and then you guys can be friends,” I suggest. “Or maybe one day you’ll end up falling in love with her.”

  He shakes his head. “Nah, I don’t think that’ll ever happen.”

  “You never know.”

  “Maybe I do, though…” He trails off as the bell rings and the teacher walks into the classroom.

  I can’t help wondering what he meant, like maybe somehow he knows what the future holds for him. In this new world I’ve been thrown into, anything seems possible.

  My first two classes aren’t too terrible, but third period I end up having alone and it sucks. A lot of creatures stare at me, even through class. Even the human students stare like I’ve sprouted a unicorn horn out of my ass or something. At one point, I actually glance at my ass to make sure nothing is poking out of it.

  As third period
ends and no one says a damn word to me, I realize that people here aren’t friendly. Luckily, Foster meets up with me to walk me to fourth period.

  “I don’t think anyone likes me very much,” I remark as we walk through the hall, getting stared at. “No one but you or Easton has said a word to me.”

  “Humans here are just like that with new students,” Foster explains. “I think mostly because they’re waiting to see if you’re going to end up hanging with the popular, snobby side of the school or not.”

  “The popular side of school?”

  He leans in and whispers, “There’s a divide in our school, between the elemental protectors and humans. The elemental protectors created the divide mainly because we risk our powers being discovered if we spend too much time around humans. But anyway, that divide somehow became a label. And because you’re spending time with Easton and me, it means you probably got labeled as being part of the snobby, popular side.”

  “But then, why are no elemental protectors talking to me?”

  “Some will eventually. But even our kind is cautious around Easton and me because of our last name.”

  “Because you’re so powerful?”

  “Well, that and the Everettsons have a reputation,” he explains. “Mostly because of Porter. But all of us have done stuff that makes creatures cautious around us.”

  “Like what?” I ask, intrigued.

  “Well, one time, Porter froze the whole cafeteria over on purpose.” He pauses, considering something. “And Easton once flooded the school just so school had to be canceled and he could go to a concert in Elemental.”

  “And what about you?”

  His lips quirk. “What about me?”

  “Have you done anything rebellious?”

  “Not on purpose, but only because I have to be more careful with my powers.”

  “That makes sense.” I pause. “I’m surprised you guys trusted me enough to come to this school. I mean, aren’t you worried I won’t be able to keep my powers hidden?”

  A hint of a smile graces his lips. “Sky, you spent almost eighteen years with no one knowing what you are. And if something happens and you do slip up, my parents are great at manipulating the situation. Plus, Easton and I are here to help.”

  Help. The word is so foreign, but I think I might really like it.

  I glance down at my schedule to see which class we’re heading to. Then I make a face.

  “P.E.? Yuck. I seriously hoped they didn’t have this class here.”

  “At least we have it together,” he reminds me. “Easton’s in it, too. And just a warning, he’s super competitive, especially in dodge ball, which we play all the time.” He rolls his eyes at that. “Although, I think if you smiled at him, he might go easy on you.” He tosses me a teasing grin.

  I roll my eyes. “I don’t want him to go easy on me. I want him to play fair so, when I hit him in the face with the ball, it’ll be that much more gratifying.”

  He chuckles, his eyes shimmering. “So, you’re competitive?”

  “Only in dodge ball,” I say with a straight face.

  He shakes his head, his grin bright and shiny and too alluring. Seriously, I can’t stop staring at it.

  As we slow to a stop in front of the locker rooms, his smile dims a bit.

  “We have to go into separate locker rooms.” He wrestles back a grin. “Unfortunately.”

  I roll my eyes again, but a smile tickles at my lips. But the smile is fleeting as a girl walks by and elbows me in the back. I’m not sure if it’s on purpose or not, but my guard instantly goes up.

  Foster must notice, too, because he frowns at the girl as she saunters into the locker room.

  Frowning, he redirects his attention back to me. “If anyone bothers you in there, just send the feeling down the link.”

  “Why? If I do, are you going to run in there and save me?”

  “Um, yeah,” he replies shamelessly.

  “What a brave bodyguard you are,” I joke, trying to drag out my time with him. “Do you know how dangerous the girls’ locker room is?”

  Smiling, he nudges me toward the door. “Hurry up and get your pretty ass dressed. I’ll see you in the gym.”

  He waits for me to open the door before he starts off toward the door to the boys’ locker room.

  Mustering up all the courage I have, I enter the locker room, which has lockers, along with a few bathroom stalls. At least a dozen girls are already in there and some of them glance in my direction, including a girl with blonde hair and golden eyes.

  “Who is she?” she asks her friend, the girl who elbowed me in the hallway. Her eyes spark with intrigue as her golden eyes assess me.

  “That’s the girl Brody was telling you about, Sof,” the girl replies, smirking at me.

  Sofie’s nostrils flare, smoke funneling out of them. “She’s the girl Foster was holding hands with?” Her gaze drags up and down me in disdain. “Yuck. What the hell is he thinking?”

  Lovely. Apparently, even mean girls exist amongst the inhuman.

  Ignoring her, I head to change in one of the stalls.

  As I pass them, her friend leans in and whispers something to Sofie. The grin on Sofie’s face makes my stomach ravel into knots, but I maintain her gaze, letting her know I’m not afraid—well, sort of—before stepping into a stall.

  Sometimes, I hate being quiet. I really do. If I were Nina, I’d have told the girl off. I’ve often wondered if it’d be easier to be blunt and bold as Nina. But unfortunately, it’s not in my DNA.

  I used to wonder why. Both my parents are pretty outspoken people. Well, toward their friends and strangers. They honestly never said much to me, except for standard conversation. Sometimes we’d go days without speaking to each other. I used to think that was normal and that it was a good thing that no one bothered me or tried to be a part of my life. I don’t know, though, because over the last few days, I think maybe my opinion has changed, that it might be better having people in my life who care about me. That it’s nice to know that if I did need help, I can send for it down the link, and Foster will run in here to help me. That I don’t have to deal with everything alone.

  I take my time changing to avoid running into Sofie and her friend, so when I finally exit the stall, the locker room is empty.

  Perfect. Maybe I won’t have to cross paths with anyone until I get to the gym.

  That thought is short-lived, though, as Brody emerges from behind a row of lockers.

  Panic storms through me and clouds appear over the ceiling. Brody doesn’t notice, though, as he grins and stalks toward me.

  I skitter to the side and swing around to the other side of the lockers, but he cuts me off, jogging around to the other end and blocking my path to the door.

  “Relax, I’m not going to hurt you,” he says, but the flames blazing in his hands suggest otherwise. “I just need to borrow you for a bit.”

  “Yeah, that sounds reassuring,” I spit, backing away from him.

  “Aw … She does speak.” His golden gaze fixes on me as he ambles toward me, unaware of the storm brewing above us.

  As the clouds covering the ceiling thicken, it’ll only be a slamming heartbeat more before it starts to rain. I need to settle down before he figures out what I am. At least, I should do that, but as he lunges for me, I consider releasing my power on him, letting lightning strike him where he stands. I may very well have if a guy didn’t appear behind me and grab my arms.

  The chill of his hands reveals he has to be an ice elemental protector.

  “Let me go—”

  Ice glazes through my veins. Ice not created by me.

  My body temperature rapidly plunges, my skin tinting blue, and the room around me spins.

  “What did you do …?” I stagger to the side, and the fingers wrapped around my arm constrict, fingernails piercing into my skin.

  “Hypothermia,” Brody explains with a pleased grin. “It’s a neat, little trick, isn’t it?”

&nb
sp; I glare at him as I dig deep inside myself for my powers, but everything is quiet. Too quiet. Even the clouds have evaporated.

  “Put her in the basement,” Brody says, looking to the side of me.

  I turn my head, and my heart nearly stops.

  Standing beside me is a taller guy with dark hair and the darkest eyes I’ve ever seen.

  Elemental protector of darkness.

  He grins at me, a contorted smile shadowing his lips. “My pleasure.”

  “W-what’s i-in th-the b-basement?” I chatter out as my body grows heavy.

  A wicked grin curls at Brody’s lips. “It’s where they keep the darkness room. It’s meant for experienced elemental protectors, so it should be fun to see how it all turns out for you. Or, well, it’ll be fun to see Foster get crushed when you don’t make it out.”

  I growl at him as I stumble forward, wanting to throttle him, when another blast of cold, dark, painful madness hits me and drowns me in darkness.

  Drowns me in evil.

  Chapter 7

  I’m freezing and my head feels like it’s in knots. That’s the first thing I become aware of when I open my eyes again. Every limb in my body aches, and my head throbs. It’s also very dark. So dark I question if I don’t have my eyes open. But even after I blink a few times, darkness continues to haunt every inch of my vision. That’s when reality throat punches me.

  Brody. The ice. The elemental protector of darkness. The room of darkness.

  I’m in the darkness room, and while I have no clue what that is, considering darkness is supposed to be evil …

  As adrenaline soars through me, I wait for lightning to light up the room, but that never happens. Instead, the darkness thickens around me.

  “Don’t panic. You’re not in here alone.” Brody’s voice floats through the darkness.

  I push up on my hands and knees and strain my eyes to see past the darkness.

  “You don’t need to be nervous.” This time his breath touches my ear. “I just want to play for a bit.”

  I swing my arm back, my fist colliding with his stomach. He grunts in pain, but quickly recovers, grabbing a fistful of my hair.