Mourning Sun (6 page)

The bell rang, saving me from further embarrassing myself. I both loved and hated the effect Mathias had on me. His ability to take me from fury to love with only one look was disconcerting.

"Shall we go to class?" Mathias asked.

I nodded and let him lead me out of the cafeteria. It dawned on me as we walked that the golden halo around Mathias had darkened during his confrontation with Stephanie and was still darker now than it had been that morning. I filed that away as something to talk to my mom about later. In fact I needed to talk about the halos in general. The variety of colors, or lack thereof, was getting weird, especially when I compared the colors I saw to the people they were attached to. Stephanie's boyfriend, Braden, had a muddy green halo. It was the only one of that color I'd seen. Most people's halos were some shade of blue. And then there was the gold halo I saw around Tawnya and Mathias. I was sure the colors had some meaning, but I couldn't imagine what it might be.

"So what other questions do you want me to answer about myself," Mathias asked. "Or is it my turn?"

 

"Ask away," I said, collecting my thoughts and focusing on Mathias. "I'm sure my life isn't nearly as interesting as yours."

 

"I think you underestimate the level of interest I have in you...your life."

 

I felt the blood rush to my cheeks again. "You talk to me like I'm the most interesting person you've ever met. I know that can't be true."

 

"I won't argue that particular point with you, Mairin. Suffice it to say that right now there is nothing in this world so interesting to me as you."

 

"Why do you say things like that?"

 

"Because they're true. I will always endeavor to tell you the truth Mairin."

 

"I guess we'll have to agree to disagree on the concept of how interesting I am."

 

"Certainly," he said, taking my hand again and holding it to his lips. The electricity flowed and I wondered if my face could possibly get any redder.

 

"Don't do that," I whispered.

 

"Do what?"

 

"When you do that...kiss my hand...I feel like a princess in a fairy tale. Boys don't do things like that anymore."

Mathias smiled broadly. "I am not like the other boys." "You can say that again," I clapped a hand over my mouth. "Dammit, you did it again."

"What have I done now?" Mathias' lips twitched. I knew he was laughing at me.

 

"I have no filter around you. I just say whatever comes to mind. It's extremely annoying."

 

"I find it both refreshing and charming."

 

"You would. You're not the one spilling state secrets."

 

Mathias frowned. "I would prefer we had no secrets."

 

Something about the way he said it, made me think he referred to his own secrets rather than mine. Certainly, I'd been unable to hide anything from him.

 

"You said you wanted to ask me questions. Ask away."

 

He smiled at my not so subtle change of subject. "I truly have only one question right now."

 

"What?"

 

"Will you go to the pep rally and football game with me this evening?"

I stopped in the hall, causing a pile up of epic proportions as the students streaming down the hall stopped with me. Several people cursed and pushed past us. The question was so mundane, so normal, after the scene in the cafeteria and the electricity of his touch that I couldn't focus on anything but the one question I'd resisted asking since Mathias had appeared in my life.

"Why do you want to be with me?" I asked.

"I don't know," Mathias said so softly I wasn't certain I'd actually heard those words. "I want to know you," he said more loudly, casting further doubt on his first statement. He pulled me to the side of the hall to allow the pile up to move past us.
I shook my head. "I don't get it."

"What don't you get?" Mathias leaned against the wall, pinning me under his body while not actually touching me. My heart skipped a beat or two.

"I'm nothing special," I touched his lips to halt his protest. "You're the most amazing, different and interesting person I've ever met. You're smart, articulate, beautiful and perfect. What makes you want to know me?"

Mathias laughed. "I must say, you do have a highly exaggerated idea of who I am, Mairin. But to answer your question, that you do not think you are interesting is why I think you are. You are open and honest in a way that speaks to my very soul. There is something supremely comforting about your presence and despite the fact that my horrifyingly selfish desire to be with you is likely not in your best interest, I find I am unable to deny myself your company." He stared at me until I shivered. "Will you grant me the honor of allowing me to escort you to the pep rally and football game this evening?"

"Determined, aren't you?"

"You have no idea," he said. The smile that pulled the corners of his mouth up made me gasp. Each time I thought he could be no more fascinating, he showed me one more thing, one more reason I wanted to be near him. I realized I'd give almost anything to see that smile every day of my life.

"You'll have to meet my mom and Tawnya first," I said, knowing I'd probably doomed myself to another Friday night at home alone. "Are you sure you're up to that?"

"I think I can handle your mother and her partner," he said. Something in the way he said partner made me think he already knew Mom and Tawnya were more than business partners.

"Then if Mom says it's okay, I'll go with you. Even if I don't get it." Mathias' smile broadened a bit and he leaned forward as though he were going to kiss me. My heart stopped and my eyes closed as I waited to discover if his lips tasted as sweet as I imagined they would.

"Mr. Auer, Miss Cote, don't you have a class to go to?" the assistant principal asked.

The moment slipped away and I cursed. Disappointment flooded my body, leaving me weak and aggravated. Mathias pulled me toward our class, smiling broadly and refusing to release my hand. The smug bastard acted as though he knew exactly what he'd done to my state of mind and was proud of himself. I didn't hear a word from our teacher for the next hour. I was too lost in a daydream of kissing Mathias until we were both breathless and flushed.

When the final bell rang, Cecelia, Kerry and I made a beeline for my car. I didn't stop to look for Mathias, nor had I told Cecelia about the invitation to the pep rally and game. I wasn't ready for the inquisition from Cecelia and I didn't want to risk running into Stephanie and her friends before I could escape school grounds. The more I thought about the confrontation in the cafeteria, the more uncomfortable it made me. In the cafeteria Mathias had, for the first time since his arrival in my daytime world, behaved in a way which undeniably tied him to the monster of my nights. That growl, the offensive stance, and the terror he'd instilled in Stephanie had made it clear there was so much more to this boy than the cool, reserved facade he hid behind. I was afraid, not so much of Mathias, but of myself. Night after night I watched Mathias devour lives and yet each day I hoped to see him. What did it say about me that I was seemingly willing to overlook the death of others so I could love this beautiful boy?

"Mairin."

 

His voice stopped me dead. A shiver ran down my spine and the hair on my neck stood on end. How did he do that?

Kerry and Cecelia flanked me like soldiers about to do battle or bodyguards. What was it about Mathias that either drew people to him or repelled them with such force? And why did I feel like I was on the wrong side of that equation?

"Mathias, I'd like you to meet my sister. Kerry, this is Mathias."

Kerry backed away from Mathias' outstretched hand. "Hi," she said softly. I'd never seen Kerry react to anyone like that. Usually my sister was the more gregarious of the two of us.

"A pleasure to meet you, Kerry." Mathias turned to me. "Have you forgotten that I agreed to meet your family before the game tonight?"

 

"No," I said. "But you seem to know everything about me. I figured you knew where my mom's shop was."

His smile told me he knew that wasn't why I hadn't waited for him. If I didn't know that nearly every thought I ever had passed over my face, I'd think Mathias was a mind reader. The truth was, he saw me in ways no one else tried to. He was perceptive to a fault and I sucked at hiding anything I thought or felt.

"I do not, actually," he said. "Shall I follow you?"

 

***

 

"Why didn't you tell me Mathias asked you to the game tonight?" Cecelia demanded.

 

"It just happened, Cece. I didn't expect him to pounce on me in the parking lot."

Cecelia huffed. I could tell she thought I was keeping secrets, but the truth was, I didn't know what to do about Mathias. No matter how wonderful he was in person, everything he did was superimposed over the horror he was in my nightmares. Every time I screamed myself awake after the Mathias in my dreams had destroyed another life, I swore I would ignore him at school the next day. Then I would see him in person and I would be unable to remember the monster. I could only see the thoughtful and sensitive boy who was determined to be a part of my life.
"I don't think you should go out with him, Maire," Kerry said.

"Why not?"

 

"I just don't like him. There's something weird about him and I think he's...well I don't think he's good for you."

 

"I'll take it under advisement," I said, trying to make a joke of her concerns, but I couldn't ignore the fact that I'd had the same thought.

 

"Don't be too hard on your sister, Kerry," Cecelia said. "She hasn't had a date in a while."

 

"Bitch," I snapped, laughing.

 

The moment to consider Kerry's thoughts passed, but I could see when I glanced in the rear view mirror that she hadn't given up her warning.

 

"Can you drop me at the house, Mairin," Kerry said. "I've got homework."
Chapter 4

The scent of sage, lavender, and peppermint flowed out of my mom's shop in a cloud that always hovered on the edge of overpowering. New age music played softly in the background and the bell above the door chimed, alerting the occupants that visitors from the physical realm had arrived.

The Astral Plane was a charming mixture of old fashioned furniture and new age religion. Mom had opened the shop after Daddy's accident. It gave her something to do and was a way to keep food on the table and pay the mortgage. No matter how much crap I took about the shop from Stephanie and her cronies, I wouldn't want Mom to do anything else. Running The Astral Plane was what my mom loved doing. I sometimes thought she saw the shop as a way of staying connected to Daddy since his insurance money had paid for it. I wouldn't take that from her for anything.

Mom dashed through the curtain from the stockroom when she heard the bell, stopping short when she saw Mathias standing next to me. I guess I couldn't blame her. It wasn't everyday I brought a beautiful stranger over to meet her.

"Hi baby," she said, hugging me quickly. "Where's your sister?"

 

"I dropped her at the house. She said she wanted to get started on her homework so she could go to the pep rally tonight."

 

"And who's your friend?" she asked, eying Mathias.

 

"Mathias, this is my mom, Loraine. Mom, this is Mathias Auer. He's new to Highland Home."

Mathias bowed slightly, but didn't offer his hand to my mom. "It is a pleasure to meet you, Ms. Cote," he said, clasping his hands behind his back. "Your daughter speaks very highly of you."

"Such pretty manners," Mom said. "I'm glad to meet you, too." I shook my head. This was getting a little too weird. Sure, Mom wasn't used to me bringing boys to meet her, but she was acting really strange. For that matter, so was Mathias. What was with the formality? I half expected Mathias to ask my mother's permission to court me.

"Mathias asked me to go to the pep rally and football game tonight. Can I go?"

 

"Who's here, Loraine?" Tawnya called from the reading room in the back of the shop.

 

"It's Mairin and her friend. Come on out and meet him."

Tawnya turned the corner and stopped short. Her eyes grew wide and something about the way she looked at Mathias made me think I was about to have a fight on my hands when I came to spending time with him.

She walked forward, her hand outstretched. "I'm Tawnya, Loraine's partner."

 

Mathias smiled and bowed. "Mathias Auer. I'm pleased to meet all of Mairin's family."

Mom and I watched Tawnya and Mathias stare each other down. I had no idea what was going on, but I could tell Mathias was getting upset. His halo, which had been light gold, rather pale when compared to the vibrant, pulsing gold of Tawnya's, was darkening. I put my hand on his arm, hoping to head off any reaction which might make Mom decided I couldn't go out with Mathias.

"So can I go, Mom?" I prompted

"What?" Mom shook herself. "Go where?" I realized that Mom had been dazzled by the exchange between Mathias and Tawnya. I was struck, as I often was, by the fact that of all the people in the family who should have had psychic abilities, my mother was the least sensitive of any of us. That she was locked up by Mathias' presence and Tawnya's reaction to him made me wonder what I was missing because my own abilities tended to filter out other psychics and their affects.

"To the school tonight. With Mathias?" I prompted. "No," Tawnya said.

I looked at her. Tawnya had never behaved like this before. She'd always left the raising of me and my sister strictly to my mom, even though she'd been in our lives from the very beginning.

"Why not?" I demanded.

 

"Mairin, I don't wish to cause discord in your family...."

"You shut up," I snapped at Mathias. I wasn't going to let him butt into this battle the way he had with Stephanie. Manners be damned, Tawnya was going to give me an answer.

"Mairin!" Mom was looking at me as though I'd lost my mind. I couldn't tell if she was more upset with me for questioning Tawnya or snapping at Mathias. Of course it didn't really matter which it was. There was no going back.

"I want to know why," I said to Tawnya before turning to Mathias. "And I want you to stay out of it. Remember our talk in the cafeteria?"