by Tamara White
“Wait. Back up a step. What do you mean me too?”
I pull a beautiful, flowery, maxi dress off the rack and watch Zeke waiting for an answer. Why would he include me in there when he knows I’m just an elemental?
“Um, I shouldn’t have said that. Shit!”
He looks flustered which has my curiosity burning brighter. What is he hiding?
“Dude, just spit it out.”
“Well, I know you were told growing up that you weren’t exactly pure elemental, what with your mother being a human. It’s actually a little more complicated than that.
Shit, I can’t believe we’re discussing this here. Let’s pay for this stuff and head back. You’re going to have a lot of questions, and it’s best if I don’t tell you until Raphael has a chance.”
“Ok, but can you at least tell me if it’s bad or good? They way you’re talking makes it sound really bad.”
“It’s good, I guess. Depends how you look at it really,” he shrugs.
“Fine, let’s go. We’ve got enough to last a few days before we need to top up clothes again.”
We head up to the counter where the grumpy old lady is watching us with a frown on her face. The younger sales woman is watching with a smirk but doesn’t say anything.
“Thank you,” I say on our way out of the store. They may not have conversed much while ringing up the items, but it’s impossible for me not to be polite.
Once we’re back at the house, I put the clothes we bought in the lounge room on the couch and wait for Zeke to start explaining.
“Raphael where are you?” I call out through the house.
“Hey, I’m just in the kitchen. Be there in a second,” he calls back.
“Ok, start explaining,” I demand of Zeke, waiting for some answers.
“What’s going on?” Raphael asks walking in, Spencer close on his heels.
“I was just explaining about his heritage. I may have let it slip in the store, so I promised to explain it to him once we got home. Now it’s up to you,” Zeke says smirking at Raphael.
Raphael looks between Zeke and I before taking a seat on the lounge.
“I pity you right now old man,” Spencer says clapping him on the shoulder.
“Guys, I don’t care what it is. Please just tell me,” I sigh rubbing my temples trying to ease the headache that’s starting.
“Ok, so, there was a bigger reason that you were taken with Evie. Something that no one has really had a chance to tell you yet, but I guess that’s now on me.
Your mother may have been mainly human, but she descends from something greater.
When the Creator first came down to earth, something unexpected happened. He fell in love with a human.
Only a few of us know about it. and we were sworn to secrecy. Anyway, they met, fell in love, got married. and had a child together. He stayed on earth for fifty-six years whit his wife until she passed away. After that, his son was old enough to live his own life, so he faked his death and came back to assume control again.
His son never knew of his powers because his powers never developed quite like an elemental would. He had visions and had an overwhelming kindness towards humans, but that was the extent of the abilities he used.
As the generations went on, the powers diluted until one of his descendants crossed with an elemental resulting in a son being born.
That child is you. Being a direct descendant of the Creator, means you’re stronger than you think and once you bond with Evie, who is a direct conduit of power like the Creator, the two of you will become filled with power that could let you rule the world.
You need to be prepared for the possibility of demons coming after you now. I don’t know who Max told, but if he had sacrificed you and Evie after you had bonded, the whole world would have been ripped apart.”
O...K… Talk about shocking news. I can’t believe I’m descended from the Creator himself. That’s some freaky shit.
“So what do I do about this? I know you expect this to have a big impact on me, but I’m not sure how to process that. Do you want me to freak out? Do you want me to rant and rave saying you’re wrong? Or should I just ignore it and pretend it doesn’t matter?
It’s not like he’s my father, or grandfather, so I’m not sure what this is supposed to mean for me.”
“Well, no, I guess I don’t want you to react a certain way, I just thought you might be overwhelmed and freak out,” Raphael watches me with a frown.
“Why? Is there some big change that’s going to happen? Is knowing I’m more different than anyone else supposed to be a big deal?
Most of my life I was treated as something filthy, as if being part human meant I wasn’t as good as everyone else. I’m not going to let the fact that I’m different, change me,” I tell him.
It seems pointless to let something change how I feel when I know who I am.
Chapter 15
Evie
I’m thankful that I don’t have to change for gym or I’d risk flashing the locker room my baby bump. I just have to wait until coach Callahan has finished talking to the class before approaching him.
All the others are dressed and ready to play soccer out on the field apart from Zach who is glued to my side. The others have told him he’s not to leave my side under any circumstance, even if I go to the bathroom.
Coach Callahan has finally finished briefing the class for today’s lesson before making his way to us.
“Hey coach, so what do I have to do?” I ask him. I’m not sure what kind of exam gym would require but I thought it would be a physical one and that’s obviously not going to happen with my current condition. Even if I wanted to, none of the others would let me participate in anything that may risk me being hurt.
“Oh Evie, didn’t principal Higgins tell you? You don’t have to be in this class. Considering your circumstances, we agreed the best thing we could do would just grade you on your physical performance over the past year.
There is a questionnaire that the other students have to do at the end of this semester so you can do that. Once that’s done, you’ll have free period instead of coming to class. I have it set up in the office when you’re ready.”
“Ok. Thank you.”
He turns leaving Zach and I to head to the office. Once I’m inside, I breathe a sigh of relief. I was terrified I’d be forced to participate in some kind of activity to get my pass but a questionnaire is easy.
Class goes by fairly quickly with me answering most of the questions straight away. I come back at the end to focus on the few questions I think require more details, when we hear voices come from outside the door.
“Have you seen the way they watch her? It’s as if she’s the queen of the world and they’re her bodyguards,” Nina says from beyond the door.
“I know! And what’s with the new guy hanging all over her? He doesn’t even go to school here but they still let him follow her around like some kind of love sick fool,” Megan says causing me to tense in shame.
Is that what Zach’s doing? He was only supposed to be here to protect me but he’s drawing a lot more attention than I thought he would.
Hey, it’s ok. I don’t care what they think, neither should you. You’re worth a hundred of them.
I smile at the tenderness in his voice and try to avoid making any noise. I don’t want the girls to realize we’re in here.
“The worst thing though is Jeremy. Did you see the way he looked at her?! If that bitch thinks she can steal him away from me she’s got another thing coming. I still can’t believe Dane slept with me first then dumped me for that piece of trash. I knew she was a whore!”
Catherine’s voice on the other side of the door makes my blood go cold and my heart break.
Dane slept with her? And he didn’t tell me?
Zach’s by my side in an instant, holding me while I feel like my world is shattered. How could he? And with her?!
Honey, is there a way out of the office where they wo
n’t see us? We need to leave.
Zach’s pleading for me to leave but I don’t think I can. I need to know more. How it happened? When it happened? Why he didn’t tell me?
I wouldn’t have judged him but he kept it from me and now it feels so much worse. Why did he keep it from me?
Yeah, there’s a door through the closet but I think the coach locks it so no one can sneak out if he tells them to come in.
I watch Zach dig through the coaches draws quietly until he finds the key to the door. He rushes me out of there and locks the door behind us leaving the key in the closet.
I walk in a haze of pain and anger, letting Zach lead me wherever he wants. Nothing can distract me from my thoughts, until we plough into someone.
Zach must have been too focused on getting me out of there that he didn’t see him cross our path, but wow!
He’s tall, lean and hot! There’s no other way to describe him. His hair long enough to reach his shoulders and flutter in the breeze and his eyes, his eyes are the colour of amber, shining so bright it looks like a fire burns within.
Zach squeezes my hand bringing me back to reality when it hits me. I gasp taking a step back wondering how in the world this is possible.
“How?”
He blushes looking between me and Zach before landing back on me, “It’s a long story but I’d love to tell you about it.”
His voice is so deep and the sound sends vibrations through me, making me want to leave everyone behind and follow him.
I shake myself out of whatever he’s doing and stand closer to Zach.
“I don’t know who you are or what you are but please stop doing that.”
I remain firm and stand up as straight as my growing stomach will allow me and see his eyes flicker towards my belly.
“It’s true,” he whispers awed.
“Ok, whatever is going on here, one of you need to explain. Evie, who is this guy?” Zach asks me.
I shrug my shoulders. “I don’t know. I’ve never met him before but he’s part elemental and I can sense a demon. He’s not possessed by a demon as far as I can tell but more like it’s a part of him.”
Zach tenses and pushes me behind him.
“Leave!”
“Whoa! I’m not going to hurt her. My name’s Jeremy. I started here a couple weeks back but you must have already left. I was looking for her, but I saw her come in and I knew the moment I set eyes on her that she’s meant for me. Just like I know she can feel that I’m meant for her,” Jeremy says staring at me, both the light and dark fighting to break free.
“Zach it’s ok, I can feel his intentions and he doesn’t want to hurt me, I swear.”
“Ok but we still need to go take care of you. You can talk to him tomorrow after we discuss these developments with the others. Sorry, no offence but she needs a moment,” Zach says gripping my hand harder and pulling me around Jeremy.
“Until tomorrow,” he whispers as I pass and I can’t help the shivers of arousal that go through me. There’s nothing more I want right now than to go back and kiss him until I have no energy left.
That thought is the one that gets me moving faster knowing something isn’t quite right. No way would I make out with a guy I didn’t know, especially one who was half demon. Somethings wrong with me.
Maybe the news that Catherine and Dane slept together is affecting me more than I thought?
“Zach, can we keep what we heard about Dane and Catherine to ourselves for a while? Not for long, just enough that I can process it?” I plead for him to understand my need for space first.
I never thought the guys were here long enough to form any kind of relationship before meeting me but now I know that’s not true it has me questioning everything.
What about the others? Could they have been involved with someone else before meeting me? And Dane was still ‘with’ Catherine when he kissed me and my powers broke free. How come he never said anything?
“Ok, but only until schools finished. We all agreed no more keeping stuff from each other and it looks like we might need Zeke and Christian here if there’s a new player in town. I don’t know anything about this Jeremy dude but he gives me creepy vibes,” Zach says with a shudder.
I know exactly what he means. Being near Jeremy I could feel the power radiating off him and while it felt like a demon, it wasn’t quite all demon. Part of him must be angel because the light inside him is there, it’s just overwhelmed by darkness.
I only hope that I won’t ever see the darkness hiding behind the light.
Zach
I rush Evie along to her Art class trying to get as far away from those girls and the new guy, Jeremy, as quickly as possible.
I didn’t want any of the girls saying anything about the others and cause her to lose control over her powers at school. Dane told me she could be pretty easy to set off but the bastard could have mentioned that he’d slept with the bitch who tortured Evie through school.
Evie told Christian and I all about the three girls and their little posse of cheerleaders that liked to make fun of her. It was one of Christians main points of making me come to school with them.
He didn’t want them cornering her and causing her unnecessary stress which I fully agreed with. I didn’t quite believe they were as bad as she said they were, until I heard the way they were talking about her outside the door. I couldn’t believe any human could be that cruel but the proof was in the words they spoke.
The tears running down Evie’s face almost made me rush out there and give them a piece of my mind regardless of the fact that they’re girls. I knew they were there just so Evie could hear what they said because I saw them watch as the coach pointed us to his office.
The hard part is believing whether Dane slept with her or not. My Dane would never be up for casual sex, even with a human. He liked to know them for a little before initiating anything and then he would make the choice to sleep with them. He needed some kind of connection to be able to sleep with someone.
He was however going through a lot of stuff with the transition to the new school so it’s possible if he let his emotions lead his decisions.
Hurrying to class, I ponder Jeremy’s arrival.
It seems like too much of a coincidence that when we’re running down the hall and just happen to run into the same Jeremy that Catherine was talking about.
I don’t think so. Something seems fishy with him and it’s not that he’s one of us, it’s the reaction Evie had with him.
She wanted him. I could sense her arousal pulsing through the bond and her despair when I pulled away. The only reason I didn’t take her home right then and there was that I could also sense her confusion. She didn’t understand why he elicited those responses from her and maybe that’s enough to keep her sane until we get her home. This is also our last class for the day which means tomorrow Evie only has to do any re-do test questions that she didn’t pass.
Mike storms into class and instantly relaxes when he sees Evie and I already seated. Shit, we didn’t tell them we were leaving before walking away.
“Evie, are you ok? You ran off without telling us,” Mike chides her.
Evie blushes but refuses to look at him, “Mike, how long were you in town before you started coming to school?”
Mike looks at me clearly confused by the question and as much as I want to warn him not to say too much, Evie has a right to know.
“I got here the day before we went to school. Why?”
“Oh. What about the others? Do you know when they got here?”
I reach over and hold her hand. I know what he’s going to say but it won’t make it any easier for Evie to hear.
“Well, Dane got here first about 2 weeks before we started. He was scouting out the town to try and find you but obviously, he didn’t.
Teddy and Ky got here two days before I did. Why do you want to know this Evie? Did something happen?” Mike asks looking between us hoping for an explanation.
“Ju
st curious,” she says still avoiding eye contact.
He watches her for a second before shrugging and getting to work.
Their final art assignment is to draw a picture filled with emotion. It didn’t matter what the emotion was but it had to be clear on the picture.
Evie and Mike both absorb themselves in their art project while I watch the room. Everyone seems to be so into their drawing that when the door slams open, it scares the crap out of most of them.
Evie gasps before looking up and I know straight away who it is. I can feel her attraction through the bond and I know Jeremy is coming into the class.
Mike still hasn’t looked up from his drawing and he stiffens when he finally feels what I am through the bond.
Evie wants Jeremy. She’s watching him like a girl starved and he’s the only food left in the world. He saunters over to us and takes a seat in front of her. The teacher doesn’t even object, just acts as if it’s normal.
“Hey sweet thing,” he purrs leaning over the other side of her desk looking down at her drawing.
I glance down and I’m shocked to see a picture of Jeremy on her note pad. She’s drawn him with wings and shrouded in darkness but he’s holding a baby, swathed in pink.
Is it a vision of the past?
“You’re good. Is that one of your babies I’m holding?” he asks genuinely curious.
“No. I’m having boys,” she says blushing and tucking her hair behind her ear.
I can’t believe it! She’s flirting with him! While we’re right in front of them. They’re acting as if they can’t see us!
“Ahem. Excuse me, miss Grayson, but shouldn’t you be working on your drawing? This is worth your full grade,” her art teacher says appearing from thin air.
Mike startles and looks up, finally noticing that Jeremy has joined us. He glances between them and I can clearly see the confusion across his face. It’s funny watching his reaction but I have to stop him from saying anything that will draw attention.