Huh?
“Is that some place in Europe?”
“No,” he chuckles. “I don’t even know what or where Europe is. Relvaria isn’t some place on Earth. It’s a realm, I guess. One that runs right alongside this one. We don’t have all of the technology and stuff that you guys have here, but I think what we have is more.”
“And what is it that you have?”
“Magic,” he says, finally turning his eyes so that they’re facing me. “So much magic. Well, not as much as we used to have, but it’s still there.”
“Ok… and if I’m from another realm, why was I born here?”
“We don’t know. It took a long time for us to locate you. There are so many other realms, and we’ve been searching years for you, until you turned up here.” His eyes get more and more hopeful the more he talks, and I know it’s because he thinks I believe this wild ass story. But honestly? I’m trying to figure out how to get away from him. I don’t think it was all that bright to come out in the middle of nowhere with someone I barely even knew.
“Who’s looking for me?” I finally ask.
His eyes flit away from me, and I know for a fact that he’s going to lie to me. Or not tell me the whole truth. “Your family,” he whispers.
“My what?”
“Your family!” he says louder. “Your family is looking for you.”
“My mom and dad?” I ask.
“No, your family on Relvaria. There’s this story going around, that you were reborn in another realm. They want to find you.”
“The dreams,” Sheya whispers.
“You can’t really believe anything he’s saying right now?”
“I’m not really buying the whole thing, but if you do have another family, it would explain the dreams. And why you felt like it was us.”
“But another realm?”
“Yeah, I’m not buying that part. And why send him and his brothers? Are they related to you somehow?”
“Ew, don’t even play like that.”
“Why would they send you and your brothers, then? Are we related or something?” I spit out.
He whips his head back to me, eyes widening in shock or disgust. I can’t tell which. He reaches out and grabs my hand, and I can’t help but marvel at the contrast of our different skin tones pressed against each other. “God, no. We are definitely not related, Ren. The universe would never be so cruel.”
“Ok,” I swallow. “Then why you?”
He looks away again.
“Here comes the lies,” Sheya says.
“My brothers and I want to move up in our society. We took the job hoping that we’ll find you, bring you to meet your original family, and be rewarded.”
Ouch.
“So I’m just a job then? The friendship and all of that was just a means to an end?”
“Well, yeah,” his eyes widen even more. “No! It wasn’t a means to an end. Ren, wait!”
I hop up off of the picnic table and march away from him. Hot tears fill my eyes and I angrily rub them away. So, it was all just a job for them then? The flirting and kissing? The jokes and laughter? I was being played the whole time?
“What does it matter? It’s not like you were best friends with them or something.”
“Yeah, but…”
“But you started catching feelings for them. Or at least, Caylen and Titus.”
“I wouldn’t say feelings. Maybe lusting heavily?”
“Yeah, so feelings.”
“Ren, please!” he calls after me. I open up my stride so that I can cover more ground quickly. “It wasn’t fake! I swear it! Can you please just stop for a second and let me explain?”
I slow down so that he can catch up with me, and then I make sure that I don't look at him. I fear that he’ll see the tears still pooling up in my eyes and I just won’t have that. “Explain,” I finally say.
“Yeah we were sent here to find you for a job, but everything else was real. The attraction, the way we connect. It’s real.”
“I don’t really connect with you,” I say, trying to hurt him in some way.
He chuckles, but it lacks any kind of humor. “Yeah, I know. You and Titus have this thing going on. But I don’t care about that. You may not feel the connection between you and I, but it’s there.” He grabs my shoulder and forces me to stop and turn towards him. He has a few inches on me, height wise, but the distance between our mouths seemed almost imperceptible. “It’s there, Ren.” He brings his lips to mine, kissing me lightly. So light, I feel like I’m imagining the feel of his lips.
“Caylen, what are you doing?” I ask against his lips.
“Trying to get you to feel the truth behind my words,” he mutters before deepening the kiss. His hands move up my shoulders to frame my face. He tilts my head back to deepen the kiss and I can’t seem to grasp a thought to save my life. His soft lips move against mine as if they’ve done this dance countless times before.
I feel my energy rising hotter and hotter, and I don’t know what’s going on within me. He drops one hand to my waist and pulls me against his hard body. The feeling of his excitement sends my temperature skyrocketing even more. I bite his lower lip and a deep groan resonates within his chest. I wrap my arms around his shoulders and press as close to him as I can. Whatever connection he thought we had, I’m enjoying him trying to make me feel it. After several minutes of the second most intense kiss of my life, I break my mouth off of his. We stand there, forehead to forehead, breathing in each others air, as we slowly fall back down to earth.
I lean forward, pressing small kisses to his mouth, determined to bask in this moment for a second more, because what I’m about to do will ensure that this will be the last time this will happen.
“Caylen,” I whisper.
“Yeah, babe?”
“Stay the fuck away from me.” I break away from him and rush to my car. This time he doesn’t stop me. Good. It’s not like I want him to anyways.
“Are you sure about that?”
No. No, I’m not.
14
Caylen
Shit. I really fucked this up. I don’t know why my brothers thought I was the best one for this. Yeah, I’m more talkative than the other two, but Titus should have been the one to talk to her. They have this freaky little bond going on and she and I don’t have that.
Even though I wish we did.
I stare at her back as she damn near sprints to her car. Her jeans hug her legs and ass in ways that gets my dick hard all over again. Gah! I need to focus. She peels out of the parking lot as if she just robbed a bank and the cops are on her ass. I pull my phone out of my pocket with my heart still hammering in my chest. I can still taste her in my mouth and feel her soft body against mine. I call Zavid, knowing that he and Titus aren’t in school today.
“What?” Zavid says, answering the phone in a gruff voice. Shit, he’s already in a bad mood; this won’t make it any better.
“I have bad news,” I tell him.
“Go,” he grunts. Such a man of few words.
“I screwed up with Renee. I don’t know if she believes about Relvaria or not, but I told her that we were hired to find her and now she wants us to stay the fuck away from her.”
“Got damnit, Cay! You couldn’t find another way to tell her that we were hired hands?”
“We’re already lying to her about so much! I wanted to be able to tell her something honestly!”
“But did you tell her who hired us?” he bluntly asks.
“No,” I sigh. “I told her that her family hired us.”
“Did you tell her about the prophecy?”
“No, I did not. I just told her that she was reborn here.”
“Ok, good. It seems like you didn’t fuck up too bad. Head back to the house, we have a lot of things to discuss.”
“I hope one of those things is how we shouldn’t go through with this.”
“You already know that’s not,” he gruffly says before he hangs up in
my face.
Fuck.
I walk towards my car, wanting to get in it and drive away from this town. Maybe I can actually go see San Francisco. I don’t know where it is, but thank God I randomly overheard someone talking about it, otherwise I wouldn’t have had a place to tell Renee where we’re from.
We’ve only been in this realm for a few weeks, so it’s not like we’ve had a lot of time to actually study and learn the ways this place work. If it’s as vast as Relvaria, then there is so much for us to explore. Instead of going back and potentially rescuing our father from the evil King’s clutches, we should stay here and try to make a go at living on Earth. We’re already doing a lot better in this society than we did back home. No one knows that we’re Unblessed and no one looks at us as if we’re the scum of the… well, Earth.
And we have Renee. If we can get her to trust us again, maybe we can just build a life here, with her.
Yeah right.
I slide into my car, turning the radio on to a station that blasts music about women and money. The music in this realm is so weird. They’re either complaining about losing a loved one or bragging about getting a bunch of women. The music back home calls to the spirit. It resonates within my being. That’s something I miss the most. That’s probably the only thing I miss. Oh, and the food.
The drive to the house is filled with tension. And not from the conversation that I know is about to happen to my brothers. It’s filled with tension because I can still smell Renee, I can still feel her. Taste her. And I want more. Now I see why Titus is so hung up on her. This whole time I thought he was just being a little extra because it’s been a long time since we’ve all been with a woman. Jumping from realm to realm not only sucks up a lot of time, but it sucks up a lot of energy. Even though we don’t have all of the abilities that the Blessed have, we do have more abilities than humans and the other creatures we’ve encountered.
I pull up into the huge driveway, rolling my eyes at the grande house. I told Zavid that we should have purchased a small house, since we aren’t planning on being here for a long time, but he couldn’t help himself. Using our limited abilities, we convinced the home owners that we paid for the home, and it’s been ours ever since.
I hop out of my car, slamming the door as I go. I’m not looking forward to this fight, because I know that’s what’s going to happen. I want Father back as much as they do, but I know what we’re doing is beyond wrong and he wouldn’t want that for us.
“I’m home,” I call out as I enter the house.
“Kitchen,” Titus answers.
I stomp into the kitchen, seeing both of my brothers sitting at the kitchen table. Zavid is pouring over some papers, probably the notes he’s taken on Renee up until this point. He looks up and I swallow the spit pooling in my mouth. Shit, he’s pissed. Titus grey eyes narrow on mine, and I know that he’s mad at me too, but for an entirely different reason. He’s mad because I hurt Renee, but if he’s mad at just the words I’ve said, he should be against this entire plan. If he’s on my side, maybe we can persuade Zavid to change his mind.
“Sit,” Zavid commands.
I stand behind the chair he motioned for me to sit in and cross my arms. No matter how terrifying he is right now, I won’t be treated like I’m his subordinate. He cocks an eyebrow at me, and I give him a cocked eyebrow in return. With a sigh, he leans back from the table and crosses his arms over his chest.
“Sit, please,” he tensely says. I have half a mind to ignore that as well, but the way he’s clenching his teeth, I’m afraid he’s going to shatter them if he gets any more pissed off. I pull out the chair and fold myself into it, leaning back and copying my brother’s pose. Titus does the same, and it’s moments like this that solidifies our brotherhood. I don’t care how we look, nothing could make us more than what we are.
“We have a problem,” Zavid says, cutting to the chase.
“Look, I know I messed up with-,” I begin, but he cuts me off.
“It’s not about your epic fuck up with Renee. Today a messenger was sent here by the King and we’re running out of time. He wants her back in Relvaria within the next week. Which means that we have to find another way to get her to come with us, or else we can kiss Dad goodbye.”
“Maybe this is a good thing,” I hesitantly say. “Dad wouldn’t want us to sacrifice her like this! If what the Prophecy says is true, we should be trying to protect her!”
“Did you forget everything Dad sacrificed for us?” he yells. Unfolding his arms and leaning forward so that his forearms are rested on the top of the table, he holds my defiant gaze. “All for some average sized breasts and a fat ass?! Dad gave up his life for us! He’s in that prison because of us. Because of you! And now you want to leave him in there to rot? And for what? Renee doesn’t even want you. She wants Titus. So what is this really about?”
I stand up, shoving my chair back in my haste. “Dad isn’t in the prison cell because of me. He’s in there because of us. Because we thought it was a good idea to try and get food from the Blessed pantry. It was your idea! I just happened to be the one to get caught!” I yell. “And I know she has a thing for Titus. Anyone with eyes can see that. But there’s a connection between she and I too! What is your problem with her?”
“I don’t have a problem with that girl. I don’t even know her. I purposefully have not gotten close to her because I know that we’re here for a specific reason. And that’s to get her back to Relvaria and give her over to the King.”
“And then what?” Titus finally cuts in. His grey eyes are as hard as steel as he gazes at our older brother. “Then we rescue Dad and the King will grant us riches beyond our dreams?”
“What are you getting at,” Zavid bites out.
“I’m saying that you can’t really believe that the King will let us just walk away with Dad and be on our merry way. We broke the law. He’s using us for his own selfish needs. Once we’ve done what he wants, we’re disposable. All four of us.”
“And what do you propose we do?” he asks.
“I say we tell Renee the truth. Ask her for her help. If she’s anything like the Prophecy says she is, she will be stronger than the King.”
“No.” Zavid said, without even considering it.
“But-,”
“But nothing,” he interrupts me again. “We stick with the plan and we save Dad. After that, we do whatever we have to do to stay safe and alive.”
I look over at Titus and I see that his hands are clenched into fists so tight, I’m surprised his knuckles haven’t ripped from the tension. I know he’s caught feelings for Renee. He’s never been one that’s super talkative, but ever since that little romp in the bathroom, he’s been expressing himself more and more.
“Are we agreed?” Zavid asks us. I look between him and Titus, and I know that we most definitely are not agreed on a damn thing. I focus my gaze on the wooden table, refusing to answer him when I know it’s going to be a lie. “Does Dad mean so little to you both?” he spits out. “Maybe he should have left you both on the streets for all the loyalty you’re giving him.” He walks away from the table, stopping in the entrance of the kitchen, he turns around and he says, “If either one of you warn Renee about any of this, you might as well consider yourself an enemy of this family.” He storms out of the kitchen and up the stairs to his room.
“What are we going to do?” I ask Titus. I look up to see that his seat is vacant already. “Alright then. What am I going to do?”
Nothing. There’s nothing that I can do. Aside from listening to Zavid and following his orders. Fuck.
I’m so sorry, Ren.
15
Renee
I ride around the small town until it was time for me to head home. I pull into my driveway, and once again, Mom is not home.
“This is stupid. At this point you’re a ward of the state.”
“Yeah, we’re going to get to the bottom of everything soon. I’m tired of this shit.”
I reach in my pocket and text mom.
Me: Hey Mom. Haven’t seen you in about a week. Are you going to be home tonight?
“I’m not getting out of this car until I get a response from her,” I say to Sheya.
“Why not just pull up on her? See if she’s really where she’s at?”
“Hell yeah.”
My phone vibrates with an incoming text.
Mom: Hey Baby. I’m so sorry for my recent absence. I’m at work. I should be home later tonight.
“Got it. Let’s head to the hospital,” Sheya says.
“On it.”
I reverse out of the driveway, with the hospital as a clear destination in my mind. The drive is short, and I haven’t really come up with a good excuse as to why I’m here. I guess I can tell her that I just miss her and wanted to see her. That’s a good enough reason if I ever had one. And it’s true.
I walk into the entrance and towards the front desk. The hospital is busy, with doctors and nurses running around. I wonder if something bad is going on, or if they’re all just moving with urgency because that’s what they’re used to. Not having spot Mom in the crowd, I continue up to the front desk.
“Hello, how may I help you?” the receptionist asks. She doesn’t seem all that older than me. Her natural hair is pulled up into a puff on the top of her head and her dark chocolate skin is clear and makeup free. She smiles a gentle smile and I kind of want to be her friend.
“This isn’t the time to explore your sexuality. We’re here to find your mom.”
“Um, right? But that’s not what I was doing.”
“Yeah, ok.”
“Hey, I’m here looking for my mom? Her name is Jane. Jane Harrington?”
“Ah! Jane! I love her. But she hasn’t been into work for the last week.”
“The fuck?” Sheya and I say at the same time.
“Are you sure?” I ask her.
“I’m positive. She’s taken her vacation this week. She’s not set to return for another few days.” She looks at me quizzically, probably wondering how the hell I didn’t know that my own mother took vacation days.
The Inner Self: The Prophecy Page 10