Dark Seraphine (The Seraphine Trilogy) (16 page)

More laughter erupted throughout the
room
. Neither Mr. Pendleton nor Gia looked
amused
. Even Erica got a good laugh out of my bravery. The scowl Thorne made was priceless. I gave him one of my best
smart-ass
smiles. Later on I would say goodbye to my face
after Thorne’s fist collided with it. Until then, I intended to enjoy
the satisfaction of making him look stupid.

“
Well
,
Mr. Wood and Mr. Wiggins
,
those
are both very interesting theorie
s. Care to discuss
them
a little more today after school
,
while you
’
re stuck here in detention with me?
”

“
Sure
,
why not? Sounds fantastic
,”
I answered.

What the hell has gotten into you?

After school that day
,
Erica volunteered to train the first group of
students since
I was in detention and still supposedly handicapped.
She was good enough to be able to take over
the lead for me.

Each
time I spotted Gia hanging out with Thorne
,
my mind drifted into something like a daze. Last night she told me goodbye. Her actions today didn
’
t make a damn bit of sense. The thought of Thorne being the first one to kiss her put me in a wild mood.
Erica went about her day as though nothing happened at all. She acted completely laid back about Thorne and Gia dating one another.

“
So did the two of you have sex yet?
”
a girl
’
s
hard core
voice said behind me as I made my way toward the boy
’
s locker room. I turned to face her
,
the red-
headed nightmare wearing designer blue jeans. Paige.

“
What Gia and I do is none of your
concern
,”
I stated.

“
It
’
s every bit of my business
,
and some. You owe me
,
Caleb.
”

“
What? How do you figure that? Wait. Oh
,
I see. You think because your ice hands healed me
,
that I
now have to report the details of
my sex life to you
?
”
I scoffed
,
feeling brave because
anger fueled my temper.

“
The
na
me
of your little girlfriend
. You were supposed to get it
for me.
”

“
Her name is Gia Jones.
”

“
That
’
s not her real name
,
you fool
.
Don’t make me do something you’ll
regret
,
Love,
”
she said in a low voice.

“
What are you gonna do? Pin me to a tree and try to rape me again?
”
I s
aid sarcastically
.

“
Do not tempt me. My kind has had our way with
you humans
for ages. Don
’
t think that being a guy makes it any safer for you
,”
she growled in a low
,
but deadly voice. I had no doubt she meant every single word. I shut up and swallowed hard.

“
A miracle. That mouth of yours can actually keep quiet. Get the name
,
Caleb. You have until the
All Souls
party in three weeks
,”
she ordered.

“
I don
’
t know her damn name
,”
I hissed. Paige stepped closer to me
,
her strange smell invading my nostrils and stinging them.

“
Get it. Or I wi
ll come back and
slam you against that tree again and again until all that’s left of you is blood and meat
. I
’
ll enjoy it
,
too.
”

“
Are you deaf? She won
’
t give it to me.
”
It didn
’
t matter. Paige could tie me to a tree and rip my insides out a thousand times before I
’
d tell her anything to hurt Gia.

“
Why can
’
t you just do as you
’
re told?
”

“
I
’
m not your little lap
dog
,”
I spat
,
my fists clenched
,
and my chest heaving.

A smile spread across her face.
“
It
’
s working.
”

I scoffed a laugh.
“
What are you talking about?
”

“
You can
’
t even see what’s happening to yourself,
”
she answered
,
smiling with that wild look in her clear blue eyes.
I glanced around her head.

“
Paige
,
it
’
s so
not
nice to see you again
,”
Gia blurted coming up behind my interrogator.

“
I can be patient
,”
Paige said to me and turned to Gia.
“
It
’
s only a matter of time
,
now
.
”
She slinked around Gia
,
bumping into her shoulder.
“
That arm looks fantastic
,
Caleb.
”
She gave me a wide grin and walked out of the gym.

“What did she do to you this time?” Gia asked.

“
Explain her to me
,”
I said.
“
No
,
even better
,
enlighten
me on
y
our weirdness
first. As in
,
why is Thorne slobbering all over you?
”

“
Paige wants to know my name
. Maybe y
ou should give it to her
,”
she said quietly
,
skipping over the Thorne statement.

“
Let
’
s see. The only time I
’
ve ever heard your name is
,
uh
…
never
.
You won’t give it to me. Even after I shared my record collection with
you
and talked about my
Ticky
,”
I
scolded
. A slight smile flickered across her
lips
.

“
So
your starfish does have a
name?
”
she asked.

“Changing the subject isn’t going to work,” I said.

“Okay. Ask your questions,” she said, her dark-eyed gaze boring straight into mine.

“
How is it that a skateboard queen turns out to be a
Walker
? What kind of demon chick is Paige? I need answers.
”

“
You have to trust me
,
for now
,”
she said.

“
No
,
I don
’
t trust anything that walks through walls instead of doors.
”

“
Go back to Erica. She
’
s a normal girl
,”
she whispered
. My mouth fell open.

“
That
’
s crock
,
Gia. You never struck me as the type to
play games with
someone
’s head
. Then again I seem to attract crazy females these days
,”
I said before I thought about
what
I was saying and
who
I was saying it to. My
c
lout score for being a jerk must be off the
c
harts by now.

Gia looked like she was ready to smack me
,
or something like that.
“
I
’
ll see you around
,
Caleb
, a
fter
you
’
ve had a few calm-down pills.
”
She turned and trudged out of the door
,
refusing to look back at me standing there with my
dog house
face on.

That night I lay on my bed and stared at the
star fish
again
. T
he
o
ne
a girl with a blurry face
in my memory
gave me a long time ago.
Was she real? Or was she just a product of my imagination?
I held it up to the light
,
studying the way the tomato red color had little highlights of orange scattered across the arms. Twice in my lifetime
,
I
’
d been saved from drowning. The
little girl
helped me out that day on Hatteras Beach
.
Mom said some old people and their granddaughter found me this last time
.

What were the odds that those two events were coincidences? Slim to none. I closed my eyes and listened to the
House of the Rising Sun
for the hundredth time. Something soft tickled my ribs. I felt Ticky lift away from my stomach
,
and my heart raced like crazy.

“
Keep your eyes closed
,”
a girl
’
s voice whispered. She was leaning over me. Gia came back.
“
You can
’
t make
Ticky
work for you by staring at him that way.
”

“
Just rub it in now that you know his name,
” I
teased.
I wanted to see her face.

“
If you
disobey me
,
then I
’
ll disappear again.
”

“
I
’
m sorry,
I was an ass
,”
I admitted and didn
’
t wait for her to
respond
. Boldness was on my side tonight. I wanted to know that she was truly mine. I opened my eyes and pulled her into my arms
,
inhaling the strange sweet
, but
f
lowery
smell that always surrounded her. I
f
orgot about Thorne
,
Raze
,
Erica: they were all side thoughts.

“
I told you
to keep your eyes closed
,
you stubborn thing
,”
she said.

“
You can
’
t leave. I won
’
t let you.
”

Her face was within inches of mine. Our eyes locked
,
and the heat from my body combined with hers. Any celestial radars tuned
in
to our signals were guaranteed to explode.
“
Why did you come back?
”
I asked.