Starbound (18 page)

Seth

A flash of heat rippled through me. The scent of her brought me to my knees, and you can imagine what the taste of her did. She had taken me completely aback when she launched into my arms without so much as a word.

Her arms were wound around my neck as I breathed her in, her lips warm against mine. She sent my senses buzzing. When the kiss ended, she kept our faces near, pulling back just slightly.

“What was that for?” I asked softly and confused.

“Because it’s Valentine’s Day and the only thing I wanted was this,” she replied with a smile that lit her entire heart-shaped face.

I stared at her mouth, captivated by her dimples. “Good enough for me,” I murmured.
We aren’t done. Not by a long shot
, I thought crushing a kiss to her cherry lips.

My arms tightened around her, tangling more than just limbs and tongues. I could feel a surge of magick summoning in my blood. I couldn’t stop. Pressing her into the white block walls, I trapped her with my body, her soft exquisiteness brushing up against me. She moaned as I changed angles, and she melted in my arms. Gently, I kissed her dimples, the dip of her neck, her satin skin. Soft words of love tumbled from my lips, and my blood sang. I never thought I was the kind of guy to murmur sweet nothings, but I guess it took the right kind of girl.

My hands trailed from her waist to her hips, going farther south until my fingers grazed bare skin—her thigh. She was still in the cheerleading uniform, and a growl escaped from some deep recessed part of me that was driven wild by her.

Grabbing the back of her thigh, I lifted her leg, wrapping it around me. I was on the verge of bursting out of my skin, or maybe it was just my pants. Either way, I was seconds from ripping this skimpy getup off Kat’s perfect body.

My mouth was still engaged in a seductive dance with hers. I clenched a fist of cotton from the bottom of her shirt, pushing it up. In between kisses I murmured her name, over and over. There was only one goal running through my foggy mind. I inched the shirt higher, exposing her flat belly. Just a little bit more—

“Seth!”

I swear to God that better be a horrible trick of my head, because if Zeke was really here, I was going to go apeshit on him. Pushing all thoughts of Zeke aside, I sucked the tender spot of her lobe and felt her shiver. I whispered her name.

“Seth, stop!” Zeke yelled. “What are you doing? Are you freaking insane?”

I blinked. That sounded so real. So close. I angled my head to the side, breathing heavily, keeping my arms wrapped around Kat. I wasn’t letting go just yet, not when my entire my body was humming. I spotted Zeke, and he was very much not a figment of my imagination. Annoyance flashed in my eyes. “What the hell is wrong with you?” I cursed. Kat’s heart was pounding against my chest, and she buried her head into my shoulder. I almost lost it when I felt her lick my neck.

“
Me
?” Zeke screeched. “Christ, Seth. You just said the sacred vow.”

“What?” I must have heard him wrong. He was talking so goddamn fast.

“How far did you go? Did you—tell me you didn’t complete the starbound?” he rambled on like a lunatic.

I narrowed my eyes, as it finally sunk in what he was saying. Tingles of magick were coursing through my veins. There was no denying that I had called upon magick; static tendrils danced in the air. I stiffened in her arms.

No! No! No!

Did I just issue our death sentence?

Full-on panic set in.

Oh. My. Freaking. God.

Had I really said the words that would make me solely hers?

I had been helpless to stop it. I wasn’t even conscious of what I had been saying, let alone that I was also using magick. This was a fuck up of epic proportions. Had Kat? Had she in turn said the vow as well? Had we doomed ourselves over one kiss?

Quickly, I glanced down at the beauty still in my arms. Her curls were in disarray and half-lidded eyes clouded with part desire, part confusion. Taking her wrists, I flipped them over to the inside, looking for the binding marks—five stars that made up a five-pointed star. I sighed and sagged against the wall in relief—nothing but flawless skin. Glancing up, I realized that we weren’t out of the woods yet. She looked up at me with love shinning in her incandescent blue eyes, and I could see the words on the tip of her tongue—our end before our beginning. I put a finger to her lips, silencing her. “Don’t you dare, Kats. You can’t. It will kill us.”

She blinked.

And I watched as comprehension shed the misty lining of desire. Then, her eyes widened.

I untangled myself from her, putting much needed distance between us. It was slightly easier to breathe when I couldn’t smell her summery scent. More than anything I wanted a happy ending for Kat, without or without me—I wanted her alive.

Chapter 18

Katia

“Seth?” I didn’t know what was going on. Why was Zeke here? And why did I feel so funny inside?

I mean I knew that Seth’s kisses packed quite a punch, but this was a whole new level of hotness—it was amazificent. His body stiffened against mine, and his eyes cleared. Then suddenly he moved, leaving me to lean on the wall for support. I missed his warmth instantly.

“Kats, tell me you didn’t.” Seth ran a ragged hand through his dark hair. There was a desperate plea in his tone that was laced with real fear.

“Didn’t do what?” I asked, looking from a worried Zeke to a freaked-out Seth.

Zeke stepped forward because clearly Seth was having issues forming coherent sentences. His blue eyes looked at me soberly, their normal light-heartedness gone. “Did you call upon magick?”

I gave him a strange look. “No.” He had interrupted what was singlehandedly the most mind-blowing experience of my life and scared me half to death, just to ask me if I’d used magick? “What gives, Zeke?”

“You didn’t hear what he said?” Zeke arched a brow.

“Seth?” Had he said something? I remembered him whispering my name, and—

I gasped.

Oh shit. Oh God. Oh shit.

Zeke gave me a knowing look. Seth had his fingers stuffed in his hair, and I noticed for the first time that he had some marks on the inside of his right wrist. I swallowed a coal-sized lump that formed in my throat at the sight of the five-stars imprinted on Seth’s skin.

I was going to puke.

They were marks I’d never seen and never thought I’d see. Starbound. Forged by love, ancient magick, and free will. It made it all so very real glimpsing the tiny black stars on his wrist. Then there was the blooming of warmth that burst in my chest. Seth had pledged himself to me. He loved me, was in love with me.

Though, at this moment, I was the only one who looked happy about it. Knuckleheads One and Two both looked like they were going to blow a gasket.

“Do you feel any different?” Zeke asked, studying me.

I looked over his shoulder at Seth and nodded. “Yeah, I guess.” There was this glowing inside me, an aftermath of magick and something else…

Zeke shook his head. “The two of you can’t be left alone for five minutes,” he complained.

My cheeks flamed. He probably had a valid point. I knew I should have been out-of-my-flipping-mind scared, but I was secretly happy—ecstatic. It was like I was carrying a piece of Seth with me for the rest of my life. What girl in her right mind wouldn’t want a piece of Seth Nightingale?

I came to the conclusion that the only person with their head on straight was Zeke. What would we do without him? Seth and I couldn’t be trusted to be alone, especially now. The pull to him would have intensified. It was the natural order of things. The starbound demanded a union from both parties, and it wouldn’t quiet this roaring need inside me until we had. Already I could sense the demand inside of me, and when I met his eyes across the gym, heaven help me, I weakened.

Seth and I were in a whole ocean of hot water.

Oh God. I shuddered to think. Everything could have ended tonight, on Valentine’s Day. We came within a thread’s width to activating the curse of death. If Zeke hadn’t shown up…

Now that I thought about it, what was he doing here? “Why are you here, Zeke?”

He shrugged. “Seth asked me to chaperon. I was a little late getting to the party.”

I’d say. “You needed back up?” I shot Seth a dirty look. How quickly my feelings could go from dewy-eyed to peeved.

He gave me one-sided grin. “You’re lethal.”

No one could argue with that.

Sensing what could turn into a lover’s spat, Zeke cut in. “Now what?” he asked, like any of us had a clue.

We stood there staring at one another, me still with my back to the wall, Zeke between Seth and me, and Seth as far from me as he could get. I tried not to be irritated, but it was hard when mere minutes ago he’d had his hands all over me.

It was Seth who finally spoke. “First off, we don’t tell our parents.” He turned to Zeke. “Got that?”

Zeke held both his hands up in the air. “Why are you looking at me?”

Seth gave him a droll glare. “Because you have a mouth bigger than Kat’s wardrobe. Hell, my little sister can keep better secrets than you.”

“I am totally offended.” Zeke pretended to be hurt, putting a hand to his chest. “You’re lucky you’re my best friend.”

“Too bad you can’t wipe your own memory.”

“Funny,” Zeke added dryly. “What the hell do you see in him again, Katia?”

I glared at both of them in exasperation. “Can you guys just smooch and makeup already?” This was serious.

Seth’s eyes met mine. “First, we wait and see if anything happens. I think we might be in for a few unsightly surprises, but since the link is only one-side, we should be okay. I hope.”

“That’s your grand plan?” Zeke asked sarcastically.

Seth rolled his eyes. “No, genius. We need to break the curse.”

Zeke smirked. “That’s more like it. You think it can be done?”

Determination rolled off Seth. “I haven’t the slightest idea. Others have tried and flopped—epically. And I am not holding out hope that we will succeed where others have failed, but I can’t just sit around twiddling my thumbs while we wait for the curse to consume us. The least we can do until graduation is figure out a disenchantment, anything to release the hold it has on Kat and me.”

“Cool. I’m in,” Zeke said, grinning. If I didn’t know better, I’d say he sounded like was looking forward to the challenge.

Me
?

I’d been silent during the whole exchange, and I really wasn’t sure that we stood a snowball’s chance in hell, but…

Sky-blue and emerald eyes looked my way, waiting. “Sure, why the heck not?” Especially if it meant more time spent with Seth.

Geez, I was just hoping to live to see eighteen.

“Yes!” Zeke hissed. His embarrassing happy dance was rudely interrupted. Someone didn’t like what had gone down here tonight, and they were making their disapproval clear.

The ground began to quake, and the gym floor trembled under my sneakers, followed by a cracking sound that echoed throughout the large gymnasium. Bracing myself on the wall for support, I looked over my head and gasped. Large, jagged splinters cut across the ceiling, pieces snapping off and freefalling like spears around me.

Oh. My. God.

We were all going to die, crushed by tons upon tons of drywall and roof shingles. Not exactly an ideal way to go.

Seth reached me in two strides, shielding me with his body as debris and plaster began to tumble upon us. I squeezed my eyes shut and buried my head into his chest, holding onto him, taking small comfort in his embrace. Fear snaked inside my stomach, coiling around my heart. If this was it, then there was nowhere else I wanted to be than in Seth’s arms.

I clung to him as chaos rained from above.

Then I felt a surge of magick that shimmered from Seth and knew he was conjuring something of his own.

Pandemonium erupted around us, and the noise thundered in my ears. The sounds were unimaginable, groaning, creaking, booming. I was sheltered from the destruction, not knowing whether the ceiling was going to collapse on us. All I could do was pray it would end soon and we would all be in one piece.

The curse’s temper-tantrum had probably only lasted minutes, but in the midst of danger it had felt like hours. None of us budged when the ground finally stilled and it ceased pouring drywall on us.

“Are you hurt?” Seth whispered in my ear.

I shook my head and got the courage to peer over Seth’s shoulder, the dust was beginning to settle. Zeke was beside us shaking the white ceiling powder from his hair and wiping the gunk off his face.

“A riot shield? Dude that is so badass,” Zeke said, grinning like an idiot at Seth.

I could only conclude that this had something to do with the stupid clear plastic-like-thing over our heads. Only guys.

Seth lips twitched even while his eyes were still wary. “It was the first thing I could think of.”

He had summoned a riot whatca-ma-thingy to protect us. Was I supposed to be impressed?

“So, when do we start kicking this curse’s ass?” If Zeke could be a smartass, then he was definitely okay.

I let out one long breath I’d been holding just as Seth stepped back, shoving his hands in the back pockets of his jeans. There was a cut along his cheek and on his forearm. Immediately, I reached out to touch his cheek, wishing I had the power to heal, as Elena did.

He wore a deep scowl, eyes scanning the rubbish, and winched. “The sooner the better. We need to get out of here before it all decides to crash down on us.”

I coughed. Dust littered the air, but through the smog, I got a good look at the gym. The bleachers, barely visible, were covered with so much crap. It didn’t look like we were going to be holding basketball games in here any time soon. That got a huge hooray from me. “I couldn’t agree more,” I mumbled, wrapping my arms around myself.

Seth held out a hand and helped me over a pile of broken ceiling tiles. I hissed, my leg buckled, and pain shot up my thigh. It was just my luck that a piece of shrapnel had embedded itself in my leg.