Kaleidoscope (Faylinn Series) (19 page)

“Don’t underestimate it either,” Declan added.

“Will you two just be quiet?” I scowled. “You’re making me nervous.”

They smiled sheepishly and quieted down.

“You can do it, Calliope,” Declan encouraged softly.

I didn’t let myself think anymore. I took a deep breath and leapt over the moss covered logs and rocks below, landing on the opposite tree. I made it, but what I didn’t plan for was how round the limb would feel under my feet. I couldn’t catch my balance before I was falling forward. With no time to think or scream, my hands reached for a branch to latch onto, but all it did was tear at my palms as it was ripped from my grasp. Arms latched onto my waist before I hit the ground and I found myself in Kai’s arms, which set me gently down.

“Seems easy enough, right?” he said, smirking. I glared at him, but softened it when I realized he’d just saved me from being further injured.

“Not bad for your first time. My first time I didn’t even reach the destination before falling,” Declan said when he landed behind me. “At least your feet touched the branch. Now you know what to expect.”

I winced when I opened my palms. “Ouch,” I muttered.

“What did you do? All you had to do was fall. We were here to catch you,” Kai reprimanded, stepping closer to me.

“Well my human instincts kicked in to save myself before falling to my death. Heaven forbid I impulsively reach for a branch.”

“Here, let me see.” Kai reached out for my hands.

“No, don’t touch! It stings!” I pulled my hands protectively to myself, cradling them against my stomach.

“Don’t be such a baby. Let me help you,” Kai urged. Something in his husky voice made me want to stop fighting him. A small part of me wanted him to touch me, to feel his hands on mine again.

He was only inches from me now and placed his hand on top of one of my scraped palms, gently applying pressure as he cupped it with his other hand. His fingers softly grazed my torn skin. The heat radiating between our hands churned my stomach. I peered up from under my eyelashes and saw his eyes concentrating on our grip. As if he felt my gaze on him, he lifted his pulsating eyes and caught my stare. Warmth spread in my cheeks, but he didn’t smirk. He held my gaze for a few seconds, then cleared his throat and motioned with his indigo eyes for me to look back at my hand. It tingled slightly for a moment before he lifted his fingers and my skin was perfect again, only the residue of blood left over. The cuts were healed.

“How did you. . .?”

“Another one of our fae qualities,” he said. “How do you think we can live so long? You think we’ve really dodged that many accidents?”

“Can I do it?”

“There’s only one way to find out.” He nodded to my other hand. “Try it.”

I put my healed fingers to my other palm, but nothing happened. “It’s not working.”

“Are you even trying?” Kai rolled his eyes and reached over, putting my hand back over my palm with his hand laced on top, our fingers intertwined fitting seamlessly together. “Imagine sewing up a tear or patching up a hole.” He looked at me, urging me to try. I don’t know how he expected me to concentrate with the feel of his skin warming mine, his body only a breath away.

I looked back at my bloodied skin and tried to focus. The Keepers watched my every move, studying everything I did or said. I had still become a science experiment, only in a completely different way than I expected.

The tingle never started and I was about to give up again when Declan’s low voice came from behind my shoulder. “Close your eyes. Sometimes that helps.” So I did as he instructed and pressed my eyes shut, picturing my hand sewing a rip in my sweater. When that didn’t work I pictured a needle and thread actually stitching up my skin. There was a surge of what felt like electricity shoot through my hand. When I lifted my hand, I was as good as new.

“I did it!”

They both looked at me with approval.

“Bravo, princess, you’ve just fulfilled your first enchantment,” Kai said with only half the mockery as usual.

“I’m going to take that compliment and run with it.”

“You should.” Kai lifted a crooked grin.

• • •

Later that day Declan looked to the sun. It hung in the sky just above the shade of trees, making its descent. “I need to make it back to Faylinn by sunset. I must go.”

“Oh.” A twinge of sadness weighed on me at the thought of having to end the day. “Evening shift, huh?”

I had settled for practicing my balance in the trees for the remainder of the afternoon. They showed off, of course, flipping from branch to branch and swinging from vine to vine. It was actually pretty fascinating. Almost like watching Cirque Du Soleil fae men style. I didn’t want the day to end. It was the first day in. . .in. . .I don’t know how long that I relaxed and miraculously had fun.

He nodded and shifted his eyes to Kai. “You good here?”

“Oh, ye of little faith.”

“Well?” Declan said. “I never know with you. Sometimes you stick around, sometimes you don’t want to.”

“I’ll be around for a little while tonight.”

“Good,” Declan said and turned to me. “Be safe walking home, Calliope.”

“I will. Thanks, Declan. For everything today.”

He bowed his head, lifting his strong hand in a wave and sauntered west into the depths of the woodlands. I watched until his chiseled figure was swallowed up by the surrounding lush green.

When I shifted my eyes back to Kai, he was watching me strangely. I couldn’t put my finger on the blank stare of his deep blue-iris eyes. His scrutiny unsettled me so I decided it was time to go.

“I should go, too.” I started to make my way in the direction of my house.

“Stay.” Kai said it hesitantly as if he didn’t know why he said it. Then his face cringed as if he wished he didn’t say it, but didn’t take it back.

I looked back to him. “I can’t.”

He let the quirk in his smile turn up the corner, but it didn’t quite meet his eyes. “You can’t? Or you won’t?”

A stupid part of me wanted to stay. But why? He had never done anything but insult or mock me. His rare moments of kindness were there, but mostly he left me anxious. “It’ll be dark soon and I should be in the house before dark,” I stumbled over my words.

“You don’t trust me, do you?” He tilted his head to one side, studying me.

“It’s not a matter of trust, Kai,” I said truthfully. “In all honesty, my mom doesn’t know about me yet. If she sees me walking out of the trees past dark she’ll freak.”

“As opposed to you walking out of the trees during the day,” he said dryly.

“During the day at least I could say I was just exploring, taking a walk or something, but there really is no good excuse if I come traipsing in the house late at night from the backyard.”

He folded his arms over his chest. “So you’ll tell your friend Cameron, but you can’t tell your mother, a woman who already knows about the existence of the fae, that you’re a faery?”

“My dad has asked me not to.”

His face changed as if he thought he had it all figured out. “Ah. The loyalty card.”

“What’s
that
supposed to mean?”

“You’re loyal to your father.” He shrugged.

“Well, yeah. . .he’s my dad. But I’m loyal to my mom too. She just has a lot on her plate right now. We’ll tell her when the time is right.”

Kai rested his eyes curiously on me and for a couple seconds neither of us said a word. It hadn’t occurred to me that we were only about a foot apart when I felt us drifting closer. When had he gotten so close?

I blinked and the fury started to build inside of me. “Would you stop doing that? You promised you would never do it again.”

Then he blinked and the moment was gone as he sauntered away from me. “Do what?” He smirked.

“Enticement. You keep using it and I don’t appreciate it.”

He chortled, clearly pleased with himself. “Sorry to say, princess, but I haven’t used Enticement on you since the first day we met. I told you I wouldn’t.”

He had to be lying. But as he smiled at me smugly I could see the truthfulness in his eyes.

“I’m afraid this is just my natural charm. I’m better than I thought.”

I bit the insides of my cheeks, feeling the blush redden them. “Whatever. Don’t flatter yourself.”

I could see the satisfaction in his eyes. “Have a good night.” He stepped further back and started to go.

“Wait. That’s it?”

He looked to me with a tilted grin. “What? You want me to sit here and beg for your presence? Sorry, princess, I don’t grovel.” He turned from me again and began his walk away.

No
. He didn’t get to turn his back on me over and over. And no, I didn’t expect him to grovel; I just didn’t like him always having the last word. He didn’t get to walk away this time. I ran in front of him. He nearly stumbled back, but was caught by his quick reflexes.

“Can I help you?” he said sardonically polite.

“You’re so infuriating!” I announced and clenched my fists. Was that really my best comeback?

“One of my better qualities, if I do say so myself.”

“No, you don’t get to do that.” I fervently shook my head. “You don’t get to agree with me while I’m insulting you.”

“You should really practice a little more on the insults, princess. You haven’t quite mastered the art.” He smirked, maddeningly. I wanted so badly to smack it off. Just to see what he would do. “I know a great teacher if you’d like some instruction.”

“Uh! You drive me crazy!” I stomped my foot.
What
. Was I three?

“Why thank you.” He bowed in his head.

“Why? Why do have to act so above everything all the time? Why don’t you take anything seriously?”

Kai folded his arms over his uncovered chest and lifted an eyebrow, but didn’t reply to me. His silence burrowed deep under my skin. He opened his mouth to speak, but then as if he thought better of it closed it again.

“You can’t answer a simple question?” I persisted.

He licked his lips and bit his bottom lips as if he was contemplating an answer. I wanted to kiss that bottom lip and the realization of that thought hit me like a ton of bricks.

I had to fight that ridiculous urge. “Well?” I pressed.

His voice lowered when he spoke. “You make it so easy to toy with you. Some fae would eat you alive.”

I recoiled at the severity of his tone. I couldn’t tell if he wanted to seem playful or menacing. If he was going for menacing, that won. I’d give him a blue ribbon.

“One day you’ll figure it out.”

“Doubt it, since I plan to stay as far away from Faylinn as possible.”

“You’ll give in one day. You won’t be able to fight it any longer. You simply don’t have it in you.”

He was goading me. I knew it and it was working. I lifted my hand to smack him, but before I got the satisfaction he grabbed my wrist and pulled me to his chest. His fresh breath grazed my face and I gasped. His form met every inch of my body, chest to chest, thigh to thigh.

“We’ll work on your hand to hand combat some other day. It’s definitely not at the level it should be by now,” he said, his voice low and husky.

My breath caught. My eyes were level with his lips and the temptation to inch just a little closer was too much to hold back. I watched his lips press together as he swallowed then open them slightly. His warm breath fell across my face. I lifted my eyes to meet the depths of his that could swallow me whole. He blinked once, but that was all it took to sever the connection, pulling me out of the trance.

I let out the breath I was holding and grunted. Yanking my arm from his grip, I turned and stormed away.
What in the world was I thinking?

“You know, retreating isn’t really helping your case,” he hollered, but I didn’t listen to him. I wasn’t going to let him affect me anymore today. It had been too perfect of a day to let him ruin it now.

T
he next morning I woke to the calming pitter-patter of rain on the windowpane. Water darkened the asphalt as I drove down the road to school. The leaves glistened from the moisture, enhancing their color. As soon as I pulled into the parking lot the rain started to come down in buckets. I shoved my hood up and booked it to the front doors.

At our lockers Cameron watched Isla and Lia with a bored look on his face as they were deep in some conversation, animations flying every which way. I smiled at him and was rewarded with a smile in return. Pulling back my hood, I shook off the droplets as I turned to my locker.

“Calliope,” Cameron hissed.

He never called me by my full name. That should have been my first clue.

When I looked back at him his eyes were afraid as he was desperately trying to be subtle and motion to his ears. It took me only a second, but that second could have meant everything. I flipped my hood back on and searched the hallway to see if anyone saw. Thankfully, everyone else seemed to be involved in their own worlds, racing to class, joking and talking with friends. My eyes drew back to our crowd and Lia gave me a look, raising her eyebrow. My stomach sank. Tell me she didn’t see them.

“Callie, you look like you’re searching for a stalker. What’s your deal?” she asked.

I was so worked up I couldn’t get myself composed enough to say anything to her. I swallowed and took a deep breath, trying to calm my wired nerves.

“Jake’s eyeing you, Lia,” Cam said, diverting her stare. She scanned the hallway and a slow smile grew on her lips with an eye roll.

“I’ll be right back,” she excused herself.

I thanked Cameron with my eyes and then Isla was dragging him away. “We should head to class,” she said. “Bye, Calliope.”

Cameron shook his head and gave me a you-are-so-lucky look. I couldn’t agree with him more. Screw being on time, I had to get to the bathroom to fix my hair.

Though the hood messed with my hair, it also protected my hair from the rain. I don’t know how I would have redone my hair to cover up my ears had it been soaking wet. It only took me a minute and then I heard the warning bell from the bathroom. Once I stepped out the door I nearly collided with Lia.

“Whoa, Callie, take it easy. What’s with you today?”