Arkadia (Halfway House Series Book 1) (7 page)

Sunday seemed to pass in a blur of chores and failed spells. Eloise always said Sunday was a day of cleaning. Much to Emerson’s disgust, he had been stuck mowing and cleaning up the backyard. Being the only male in the house, it was his job to do the heavy outside work. “Builds up your muscles and gets you in touch with the earth,” Eloise had told him. Six hours of tidying up, racking, trimming and mowing, all in preparation for the snow that was due later in the week was going to make Emerson the size of Triple H at this rate. Raven, Zahmali, and Arkadia had been left to do the dusting, vacuuming, and washing inside the house. Eloise had encouraged Arkadia to cast some spells to get the jobs done quicker, but after an exploding vacuum cleaner and a flooding washing machine, Eloise had decided that Arkadia might be better off doing it the old-fashioned way, by hand. But now at the end of the day, all assigned jobs having been completed, they felt satisfied in having made the most of a Sunday. They relaxed on the back porch, feeling a chill developing in the afternoon air. Arkadia sipped on a can of Coke, and looked over at Raven sipping out of her Hello Kitty sippy cup, knowing full well what was inside wasn’t juice. Both Emerson and Zahmali stretch-out along the steps and just enjoyed the silence, listening to the afternoon blue jays sing and preen their feathers.

Sunday unfortunately turned into Monday, and off to school they all went. Raven and Arkadia were walking together. It was unusual, but as Arkadia was feeling more at ease in the house, she was also enjoying the company of her house buddies. She was careful not to become too attached because she had learned very young in life that attachment brought heartache. She was telling Raven about being inside the warm-up room at the ice rink on Saturday night and, of course, the tall dark and oh so sexy Bohdan, when suddenly she heard her name being yelled. They had just reached the bottom of the main stairwell when again Arkadia heard an aggressive scream, “ARKADIA.” Arkadia’s forehead creased in confusion, and she turned to see who would be yelling so aggressively at her. She saw Vi, Cat, and Cheyanne at the top of the stairs, just like always, waiting for her to get there, confusion on their faces as well. Arkadia turned and almost bumped straight into a very red-faced and uber-angry Diane Coulter. Diane was Sebastian’s twin sister, and an apprehensive feeling grew in the pit of Arkadia’s stomach. Knowing what had happened to Sebastian, she was not keen on answering questions from his sister.

“Uummm … Hi, Diane,” Arkadia said lightly, trying to diffuse whatever bomb was up Diane’s ass from blowing them both sky high.

“Don’t 'hi’ me like nothing is wrong, you bitch! What did you do to Sebastian?” Diane’s hands were on her hips. She was never one to walk away quietly; being the Mayor’s only daughter, she was spoilt rotten and loud mouthed. Like father like daughter. She flipped her shoulder-length brown hair, popped her hip to the side, and raised a single eyebrow in question. “I’m not going anywhere ‘til I get answers. You did something. Ever since your date, he has been acting weird, and I can feel it. What the hell did you do?”

Diane’s voice was loud enough to have drawn quite a crowd. Cat and Chey had come down to stand next to Arkadia, but she noticed Vi was still standing at the top. Surprisingly, Raven was standing very close, almost protectively; either that or she was getting excited by how fast Diane’s blood was pumping through her veins.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about, Diane,” Arkadia said trying to show enough concern to appease the extremely agitated beauty queen. Diane, like her brother, was used to getting what she wanted when she wanted it. Their father had been mayor for years, and while he was a good mayor, when it came to his kids, he had more of a “whatever will keep you quiet because daddy is working” attitude. Diane had entered and won all of the local beauty pageants, was the star of the school’s theater production every year, and had her own personal assistant for goodness’ sake, who was just there to help her get organized. She even got a brand-new car for Christmas. Arkadia was never going to see a new car; she would be lucky if she got a bike before she was thirty, and a second-hand one at that.

Diane took a step closer to Arkadia, getting right up in her face. The massive crowd waited with bated breath to start shouting “Fight! Fight! Fight” as soon as one of us took the first swing. “Your family tree is littered with,” Diane whispered, and looked left, then right, “witches, and overnight, Sebastian developed webbed toes and has added flies to his daily diet intake. He tries to hide it, but being his twin, I feel him, and even found myself looking at a fly with far more interest than is right, so I’ll ask you once more,” Diane’s voice was dripping hatred right now, and her brown eyes looked like cauldrons of bubbling brown lava as she started directly into Arkadia’s eyes and asked, “What did you do?”

Arkadia didn’t know what to say. She could tell the truth about Sebastian’s visit to swampy time central. It seemed that most of the school was now watching her to see her reaction. “Diane, I honestly have no idea what you’re talking about. I went on a date with Sebastian; we watched a movie, had a hotdog, and went home. That’s it, and as for my family heritage, if I was a witch and you were threatening me, I would simply remove you, PERMANENTLY. But lucky for you and your life, there are no such things as witches.”

Quick as lightning, Diane launched into Arkadia, screaming as she wailed a fury of flying fists and feet, a few blows landing. Arkadia adopted the tuck-and-protect pose on the ground. She wasn’t a fighter with fists. Within seconds, Diane was being ripped off her and held back. She stopped and looked directly at Arkadia, extended her finger, and directed her accusation directly onto Arkadia’s shoulders. “This ain’t over, bitch, I will find out what you did, and I’ll tell my dad; I’ll tell the school; I’ll tell
Good morning, Huntsville
on the TV; everyone will know your secret. EVERYONE!!!”

Arkadia's eyes were wide as she watched a now-crazed Diane be carried toward the school nurse. Getting up slowly, she tried a weak smile to the dispersing crowd, some of them murmuring about being robbed of a good chick fight. Others looked at Arkadia, and she could feel them questioning her with their eyes, making their assumptions based on rumors and stories from way back in her family history. Most of which even she didn’t know due to her mother refusing to talk about her craft. Dusting off her jeans, a visibly shaken Arkadia allowed herself to be hugged by her friends, while she wondered what the flip she was going to do about Diane.

Cheyanne was the first to hug Arkadia, both of them sharing the same secret; they didn’t need to say anything, it was a hug of camaraderie, of the sisterhood of witches, a family of sorts. Cat and Vi both gave a sympathetic hug, both of them asking questions Arkadia simply wasn’t calm enough to answer. “Let’s just go to class, I am sure the bell is about to ring,” Arkadia said, her voice quivering. It wasn’t so much the confrontation from Diane that had Arkadia so upset, it was a combination of things. One part was having hurt Sebastian in some way; she didn’t love the guy, but he certainly didn’t deserve to be eating bugs for the rest of his life because she couldn’t cast a spell correctly. The other part was the fear of her secret getting out. If the humans, her friends, found out she was a witch, the ripples that would cause throughout not just her town, but her country, would be devastating. The most frightening thought was if the PSC, the Paranormal Safety Council, got word of this, and viewed her as a threat to the safe living of both humans and paras, she would be instantly removed. Whether removal by the PSC would be to the island or six feet under, nobody knew, but they didn’t take this kind of thing lightly. Arkadia hoped it wouldn’t come to that, and Diane would just settle down, get on with her business, and leave Arkadia alone, but there was that niggling little voice that didn’t know if hope alone was going to be enough.

Arkadia heard the ding of a text message received on her phone as she walked to class with Chey close by her side. Vi and Cat had a class in another building, so it was Chey’s turn to play security officer. Arkadia reached for her phone as Chey asked softly, “Want me to check it for you? In case it’s Diane ‘I’ve lost my marbles’ Coulter, you don’t need a double dose in one day.” Arkadia smiled and handed her phone over to Chey. There weren’t many she would trust so completely, but Chey was one of the few. A true-to-the-end friend and she loved her like a sister, a sister of the craft. “Oh,” said Chey with a chuckle, “you might want to get this one yourself,” and handed the phone back to Arkadia. She read the text.

u, me, coffee, aftr schl? Boh

Arkadia just stared at the phone. “Hon, you might want to shut your mouth, or Sebastian won’t be the only one catching flies.” Chey nudged her and chuckled. Arkadia sheepishly shut her mouth, unable to stop smiling.
How did he know my number? Of course, I want a coffee with you, Boh, coffee, dinner, babies, whatever.
Arkadia laughed glad she had kept that last thought to herself.

“Well, are you going to text loverboy back or leave him hanging?” Chey interrupted her thoughts.

“I want to, Chey, but I don’t know. Have you seen his Mark? I don’t even know what or who he is,” Arkadia whispered.

“Yeah, I saw his mark, whatever he is its powerful. I can feel it rippling off him like waves at the beach, and that’s just him at Rest, Lord knows what power he gets when he is all worked up,” Chey said in a quiet voice. This was not a conversation anyone should overhear.

“Exactly,” Arkadia replied. “Should I go or not?”

“Oh sweet Mother Earth, YES you should go! He is hot, he is interested, he is a para, and did I mention he is HOT?” Chey bumped my arm playfully and laughed. Her laugh was so earthy it sounded like a wind through the treetops on a cool spring morning, light and fresh.

Arkadia laughed at her friend, and texted Boh back.

whre’d you get my #? stalkr mch? And yup, where?

She pressed send, both her and Chey still giggling as they walked into the classroom to wait for the teacher. Arkadia was relaxed with her mind being taken off the incident earlier DING. She jumped as the text went off, and Chey started laughing again as she looked quickly before the teacher came in.

Cat, only stalking you, Timmy’s, C U L8ER

Arkadia let Chey look, both of them bursting into another fit of the giggles, dropped the phone into her bag, and she tried to focus as class was beginning.

The rest of the day was a blur of classes. Arkadia vaguely remembered eating lunch, well, at least being in the cafeteria. She was unsure how much food was consumed, but she was there. Arkadia’s mind was like a revolving door, one minute it was all about Diane and her impending departure to the island of shadows, and then the next second it was all about Bohdan’s sexy brown eyes and how much she would like to have those strong muscular arms wrapped around her protecting her from the world.
Impending doom vs. Mr. Sexy Stalker. Dirty Diane vs. Buns of Steel Bohdan.
Both were undeniably thought-consuming, for totally opposite reasons. Diane’s threats made her blood run cold with fear, and Bohdan’s promises made her blood go completely volcanic.

The last bell rang out, and Arkadia’s heart skipped a beat. She grabbed her bag, and quickly swapped her books at her locker, making sure she had what she needed for later. She took a deep breath, taking a moment to steady her thoughts; it was just coffee Arkadia told herself not a “date,” just a coffee. She didn’t want to let her mind take off like an out-of-control train; she needed to play this safely. She needed to be wary and to remember he was an unknown para and could be capable of anything.

Arkadia grabbed her bag, and started on her way out of the school, quickly taking a short cut through the tree line surrounding the front of the school. A few minutes later, she walked through the door of Timmy’s, and saw Bohdan waiting for her in the corner booth.

Sliding into the booth seat, Arkadia smiled. Bohdan had picked a booth as far back into the corner of the shop as possible, out of sight of most of the customers, which gave them some privacy. Bohdan slid a cup her way. “Cap, white, and one,” he said. Arkadia just melted every time she heard his voice. He spoke with such confidence; every syllable that rolled off his tongue emanated power, a power that seemed ingrained into his very soul.

“A bit presumptuous don’t you think?” Arkadia raised an eyebrow trying desperately to fight a losing battle with her own heart.

“Am I wrong?” he asked.

“Well, no, but one might get the wrong impression and think you’re a stalker,” Arkadia lightly teased as she wrapped her hands around the cup and took a small sip. She closed her eyes for a second to enjoy the deep rich flavor of her favorite coffee shop.

“You call it stalking; I call it knowing my prey.” A sliver of fear crept up her spine at the use of the word prey, but she was never one to lie down and roll over, even if he was hot enough to start a forest fire.

He chuckled as he watched the emotions rollover Arkadia’s face. “You’re safe, Arkadia, I’m no threat to you, well, not to your existence.” Bohdan sat back in the booth and stared at her, drinking in her milky-white skin, her hair that was almost white with just a hint of sun-kissed highlights, and her eyes.
Of all Aladdin’s treasures, her emerald green eyes are beyond any treasure I have ever seen.

Arkadia looked down at his tattoo mark on the webbing between his thumb and forefinger, and then back up to his face. “You say you’re no threat, but you’re obviously something powerful. I can feel your energy like a contained fire, each flame flickering and dancing around, safely contained but ready to break free at anytime.” Bohdan rubbed his thumb over the tattoo on his other hand.

Looking at his hand, he spoke softly, “You’re right, I am a little above average.” He snapped his eyes up to meet Arkadia’s, a spark flashing like lightning over the open plains. “Just like you, we are … more.” Leaning forward, Arkadia propped her elbows on the table, her attention focusing in totally on Bohdan.

“Care to share?” She took a big gulp of coffee, and his eyes never left hers. The noises of the coffee shop faded into the background completely.

“Not here,” Bohdan stood up and swung his bag up and onto his shoulder. He paused as Arkadia’s eyes traveled up his generous height and extended his hand to her. “Such a conversation would require a little more privacy, if you trust me.” Raising a single eyebrow, Arkadia paused for maybe a split second before she took his hand. His warmth immediately seeped into her skin, traveling up quickly to take up residence in her heart.
Fight it all you want, Ark. You know you’re already gone.
Arkadia stood up from the booth, her body a mere inch away from his, her chest expanding and contracting as she gulped in a lungful of air nervously.

Arkadia tilted her head up to look him in the eyes, popped her hip slightly to the side, and put her spare hand on her hip as she took a sassy stance. “Sure, I’ll trust you. It’s not like I am completely harmless either,” she said. She still held onto his hand, not ever wanting to let go of it, fearing she would turn into an icicle instantly with the loss of his heat. Bohdan chuckled, a soft deep rumble, and leaned forward to whisper in her ear.

His hot breath caressed her neck and sent shivers down her spine that settled in a place that made her squirm. “You’re not harmless, but you’re not accurate either, so, I think I am safe.” He winked as she started to protest. Striding to the door, he held her hand and swept out into the quickly cooling late afternoon air.

“I am skipping practice, so this has to remain between you and me. I would lose my place on the team if Coach knew I was skipping for a girl, no matter how beautiful she is.” Bohdan’s eyes twinkled as he continued, “My uncle is working a night shift and isn’t home, so this is perfectly private,” Bohdan said casually over his shoulder as he opened the front door to his uncle’s house. It was a beautiful wooden cabin-looking house with a wide full-length veranda that Arkadia admired as Bohdan went inside. She leaned against the deep red railings, taking deep breaths of the evening air, and listened to the night animals begin to wake up from their day long slumber. Arkadia had always loved living on the outskirts of town, somewhere she could hear herself think, and looked out onto the farming land that surrounded the area.

“Why are you smiling?” Bohdan’s deep voice rumbled and he leaned his back against the railing next to her. Arkadia hadn’t realized she was smiling.

“I just love the night air, it’s magical and mysterious, and holds so many secrets.” He handed her a bottle of Coke as she turned to lean her back against the railing, mimicking his posture. “I get the feeling you know more about me than I know about you,” she said, looking at him quizzically, “like you know my story before I even get a chance to say it.” Shaking his head lightly, he lowered his bottle, and swallowed the mouthful of Coke.

“Not at all,” he said, “I can tell you're a witch, but that’s just from your energy, but as for your story—” He shook his head again and looked directly at Arkadia. “I don’t know it, but I would like to.”

“Not much to tell. Failed my PSEs twice, got four months to sit it again and pass, or I am given a one-way ticket to islandsville.” She turned back around to lean out over the railing and stared into the nothingness of the open fields. Arkadia spoke softly, freely, wanting him or anyone to hear her, and care enough to listen. “I grew up locally. I have no sisters or brothers, and my dad died before I was born. My mom and I lived in a tiny apartment right in the center of town, yet we were never seen by the neighbors.” Taking a second to breathe, she looked over to Bohdan whose eyes were completely devoted to her words. He nodded slightly to encourage her to continue, and she looked back out to the rapidly darkening skies. “My mom homeschooled me, and I was never allowed to play with other kids or go to the park. Although she was a witch herself, she rarely encouraged me to do any craft and would tell me, ‘the world doesn’t like freaks, Arky, and they don’t come much freakier than us.’” Arkadia chuckled as she glanced at Bohdan. “I remember once setting her clothes alight because I was playing with fire in her closet, no matches needed, if you get my drift.” Bohdan’s chest rumbled with soft laughter as he watched her emerald eyes sparkle with mischief. Arkadia continued, “Then when she died just before my fourteenth birthday of a heart attack, I found myself alone, in a world I had always lived in, but knew nothing about …” Arkadia swallowed past the lump in her throat, and felt Bohdan’s arm wrap around her shoulders as he offered comfort. She leaned into his shoulder as she continued her story. “Next thing I knew, some people from the council turned up and I was placed in the halfway house. I have been there for over three years now, and still can’t get my shit together enough to pass the PSEs. Raven, Em, and Zahmali aren’t my family by blood, but they are all I have and even though we argue, I count them as family. Eloise the new Den Mother of the house is still settling in, but she seems to have faith in me and my ability to perfect my craft in time.” Arkadia shrugged. “We will see, I suppose, whether she can work her magic to fix my magic within the magical allotted time.” She laughed at her own silliness and looked up at Bohdan.

“Thank you,” he said. His voice was so deep and heartfelt.

“For what?” Arkadia asked, a slightly confused look crossed her face as she turned to look at him and moved out of his arms.

“For trusting me with your story. For letting me in. There is a problem though, a pretty big problem,” he spoke softly yet with a power that was palpable and very addictive.

“Problem?” Arkadia questioned with a hint of panic in her voice.

“Yes,” he said as he moved a step closer to her. His height allowed him to tower over her and looks down into her eyes. His lips only inches away from hers, he said, “Now you have let me in, I won’t ever want to leave.” He lowered his lips to hers ever so lightly and breathed in her essence. His hands came up to gently cup her cheeks and he kissed her tenderly. Pulling back, he gazed upon this rare gem he had found in Arkadia.

Arkadia opened her eyes, every hair on her body standing erect. Feeling alight with magical energy that weakened her knees, she grabbed his arm. “Can we go inside? I need to sit down.” A look of concern flashed across Bohdan’s face as he simply looped one of his massive arms around her shoulders and the other under her knees, lifted her like she was a featherweight, and carried her into the living room.