I landed with a thud and froze as a light came on to the left of my bedroom window. It was the bathroom. I wasn’t sure who it was, but I knew he or she couldn’t see me. The wooden blinds were too thick. Still, if I made too much noise, their attention would be drawn outside. If he or she decided to glance through the slats, there was a chance they might see me. I chewed my bottom lip, debating whether I should wait or continue with lowering the window to keep out the cold and move on. I pulled my cell from my back pocket to check the time, letting time be my deciding factor. Four minutes was all I had left before I was supposed to meet Tristan at the end of my street.
I reached for the window and lowered it as quietly as I could, until only a few inches remained. The goal was to leave it open enough so I could easily slide it open when I got back. When I was satisfied, I crept to the front of the house, careful to avoid the living room windows. A light switching off at Paxton’s house across the street caught my attention. While I knew he wouldn’t rat me out, his parents might. This thought had my feet moving faster. I’d nearly made it to the sidewalk, when the front door to my place opened. I ducked behind the bushes lining our next door neighbor’s yard and peeked out to see who it was.
Liam stood beneath the soft glowing light of our porch. He placed a cigarette between his lips and reached into his pocket for a lighter. I hadn’t known he smoked, which was odd, considering how much he’d hung around lately. I watched him through the prickly leaves of the holly bush I was hiding behind as he lit his cigarette with shaky fingers. He crammed his lighter back into the front pocket of his jeans and retrieved his cell. A large puff of smoke snaked around his face as he texted someone. Now was my chance. I needed to bolt down the street as fast as I could while he was distracted.
Inhaling a deep breath, I launched myself forward and forced my legs to move faster than they ever had before. My ears strained to hear the telltale signs of him spotting me, but I refused to look back. When I didn’t hear anything, I assumed I must be in the clear. I didn’t stop running until I was nearly to the end of my street though. My heart slammed against my rib cage so hard, I thought it might pop out onto the sidewalk if I didn’t press my hand there to hold it in. I wasn’t sure if it was because I was that out of shape or if it was the thought of Jasper finding out I’d snuck out again. I decided it had to be a mixture of both. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d exercised. And then there were thoughts of Jasper nailing my bedroom window shut floating through my head.
I wanted to pause and catch my breath, to massage my chest and ease away the cramps of my racing heart, but knew I couldn’t. Worries Liam might leave the house and spot me had my feet moving forward again. I felt too exposed and knew I wouldn’t feel safe until I was sitting in Tristan’s car.
When I made it to the end of my street, Tristan was waiting. I wondered how long he’d been idling on the side of the street as I strolled to the passenger door.
“I thought I was going to have the cops called on me for sitting here so long,” he said as I opened the passenger door and slipped inside.
“You could have handled it.” I slammed his door shut by accident and glanced at him. “Oops.”
“Hey now, don’t go breaking my door.” He grinned, but I knew he was serious. I got the impression his car was his baby. It was clear in the way he took care of it.
I buckled up, ignoring his brief moment of irritation. “Where are you taking me?”
“It’s a secret.” He shifted into drive and pulled away from the curb.
I chuckled at the mysterious vibe he was trying to create. As my street disappeared behind us, relief trickled through me. The possibility of being caught had vanished. At least for now. I knew I’d still have to sneak back in, but it seemed a far easier feat than getting out.
I leaned my head against the seat and looked straight ahead. Anticipation pumped through me as I watched street after street pass by. I tried to guess where Tristan was taking me, but each time I thought I’d pinpointed a place, he turned down another street and blew my guess all to hell. When a Spinners song came on the radio, I focused on that instead, allowing myself to surrender to the ride.
Chapter 6
Tristan climbed up the rusty ladder of the abandoned building first. We were in a section of the city I’d only been to a handful of times.
“How did you find this place?” Curiosity rippled through me as I took in our surroundings. The place was slightly ghetto. While I’d never thought of Newvale as having a ghetto section, I did now. Broken windows, rusty fire escapes, crumbled brick, graffiti, and garbage. This place had it all.
“I like to go for drives sometimes.” He straddled the last rung at the top and jumped off the ladder onto the roof. “I found this place on one of them.”
“What do you do, drive by random buildings and park to get a better look?” My face scrunched up in confusion. I couldn’t imagine doing something so crazy, especially in a neighborhood like this one. Didn’t he have any fear? While I didn’t have many, hanging out in abandoned buildings was on the short list. Mainly because they seemed like the perfect place for vampires and demons to hang out.
“Something like that.” He grinned.
When I reached the top rung of the ladder, Tristan held out a hand to me. I didn’t take it. Instead, I jumped down, same as he had, landing beside him gracefully. His eyes locked with mine, and I noticed a glimmer of surprise flicker through them that made me smirk.
“So, what are we doing here?” I glanced around. There didn’t seem to be anything special about the place.
The colorful shards of broken beer bottles littered the roof, shimmering in the streetlamp above the gray door to my left. Gravel and dust caked the cement beneath my shoes. I wanted to know why we were here, and to understand what was so fascinating about the place.
“Taking in the sights. Relaxing,” he answered my question as he erased the space between us. The warmth of his body rushed to press against mine. “Spending time together,” he whispered in a low tone that caused my stomach to flip-flop.
My teeth sank into my bottom lip as I struggled to not glance his way. In order to remain in control of myself, I needed to keep my eyes off him. I stared out into the space before us. It wasn’t the best view I’d seen in my life, but I wasn’t about to say so. There was something here Tristan enjoyed, even if I couldn’t see it.
When his hands gripped my shoulders and he spun me to face the other direction, I didn’t resist. Instead, I melted into him as he pressed his body against mine during the gesture. Once I was able to focus on what he was showing me, my mouth fell open in shock.
The suburban portion of Newvale was stunning.
Somehow this building was right on the line between the city and the suburbs. Even though I lived in the more suburban area of the city, I’d never seen it from this angle before. It was a flattering one, one that made me appreciate my city’s outer beauty in a way I hadn’t before.
“Wow,” I breathed.
Tristan wrapped his arms around my waist, molding me against his body further. His chin rested against the crown of my head as he took in the same stunning view.
“Beautiful, isn’t it?” he whispered in my ear. Chill bumps erupted across my skin at the sensation of his warm breath tickling my ear.
My eyes trailed over the lit-up section of our city. Street lamps illuminated the snaking roads in a yellowish glow, creating pathways between the houses. Trees with twisted bare branches had been planted sporadically, seeming like eerie soldiers standing guard in the moonlight. Most of the houses were sleeping for the night, but there were a few lit up and alive still. I allowed my eyes to travel as far as they could, until everything seemed to taper off into nothingness as it came up to kiss the night sky. It reminded me of the ocean. The way standing before it could make me feel so tiny in comparison.
“It makes me feel small.” The words traveled past my lips without much thought.
Tristan squeezed me tighter
in his arms. His mouth dipped until it was pressed against my ear again. “Don’t. If anything, seeing this should make you feel alive.”
I listened to the liveliness in his tone and tried to feel what it was he felt when looking out at this spectacular view—fascination. It wasn’t there for me though.
“Limitless. Comforted. Hopeful,” he continued.
“Is that what it makes you feel?” I knew what his answer would be, but I still asked the stupid question anyway. Maybe it was because I hoped he would elaborate, that he would be able to change the way I felt about it, because the only sensations stemming from the view were ones that made me feel small.
It was as though the world was this larger-than-me thing and I was just now coming to realize it. The view reminded me how tiny my being was in comparison to the Earth. It reminded me how small minded my view of the place I lived was as well.
“Of course.” A breeze kicked up, pressing against my face and wiping strands of my long hair free from my bun.
Tristan released his grip on me and took a step back. My body became acutely aware of his absence. I shifted to see what he was doing. His arms were extended at his sides and his eyes were closed. His lips had twisted into a vibrant smile as his head tipped back. The breeze blew harder, ruffling his hair and causing his smile to grow. The soft glow of the lamp behind him lit his silhouette, outlining him in light and highlighting areas of his face in its reclined position. He looked at peace, as though the wind were a calming sedative.
“Put your arms out and tell me the wind up here doesn’t make you feel alive,” he insisted without opening his eyes.
I did as he asked, even though I knew I wouldn’t feel what he did. It took me only a second of standing there with my arms outstretched at my sides to understand why—Tristan was a dragon, and I wasn’t.
Somehow, he’d tapped deeper into his dragon side while up here. I remembered then about the spell Anna had performed, and I wondered if what he’d always felt while here was now amplified because of his connection to his tribe’s magic.
Jesus, I hoped he didn’t try to jump from the roof or something nuts like that.
The wind died down to a gentle caress as I kept my arms lifted, mimicking his stance. I knew the instant he opened his eyes to glance at me, because I could feel the warmth of his gaze trailing across my skin. I tipped my head back and allowed what was left of the breeze to blow through the flyaway hairs from my bun, still searching for a glimpse of the magic he’d found in the moment. Sadly, there still wasn’t anything there for me.
“Even though you’re not a dragon, you have to admit nature brushing against you feels good.” His words filtered to my ears laced with a passion I’d never heard him harbor before. He’d surprised me.
I blocked everything out and focused on the lingering sensation of the wind, the soft glow of the moonlight against my skin, and the chill of the night flooding my lungs with each breath.
It did feel good. Finally, I was able to tap into something. A smile tugged at the corners of my lips as I lost myself in nature.
“You’re beautiful, you know it?” Tristan said, startling me. He was closer than I’d remembered him being.
I opened my eyes as his hands moved to cup the sides of my face. When he leaned in, I knew what he was about to do and closed my eyes in preparation. The second his lips brushed mine, sparks shot through my lower stomach, heating my insides with a desire I’d only ever felt with him.
The kiss was over before I wanted it to be. Tristan pulled away, and I fought to keep my hands from reaching out for him and pulling him back to my lips.
“I brought something for us.” He walked to the dented gray door a few feet away. “I hope you like it.”
A fluttering feeling shifted through my stomach as I watched him. My brows pinched together as a small smile spread onto my face. He’d brought me something? This night kept getting better.
When Tristan opened the gray door and bent down to retrieve something, a rustling noise caught my attention. Even though I tried, I still couldn’t see what he was gathering. He closed the door and started back to where I was standing. That was when I spotted the grocery bag in his hands. Red letters spelled out the words thank you along the front of it. I knew what it was even before the wind carried the scent of food to my nose—something from Lucky Duck.
“I noticed the last few times you came to Lucky Duck you ordered the Chinese donuts and egg drop soup.” His face twisted into a boyish expression. I wondered if it was because he was nervous or a bit embarrassed at having admitted he’d been stalking me. “You might not even be hungry, but I figured a midnight snack is something everyone loves.”
“I could eat.” I shrugged.
“Good.” He set the bag he’d been holding on the concrete ledge before situating himself with his feet dangling off the side of the building. He patted the area beside him. “Come sit.”
I chewed my bottom lip, unsure if I could stomach being so close to the edge of the building. While I wasn’t afraid of heights, I wasn’t the type who tempted fate by sitting on the brink like that either.
“Are you scared, Piper?” A challenging glare shimmering in his eyes had my feet moving forward on their own accord.
“No,” I heard myself say once the tips of my shoes kissed the edge of the building.
“I wouldn’t let you fall. You know that, right?” Sincerity pooled through his words, causing my stomach to tighten and twist.
I knew he was telling the truth; Tristan cared for me. I cared for him too. In fact, there was a part of me that thought what I felt went deeper than that.
“There isn’t much you could do to save me,” I said, regretting every word, but I needed to break up the intimate moment we had fallen in. It made me feel vulnerable; something I didn’t like.
The light building in his eyes, the one that had infused such crazy thoughts to shift through my mind, faded. “There’s plenty I could do, even without magic.” He handed me a Styrofoam container of egg drop soup.
I took it, but couldn’t meet his eyes. I’d ruined the night’s promise with my stupid mouth. Tugging the lid off the cup, the scent of spices and broth wafted from within the container to my nose, causing my mouth to water. Maybe he would understand though. Heck, maybe he’d even expected something that harsh to come from my mouth. I reached for the plastic spoon he’d set on the ground between us and unwrapped it. Without hesitating, I tasted my soup. The flavors exploded across my tongue. My eyes closed as I fought to not moan. No matter what I’d been feeling seconds ago, everything had been remedied with one bite of soup.
“I’m glad you agreed to come out tonight,” Tristan said, interrupting my blissful moment. “This date is a hell of a lot better than the first.” There was humor in his tone. I knew it was because he was expecting me to deny this was a date like I had with the first one, but I couldn’t. I wouldn’t.
This was date number two and we both knew it. I wanted there to be more to us than him being my tutor, or the guy I was helping get his dragon magic back.
I wanted to be his girlfriend, and I wasn’t afraid to admit it anymore.
Chapter 7
It was after one in the morning. Tristan and I had been sitting on the roof of the rundown building for over an hour. I’d nearly finished my bowl of egg drop soup, and was scrounging for a topic of conversation. I knew I wouldn’t be able to handle the silence once I was finished. I was quick to dismiss general topics of discussion such as his favorite color and if he had any siblings. While I didn’t know the answer to those simple questions, I didn’t have a desire to know either. There was something superficial about them. Our relationship had already hit a deeper level than what those questions could offer. We’d shared secrets of magic and supernatural things, which meant a hell of a lot more than what his favorite color was.
“You’re thinking too hard over there,” Tristan said, breaking up my thoughts. “What about?”
I glanced at him. He t
ipped his cup of soup to his lips and finished off the remaining bit inside. His Adam’s apple bobbed with the swallow. “I was wondering what to say to you next. How to start up a topic of conversation after this long moment of silence we’ve both been comfortable in.” Embarrassment didn’t touch me as I said the words, because I knew he would understand. He would get it.
“Are we about to play twenty questions?” A small grin twisted the corners of his lips.
I shook my head. “I don’t think so. Learning your favorite color isn’t something that interests me. I’ve never cared about that sort of thing.”
I hadn’t. It didn’t tell you who the person was when you knew the answer. Sure, there were loads of personality quizzes that based half their value around a person’s favorite color or meal, or whether they were a night person, but I didn’t think those answers held any merit. The quizzes were only for fun.
“Not deep enough for you?” He arched a brow.
“Nope.”
Tristan set his empty soup cup beside him and reached inside the bag he’d brought for the container of sugar-crusted donuts. My mouth watered at the sight of their golden goodness. “So then ask me something real.” The way the words flowed past his lips did things to me. They were so controlled and matter of fact. They caused my insides to jump and twist with nerves.
What if he laughed at my questions or thought they were stupid?
“Well?” he prompted when too much time had passed, and I still hadn’t asked him anything.
“I’m thinking.”
“It’s not hard,” he said with a chuckle. “Want me to go first?”
Relief trickled through me. “Sure.”
His eyes locked on mine, and the gray of them sucked me in. His gaze was intense in a way I’d never known it to be before. The second he asked his question, I realized why. “Have you ever been in love?”
I couldn’t breathe. What kind of question was that? I couldn’t give him an answer, because either way I was doomed. It was entirely too soon for me to admit where my feelings for him were, even to myself, but if I told him no, he’d be hurt.
Of Breath And Soul Page 4