Captivate Me (Book One: The Captivated Series) (15 page)

I reached with my telekinesis and
brought the phone to my ear. My voice was deep and scratchy. Too
little sleep. “Hello?”

“Good morning, students,” Principal
Hughes’ recording began, and I stiffened with anticipation. “You
are all permitted to attend breakfast this morning to get out of
your rooms. Further information will be provided there as to how we
will handle your classes the rest of the day. Make sure and walk
with your dorm mates to and from the cafeteria. That is
all.”

Yawning, I sent the phone back and
consulted the alarm clock that wouldn’t go off for another fifteen
minutes. It was six-forty-five. Breakfast started at eight, first
class at eight-thirty-five. I needed to get up and moving. As tired
as I felt, I would be a slug and would need the extra fifteen
minutes to get ready.

As I begrudgingly slid
from my warm covers, I knocked a pile of white flowers onto the
floor.
Wait… more flowers!
Smiling like a love-drunk fool, my hand flew to
my cheek as I counted. Twenty three… there were twenty three
flowers covering me as I had slept. Beneath the scattered flowers
on the floor laid a handwritten note. I snatched it up and
read.

Dearest Kat,

In case you’re still
doubting.

Gabe

My hand moved to my heart. Oh, Gabe. I
wasn’t. I would never doubt again how real he was. He was more real
to me now than my own heartbeat.

Anna grunted and stirred,
breaking my reverie.
Shit.
I needed to hide all of this before she
awoke.

A light knock on the door made me
jump. Anna jerked awake.

Double shit.

I released the letter into the pile of
flowers and swept everything beneath my bed with my
foot.

“Oh, God!” Anna gasped, preening her
hair and stealing away into the bathroom, “it’s Ronnie.”

“I’ll get it, girl,” I assured her. I
don’t think she’d noticed the flowers. “Coming!” I called to Ronnie
and shuffled to the door to give Anna some time.

He held back a laugh when he saw me.
“Rough night?”

I turned to our dresser mirror. Yikes.
Puffy eyes stared back at me, and apparently a family of mice had
made a nest in my hair – the product of an hour or so of sleep. I
looked like death. Pining over Gabe and sobbing over Levi dominated
what few precious hours I’d had left. “Shut up, Ron,” I chuckled,
motioning him into the room so I could shut the door.

“Just kidding,” he said,
lightly fist-bumping my shoulder.
com my
hair. ing. at the edge of the woods like it was noig

Anna finally emerged. Her short stint
in the bathroom had been productive; she’d managed to sweep her
hair up into a cute bun and swipe on some mascara. “Morning,” she
cooed at him. “You came."

His expression brightened. “Of course
I did, Anna. I promised, didn’t I?”

I couldn’t help but grin at the two of
them. I completely understood now – that moment the lovesick
feeling was quenched at the sight of the person who held your
heart. I would wait in agony all day for that moment tonight with
Gabriel.

Unbidden, an image of the
way Levi had always looked at me flashed through my mind, punching
me square in the gut. Like Gabe held my heart now, I’d held Levi’s.
I
still
held
Levi’s. All just to squash it soon.

My eyes fell to the floor.
I couldn’t look at Ronnie anymore. Once I’d broken Levi’s heart,
what would he think of me? Would I be accepted by his friends? I
suppose I couldn’t worry about that though, or let it affect my
decision to break up with Levi. I still felt resolute. There was no
other alternative. I didn’t want to be stuck in some silly love
triangle… that wasn’t an option. Or fair to anyone. Especially
Levi. After last night, there really was no competition to be had
anyway… only prolonging the inevitable. Besides, I was immortal and
Levi was not. Now our differences went beyond the level of our
affections for each other.
Way
beyond.

“I’ll give you two some privacy,” I
said, trying my best to sound normal and not anxious or dejected,
and made my way for the bathroom to get ready.

* * *

Still puffy-eyed, but fit for a public
appearance, I hurried through the hallways with Anna by my side and
my hand in my skirt pocket where I’d stuffed a flower. I wanted it
with me all day. It was like having a piece of Gabriel, and I
needed it for comfort and courage when facing Levi. I would
eventually be breaking his heart, and a piece of mine, when the
time felt right. I could never deny that Levi had a place in my
heart, a room to dwell in, but Gabriel had made his home there and
had claimed it as his own. To break up with Levi would be to lose a
piece of myself. But I guess that was the price I’d have to pay. An
ugly, painful price.

Maintaining my composure
was hard to do as we skittered across the lunchroom to our table.
When I saw Levi anxiously awaiting my arrival, it was all I could
do not to fall to pieces right then and there. I rubbed one of the
velvety petals inside my pocket.
Don’t
fall apart. Not here.

I settled beside him, and he wrapped
an arm around me. “It’s all right, babe,” he said with a kiss to my
temple, misreading my troubled expression. “I won’t let anything
happen to you.”

Ugh
. Knife to the heart. I couldn’t even conjure a fake smile. I
only nodded.

“Hey,” he said, lifting my chin to
meet his eyes.

I fought my defiant, quivering chin
with every muscle in my face. And why did he always have to look so
damn cute?

“I promise.”

I mustered the courage to smile. A
weak smile.

“Better.” His arm tightened around me,
and I couldn’t help but sink into his side – my body’s natural
response to needing the comfort. While I was there, I noticed our
chemistry wasn’t just ‘off’ anymore; it was close to fizzling out.
A couple’s chemistry must have been dependent upon the condition of
both their hearts, and who their hearts truly wanted. And yet
again, Levi didn’t seem to be completely aware. But why would he
be? His heart still wanted me. He’d know soon enough.

I cringed at the thought.

Forcing my thoughts elsewhere, I
scanned the table. Because of recent events, nobody seemed in a
particularly great mood, so thankfully my state of melancholy
didn’t stand out. Anna and Ivy were chatting about how they’d found
Nurse Plunkett last night – I guess the news was out – but then
went into how Jillian had been missing for twenty four hours now
and how the probability of someone being found after that dropped
considerably.

Absentmindedly, I rubbed the flower
again as Levi took a bite of his biscuit with his free hand. I
didn’t have an appetite, so I left the one he’d gotten me
alone.

“You forget how to talk this morning?”
he teased, giving me a little shake.

This time I mustered a shrug and a few
words. “Sorry. I’m just tired.”

He deliberately dropped his biscuit on
his tray with a thud. “Okay…” he said with a sigh. “You’re gonna
force me to cheer you up.”

A black veil fell over my eyes, wiping
out the table, our chatting friends and the entire lunchroom. I
flinched but still felt Levi’s arm around me. “Just enjoy,” he
assured me. I realized what he was doing – one of his illusions.
But he’d never blacked out my vision before. What was he up
to?

A light breeze washed over me along
with the smell of brine. Seagulls squawked overhead, and the soft,
gritty feel of sand squished between my toes. The beach?

A powder blue sky with feathered
clouds came into focus, a pink and orange sunset streaking across
the sky. I focused on the waves that rolled toward us as we sat on
the shore.

“How’s that?” he asked.

With wide, glassy eyes, I peered up at
him. How did he-

“I’ve been practicing,” he
crowed.

“I see that,” I said,
awestruck, moving from beneath his arm and running my fingers
through the sand. It felt so
real.
“You’ve been practicing
a lot
.”

He watched me, and I
tilted my chin up and closed my eyes to feel the wind on my face.
So peaceful.
So
what I needed. He really was a great guy… just great for
someone else. I fought the feelings of guilt away so I could enjoy
the scenery and these last uncomplicated moments with him. Would it
be too much to ask to stay friends with him? I didn’t want him out
of that room in my heart completely. But maybe it was. I guess I’d
let him make that decision when the time came.

“What’s this?” he asked, and the
edginess of his voice caught me off guard.

My head snapped in his
direction, and I looked down to the white flower in his hand. My
heart slammed into my throat, my mouth going dry.
Shit!
It must have
fallen out of my pocket.

The way his expression
morphed from confusion, to understanding, to agony told me he was
putting some of the pieces together – my tiredness, my
wishy-washiness and emotional distance meant something bad,
something bad for
him
. My admirer had brought me another flower, and I was keeping
it from him. If he only knew the extent of it.

I had no idea where to start for an
explanation. “I, uh…”

Principal Hughes’ voice rolled in
behind the wind, and Levi dropped his illusion. The lunchroom
scenery snapped back into place like a tight rubber band, and I
gasped.

“Students, may I have your attention,
please? After breakfast, please report back to your dorm rooms. You
will not be attending classes today.”

Anna and I instinctively looked at
each other – she was disappointed, but I was relieved and
pretending to be disappointed. Normally I would have dreaded going
back to our cage, but as I sat here beside Levi with absolutely no
idea what I was going to tell him about the flower, I realized I
needed more time to prepare the imminent break-up
speech.

“Your class assignments will be
delivered to your rooms,” he continued. “As well as our decision on
whether or not to discontinue classes altogether and send you home
until further notice. Please make your way to your rooms
now.”

A mixture of gasps and relieved sighs
filled the air as we all stood to our feet to leave. Nobody really
wanted to go home, but I guess it was a matter of time before they
shut the school down until they could figure out what had happened
to Jillian. Besides, they couldn’t risk losing another student, and
none of us wanted to be next.

I then wondered if they had come to a
conclusion about Nurse Plunkett’s mysterious vacation in the closet
for the past day and a half. It couldn’t have helped their
suspicions that something wasn’t quite right around here, I’m sure.
But I also couldn’t very well enlighten them, either.
Ever.

Suddenly I wanted to escape from here
for real, not just in an illusion. Stealing away with the other
half-breeds was sounding more appealing by the minute.

“Want your flower back?” Levi asked,
deadpan.

Ugh
. Another stab to the heart. I stared down at it as he held
it out. If I said “no,” he’d know I was only saying it to make him
feel better. I took it from his hand and set it on the table
anyway. No need to rub salt in his wounds.

As we headed toward the double doors
and back to our rooms, he stayed by my side but kept his hands and
lips to himself. Understandably he was hurt, but he had no idea how
bad it was eventually going to get. But first, I needed some time
alone to think.

Thank
God
they’d sent us back to our
rooms.

CHAPTER TEN

___________________

Family

Our assignments for the day were a
joke; I finished mine in thirty minutes. It was mainly busy work
and reviewing lessons our teachers had already been
over.

Lunch came and went, and
Anna and I were bored out of our minds. We had already talked about
as many topics as we could come up with and had played three rounds
of cards. Funny how I didn’t realize the value of freedom until I
didn’t have it anymore. I would have given
anything
to play a round of kickball
or take a stroll in the courtyard. Sundown couldn’t come soon
enough so I could escape into the woods.

Hoping to get a nap before
then, I laid on the bed with my covers pulled up around my
shoulders. But try as I might, I couldn’t fall sleep. As soon as I
had settled in, my mind wandered to my break-up with Levi and what
I would tell him. I certainly couldn’t tell him how vast our
differences were, that I was a half-breed immortal. And I
definitely
didn’t want
to tell him that I was dumping him for someone else. In this
instance, the truth was too harsh. I couldn’t witness the way the
pain of it would tear him to shreds.