Toxic Part Two (Celestra Series Book 7.5) (12 page)

“I can’t wait to show you what I can do in one night,” he says it serious—shakes his head just barely, as if pleading for the opportunity. If Gage did land us somewhere private, I could very well fall victim to those hypnotic sapphire eyes, that dubious smile that wants me to believe in its innocence. 

“Yeah, well,” I say, taking in a lungful of sea air, “Logan has segregated the masses.”

He rounds his hands over my hips and finds a resting spot for them low on my thighs. This is a different Gage—a bolder version, one that knows what he wants and how he’d like to get it. The heat rises between us to unsafe levels, as he growls beneath his smile. In one svelte move, he unbuttons my shorts and sears over my bottom with his fingers.  

“Nobody ever listens to Logan,” he says.

I pluck his roving appendages out from the inside my shorts and examine him in this new predatory light.

“Maybe it’s time someone starts.”

Chapter 69

The Art of War

Gage and I stand just shy of a beach that could very well be situated in the Paradise of my father with all of its heavenly beauty. The moon blazes a trail of fairy dust over the jagged waves of the ocean. There’s a tempest waiting to erupt in our midst, an entire boil of aggression strangulating in the murky waters.  

Gage sets off a contrast against the onyx sand, the pitch of night that congests the surroundings. His pale marble skin glows in this environment. A light radiates from his being and christens the darkness with his otherworldly brilliance. Gage is gorgeous, kind, an immaculate soul in every way and yet a part of me isn’t willing to provide him the faith that a messiah like him deserves. He killed something meaningful in our relationship by conveniently neglecting to tell me that he teamed up with Chloe before we ever met, and now it feels impossible to believe anything he says on the first try. He was Judas complete with a kiss, the betrayal set in motion for far less than thirty pieces of silver.

“I’d better get to the girls’ tent and settle in.” I say it so soft the words get lost in the breeze.

“OK.” He brushes his fingers high on the ridge of my cheek. “I’ll catch you in a little bit.”

The disc Demetri returned slips from my pocket and Gage eyes it like a scorpion peeking out of my shorts.

“What’s that?” His voice is stern. Gage can be far too pragmatic at times like these.

“Cheap replica,” I say, tucking it back inside. “It’s sort of a good luck charm.” I don’t intend on spilling the fact I took something from my father’s demented killer. It’s not really a lie since it’s probably useless and quasi-dangerous much like Demetri himself.

“All right.” He slips a quick kiss just above my ear. “I’ll go build a fire.” He trails his finger down my spine nice and slow. “Won’t be as hot you,” he whispers, searing my skin with his lust for me. He walks into the mist until he evaporates like a dream.

I give a short-lived smile and let the fog push me into a thicket that trails to the shore. One more second with Gage and my hormones would have detonated. I could strangle Chloe for complicating my life yet again.

The ocean spreads wide in the distance through the leaves of a Black Alder. The water ripples and glistens, as the waves crash in a neat silver line.

The U-shape of the cape provides a grotto effect. The water is filled with people—girls and boys glossed with the ocean, the tremble of moonlight dancing off their shoulders.

Most of the girls from East are topless. Not surprising since they’re always trying to out skank the girls from West. They’ve already debuted their bits and pieces at Ellis’s Valentine’s party way back when, so it’s not all that noteworthy.

I make my way to the edge and let the sea foam lap over my feet. Its icy bites remind me why swimming anywhere near Paragon, summer or not, is a great way to end up dead from hypothermia. Although, I wouldn’t be lucky enough to die according to Gage—that is, if I believe him. 

“Get in, Messenger,” Ellis shouts, not too far from shore. He shakes out his hair and makes the girls in his circle of topless splendor wipe the spray out of their eyes.

“Hey, are you sure you didn’t win that last region?” I try to talk in code but the truth is I could have used the words
faction war, Counts, Celestra, Ezrina is going to steal my body
, and not one of them would have a clue as to what we’re talking about.

“Nope. Wasn’t even there—opted out. I’ll catch you in the next one. Promise.” He dips under and springs up with his hair perfectly slicked back. “You have five seconds before I come over and drag you in.” His warning echoes off the cliffs adjacent to the cove.

Ellis opted out? 

My blood runs cold at the thought of Gage outright lying to me. He was emphatic it was Ellis—and yet I believe the stoner in question over the boy I would have laid my life down for—still most likely would.

I use Ellis’s not-so-veiled threat as a means to convince myself to get in, pulling off my shorts and T-shirt. A seam of moonlight falls over the disc and it glows as if to say
don’t leave without me
. I’ll be damned if I’m caught without it. I wouldn’t put it past my mother to sink me into the next region just as I dive to the bottom of the ocean. I thread my necklace through the delicate filigree that loops around the edges and put it on like a pendant, heavy and cold against my skin.

An oversized wave growls in my direction and I dive under—the cold water razes over me like peeling off a layer of skin. A scream stifles in my throat as I surface and swim toward the quiet end, near the chocolate boulders that protrude out of the water in a jumble.

“Skyla.”
My name echoes in the distance. It sounds as if it’s coming from the horizon rather than the shore, probably just a hallucination inspired by Ellis and his raucous brood of hussies.

Ellis. I’m shocked to hear he wasn’t even in the region Gage claims he won. The prospect of what it might mean sends a rush of adrenaline through me.

Gage seemed convinced that Ellis was present and accounted for. He pointed the accusatory finger right at him for the loss on more than one occasion. How can I believe Gage when deep down inside nothing in me doubts Ellis?

An image of that chess set Marshall gifted me with as a spiritual air freshener blinks through my mind.
God
—both Ellis and Gage were on Chloe’s side of the board. I’m starting to think that wasn’t some cute little mind fuck Marshall thought he’d throw my way. Maybe it’s real. Maybe I can’t trust either Ellis or Gage.

“Skyla.
” My name gurgles from the water in a series of bubbles. I half expect Brielle, or even Chloe to pop up laughing, but nothing happens.

My heart picks up pace as I tread water and inspect the area. The inky dark sea gyrates back and forth, reflecting the luster of the moon, but neither the water nor the moon is willing to divulge its secrets. 

A face appears next to me just below the surface—a girl. Her long hair sprays out over her blue features—pale face, grey lips.

I scrambled onto a nearby boulder and let out a short-lived scream.

Her eyes spring wide as she leaps out of the water in an impressive aerial feat, revealing a macabre version of Michelle Miller. She lands her body over mine, the stench of death clings to her like a strong perfume.

“Shit!” I land a hard kick in her gut as she wraps her limbs around me, lithe as tentacles. She pulls us deep into the water and the icy blades of the sea slice against my flesh. A scream gurgles out of me as I struggle to break free.

Her fingers coil around my hair as I fight my way to the surface. Her rotting features melt from her skull like candle wax.

“Skyla.” My name groans from her like a demonic whisper, and I drill out a scream that could be heard for miles.

I give a hard push and swim the hell away from the corpse of a very rotten Michelle Miller.

***

The moon glosses over my arms as I propel myself out to the middle of nowhere. I’m panting, weak, and so ready to give into the evil that waits to swallow me whole at every turn.

A pair of legs dangle from a surfboard as I pop to the surface, gasping for air.

“Help,” I pant.

“Skyla?” Logan looks down with an amused sense of curiosity. His beautiful face shines with a smile, and all of the fear and terror that had enveloped me melts like snow. He pulls me up onto the overgrown boogie board with one quick tug. I wrap my arms around his back and seize until I’m able to catch my breath. “What’s going on?” He pulls away, examining me for injuries.

I tell him about the bizarre monster that leapt from the sea—how it freakishly looked like Michelle.

“You think it was a Fem?” I ask. I’m almost rooting for it to have been a Fem. The last thing I need is a psychotic half-dead Miller after my ass.

“No clue, but you realize we need to help her.” He rubs my back and warms me with his hands. “What the hell is wrong with Dudley? He has no regard for human life whatsoever.”

I take this moment to artfully avoid the fact I may have accelerated Michelle’s foray into all things looking glass.

“Are you kidding me?” Logan dives in with a stern look. “You pushed Michelle?”

I glance down at our conjoined hand, with a surge of guilt.

“She wanted to have a threesome with me and Dudley.” It speeds out of me so fast I can hardly process the words. “Look, I’m sorry. And the last thing I want to do is run in after her, but God knows I might be her only hope.” I shake my head in frustration. “Of course I’m going to help her.” I try not to sound so sarcastically pissed but I’m a little low on the milk of human kindness at the moment and I totally blame Gage.

“Hey,” Logan rubs his warm hands up and down my spine. “I’m going in with you.”

I take up his hand and press my lips over the cool slick of his flesh. I keep my eyes closed a very long time, hoping for a vision to come, to tell me what to do and how to do it the right way for once.

“What are you confused about?” he whispers, pulling my thighs up over his. A current runs through me as our bodies touch in this intimate way. His bare chest warms mine, makes me want to create some serious friction with him just to keep my teeth from going off like castanets.

I nuzzle my face into his neck, rise up and accidentally bump into his lips without answering the question. Logan doesn’t hesitate taking a mile from my inch and indulges in a kiss that has the stars glowering at us with jealousy. They wish the sky could feel so good. They could only pray for such an explosive blaze—lust as bright as a flare.

I pull back and take a breath. Truth is, I wasn’t ready to go there. And how could
he,
knowing I’m with Gage? Even if it is nebulous at the moment, I think Gage deserves better than to have Logan lip-bombing me.

“Sorry,” he gives a sheepish grin as if really he’s not.

The truth is, I wanted that kiss as bad as Logan. I think changing the subject is the only way out of this.

“Gage says the only person near the ravine was Ellis.” The words shiver out of me. “Guess who says he ditched the last region entirely?”

“Ellis.” He touches his forehead to mind. “Maybe it was someone who looked like Ellis? Gage wouldn’t lie.”

“You’re always so quick to believe him.” I rest my cheek over his warm chest.

“And you’re always so quick not to.” Logan collapses his arms around my shoulders bearing his full weight over me. “He loves you, Skyla. I wish I could make him feel otherwise—make him the monster you’re afraid he his.” His chest rattles with a sigh. “Gage has become my worst nightmare.”

I meditate on his words—drink them in as if they were their own toxic elixir that had the power to heal me in some macabre way like the cyanide Marshall injects me with.

“Come on.” Logan hops to one side of the board before dipping into the glacial Pacific. “Let’s swim. We’ll freeze out there.”

He holds his hands out to catch me. Logan is dependable. He would sell his body and soul to Ezrina to protect me and may have done just that. He pledged his allegiance to the enemy to try to gain the upper hand, all in the name of our holy love.

I fall gently into his waiting arms and he clasps his legs over my back like a vice. Logan gives a wicked smile—lingers his gaze over mine a moment too long. He leans in for the kill and I fight my willingness to bend to his affections.

“I love you, Logan.” I touch his hair—rake it back with my fingers. “Happy birthday.”

Logan closes his eyes, parts his lips as he bows into me.

A giant splash ignites from behind. His entire body suctions under the waterline before I can process what’s happening.

The ocean quiets, the universe stills as Logan stealthy disappears beneath me.

I let out a guttural scream that vibrates out, painful as razors.

Logan’s hand corks to the surface and I grab onto it. I lock my thighs around his head and try to hoist him above the waterline—not the most PG retrieval method.

A hard tug pulls at my waist. A thick arm—the scaled flesh of some underwater serpent tries to pry Logan and me apart. Then, with an unnatural velocity, it sucks us down toward the bottom of the sea at what feels like a hundred miles an hour. I secure my legs around Logan’s face and grip his arm close to my chest as we sail into the descent of the most erotic capture yet.

 We press through the ocean floor, setting off a tuning fork vibration that echoes throughout my bones.

The Tenebrous Woods flickers below like the negative of an unwanted photo I wish we could forget.

I know exactly where we’re going—and what they’re going to do to me.    

Chapter 70

Bound

A sacred darkness envelops us—a necrotic garden of exposed roots, trees the color of soot with twisted branches that mimic broken limbs. A choir of helplessness echoes all around. The deep sapphire sky mimics a midnight version of Gage’s eyes and makes me wonder if he’s watching all of this madness unfold. 

Logan and I catch our breath as we land over a pile of brittle leaves. This wasn’t the usual high-stakes game of hurry up and wait in Demetri’s checkered suite. We were getting right down to the bloodied brass tacks.