CRYSTALLUM (The Primordial Principles Book 1)

by McMann, Laney

  Her heart hammered. "Do what?"

  "Any of that." He glanced toward his shirt lying beside them, his bare chest, and her hands holding his hips against hers.

  "You didn't like it?"

  His breath rushed out, and he was kissing her again, hard. His hips pressed against hers with sheer hunger. Kade gasped, clinging to his shoulders, and Cole's hand found the hem of her shirt again, fingers grazing her bare stomach, over her rib cage. Her back arched, and Cole moaned against her mouth, fingers climbing higher, lifting her shirt.

  Kade raised her arms over her head, and Cole's breathing went into overdrive, as he pulled the shirt off. Red light bloomed around the outline of his body, and filled the bedroom with a luminous glow. Crackling energy flooded the space, heavy and intoxicating. The air moved around them, sizzling.

  He kissed her neck, her collar bone. "You are so beautiful." He groaned and pulled away. "But with you, I actually am this virtuous." Cole pushed off of her in one swift motion, and landed on his feet next to the bed, the red light around his body disappearing. "I want you. Only you. And that means I want to do this the right way. I will do this the right way."

  Kade gazed at him, standing in nothing but his jeans. He took her breath away, and she swore the more he talked, the more she liked what she heard. Rolling over onto her stomach, she beckoned him forward with her finger.

  He shook his head slowly, gazing with hungry, black eyes. "If you keep looking at me like that, my virtue is going to disappear like smoke on the wind."

  With a chuckle, she sat up, and leaned back on her hands, but he was still staring, not moving, breathing heavily.

  "Did you really have to take your shirt off?" His gaze roamed all over her bare skin. "That's kind of not playing fair."

  "You helped." She grinned.

  Cole opened his mouth, but closed it again.

  She grinned wider. "Your shirt is off."

  "Not even close to the same thing." His broad chest rose and fell with hard breaths.

  "You saw me in a bathing suit. That's way more revealing than this." She pointed at her pink demi bra, covered in mini white polka dots, and her jeans, sitting low on her hips.

  He shook his head, still staring. "Again, not even close to the same thing."

  Kade stood and wrapped her arms around his waist, their bare skin touching. "I wish you could see your face."

  "Not helping me, Kade." Cole reached behind her, grabbed her shirt off the bed, and pulled it over her head and arms like a sock. "Better." He smiled.

  "You really are virtuous."

  "No, that's the thing, I'm really not." Cole pulled his shirt on. "But I want to be." He stepped forward and lifted her chin, gazing down at her. "I want to be with you."

  Her whole body warmed. He was truly amazing. "Can we stalk something now?"

  He laughed and kissed her forehead. "Yes. We can stalk something now."

  23

  AFTER PUTTING ON THEIR COATS, they made their way toward the trail at the side of Kade's house. The trees lining the valley remained twisted and broken, half of them uprooted and leaning on top of each other from the run with Dracon and Cole so many nights ago. Cole's strength, to knock trees over, Kadence thought, had to be immense.

  "Okay." He held her hand as they stood at the top of the snow covered hill. "First things first. All Primordial have territories, sections of land that we monitor. They’re called our posts. Primeva do the same thing.”

  “Okay.”

  “When we do our rounds, we need to make sure everything is all clear. Which means, safe, no threats.”

  "I know what all clear means."

  He grinned. "In order to do that, we need to make a sweep of the woods around your house."

  "A sweep," she repeated.

  "That means we need to run it. The surrounding area. Normally, I would go one way and you would go the other to make it faster, but that's not happening." He pulled her against his side. "We'll run together. Have you run through woods before?"

  She eyed him. Stupid question.

  "Okay. Have you mastered the art of not hitting trees at top speed?"

  She gave him the same look. "Did you miss the, 'I've been running from the Shadows all my life' part of the conversation we had?"

  He kissed her forehead. ”Have I told you how much I love that smart ass mouth?"

  She nudged him with her hip. "I love yours, too."

  "Okay, so, we're just going to run a route for the all clear. You follow me. Stay next to me." He let go of her hand and leaned forward like he was about to pounce. "Remember I told you I was fast?"

  She nodded.

  "Keep up." Cole took off. Like lightning. Nothing but a red blur through the trees. Kade followed, quick on his heels.

  He led them around the clearing beside her house, into an adjacent valley she didn't know existed, and across another stretch of forest before she came up beside him, keeping his pace with no problem. He smiled and swerved back the way they came, before finally slowing near her backyard. Kade flew past him, unable to slow herself down as well as he could. His arms wrapped around her from behind bringing her to a quick stop.

  "Very fast," he said against her neck, only a little bit out of breath. "But you have to learn to stop just as fast. I can teach you."

  She tried to catch her breath.

  "I've never met anyone as fast as I am," Cole said with awe. "Danny hates it. Wait until I tell him what you can do."

  Kade still couldn't breathe well enough to talk, so she nodded with a grin.

  "We're all clear in case you were wondering. No Kyle."

  "For now." She heaved a breath.

  "For now."

  A car door shut in the distance.

  "Oh, my god." Kade's eyes went wild. "My dad's home."

  "Is he really that bad? You act like he's a tyrant."

  "No, he’s just strict." She pushed Cole backwards, toward the trees. "You can't, you can't be here. You have to...hide, or go home. You can't be here. He'll ban me from seeing you, from ever leaving the house." Tears welled up in her eyes. "He could make us move again. I couldn't, you don't understand, Cole, I can't move again." Tears streamed down her face as she pushed him, but he wasn't budging. A choke broke through her words as she started to cry. "You have to go. Please."

  "Whoa, whoa, Sparrow, baby." Cole held her cheeks. "Don't cry. Please, don't cry. I won't let any of that happen." He cleared her tears. "Do you hear me? I won't."

  "How?" She stared up at him. "My dad thinks I don't know anything about anything. Not about you, or falling in the snow, or being at the Kinship. He hasn't said one word about it, and neither have I, because that's the way he wants it. To act like everything is fine. Normal. That's the rule, Cole. We don't talk about anything that really matters."

  He reached for her hand and squeezed before letting go. "Trust me."

  She gazed up at him, believing him, wanting to believe him.

  "Clear your tears, this needs to go smoothly."

  They rounded the side of the house, and Kade heard her dad's voice from inside and hastily wiped her eyes.

  "Kadey? Whose Jeep is in the driveway?" The sound of feet pounded up and back down the staircase. "Kadence?"

  The front door was wide open. "I'm right here, Dad. Sorry."

  Her dad's gaze shifted toward the front porch, and from Kade to Cole. A glare set in the hard lines across his forehead and around his mouth.

  "Sir." Cole stepped forward, his hand outstretched. "I apologize if we alarmed you. I'm Cole Spires."

  Her dad's expression softened slightly, and to Kade's shock, he shook Cole's hand. "Mr. Spires?"

  "Yes, sir. If we could speak privately?" He glanced at Kade.

  "Kadey, I'm sure you have some homework you need to do?" Her dad lifted a brow, and Kade went in the house. Her dad closed the front door behind her.

  She listened from the stairs.

  "I should have introduced myself sooner than today," Cole said. "We've had
quite a lot to attend to within the Ward. Forgive my delinquency."

  Delinquency? What the hell is he talking like that for?

  "Well, I appreciate that. As well as your help with Kadence last week," her dad said. "This is all very new for Kadey, so I'm trying to take it slow."

  "Understandable. I was simply in the right place at the right time and pleased I could help."

  "The Warden contacted me earlier. One of your own has turned?"

  "A member of the Kinship, sir. Kyle Jacobs. Our watch over Kadence will continue until he's found. Fledglings are always at risk in these situations."

  "I appreciate that. It's been a very long time since I had dealings with the Ward."

  Kade wondered if her dad had been hit in the head by a very large, possibly very heavy, object while he was at work.

  "I'll be in the area if you need anything or notice anything suspicious."

  "Of course," her dad said. "You're the Alpha of the Brotherhood, I believe the doctor told me a few days ago?"

  "Correct, sir. Danny Roberts is my Beta. He'll be checking in as well."

  "And what about Jake Phillips?"

  "He's doing rounds within the Kinship confines since Kyle was a member of his house. We have a protocol to follow per the Warden."

  "And he assigned you to Kadence? The Warden?"

  "Yes, sir. Myself and Danny, sir." Cole reached out his hand again. "It was a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Sparrow."

  "And you." Her dad shook Cole's hand.

  Cole glanced toward the living room window, expression blank and professional, and turned away, walking down the front steps to his Jeep.

  ***

  Sleep came slowly again that night. Kade couldn't get comfortable. It was too dark. Too ... something. Rolling out of bed, she cracked the window blinds, allowing bits of moonlight to spill onto her floor, and climbed back under the blankets. They smelled like fire and sweet cotton, and she wished Cole was next to her, that he could have given her a proper goodbye before he left, but he had kept his word. Everything had been fine with him being at her house. Her dad barely mentioned it after he left.

  Kade's gaze stayed trained on the sliver of white moon visible through the cracks in her blinds, but her mind was racing, going over everything that had happened. It was hard to take in. Her life had changed dramatically in ways she never thought possible.

  With a deep breath, her eyes closed and opened again. Snow covered tree branches reached toward her bedroom window, hoping to find sunlight during daylight hours. They would find none in Boulder. It had remained gray and gloomy since the day she moved. She missed the sun, warmth, summertime. Maybe when high school was over she and Cole could go to a lake somewhere. The idea made her smile.

  A spattering of snow fell from the limb she was focused on, tiny white specks contrasting the black night, and a bird moved on the branch, clearly visible under the moonlight. It sat silently, like a sentinel.

  The falcon.

  ***

  Giselle sat at Lindsey's bedside. Thatcher had finally left the bedroom, her crazy ass hair sticking out in every direction like she'd been hit with a Tazer gun, her nightgown disheveled. She'd finally given up her argument that Lindsey needed sleep, not company.

  Exhausted, Giselle sighed, thankful that Lindsey's injuries had been minor like Cole had said. She'd been in the back of the abandoned coal mine shaft when it collapsed. One of the massive wooden beams underground had fallen on top of her. Two other kids from the Kinship had minor injuries as well. Cuts and scratches dotted Lindsey's face, and her shoulder was in a sling. She was very lucky, the doctor had said. Giselle tried not to think about what could have happened.

  She leaned back in the desk chair, propping her feet up on the side of the bed. It had to be close to midnight, but she had no intention of going back to her own room, and if Thatcher came back in arguing with her about it again, it wouldn't end well. With all her talk about feelings and superstition, Giselle figured Thatcher knew something was going on between her and Lindsey. Normally, that would have bothered her, scared her, but not while Lindsey was injured.

  Giselle rested her head against the back of the chair and closed her eyes. There were worse ways to sleep, she thought. But being next to the person you loved, even if you were all the way across the room from them, staring at them while they slept, or sitting up in a chair next to them with your feet resting near theirs, wasn't so bad of a way.

  In fact, she'd never been more comfortable in her entire life.

  ***

  Jake still wasn't back at school by Tuesday, and Kade was beginning to worry, not that she could tell Cole that.

  "G?" she asked, as they walked to first period. "Is Jake okay? I haven't seen him at school."

  "He's fine. Just keeping watch outside the Eureka mine."

  "Oh. Okay."

  Giselle put a hand on Kade's shoulder. "This is what we do. And don't forget, Jake is the Alpha of the Kinship. He knows what he's doing just as much as Cole does."

  "Right." She'd actually forgotten that. "I just...you know."

  "You're worried. Jake's a good guy. You don't need to feel guilty for being worried about him just because he and Cole hate each other."

  "It's not just that. I never got to apologize for walking out on him at the dance." It was true. No matter how great things were with Cole, it had been eating at her.

  "He understands," Giselle said. "I explained it to him."

  "How?"

  "You're a fledgling, Kade." She smiled. "Remember the whole volare thing?"

  "Oh, yeah." She gave a sheepish grin.

  "It's normal for fledglings to fly off the handle. Jake doesn't blame you, and truthfully, I'm not sure that's what's on his mind. Kyle was his third in command. He was Jake's responsibility."

  "Oh...god."

  "Yeah. The Warden isn't happy from what I hear, so Jake has a lot to prove." Giselle sat at her desk. "I doubt you're even on his radar."

  Cole strode into American History and brushed against Kade as he passed. She breathed in the smell of his clothes.

  Giselle laughed. "You really have it bad, too."

  She eyed Cole with a grin. "I really do."

  ***

  Everything seemed to be moving in slow motion. Like waiting for the ball to drop on New Year's Eve. Cole kept checking the clock, but it never seemed to move. For the first time in his life, he wasn't out searching for the enemy or investigating a Hive, and he was itching to be involved. Itching to find Kyle. He wanted to be the one who found him, not anyone else. Him. He owed him three times over. Once for scratching Kade's cheek, another for enclosing Cole in a Sheol gate, and the last, and most important, for hunting Kade.

  Cole had warned him that if he ever touched, spoke, or came near Kade again, it would be the last thing he ever did. When he found Kyle, his life would be over.

  ***

  "So, I thought we could mix up the 'watch' thing today and take a drive," Cole said after school.

  "Sure. Okay." Kade nodded.

  "You could get some training in?" He eyed her. "Maybe race a little bit? Show you some other things we can do? Start your training before you move into the common house.”

  "That works." Kade wanted to do exactly that. Learn more. Get trained and become a part of something for once in her life.

  Cole took a right onto a dirt road a few miles past the high school. The road was riddled in giant boulders and it was slow going as they crept up the mountain.

  "Are we going to the top?" Kade asked, an ominous feeling prickling up her spine.

  "Close." Cole pulled the Jeep off the side of the road and got out.

  "This is where you wanted to come?" Nothing but the top of the mountain loomed over them.

  "Yep. This is where we need to start training." He grinned.

  "I've seen lots of mountains. Too many to be honest, so I'm not sure what this has to do with racing?" Kade stood next to him.

  "Don't take this the wrong way," h
e said, leading her up a rocky path. "But sometimes you remind me of Giselle."

  "Uh. That's not very nice."

  He laughed. ”To who? You or her?"

  Kade chose not to answer the question. "Is it close? Where we need to go?"

  Cole came to a sharp stop on the edge of a cliff, a deep gorge hundreds of feet below. Kade swayed slightly, looking down, an ominous sensation grabbing her hard and taking her breath away. She knew it wasn't the same place, couldn't be, but it looked exactly like—

  "Sparrow?" Cole squeezed her hand. "You don't like it?"

  She stared at the snow-covered tree tops hundreds of feet below and wanted to scoot her feet back, grab hold of a tree limb to steady herself, but she was nowhere near the edge.

  “I…I thought you'd like it. You seemed to love the view from the Kinship. You remember it, don't you? Out the dining room window?" Cole sounded sad, like she'd ruined the plan he had.

  "No, I...it's not that."

  "You're not afraid of heights?" His voice pitched as if being afraid of heights was a very bad thing.

  "A little," she confessed. "Cole." She stared at him, tearing her gaze off the gorge. "Remember when I told you that Dracon used to come to me when I was younger sometimes?"

  "Yes." The clip in his tone wasn't masked.

  "Well, once, he..." Kade glanced at the trees below again.

  "Once he what?" His jaw hardened.

  "He found me when I was probably six years old, and the Shadows, they were chasing me through the woods outside my house in Utah. There was an abandoned church that I used to play in sometimes."

  His eyes widened. "Utah?"

  "I used to live in Salt Lake City, twice, actually, and I would make forts in the balcony of the abandoned church, and just, you know, use it like my own playhouse. I thought it was safe." She continued to stare into the ravine. "That a church would be the safest place to be, and that Dracon wouldn't find me there, in a holy place, but he did one day, and the Shadows, they chased me to the edge of a cliff.”