Dark Seraphine (The Seraphine Trilogy) (14 page)

“
Let
’
s make a deal
,”
I began. A pair of red-rimmed eyes
glanced at
my face
,
making her look
like the
human
that I knew she wasn’t
.
“
How about we start over. My name is Caleb Wood. Athlete and occasional asshole.
”

She giggled. It was high-pitched
,
but still kind of a nice sound.
“
My name is Gia Jones. No
,
that
’
s not my real name. But if you be patient with me
,
then I promise I will tell you everything
,”
she said without moving out of my arms
,
her gaze locked with mine. With the ocean thrashing by my side and the wind rustling through our hair
,
I felt kind of like I drifted in some kind of dream.

Voice number one said:
Go ahead
,
kiss her. You know you want to.
The second voice said
: Try it and she
’
ll smack you. Or even worse
,
she
’
ll fry your ass.

I inhaled and went with voice number one. I closed my eyes and lowered my head toward her lips. Right away
,
she moved back. Never again will I listen to that first dude
’
s voice.
“
I shouldn
’
t have done that. I
’
m sorry.
”

“
It
’
s okay
,”
she whispered.
“
We should head back soon.
”

“
Is that right
? Don
’
t tell me you need a ride?
”
I teased
, giving her a playful bump on the hip
.

She rolled her eyes and smiled.
“
You know I don
’
t. Although that
’
s a pretty cool car you got there. The offer is very tempting. Love the color too. It reminds me of the sea.
”
A sad look on her face dampened the moment.
Bummer.
I
really
needed a distraction.

“
It’s
going to be hard to keep playing the broken arm card. I mean
,
how am I going to hide this when
I go for x-rays
? I
’
d love to know how she
healed me.
”
I studied her face.

“
I don
’
t know. I have an idea. But I
’m not sure
,”
she said glancing at me with those baby browns. Her eyes that were filled with
mystery
studied my face
,
glancing over it as if this were the first time she really noticed me. She told me to be patient. I intended to try.

“
I love listening to the ocean. Will you sit with me for a while longer?
”
she asked and held out her hand.

Are you kidding? Do you even have to ask?

“
Maybe for a little while
,”
I answered
,
turning into Mr. Mush no matter how hard I tried not to
.
I was still feeling a bit rejected after
the
botched kiss attempt
,
too
.

Scoffing
,
she said
,
“
Caleb
,
it is just fine to go easy on people every now and then. It
’
s okay to say yes
,
Gia
,
I
’
d like to stay. Now come with me.
”
She
held out her hand and gave me an expectant look. I smiled a tad
,
but not too much
,
and then I took her hand.

We sat down and listened
to the waves
. Gia leaned over and rested her head on my shoulder.
I don
’
t think I ever recall feeling so comfortable with someone before
; e
ven if that person
were
keeping secrets from me.

Just what
happened to the girl leaning over on my arm
?
Yeah
,
it ha
d something to do with me. The secrecy
was
hard to handle
. The words that she didn
’
t say told me everything. The way she glanced out at the water
,
the desperate look on her face each time she did
,
told me that the ocean
also
played a role in the mystery of Gia Jones.

I wanted to shower her with questions. I
’
m an honorable guy
,
though. I
could be
patient. She assured me that she
’
d tell me her secrets
,
soon enough.

The funny thing was for the first time in a long while I actually trusted someone again.

* * *

When I walked through the front door
,
I found Mom sitting
on the couch. Right away,
she averted her eyes
,
but not before I caught a glimpse of
the
tears
in
them
. The good mood that showered me all day long faded in a flash. What did
my dad
do to her this time?

“
That
’
s it! I
’
m going to do something about him
,”
I stood up and glanced at the door like he
’
d walk in at any moment. Ignoring me was one thing; but making my mom cry
,
I wasn
’
t having it. What kind of a man did I have as a father? Heat flushed through my body
,
and another strange feeling that was similar to little electrical shocks zipped through me.

“
Calm down
,
Caleb. That man is still your father
,”
she said through her tears. Her large brown eyes reminded me of Gia
’
s strangely colored ones.

“
Really? Let
’
s see.
He
never came to any of my defense tournaments
,
not one time has he ever asked about my grades. Don
’
t even get me started on the hospital gig.
”
My blood raced through me and I wanted to hit something. One thing I did inherit from my father was that infamous
Wood family t
emper.
“
What did he do M
om?
”

“
Your fa
ther is under a lot of pressure,
right now. We should be supportive of what he
’
s doing
,”
she said in a way that made it seem like she was talking to herself rather than to me.
Her
right foot shook and she rocked back and forth on the couch.
That usually meant she was hiding something.

“
Speak for yourself. He always has excuses. And you let him get away with it.
”
I needed to leave the room before I said something that I knew I
’
d never be able to take back.

“
Where are you going?
”
she asked as I stepped toward the door.

“
Out
,”
I said without looking at her.

Part of me blamed her for allowing my father to become a douche. The other half of me hated myself for putting something like that on my mom. She could no more change her husband than I could get the man to tell me that he loved me. At the end of the day
,
we were both screwed. I mean
,
sure we were taken care of financially; sitting pretty in a society that measured you up by the size of your house; and
I
had things that made girls like Erica chase after me. But in the long run
,
Darren
Wood
’
s house was empty
,
devoid
,
lifeless
,
and I didn
’
t want to be in it anymore.

“
Please
,
stay
,
hon. I need you here with me
,”
she pleaded. I didn
’
t need to ask why she wanted me to stay.
My dad
wasn
’
t going to come home. His damn job and that committee that kept him working into all hours of the night always came first now.

“
Fine
,”
I said and took off up the stairs. The little boy in me
,
the
kid who cried himself to sleep
when his father left him alone at
eight-years-old
,
still hurt
inside
.

What could be so important?
Could it be another woman? Would he cheat on Mom and his family? Or was it really his work?

Storming into my room
,
I sat on the edge of the bed
,
my thoughts racing. I
clenched my fists
and stared out the window
,
my body heating up to a point where even I could easily feel it now. Ever since that
Walker
named
Paige
touched me with her icy
finger
,
I felt as if my
limbs
had been
taken over by something else.

Or maybe it was someone else.

“
There
’
s no one inside you
,
Caleb
,”
Gia
’
s voice said. I was not in the mood for her schemes tonight. Plus
,
I still felt rejected
,
even though we
shared
a bonding moment by the sea.
I still wanted that kiss; so
I ignored her. Well
,
I acted like she wasn
’
t there for as long as I could
,
anyway.

“
I want to be alone
,”
I lied.

“
No you don
’
t
,”
she said.

“
Stay out of my head
,”
I snapped.

“
I don
’
t need to do that. Your body heat takes care of everything for me
,”
she
spat
back.

“
Why
is that
,
huh? Ooh that
’
s right. It
’
s a big secret I
’
m supposed to accept for now
,
right?
”

“
You have a great music collection
,”
she
said and removed a couple of
vintage
vinyl albums
from the rack beside the window
.

“
Smooth subject change
,
Gia Jones
,”
I said with sarcasm.

She continued looking at my
records
without flinching.
“
Tone Loc
,
Club Nouveau
,
Elegy
,
Evanescence
,
Prince? Your taste in music is
…
different.
”