Kissed (The Thorn Chronicles) (22 page)

Kai, who wasn’t even here. Who probably didn’t even miss me.

“I may have been before, but I am not anymore. Puck, I want you.”

Puck shook his head and I remembered that there were other people in the room. Alejandro spoke.

“Naomi, it’s time you learned the rest of the story and what’s going on now. Then you all need to go. I don’t like leaving Ginny unprotected.”

Bouquets of roses are beautiful. They are fun to design and arrange. But there is something unique and wonderful about a single rose. Just one in a vase seems to carry so much more power than a bouquet.

Puck and I sat on a couch directly across from Alejandro and Jason.

“You already know that it’s easier to be a Destroyer than a Guardian. Destroyers have nearly limitless power and a lot less work. There are more of them. And they never get tired. The mere act of causing someone to be miserable fuels them. We have to constantly replenish our powers,” said Alejandro.

He paused and I interjected, “Then why did you choose to be a Guardian?”

“That is easy, the Guardians came for me first. I had seen too much of the Destroyer life from the outside to want to be a part of the misery. Plus, our path is harder but more rewarding. Destroyers are never happy.”

Puck tensed next to me and I grabbed his hand and squeezed. He exhaled.

Alejandro continued.

“There has always been an uneasy truce between Destroyers and Guardians. A set of rules were put into place to keep the balance so that one group does not gain too much power over the other. When the rules are followed, people experience a more natural life. Ups and downs with both heartache and happiness.

“But sometimes a Master Destroyer gets power hungry. The balance is thrown off and humanity is plunged into chaos. When we catch the Master Destroyer early, things stay relatively normal. But when we either can’t find or access him, things can get ugly fast. Adolf Hitler was one, along with Nero, Ivan, Vlad, and Stalin.

“Right now there is a Master Destroyer who forgot there were rules. This has been happening for some time now. We’ve been searching for him, but we can’t find him. All of their attacks have been targeted at us. Which I suppose shouldn’t be a surprise, but this is something new. Most of the time the Master Destroyer understands the need for balance and control.”

Puck shoved a newspaper article in my hand. A young woman smiled from the front. My stomach lurched when I recognized her.

“What’s this?” I asked Alejandro.

“You can read it, but she was found inside my house in California. Beheaded.”

I covered my mouth. She was the girl from church who was punished with the knife. How could she have ended up in California?

“What does this have to do with anything?”

“She was one of our girls.” Then Alejandro stopped and looked at Jason. “Why are you still here?”

Jason scrambled up and raced for the door.

“Wait,” called Alejandro. “Do me a favor and hang out at Ginny’s place until Puck gets there. I’d send him now, but I don’t think he’ll leave Naomi.”

“What about the harem?” Jason asked.

“They’ll be fine. Puck won’t be here long.”

Puck leaned forward and snarled. “Naomi’s unprotected. I can’t believe you didn’t get someone assigned to her.”

“Why would I need someone to protect me?” I asked, alarmed by the sudden turn in the conversation.

Puck sighed, closed his eyes and leaned back against the couch. “Because the Destroyers are attacking our harems. The girl that was found in my house belonged to a Guardian in Tulsa.”

My brain raced to try to put together pieces. Ginny. Me. A harem?

“What’s a harem?” I asked.

Alejandro raised his eyebrows. “You mean Puck didn’t tell you?”

Puck shook his head.

“When we counteract a Destroyer’s negative energy, it drains us. We need to, uh, refuel. We seek out situations where energy is created. Plants, for example, create energy. So does the ocean. But as a Major Guardian I use so much of it that I can only keep enough energy if I draw from the most powerful source. A kiss. A single kiss can give me enough energy to last a week or more.”

My stomach sank, there it was again.
Kai.
“You mean all those nights when Kai came. He was just using me?” I tried to keep my tears back, but the betrayal was too much.

Alejandro leaned forward and took my hands in his. “Naomi, what you and Kai had was not a normal relationship for a Guardian and one of his girls. I have dozens of women I visit and most I only get to once every six months or so. The system is designed so that they think it is a dream. A good dream, one that leaves them feeling better than they were before, but just a dream. The fact that he came to you every night leads me to believe that he cared for you very much and whatever harem he had before you, they were no longer part of his life during that time. It was a stupid and careless move on his part, but one he would have only made if he felt you were worth it.”

I wanted to believe him. I did. But Kai had still used me.

“There is the fact that Naomi’s kisses are different,” said Puck.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” I asked.

“One kiss from you and I was good to go for a month. Seriously, I’ve done nothing to replenish my energy since that kiss at the party.”

Oh, great, one more reason for me to resent Kai. He just used me because he didn’t need to use anyone else then. Lovely.

Alejandro cocked his head. “This is interesting. Naomi, have you used your magic at all?”

I shrugged. “Yeah, a little.”

“And do you feel like it’s gotten weak?”

“Um, no, but then I don’t know what I’m supposed to feel.”

Puck spoke up. “Look, we can contemplate what all this means later. We’ve got a crisis on our hands, but Naomi’s right. Kai did use her and then he left her completely unprotected. She’s marked as one of ours. If a destroyer discovers that she is marked as ours he’s going to murder her just like they killed the girl from Tulsa. This is absurd.”

Something was bugging me. “Why did they put that girl in your house?”

“Because they think I’m the Master Guardian.”

“Are you?”

He grinned. “No, but I used to be.”

“What…”

“Look,” Alejandro said, cutting me off. “We can talk about that later. And Puck, I can’t help the fact that Kai didn’t show up to the council meeting. I couldn’t very well speak up and say we had one of Kai’s harem with us. That would’ve caused an uproar. Everyone was tense enough as it was. You’re lucky I got you assigned to Ginny, at least there you can keep a closer eye on Naomi.”

I jerked at the mention of Ginny. “You mean Ginny’s a part of someone’s harem?”

Alejandro grinned. “Yes, she is. And I’ve been nearly as careless with her as Kai was with you.”

Red roses are obviously the most loved. I see red every time I go out into my garden. Red Ace, Red Beauty, Red Candy, Red Ember, Red Moon, and Red Wings. For some reason though, they don’t evoke feelings of love and passion for me. I see anger.

Marry her. As if.
Over my dead my body he’ll marry her. Puck and I left about fifteen minutes after I found out that Alejandro had been using my aunt like a common garden slut. But he thought it was all okay, because he was in love with her and planned on marrying her. Yeah right, with his harem and all.

I was still fuming when I got into the car with Puck.

“You know, I’m surprised that smoke isn’t coming out of your ears. You okay?”

“No,” I squealed, surprising even myself. “He’s not going to marry her. I’ll see to that.”

Puck laughed, which made me even angrier. “Why not? He loves her. And believe it or not, she loves him too.”

“And what about his harem?” I spat.

“Once he’s married he won’t need that anymore. She’ll be able to provide him all the energy he needs.”

“Oh, so he’ll just be using her more. That’s real nice.”

Puck hissed, exasperated. “It’s not like that. She gets just as much out of it as he does, if not more. You can’t tell me you didn’t thoroughly enjoy all those times Kai came to you. He didn’t use you. Okay so he did, but he made sure you got what you needed too.”

I squeezed my eyes shut, trying to fight back the emptiness I felt, the deceptiveness of the whole situation. “You can’t understand what it was like for me. My mother and father despised me, kept me locked up and hidden from the world. When Kai started coming around I felt a taste of what freedom might be like. I thought I loved him and that he felt the same way about me. I couldn’t wait to be with him for real instead of those strange late night meetings. And now I find out that it was all part of some sham.”

Puck stayed silent.

“You are his brother. Do you think he loves me or not?”

Puck ran his hand through his hair. “Please don’t put me in this position. Honestly, Kai left when he was fifteen. People change a lot in three years. Plus he’s undercover and I’ve no idea what the Destroyers have done to him. I don’t know. It’s possible that he loves you. He didn’t need to visit you every night. That’s for sure. But I hope not.”

Confusion swirled in my head. I couldn’t keep the venom out of my voice. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Naomi are you really that blind? I thought you had me figured out a long time ago.”

Like that answered my question. This was so infuriating. Fine, if he wouldn’t answer that question, I’d try another one. I couldn’t help myself.

“So, Puck, do you have a harem?”

He smiled a crooked smile. “Not yet. I’m still a minor Guardian. We party to coerce silly girls into kissing us. But when Alejandro marries Ginny, he’ll become a Head Guardian and I’m going to take over Vegas. But I might not need a harem.”

I shrugged. I didn’t care what he did. I just needed to figure out what to do about Ginny. And somehow get us away from all this Guardian and Destroyer drama.

Puck pulled into Ginny’s parking garage and hesitated before getting out of the car. “Look, I know you’re angry, but there are Destroyers who could hurt Ginny if I’m not there to protect her. You and I need to pretend like we’re happy together so I can get into the apartment.”

Puck followed me up the stairs and when he grabbed my hand, I didn’t pull away. I hated myself for liking it. Ginny was fast asleep on the couch, her phone clutched in her hand. Clothes were strung out around the living room and the TV was tuned to the home shopping network. I shook her and she jumped.

She staggered upright and tripped over a shoe.

“Can I watch a movie with Puck?” I asked.

She nodded, her eyes half closed, and stumbled into her bedroom.

Puck shuffled through the movies while I waited for Ginny’s door to close. In about fifteen minutes I could abandon Puck and go to bed myself. Puck held up a disc.

“This okay?”

“Sure,” I replied without even looking at the title. Puck motioned for me to come sit on the couch with him, but I opted for the chair instead. I waited until the previews were over then I got up.

“Where are you going?”

“Bed.”

I expected him to say something, but the only sound was something exploding on the TV.

For so long, my roses were my only friends. But now, I have many. Puck, Jason, Ricki, Ginny, Alejandro. I take out a catalog and circle several roses that memorialize my recent additions of friends in my life. Faithful Friend, Best Friend, Friend for Life, and Forever Friends. Ruth though, would always be my first. I miss her.

When I woke the next morning I didn’t feel like I wanted to drown Puck in the pool so I figured I was getting over my anger. That is until I saw him sitting in a chair in the corner of my room with my computer open in his lap.

“Get out of my room,” I screeched. “And off of my computer.”

“You’ll wake up Ginny,” he whispered. He grinned a crooked smile and my heart began to race. I was super aware that we were alone in the room. And I was in my bed. He was sitting across the room, but still. This was different than the beach. We’d been through too much since then together. I liked him and I had this crazy urge to climb into his lap and kiss him. I took a few deep breaths.

“She’s already gonna freak when she finds out you spent the night in my room. What are you doing in here anyway? I thought you were supposed to be keeping an eye on her, not me.”

He shrugged and looked back at the computer. His eyelashes were dark and long. I’d never noticed that before. “Alejandro showed up just after midnight and said he’d stay with her. Officially I’m her guard since all the Major Guardians are off on top secret missions fighting the Destroyers,” he said with a scowl. I knew he’d rather be out there fighting than babysitting. “But if Alejandro gets a break he’ll be here with her.”

I remembered that I was supposed to be angry with Alejandro, but I couldn’t remember now why that was. Dang Puck for distracting me.

“How is it that Ginny doesn’t suspect something odd? I mean since I’ve been here Alejandro hasn’t spent the night. At least not that I’ve noticed. You act like she’s not going to flip when she finds out you’ve been here all night.”

He kept messing with my computer and didn’t look up. “Intellectually she thinks something’s up. Well, I don’t know that for sure, but if I were in her shoes I’d be wondering too. We make her feel good about it all. For future reference if you want to keep someone from suspecting anything unusual use mint and Michael Jackson. That seems to be the best combination. I don’t know why. Anyway, even though her brain is telling her that something is not right, her emotions are saying ‘this is okay’. Then she’ll dismiss the intellectual argument.”

I seethed, remembering now why I was supposed to be angry with the whole lot of them. “That’s not fair. Manipulating her like that. She should have the right to question and to know. About everything. Nearly everyone she cares about is caught up in this mess. You can’t keep her in the dark. And stop trying to make her ‘feel good about everything’. She deserves to have authentic emotions.”

“Shit. Stupid game,” he said and closed the computer. “What were you saying?”