Appointed

by J. F. Jenkins

  The brothers were naturally sharing a room, and Teague was their third roommate. Mr. Thantos, Denver, and another boy were next door, and then there was one more room of male students. The girls were all on another floor, and there were more of them. A total of three eight-passenger vans had come into the city.

  Zes shrugged, getting comfortable on the bed while he waited for Teague to finish up in the bathroom. The kid got carsick fairly badly. “I might stay in. Maybe we’ll go to the pool after catching some dinner. You know, once thirty minutes have passed. Nothing exciting.”

  “You can’t swim,” Anj pointed out.

  “A minor detail to work around.”

  Anj pulled out his suit. “Are you sure you don’t want to come with us? I know you said to take Jewl, and I appreciate it, but I do want to spend some time with you too.”

  “We can do something else tomorrow. I got those tickets so you could take her. It was before you got back together… again.”

  “Oh, I see what you were doing. Clever.”

  Zes smirked. Not like his brother would have seen it at the time. “There’s a reason I’m a straight-A student. It’s not all book smarts either.”

  “I love it when you get cocky. It makes me so proud.”

  “Aw, shucks.” He paused. “Think we should make sure Teague’s okay in there?”

  Anj let out a quiet huff, nodding, and knocked on the bathroom door. “You’re kind of quiet. Are you still alive?”

  “I’m almost done,” Teague said, sounding rather pitiful.

  “Why did we let him room with us again? Not that he isn’t nice and all, but…” Zes asked, lowering his voice.

  “Brownie points,” Anj said, equally as quiet. “I’m trying to make up for being mean to him earlier. Besides, I didn’t want to subject him to sleeping in the same room as Denver or Logan. They’d torture him worse than me.”

  “Good point. Just kind of surprised, I guess.”

  Anj wasn’t known for being nice and welcoming to just anyone. Cheyenne had been a surprise, but he had brought her into the group for his own purposes. She was a nymph, the twins were half-satyr; it only made sense for Anj to try and use her to get back at Jewl for breaking his heart. Or maybe his brother had picked Cheyenne out, knowing how good she’d be for Zes. Anj’s ability to “know” things was irritating most of the time, but on occasion he did something awesome with it too.

  Anj was quiet as he put on his suit for his night at the orchestra, but then he said, “It surprised me too, but when you’re in love, you do things out of character sometimes. Jewl told me to back off, and I did. I’m trying, even if the temptation is hard to resist.”

  The door to the bathroom opened, and a still-pale Teague stepped out. He went over to the couch in the nearby den area and lay down without another word. Zes couldn’t help but feel pity for the kid.

  “Are you going to be okay if we go out?” he asked, not wanting to babysit the guy all night but also not wanting to be rude. And it would be like babysitting. Teague didn’t do well on his own. He needed a lot of attention and asked a lot of questions.

  “I’m okay,” Teague said, barely above a whisper.

  “You don’t sound okay,” Anj pointed out as he worked on his tie. “This matches, right? I didn’t grab the wrong one?”

  Zes made note of the black suit and the black-and-silver-striped tie. “Looks good to me. Don’t be nervous.”

  “I’m not nervous.”

  “Yes, you are, or you wouldn’t ask me if your clothes matched.”

  “Okay, a tiny bit nervous, but can you blame me? The last time we had a date, she rejected me.”

  “And you guys are a couple again,” Zes said. “You have nothing to worry about.”

  “It’s Jewl. If the sun rises in the east and sets in the west? She’s changing her mind about something,” Anj said.

  Not so sure I agree. “You’re paranoid. Didn’t you tell me you worked out all of your issues?”

  “Most of them.”

  “Okay, so then chill. Because last I checked, she’s not like all of the other girls. Don’t talk about her like she is. You gave her reasons to break things off just as much as she did you. If the reasons are gone, she doesn’t have one to change her mind.”

  Anj exhaled and moved on to his hair, actually taking the time to do something with it instead of letting it fall over his eyes. “Fine, I’m paranoid. Once again, your logic proves itself right.”

  “Sarcasm?” Zes rolled his eyes. Why does he have to be so overdramatic sometimes? It’s like he wants me to agree with him.

  “No, I’m being serious.” Anj turned so the brothers were facing each other. “Do I look okay? Final verdict.”

  “You look fine.”

  “Thank you, for everything. I’d be lost without you,” Anj said, and grabbed his wallet and room key.

  “I know, I know, love you too. You should go before you’re late for dinner.”

  Anj took a deep breath. “Yes. Don’t be afraid to interrupt if you need me.”

  “Everything will be fine. I promise.”

  “I know, but just on the hypothetical, off chance that something does happen—”

  “I will let you know. But really, Mr. Thantos is here; it’s all good. And I heard he took his day of rest early this week. Go!” Zes was about ready to shove his brother out the door.

  Anj grunted a little. “Okay, I’m going. I’ll be back as close to curfew as possible.”

  It saddened Zes that it had taken a near-death experience for his brother to start verbally communicating his feelings better. That had never been Anj’s thing. Zes could count on his hand the number of times he’d heard his brother say anything affectionate to Jewl that wasn’t in jest. If that was how Anj treated the love of his life, then why would Zes expect better? It wasn’t Anj’s style. It was awkward even, but there was something touching about the fact that he was telling Zes how he felt more often.

  Now he was alone with Teague, not quite sure what to do with himself. He grabbed his cell phone and sent Cheyenne a text.

  “Dinner?”

  ****

  “I have never in my life ever stayed at a hotel this swanky before,” Cheyenne said as they wandered through the hallways.

  Zes raised an eyebrow. “Never? Didn’t you live around here?”

  “In a suburb nearby, sure, but we didn’t come and stay overnight. We didn’t have that kind of money growing up. Well, I should say I didn’t know we had so much money. My foster mother liked to downplay the wealth my parents provided for her. So this is a first for me.”

  He loved watching her take it all in. The luxury of the halls was indeed spectacular. The carpet was a dark navy color and thick. All of the lights were contemporary in style, but they had an elegant trapezoid shape. By far the best part of the hotel was the pool and exercise area, and that was where they were going next. They had just finished getting dinner in one of the hotel’s restaurants, which wasn’t far from the pool itself. It was more of a snack bar, casual dining sort of place. There’d be time for fancy food later. Cheyenne had said she wasn’t feeling too well, so he didn’t want to push her.

  “Come on,” he said, and grabbed her hand to lead her through the pool door. They were on the top floor, something that would normally bother him because he wasn’t a big fan of heights. Being with her gave him extra strength, though. He didn’t think about how far above the ground they were. All he could think about was sharing the moment with her.

  The pool was empty, and he walked her around it toward the large glass windows that served as walls. Her breath caught in her throat, and she managed a gasp at the view before her. As far as the eye could see were the lights and multicolored glass towers of the skyscrapers. Some were shorter, some taller, but they created a beautiful atmosphere.

  She let go of his hand and walked backward to the pool. “Wanna swim?”

  “No swim trunks, sorry.” He laughed, trying to keep casual instead of letting
on that he was deathly afraid of the water.

  “I don’t have a suit either.” She reached down to lift up her shirt anyway, and he briefly saw the hemming of her pink, seamless bra. “Just like a bikini, right?”

  “We just ate.” He was desperately searching for any kind of excuse to get out of it.

  Cheyenne laughed and pulled her shirt back down. “That’s an old wives’ tale. Sorry, I know this is forward, but I can’t remember the last time I went swimming. And the hot tub, I love those! Besides, we’re alone.”

  He couldn’t help but smile. “Maybe I can be persuaded to sit in the hot tub or splash around in the shallow end. I, um, can’t swim.”

  “I’ll teach you then!”

  “No, I mean, I know how to, but I can’t do it.”

  She tilted her head to the side, frowning. “I’m not sure I understand.” She reached for his hand and walked him to the hot tub.

  I barely understand; how am I going to explain this to her? Scowling, he grabbed a few of the pool towels sitting on a rack and put them in a nearby chair. “It’s something to do with my magic. My mentor at school calls it the magical law of balance. He seems to think that because my earth magic is so powerful, I’ve been given a downside to stop me from becoming inhuman. When I touch the water, I become like a rock, and I sink like one too.”

  “I’m sorry, I didn’t know. Look, we don’t—”

  He silenced her with a soft kiss on her lips. “I’ll be fine so long as I don’t go in over my head.” And to prove the point, despite his body shaking with fear, he pulled off his shirt and tossed it with the towels. Then he pulled his phone out of his jeans pocket and set that aside nearby as well. He didn’t go so far as pulling off his jeans too. She may have seen all of him, but he didn’t want to risk someone else seeing more than he’d like. Boxers were unpredictable sometimes. It’s not like the jeans would add more weight to his body.

  Cheyenne raised an eyebrow but smirked, obviously pleased. “All right then.” She pulled off her shirt and jeans and quickly got into the water.

  It’s just a hot tub. Zes repeated that in his mind over and over again as he went down the stairs. The heat felt nice, and his legs weren’t quite as leadlike as they usually were. He sat down, relaxing on the steps with the water coming up to his navel. That was as far as he dared to go. Cheyenne swam over to sit kneeling in front of him, gazing up into his eyes.

  “You okay?” she asked.

  He nodded, about to say more when the door opened and Denver walked in, wearing nothing but his swim trunks and a towel. Zes groaned, wanting to sink into the water and hide but knowing if he did, he might not be able to get back up again. He and Cheyenne were more or less trapped.

  Denver whistled, as smug as ever, and tossed his towel onto a chair before diving into the pool. He swam across it and surfaced, paddling his way closer to Zes and Cheyenne.

  “Wow, you’re actually touching the water. I’m impressed. He told you he can’t swim, right?” Denver said, a little too casually for Zes’s taste.

  “I touch the water a lot. I take showers,” Zes mumbled. If only he had the guts to be witty like Anj. Then he’d be able to put Denver in his place.

  Denver snorted. “I noticed, with how squeaky clean you are. Cheyenne, when you’re ready for a real man, come on my way. I’ll be here all night waiting.”

  “And that’s all you’re going to be doing,” she said, and started to stand.

  Zes stopped her, though, remembering she wasn’t wearing anything but her underwear.

  “Wait, I’ll get the towels,” he said.

  She shook her head. “No. I want him to know what he’s missing.”

  Unsure of how to feel exactly, Zes let her do as she pleased. Was she trying to make him jealous? Or Denver? Or maybe both? Cheyenne sometimes got a little weird when Denver came by, not like herself at all, and Zes didn’t know what to make of that. It might have had something to do with when she and Denver first met. The guy had bitten her, after all, and the wound was just now beginning to heal over to nothing more than a small scar. She didn’t need to be harassed by him anymore. Why couldn’t Denver leave them alone?

  Zes watched as Denver ogled his girlfriend. Scowling, he climbed out of the water as Cheyenne made a show of drying herself off. Annoyed, he threw his towel over his shoulders and walked away, temper rising.

  “Wait up.” Cheyenne trotted over to him and grabbed his hand, her body now covered with her towel. She held her things in her other hand. “You left this behind.” She kissed his cheek and gave him his cell phone.

  Deep breaths, he told himself. They didn’t need to fight. It took a lot to get Zes angry. Unfortunately for him, once he reached the boiling point, he got rather irrational. Not a side of him he wanted Cheyenne to see just yet.

  “Is something wrong?” she asked.

  You were showing off your stuff to another guy. Yeah, something is definitely wrong with that. Instead he said, “I don’t want you going anywhere near him.”

  Chapter Seven

  “I knew you’d come back for me,” Denver said, and with more gentleness than Anj would have ever imagined, he stroked Cheyenne’s hair.

  She shivered and rubbed her arms. For a moment, Anj thought she would step away, turn around, and run. Instead, she held her ground. Odd. Usually she fights.

  This wasn’t the first dream Anj had ever had of the two interacting. He’d had several dreams about them over the past summer, but at the time, he hadn’t known who Cheyenne was. All she had appeared as was a girl with a strange green aura. Denver repeatedly tried to take advantage of her, and she had overcome him every time, fought back, made him stop. Not in this dream. She was challenging Denver’s power but in a different sort of way.

  It took a moment for Anj to figure out that they were talking inside the hotel, standing near the restaurant on the tenth floor. He was having another dream about the present. Either that or this exact same scene would be happening tomorrow night. It was too vivid to be of the future, though. Unless his powers were growing stronger by leaps and bounds, it had to be the present. Those dreams were always the clearest.

  Denver stared at her, eyes narrowed slightly as if lost in thought, before motioning for her to join him at a table. “Well, thanks for coming up this way and meeting with me anyway.”

  “You’re being awfully polite right now,” she commented, and followed him to sit down near a window overlooking the city. She picked up the menu and looked it over quickly before closing it and glaring at him. “What do you want?”

  “Gee, if that’s the kind of attitude you’re going to give me, you can forget it. I thought we had a deal, remember? A semester of good grades, I give you some answers? Since you’re permanently attached to your boy toy’s hip, it’s kind of hard to do that these days.”

  “He’s my boyfriend, not boy toy. And it’s what you do when you care about people. You keep them close.”

  Denver stared across the table at her until she lifted her eyes to meet his. “And you push away the people you really want by your side. Is that normal too?”

  “I never said I wanted you,” she mumbled.

  “Funny, your heart sure is pounding rather lustfully right now. Did I mention I like the new womanly smell, Chey? Because I do. It’s hot. I’m kind of surprised, because I didn’t think Squeakers would have it in him.”

  “And I did?”

  “Oh, I’ve always known you’re a rebellious one. Once you move past your denial, you could be a lot of fun.”

  Cheyenne sighed, and when the waiter came, she placed an order for shrimp fondue and a Shirley Temple. “So these answers you promised me. Mostly, I want to know why you keep biting me.”

  “I stopped.” Denver sounded playfully terse, as though he were insulted by the accusation.

  “For now.”

  “Oh, so you’re giving me permission to have another go?”

  “I didn’t say that.” She swallowed.

  “But you�
�re thinking about it. Whenever you’re ready, I am too, baby.”

  “Stop distracting me and tell me why!”

  For a moment, Denver seemed taken aback by her outburst. Then he smirked and ate some of the bread that had been placed on the table. “Your blood has a unique kind of sweetness to it. I need it, and you need me to need it. I told you, you’re mine. It’s like everything about you was designed just for me. I’m still trying to figure out why that is. But I keep biting you because you’re basically screaming for me to with every heartbeat. Your wounds won’t heal because you need me to keep biting you because you need me to feel fulfilled, whole. Have you noticed that you’re stronger after it happens? If I could stop the pull you have over me, I would. I don't like needing people the way I do you.”

  Cheyenne rolled her eyes. “Please, Denver. And you say I’m in denial? I think you are. You can’t accept the fact that I don’t want you, so you’re making things up.”

  “I’m not making it up,” he said darkly, glaring across the table at her.

  “Then prove it.”

  “I can’t. Not yet, but I’m working on it.”

  She sighed and shook her head. “This was a waste of my time.”

  Denver reached across the table and held her hand, again with a lot more gentleness than Anj would have pictured. The guy was hardly ever gentle with anyone, let alone any thing. “Tell me you don’t want me to do it. Say it honestly. Then tell me I’m wasting your time.”

  She stared at him silently for a long time. “I can’t.”

  “Didn’t think so. Look, princess, that giddy euphoric feeling you get when I bite you? I get that way too. That’s not normal for either of us.”

  “Dr. Warhol said—”

  “She doesn’t know anything.”

  Cheyenne averted her gaze to the table. “So now what?”

  “I keep looking, and you decide if you’re going to let me give us both what we want or keep living in denial.”

  “I-I have a b-boyfriend.”

  “I’m not gonna tell you what to do or how to think about it. That’s not my style. I’m not a manipulator. The bite means whatever you want it to, babe. Just think about it.”