Dark Seraphine (The Seraphine Trilogy) (9 page)

“
I needed some alone time
,
Mom. Sorry
,”
I croaked. My throat felt like sandpaper.

“
No excuses. I
’
m
always here
to listen. You know that.
”
She sat on the edge of my bed and moved
strands of hair
back out of my face. Her red-rimmed eyes looked like she
’
d been crying for days. I hated seeing my mom upset this way. I attempted to lift my left arm.
The king
of
all
pain
ful feelings
surged through it.
That was when I first noticed my arm wrapped inside a cast.

“
Don
’
t
move, hon
.
It’
s broken.
”

“
What? I didn
’
t even hit anything
that hard
,”
I blurted
,
my voice feeling stronger. 

“
The people who found you said your body was drifting near the rocks on the shores
,”
Mom explained.

“
Who found me?
”
I asked
,
feeling uneasy about all of this. I clearly recall that someone
’
s hand held me under the water. If I did hit a rock then I was pretty sure that
whoever found me
was the guilty one.

“
Son
,
take it easy
,”
the nurse ordered as she checked the tangle of machines set up around my bed.

“
A young girl and her grandparents spotted you. Thank God they recognized you from defense class. You could
’
ve been killed
,
Caleb. Don
’
t ever do something like this again
,”
Mom scolded.

“
I got it
,
Mom. Okay
,
I
’
m fine now
,”
I assured her.

Her cell phone buzzed through the room. The tune was one of her meditative songs that used a bunch of flutes and bells to create the melody.
“
It
’
s your father. I
’
ll be right back. Do
not
move
.”

“
Trust me
,
I don
’
t intend to lift anything
,”
I groaned.

She walked out of the room along with the nurse. 
M
y stalker
Walker
stood behind the closed door.
Yeah
,
I got all fluttery inside. I was a tad happy to see her
this time. But she warned
me about going into the water; which meant she had some idea of what would happen.

“
Yo
u know your g
uardian skills suck
,
right?
”

“
Hello to you too
,
lovely Caleb
,”
she said and walked toward my bed.

“
So what did you do?
‘
Cause
I was
about to be
a goner. My mom said some old people and their granddaughter found me
floating near the rocks
.
”

“
That
’
s the short story version of the way it happened.
”
She eased to the side of my bed. I attempted to lift my body
.
N
o luck. My tired muscles failed, and the cast on my arm was clunky.
I felt weak and looked stupid.
“
Don
’
t try to sit up. You need your strength. You can play the macho guy role another day.
”

“
Damn. How long have I been out?
”
I asked.

“
Three days.
”

“
What?
”

“
You suffered a concussion.
”
Lowering her head
,
she muttered
,
“
I told you not to go.
”
A worried look was mucking up her gorgeous face. She appeared to be more tense today.

“
Yeah
,
well
,
next time be more aggressive. Use some magic mojo stuff or whatever on me
,”
I suggested.

She smirked.
“
Stop being so dramatic.
”

“
Right. Now that you got me all broken up over you
,
how about a little info on some things
,”
I pried.

“
I can
’
t tell you anything. Not yet
,”
she said
,
her strange eyes boring into mine.

“
Why not? Make me feel better about the busted-up bones job I got because of you
,”
I snapped
and wiggled my left arm, the one with the nice heavy cast on it
.

“
I can
’
t tell you what I don
’
t remember
,
okay
,”
she blurted. Her lips trembled
. S
omething inside my gut flipped when she stared at me that way. Whatever that thing was floating between us didn
’
t just happen because of her beauty. Nah. Something hitched inside my head each time our gazes met. She glanced away.

“
Well
,
you better hurry up and tweak that little issue. I saw your dark dudes hanging around the school the other day. That can
’
t be good.
”

The color drained from her face. The infamous Mr. Caleb
Bad News
Wood strikes again.

“
When did you see them? Tell me
,”
she demanded.

“
Ooh
,
I see. I dish out the
info
,
while you get to play the selective memory game. Smooth
,
even for a
guardian
,”
I said smugly.

“
This isn
’
t a joke
,
Caleb
,”
she whispered
,
tears in her fearful eyes.
Why do
you
act this way
, dude
?
 
“
I
’
d do anything to keep you from getting hurt again? Can
’
t you see that?
”

I stared at the ceiling and shook my head.

“
Is that right? You
’
d really do anything?
”
I asked.

“Anything,” she confirmed.

“
Then tell me your name.
”
Silence.

“
Not yet
,”
She placed her hand on my good arm. I didn
’
t move it
,
even though I wanted to. Well
,
sort of
,
anyway
. After experiencing Erica
’
s embarrassing lip-lock show
,
I needed the attention of this walking spirit girl or whatever she considered herself to be.

“
You
’
re just like everybody else in my life. Always promising
,
but never delivering
,”
I said. Wincing
,
she sighed and moved her hand away.

“
I
have to
go. But I
’ll
have something for you when I return.
”
She gave me a weak smile
,
making me feel like a
Grade-
A jerk. Why was this particular
Walker
hanging around so much
?

Almost as soon as her form faded the door to my room flew open. At once I was assaulted by arms
,
hair
,
and fruity perfume that trickled into my throat. It was Erica Jensen.
“
I
’
m so sorry. So very sorry
,”
she mumbled in my hair.

“
I got it
,”
I said
,
keeping an eye on her super huge pocketbook moving closer to the cast
encased
on my left arm. She pulled back and stared at me
,
her eyes filled with tears.

“
I thought
—
No
,
I was terrified in thinking I
’
d never see you again. I was so scared I wouldn
’
t ever get the chance to tell you how I feel.
”
Her words perked me up a tad
,
and I wanted to
feel
all jittery inside the way I did before. Erica Jensen confessing her feelings for me
—
what more could a guy ask for than the most popular and beautiful girl
’
s heart? Instead
,
an image of Erica and Thorne sucking
faces
in the hallway kept on replaying in my head. Trust didn
’
t come
easily
for me. Especially after the way my ex treated me at the end of our relationship.

I should
’
ve been about ready to hop out of my bed and fly home
,
cracked elbow and all. But I didn
’
t. There was something strange about Erica Jensen and I just couldn
’
t place what that was.

I fumbled around my head for something to say. I guess the words were stuck back in the hallway along with that memory I couldn
’
t shake. Plus
,
the
Walker
girl left me with a few things to haunt my thoughts
,
too.

“
This is
my fault. I
’
m so sorry
,
Caleb. Please forgive me
,”
Erica pleaded.

“
You didn
’
t dump me off
the
board. It was my retarded decision
,”
I said.

“
But you were upset because of what you saw
,”
she said
,
her eyes filling with tears. Seriously
,
I can
’
t handle all of these crying
girl
s: Mom
,
the
Walker
,
and now Erica.

“
Not really
,”
I lied
,
“
So just chill
,
okay?
”

Kyle and Shani (aka
the slobbering birds) charge
d through the door
. Kyle
’
s eyes briefly scanned Erica
’
s hand
sitting
i
n mine. A knowing look passed between her and Shani. Just what I needed
—
the Dynamic Public Display Duo making fun of
me holding hands with the
lead cheerleader.

Erica stood up.
“
No wait
,
you don
’
t have to go
,”
Kyle said right away
,
a smug grin on his face.