Death's Mantle: An Urban Fantasy Novel (Revelations Book 1) (7 page)

“Why is that?” he breathed, fingertips edging under the hem of her black skirt.

“Because…”

“Because why?” he asked as his lips trailed down her neck and a shiver threatened to overwhelm her.

“Caden…” She swallowed, trying to force her words out of her mouth. It was so difficult, she nearly failed. “I just don’t want to go so fast. I’m not that kind of girl…”

“It’s okay, Kim,” he replied, his fingers drifting up even farther. “We can stop whenever you want.”

“Stop,” she whispered as his fingers inched up. She closed her eyes for a second and took a deep breath, trying to slow her speeding heart and regain control. His fingertips brushed across the edge of her panties, and an electric shock went through her. If she didn’t end this now… she wasn’t going to be able to stop…

Her eyes shot open, and she looked into his smiling face as he leaned in, pressing his lips against hers as his free hand slipped up, gently pushing her backward onto the couch. As her back touched the soft green fabric, she reached out and pressed her hand against his chest. “Please. Not like this…”

Caden groaned and sat back so he was on his knees, looming over her prone body. He leaned his head back and stared up at the ceiling. “I don’t see what the big deal is,” he said, shaking his head. “It’s not like you haven’t done this before.”

“Every time you say something like that, I start to think you only want one thing, and maybe I’m optional,” Kim replied as he stared at her, lips curled in annoyance.

He sighed, an explosive exhalation of breath that made a tremor run down her spine. “I’m here with you aren’t I? I could probably go get any other girl I wanted. But no, I’m here with you. That should mean something!”

“Oh, is that so?” Kim snapped, scrambling away from him and leaping to her feet. “Your ego frustrates me to no end. I don’t think I can even deal with it anymore. You can get any girl you want? Well here’s your chance.” She crossed her arms over her chest.

Caden sighed again as he stood. “I’m sorry, sweetie. I didn’t mean it like that. It just seems like I want you so much, and you don’t even care for me at all. It’s driving me crazy. I don’t know what to do anymore. It’s like you’re off in your own little world sometimes.”

“When you’re off feeling up other girls, do you tell them that too?” Kim asked, narrowing her eyes at him.

Caden rubbed a scar on his eyebrow for a moment with one slender finger. “There are no other girls.”

“So what about the girl at the swim meet?” Kim turned and began to walk out of the room though she wasn’t sure why since it was her house. He should be the one to leave, not her. She spun to face him. “You should just go. I’m sure it won’t be a big deal for you. I bet you’ve probably already found my replacement.”

“You keep saying those things, but I’m not the one who was making out with Malcom in front of everyone...” Caden replied, voice soft and strangely understanding as he reached out and grabbed her shoulder, but instead of gripping her tightly, his fingers began to caress her flesh through her thin white shirt. “But I’m willing to make an exception this
one
time.”

Kim’s heart felt like it would explode as his words reverberated in her head. Was he seriously blaming her for Malcom kissing her? It wasn’t like she wanted him to do it. Anger rushed through her body so quickly, she could hardly contain it. Was Caden trying to make her feel guilty?

“So you want me to be more discreet about it?” she asked and as she said the words, his face hardened. “I mean, you know what you’re getting yourself into with me, don’t you?”

“You’re just saying that to make me jealous, aren’t you? That’s pathetic. If you think I’m going to actually date you if you sleep around, you’re out of your goddamned mind,” Caden snarled, his eyes going flat and empty. “Or is it all the same to you? Boy wanted, name and face optional?”

“God, you are such a hypocrite! So it’s okay for you to screw everyone, but not for me?” Kim asked, arching an eyebrow at him.

“I never slept around while I was dating someone.” Caden crossed his arms over his chest and glared at her. “It’s kind of an important point, and I’m not sure why you don’t understand that.”

“I don’t understand why you keep bringing it up.” She sighed, shaking her head as she rubbed her temples with one hand. “I swear that’s all you think about when we’re not screwing…”

Caden shut his eyes and looked away, red flashing across his face. “We both know you want it just as much as me.”

“Well, you’re entitled to your own opinion, but I’m pickier than you think.” Kim felt heat rise on her cheeks as she stared at him because as much as she wanted to argue with him, it was true. She did want sex, even now while they were fighting. Did that make her a bad person? Surely not…

“Is that so? I was there. I saw what you did. I bet Malcom doesn’t even know about it.” Caden laughed to himself.

“I was drunk, Caden! I didn’t go into that willingly. If you cared about me at all, you would have stopped it!” Her hands balled tightly into fists as she spoke, the words spilling out of her before she could stop them. The memory was still blurry in her mind, but all she remembered was the feel of hands on her skin, of lips on her neck.

“Whatever, you guys were all over each other the whole night.” He leaned in so his face was only inches from hers. “It seemed like you were having a great time from what I heard after you shut the door.”

“Asshole!” Kim stomped past him, their shoulders colliding as she passed him. How dare he say that to her. Wasn’t he supposed to be her boyfriend? Wasn’t he supposed to take her side? She spun to glare at him, about to ask him what his problem was when a sound from outside crept into her ears, stopping her in her tracks.

It sounded like a car, but her parents weren’t supposed to be home from dinner for another few hours. Besides, they always called when they left. They had given permission for Caden to come over… but still. This was bad timing. She listened for a moment, unsure of what it could be. She heard it again. Then someone was knocking at the door, although not very loudly.

“Did you hear that?” she asked as a chill crawled over her skin. She watched the door, anxiety welling up inside her as the seconds mounted. Her parents wouldn’t knock on the door after all… they’d just come inside.

“Hear what?” Caden growled as he followed her gaze toward the door. “No, I didn’t hear anything.”

“I swear, I heard the door. What if someone was watching us?” Kim asked as she made her way to the door and peeked out the peephole. Malcom stood outside, leaning against the wooden post of the porch like he always had. Ian stood a few steps behind him.

“Not now,” she muttered, turning and leaning against the wall beside the door as she slowly sank to the faux wood floor.

“Who is it?” Caden asked, taking a step toward her, concern stretched across his face.

“Kim, are you there? I see your car...” Malcom called from the opposite side of the door, and the sound of his voice made Caden stop in his tracks.

“Why is he here?” Caden snapped. “Did you invite him over?”

“I don’t know. I didn’t invite him,” Kim replied, burying her face in her hands. This was not good. Not good at all. The last thing she wanted was for Caden and Malcom to get into another fight. She sighed. This wasn’t how the evening was supposed to be going.

“Well, get rid of him,” Caden replied, taking a step back and sliding out of sight. “I’ll wait over here.”

Kim huffed and got slowly to her feet. “So much for moral support,” she murmured as she pulled the door open and stared at Malcom through the crack between the door and the jamb. “What do you want, Mal?”

He leaned heavily on the door like he always did, and the chain snapped to attention. “Are you okay? You look upset.” Malcom smiled at her, his lips peeling back to reveal his near-perfect teeth.

“I’m upset you’re here.” She shook her head, and his face fell. She couldn’t quite explain it, but the sight of his disappointment tugged at her heart. “You’re not supposed to come around anymore.” She shifted her eyes to Ian who stood there looking like he’d gotten caught putting his hand in the cookie jar. “And you’re not supposed to let him.”

“He wouldn’t listen,” Ian said with a sigh. “But you should probably hear what he has to say, crazy as it sounds.”

“See I’m vouched for.” Malcom grinned. “What do you say? Can we come in?”

“It’s really not a good time,” Kim replied, moving to shut the door. Hopefully she could get him out of here before he caused a scene. Malcom shoved his shoe in the doorjamb, blocking it from closing.

“It’s important, Kim. I’m sure you have to wash your hair or something, but this is a big deal.” Malcom’s voice dropped to a whisper as he looked around. “It’s about the cyclops.”

Kim shut her eyes as the word cyclops chased everything away, replacing her thoughts with a dull, aching fear. At first, she couldn’t remember what had happened exactly. Even after she’d been escorted into the school nurses office by a boy she barely knew, she had a hard time recalling exactly what had happened.

Unfortunately, as the minutes turned into hours, images and recollections of the day’s earlier event had started congealing in her mind, much as she had tried to ignore it. As the word cyclops reverberated in her head, the same face that haunted her dreams surfaced. Was the creature back? She had tried to tell herself it wasn’t real, but every time she closed her eyes, there it was, huge and menacing, and now Malcom was here, talking about it like it was real, but that was impossible. Cyclopses didn’t exist.

“I’ll let you in, but you’ll have to stop leaning on the door, or I won’t be able to undo the chain.” Even though she had said the words, they felt foreign in her mouth, like they’d come from someone else’s throat. Was she really going to let Mal inside to talk about a cyclops? While Caden was still inside, no less? No… no that wouldn’t work at all…

“All right.” Malcom stepped back, removing himself from the doorway. “But if you leave us locked outside, I’m not going to be happy.”

“I won’t, just give me a minute.” She shut the door slowly and against her better judgement, removed the chain.

Kim 01:02

Kim spun around, her heart racing in her chest as she spied Caden sitting on the edge of the couch, flipping through one of her dad’s bicycling magazines. She had to get rid of him first. Not because of Mal, though that was part of it. Mostly because she didn’t want him to hear about the cyclops and decide they were all crazy. Then again, Ian had seemed to take the news okay… Maybe Caden would too?

“Did you get rid of him?” Caden asked when she approached. He dropped the magazine and leaned back, stretching. His muscles strained at his tight grey t-shirt, and for a moment, Kim wondered if he was showing off. Probably not. If he was, he’d have taken his shirt off or slid it up to reveal his perfect abs. He’d done it too many times already for her to expect otherwise.

Sadly, it worked pretty much every time because the sight of so much touchable muscle made her fingers long to caress him. Her cheeks burst into flames as she shoved the thought away before it could dig its claws into her.

“No… but I need to talk to him. Would you mind stepping outside for a bit?” Kim asked, and Caden’s angular face took on a skeletal appearance as his smile disappeared into a hard line. Guilt crawled up her spine as the fire in his eyes flickered and went out.

“Um… why?” Caden asked, anger spilling into his voice. “Why would I need to leave? I’m sure we can be civil.”

“It’s not that…” Kim’s throat closed up as she tried to force the rest of the words to come out, but how could they? How could she say, “We need to talk about the mythological cyclops that attacked me?” What was she going to add after? “You know, the one I neglected to mention to you?” No… no the chances of that going well were less than none… It would be better if he left, no matter how angry he got.

“Then what is it, Kim?” Caden reached out and gripped her shoulders. His fingers were warm and…. And he was trembling. His forest green eyes held something she couldn’t quite read… no that wasn’t true, she knew what that look was. It was fear, but of what?

“Nothing, it’s just… you wouldn’t understand,” she replied, and Caden watched her for a long time, thoughts flitting across his eyes. His features darkened.

“Well, it’s not like I can go home. You drove me here. I’m like four miles from my house…” he trailed off and huffed out an annoyed breath. “If you want, I guess I can wait in the kitchen…”

Kim bit her lip. Would that work? Probably not. There was no chance he wouldn’t eavesdrop. And this was a cyclops. He’d definitely come out during the conversation, especially if he heard about her being attacked and saved by Mal. If only she had told him earlier… Why hadn’t she been honest?

But could she have been, really? Would he have believed her if she said she’d been attacked by a cyclops during school? No…

“I don’t know if that is going to work,” she replied, feeling like the most unreasonable person on the planet. Was she really asking her boyfriend to leave so she could spend time with her ex after they had just had a fight about cheating? Was that really happening? He must think she was crazy.

“Fine, you know what… give me a second, I’ll just call for a ride...” Caden turned and walked into the kitchen to use the phone on the wall. She’d almost forgotten he didn’t own a cell phone. Something about his parents not liking the devices…

Kim chased after him and grabbed her phone out of Caden’s hands before he could dial. “You need to leave now. I don’t have time to wait for your ride to show up.”

“They aren’t going to come if I don’t call.” He put his forehead against hers and looked into her eyes. The feel of his skin pressed against hers made her tremble as he reached out and ran one hand along her cheek. “It’ll just take a second. I’ll wait out back for my ride. He won’t see me…”

“Hey, Kim, where are you?” Malcom called from the living room. Had he just let himself inside? She cursed herself. Of course he had. She should have left the chain on the damn door.