Dark Seraphine (The Seraphine Trilogy) (26 page)

Chapter Fourteen

“
This is my fault
,
”
Shani sobbed as she sat on the edge of the
sofa across from me
.

“
No
,
it
’
s not. Boys will be
,
well
,
idiots
,”
Erica explained
,
her arm draped across Shani
’
s shoulders.

We sat in
the
visitors’
area just outside
Kyle
’
s room
and waited
for our parents. Erica offered me hot chocolate
,
which I hate. I drank it anyway just to feel the liquid burning my throat. My best friend
lay
in
a bed, unconscious
. Not only did the fault rest with Shani
,
but it also belonged to me. I should
’
ve done a better job of warning Kyle after I spotted the
Dark Agent
s standing along the
beaches
.
The doctors said that
him being unconscious
was typical of
would be
drowning victims
. I
survived
mine. My friend was always the tough one, so I know he’ll
pull through.

But I knew that the creature in the water had somehow sealed my friend
’
s fate. And you could bet that it tied into Ethan
’
s disappearance too.

We waited around for about an hour. Erica’s Aunt and Uncle checked on us a few times. Rick Jensen seemed more agitated than his wife did. He kept walking in and out of the area, pacing and glancing over at me a few times. I recalled what Erica told me that day we sat together on the beach. She found a folder containing notes about water creatures with angelic powers
, a file that belonged to both Rick Jensen and my dad
. I had the sneaky suspicion that
Gia knew about these ‘creatures’
too.

What scared me the most was
realizing
that she might be connected to that thing I saw in the water.

My
parents barged into the
waiting area
,
their faces ripped up with emotion.
Dad showed up too. I almost fainted.
I had no idea he returned from his trip. He held on to a briefcase which meant he wasn’t going to stick around for long.
Mom rushed right over to me
,
pulling me against her chest. The embrace felt good. I had no desire to try and pull away.

“
Just couldn
’
t get it right
,
could you?
”
my dad
began. Right away
,
my muscles tensed up.
“
Something as simple as
you
taking a beach trip
turns
into a nightmare.
Surfing in the dark? How much more stupid can you get?
”
He might as well have smacked me one good time in front of everybody. That way I would
’
ve avoided releasing the iron ball all rolled up in my chest.

“
What
’
s that supposed to mean?
”
I scoffed at his silence. His rigid features were the complete opposite of mine
,
and his stony face regarded me with a stiff look.

Erica pulled away from Shani and eased over to my side.
“
What
’
s your problem? Did you secretly wish for a girl
baby and instead, you wound up with me
?
”
I blurted.

“
Caleb
,”
Mom said.

“
No
,
Mom
,
I wanna know. I don
’
t get it.
”
I swallowed hard
,
keeping the heat in me under control for the moment. Even with the cold shoulder I was getting from him right now
,
I still respected my dad enough to act like a man
and not get all emotional
.

“
Don
’
t push me
,
right now. You might not be ready to hear what I have to say
,”
he said in a monotone voice.

“
Darren
,
please
,”
Mom pleaded.

“
You know what? Screw you
,”
I spat before I thought about who I was speaking to. It was wrong
,
yeah
,
I know. But this was my dad
, and g
etting
put down
by him all of the time hurt in a way that
I couldn
’
t explain. I shoved around him and headed toward the double
exit
doors at the end of the hallway.

Fire rushed through my veins
,
and I didn
’
t trust myself at the moment. Hot tears
burned
my
eyes, but didn’t fall
. Curse Dad and Kyle too for being stupid.
His love for Shani made him reckless
,
the same way that my feelings for Gia turned me into somebody I no longer recognized.

“
Caleb
,
wait
!”
Erica called out behind me.
“
Stop
,
please
.”
She touched my arm. I jerked it away with more force than I intended.

“
I need to be alone
,”
I muttered.

“
That
’
s not a good idea
,”
she said.

“
Who do you think you are
?
My girlfriend?
I want to be by myself
,
alright
?
”
I shoved my way through the double doors and headed straight toward the woods around the outside of the hospital. I kept going until I had walked deep into the
forest
inside the place where the lights in the parking lot didn’t reach.

“
Come out!
”
I demanded.
“
I know you
’
re there.
”
You
’
re always there:
I wanted to say.
“
Show your face!
”

She walked out from behind one of the trees and stood where
I could see her. A lot of things fought inside me: anger, confusion, relief.
I wanted to hate her
,
to yell out all of my frustrations. But I didn
’
t. I couldn
’
t. My right leg started to spasm a little
,
and I fought harder to control my emotions.
“
I remember.
”

“
I know
,”
she whispered and stared at the ground.

I swallowed hard.
Control
,
Caleb. Don
’
t give her all of the power over you
,
man.
“
Tell me you’re not related to that—that thing I saw in the water.
‘Cause I’m not into girls
who have
knives
for teeth.
”

“The water sprites don’t like intruders,” she said.

“Water sprite?
Right. So are you one of those
?”

“
No.
I can
’
t stay long
,”
she said to the ground.

“
Then w
hat are you?
”
I urged through gritted teeth.

She did look up then.
T
he pain in her face almost floored me.
“
I
’
m
the
girl in love with a boy she can never have.
”

I gasped. Yeah
,
it sounded weak
,
I know. But I expected her to say a lot of things—just not that one thing.
“
What did you do to me that day?
”

“
I saved your life
,”
she said
,
tears streaming down her face.
“
I
’
m sorry everything
is all crazy this way
.
”

Sure
,
I could yell at my dad and turn away from my mom. I left Kyle
’
s room and abandoned Erica again. The one thing I knew that I wasn
’
t going to be able to do was to walk away from the girl I had dreamed about my entire life; especially when she was in such pain.

We both must
’
ve read each other
’
s minds because we
went
toward one
an
other
,
closing the distance between us. Our bodies collided
,
but in a needy-good way. I pulled her up against my chest
,
taking in every part of that magnetic scent of hers: the vanilla
,
the lavender
,
the thymes.

Running my fingers though her silky dark hair
,
I decided that this was the way things should
’
ve turned out for us
when we met for our second time
. Why did everything in my life have to be so difficult? She didn
’
t say a word when I tilted her head back and glanced into her eyes
,
those strange dark eyes that had just a touch of green and blue inside the
irises
. Heat rushed through every part of my body. I couldn
’
t take it. I had to feel her lips on mine
,
to know that I wasn
’
t the only lovesick dumbass between the two of us.
The power inside of a kiss is a hypnotic thing, a mystical force, the
beginning of
an obsession.

“
It
’
s all right. Kiss me. Tell me how you feel. I need to know
,
”
she moaned.
It was the mind reading thing again. Did it really matter at this point? No freakin
’
way.

“
I
’
ve missed you so much
,”
she whispered out loud.

“
Oh yeah? Show me.
”
I moved my lips down to hers. She was the eager one this time.
Without any further delay,
she parted mine. Our kiss turned my insides to jelly. It was that hot
,
and my body heated up
, ready to explode like a volcano
.

Things never happened easily for me
,
though. Something knocked us both off of our feet.

The stars inside my eyelids cleared after about ten seconds. The crazy girl
cackled
in
side my head. But that laughter
wasn
’
t
in
my imagination this time.
The
thing that stood between us was a living breathing terror wearing a black dress that blew in the wind. She had tanned skin
,
and her inky hair formed a style that stuck out almost two feet above her head. Her face was creepy pretty with black lines tattooed along the sides of it. I honestly wondered if the bride of Frankenstein had appeared before us.

I focused on the creature
’
s face.
It
looked
like a
human
girl
; but I knew she wasn
’
t. Across from me
,
Gia writhed and moaned
,
reacting to some type of hold the thing standing before me had on her. I stood and attempted to move toward her. An invisible force knocked me right back on my
ass
.