“Can you see who it is?” I ask Vivi, and she reluctantly pads her way to the door, not even bothering to run her fingers through her messy hair or get out of her pajamas.
“Umm, Riley, I think it’s for you.”
I turn the cheese down, hoping I will be back before it starts sticking to the pan, and go to the door to see who could possibly be here for me.
God, I hope it's not Reyes.
What I see is just about the most conspicuous sight possible, even in a neighborhood of mostly other witches.
Long, golden waves flowing down to meet a pair of pearly white wings, and a pair of piercing blue eyes.
All of it topped with a mischievous grin. "Can I come in?"
Chapter Thirteen
“Adriel, get in here!” I practically scream as I yank at the angel so he comes through the door, me slamming it behind him. I point him in the direction of my room and send him off, trusting him to do as I say as I go and check on the sauce.
“Vivi, I think you’re going to have to take over with the nachos,” I tell her, and she looks at me strangely before coming into the kitchen, The Bachelor on pause.
“Why in the world is the angel form the Magistrate at out house?” she asks, and I am not sure how to wiggle my way out of this one. I don't think Vivi would rat us out, but if I am going to keep seeing Adriel, I am going to have to make sure it’s a secret from everyone, even my own family.
“Truthfully, I don't know. They have a bad habit of sending him unannounced to check up on me though,” I whisper through gritted teeth.
“Okay, well, you go take care of that. I’ll make sure we have dinner. If he sticks around for it then maybe he can do the dishes after.”
A nervous laugh bubbles up from my throat at the thought of an archangel doing our dishes. “Maybe we should stick to paper plates.”
I go to my room and just about hyperventilate at the fact that Adriel is in it. I shut the door even as Jinx is meowing and pawing to try and get in, probably because he wants to get a glimpse at the most beautiful creature on Earth.
Too bad.
“So, where’s Ursula?” he asks.
“Really? You show up at my house after nine weeks of not hearing from you, and all you want to know is where my familiar is?”
“Well, she is kind of important. It’s time you started training hard with her. It’s why I’m here. Sort of.”
He looks up at me sheepishly, and I know he is telling one of his half-truths. “You know I am sick of you keeping things from me.”
“Don't worry, the time is coming soon that you’ll know everything. What you need to know right now is that I put on a great act this summer, thus why no contact.” He breaks into a smile again, and I put my hand on my hip.
"So, did the Magistrate send you?" I guess.
"Yes. They want me to be your keeper for the rest of the summer and beyond that. I am supposed to make sure that you’re being turned into their perfect little weapon and no longer entangled with those that can hurt your opinion of them."
"In other words, they want you to keep me loyal to the Magistrate and not to people like Jake and his family?" I decipher.
He nods in admittance, and I shake my head. But as much as it angers me, of course I know that Adriel doesn’t agree with them. He’s here for me.
"Why are you really here?" I press.
"Is your uncle here?" he whispers, and I shake my head, trying to hide the fact that my heart rate just doubled, wondering at the reason he has asked this.
I don’t have to wait long because he takes two strides forward and takes my cheek in his hand, placing the other hand behind my neck. His breath hovers right over my lips and warms them. I can taste his sweet breath, and I drink it in as if it’s my oxygen.
We stay like that for a few moments before his goes in for a kiss, his eyes remaining open. I give it a try and realize how intimate this is, watching each other while we kiss.
A lot of people think it’s a sign of the breakdown of a relationship, but this is as vulnerable as it gets, and my whole body heats up in response.
"I came back for you. To make sure you’re ready for year two. They are going to push you as hard as they can to overwhelm you. Isolate you. They might still think there is a chance for your angel blood to kill you for them, so they don’t have to be afraid anymore or try to suppress you. It would make their job much easier. Or if they made you give up."
"I won’t be doing that."
"That’s my girl."
"So, you didn’t find some angel to fall for instead of me while you were away?" It sounds more desperate out of my mouth than it is in my head. I was trying to tease him, but my stomach turns at the thought. It would be better for him if that is what happened.
"Even if the offer was there I wouldn’t take it. You're plenty angel for me." His lips crash against mine once more, and I get lost in it before I remember we are not alone in the house even if my uncle is not here.
"So, I am supposed to train with Ursula? She's out in the backyard. She prefers to be outside as much as possible. Sometimes, she even jumps the fence to go and hunt and just jumps back in when she’s done."
I shrug. The first couple of times she did it, I panicked, but now I am used to it. We have a great bond and trust, and I am excited to see how we will fight together.
"Yes. That is the most powerful you'll ever be is when the two of you fight side by side. I get the feeling with everything going on, if you succeed this year, you'll be sent out in the field just like Jake was. I do not want you to be even a little bit unprepared or unsure of your ability to kill a horde of demons. We can’t afford for you to have a single flaw in your technique. I'm sorry, but this isn’t going to be easy."
"I didn’t expect it to, but, you promise you'll let me in on everything soon? I don’t know if I can keep fighting against or for something I don’t even understand."
"I promise, but that’s a reason I have waited, and you'll understand once you know." The words are ominous, but I let them go because there is something I am much more curious about.
"So, do you know anything about how Jake and Dru are? I still can’t believe Dru decided to go with him to protect him. I haven’t heard anything from Jake or his family, and neither has Vivi."
"Vivi?"
"Oh yeah, he and Vivi are kind of a thing. It’s complicated, I guess, but she has been sulking about it all summer. If he was allowed to say anything he would have told at least one of us."
Adriel nods, and his eyes go dark or just a moment. There is something he doesn’t want to say, and I feel sick thinking about all of the possibilities.
"I need you to focus on your training for now, but I will make sure if you don’t hear anything by the start of the school year that I find a way to check in on at least one of them."
"What, you want to start right now?"
"Yeah, I think it’s best. I'll be staying with you the next three weeks too, Magistrate’s orders. Your uncle will be informed before he leaves headquarters."
I blush at the thought of him staying and sleeping in the same house as me. I am going to have to be extra careful because I don’t want any of Vivi's alarms going off at the way we are around each other.
"Good luck staying away from me," I say with a smile.
"Challenge accepted."
I go out of my room to find Vivi finishing up the nachos and putting them onto plates for us. I almost forgot about dinner, but now my stomach is growling. I motion for Adriel to sit down on the couch, which is the oddest thing to see, by the way – an angel on my couch. Even if it is Adriel.
A sinking feeling hits me all of a sudden. This is so not normal, and I don’t think anything with us could ever be. If we survive what’s coming, he is not going to just sit on the couch with me and play video games and watch movies. And a ring on my finger would be ridiculous when I would have two other men wanting the same thing – one of them actually being human.
Now I know why U
rsula says Kagan would be the most practical choice.
But I don't know that my life will ever be practical or consist of moment like that either. I am going to be a hunter of paranormal creatures. There’s no way around that now. So, I guess I won’t have a lot of time for pajamas and popcorn either.
And who better to be fighting at my side than a demon, a witch, and an angel?
I go up to Vivi and tap her on the shoulder. “The Magistrate did send him. He’s going to make sure I am ready for this year. Apparently they are going to hit me hard with a crazy schedule again and want me caught up and not distracted by trying to learn how to be an Aurora Witch and a hunter. He’s going to be staying with us.”
I point to Adriel, and her eyes go wide. “An angel is staying with us?” She looks down at herself as if for the first time and makes a face. “I am so embarrassed that he has seen me like this. I think I need to snap out of it. Wait, you don't think he knows about Jake, do you? Like if he is alright?”
I frown at her and pull her into a hug. Displays of physical affection are for the two of us to each other, but she could use it right now, and maybe I need it too. “That was the first thing I thought of. He has promised that if we hear nothing by the time I go back to Paranormal Hunter Academy that he will look into it and let me know. And of course, I’ll tell you first thing I hear.”
She nods, sniffling as we pull part. “Thank you. It’s just hard because I haven’t felt this way about somebody before, and I know he was worried it was a suicide mission. And the fact that we still haven’t defined things and I so want to.”
I nod in understanding. “Unfinished business. I get it. Look, Jake had good grades for a reason – he is good at this. And I think if he was gone, then we WOULD have news on that. Just keep your chin up, and please, as soon as he gets back, tell him what you want.”
She agrees and hugs me again before leaving the room to clean herself up. I finish putting the nachos together and take a seat next to Adriel on the couch. Suddenly I realize, this is probably too close for two people who are just being shoved together the last three weeks of summer.
I sigh and move to the floor in front of the coffee table instead.
“This is going to be hard,” I whisper to him.
“It’s going to be fun,” he laughs quietly, and I give him a side eye before staring back down at my nachos, when Vivi comes back in the room.
“Sorry I didn’t properly introduce myself before, I’m Viviana.” She holds her hand out to Adriel to shake, and he takes it gently as Jinx comes bounding through the room and onto the couch to sniff at him. “And this is Jinx, my familiar.”
“Ah, I believe I have seen this one before. The one Riley was using before she was allowed to have Ursula.” He reaches out to pet Jinx who falls into a state of euphoria, to the sound of our laughter.
“Traitor,” Vivi mutters.
Maybe this won’t be so bad. We can get through this.
And at least he’s here.
As I finish up my nachos, my phone buzzes, and I look down to see probably the longest text I have ever gotten.
I’m sorry for keeping my distance for so long. Some of it has been a worry that you are going to hurt my heart, and the rest has been my father. He insisted on having me intern at headquarters this summer so I would know what I am missing if I choose to pursue being a teacher. I know school starts again soon, and I would like to patch things up and try again if you are ready to trust me with everything this time. And I mean EVERYTHING.
~ Kagan
I look up at Adriel who meets my gaze for a moment. It’s strange how both of them have shown up in my life again on the same day, but nothing should surprise me anymore.
I look back down and work out a reply.
If I know it, you’ll know it. I’m sorry, and I hope things will be the same.
They will be better. Call me tonight?
I bite my lip and think about trying to make up with Kagan over the phone, while Adriel is staying in my house. I know that will be the first test, if Adriel will hold back his jealousy and not giving away his feelings for me, in front of my family.
It will also be my first test to see if I can handle telling Kagan the truth. He will have to know Adriel is staying with me.
I wonder how that will go over.
Talk to you before bed, then.
Chapter Fourteen
“Just call him.”
I look over at Ursula who has come in for the night having been sure that she would be asleep by now. She had opted to come inside after the training session because she was exhausted. We spent two hours trying to figure out how to use our magic together, but it works so much better with her than it ever did with jinx. The bond I didn’t have with him is there with Ursula.
We want to fight for the other even if we are not used to the style the other has, and sometimes she wants to take on the alpha wolf position and dictate the whole thing without my input. But that’s what I get for having a wolf as a familiar.
Since saying goodnight to everyone and coming to my room, I have been slapping the phone into my hand like a tick and debating what to call Kagan and say, and I have come up with nothing that sounds good for our first conversation in months.
“Easier said than done,” I tell her as I stare at his name in my contacts. “I don’t think it's going to go over well that while we haven’t been taking, Adriel has moved into my house.”
“I thought you had already made it clear you were not choosing any of them. He knows that. Besides, what choice does Adriel have but to be here? Kagan has to respect that if he cares about you.”
“How is it the one in my life, who is the voice of reason, is a wolf?”
“Oh, I am much more than just a wolf,” she reminds me.
“Of course, you are,” I agree before going ahead and dialing the number.
He answers almost right away, and a sense of relief washes over me at the sound of his voice. I have been so incomplete without knowing that we have some kind of closure, whether it was the end of things or making up and starting over. I make a vow not to put us in that position again.
“Hey, Kagan, you asked to call, so …” Oh my god, that is so dumb sounding, but it’s the best I’ve got. Making up is more awkward in real life than it is in the voices.
“Yeah. I’m glad you did. I may have overreacted the last time we spoke. I know you must have been wondering all summer if I was going to break up with you or what, and I am sorry for that.”
I want to say that I didn’t worry about that this whole time, but I am not seeing the point in lying, so I leave it alone. “It was me who had already promised not to keep things from you, and I did again. Even if I had a good reason, it's not an excuse to break a promise to someone you love.”
“Someone you love?”
He caught me there. “Yes, of course, I love you.”
“Sometimes I worry that with the other two in your life you won’t have a need to love me anymore.”
It is a little comforting to know he feels insecure just like I do sometimes. “I don't need anything. I want you. You’ve been incredible. I wouldn’t let that go just because I have something with two other guys. I know this isn’t normal, but it's what works for me and my heart. And it's not like you are all in the same room all the time. In fact, I don't even know where you’ll be at all now that you’ve graduated.” My eyebrows crease at the thought.
“I have my own apartment now. Actually, I was wondering if you would want to come back to school a week early and stay with me. I am not too far from campus.”
As if on cue I hear a swishing sound and see a slip of paper come in through the bottom of my door. I swipe it before anyone notices, almost certain who it is from.
Goodnight, my love, my angel, my all. I hope you get enough rest to do it all again tomorrow. You’re going to be great.
“Riley?”
“Oh, sorry, I got…distracted. Before I answer that, there is something I
should tell you, and I don't think you’re going to like it. But I am starting by keeping my promise right now like I didn’t last time.”
I don't like the pause of long silence on the other end, but I take it as permission to keep going considering he hasn’t hung up yet.
“Adriel showed up at my door this morning. The Magistrate sent him to babysit me the rest of the summer. So, if I were to come stay with you, he would come too.”
“You mean he is staying there with you?” There is an edge to his voice that I don't like. If I put myself in his shoes, even if I accepted he was dating other people, with the fact that I haven’t been intimate yet with him, the thought of someone else staying with him makes me gag a little.
“We’re pretending there’s nothing between us here, just so you know. We don't want my family to know. He thinks it’s probably something that would be frowned upon that we even have feelings for each other.”
I don't think that Kagan will be the one to rat us out, but it isn’t lost on me that he could if he wanted to.
“It’s none of my business, anyway.” His voice is strained. “If he is willing, I would still like to see you. He is probably right about it being frowned upon. Coming to stay with me could easily keep up the illusion that nothing is happening between the two of you.”
I laugh a little. “That’s a dirty play, but that’s okay. I want to see you too. I’ll talk with him and my uncle about it tomorrow. For now, I think I better get to bed. I’ve been training with Ursula tonight, and it’s taken a lot out of me.”
“Wow, how did that go? I know that wasn’t working too well, with Jinx.”
I grin and lay on my bed, thinking about the first time Kagan tried to train me. I miss those days a little and wonder if I could rope him into one for old times’ sake.
“It works much better with her. You’ll have to teach me once or twice while I’m there so you can see.”
“I would love to.”
“Great. Goodnight.”
Aurora Witch (Paranormal Hunter Academy Book 2) Page 10