I felt like a worn ball being tossed in a game of keep away. Sebastian held me though and said. “You can’t.”
Flynn huffed. “The hell I can’t. You aren’t my keeper.” I couldn’t stop myself from thinking a recalcitrant Flynn is not something we needed. Damn SAT words crept in my mind like lice. I couldn’t get rid of them no matter my trouble.
“You risked Kayla’s life,” Sebastian said. I craned my neck from Sebastian’s chest. I wanted to see Flynn’s reaction. But he just stood there as if he may not care about my life. “You also will be in danger because of your knowledge of her as well,” Sebastian added.
Flynn’s self preservation kicked in. “Fine,” Flynn said.
He didn’t look happy and I was left wondering who I had left. Luke wasn’t speaking to me and I wasn’t sure I’d even see him again. Flynn was also through with me. I felt like crap, like maybe my life was just messing everyone else’s up. Would Maggie be a possible werewolf if I weren’t around? Would Paul have continued to date Amber and knocked her up if I’d never crossed his path. I was a cancer of sorts and wondered if everybody would be better off if I was the one to disappear.
To say that the car ride home was awkward was an understatement. Once we crossed the invisible boundary that secured the school, Nina came running up.
“Are you ok?” she said to me. It was so strange with her being nice to me.
I pushed away from her discomfited embrace. If she needed reassurance, I couldn’t give it to her. “I’m fine,” I said.
“I felt your struggles and I was so worried you’d been hurt,” she said. Her face actually looked concerned.
“If you were so worried, why didn’t you come save her,” barked Flynn. My head whipped over to look at him. But he looked away from me and walked on by to the car. For the barest of moments, I just thought that maybe. However, his protective comment most likely was a result of him being upset at having to leave with me.
When Flynn got in the driver’s seat of the car, no one said anything. His demeanor suggested that he should be given a wide birth. I stopped, unsure where to sit. Sebastian’s hand touched the small of my back and gently moved me forward. Nina looked like a deer with a rifle pointed at her. We moved past her still form and continued to the car.
Sebastian whispered in my ear before he opened the door for me. “Let him be. He’ll get over it.”
His words only reminded me of Flynn and the few times he was there for me when Luke got pissed. It did nothing to calm my nerves.
Sitting in the back behind Flynn and next to Nina was how we drove home. Sebastian filled in Nina with what went down and Flynn and I stayed silent. We made a stop for food and someone ordered something for me which was passed my way. I felt so numb. Everything was just so wrong and out of control. I wanted to ask Sebastian about why he was hunting me or maybe why he was protecting me. But I knew he wouldn’t answer. He wouldn’t reveal himself. I had a better shot if I asked him alone. I needed to know if demons would be coming after him now too. Why was I so freaking special?
Not soon enough, I began to recognize my surroundings. I knew we would be home soon. Maybe like an hour at most. Turning to Nina, I said, “I need to know how to save Luke.” I heard the pleading in my voice. Flynn must have heard to because he turned off the radio.
“Yeah, angel girl. I need to save my best friend.”
Sebastian kept his face neutral and faced forward. It was obvious he knew something. With his impressive display at the school, he was much more than we all thought. He had the answer.
“I told you. I can’t tell you. It’s against the rules. And even if I did put my wings on the line for you, you couldn’t get to him,” she confessed.
“Bullshit, Nina,” I spat. “If love him just as much as I do, your wings would be on the line for him.” I was agitated. I needed to do something good. There was no way I could sit at home and wait to find out if Luke was okay.
Heads turned at my display of cursing. I didn’t often do it, saving it for the right moments. “I told you,” she said again.
“Whatever,” I said cutting her off. I twisted in my seat to lean my head on the window and look out at the landscape. My plan now would be to corner Sebastian once we got home. He had answers. Hell, I was certain he could answer every one of my questions including ones about myself.
Nothing could have surprised me more than when Sebastian said, “There may be a way.”
That got Flynn’s attention. He pulled over to the shoulder of the highway. We all stared at Sebastian. Nina’s eyes were as big as saucers, but she said nothing. “I can’t take you to him even though I’m pretty sure I know where he is,” Sebastian began.
“But,” I said.
“It’s kind of like the reason why Luke couldn’t save you from hell even though he wanted, but I could,” Sebastian said. “But, there are those not of this world or its rules. Those who live among us almost like aliens.”
Now my eyes widened. “There are aliens,” I said.
Sebastian laughed. “That’s not what I meant. There are creatures who don’t obey the laws of heaven or hell. They have their own set of rules and generally stay out of the business of either side.”
No one spoke. Time seemed to stand still waiting for his next words. I didn’t dare breath for fear he would clam up. “The fae or the elves could take you to them if you were able to convince them to do so.”
Fae or fairies, was he serious. Elves like the Keebler kind. I mean I like their cookies, but was he for real. I have to remind myself that I’m not quite human. There are other creatures that walk among humans including myself. But I’d grown up believing I was human, so it always took me by surprise to learn that certain fairytale creatures were real.
“Sebastian, you really shouldn’t,” Nina began.
“Shut up, Nina. She should know. You don’t want her to save him because you can’t,” Sebastian said. How could I not trust Sebastian? Despite what I learned, he’d always supported me and took care of me. This only confirmed it.
“So where do I find one,” I announced, suddenly feeling that things could get better.
Chapter Twenty Five
reprove (v.) to scold, rebuke
It shouldn’t have been a shock really when the names left Sebastian’s lips. I had suspected something was up with those two for a while now. Nobody could be so inhumanly perfect.
“Jay and Kathy,” Sebastian said. Nina’s eyes grew wide like he’d spoken a curse. Flynn didn’t look at all surprised either. But I was still shaken that by the news.
“Is our school filled with supernatural beings?” I asked.
Nobody turned towards me. All eyes remained on Sebastian as if he was the key to all the knowledge in the universe. His eyes however were focused solely on me as if I was the only one in the car. “Kayla, your little human mind couldn’t imagine what walks amongst you and the rest of the world.”
Shuddering, I held a breath for a moment as my mind wrapped around his words. We were not alone, I thought. It sounded like something from a science fiction movie even said only in my head. My emotions all over the place in a whirlwind were easily shifted. And something in me snapped at the tone of his words. It felt like he was mocking me like I was stupid and inconsequential. The words shot out of me like rainforest downpour. “I may be naive, but I don’t lead people on like you do with Rune. And you sit there knowing you are hunting me like a fox and I’m a sheep. You can stop it with the games and just tell me what you want from me,” I yelled filling the car with my rage.
Sebastian was so focused on me, he didn’t notice when Flynn lunged at him from the driver’s seat. Flynn had him by the throat as Nina gasped. Some guardian she turned out to be. Before Flynn’s fist could connect with the guy's face, he did the disappearing act. All too soon, he appeared practically in my lap seconds before he faded us out of existence.
When my feet hit solid ground, I didn’t bother to check my surroundings. I pushed Sebastian o
ff me. He’d been holding me in order to transport me. Vampire power still must course through my veins because he stumbled back a few steps.
“How dare you?” I bellowed. I noticed a few houses by this point but I could have cared less if anyone heard me. I was on auto rage mode. “You stay the hell away from me.” I stared him down like I had a change in hell at beating him. Pushing a wayward strand of hair behind my ear, I waited for the lies that were surely coming.
He stood his ground and the ice that froze in his eyes didn’t bother me in the least. “I don’t have time for your little tirade.”
“You need to either get away from me or tell me what the hell is going on!” I shouted.
“Why can’t you go back to being the docile little human you used to be?”
I laughed. But it wasn’t a good one. It was filled with the lethal fury that rolled off me in waves. “That girl died,” I roared. “Now it’s me you have to deal with.” It was a promise I was willing to keep and one with my vampire power I thought I could make good on.
“Your wake up call is poorly timed,” he said in a deadly calm. “You need to clean up your messes.”
“Messes,” I barked while I enhanced my anger with disdain.
He nodded. Still his gaze never left mine. “Luke,” he warned. “And Paul,” he added while pointing to the house we stood in front of.
My guilt had me clamming up. I felt somehow responsible for Luke’s situation.
“I didn’t force Paul to sleep with Amber and get her pregnant,” I said.
It was his turn to laugh. “You know absolutely nothing don’t you.”
“That’s an understatement if I ever heard one. You certainly haven’t taken the time to enlighten me about things,” I declared.
Moving forward, he closed the distance between us. “Let me tell you lass,” he began, laying the Scottish accent on thick. “Your kiss can be deadly. It also can be addictive.”
Addictive. I thought about Luke and Flynn. “No, it doesn’t work on supernaturals,” he said, looking in my eyes and possibly reading my thoughts. “And thank the living stars you’re still a virgin or we may have piles of dead bodies in this town.”
Okay, I didn’t like that he implied that if I wasn’t a virgin, I’d be a slut. Continuing, he said, “Unlike a full succubus, you don’t wield your power to claim the souls of man. But all the same, your beauty is alluring and your kiss keeps them wanting.”
I wasn’t sure how I kept standing. This was the kind of information my dear mother hadn’t shared with me. At the same time, my knees felt weak thinking what I was capable of or worse yet, what I’d done to Paul.
“At sunset, that human boyfriend of yours -” he said.
“He’s not my boyfriend,” I interjected.
He laughed wickedly. “Well, it’s easier to say boyfriend, lass, than to try to keep all their names straight.”
I lunged, “You bastard.” He easily caught my hands despite my extra power and held me at bay.
“We can argue over semantics at some other time. The light is leaving the sky and Paul will complete the circle. At which time, he will have either failed or succeed at containing a demon. Neither prospect is good. If the demon is loose, it will kill anything in its path if it chooses. Worse, Paul will succeed and his limited knowledge at bargaining with a demon will have dire consequence on more than just himself.”
My fighting stance relaxed. I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. “What does he want from the demon?” I asked.
He let loose my hands. I guess he figured I was no longer a danger. “You, of course. He wants to find a way to be with you because he knows you will never chose him if he’s human.”
Remembering the conversation we’d had previously in the car, I still couldn’t accept this. “That’s just stupid. My kiss did all that?” I asked.
He nodded. “His feelings for you only enhanced the pull you have over him. If he didn’t already love you, I doubt he would go to this extreme without at least going further than first base.”
I felt ill and not even from the creepy factor that Sebastian was well versed in my non-sex life. “What do I do?”
“Stop him. You may be the only one he will listen to.”
That sounded all too familiar. Hadn’t he just said that to me about Flynn?
“Go,” he commanded and then sound rushed around me with Sebastian’s mist quickly leaving this earth. Apparently, we’d been in some kind of bubble. I should have noticed that in this quiet neighborhood, no one had come out to investigate the shouting.
Heading for Paul’s front door on shaking legs, I managed to ring the doorbell. The weight of all my problems finally caught up with me. I collapsed on the porch into heaving sobs. I didn’t know how I would fix all the problems. I thought Paul understood. I was sure him seeing me with Luke again would be conformation enough where things stood between us.
Hands on my shoulder brought me out of my misery. I hadn’t heard the door open. Paul’s mother’s words finally penetrated. “Mercy, dear, what’s wrong?”
How could I possibly answer that question? I’m sorry your son wants to end his human life to be with me. That would go over well after they locked me in a padded cell waiting for my mom to get back from her honeymoon. I heard her shout back into the house calling Paul to the front door. His running footsteps did nothing to stop my tears. I didn’t know what to say, but I was certain how things would end and they wouldn’t be good.
Paul was surprisingly strong. He scooped me up in his arms muttering to his mother he would handle it and she didn’t have to call my mom. He carried me up the stairs and to his room. When he sat me on the soft cover on his bed, he pried my hands that covered my face.
Opening my eyes, I was able to see the pentagram on the floor. That visual was enough to dry my tears and open my mouth. “What the hell are you doing?” I cried wiping my face with the back of my arm.
Hurt was the first expression that crossed his face. But that was quickly replaced by a flash of anger displayed in the narrowing of his eyes. I jumped to my feet gesturing wildly at the pentagram on the floor. The white chalk outline stood out stark against the deep chocolate of his hardwood floors.
This wasn’t the first time I’d been in his room. But everything pushed back to leave a large part of the floor empty for this abomination disturbed me. “How could you be so stupid?” I yelled, not caring if anyone in the house heard.
His face quickly morphed back to hurt. “Stupid, how about you being so stupid you can’t see what you have right in front of your face,” he spat.
Closing my mouth was the easiest of options. There wasn’t room for arguments. I needed to end this tragedy before it began. Swallowing nothing but empty words, I couldn’t make myself say them to make him feel better. I moved around him about to kneel to break the circle with my hands. But I never made it. His arms encircled my waist and spun me around to face him. “Why him, I loved you first?” he asked.
His blue gray eyes filled with storms that soon looked as though they would spill a downpour of sorrow I couldn’t heal. “It’s too late,” I barely whispered.
“This can fix the reasons we can’t be together,” he said taking one hand from my waist to sweep towards the circle that enclosed a five pointed star.
“Have you lost your mind,” I reproved more calmly that I thought possible. “You think becoming inhuman is going to make me want you more?” I asked.
He let me go then but didn’t move from in front of me. “I felt the way you kissed me Valentine’s night.”
That had been his doing. I was caught up in the rush from his life force. Quickly, I looked away from him feeling guilty. “You’re going to be a father now. You’ll be the one to reprove your child from doing stupid things. Don’t be this stupid.” I said softly, using my first line of defense.
Shame was all over his face when I turned to meet is stare. “So this is why you went back to him,” he said matching my quiet tone.
I couldn’t hide behind that. It may be true that he was going to be a father but that wasn’t the real reason even though it was a compelling one. “No, that’s not the real reason,” I spoke carefully. The sun was dipping preciously close to the horizon. “It was always him.”
“Then why did you bother to come that night,” he said, temper filling his voice making it rise again.
Unable to meet the contempt in his gaze, I looked away. “I needed to know,” I said honestly. He’d been my best friend what seemed like eons ago. I’d never lied to him and I would start now. “Look, when I loved you, you didn’t love me enough to overcome what I am. So how dare you look at me this way,” I said anger filling me again. “I don’t have time for this,” I said and bent down to break the circle.
Waiting for Mercy (Cambions) Page 26