Captivate Me (Book One: The Captivated Series) (18 page)

“Don’t worry about that either, Kat,”
Iris soothed. “We’ll all travel to wherever it is you need to go to
tell your parents, set up camp, and be there for
support.”

“And meet your parents, if you wish,”
Kai added.

Not a bad idea. That might
ease my parents’ minds. Might.
“Oh, and
one more thing,” I said, thinking of Sam.

“Sure,” Iris said. “And then we can
have a little fun before you leave us.”

The others perked at the suggestion. I
perked, as well. What in the world did they do for fun out here in
the woods?

“If I’m a hybrid, does that mean my
brother could be too?” Awaiting their answer filled me with a
mixture of fear and excitement. If it were a possibility, I would
want to get to him as soon as possible before anyone could harm
him. I would also love nothing more than to share this slice of
eternity with my younger brother. To lose him would be to lose a
part of myself.

“Sure,” Kai said.

I released the breath I was
holding.

“I would have to see his aura and test
his blood. But it’s a possibility. We can check him when we visit
your parents.”

I nodded, unsure if I
should smile or insist we go right away.
Please stay safe until then
, I
prayed.

“So…” Iris probed with an anxious,
eager smile. “How are you feeling about everything?”

With bated breath, the
others watched me carefully; I could practically feel their
anticipation radiating onto my skin along with the warmth of the
fire. How
did
I
feel? I felt a lot of things. But mainly I felt positive – positive
about my answer that some could have thought was a hasty decision.
But like Colton had said, given the circumstances, this was a
natural fit – to live with others like me, who could also protect
me and possibly my brother. I finally answered, beaming, “I feel
like accepting your invitation.”

Everyone cheered.

* * *

Once the cheering ebbed, Iris smacked
her hands together with a mile-wide smile. “Gabriel, you mind
providing the music?”

His eyes cut to me, and
he… blushed.
He
was blushing now?

I rocked into him. “Music?” I asked, a
grin playing with my lips.

“Oh, please!” Piper gushed with her
hands clasped in front of her, pleading.

“Don’t be embarrassed, man,” Brad said
as he stood and made his way back to the table for another turkey
leg. “You have skills.”

“You really do,” Aubrey
echoed.

Gabriel’s lips pressed to a hard line
as he fought to conceal his mortification.

“Pleeease?” I asked
playfully.

“I’ll sing with you, Gabe,” Raymond
coaxed.

Gabriel’s expression cracked. “Fine,”
he sighed, hugging me into him and then making his way to the
tents. When he disappeared, Iris spoke like a proud mom. “He’s a
beautiful musician, but we only get to hear him through his tent.
It’s rare we can get him to play in front of all of us.”

“In the two years I’ve lived with him,
he’s played openly for us about three times,” Piper
added.

“And it’s a treat when he does,” Kai
added.

Gabriel was back in no time, toting a
blonde wood acoustic guitar. My heart rate spiked, excitement
blossoming in my stomach. Just when thought I couldn’t be any more
attracted to him, he proved me wrong. There was something
particularly alluring about a good-looking boy with
talent.

Slinging the strap around his back, he
settled beside me and laid the side of the guitar across his knee.
He fiddled with the knobs and strings until they produced the sound
he desired. He looked to Raymond. “The song from last week?” he
asked with a knowing glint in his eye.

“Sure,” Raymond shrugged.

Piper clapped excitedly.

Gabriel strummed a chord
and cleared his throat, his eyes cutting back to me. He flashed a
nervous smile, and I swooned.
Good God…
the things you do to me, Gabriel.
My mind
wandered around the two of us in secret hiding places. Hands and
lips all over. With our chemistry, it would be explosive. I found
myself biting my lip and staring at his, but made myself look away
and breathe before I did something to embarrass myself in front of
his family.

The song started with him humming a
slow, bright melody, and tingling waves rolled though me. Then the
words came – as velvety as his speaking voice but ten times as
lovely; it had a subtle shake to it, a vulnerability. I couldn’t
contain the expression that burst across my face. I was in
awe.

Halfway through the verse, Raymond
joined in, his voice slightly higher, and their voices blended
together so well I couldn’t decipher who sang what
notes.

Quiet and swaying, we all listened,
some with eyes closed, some looking to the ground or the fire. Kai
stood, his hand reaching down to Iris. “Dance with me?” he asked.
Glowing, she slid her hand into his and they found a spot under the
garland to dance. I noted how in love they looked – smitten.
Hopelessly so. The Jamaican and the fair, southern
beauty.

Brad and Aubrey did the same on the
opposite side of the clearing, but Piper and Colton stayed put,
nestling into each other as Colton stroked her hair.

After a minute or so, the song ended -
way too soon - and Gabriel sighed the last word. I tried to conjure
the words to express how amazingly talented I thought he was, but
nothing would form. My expression must have said it all. “So you
liked it?” he asked.

The words came out breathy. “I see
what all the fuss was about now.”

His smiling eyes locked to
my lips, and I knew if everyone hadn’t been around, he would have
kissed me right then and there. My breath hitched, and my fingers
dug into the bark of the log. We
had
to find a private spot before I
went back.

“Want to hear another?” he asked with
a flicker of something playful in his eyes. Before I could answer,
he strummed a faster melody. Raymond’s face lit up with
recognition, and he slapped his leg along with the beat.

“I love this one!” Piper squealed and
catapulted to her feet, bringing Colton with her.

Gabriel turned his attention to them,
laughing as she made Colton dance awkwardly in some sort of square
dance routine. The other couples danced along, and as I watched,
clapping and laughing myself, I realized I was already finding
happiness in this small clearing decorated with flickering lights
and flowers. But the joy didn’t come from the ambiance or the food
or even the music, it came from the sense of fellowship. I was
already beginning to adore my new family.

* * *

Gabriel graced us with a
few more songs – some slow, some upbeat – but all of them I’d never
heard. When he’d strummed the last chord of the last song, everyone
settled around the fire again, and Piper suggested that Colton show
off
his
talent.
He wasn’t shy about it like Gabriel had been; he seemed downright
enthusiastic as he trotted off to the tents to get whatever it was
he needed.

“Just wait,” Gabriel crowed as he laid
his guitar against the log and threw his arm around me again.
“Colton is awesome.”

“You were pretty good yourself,” I
said, fighting the pout that wanted to show on my face; I wanted
him to keep singing. And then I smiled, remembering I’d have a
literal eternity for that.

Within minutes, Colton made it back
with a pedestal table and a trunk. I straightened and shifted in my
seat with anticipation. Piper shot me an excited grin, and I
grinned back.

Colton opened the trunk and searched
through its contents. He pulled out a deck of cards, skillfully
shuffled them and set his feet apart as he eyed all of us. “You
guys ready?” he asked, smirking. “You’ve never seen this one
before.”

Everyone replied with enthusiastic
yeses.

He shuffled the cards one last time
and fanned them out while holding them with one hand.

“Gabe, play some performance music,
man,” Kai requested.

Gabriel obliged, playing a slow,
gritty song with rich chords – perfect for this – and Colton
reveled in the moment. His enjoyment for performing was apparent,
and my anticipation practically bubbled over as I waited for what
came next.

Colton waved his other
hand in front of the cards, and they appeared smaller.
Wait… smaller?
Like they
had shrunk. I gaped like the others, and Colton’s expression
brightened. He was loving it.

Again, he moved his hand
in front of the fanned deck, and they were even smaller. About half
the size now than when he’d started.
Wow.

He eyed us again.
“Smaller?”

We nodded.

Slowly, he swept his hand
in front of the deck, and the cards looked tiny – a miniature deck
of cards.
What in the? HOW?

In complete awe, I looked to Gabriel
to see him already watching me with amusement. He arched his
eyebrow pointedly as if to say, “See, told you!”

My attention snapped back to Colton.
He carefully realigned the cards into a solid deck and cupped them
in his hands. Pausing dramatically, he shot a look at Gabriel who
strummed the song into a rising crescendo – the finale. It was as
though they’d rehearsed it.

When Colton removed his top hand, the
deck was normal size again, and he leaned with his elbows against
the table. With a flick of his hand, a card went flying in the
woods like a Chinese star. Then another and another in timing with
the rhythm of the music, each card soaring in a separate direction.
The faster the music went, the faster he flung the cards – over us,
through us, around us, into the sky. Too fast to keep track or
count. I found myself squealing and clapping like I was in the
front row of a concert.

As the last card disappeared into the
night air and Gabriel strummed the last chord, we all sprang to our
feet in applause. Colton gave a quick bow.

“Awesome, man,” Kai said, giving
Colton’s shoulder a shake.

Iris hugged his neck. “So proud of
you!”

I looked up to Gabriel as he stood
beside me. “Told you,” he bragged.

“We’re a pretty talented bunch, huh?”
Brad said on the other side of me.

I managed a word. “Yeah.”

“You know,” he replied, giving me a
friendly side-hug, “I think you’ll fit in quite well, Kat. Glad
you’re here.”

“Same here,” Aubrey
echoed, this time her smile more genuine. Maybe we
would
be
friends.

“Oh, dear,” Iris said, looking to the
sky and stealing all of our attention. The clouds had parted, and
the moon was on the descent. “We better get you back.”

“I’ll take her,” Gabriel
insisted.

Yes!
I cheered internally.
More alone
time.

Brad slapped his back. “I don’t think
anybody will fight you for that.”

“Except Piper,” Raymond
teased.

She stuck her tongue out.

“We’ll see you tomorrow?” Iris said
expectantly. “We’ll need to discuss how you plan on leaving the
school. It needs to be done in such a way that they don’t think
you’ve just… disappeared.”

I know it shouldn’t have,
but the idea of planning my departure overwhelmed me. What
would
I say? To the
principal? My friends? “I’ll have some time, though, right?” I
replied.

“Sure. We could wait a few days, I
suppose.”

I fought to keep the dread
from seeping into my expression.
Days?

Kai stepped in. “Remember we can’t
stay anywhere for long… for safety reasons. We’ve already been here
close to a week.”

I think I nodded.

“Don’t worry. We’ll figure it out,”
Iris said.

Gabe draped his arm around me in
support.

“We’ll see you tomorrow,
dear.”

* * *

Like a well-orchestrated symphony,
everyone played their part in the deconstruction of the decorations
and dinner table as I followed Gabriel in a zombie-like state to
his tent to return his guitar. Days… I would have only days to say
my goodbyes. To decide what I would tell everyone. And the school…
they’d never let me leave unless my parents permitted, and I didn’t
want them to know a thing until I showed up to tell them everything
in person.

As we turned left into a
cluster of tents, I realized I’d never been in this part of their
living quarters. I counted five tents total – not enough for
everyone. Some must have shared. The couples, maybe?
H
H
ow long would
it be before Gabriel and I might share one? Butterflies swarmed my
stomach again at the thought, and suddenly the task of leaving the
school took a back seat. I needed to let go and trust that Iris
knew what she was doing. This wasn’t her first rodeo.