Denial (Goblin's Kiss Series Book One) (15 page)

I turned on Ames
the second we hit the pavement away from the rest. “Now tell me
what you are and what this is right now. I promise to listen and
not run.”
I
won
’
t promise to tell I was thinking how his lips looked moist
and kissable right then. I
’
d eat mud before
I
’
d
ever tell him that.

I felt him spike with energy and
start to worry as he rubbed his chin then ran the same hand through
his hair. It feathered out forward and then fell back into place.
While a certain part of me wanted to like that he was worried about
me, it also made my anger resolve to do what I had to do to get
answers.

He pulled his
lip in and I saw him chew on the side of his mouth.
“
I don’
t want you to leave just yet now that we are
friends
.”

No freaking duh! Figured that part
out, bud.

“Quit saying
that. If you say you
’
re a vampire or werewolf, fine.
Heck I
’
ll join the zombie league if you
’
re one of those.
I
’
ll
even think about chopping up your veggies if you
’
re a
vegetarian
, just tell me
already.” My hands went to my hips in wait, my voice sounding
breathy and uncontrolled in my own ears. “I
’
m not moving till you
do.”

I think I just
said I
liked
him.

And if she stood there long enough
she might just find herself hosed of all possible
outlets.

“Legends hold that once there were
those who lived under the ground and forged gold. And others who
wanted gold. And still others who harvested the gold for aid or the
opposite. Selfish gain. On one hand you have those who make the
gold and use it as trade for other goods for the advancement of
their people. They had a great king who cared deeply about his
people but then he died and his son was in charge. A son who grew
up and is without a wife. A restless one.”

I watched for
her to catch on but I was being ambiguous on purpose. I kept on
when she didn
’
t flinch.

“The others, the
greedy ones in this tale, lost all bets when they tried to steal
the king
’
s gold among other things. It forced all manner of warlike
acts to come out in the king and it got him dead. His son took over
and the thieves were taken as slaves. Over time they became trusted
in small ways. There are guards, various upper positions the king
allows.”

“You say this
like it
’
s something you are very familiar with,” Emma claimed to me
tapping her foot in unison to my fingers drumming my chin. A habit
I didn
’
t think she knew she owned.

“It is. I hold a
part in the tale.” She didn
’
t want to know yet how much. A
spineless neutrality wasn
’
t honorable and I preferred to
hide it.

“Are you
indicating that creatures exist like,” Emma rolled her eyes upward
to avoid saying to me, “
elves, vampires, werewolves...goblins?
”

I shook my head. She almost had
it. “Not the vampires and werewolves part.”

“And
you
’
re going to leave me hanging I see,” she said coyly, trapping
me in those glittery-sapphire colored eyes. This was no game and
that only reminded me of how innocent she was as well as the danger
she didn
’
t know she was in.

“Not yet. But I will tell you
this. You are in danger. I will protect you, but there are those
who will expect for me to treat you with forcefulness. I was sent
to take you back to your home.”

“Why is that bad? Not that I want
to go or have even given my consent otherwise,” she held her hands
up derisively.

“I know and before too long you
will have to choose, Emma. But hiding will prove exhausting and the
king will not be stifled for too long.”

“Are you saying I have no choice?”
she started backing up like she might run.

“I
’
m saying that you need to listen and learn all the facts
before you decide where your own fate lies. Not all are here for
your best interests.” Including me as of days
ago.

“Then lead the way, Ames Cahn. And
let me decide for myself,” she said boldly. Her mouth drew out in a
long breath and she added. “After you tell me what I am, as well as
yourself.”

Her energy
spiked to a swell all time high compared to the previous one
I
’
d
witnessed. The man in me said she couldn
’
t hurt me, but could she? It
did things to my libido it shouldn
’
t so why not physical pain. She
wasn’t afraid to face the unknown. Perhaps she overestimates her
power.

A difficult task to decide, I
settled for half. “You are descended from a later king in the world
of gold hoarding who died and left behind a legacy of honest
trade.”

“I
’
m like...a goblin.
”

She crunched up her nose in
disgust.

“Mostly. Your mother gave you
other talents.”

Her eyes wide,
she mouthed without speaking the word
mother
. I
’
d get to that
later.

“Not in the way of fairy tales
like in your head, but more along the lines of what the truth is.
Humans turned us into ugly creatures over time, but really we are a
group of highly developed magical creatures who look not unlike you
or me. The name just took effect and stuck.”

“More hot guys in my fairy tale.
Alright!” She smiled wide and laughed.

I stopped my
story long enough to ponder what she said with a grin. “If you are
equating that to me then I would have to say something along the
lines of ‘thank you
’
but that would be insinuating that you think
I
’
m
hot and if you’re laughing I hope that it
’
s because of the shock and
not because the hot comment was some type of
irony.”

She blushed just like I planned.
The beast inside me was happy for the millisecond I knew I might
get to keep her. Then it left with her next statement.

“So
I
’
m
some kind of relative of the king. Why does the current king want
me there then? Just to see the long lost relative
doesn
’
t jive with me all too well.”

I
’
m not telling her
that
much yet. It would have to
wait.

So it seems
I
am
the long
lost relative of the goblin king of yesterday and the current one
wants to have a tea party and introduce me to the cousins.
Great.

And that meant I
was one too. Even better. I wanted to be disgusted initially by the
mere mention of the word goblin, but he just told me that I was one
too. Always been. And he wasn
’
t exactly...ugly. Not by a long
shot. More like...drop dead gorgeous.

The amount of
energy I used in front of people was just amazing even if they
didn
’
t know how to explain it. But I could now. It
wasn
’
t anywhere near what I could have. I know my emotions had to
have been high on the heartbeat monitor for Ames to deal with, but
wow!

My mind
couldn
’
t read his, but if I could, I
’
d want to know exactly why he
gets turned on by my power and not me. Even if I
couldn
’
t read his every emotion, I could read it all over his face.
I hated to trick him, but the truth was close. Ames seemed to have
my best interest so I would just stay on my
guard.

And I could handle all this if it
meant finding out more about my powers and what it meant to have
them. Or get rid of them.

As long as I
didn
’
t have to stay.

“I
’
ll go.
”

Ames turned with a jerk when the
Jeep door opened and closed. He hurried around to the driver side
and jumped in. Click. The doors locked.

“What do you
mean
you
’
ll go
?”
Ames instantly lost his easy smile he kept as his jaw tightened
making his lips curl in. This emotion from him was the opposite of
moments ago. It was pure anger. At me?

I was freaking out now. “I will go
meet these relatives, say hi-de-do and come back home. What could
it hurt?”

I watched him
start the Jeep and put it in drive. We went onto the freeway and
silence loomed in the air until we were parked in front of my
house. I was lost in my thoughts replaying what all had just gone
down. I could do this. I was strong. Going to meet this crew would
make my heart settle it
’
s longing to know the truth. I
might finally know what I am and know fully what I can do. Hearing
it and seeing it are two different things
entirely.

So...I opened up
my iPhone and googled goblins. It wasn
’
t pretty.

I
’
d screwed up. Big time. “
You can
’
t just walk in there and say hi.
It
’
s
more complicated than that.”

That man would
cannibalize his youngest if it meant keeping himself in the
king
’
s seat.

“You just said
they were like me. If that
’
s true, then why
can
’
t I just see a part of that world that I come from and decide
myself where I want to be? I live here. I don
’
t want to just up and
say goodbye to the good people who
’
ve raised me, quit high school,
and run away to fairy tale land. And if this hero could get rid of
these
powers
,
I
’
d
be good with that.” Her hand finally stopped tapping the phone. I
wondered who she was texting or what she was
typing.

She was in
denial. That
’
s it. It had to be. “But
you
’
re not human. Once you know who you are, you will want to
embrace it? Take over and the damage will be done. With this crew,
you will need to have severe control. They will need to see you
have nothing in the way of power if you want to survive, but not
lose yourself forever.”

Her confusion
didn
’
t alert me to my mess-up, but her hand to her mouth
did.

“You want me to
go in there and make waves with these creatures? Pretend
I
’
m
weak. What are you not telling me?”

Those creatures
were just like her. And not really. But I do want to take her far
away and hide her from anyone else who would take her from me.
Unfortunately, that was impossible. Suddenly, denying my true
calling to be king wasn
’
t such a bad idea if it meant
possibly saving her.

In front of her
house we shuffled around the truth al ittle more and still only
came to one conclusion. Take her to him and make her appear weak so
he wouldn
’
t want her.

Finally, when there was nothing
else to be said that I could offer she came out with, “I thought
goblins were supposed be ugly and nasty, trickster like
creatures.”

“Does that describe you?” I
asked.

She scrunched her nose up like she
does. I liked her most unsavory faces more than I thought. It made
me wonder even more what she might be thinking.

“It says
you
’
re mischievous and a bunch of
troublemakers.”

I looked at her phone again
putting the pieces together. “What are you reading, the tabloid
papers?”

Her hand jerked
away when I tried to take it. “No. Wikipedia says that
you
’
re dangerous to humans and kidnap people by turning yourself
to look different. Is this how you really look?”