by Amanda Carol
He grins, placing his hand on top of mine, and closes his eyes. I glance at his sister; her long platinum blonde hair is pulled back into a ponytail and she’s giving her brother a weird look. I look behind her at Hunter, who is only watching her. I’ve never seen Hunter look at a girl like this before. It looks like he wants to wrap her up in a blanket and keep her safe, or he wants to kiss her. Either way, I think Hunter might be crushing on this girl. Declan pats my hand, pulling my attention back to him, and opens his eyes again.
“You’re beautiful,” Declan whispers.
“Thanks, Romeo.” I smile. “But I think you’ve bumped your head a little too hard. Let’s get you patched up, okay?”
This isn't the first time I've had to deal with situations like this. Kai hits on me all the time, and while it was charming at first, it got rather annoying. Kai is hot and a great guy, but I’ve known him for years. I just don’t see him in that way.
“You have the voice of an angel too!” Declan says, then turns to look at his sister. “Psst! Aria! I think I met the woman of my dreams.”
He closes his eyes, then opens them to look at me once more. His green eyes sparkle in the overhead lights.
“What’s your name?” he asks. Even loopy, he still packs on the charm.
“Ciera.”
“Such a beautiful name for a beautiful woman,” Declan sighs.
I chuckle, but it goes unnoticed because Grandma comes back over with Gumba Paste and a cup full of the potion that will heal his concussion. It’s absolutely revolting. I would know because I’ve needed to drink it before. I quickly move out of her way as she cleans his head up and places the Gumba Paste on his wound. I can feel Declan’s eyes on me when I grab the bloody gauze and throw it away.
“Drink this. It’s not going to taste good, but it’ll help ease the pain and heal that concussion you have,” I hear Grandma explain.
When she hands Declan the small cup, Abby and Aria help him sit up as he takes the cup from her. He drinks it quickly but makes a face and looks like he might spit it back out.
“I don’t know what ass tastes like, but if I had to guess, I imagine that’s exactly what it would taste like,” Declan groans.
I have to hold in the laugh that’s starting to bubble up in my chest. I’ve heard a lot of things about the way that potion tastes, but it being compared to that is new.
I hear Bennett start laughing behind me, and Grandma narrows her eyes at him. She uses the air element to “smack” him on the head, a trick I've been trying to learn, but can’t ever master. I can slam and lock doors, but smacking someone with air takes a lot of focus and practice. It took Grandma years to perfect it.
“Ouch!” Bennett hisses, rubbing his head. “What’d you do that for? Hunter was laughing too!”
Grandma threatens him again, but he holds his hands up.
As Grandma shoos everyone out of the room, I sneak off and go over to the cafeteria. Aria looks tired and hungry and could probably use a warm meal. I figure you can’t go wrong with a burger and fries. That’s the southern hospitality for you.
I take it out to her, then walk back inside the medical room and see Grandma sitting behind her desk organizing her medical kit.
“I’m heading back. Need anything before I go?” I ask her.
“Mm-hmm, that’s quite alright dear,” she answers, counting her gauze packs, then recounting them.
“I’ll be back in a few hours to relieve you. Love you.” I lean in and kiss her cheek.
She lets me, then continues her counting. Curiosity gets the best of me when I glance over at Declan. My legs are moving before my brain makes the decision to walk over there.
His face is cast in shadows, but I can still make out his features. He finally fell back asleep, so I lift the gauze off his head to check to see if the paste is working. My curiosity is piqued when I look at his almost completely healed head wound. Our potions and pastes are good, but not that good. The only other time I've seen wounds heal this quickly is on a wolf shifter. He’s not a shifter, but I’m beginning to suspect that he’s not human either.
Witches can sense power in each other. I’ve been around magic my whole life, so I know when I’m around a person with power. Declan has power, but it feels…muted, somehow.
He moans and shifts, and the light reflects off his necklace. I can’t believe I didn’t even notice that before. Then my eyes trail down, and that’s when I realize he’s not wearing a shirt. I’m used to being around shirtless men, living on the Compound, so I guess with the chaos of the evening, I never really noticed it. He’s not extremely muscular like the shifters, but the guy is still muscular, and toned…and gorgeous.
Focus, Ciera.
I reach forward and pick up the sun-shaped pendant hanging from a chain around his neck. It wields powerful magic. The spell that was used to make this probably came with a pretty high price, since all enchantments or spells that go against the balance of nature come with a consequence. My eyes snap up to his face when he moves his head once more and I gently lay the pendant back down on his chest. This is binding magic, but why is he wearing something that would bind his powers? He’s not a witch or a shifter.
“What are you?” My voice is barely above a whisper.
“What was that, dear?”
I jump at the sound of Grandma’s voice and spin around.
“Nothing. I’ll see you later,” I say as I rush out of the medical room and back to our cabin.
I slam the door shut behind me and rush back upstairs to my room and kick off my shoes. I toss my hair into a messy bun and start to pace.
I know what he’s not.
I know that he’s not a human.
“What am I missing?” I say out loud, as I continue to pace.
Just then, I hear a knock on my front door. Ugh. Now what? I rush back downstairs and am surprised to see Kai standing there.
“Hey, Ci-Ci.” Kai smiles at me.
“I told you not to call me that.” I roll my eyes, pulling my hair out from my messy bun. “What are you doing here?”
“Bennett told me to drop these off with you,” he replies, holding up a set of car keys.
“Oh.” I reach forward and take the keys from him. “Thank you. What car is it for?”
“You’re welcome, beautiful. And it’s the Honda HRV. I parked it next to your Jeep.” Kai smirks, crossing his arms over his broad chest. A dark curl falls flat on his forehead, and he swivels his head to get it off.
“Thanks again, Kai.” I smile at him.
His smirk disappears as a breeze whips my hair in front of my face. He reaches forward and tucks a lock behind my ear, then his hand cups my cheek. I make the mistake of letting my gaze meet his and he starts to lean forward. His eyes start to glow as he gets closer. A shifter’s eyes only glow if they feel an intense emotion.
Oh, no.
Abort! Abort! Abort!
“Kai,” I whisper.
He rests his forehead against mine. “I know. I just wish you’d give me a chance.”
I pull out of his grasp. “It’s not that, Kai. I just don’t see you in that way, and I don’t want to ruin our friendship.”
I cringe at my word choice because I totally just put him in the friend zone. He’s such a sweetheart and will make one lucky lady happy someday. I’ve had relationships before, but I want passion. I want someone who will challenge me and ask the deep questions. I want the next guy to get to know my mind first, then my body. Kai isn’t that person, and I feel bad, but I can’t help how I feel about him.
“I understand.” Kai leans forward and kisses my cheek. “Goodnight, Ciera.”
“Goodnight, Kai,” I reply.
I watch as he shifts into his wolf and runs off into the night. I shut the door and walk back up to my room, twirling the car keys in my hand.
I need to think outside the box.
I know the history of witches comes from the Greek gods. They would gift mortals with an elemental power if they
were worthy. I know that wolf shifters were created by Artemis to balance out what Apollo did with the first vampire.
What am I missing?
Grabbing a Greek mythology textbook from my bookshelf, I sit back down at my desk and start reading. When I check the time, it’s about three in the morning. I place a bookmark in the page I was reading and slip my shoes back on. I grab the car keys and make my way over to the parking lot to the twins’ Honda HRV. I assume the purple backpack is Aria’s and the black Under Armor one is Declan’s. I open it and see there’s a change of clothes, so I don’t have to rummage through their things to find him some fresh clothes. I pull out my phone and text Jasper that I left the car door unlocked, asking if he would take the rest of their things to Luna’s cabin.
“Hey, Grandma, I’m here now. Why don’t you go back to the cabin to rest for a while? I’ll keep an eye on Declan,” I say as I enter the medical room.
I set Declan’s backpack down on the floor and set the book down on the desk, startling Grandma.
“What did I say about doing that! You gave me a fright, almost made the old ticker stop beating.” Grandma clutches her chest, but I can see the corners of her lips tip up in a smile.
“That old ticker won’t give out anytime soon,” I giggle as she gets up and grabs her robe from the hook.
“You’re right. You going to be all right here by yourself?” she asks as she pulls the robe closed.
“Yes, I’ll be fine.” I shoo her off and sit in the chair, opening the textbook back up.
“Alright, I’ll see you later then. Bye, sweetheart.” Grandma kisses the top of my head, grabs her bag, and leaves me alone in the room.
I start reading the book again, skimming through the history I already know. I get to the chapter about demigods, but I hear a groan from across the room. I glance up and see that Declan is starting to wake up, so I place the bookmark between the pages and set the book down. I get up, quickly grabbing some ibuprofen and a glass of water and walk over to him.
“Where am I?” he asks in a low, husky voice. “Fuck, my head hurts.” He reaches up and touches the bandage on his head, and his eyes grow wide. “Wait. Where is my sister?”
He suddenly sits up and is out of the bed quickly, knocking the glass out of my hand. I jump out of the way, but I notice Declan tumble to the ground a few feet away.
“Whoa! Hey!” I shout, rushing over to him, trying to not step on the glass.
“I have to find my sister. Where is she?” Declan gets back up and starts to rush for the door.
I can’t let him, not while he’s still healing. Without thinking, I use the air element to slam the door shut. Declan halts in his tracks and I use the air element again to bolt the door.
“You are in no condition to walk right now; your body went through some trauma and it’s trying to heal,” I say.
He slowly turns to me, and the look on his face isn’t fear. He’s looking at me so intensely that I start to flush under his gaze. A guy has never looked at me quite like this before.
“You’re a witch, aren’t you?” he asks, and I remember Bennett telling me that they know about shifters, witches and vampires.
I nod. “Yes.”
“And my sister? Where is she?”
“She’s safe with someone who lives here, Abby Thibodaux. They seem to know each other,” I tell him, and he seems to calm.
“Brown hair, gray eyes, and about yay tall?” He positions his hand at chest level.
“That’s the one,” I reply, not sure where this conversation is going to go.
“How do I know you’re not lying?” Declan asks, taking a step back.
“You’re just going to have to trust me. Hunter and Bennett brought you guys back here, and we had your car and belongings delivered here as well. Abby texted me a few hours ago and said that Aria was fast asleep. I promise you, she’s safe.”
“Are Hunter and Bennett witches?” he asks, slowly walking back toward me.
“No,” I say just as he reaches me.
His eyes search my face for a moment before glancing behind me.
“I’m sorry about the broken glass. My sister is the only family I have left, and I—” His voice breaks as he looks down at me.
“It’s okay. I understand,” I whisper, giving him a small smile. “Would you mind if I changed your bandages?”
He smirks. “You’re the nurse. You do what you need to do.”
“Go lie back down. I’ll be right over,” I command.
He goes back over to his cot, careful not to step on the broken glass. I grab some more ibuprofen, water in a plastic cup this time, extra gauze, and some more Gumba Paste.
“Here, take this.” I hand him the pills and water.
“Thanks.” He throws the pills in his mouth and takes a large gulp of water.
“You’re welcome.” I smile as he hands me the cup. I take it back to the desk, then walk back over. “I’m going to check your head wound now and clean it up a bit. Is that okay?”
He nods, then winces as I start to take the bandage off.
“I’m sorry,” I say. “I know this must hurt.”
“Actually, it’s not so bad. You don’t have to be careful with me. You can rip it off if you want to. I’ve been through worse.” Declan’s eyes meet mine, and I can tell he’s being serious even though his tone sounds sarcastic. “I’m Declan, by the way. What’s your name?”
I stop what I’m doing. “You don’t remember?”
His eyes grow wide. “Please don’t tell me I had diarrhea of the mouth.” His head falls back down on the pillow and he closes his eyes. “You told me your name and I don’t even remember it. If my sister was here, she’d be giving me so much shit right now.”
I chuckle and glance at his wound, noticing that it’s just about healed up.
Yeah, he’s definitely not just a human.
I suck in a breath. “I’m going to leave the bandage off and let this get some air. In the meantime, I’ll go and grab us something to eat. Are you hungry?”
“Sounds good, and yeah I could eat.” He smiles at me as I turn to walk over to the desk to throw the used gauze in the trash.
“I hope you don’t mind, but I grabbed your backpack out of your car. I’m sure you’ll want something to change into.” I bring over the backpack and hand it to him, then grab the broom, dustpan and some paper towels to clean up the mess.
“Thank you. I appreciate it,” he says as he watches me clean the broken glass and spilled water. “I can help you with that.”
“No, that’s okay. I’ve got it. You need to rest,” I reply, using my foot to wipe the floor. Once I’m finished, I throw the glass and the used paper towels away and turn to face him. “Okay, I’m going to grab us some breakfast now. Want anything in particular?”
“Your name.”
I smile. “Ciera.”
He returns my smile before I spin around and head for the door.
“Hey, Ciera,” he calls out.
I turn again, lifting a brow.
“Surprise me,” he says.
I watch the door close behind Ciera and lean my head back onto the pillow. I have no fucking clue why I trust her.
I knew something was off with Hunter and Bennett when we met them in the cemetery. The last thing I remember was them following Aria and I back in after we heard the scream. That was when I realized that they had to know about vampires.
I have no idea what happened after I got knocked out, but I trust the girl—or should I say, witch—with the long blonde hair and the most beautiful blue eyes I’ve ever seen. I know my track record with remembering women’s names, but her name isn’t a name that I would want to forget, and I’m not sure why. There’s just something about her that’s different. Maybe it’s because she’s a witch, or the fact that my charm didn’t make her bat an eye. I mean, she’s gorgeous and just my type, but there’s something else there.
Opening up my bag, I grab a gray shirt and put it on. I rest my
head back on the pillow. The pounding is now gone, thanks to the meds. I hear the door open and Ciera walks back in holding two Styrofoam containers in one hand and two bottles of orange juice in the other.
She lowers the containers down in front of me. “The top one is yours.”
I grab it from her, and she starts to turn away, and her t-shirt rides up and I notice utensils sticking out from the top of her leggings.
“Hey, wait,” I command.
She stops, turning around as I get up from the cot. Slowly, I make my way over to her; her eyes grow wide when I get closer. Ever since I opened my eyes, she’s been there, and I find myself wanting to get closer to her. She doesn’t move when I tower over her. Pushing my luck, I reach down and lift her shirt. Our gazes lock when my knuckles brush her warm skin and I hear her sharp intake of breath as I wrap my fingers around the utensil packet.
She sucks that bottom lip between her teeth. Fuck. It looks so much hotter when she does it.
Getting control of myself, I take a step back and hold it up. “You forgot this.”
She lets out the breath that she had been holding. “Oh, sorry.”
I see her flush a bright red, and she quickly turns and heads back to the desk. I sit back down on the bed and place the container in my lap, opening it up.
“Wow, this looks amazing,” I remark as I undo the plastic wrap around the utensils.
“I know. I love the food the ladies make. Wait until you try the bacon!” Ciera says before taking a bite of eggs.
I look back down at my waffles, scrambled eggs, sausage, and bacon. I pick up a slice of bacon and take a bite.
“Oh, wow. That is fucking good!” I exclaim.
“I told you. I swear they put crack in it.” Ciera laughs, and for some reason, my cock stirs.
I’ve heard plenty of women laugh before, but none of them have ever made my dick happy. Ignoring it, I take a few more bites of food.
“So, Ciera, how old are you?” I ask, wanting to fill the silence, but also wanting to talk to her.
“I’m twenty. You?” she asks, taking another bite.
I like the fact that this girl isn’t shy around food. Most girls will order a salad when they really want a burger, and when they eat a salad, after a few bites, they say they’re full. I mean, come on. I’ve eaten rabbit food before, and it takes the whole thing to make me feel full.