Shimmering Chaos (Enchanted Chaos Series )

by Jessica Sorensen

  Warm hands touch my shoulders. “Easy, Sky,” Foster says as he sits up in the bed beside me. “Take a deep breath.”

  I obey, breathing in and out until my nerves have settled down.

  The sun is rising just outside and faint soft orange-pink light filters in through the window, cascading across Foster’s face and the concern pouring from his lightning blue eyes.

  “When did you climb into my bed?” I ask. “Where’s Easton?”

  For the briefest instant, jealousy flashes in his eyes, and I swear I hear thunder boom in the distance. But as swiftly as the chaos happened, it grows still again.

  “We traded places after I got back from helping Max with a job thing. I hope that’s okay.” He watches my reaction closely.

  “It’s fine,” I assure him. “I just asked because I was confused.”

  His gaze traces the angles of my face. “What were you dreaming about just barely? Darkness?”

  I brush the tangled strands of my hair out of my face. “The opposite actually. I dreamt of lightning.”

  A crease forms between his brows. “Really?”

  I nod. “Have you ever dreamt of that before?”

  He shakes his head. “I haven’t, but since lightning is our main power source, I’m guessing it’s not a bad thing to dream about it. But you seemed scared when you woke up.”

  “I was just upset that the lightning left me.”

  I tell him a bit more about my dream.

  He taps his finger against his lips, contemplating something. “Your dreams … the way you describe them makes them sound like they’re very vivid.”

  “They kind of are.” My mind briefly drifts back to the dream I had of Porter sucking something from me, of how amazing it felt, like he was actually doing it to me. Then I think of the fear I felt when the lightning left me. And then, of course, there’s the fear I feel when darkness appears in my dreams.

  “I almost wonder if maybe you have an ability that materializes through your dreams.”

  “What sort of ability?”

  “I’m not sure, but we can talk to my parents about it when they get back. They know more about this stuff than I do.”

  Speaking of his parents…

  “Have you heard from either of your parents yet?” I ask, kicking the blanket off me and arching my back as I stretch.

  “Yeah, actually Easton texted me a bit ago and said my mom finally got ahold of the headmistress. And she assured my mom that what happens in the room of darkness stays in the room of darkness, so unfortunately, we have to go to school today.”

  “What happens in the room of darkness stays in the room of darkness, huh?” I pretend not be bummed out about having to go back to school, but I kind of am. “Sounds like the rules of Fight Club.”

  “What’s Fight Club?”

  “It’s a movie.” I pause. “Do you guys watch those?”

  “We do occasionally, but honestly, we’re pretty busy with practicing sessions, school, jobs, and helping take care of our world when we need to. We barely have time to do ordinary things.”

  “I kind of got that already. And I’m sure having me around is making it worse.”

  “Having you here is one of the best things that’s ever happened to me.” Quickly stroking his fingers across my cheekbone, he withdraws his hand and scratches at his cheek. “I need to go shower and get ready for school.” He wets his lips with his tongue, hesitating, then a grin spreads across his lips. “Want to shower with me?”

  I give him an unimpressed look, but my lips fight to turn upward. “You know, you’re getting as bad as Easton.”

  “Hey, I heard that!” Easton shouts from outside my bedroom door. “And that’s a good thing! It means he’s finally getting some fucking game!”

  “He’s such a drama queen,” Foster mutters, his cheeks a little flushed.

  “You know, him and my friend Nina would probably get along really well.” I climb out of bed, tugging at the hem of my shirt. “She’s equally as dramatic. Then again, they might just end up killing each other.”

  “Probably the latter. East doesn’t usually play nice with others like him. He needs to be the center of attention.”

  “I hate that.”

  “Me, too.”

  We share a smile, and then he heads to leave.

  I almost hate to see him go. Being around him is starting to get so comfortable.

  “Foster,” I call out as he opens the door. He pauses, glancing back at me with his brows knit. “Thanks for sleeping with me again.” As soon as the words leave my lips, I blush while Foster grins. “I mean, thanks for … You know what? Never mind.”

  Chuckling, he walks back toward me and sweeps a strand of my hair out of my eyes. “Thanks for sleeping with me, too.” He winks then leaves the room, laughing under his breath.

  Sighing at my spazzy-ness, I close the door then grab a pair of jeans and a black top with boots to match. Then I head out of my room and into the bathroom to take a shower. Once I’m dressed and my hair is done, I wander downstairs to make my own breakfast, something I’ve been promising myself I’m going to start doing. But, as with every day this week, when I enter the room, Charlotte has already made breakfast.

  Easton and Foster are already there too, which is a bit odd. Usually, they take longer than me to get ready.

  Foster hands me a plate stacked with French toast as I walk in. “Breakfast is on the go today.” He grabs his bag from off the counter and slings the handle onto his shoulder. His hair is a bit damp, and he’s rocking dark jeans and a black T-shirt. “We have to be at the school a little early because Easton has practice.”

  I glance at Easton, who’s stuffing his mouth with French toast. “Practice for what?” I ask him curiously.

  “Cheerleading.” He grins, looking pretty pleased with himself. “I look amazing in a skirt.”

  I restrain a smile, putting on my best dead serious expression. “I can actually see that.”

  His brow meticulously elevates. “You think I seem like the cheerleading type and that I’d look good in a skirt?”

  “Yeah, you seem really peppy, and I bet you’re legs look super cute in those uniforms.” I grin when he gives me a disgusted look.

  “I’m going to pay you back for that one,” he warns with a smirk as he hitches his bag over his shoulder. “For the record, though, my practice is for the water team.”

  “Is that like a fancy word for swimming?” I ask, quickly dumping more syrup onto my French toast.

  “Nope. It’s water shape-shifting.” When my eyes grow huge, a pleased grin etches across Easton’s face as he steps toward me. “You should come watch me. I’m really good at it. Plus, you’ll get to see me shirtless, so that’s a bonus.”

  More than curious to see what water shape-shifting looks like, I nod. “Okay, I will. It actually sounds really fun.”

  His eyes dance with amusement. “Me being shirtless?”

  “Nah, that part I’m not looking forward to at all,” I give a shudder.

  “I know you’re full of shit. I can tell you think I’m sexy.” Grinning, he stuffs a piece of French toast into his mouth. The entire damn thing. Then he wipes off his hands and deliberately reaches for the hem of his shirt. “I can take it off for you right now. You don’t have to wait.”

  For a flickering, very stupid, instant, my lips stay zipped. But as he starts to lift up his shirt, I pull my head out of my ass and my lips part with a snarky remark. But Foster interrupts me.

  “We should get going or you’re going to be late,” he tells Easton, then lines his palm to the small of my back and urges me toward the doorway.

  “Yes, Mom.” Easton strolls toward the doorway, calling over his shoulder, “Don’t worry, lightning eyes, you’ll still get to see me shirtless sometime.”

  “No thanks,” I say. “I don’t want to risk my retinas getting burned from seeing, what I’m betting is a very pasty, hairy, skinny chest.

  “Ha! My chest is far fr
om pasty, hairy, or skinny.” Right before he exits the room, he spins around and lifts up the hem of his shirt, flashing me.

  Good lord, he’s not lying. His chest and abs are lean and toned and tan and hairless and… Is that a tattoo?

  “See sexy.” He drags his hand across his chest and abs and I hurriedly look away.

  “No, it’s not—”

  He walks out before I can finish, looking pretty damn cocky.

  “He’s so annoying,” I grumble, shifting the handle of my bag higher onto my shoulder.

  “Yeah, he is.” Foster quietly sighs, then steers me out of the kitchen and into the foyer.

  I get the weirdest vibe that he’s… disappointed in me?

  He stays rather quiet as he collects his car keys from off the table. Then he puts eye drops in my eyes and his. The silence only grows as we head outside and get into the car. I expect Easton to break the silence, since he’s such a chatterbox, but he’s busy texting on his phone for most of the drive. The longer the silence stretches, the more I sense something is off between the two brothers. And the feeling is flowing through the link, which means they’re probably too distracted to block me out. I can’t figure out what’s bothering them, though, and it starts to drive me crazy. So does the silence.

  As we’re cruising down the road and I’m stuffing my face with French toast and drowning in the feeling of off balance between the two of them, Foster’s stomach suddenly lets out the loudest rumble.

  I pause mid-bite, latching onto the opportunity to break the maddening silence. “Are you hungry?” I ask him.

  He shakes his head. “Nah, I’m good.”

  “He’s so full of shit. He didn’t eat breakfast,” Easton tells me, sliding forward in the seat and putting his phone away.

  I secretly breathe in relief at the noise. Thank god. I don’t think I could’ve dealt with their silent tension for much longer.

  I move the forkful of French toast I was about to eat toward Foster’s mouth. “Here. Have some of mine.”

  “I’m good,” Foster insists. “I’ll just grab something from the vending machines.”

  I leave the fork right where it is. “Just take the bite. There’s more than enough on this plate.”

  His gaze slides to mine, and then he reluctantly opens his mouth and I stick the French toast in it, getting a glob of syrup on his lips. He licks it up, looking at me for an unnerving amount of time before focusing back on the road.

  “Thanks.”

  “You’re welcome.” I take another bite then feed him the next one, doing it over and over again as we near the school.

  “You guys are disgustingly cute,” Easton finally whines. “Seriously, you’re going to turn into one of those lovey-dovey couples, aren’t you?”

  Couple? We’re not a couple. We’re just friends.

  Sure, we hold hands a lot, and he sleeps in my bed. Not to mention I just fed him breakfast. None of those things I ever did with Nina or Gage …

  Shit, we kind of do act like a couple.

  But I’m not sure what I want to be with Foster. Honestly, I don’t know what I want at all. Everything is so new to me.

  “We’re not …” I trail off as Foster slows the car down at the end of at least a half-mile-long line of cars backed up from the school’s gated entrance.

  “What’s going on?” I ask, putting the plate down on the dashboard and scooting forward in the seat.

  Foster shoves the car into park. “I have no idea, but we need to find out because this looks sketchy as hell.”

  “Yeah, I know.” Easton fishes his phone out of his pocket. “Let me text Jane. She always gets here really early and might know what’s up. Although, she was ignoring my other texts this morning. Hopefully, she’ll respond this time. I think she might be pissed off at me.”

  Foster surveys the line of cars in front of us with concern. His worry makes me anxious, which causes the clouds to react as a storm blows in and sends rain down on us.

  “Shit,” Foster mumbles, his gaze gliding to me as someone honks a horn. “Sky, you need to calm down. If the storm gets too bad, everyone’s going to start wondering what’s causing it. Just take a deep breath, okay?”

  Dammit! I’d been doing so much better lately. I thought I was starting to get the hang of controlling my powers.

  “I’m sorry,” I tell him. “I don’t know why I’m losing control of them so badly right now.”

  “You’re fine. Just keep taking deep breaths.” Foster shuts off the engine, twists to face me, and cups my face between his hands, his skin warm against mine. “Just try to focus on being calm, like when we were in the bathroom the other day and your powers were at peace.”

  “But we built a little world when that happened,” I remind him, draping my hand over my waist.

  “I’ll make sure nothing builds this time,” he swears, his gaze intense. “Just take a few deep breaths and focus on connecting with my powers. It’ll be good practice for you, okay?”

  I nod and do as he instructs. Air in. Air out. Calm. Calm. Calm. Feel the energy around me, so connected to it …

  He watches me as he skims his fingers along my cheekbones, the touch having a calming effect on me. The rain shushes, the clouds parting again and letting sunlight kiss the world.

  “See? No more storm. No more fear.” One side of his mouth tugs upward into a gorgeous half-smile. “You’re so good at this. You know that? Seriously, I bet, in just a couple of months, you’ll be better than I am.”

  “I’m not that great,” I tell him. “You’re just good at telling me what to do.”

  “Maybe we’re just good together,” he suggests, tangling his fingers through my hair.

  “Dude, if you two are going to make out for the first time, please don’t do it in front of me,” Easton breaks the moment like … well, like only Easton can. “And do us all a favor and try to block out that sexual tension between you two. It’s beyond uncomfortable knowing how much you guys want to screw each other.” He throws a joking smile at us, but I detect a hint of tension in his eyes.

  What’s going on? Because something weird definitely is.

  “Maybe you shouldn’t listen to it then,” I quip with a sugary sweet smirk. “I’m sure it’s happened enough times at this point that you can just block them out if you want to.”

  Easton’s lips span into a mischievous grin as he slants closer to me. “You do realize you just admitted you want to fuck Foster, right?”

  Huh….

  I replay what I just said.

  Dammit!

  I face the window, letting my hair veil my flushing cheeks. “That’s not what I meant.”

  “You’re such an asshole sometimes, East,” Foster grumbles, and I can feel his gaze boring into me. “Sky, just ignore him. You know he gets off on it, especially when he makes you blush.”

  “I know.” But I’m unable to look either of them in the eyes.

  Not until my cheeks stop feeling like they’re going to erupt into flames.

  Foster fixes his finger underneath my chin then angles my head toward him. “It’s okay. You don’t need to be embarrassed. It’s just Easton and I in here with you and neither of us care.”

  “That’s easy for you to say. You’re not the one who embarrassed yourself a ton of times around me.” I shift in the seat, scratching my wrist. “I, on the other hand, have embarrassed myself a lot around you. Like the first time we spoke, amongst many other times. And all the times I asked you to sleep with me.”

  He drops his hand to his lap, and his gaze descends as he mutters, “The first time we spoke … it didn’t happen like you think it did.”

  I recall something he said to me the other night about liking me. “What do you mean?”

  His eyes flicker with light as he looks up at me. “When you approached me that day, it wasn’t the first time—”

  “No, no, no, no, no,” Easton blurts out as he grips the life out of his phone. “Fost, we have to go. Now.”

/>   Foster rips his gaze off me. “Why?”

  Panic flares in Easton’s eyes. “Jane just texted me back, and apparently, a whole army of hunters showed up earlier today, through portals, took over the school, and trapped everyone already inside.”

  My heart thunders inside my chest, and above, the sky booms. But they are too preoccupied to notice.

  Calm down, Sky. Panicking isn’t going to help.

  “Dammit,” Foster growls out, strangling the life out of the steering wheel. “How the hell did they get access to portals?”

  “I have no damn idea,” Easton shakes his head. “But we’re lucky we were running late today or we might’ve been locked in there, too.”

  Foster hurries and revs up the engine. “Does the council know or are they still being silent?”

  “I have no idea.” Easton yanks his fingers through his hair, the strands sticking up. “This is bad, Fost. Really bad. We need to get the hell out of here and then message Mom.”

  Foster presses on the gas, backing up a bit. “Why didn’t anyone warn us about this before we showed up here? And everyone else for that matter?”

  “Because no one on the outside of the school knows what’s going on yet,” Easton explains, his gaze tracking the land and cars around us. “Everyone who made it inside the school has been put on lockdown and can’t communicate with anyone outside. The only reason Jane could text me is because of her gift.”

  “What’s her gift?” I work to breathe evenly, to not freak the hell out.

  “Controlling energy that flows through electronic devices,” Easton explains then glances worriedly at Foster. “But she said the hunters put a blocking spell up around the school and it’s making everyone’s powers weak. She could barely get the text out to me, and that’s why she wasn’t answering any of my messages earlier.” He slumps in the seat, his jaw working from side to side. “Everyone’s just trapped in there with them. We need to do something. We’re more powerful than them. There has to be a way to overthrow them.”

  Foster glances at the school then back at Easton. “Send out a text to everyone you know and those on the school’s directory. That way, no one else will go inside. Then message Mom and send out an emergency signal to everyone we trust. Tell them we need to gather somewhere and make a plan on how we’re going to get into the school. We’re going to have to be careful since, once we get inside those walls, we won’t be able to use our powers.” He cranes the wheel to turn the car around. “What I don’t get is why the hunters are here and how they suddenly got in the school. Are they gathering subjects for the experiments or is it for another reason? And how did they even get in with all the spells around this place …? They shouldn’t have been able to, even through a portal.”