by Abigail Owen
Everyone nodded, agreeing with her idea.
“But what if it is me?” Selene fretted. “What if I attack one of you?”
“We’ll do this in pairs.” Dexter stood and offered his hand to Charlotte. “There’s safety in numbers.” He nodded to Selene. “You taught us that.”
Selene shook her head. “But to put yourselves in danger for me… I can’t ask you to do that.”
“I can make sure that I’m with you,” Ellie offered. “If I touch you, I can control your powers.”
Selene continued to shake her head. “I can still turn you off…. I could do it permanently, if I concentrated hard enough. It’s that powerful. You saw.”
Nate pulled his tall, lanky form off the floor and stood beside Ramsey. “Are you sure? You didn’t turn them off when we were fighting your pack.”
“Gideon rarely had me do it. It took all of my concentration in one place for too long to be strategically worth it.”
“Well, after what you just showed us and the risks you took to save my future wife, there’s no way we would let you deal with this alone.” Alex smiled at Selene and glanced around the room. Everyone else nodded their agreement.
Selene was touched by this show of support, but frowned. “If it’s not me,” she began, “then it’s likely someone from my pack. Either way, I can’t go back to them with this yet. Not until I know more. So I guess we do what we can together. Thank you.”
She stole a quick glance over her shoulder, hoping to catch sight of Griffin. No such luck. Selene briefly closed her eyes and said a silent wish, praying with all her heart that the decision would prove to be a good one… and that maybe, just maybe, Griffin would learn to trust her someday.
Or at least not hate her as much as he did now.
Chapter 15
Selene sat on her usual bench and studied for finals, while Alex and Ellie kept watch beside her. It was mid-December now, and there was snow on the ground. But Svatura and Vyusher weren’t quite as affected by the elements, and Selene liked being outdoors.
Someone had been with Ellie twenty-four hours a day for the last several weeks. Everyone except Griffin. No one had seen him since the night he’d walked out of Hugh and Lucy’s house.
Ellie had tried to reassure her that it was okay… that Griffin was just figuring a few things out and needed some space. But Selene caught the worried look on her face. Even Alex seemed concerned.
During the time she’d been under surveillance, there hadn’t been any more attacks and she hadn’t had the nightmares. But she wasn’t sure if this was good or bad. There were just too many questions about this entire situation. And while Selene was happy that no one else had been hurt, she almost hoped something would happen just to give them a chance to figure it all out.
Ellie straightened in her seat, drawing Alex’s and Selene’s watchful gazes. “Something wrong, baby?” Alex asked, placing a hand on Ellie’s shoulder.
Ellie paused then shook her head. “No, nothing’s wrong. I—…I think I need a Coke. Come with me?”
Alex frowned. “What about Selene?”
“We’ll only be gone a minute or two, and we’re not going very far.” Ellie took Alex’s hand and pulled him to his feet.
Alex shrugged. “Sure…whatever. Be right back, Selene.”
Selene nodded and watched them walk away, momentarily curious at their odd interaction. Then she returned her attention back to her books.
“I thought it would be a good idea if we had a talk,” a deep voice sounded behind her.
Selene froze. So that was why Ellie had rushed off with Alex. Selene didn’t know if she wanted to hug her new friend… or strangle her. For once, she hadn’t noticed Griffin approach. He must not’ve been using his power.
“About what?” she asked, her serene voice masking her inner turmoil.
Griffin approached the bench and sat down beside her. “I thought we should talk about forgiveness.”
Selene met his gaze. “Forgiveness?”
Griffin let out a deep sigh. “Yes… to be honest, I don’t know if I will ever be able to forgive your part in my family’s deaths.”
Selene looked back down at her notes but couldn’t see the words. Pain stole her breath as her worst fears were confirmed.
“But,” Griffin continued, “I think I understand your involvement. And I do appreciate your attempts to help Ellie and me. So I accept your apology.”
Selene paused.
“My apology?” she asked, her voice cold.
Griffin shifted in his seat and gave a small smile. “Yes, for what you did to my family.”
Selene frowned. “Let me get this straight… you’re accepting an apology I haven’t offered yet?”
“It was implied,” Griffin said, oblivious to her irritation.
“You think I implied an apology for my behavior?” Selene asked.
“Of course. Isn’t that why you showed us what you did?”
Selene fumed. How could he be so dense? “Any apology, implied or otherwise, was for what my brother did,” she seethed through gritted teeth. “For the pain he caused you that I couldn’t stop. For what he made me do.”
“But what about your part?” Griffin’s jaw clenched as he stared at her. It was becoming clear he’d misread her.
Selene didn’t respond. She simply closed her books and packed up her belongings. She rose regally to her full height and turned to face him, head held high. “I’m so incredibly grateful for your forgiveness. That being said, next time you accept an apology, be sure someone is actually giving one.”
She paused and gave him a haughty once-over, disgusted with herself for misjudging him so badly. “Since you’re obviously still confused,” she continued, “let me clarify something for you.... I risked my life to protect you and your sister. I survived over a hundred-and-fifty years of mental and physical torture inflicted by my own family and was forced to do unspeakable things against my will. So I am so incredibly sorry for doing everything I possibly could to help you.”
Selene hitched her backpack over her shoulder and glared at the grass, unable to look at him anymore. “When you have reconsidered your words,” she said quietly, “I’ll be ready to accept your apology.”
She stalked away, and Griffin jumped up and stared after her retreating form, dumbfounded.
“Sheesh, Griff,” Ellie said, coming up behind him. “Could you have screwed that up worse?”
Griffin’s shoulders slumped. “Shouldn’t someone go after her?”
“Lila’s on it. Don’t worry. She’ll be able to calm her down.”
Griffin sighed and sank down to the bench. “I was just trying to patch things up with her.”
“I know.” Ellie sat down next to him. “But you did it by telling her that everything was all her fault, despite all she’d endured to protect us.”
Griffin frowned and shook his head. “That’s not what I meant, though.”
“Don’t tell me that. Tell her.”
Chapter 16
Thursday night, Selene was in her guest room at Hugh and Lucy’s house. She was studying on the bed, her history books strewn about, as Ramsey sat in a chair quizzing her on dates and names and events. Selene liked the red-haired firestarter. He was a bit intense, but she kind of liked that about him. Plus, being so serious meant she didn’t have to try to lighten up around him.
They’d stalled in their studying and were debating what it would’ve been like to be a human trying to protect a family during the plague or the Great Depression.
“So you’re telling me that you would steal?” Selene asked.
“To save my family, yes… There is nothing I wouldn’t do,” Ramsey replied and clasped his hands behind his head.
“What if you got caught? Then you wouldn’t be there to provide for them.”
“If my choice were between my family definitely dying because they had no food or possibly dying if I got caught, I’d take my chances.”
“I think th
at if the time actually came, you’d find decisions like that to be harder than you imagine,” Selene said.
“Oh, I don’t think they’d be easy. I’m just saying that my family comes first.” He paused a beat. “Did you know that I left my original family?”
Selene tapped her pencil on her notebook. “No. I’m still learning all your backgrounds. Except Ellie and Griffin, of course. I know all about them.” She tilted her head to him. “What happened?”
A small bitter grimace twisted his mouth. “You have to ask? I’m a firestarter.”
“But you have so much control over it,” she observed.
Ramsey leaned forward and placed his elbows on his knees, his bottle-green eyes serious. “That’s only recently. And with a lot of help from Ellie and Lila.”
“Who’d you inherit your gift from?”
“Through my mother’s side. But it skipped her generation. I think she assumed it would skip us as well. I was only six when things started happening.”
“Stuff would suddenly go up in flames when you were around?”
He nodded and leaned back in his chair. “Yeah. Luckily, we lived on the frontier. We were pretty isolated, so it was fairly easy to hide. When I was eight, my mother explained to me what was going on. Although she didn’t tell me everything at the time.”
“What happened?”
Ramsey’s mouth compressed and shadows filled his eyes. Selene reached forward to lay her hand over his. “You don’t have to talk about it if you don’t want to.”
Ramsey cleared his throat. “Two things happened around the same time. First, when I was ten, my mom discovered she was going to have a baby. And then I discovered my grandfather’s diary. It was through him that I’d inherited my power. And it turned out that he killed my grandmother. By accident, of course. He just couldn’t control his power and it got away from him.”
“I’m so sorry,” Selene murmured.
Ramsey frowned and nodded. “Thanks. Anyway,I knew I had to protect my family from that, especially—my new baby brother or sister—I had to protect them from me. So I left.”
“When you were only ten?!”
Ramsey gave her a pointed look. “You were only ten when your brother turned your world upside down. And he was only ten when he became King of the Vyusher. I did okay.”
Selene pictured how Ramsey’s life must’ve been. At least she’d had food and a roof over her head. Ramsey had not only had to fend for himself but wrestle with a power that was usually a death sentence. It was a miracle he’d survived at all.
“When did Lucy find you?”
“Ha. You’ve heard of that little trick of hers, huh?” Ramsey chuckled.
Selene smiled. “She’s used it on me, actually.”
He shook his head, his eyes lighting up fondly. “She didn’t find me until 1952. I’d been on my own for close to seventy years at that point. But if Ellie hadn’t come along, I would’ve had to leave them, too.”
“Hey! I heard my name. Not speaking ill of me I hope,” Ellie said as she walked into Selene’s room.
She was soon followed by Lila, who saw Ramsey’s and Selene’s clasped hands. She hid her expression quickly, but Selene still caught the sadness that flashed through her eyes.
“Never,” Selene answered Ellie as she sat back. “We wouldn’t dare. That dragon trick is just too intimidating.”
“Wait a minute…” Ellie held up a hand to Selene’s forehead. “Was that humor? Are you sure you feel all right?”
Selene grinned, her adorable dimples making a rare appearance. “I feel fine.”
“Great! Then you have no excuse. We’re going dancing tonight!” Ellie matched Selene’s smile with one of her own.
“No way! Count me out.” Selene held her hands up in front of her.
“Oh, come on, Selene,” Lila implored, hopping on the bed beside her. “It’ll be really fun. Even Ramsey’ll go.”
“Hey, Lily. I think I can speak for myself,” Ramsey replied, and she wrinkled her nose at him.
Selene gave Lila silent props. From watching Lila interact with Ramsey, no one would ever guess that she was in love with him.
“I’m really not in the mood for dancing tonight,” Selene insisted. “And I’m studying for finals.”
“Well, I’m afraid you don’t have a choice,” Ellie retorted with a mischievous grin.
Selene raised an eyebrow. “How’s that?”
“You know, since you’ve been around the family, I believe your true personality has really been coming out. You’re not as quiet as you’d have people believe.”
Selene merely shrugged. “I thought I’d explained that side of me was learned. Nurture versus nature so to speak.”
“Well, I like this sassy side of you,” Ellie declared.
“Hmmm… jury is still out for me,” Selene replied. “And I’m guessing that after our last meeting, your brother definitely isn’t so fond of it.” She looked down and absently flipped the pages of her notebook.
“You might find that Griffin isn’t as upset as you think,” Ellie said. “Anyway, Lucy, Hugh, Charlotte, and Dexter are all going out to dinner tonight. And the rest of us are going dancing. You can’t be on your own. So you’re going dancing.”
“I’ve seen what girls wear when they go out to the clubs,” Selene said. “I don’t have anything suitable.”
“You and I are about the same size,” Ellie answered immediately. “So that excuse won’t work, either.”
Adelaide appeared in the doorway. “As far as I can tell, you’ve done nothing but study since you came here. It’s time you had a little fun in your life.”
“Yeah,” Nate added as he snuggled his arm around Adelaide’s waist. “You deserve to boogie.” He dramatically shook his rear around, and everyone chuckled.
“Okay….” Selene threw up her hands. “I surrender. Dress me up, slap some makeup on me, and let’s get this party started.”
Chapter 17
Selene had never felt so self-conscious in her life. Lila had managed to talk her into wearing a tiny white skirt with a striking purple top, which looked modest enough from the front, but the back was nearly non-existent, only staying put because of a few well-placed strands that crisscrossed her shoulders. Thank goodness she had long hair.
She followed her friends into the club and could barely hear anything over the booming of the music. Somehow they’d managed to commandeer a table large enough for all of them. Once they sat down, Selene glanced around and noticed several appreciative stares. Alex, Ramsey, and Nate left to get drinks while she and the girls got settled.
“What do you think?” Adelaide yelled over the music.
“I don’t know yet. It’s too loud to think!” Selene shouted back.
“Well, let’s get you on the dance floor, girl!” Lila grabbed her hand and pulled her up.
Once on the dance floor, Selene carefully imitated what the other girls were doing. Apparently the goal was to either join with a group of girls, dancing as provocatively as you could, or to dance with a guy, in which case there was a lot more provocative movement going on, but directed at that particular guy. Selene found dancing to be incredibly liberating. The beat got into her blood, and after a while she was throwing aside her own ingrained inhibitions and wiggling her hips along with all the other girls on the floor.
Eventually the song changed, but she and the girls stayed out on the floor. Random guys came up to them, trying to get in close, but they’d just laugh them off and turn their backs each time. Sweat started to curl the hair at her temples, making Selene glad she’d worn so little clothing. Otherwise she’d be sweltering.
After a while she needed a break. She was sitting at the table sipping her ice water when a shiver of apprehension shimmied down her spine… followed by a sense of dread.
She casually turned her head to gaze around the club, pretending to be taking in the scene. But as far as she could tell, there was no one there who shouldn’t be there, or at least n
o one who seemed obviously put of place. Just throngs of club-goers lost in their own worlds, not paying attention to her at all.
Selene mentally scolded herself for her paranoia, but it was understandable. It was almost second nature after Gideon’s long reign and the years he’d spent watching every single thing she said and did.
She was just forcing her muscles to relax, when a large male hand landed in front of her on the table. “Wanna dance?” Griffin asked. His lips were so close to her ear, she could feel his breath stir her hair.
Selene hid her surprise as she gracefully rose from her chair and placed her hand in his, secretly reveling in the warmth and strength that radiated through that one small point of contact. Griffin followed her to the dance floor, as they threaded their way through people and tables. As they reached their destination, Griffin turned her to face him, then released her hand. Together they started moving, not touching, just dancing. Griffin didn’t move much at first, clearly a little uncomfortable with the public display. But his eyes never left her, and Selene couldn’t look away.
Something took over inside her, and she started dancing just for him. The more she moved, the hotter Griffin’s gaze became, until only the two of them were there, together in their own little world. Like when she visited him in his dreams. The people around them seemed to just fade away. As though he were unable to resist, Griffin stepped up to her and placed a hand at her hip. At the contact she stilled, and they stood for a moment, just looking at each other. Then they started moving. Together.
Their bodies pumped in a sensuous rhythm, not quite touching except where his hand remained on her hip. One of his knees slipped between her legs. The thump of the beat resonated in Selene’s blood. She closed her eyes, letting the sensations take over. Her arms slipped up through her hair, lifting the heavy mass off her sweating neck and then let it fall back down as her hands twisted in the air above her head.