Celestra Forever After (12 page)

“I went in for walk-ons and made it as an alternate. If one of these big baboons gets hurt, I might get to taste the field.”

“Sweet!” I give a little jump. “Too bad I’m not in cheer anymore, but I’ll be cheering from the stands.”

“And I’ll be right there with you.” Laken touches her hand to Coop’s chin. “Is this the big secret you’ve been teasing me with? I can’t believe you held back.” They share a sweet kiss. Coop and Laken are one of those sickeningly sweet couples that single people can’t stand to be around, but, since I’m very much taken myself, I can appreciate where they’re coming from.

“So”—Laken leans in, the smile dissipating from her face—“rumor has it Wes spent some time with your dad.” She glances at Gage. Poor Laken can hardly bring herself to look at him. “If Wes is up to something, we need to know.”

“We need to keep two steps ahead of him at all times,” Coop interjects. “He’s vengeful.”

“And power hungry,” Laken adds.

“And”—Coop looks to her—“he’s still in love with Laken. No thanks to me, Celestra as a whole is on his shit list.”

“Yeah, well”—Gage pulls me in until my back warms against his chest—“Wes has been on my shit list for a while now. If he starts sniffing around, I’ll have to kick his ass again.”

“There’s something else we should probably tell you.” Laken looks to Coop for a second.

My ears stop up with the noise from the party, and I lean in. “What?”

“Not here.” Coop glances around.

“All right.” Gage cinches his grip around me. “How about in a little while we head over to the beach.”

“Sounds good.” Laken and Coop take off for the buffet line, and I watch as her gaze hits the concrete, heavy as lead.

“It’s really hard for her to be around you.” I pull him in. I guess if Coop looked like Logan it would be a little awkward, too. He’s close, but Marshall eclipses him in that department. I glance at him, still in the hot tub with some yappy blonde talking his ear off. It looks like Marshall is right back to being Marshall, and my heart wrings out just thinking about it.

His eyes connect with mine, bright and heated.
Don’t mistake company for pleasure.

I give a little smile Marshall’s way before spinning into Gage.

“I’ll steer clear of Laken and give her some space.” He nods behind me at his mother and Wesley’s other ex-girlfriend as they laugh themselves into oblivion. They’re hovering over the punch bowl each with a seltzer bottle in hand as the bubbles cascade over the rim and onto the ground.

God, Emma is
laughing
—like grip your belly, slap your knees, guffawing. She always seems so uptight with me. Hell, with anyone.

Gage nods over to Kresley. “And I plan on giving
her
a lot of space.”

“I appreciate that.” I rub my fingers over his cheeks. Gage is growing out his stubble, and he looks that much more adorable. “You’re just so damn hot. Once you get out on that field next Friday night, every girl on Host will want to bed you.” I dip my hand up his T-shirt and lean in to whisper. “Including this girl.” My cheeks fill with heat, and I have to look away a second.

“You’re the only girl I want even close to my bed.” He dots my lips with a kiss and scrapes his rough stubble over my cheek. A fire rips through me when he touches me this way. I can only imagine the inferno that will take place when we’re skin to skin, nothing but the two of us left to set the room ablaze.

The crowd, Emma’s incessant cackle, they all melt away, and for a moment it’s just Gage and me.

“You make me feel like the luckiest girl in the world.”

A scream comes from the far end of the yard, and we turn to find Mom with her hand outstretched as baby Beau walks right into the deep end. Demetri swoops in and plucks him out by the arm before his head ever hits the water.

“You’re my knight in shining armor!” Mom wails as he returns Drake’s wandering child to her. Thank God Beau is all right, but with Drake and Brielle greasing one another up and Mom’s bust weighed down with Misty, it’s clear he’s going to need a spare set of eyes on him.

“We’d better go over.”

Gage and I bypass Tad, who’s belly up on a lounger with his chest turning a bright shade of lobster.

“Everything okay?” I touch Beau’s feather soft head, then Misty’s, and a strange vibration strums through me. That’s odd, the only other being I know that vibrates to the tune of a different universe is Marshall, and he’s a Sector.

“Everything’s great.” Mom snuggles into Demetri’s chest sort of the way I’m doing now with Gage, and I frown.

“And how is everything with you?” Demetri purrs it out with that constant shit-eating grin tugging at his lips. “It must be bliss—the entire world at your fingertips. The man of your dreams by your side.”

Logan flashes before my eyes, and I suck in a quick breath.

“It’s going great. And, yes”—I pull Gage in tight—“I do have the man of my dreams by my side.”

“When’s the big day?” He connects his fingers at the tips and looks from me to Gage.

“It’s none of your business,” I snip. If there’s one thing I don’t like, it’s a Fem butting into my private life—especially this one. “Speaking of having the world at your fingertips. I hear your son, Wes, is here.”

Demetri’s affect flattens. His gaze shifts to the forest just beyond the property.

“Excuse me, I think I see an acquaintance I’ve been meaning to speak with.” He takes off like a bat out of hell.

Ha! He took off so fast you’d think I set his balls on fire.

“Well, there’s that.” I shrug at my mother who still hasn’t put her eyeballs back in their sockets. “That’s right, mother,” I hiss without meaning to. “He’s been hiding
children
from us all. God knows how many wicked spawns he has floating around out and about.”

“Is little Wes in town?” She glitters up with tears, and now it’s my eyes that are bulging with disbelief. “God, I haven’t seen him well,
ever
, but I’ve heard so much. I can hardly wait to meet him.”

I suck in a breath. “You knew?”

“Yes.” Misty squirms in her arms and starts pecking away at Mom’s chest. “I mean it’s been low key. Demetri didn’t get to raise him or anything. It was one of those things we haven’t mentioned since back in L.A. so of course he was a little uncomfortable with it. Everyone’s got their secrets, Skyla.” She brushes me off while shoving Misty up her blouse.

I look to Gage with his warm blue eyes, those infectious dimples digging in just for me.

“We don’t have any secrets.” I lean in and kiss him.

“Yes, well”—Mom pulls Beau in before he can make another break for the deep end—“sometimes life has a way of surprising us when we least expect it. Sometimes we own secrets we know nothing about.”

A flash glints from the woods and catches my eye. A shadow recedes. The frame of a woman with long dark hair, curvy hips, moves slow as a snake, making my skin crawl. I know that wicked gait, that careless toss of her hair, that hourglass ass—Chloe. She lets out an echoing cackle then disappears as quick as she came.

Why do I get the feeling life is about to surprise us in the most horrible way?

Gage

“We’re heading out.” I give Mom a quick embrace while keeping an eye on Skyla in the yard as Dudley crawls all over her. The sun is about to set, and the party population has dwindled to just a few strays, the aforementioned Sector being one of them.

“Where you headed?” A light voice comes from behind, and it’s Kresley. Mom mentioned she had a surprise for me earlier. I assume I’m looking at her.

“I’m taking Skyla for a drive. It was nice to meet you.” I shoot Mom a look, and she’s quick to lock an arm around Kresley’s shoulder.

“Why don’t you take Kresley along? She’s yet to see the island. I bet she’d love a driving tour.”

“Emma”—Dad calls from the entry—“Dr. Flanders is leaving.”

“I’d best say goodbye.” She gives Kresley a gentle shove until she’s standing inches from my chest.

“Whoa.” I back up a notch. I’m sure Kresley is a nice person, but I’ll be the last to express any interest in her. “Sorry about my mom. She can be a bit pushy—literally. If you need a ride back to the ferry, Mr. Dudley’s out there. I’m sure he’d be more than glad to assist.” I start to head out, and she pulls me back by the arm.

“Gage.” She says my name like she’s taking it for a test drive. She leans in and gives my neck a hard sniff, licking her lips as if she’s about to take a bite. “I guess I’ll be seeing you around—
Gage
.” Her fingers sink down my chest, and I catch her by the wrist.

“Sorry—I’m not interested.” I return her hand to her side. “I’m with Skyla, and that’s not going to change. Not today, not ever.” I turn around and get out of there.

What in the hell is my mother thinking?

Skyla and I drive out to Rockaway with Coop and Laken following behind. We park down by the sand and hop out. There’s not another living soul for miles, just the way I like it. The waves beat against the shore, violent and thunderous, as if Rockaway itself were having a temper tantrum. The mist sweeps in, thick as a blanket, racing to cover the island.

“Isn’t it funny that the fog is rolling in again now that your mother’s party is over?” Skyla pulls me in before jumping up on my back for a moment.

My neck pinches, and I freeze. She slides off and hops up for a kiss as if nothing happened. I don’t plan on telling her I’m still nursing an injury from earlier this summer—that the damn thing just won’t heal. I’m not in the mood to pussy out on her especially since she’s so interested in showering me with affection.

“She’s a Deorsum,” I say, picking up Skyla’s hand. “She can get small children to do her bidding. Who knows? Maybe she’s progressed to the weather. Powers are funny that way, they seem to grow.” That’s another thing I’m not ready to fess up to right now. My powers seem to be multiplying by the minute. This morning I reached for my toothbrush, and it flew to my hand without me putting too much thought into it.

The waves slap over the shore in a fit of thunderous drumming, and I wince because it feels as if I just stuck my head in a blender. Sure would be nice to have some peace after a long day of dodging Dudley, not to mention the random girls my mother decided to throw my way. I glare over at the waves for a moment. I wonder if…. I hone in on them and demand they settle down. The tide comes in and washes back out, pulling the sand into the ocean before regurgitating itself at our feet. Didn’t think so. I suppose my newfound gift of having objects do my bidding is an offshoot of my mother’s abilities. But an unsettled feeling in my gut says it isn’t.

“Would you look at that?” Skyla marvels while gazing out at the water. “It was wild just a minute ago, and now it’s perfectly glassy and calm.”

“Shit,” I whisper. The pounding waves have been replaced with mild lapping along the shoreline, and I can actually hear myself think for once down here.

God. I stare out at the vast ocean with its unknowable depths, its endless canyons filled with mysterious creatures, and I can’t catch my breath. Crap. Did I do that?

“Wait up!” Laken calls out.

Laken and Coop head over, and we start a fire down by the newly settled shore. They relay how they met and how Wes turned into an asshole who chose the Counts over Laken. I’d never do that in a million years. You could lay the universe at my feet, and I’d never choose it over Skyla. What good is power if you have to surrender your heart?

“Wes must really be kicking himself now,” I say, pulling Skyla deeper into my lap. “He’s stuck with Chloe Bishop”—I glance to Coop—“and you’ve got the girl.”

“
Gage
.” Skyla shoots me a look that lets me know I’ve stuck my foot in my mouth.

“Sorry.”

“No, it’s okay.” Coop drops a kiss onto Laken’s head. “You’re right. But Wes is so twisted he doesn’t think for a minute this is finished. I’m just some hiccup that’s standing in the way of what he really wants, control over the Counts and Laken.”

“Only he’ll never have me.” Laken nestles into Coop. “And that’s where things get dangerous.”

“For you or everybody?” Skyla asks it low like she already knows the answer.

“Take a guess.” Laken stares off into the flames. “Wes is convinced I’ll be at his side once again. He said he had a vision from the Justice Alliance that assured him of this.”

Shit.

Skyla goes rigid in my arms because we both know if the Justice Alliance imparted a vision, it must be true.

Laken’s forehead creases. “You believe him?”

“It’s not that we believe him,” Skyla starts. “It’s that if it’s true what he said—well, the Justice Alliance is a no bullshit league. You must align with him over something.”

Coop drops his gaze to the sand before cinching Laken tighter in his arms as if she were already slipping away. “I can’t see it happening.”

“It’s not,” Laken assures. “Look, the reason we wanted to talk to you in private is because the Counts are coming back strong. Wesley’s already banded a brigade of fearless assholes who are willing to stomp out any rule or control that Celestra might have.”