“I’m glad we helped.” I hesitated a second, then asked, “Why did you react that way, Eve?”
“I-I’d never seen—” She bit her bottom lip. “There was a lot of blood.”
I frowned. “You thought Dre had hurt Stefan?”
“At first,” she admitted. “The,n when he drank it, it was like something from a nightmare. My brain just processed it oddly.”
She’d been in the human world too long. Even though I knew what it was like to feel apart, to feel different, until you knew, point blank, what you were, you still clung to the normal aspects of your nature.
Eve would still feel human for a long time to come even though she most definitely wasn’t.
With that in mind, it made sense that she’d freak out. It did look like one of the stupid Z-list zombie movies Nestor binge-watched when he was studying.
“How are you feeling now?”
“A little on edge.”
“Why?”
“Gouille day.”
I nodded, understanding her reticence. Gouilles weren’t like Weres or Hell Hounds. “It sucks you slept the night through.”
“Yeah. I don’t think I could even nap,” she said with a sigh.
“Shame.” And it was. On gouille days, you found yourself sleepy through the day, on edge around your friends as you watched out for constant threats—finding them even in the most ridiculous of places—and with the strange ability of needing very little food, rarely using the bathroom, and then when night struck, being wide awake.
Gouilles were nocturnal. They made perfect sentinels, and could watch over Ghoul nests like no other, while also allowing their Pack to rest at night as they stood guard. Their skin was impenetrable to Ghoul teeth, and although they were slow, when their Pack was in danger, they could spread wings that let them fly toward an active threat.
In our band of brothers, Nestor was headed down that route. I could think of no better guardian than him.
Unable to help myself, I reached down and began to stroke my fingers through her hair. “You sure you can’t get some more sleep?” I asked, trying not to let it affect me when she closed her eyes with a shaky sigh and moved into my touch.
I cut a look at Stefan and saw he was still fast asleep. Not that it would have mattered. I wasn’t doing anything wrong.
Packs shared their females, after all. But I knew Stefan would likely be on edge because she still hadn’t Claimed him and Dre was being a jackass.
“I could try,” she murmured, making me smile. There was no try about it. The gouille temperament would help her stay asleep if she could just drift off.
After ten minutes of gently stroking her hair, I felt her slip away into a slumber that wouldn’t be broken.
I tilted my head back again, enjoying the soft cushion behind my neck, while I checked in.
It was a habit now, one that we all picked up a few months after turning eleven when we tried to discern which soul would have us in their grasp for the rest of the day.
When I sensed the Sin Eater, I was grateful, because while we weren’t out on patrol, it meant it was pretty much a lazy day for me, which meant I could hang out and chill with Eve for most of it.
And considering tomorrow we were shipping out? I figured I deserved the damn break.
❖
Eve
I don’t want you to go.
I thought the words but didn’t say them aloud.
How could I?
How selfish would that make me if I asked them not to go because I didn’t want to be left alone at Caelum?
Funny how I just figured out that I wasn’t homesick or worrying about my parents or siblings because Stefan, Nestor, and Eren had overtaken them in my lives.
That should have made me feel horrible, but it didn’t. They’d shown me more love and compassion in my time at Caelum than my family ever had. Was it any wonder I was dreading being without them for however long they were going to be away?
I kept my face turned to the windo,w where I stared out onto the ocean. At my back, Eren and Nestor were talking about things they’d need for their trip. Their excitement was bubbling over, and it hurt, yet again, that they weren’t going to include me.
Why didn’t they?
Didn’t they want me there?
Was I a drag?
I knew that was what everyone else thought. Well, save for Frazer and Reed of all people. They were the only students who actively spoke to me. Everyone else just pointed at me and snickered when I almost puked in gym class, or the girls bitched at me because, and I’d been slow to realize this, Stefan was popular and they didn’t appreciate his tending to me the way he was.
Did they really not want me hanging around? Did they just keep me there out of pity?
I’d never thought things like this before, but their lack of inclusion on this trip, put me on edge in a way that made me recognize I’d been calm since coming to Caelum.
“Hey, what is it?”
I blinked at Eren, surprised to see Nestor had gone. “Where’s Nestor?”
“He had gym.”
That was their usual response. I knew it wasn’t always the truth, but I didn’t mind. I wasn’t their keeper, nor did I want them to think I was their jailor.
“Oh.” I turned back to look at the window. The sky was so startlingly blue it was enough to make my eyes sting, but the ocean itself was dark. The sea should be blue too, but it was more navy. Like the comforter I had on my bed. And the spray? It was the purest white I’d ever seen. The way the water crashed into the cliffs made me wish I could dance amid the spray… without getting crushed into the rocks, of course. But it was light and effervescent in a way that I wasn’t.
A way that I felt sure I’d never be.
These guys had found their place here, but I hadn’t. I’d only found more questions that needed to be answered. In the interim, though, I thought I had them, but this trip was making me insecure.
And I didn’t like it.
“What’s wrong?” Eren repeated, and when his hand touched my chin, I jerked in surprise. In fact, I jerked so hard that he dropped his fingers.
For a second, we both just looked at each other, and then I swallowed and whispered, “Sorry.”
“For what?” He gamely tried to let my stupid reaction go.
“For that.” I licked my lips and reached for his hand, and then turning his palm up, I lifted it to my cheek, motioning for him to cup my jaw again.
We both released a shaky breath when he touched me, the dry skin of his palm brushing my silkier flesh. His had calluses and were hardened from everything he did in the gym, in contrast to mine.
His thumb began to move, back and forth, back and forth, caressing my jawline in a way that had me swallowing, but I couldn’t take my eyes from his. His gleamed a chestnut brown, but there were amber striations around the pupil that reminded me of the ocean spray. They seemed to dance, inviting me along for the ride.
“Your Lorelei is in full force today, isn’t she?” he murmured, making me blink.
“She is?” I knew which soul was in control, but I didn’t think he’d be able to tell. Could I sense his? Before I could think about it more, concentrate on what he was today, he nodded.
“I can sense her.” When he closed his eyes and inhaled, I cursed my pale skin for yet another blush. This time it was in surprise and… shockingly enough, want.
I wanted him. Just as I had yesterday morning when I’d awoken with my head in his lap. I’d opened my eyes, looked at his sleeping face and… I’d wanted him.
Those three words didn’t penetrate well at first.
I was used to being wanted. It happened on days like today or when my Succubus was around. But this was different.
I felt it. Normally, it was as irritating as a fly buzzing around my head in the summer sun. This? It was a heat that seemed to make my blood sluggish.
My mouth quivered and, though I didn’t mean to say the words, they just fell out: “I’m goin
g to miss you.”
His eyes darkened. “Truly?”
He didn’t sound put out, if anything, he sounded… pleased?
I nodded. “Yes. Very much,” I rasped, aware of how husky my breath was and even more aware of what he could read into that.
Lips curving, he stepped closer, pressing into me in a way that should have set my nerves on edge but didn’t. I enjoyed the way his heat hit me from the front. It was a huge contrast to the cold chill of the window at my back.
“I’m going to miss you too.”
Gulping, I whispered his word back to him. “Truly?”
“If you could come, I’d take you with us.”
If?
My brow started to pucker in confusion, but his thumb moved down to my mouth. He ran it along my bottom lip before reaching up to trail over the arch of the upper.
If my response had taken me aback before, that was nothing to now. My lungs heaved as an ache for something burned inside me.
I’d seen the movies, watched the couples kissing and writhing around on top of each other.
Did I want that?
I wasn’t sure what happened. They never did deep enough close ups, and surely they weren’t actually doing it on camera.
Or were they?
My eyes flared wide at the thought before they retreated to half-mast again when he tapped the fleshiest part of my mouth, then dragged it down slightly, opening me up in a way that no one else ever had.
His skin dragged against the moisture from my bottom lip, and it was natural to suck on the tip of his thumb, to, albeit hesitantly, lick it too.
His response startled me. He released a hiss then staggered back.
“What is it? What’s wrong?” I demanded, my voice low and so unlike my own that I didn’t recognize it at first.
He shook his head. “Stefan deserves your first kiss.”
I blinked at him. “Huh?”
Another shake of his head was all I got before he ground out, “It will make sense soon.”
Before I could argue, before I could say another word, he stormed off, slamming the door behind him. The frame actually jolted at the weight he packed into the move, and I stared at it, trying to regulate my breathing, and ignore this intense ache I suddenly felt deep in my belly, and, oddly enough, in my breasts.
Gulping, I reached up and gently caressed one. They felt heavy, swollen. Why? I didn’t know, and I was suddenly furious at being so damn ignorant about the most natural things in this world.
At that moment, I hated my parents. Hated the compound. Hated the New Order.
Why couldn’t I just be normal?
If I was, Eren wouldn’t have stalked off like I’d grown three heads! And what did Stefan have to do with it?
Clenching my eyes closed, I shook off those thoughts. As painful as that experience had been—painful because I’d been denied something that I felt sure would be delicious—it had told me something.
Eren wanted me to go to Aboh with him.
That had to count for something.
Didn’t it?
❖
Dre
As Nestor strummed his guitar, I sank back into the sofa and let his tunes soothe me.
I was riled up, angry, and I wasn’t even sure why.
We were heading out in a few hours, just waiting on the plane to arrive, and I was ready for it. Ready for everything the motherfuckers could throw my way, so why was I so on edge?
So antsy?
I studied Stefan, who had a piece of soap in his hands and a small penknife.
As I watched him whittle it down, leaving shavings on his lap, I murmured, “Why are we all on edge?”
Eren, who was face deep in one of Stefan’s stashes, replied, “On edge?”
I rolled my eyes when he retreated from the cupboard with a pack of cookies, Gatorade, and some candy.
We weren’t supposed to eat that shit, but Stefan had some sent in from the mainland every now and then. He said it made him feel less deprived but really, the dude was a hoarder who wouldn’t admit to it.
He had everything in those cupboards. Protein bars, shakes, that shit that he somehow got from the US army just in case there was zero access to food for whatever reason. But I got it. We all had our demons, and Stefan’s was hunger.
He’d been starved as a kid, and when he’d had to live out on the streets, food had come at a premium. I had a feeling he’d sold his body for food, but I’d never ask him. Never shame him so badly by bringing it up.
And, honestly, I didn’t want to know because if I did, I’d want to go and kill the motherfuckers who’d fucked a thirteen year old rather than just give him some money to grab something to eat.
The world was full of sick bastards and they weren’t all Ghouls either.
Most of us had sad pasts, but some were worse than others. Stefan’s was one of them, Eren’s too. I’d seen his scars. He usually covered them up with cycling shorts under his baggier training gear, but I’d seen them. Knew there’d been a time when he self-harmed.
Cutting a look at what was literally a few pounds of sugar in his hands, I stated, “You sure you should be eating that shit? You sleep like crap as it is.”
He narrowed his eyes on me. “You my mom?”
I snorted. “If I was I’d have slapped you around the head a few times already today. You think I wouldn’t find out you’d shown her my garden?” The place was booby-trapped, and he’d fallen straight into it.
That had him grunting. “I should have known you had that place wired up.”
“Not having any bastard sneak in there and ruin my plants,” I grumbled. “Why did you show it to her anyway?”
He shrugged. “She wanted a walk.”
“Then take her to the goddamn beach.”
Stefan sighed, and it was louder than the scrape of his knife into the soap. “She won’t leave the building’s perimeter.”
I rolled my eyes again—that woman. I didn’t say shit, though, because they’d harp on at me about it. I was already getting crap from them and I didn’t want to spend the next few hours of waiting for the plane with them trying to convince me how her shit was made of gold.
She was Pack. I got it. But I didn’t have to like her, and she’d have to do more than blink at me with big, admittedly pretty, honey-colored eyes to earn my loyalty.
“We need to work on that,” Nestor said absentmindedly, as he plucked the strings of his instrument. The damn thing was like another limb. The way he played it could make even my eyes water.
My bro had talent. Major talent.
Just a few notes could make the hair at the back of my neck stand on edge… Like it was now. The soulful sounds weren’t easing my mood though. If anything, they weren’t fast enough, hard and heavy enough, to appease the rapid beat of my blood through my veins.
My Hell Hound was in action today, and it wanted to be let loose.
“Yeah, we do. Plus that shit with Coach has to stop,” Stefan stated grimly.
“Do we have to talk about her?” I complained. Fuck, that’s all it was now. Eve this and Eve fucking that.
Stefan cut me a look, but he said nothing. Just carried on whittling. When I saw a woman’s face begin to appear in the carving, I wanted to grunt.
“Why are we so on edge?” I demanded, trying to get the topic back on track. “Nestor only plays when he’s nervous, Eren eats like a glutton, and Stefan only whittles when he’s antsy. I’m feeling it too.” Though the Hell Hound was in charge, my basic nature was Were, which meant my skin was prickling with the need to shift.
I seriously couldn’t wait for the day I could turn into my true beast. And that day? I’d be shipping out to Mexico on the hunt for some coyote blood.
My mouth watered at the prospect.
“It’s our first Alpha unit mission?” Stefan hazarded a guess.
“I don’t think so,” Eren stated after he slurped down some Gatorade that would only amp him up—and not in a good way either. He cu
t me a look. “I think it’s to do with Eve. She’s Pack, whether you like it or not, Dre, and she’s not coming with us.”
“That wouldn’t put me on edge,” I countered. “If anything, having her with us would. She’s a liability.”
He shrugged. “You’re feeding off our nerves.”
Stefan nodded. “He could be right, Dre. I know I’m feeling like shit for not explaining what might happen while we’re gone.”
I eyed him. “Why haven’t you told her?”
“Because I’m a selfish fuck.” His mouth tightened. “If I tell her she’ll try to talk me out of it.”
“Women are weak.”
Eren scowled. “Eve is the exact opposite of that. Just because she’s not strong in the way you think we should be doesn’t mean she isn’t strong in her own way.”
“He’s right, Dre. Don’t be blinded by your prejudice,” Nestor intoned darkly, but his gaze never left his guitar. “Eve is strong, and she will, with time, be a worthy member of our Pack.”
Yeah, and pigs flew over this fucking island every goddamn day of the week.
She’d taken me down once. While I was feeding. That didn’t make her Wonder Woman. But the way they went on about it, I knew I’d never live it down.
Something else to lay at Eve’s goddamn door.
“Though it’s driving me mad not being Claimed, I’m almost glad for it now,” Stefan admitted, his tone low.
“You wouldn’t tell it was driving you mad,” I pointed out, surprised by his words. Aside from the angry burn on his back, it was easy to forget he wasn’t Claimed—aside from the fact that Eve was a huge reminder.
“I try to burn it out in the gym.” He shrugged. “Some days it works, some days it doesn’t.”
“You Incubus today?”
He nodded.
I winced. “Ouch.”
“Yeah.” He blew out a breath. “But, and it’s a huge but, if I die, she won’t become crazed. That’s my only consolation here.”
Seven Wishes: The Caelum Academy Trilogy: Part ONE Page 19