Slowly, I reached out, gently touching his arm. His skin was hot, and instantly turned to silver under my fingers. I drug my hand up his shoulder, then carefully across his bare chest. The silver followed me wherever I went, never letting me touch his human skin. It reminded me of those cursors on people’s Myspace pages, the ones with the little trail of stars or dust that followed your mouse around the screen, never letting it settle on the actual page. The covering continued to spread over every skin cell as my palm trailed up his neck. It flourished over his cheek like a living tattoo, only thicker. Harder and shinier.
“You are by far the most amazing thing I’ve ever seen,” I whispered.
He didn’t respond. He didn’t even appear to be breathing.
I withdrew my hand from his silver cheek, stepping back a foot or two to admire his wings. Stretching up on my tiptoes, with careful hands I pressed into his feathers. For looking like metal, they were the softest substance I’d ever felt. Smoother than human skin, but not velvety like rabbit fur, either. It was indescribable.
“Can you feel that?” I asked in awe.
He took a slow breath. “Yeah.”
Each feather was weighty, like seal skin. It totally degraded the phrase, light as a feather. There was a hole in one of the beautiful rows that I carefully prodded it. “You’re missing one.”
He snorted, his breath hitting my neck. “If you hadn’t have been snooping around the woods, I might still have it.”
“What?” I giggled, petting two large feathers from the other wing. There were none missing there.
“I was coming back from a scan in the woods, looking for Adrian. I was, well, this when I saw you coming and I didn’t have time to hide the wings, so I dodged behind a nearby tree. I hit a branch, though. Ripped the damn thing out.” Despite his tone, he smiled.
I tugged on the feathers. They seemed pretty sturdy, content where they were. “I bet that hurt,” I muttered, feeling bad for snooping.
“Yeah. It kind of feels like a really big paper cut.”
I bared my teeth. I hated paper cuts. “So wait… you were the one that nailed me with the pinecone then!”
He laughed. “Yeah. But only to keep you from touching the blood on the feather… that would’ve ended in disaster.”
I nodded, not really paying attention to his words. We went silent as I continued to feel his wings up, not a care to whether or not I was annoying him.
“This was why, you know,” he whispered after a while.
“Why, what?”
“Why I was so vicious with you that first day at the shop.” He pulled my hands away from his wings, careful not to harpoon me with his mile-long talons. He went to let go, but my fingers curled around his.
“I don’t understand,” I said. “You were mean to me because, what? You’re not all human?”
He stared at our hands, silver flesh and talons against tan flesh and green nail polish. The abnormal with the normal.
“Yes… and besides the fact that I thought someone like you—the gorgeous LA girl—would never accept something like me, I couldn’t bare the idea of hurting another person.”
“You still lost me. Another person?”
“In Arizona… when Adrian broke in.” His gaze floated towards the window. “He didn’t kill Harvey.”
I stiffened, my heart choking. Oh no. “Ok. Who did, then?”
He closed his eyes. I inhaled sharply as his hands became human again, his talons retracting like cat claws. His human fingers weaved through mine, bringing our hands up in front of his chest.
He turned his wrists over. “Look. What do you see?”
I tilted my head, squinting through the dim light. At first glance, I had no clue what I was looking at. It was a minute before I realized there were veins running through his wrists, but they weren’t blue like everyone else’s.
They were black as ink.
“Holy smoke.” I gaped. “Oh my—what’s up with your blood?”
“Besides it being black? It’s contaminated.”
“It’s what?”
“Thanks to Adrian, my blood is completely toxic to a mortal body. Faerie venom is a vicious substance, though it does fade to red outside the veins, becomes normal eventually.” He ran his thumb along the back of my hand, sending chills up my arm. “But just a few drops and it’ll burn through your delicate skin like acid, melt into your bloodstream… and kill you within minutes.”
He dropped our hands. My insides surged with disappointment as his wings began to dissolve into thin air. Soon he was back to the human Hayden I was used to… only he looked sadder than usual.
“So what about the Arizona incident?” I was so caught up in other thoughts I’d nearly forgotten what we were talking about. “Did he—he touched faerie venom?”
“The fight between me and Adrian was pretty bloody. Both our blood was all over the place.” Long pause. Hayden sighed again. “Harvey, he didn’t know anything about me or what I was. At the time I was just learning.
“He tripped backwards at one point, trying to get out of the fight. He went to grab the counter to balance himself and instead grabbed a handful of blood. My blood, I’m pretty sure… I couldn’t save him.”
The frown on my face carved deep just then. The memories he was enduring were causing him physical pain, I could see. I knew what that felt like, to see mental images that caused physical hurting. It made me feel awful for him, yet strangely comforted. We were in the same boat in ways, and I wanted to help him. I wanted to hug him…
Oh my God.
I wanted to kiss him.
Oh jeez, Rose. I shook my head, but the thoughts wouldn’t leave.
“That’s why I was so angry, Rose,” Hayden continued. “I was angry when I first met you because I knew there had to be walls between us. One little accident, one tiny little accident of any kind that resulted in my blood getting on your skin.” He shuddered. “I literally don’t think I could handle it. I would seriously never forgive myself if I poisoned you.”
My heart started beating harder than before. “So, why’d you come near me then? If you were so intent on walls and barriers separating us, how are we… how is this even happening?” I gestured to the half foot of space between us.
“Well, Adrian, mainly.” He managed to say his father’s name without snarling for once. “I tend to wonder if he was following you because he wanted you, or if it was just…”
“Hmm?” I touched his hand again, running my thumb over his.
He bit his lip. “Or if it was just to test me. See if I’d let you go by.”
“Go by? Then—” My heart about blew a fuse. I knew that phrase, alright. If there was a dictionary of Guy Slang, it would be there. Go by. Verb. Definition: let get away, let pass, let something good slip out of reach.
“You liked me?” I breathed. “You didn’t hate me?”
His face went black scarlet again, blood rushing to his cheeks. “Um. Well, let’s put it this way: if I liked you then, I don’t know what you call it now.” He laughed nervously.
I wanted to squeal. My brain was undergoing a monster frenzy. I couldn’t think straight, I couldn’t remember my name! How old was I? Where did I live? Were my eyes green or blue? Heck, I couldn’t even remember my birthday!
But I knew Hayden’s name. I knew he was eighteen, and even though I didn’t know what street he lived on or when his birthday was, I knew for sure that Cheyenne was right about what she said in the coffee shop.
I was falling for him after all.
17) FADE
“Rose?” Hayden gave me a funny look. “Hey, are you ok?”
The excitement must’ve been clear on my ready-to-blow face. It was very hard not to smile, not to grin. It would be the mall incident after Paul left all over again where I squealed like a piglet and scared the vendors off as I skipped down the hall.
“I’m… fine,” I managed to say without bursting. Unlike the vendors, I didn’t want to scare Hayden away. “Jus
t, this is a lot to take in, you know?”
He frowned. “Oh.”
“I just can’t believe you… you liked me all along.” This was one of those moments where you would’ve done a little dance around the room if no one was watching.
“That’s what you’re trying to take in?” he exclaimed, turning skeptical. “And uh, what about the part where I’m lethal? The part where I have claws and wings and my blood could kill you?”
“I like you too, you know,” I said in hopes that he’d stop with the negative attitude. I’d had enough of his negative side; I liked this calmer, unsure side better.
It worked. He quit glaring and just stared. I smiled encouragingly. “Oye.” His hands pulled on his dreadlocks. “Um, we’ll talk about this later. Go—sit on the couch or something. Lea and Drake are coming.”
My smile dropped. “Already? Has it really been half hour?”
“Yup.” He gently pushed passed me and retrieved his shirt. He was just pulling his dreads through the back of his hat when the door opened and I replaced myself in the red chair.
“And so he sits there going, ‘what the hell, I’ve never seen anyone drink like that!’” Lea came in with a fake Irish accent and a bulging paper bag. He was just as I remembered, all white curls and porcelain skin.
The black-haired, slightly freckled Drake was laughing, following with an identical bag. “Nice, man. Really nice.”
As they set dinner down on the counter, the pair looked up. “Well hey, hey.” Lea nodded at Hayden, flashing a white smile. “What’s up, boy?”
Hayden leaned on the back of my chair, raising an eyebrow. “What happened to leaving the same time I was off to get Rose?”
“Oh. Yeah, well, we thought we’d give you some time alone.” Drake winked at me, a foxy smile on his face as he ripped the staples out of the bag tops. My face heated a few degrees at the tiny, sexy gesture.
Lea was by the front door, taking off his leather jacket when he saw me. “Well hello there.” His voice went from cocky to pleasant. “You must be Rosalia.”
I smiled. “I go by Rose.”
“Very nice to meet you, Rose.” He crossed the living room and knelt in front of my chair. He took my hand and kissed the top of my fingers, like he’d been introduced to a queen.
Ok, face heating up several degrees.
“I’m Lea Chardon,” he greeted, violet eyes turning dark purple. “I’ve heard much about you.”
“Ok, Prince Suck-Up.” Hayden shoved him away. “Go dish up before I pour that beer bottle you left out over your head.”
“Sheeze.” Lea was on his feet again before I could blink. His reflexes alone were enough to prove his inhumanness; he was an elegant, fast-mover. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen you so protective. Have you, Drake?”
The other boy shrugged, unpacking blue cartons and pulling plates from the cupboard. “Nada.”
“Ladies first.” Lea smiled and held an arm out to the kitchen.
I stood up and trotted around the counter, telling myself I was only still blushing because of the room’s temperature.
After we’d all served up as much seafood as we could each manage, Drake said, “So. What’d you guys do while we were gone?”
“Um.” I looked up from my plate. The boy was sitting on the kitchen counter, watching his fork swirl up some noodles and white sauce.
“Is it really your business?” Hayden growled as he bit into a crab cake. He was seated on the couch, the side closest to me.
“Ooh.” Drake’s freckles lifted as he smirked, a playful fire in his eyes. “That kind of business, huh?”
“Stuff it.” From his plate, Hayden lifted a fried shrimp and threw it at him. Drake ducked. The shrimp went soaring until it hit the refrigerator, bouncing to the floor and smearing a grease line over the tile.
“Hey, no shrimp throwing!” Lea cocked his head up from the other side of the couch. Gold specks glimmered on his shrimp linguini—something that wasn’t present in anyone else’s pasta. “I’ll make you two clean and wax the floor this time.”
Hayden plucked a fork off the coffee table, leaning back in his spot with a content smile. Lea shook his head and turned on the television, flicking channels. “Nuts.”
I was halfway through my plate, watching the screen display some show on the comedy channel when I heard a familiar noise.
“Hey.” Drake straightened up. “What’s that?”
Lea muted the TV. The boys listened as the noise grew louder.
“Oh, crap!” I cried, mouth half full as my brain registered. Setting my dish on the coffee table, I leapt up. My purse laid sideways by the couch. Pouncing on it, I dug frantically until my cell phone appeared.
“Hello?” I answered casually, figuring it was dad.
“Hey, sweetheart!” Mom cried.
“Oh, hi, mom.” Phew, not dad. Now sigh in relief or growl in annoyance? “What’s up?”
“I, um…” She trailed immediately. “I was just wondering if you were planning on coming tomorrow. That’s all.”
“Ohhh—the shower!” I was amazed that I’d actually forgot. Even more amazing than that: I could actually say the word shower without my stomach moaning. “Uh, yeah. Where is it?”
“Well, since I didn’t want to cram everyone in the flat, Lyle rented the little hall at the Embassy downtown. It’s at three tomorrow. Just semi-casual.” She sounded sheepish. “I… I can come get you if you don’t know where it is.”
“No,” I said quickly, pulling my legs into a crisscross on the floor. I felt three pairs of eyes watching the back of my head. “I’ll drive myself.”
“Oh. Ok, honey.” Mom hesitated. I was just thinking she was going to say goodbye, but instead a long sigh came through the line. “Honey, are you still angry with me? I mean, I know that Lyle isn’t perfect, but he’s a good guy underneath it all and—”
I rolled my eyes as she prattled on. Ok, so maybe I did wish it’d been dad calling after all. “Mom, this isn’t the time. I’m at a friend’s house right now.”
“Oh.” She instantly straightened up. “Oh, I’m sorry.”
“I’ll call you later, ok?”
“Um, alright. Goodbye, honey. I love you.”
“Love you.”
Drake and Lea went back to watching TV as I stashed my phone. Hayden, however, was still staring. “Your mom?” he asked, even though he knew the answer.
I set my bag back on the ground. “Yeah.”
He raised an eyebrow. “What kind of shower?”
“Obviously not the kind with lots of water and no clothes,” Drake mumbled to his plate. Lea snorted.
“A wedding shower.” I sat back down, returning to my plate.
Hayden twirled his fork. “You didn’t tell me your mother was getting married.”
“If I can barely handle it, why would I tell someone else?” Stabbing at some popcorn fish, I imagined them as Lyle’s head. I refused to let this down my mood, especially when I’d been so happy just minutes before.
“But you’re going anyway?” He sounded admiring.
“She’s my mother.” I waved my fork matter-of-factly, knowing I didn’t have a better argument. “It’s my job to act mature about this. I’m not going to act all kiddish and not go just because I think her fiancé’s a loser.”
“… Hmm.” He chewed a mouthful of halibut, thinking.
“That’s a very selfless thing to do,” Lea budded in before devouring a crab puff. “I don’t always get human problems, but it sounds like even though you’re upset you’re doing the right thing.”
I shrugged. “I’m not saying there aren’t times when I want to act immature though. Sometimes all I want to do is tell her she’s a brainless twit and that getting married isn’t going to solve anything… she’s so bizarre.” The woman I’d ran around with in the yard when I was little, the one who’d baked cookies every holiday and laughed with her daughters, that woman was my mother… not this strange, hormonal changeling I dealt
with now.
“What time is the wedding shower?” Hayden asked.
“Three. At the Embassy Suites downtown. Semi-casual,” I repeated her words like a robot. “Let’s hope I survive.”
He jiggled his leg, pursing his lips. “Would it make it any less painless if, I don’t know… I went with you?”
At that moment, Lea choked on his beer and Drake nearly spit shrimp. “You want—to go—to a wedding shower?” Lea said between coughs.
Drake was practically rolling on the counter. “Oh my God! Oh my God!” He laughed until his face turned scarlet. “Can you see him at a wedding shower? Seriously, do you see Hayden dancing at a wedding shower in a tux with his hair slicked back?”
Lea threw his head back and laughed with him. “Aw, damn!” He slapped a hand over his face. “Heck, can you imagine?!”
Drake set his plate aside and did a little twirl into the living room, humming ‘Once Upon a Dream’ from the Sleeping Beauty movie. Lea jumped up and took his hand, and before I knew it they were both trying not to laugh as they waltzed around the room, total goobers.
“I know you, I walked with you once upon a dream!” They sang, then stared at each other for the next line. When they realized neither one of them knew, they went with: “Something, da la, something nada, fa la, la, la, la, la, la!”
I covered my mouth, trying desperately not to laugh. I didn’t want to irritate Hayden. However, even he was trying not to smile as he shook his head at them.
“I can’t believe I know these people.” He held a hand up, blocking them from view. “Ok, ignoring the dance team back here, what do you say?”
I beamed at him. “You would really go with me?”
“Yeah,” he said, like it was easy as pie. “But do I really have to wear… a tux?”
“No! It’s just semi-casual. A button down shirt and pair of dark jeans will work fine.” I set my plate on the coffee table. Maybe there was hope in making tomorrow a memory instead of a nightmare. “I could help you choose something before I leave if you want.”
A Taste of Silver Page 21