Breathless: A Firelight Novella (HarperTeen Impulse) (5 page)

An awkward moment of silence falls between the four of us. Troy looks at each of us in turn, relaxed, like he’s enjoying himself. Hailey looks like she just swallowed something bitter. And Tate … he just stares at me.

Then, as if reaching a sudden decision, he takes my hand
and tugs me toward a cooler.

Following, I can’t resist looking over my shoulder. Troy watches us with a bemused expression. Hailey watches us, too—or me, rather—those sharp eyes of hers almost feral. She reminds me of the wild animals in the mountains back home. Except they always seemed less threatening.

I move my attention back to Tate. Not such a surprise. All my senses center on him … especially the feel of his hand clasping mine.

He lifts the cooler lid and gestures inside. “Drink?”

“Sure.” I inspect the contents for a moment.

“I think Troy’s got some stronger stuff in his cooler, if you prefer—”

“No. This is fine,” I say, grabbing an orange soda. I already feel slightly drunk in his presence.

He takes a can for himself and leads us toward the shoreline. We stand there for a moment, staring out at the water. Distant swimmers whoop as they vault off the dock. The voices behind us are low, small murmurings on the air. The music, too, just fades to dull background noise.

His head turns and he stares down at me. His eyes glitter in the night. The shadow of a smile curves his mouth.

And I can’t help it. I relish this moment with him. Then I feel guilty for that. For reveling in the way I feel around him. I should have butterflies in my stomach for a draki boy. Not for him.

His gaze dips, and it’s clear he’s staring down at our
hands. Almost as though he didn’t realize he was holding on to me until this very moment.

My face heats. Five minutes ago I told him my name. Now we’re acting like a couple.

He drops my hand and lowers himself to a towel. I pause. And then join him, leaving a good foot between us. Even not touching, the warmth of his skin radiates toward me.

The dark water moves gently, lapping at the gravelly shore. I feel his gaze on my face again.

He clears his throat. “I don’t know how you came to be there like that yesterday.” He waves at the water. “I’m just glad you were. My sister is all I’ve got. Since our mom died, it’s just been the two of us. My dad is around, but not really. Not like our mom was for us.” He pauses, then adds in a quieter voice, “You’ll never know what you did....”

I fidget and look down at my hands.

“I’m making you uncomfortable.”

“No,” I say quickly, looking back up at him.

“It’s okay.” He rises, waving me up. “C’mon. Let’s go for a swim.”

A
swim with this boy might be the craziest, riskiest thing I ever do. The thought doesn’t scare me, though. My pulse leaps as I watch him step into the water. I hesitate a moment before pulling my tank top over my head and shimmying out of my shorts.

Looking back, he grins at me. Then he dives in.

I ease in, letting the water lick up my calves, thighs, waist. Instantly my pores contract and shiver. I float the rest of the way into the water, my hands fanning out in front of me, loving how the water makes way for me, opens for me like it’s been waiting for my return.

Beneath the fabric of my one-piece, my gills appear, safely hidden. It’s not something I can control, but I don’t worry about their appearance. Even if I was wearing a two-piece, he wouldn’t notice in the dark.

He swims in place in front of me. The water hardly moves around him. Again, I’m struck with how at home he is here. In the water. I can’t help being impressed.

“You come here a lot.”

“The lake is packed with the summer crowd. This pond is off the radar. It’s ours.”

“And I found it.”

He circles me, water lightly slapping his shoulders. “I’m glad you did. How’d you manage that anyway? There
aren’t exactly signs pointing to this place.”

“I’ve got a nose for water,” I admit, knowing he won’t believe that.

“Are you staying on the lake?”

“We rented a house.” I glance at the dock at a sudden female squeal. His voice draws me back.

“So. Az. Did you see Anna hit her head and fall in? Is that how you knew where to search for her?”

“Uh, just luck, I guess,” I hedge.

“No. It wasn’t luck. I think something higher was working … making sure you were here. That you could find her.”

He inches closer, and his knee bumps mine under the water. I gasp at the contact. My skin tightens, quivers. My gills work a little faster, dragging water in and out of me. “I didn’t even know you were in the water with us. What are you, a mermaid?”

I laugh weakly. “No. Not a mermaid.”

“Well, I know Anna is going to want to meet you and thank you herself.”

“That’s not necessary.”

“Maybe you could come over tomorrow?”

I shake my head. “Oh, I don’t think—”

“C’mon. I meant what I said. Let me make sure you have a good time while you’re here.” He waves a hand above the water. “Show you all the splendors of my town.
It’s the least I can do.”

I frown, not liking the idea that he thinks he owes me something. Is the attention he’s showering on me out of gratitude? For saving his sister? He did explain how much she meant to him, after all.

“You don’t have to do that. Really.” I start to swim back toward the shore in smooth strokes, the water caressing my body.

“Hey! Where are you going?”

I swim faster, for some reason eager to get away.

Suddenly a body pops up before me with a spray of water.

I jerk back with a yelp.

“Hey!” The boy sloshes the hair from his face like a dog shaking water from his fur. “We haven’t met.”

I curse under my breath. I’m usually more aware of what’s around me. Especially in the water.

He holds his hand out like it’s not odd at all to shake hands in the middle of a pond. “I’m Brett.” Even in the dark, I can tell he’s blond and blue-eyed. The all-American boy. He’s probably the star quarterback.

“Az.” I take his hand to shake it, and he actually pulls me closer until our bodies are flush. I can smell the beer on his breath. My blood rushes hotter in my veins, annoyed at the unwelcome contact. The water surrounding me grows warmer, the current stirring faster, reacting to my displeasure. It would take only a wish, the slightest force of my will, and I could send him flying with a tidal surge of water.

“Nice to meet you, Az. So you decided to party it up with the locals, huh? Having fun so far?”

“Back off, Weaver.” Tate’s hand circles my wrist and tugs me free. I tumble toward him, weightless in the water.

Brett laughs. “Didn’t know it was like that, Tate. Man, you work fast. What? She’s been in town for like five minutes? That’s hardly fair.”

The girls at the dock begin calling Brett’s name in a singsong voice, urging him over to them.

“You’re being paged.”

“Yeah.” Brett winks at me. “Nice to meet you, Az. Maybe I’ll see you around.”

I watch as he swims away.

“Sorry about that. Brett and I kind of have this … thing.”

I cock my head. “Thing?”

“Yeah. It’s dumb. Long-standing rivalry, that’s all. Swim team versus football.”

I glance back at Brett, observing his less-than-graceful strokes. “Let me guess. You’re swim team?”

He nods.

And suddenly it makes sense why he’s so comfortable in the water. “I can tell you’re good.”

He smiles. “Last year’s state champion. Freestyle and
butterfly.”

“Impressive.”

“Hope so. It’s my ticket out of here.”

“College?”

Water laps at his chin. “Yeah. I’m looking for a full ride next year.”

I smile, genuinely happy that he’ll get to live his dreams. I understand about the importance of dreams, after all. “Good for you.”

“What about you?”

“Me?”

“You going to college?”

College. Because that’s what normal teenagers do.

I gaze back toward the shoreline. “Let’s race,” I suggest, changing the subject. “To the dock and then back to shore.” I take off before he can agree one way or another.

He’s fast. I can see why he’s counting on a scholarship, but no one can outswim me. Jacinda and Cassian might fly circles around me in the air, but I own the water.

I slap the dock and then turn back around, passing him. I lift my head only once to check my lead. I fake like I’m drawing a breath. I don’t need to raise the suspicion of anyone watching, after all.

Reaching shore, I drop down on the towel, turning to face him just as he emerges. Water sluices down his face and body.

He stares at me in shock. “You beat me.”

I can’t stop from grinning.

He shakes his dark head. “What are you?”

My smile slips.
What are you?

The question might be harmless, but it resonates deep inside me—scares me. Makes me wonder what I’m doing pretending that I belong in this world with this boy. I’m not like him. I’m not like any of them. I shouldn’t be here. I shouldn’t have raced him. Shouldn’t have won. I was showing off. Plain and simple.

He lowers on the towel beside me. “No one has beaten me since freshman year.”

I shrug. “What can I say? I’m a swimmer, too.”

“Evidently. What schools are you looking at? They must be beating down your door.”

I slip my tank top on over my head, looking around uneasily. “Um. I’m not sure.” I should have known I couldn’t pretend forever. Conversation. Questions. All of it leads to lies because I can’t tell the truth. And I don’t want to lie to him. “I better go. My parents don’t know I’m gone.”

“I’ll walk you.”

“You don’t need—”

“Yes. I do. C’mon.” He reaches inside his Jeep window and grabs his shirt as we pass. “Lead the way.”

We leave the party and cut through the woods. A warm breeze quickly dries the water from my skin, but walking
beside him I still shiver. It’s darker among the press of trees and bushes. Even trembling from his closeness, his presence beside me is comforting—safe. Immediately, I feel better knowing the others are behind us. And it’s just the two of us.

“So … what kind of name is Az?”

“It’s short for Azure.”

“As in blue?”

“Yes.”

I slide him a look, catching him staring at me, his gaze assessing my hair and body.

“That’s pretty. Fitting, too.”

If he only knew …

At birth no one could have guessed I would become a water draki. We manifest at puberty—if at all. There are some in the pride who don’t. Ever. Mom likes to claim she had a sense of what I would become, but it was just coincidence that she named me Azure.

“My mother said I had these really big blue eyes right away when I was first born.”

“You still do. They’re beautiful,” he murmurs.

My cheeks warm at his words. I don’t think anyone has ever noted my eyes … well, since I was first born anyway. Certainly no boys ever said anything like that to me.

I stop at the dock outside our rental house. My parents are probably asleep, but I don’t want to take any chances.
The porch light glows in the night. Mom likes to leave it on.

“Thanks.” I chafe my hands over my bare arms.

He nods toward the house. “Nice place. A month, huh?”

“Yeah.”

He doesn’t make any movement to leave, and I don’t turn to go either. His brown eyes gleam down at me and I suddenly can’t remember why I said I had to go home. “Why don’t you come over tomorrow? You can meet Anna.”

I moisten my lips. “I appreciate the offer, but … I’m only here a few weeks …” My voice fades.

He arches an eyebrow, waiting. The rhythmic sound of water slapping against the embankment fills the silence. In the distance, a boat buzzes somewhere on the dark lake.

I grope for the words, feeling silly. Saying I don’t want to get involved with him when I’m only going to be here for a short duration makes me sound egotistical. Why should I even think he wants to get involved with me? He hasn’t really made a move. Maybe he just wants me to meet his sister so she can thank me in person.

I look back at the house. “My parents really expect me to spend time with them on this vacation.”

“What about in the evening? C’mon. I doubt they expect you to be with them every moment.”

No. They didn’t. But me
developing a crush on a human.
No. That would pretty much be Mom’s worst night
mare. And she would know. She’s always been able to read me so well. And after one look at him it wouldn’t be hard to guess that my feelings aren’t precisely platonic.

“My parents are a little overprotective.”

“Look,” he says. “I’ll be right here at eight o’clock tomorrow night. If you can come out, great; if not …” He shrugs like it’s not a big deal. “No pressure.”