by Marian Tee
“You know why,” the Lucian-like voice inside my head teased.
My eyes flew to Lucian but he was busy telling Dyvian about his trip. I let out a silent sigh of relief. He wasn’t reading my mind or speaking to me in it.
Dyvian told me mind reading wasn’t an Evren power and it was high time I stopped worrying about it. If it were, Lucian should’ve freaked out by now. He’d have seen that most of my thoughts revolved around him—
“Deli?”
My shoulders jerked in surprise and I couldn’t quite meet his eyes. “Yeah?”
“The thing about your sister—just don’t overreact, okay?”
Fear skittered along my spine and I wrapped my arms around myself, suddenly cold despite the heat. Saying that would achieve exactly the opposite. Didn’t he know that?
A frown of frustration blighted Lucian’s forehead.
“What?” I asked blankly.
“I’m not used to doing this so cut me a bit of slack, okay?”
I blinked several times, confused. Dyvian seemed taken aback as well. “But I didn’t say anything.”
He avoided my gaze and shifted on his feet. “I…I could see it in your eyes, you think I’m handling this badly.”
A curious look settled on Dyvian’s face but I didn’t bother wondering why. I was too appalled at Lucian’s conclusion. “No, no, I didn’t think that. I promise. You’ve done so much to help me and I’m really grateful for that.” I gave him a worried look. “But how is she?”
Lucian appeared to weigh his words. “She’s in the hospital.”
There was more. I could feel it.
“She’s in a coma.”
A whimper escaped my throat. Oh, God, Davie.
“But the doctors are convinced she’ll come around in time.”
I asked in a small voice, “There’s still more, isn’t there?” I could see it was true, the way he was looking at me.
“I can’t bring her to us because she’s being guarded by Zekans.”
“Dear God.” Zekans. Why were the ancient enemies of Evren guarding my little sister?
Dyvian muttered an expletive, earning him a scowl from Lucian. “Sorry. I just didn’t expect…after all, she’s human.”
That earned him another scowl—from me. “How many times do I have to say this? Being human isn’t that bad.” I knew I wasn’t human any longer, but my conscience obliged me to defend my previous species.
“It is,” Dyvian countered.
“Enough.” Lucian’s sharp command brought an effective end to the argument. “I wasn’t able to find out why. Their presence was unexpected and I had to leave to avoid detection.”
The sensible part of me approved of Lucian’s decision. If he had stayed, the Zekans could have noticed his scent. But another part of me cried out in protest. Davie could be in danger. He should’ve saved her.
“She’s in a coma, Deli,” Lucian told me quietly, as if hearing my thoughts. “Right now, she needs to stay in that hospital. And if the Zekans had wanted to kill her, you know she would have long been dead.”
I gave him a tired smile. “I’m sorry. I know you did the right thing. I’m just worried about her, you know?”
He nodded. “Zekans normally don’t give a damn about humans and the fact that they’re guarding her—that they’ve even taken the effort to take Davie to the hospital—” Lucian paused, a grim light hardening his eyes. “I think they’re hedging their bets. With you still missing, they may be thinking of using her to draw you out.”
“Then I have to go to Davie—”
“Even if it means risking her life?” Dyvian questioned softly. “She’s in a coma, Deli. Taking her out of the hospital could endanger her more than anything Zekans could do.”
His words made sense but it didn’t make me feel any better.
“I promise you, Deli, the moment she wakes up, I’ll bring her back to you.”
Tears pooled in my eyes at Lucian’s quiet assurance. “Thank you.” Staring at him, my heart had trouble containing the gratitude and relief inside me. I had to do something, anything to take my mind off my emotional state because if I didn’t, I might do something silly like throw myself in his arms.
Lucian’s eyes widened but I didn’t pay attention to that. I raised my chin and smiled at him. My voice wobbled a bit when I said, “See? I told you, you’re going to spoil me.”
I caught a glimpse of Lucian’s face flushing with color before he stalked past me. “God, Deli, that was awesome,” Dyvian hooted.
“What can I say?” I raised my voice just so Lucian could hear my next words. “I have him wrapped around my little finger.”
The door leading back to the house slammed shut with a heavy thud.
Dyvian and I collapsed with laughter.
Chapter Four
Sunlight streamed in through the kitchen windows. I still couldn’t believe the golden rays touching my skin fed me as much power as the pancakes and orange juice I was having for breakfast. Who would have thought there were creatures able to live on solar energy? Honestly, being Evren so far was more weird than glorious.
“Dubai,” I declared in my best tour guide voice. “It has a booming tourist economy, nice, hot weather and—oh, my God, is this desert I’m seeing?” I waved the brochure in front me. Since Evren thrived on heat, I was hoping to persuade Lucian to move to Dubai on the merit of its unbelievably hot climate and its expanse of desert. Any city was better than the small-town features of Sanger, Nevada.
On my right—Lucian, wearing one of his countless shirt and jean combinations but still managing to look handsome on Chace Crawford levels—easily shelved my rejection by saying, “We’re not going to move from Sanger, end of topic.”
“Nice try though.” Dyvian gave me a look of sham sympathy.
If they thought I’d give in just like that, they obviously didn’t know me well enough.
“Just see what this has to say first.” I handed Dyvian the brochure and watched him skim the information about Dubai. He had on a fringed cowboy vest over a checkered long-sleeved shirt and faded jeans. His sense of fashion was, as usual, impressive.
Buried behind his copy of the Financial Times—honestly, he was carrying this I’m-a-business-hotshot charade a little too far—Lucian was already in his own version of heaven, computing the national debt and probably arriving at a hundred feasible solutions Obama would dearly love to get his hands on.
To capture Lucian’s attention, I let out a very loud groan. I groaned and groaned until Lucian slowly lowered his Financial Times. “Delilah.”
“Well, you’re not being fair.” A pair of forest green eyes bore through me, but I was upset enough not to feel thrilled at his good looks and fantastic pair of eyes. Well, at least not much, because they were truly fantastic.
“I can’t live like this.” It was shallow but true. It had only been three weeks since I got sort-of adopted by the Chevalier brothers but their hermit-like existence was literally driving me crazy. I loved being with people. I loved going out to parties, having gossip sessions, “night soirees” with my girls, and flirting with boys. But I wouldn’t get any of that if I was stuck in the middle of the Mojave Desert.
My current outfit consisted of a leopard-print dress with ruffled sleeves, sheer black stockings and matching stiletto boots. I even got away with a black cotton scarf because of the unusually balmy weather. All in all, I looked awesome, and in my old life, there would have been ten people by now who would have told me that.
But here in Sanger, all it got was a disinterested glance from Lucian and just another barb, albeit good-natured, from Dyvian. I’m not saying I’m an attention ho but I just liked being in the limelight once in a while. That wasn’t a totally bad thing, was it?
“I need a normal life,” I implored. “Can’t you understand that? Don’t you remember how it was before you turned Evren?”
“We were born Evren.”
Drat. And I actually spent an hour last night coming up
with that oh-so-sensible argument. But I rallied on anyway. “Well, I wasn’t so please, please, please help me with this? It’s like I’m in prison.”
“As opposed to letting you go back to your old life and having you murdered in twenty-four hours?”
He had a point. I really hated it when Lucian made sense. Okay, fine, I hated it when everyone else but me made sense and it sucked big time that this kind of thing happened frequently.
I waved his words away in frustration. “Look. I’m going out of my mind here. I’m a people person, okay? I get it that you and Dyvian believe and practice in Tom-Hanks-Castaway mode, but it’s just not me, you know?” I pointed to my chest. “Deli just can’t be an island.”
Dyvian snorted in laughter.
“This is not something to laugh about.”
“But your last line was funny.”
“It was a proverb, you dolt.”
“It’s more like a metaphor, you ninny.”
“Enough.”
Dyvian and I automatically turned to Lucian. He was giving off head-of-the-family vibes, something he usually did when he was about to pull rank. Or age. Or IQ. Lucian was better than us in many aspects.
The pensive look on his face made my heart—here we go again—flutter. I’m not really sure why, but I’d always found deep-in-thought looks sexy. Oh, wait. I knew why. Maybe it had to do with the fact that I rarely saw it on my face? Never mind. Fact was, Lucian’s pensive stare was drowning me right this very moment in a tidal wave of attraction.
I quickly looked away and concentrated on taking another bite of my pancake. If I stared at him any longer, I might have made him drown, too…in my drool. Eww. Gross imagery. Forget I thought of that. I caught sight of Lucian staring at me in apparent fascination. “What?” I blurted out.
Lucian recovered himself. “Moving is simply out of the question.”
I gritted my teeth. “But I can’t stand it here.”
Lucian drawled, “If you think throwing a tantrum will get you somewhere, think again.”
My hold on my fork tightened, annoyed enough to seriously consider flipping a slice of pancake at his face.
“Don’t even think of it.”
I jerked in surprise, my eyes flying to him in guilt. “Excuse me?”
“Your face is an open book,” Lucian clarified, his tone cutting. “I can easily see what you’re thinking, and I’m telling you now, stop acting like a kid.”
Dyvian studied me intently. “She gave herself away that much?”
“Apparently,” I muttered, sulking but letting go of the fork. Why did Lucian always insist on treating me like a kid? Well, okay, I knew the answer to that, too. Lucian treated me like a kid because I tended to act like a kid, but couldn’t he just pretend? Boys back home did and happily, too.
I shot him a dirty look, which he didn’t even seem to notice. “But I’m just not happy and if you’re heartless enough to—”
“Delilah.”
“What?” I growled, never happy to be interrupted when I was in drama mode.
“We can’t leave Sanger, mostly for safety reasons. I will explain all that to you in time, but for now you should trust me regarding this matter.” One eyebrow lifted, asking for confirmation.
I gave him a reluctant nod. Lucian might be overbearing most of the time, but bottom line, he was devoted to keeping us all alive. If he said Sanger was the safe place to be, then it was.
Lucian spoke again. “But if there is anything else I can do to make your new life more bearable…”
A compromise. I never imagined Lucian would be willing to do that. “Let me think about it,” I exclaimed.
A wicked smile suddenly slashed Lucian’s lips, making him even more unbearably attractive. At once, my tummy felt like it had all the pancakes it could take, creating a weird queasy sensation that was good and bad at the same time. I also started wondering like crazy what it would feel like to kiss those lips. Oh, God. Those were crazy thoughts, indeed. I looked away hastily.
“Deli?”
“Mmm?” Must stare at my plate. Must stare or die trying. Can’t think of his lips. Just can’t think.
“You must tell me what you want before you leave the table.”
My head flew up in shock, the unknown taste of his kisses all but forgotten. “That’s unfair.” That seemed to be the story of my life, lately. “You know I don’t think that fast.” Unlike other people, I was smart enough to admit the fact that I wasn’t a genius and probably never would be. I just thought it was dumb to pretend something you’re not, you know?
Dyvian settled back on his seat, looking at us with great interest.
“Take it or leave it,” Lucian warned.
Unfair. But I was already considering my options. Okay, brain cells, work with me here. I let you guys rest for long periods of time each day so you owe me this.
Willing myself to relax, I recited the facts in my mind.
We couldn’t leave Sanger.
We were Evren.
I wanted to have a normal life.
All of it pointed to one direction.
Lucian appeared disconcerted, but I was feeling too giddy to wonder about that. “I have it now.”
“Deli—”
Uh-oh. I didn’t like the sound of that. I said quickly, “I want to go to school.”
Dyvian and I waited for Lucian to kick up a fuss or make a flat-out rejection but he did none of those. Instead, he became eerily quiet, like he was thinking so hard he was in another dimension. I mean no offense to Dyvian and myself when I say that both of us could never do that. Dyvian and I were kindred souls. We were people of action—act now, think much, much later.
After several minutes, Lucian emerged from his Yoda-like meditation and gave me permission to go to school. Sanger High, here I come.
~~~
The next day, Dyvian and I woke up early, and we managed to have breakfast once more with Lucian. Although neither of us was exactly fond of mornings, we did manage to wake up before noon. But Lucian, as I had already discovered, was very much a morning person, and we rarely caught him eating breakfast.
Lucian looked extraordinarily handsome as usual. Dyvian told me Lucian was older than him by a year, which made Lucian nineteen, but there was an air about him that made him seem so much older. All he needed was a pair of glasses, a business suit to get rid of his shirt-and-jean uniform, a leather briefcase, and I could easily mistake him for a bank teller. But a gorgeous one.
He watched me gulp down my chicken pie, cheese omelet, and yogurt curiously.
Across from me, Dyvian was busy gobbling his own food fest. I could barely see his face—the pile of food on his plate was just so high.
“What are you guys planning?” There was a mixed note of reluctance and resignation in Lucian’s tone.
With both our mouths full, we could only manage to grin.
“We’re just going out.” The twinkle in Dyvian’s eyes belied the innocence in his voice.
“Right. Dare I ask where?”
“It wouldn’t matter even if you knew,” I told him, my grin widening at the dryness of Lucian’s tone. Lucian was concerned about us, but he fought hard not to show it. He, no doubt, understood that all he could do later on was to clean up whatever mess Dyvian and I would get into, like all good older brothers do.
“And boyfriends,” a naughty voice whispered inside my head. It still sounded horribly like Lucian, and I couldn’t help blushing.
Dyvian noticed it. “Hey. You suffering from a heat stroke or something?” He had reason to be concerned. Even though I was Evren now, my body was still adjusting to the changes and as such, one Evren trait which I didn’t possess was their indifference to heat. Think of it this way. Evren can go to a beach and sunbathe forever, getting a perfect tan without being troubled by thirst, sunburn, or lagging strength.
But I wasn’t there yet.
“I’m okay.” Honestly, could that scary inner voice just be a part of my body’s adjustm
ent to being Evren? “Just excited to go to town,” I lied and wolfed down another healthy bite of my omelet.
“Why are you eating so much?” Lucian’s words were spoken without inflection, but his eyes did widen a bit as he took in my eating binge.
“Because Dyvian says I need protein to stay invisible longer. Like, solar energy gives us strength, but it’s protein that gives us stamina.” I had a horrible thought all of a sudden. “Don’t tell me he tricked me into gaining a few pounds.” I shot him a nasty look, not putting such a trick past him. “Dyvian—” I pointed my bread knife at him and waved it threateningly.