Lost Seraphine (The Seraphine Trilogy #2) (21 page)

“Take the bracelet. Wear it at all times. We may speak again once you have calmed yourself and choose to address me in a respectable manner,” Mabry says in a bland tone as he sets the bracelet down on the table between the two couches and then starts toward the door. Stopping just inside the doorway, he turns back to us. “If you choose to continue this relationship, then be warned, there will be consequences.”
So I’ve been told a few times already.
“Even still, I am on your side.” He turns, cups his hands behind his back and walks out the door, leaving Caleb and me to comfort each other in the whirlwind of information we’ve just heard.

* * *

Caleb

“I don’t know what happened down there. I have no idea why I did, either,” I say to Gia, hoping she doesn’t think I’m completely lost and crazed. “Hearing Mabry’s been mucking around in my head freaked me out. I should be used to weirdness by now, right?”

“Caleb, don’t worry. I understand. Trust me.” We walk up the massive stairway and stop in front of a door painted a rich brown.

“He probably won’t talk to me anymore.”

“It’s all right. We’ll work this out,” she assures and then laces her fingers with mine, a small gesture, but one that calms the beast in me just like it always does. I nod and glance at the bracelet on my right arm, the one my water angel talked me into wearing. A thing created by the man I’ve been dreaming about these past few months. I won’t let it weird me out again.

I can be patient a while longer.

I fully intend to make well on Mabry’s offer to come back and see him when I can act like a good little boy, instead of hissing at him like a crazy cat. For now, though, I need to focus on my girl. Her nerves are shot. I can tell by the little things she keeps doing; twirling her hair, blinking like crazy and talking a mile a second, not a minute.

I remember how whacked out I felt inside when I found out Darren wasn’t my real dad. I wanted to scream, to run, to break something. Not Gia, though. Except for the occasional long sigh, she’s taking the news with calmness, grace and tons of class; things that are the complete opposite of me, behavior you’d expect to see in a queen. We step through the doorway and I inhale sharply.

Gia’s bedroom is a living extension of the girl I’ve come to care about more than my own life. She has decorated the walls in collages of sea shells and painted them in rich shades of blue and green with shots of fuchsia found in her accessories. A picture of the Razors sits on her desk made out of blue glass. There’s a cool black starfish sitting on top of her sketchpads. Right away, I think of Ticky; the starfish she gave me, the magical gift that saved my life last year. This whole room makes me feel like I’ve been transported into an underwater oasis.

“I know. My room’s kinda overdone.”

“Nah. This is a great room. Colorful,” I answer truthfully. “What’s with the purple sky?” I ask, pointing up.

Glancing up at the ceiling, a strangely appealing combination of stars and planets that are all painted in various shades of purple, she says, “In my home, there’s a little bit of every color. You have your blues in the ocean, your greens in the grass. Of course, there’s gold and white and even a dash of pink in the anemones, but there’s no purple. No lavender or even that weird color that’s somewhere between purple and navy blue.”

“Blue violet,” I tell her.

“Yeah, that one.”

“So, uh, what do your people have against the color purple? I mean, if it’s not some big secret.”

“It was Father’s decision to wipe out all things purple. It was my mother’s favorite color and mine. There’s a calming magic in that color. Each time I look at it, I feel like my mother is speaking through me, connected to me. Loving me.” She takes two deep breaths, a distant look misting over her eyes as she stares up at the purple collage.

Covering her face with her hands, she says, “He’s lied to me about everything. Isn’t it obvious?” She does look at me this time, tears line her eyes. “He sent me away because he didn’t want me to know the truth. That he broke one of the Council’s greatest rules when he had me. And my mother didn’t want me, either. Now I find out the Dark One is my sister.” She breaks down, covering her face with her hands again.

“Hey, hey, don’t do all that now,” I say softly, embracing her, completely understanding how she feels. I stroke her hair and take a deep breath along with her, hoping to clear out the knot in my throat as well. “What did you just tell me? We’ll work through this, right? I’ll wear Mabry’s, uh, peace offering, get some control over my whispery wind voice. Then, he’ll have to talk to us.”

She lifts her head and stares into my eyes, the sadness in hers killing me. “You’ve been so mad at me. I thought—I didn’t think we’d get the chance to be around each other this way again,” she whispers, lowering her head.

“Me, stay mad at the water angel? Never. Besides, I need you to cover my ass when things go down.”

She scoffs lightly. “What about Paige?”

I shrug. “I gave her an assignment. She’s watching over Kyle.”

“Poor Kyle. How’s he feeling?”

He’s not doing so hot. He wants to go hang out tomorrow. That should lift his spirits a tad. I hope.”

“I’m so sorry. You were right. I should’ve just left you alone after I rescued you.” She lowers her head, shaking it.

I place my index finger under her chin and tilt her face back up. The sadness in her eyes floors me. I don’t ever want to be the source of her fears and I especially don’t want to be the jackass who causes her pain.

“Don’t say crazy shit like that. Only whackos like me are allowed to say things that don’t make sense.” I throw the dimpled grin on her, the one I know she loves so much, and get a smile in return, a gorgeous one.

“There’s something else I need to tell you. It’s about my brother.” She fills me in on the things she has been dealing with and seeing, crazy shit that’s been happening in her head, stuff like seeing Raze’s ghost every time she goes near a beach.

Paint me stupid, but something about her story sounds off. Why can’t I see him, too? I do believe I’m the reaper’s novice or something like that anyway. Seeing dead souls is my specialty. Or maybe that special gift is reserved only for the ones Bernael takes. Either way, I’m glad to know it wasn’t my bad breath or my kissing skills that scared her away.

Time for the healing kiss I’ve been dying to give her since we came into her room. I do believe we both need this now. I move my mouth toward hers. She holds up two fingers between our faces, her gaze burning with a determined fire. “No more secrets. From now on, we do this together. Okay?”

“Always,” I answer, my eyes not leaving her face, my body a storming wind of heat, fear and happiness. It’s enough to overwhelm any dude, I think.

“Even if us being together does something bad?” she asks.

“If this is wrong, then tell ‘em to kill me now, baby, ‘cause I ain’t going nowhere,” I tease, but mean every word.

“You are insane,” Gia answers, smiling and shaking her head.

“I know. May I finish kissing you now?”

“Hmm. Let me see…” Gia squints as she considers her answer. “I think another test might be—” I don’t wait for her to finish the sentence.

I cover her mouth with mine, our tongues entwining in a wicked tug, yet another showdown, but one with a very different battle going on behind the scenes in my head... and my body.

Even with flushed cheeks, tousled hair and puffy eyes, Gia still makes those skinny models in the Sports Illustrated magazines look like heavily made up Barbies. Touching her this way, breathing in her scent while losing myself completely in the girl I love, makes me feel invincible.

I’m all psyched up after meeting her house leader and clearing up the secrets we’ve been holding back. We now have a few more answers than we did before we stepped into that laboratory, disturbing as the subject matter may be for us. Gia looked surprised by Mabry’s behavior, too, and his peace offering, as he calls this bracelet on my arm, which I don’t buy.

A man like Mabry doesn’t put all his effort into invading someone’s dreams and then give them a piece of jewelry as a way to kiss and make up. Nah.

There’s more to this thing I’m wearing.

I intend to find out what it could be.

Caleb

Why were buddies created? An easy question, right?

Well, here’s the equally simple answer, to let the other friend know when he’s about to do something seriously stupid.

Kyle wants to go wave rafting... out on the ocean... tonight... as in, under a sky that has the sliver of a crescent moon’s beam as our only light.

Okay, I get it. He needs a reprieve, something to take his mind off things. I definitely understand all that. Plus, the time I’m going to spend with my friend will give Gia a chance to deal with all the secrets; specifically the one where Erica claims to be her sister. What could be worse than all that? Well, Gia believes Erica’s lie could be true. That’s what.

Spending time with my friend also gives me a chance to understand that I might have some kind of super dude kind of thing going on inside me whenever those whispers in my head start. It’s just another one of those weirdo gifts I’ve obviously inherited from my real father and could care less about keeping. If I was partly to blame for that tornado, then I can’t just sit around and wait for Erica and crew to keep doing things to control me like a puppet. I’m going to need a little help, and Gia’s house leader’s going to be the one to give it to me.

Here’s what’s really nagging me, Kyle wants to go out to the same place where he almost drowned eight months ago. Yeah, that would be the spot where the kids with the mucked up smiles, aka the water sprites with Jaws’ teeth, tried to drown him.

Don’t get me wrong. I’m thankful my friend still wants to talk to me because I definitely don’t feel like I deserve his loyalty. There’s more to this request than he’s letting on, though.

However, being the super friend comes with certain obligations. So, I agree to go along, hoping Kyle snaps out of this state of rebelling against all things sane.

We suit up and take Kyle’s dad’s boat; a dinghy designed to hold two men while they fish in a nice, calm little pond and not some big freakin’ ocean with waves influenced by the moon. Nothing about the waters of the sea have been calm since the tornado. I guess the sea king must be missing his daughter more than he lets on. How else do you go about explaining the unnaturally high waves and the black gunk that keeps drifting in from the sea and covering the shores?

Only a couple of employees are still sitting in the wooden shack of a guardhouse located at the far side of the pier. Wave rafting at night must not be anything unusual for them to see because they barely do more than pass a bored glance in our direction when Kyle unhooks his dad’s boat.

“Talk to me, man,” I say, wanting to do something to ease the tension and the damn nagging in my chest. That would be the one that’s telling me I need to grab my friend and get the heck up out of here. I don’t listen. I never do. “Why are we at this place again? I mean, the last time didn’t turn out so well.”

He continues pushing the boat into the water, his determined gaze focused on the sea. The boat slides out on top of the waves, Kyle walking alongside it, guiding the dinghy, while I trail behind like a good little doggie.

Ever since we were kids, we’ve both shared a love of the sea. Kyle even more so than me. As children, we’d find a way to sneak out to the part of the ocean by my house, our parents none the wiser, and use Darren’s dinghy to escape into our own make believe world of pirates, treasure and hidden islands.

Now, I’m glancing at this ghost of a person gliding a boat across the water and feeling as if this is going to be another notch on my belt of Caleb’s fat ass screw ups over the past year.

“You coming or are you just going to stand there?” he calls back to me.

“I don’t know, man,” I begin. “I got a bad feeling about this.”

“Sq-uaaaawk! Squawk squawk!” he says, flapping his arms like a chicken.

“Uh-huh. Real funny.” I feel my face flush. “We’ll see who’s doing the funky chicken dance ‘if’ we make it back to the beach in one piece.”

“Lighten up, brah, and get your scrawny ass in the boat,” he orders. I wade out to where he’s already scrambled into the seat opposite mine and lift my body over the side. The water feels unnaturally warm for this to be an early spring night. It never heats up this early.

“This is crazy. You know that, right?” I ask as we shove off toward the reefs at the opposite end of the beach, a spot almost two miles away from the pier.

“Then why are you out here? Stop whining like a little girl. It’s annoying. You used to be a lot of fun,” Kyle scolds, his dark eyes glistening under the moonlight. I get situated in my seat and pull out an oar.

So far, the lull of the waves are working with us, pushing the boat in the right direction instead of the opposite one. The gentle swish of the waves would normally ease the tension in me. Not tonight. The moon is a funny red color, the silence around us is too quiet and the feeling that not even a shark lurks anywhere near these shores unnerves me. Not to mention, I can’t shake the feeling we’re being watched.

Normally, it takes about thirty minutes to wade to the other side of the beach. Tonight, time feels like it’s stuck. As though we haven’t moved past the pier fast enough.

Distraction time. Either that or I haul myself and my reckless friend over the side of this boat and back to safe, dry land.

“What’s on your mind, Kyle?”

I get a sarcastic smirk. “What are you, my new shrink?”

“No, I’m the guy who probably needs one since he’s out here in a mini boat on a big freakin’ ocean at night,” I answer. “Seriously, how are you feeling? Don’t make this a conversation about guns again, either.”

Kyle shrugs. “Man’s gotta protect himself.”

“Against what? You joining a gang?”

“Maybe.”

“Whatever, man,” I say, but then I get quiet when I check out the hard look on his face. I know Kyle and he honestly believes what he’s just said. “Wait a minute. You’re serious.”

He looks away for a long moment then he turns back to me, his face sadder, less angry than before. “It’s going to be tough getting through Easter without her around, isn’t it?”

“Yeah. It’ll be different,” I answer truthfully.

We start talking about how hard it’s going to be to deal with Easter coming around the corner, Shani’s favorite holiday. Kyle says at least he got to spend Valentine’s Day with her. I agree. Something howls in the woods as we pass by and my heart flips, but Kyle doesn’t seem to hear a thing. He’s caught up in our conversation about the good times as well as his and Shani’s first sexual experience together. I don’t want to ruin it by being paranoid, which I am.

Even though I know there’s no one hanging out in a dinghy on the ocean besides us, I still can’t help glancing around to see if anyone is listening to us.

“Ease up, Caleb. The fish don’t care about my sex life.” Kyle grins wide and adjusts the little light on the fluorescent lamp we brought along. “You need more condoms? I have plenty more if you do.”

My neck prickles with heat and red splotches, I’m sure. “What th
e—
Why don’t you just advertise my sex life for me, okay?”

“Do you mean, your lack of a sex life? ‘Cuz I could’ve sworn you told me you and New Bern’s favorite little skateboard chick haven’t gotten it on yet.”

“Can we continue this conversation when we’re like not sitting on a boat in the middle of the ocean?” I ask, my stomach dipping each time the boat shoves over a wave. Maybe it’s just my imagination, but I’m thinking at some point the tides have strengthened.

“Whoa. Easy there, my girls,” Kyle says to the waves. He has always referred to them as girls. Another howl. Another round of me trying to identify the animal... and failing.

How do you know when it’s time to go back on something you promised a friend? Somewhere right about the point where you can’t ignore the angry clouds floating inside a sky that indicates rain and stronger tides are on the way.

This is something Kyle needs to do. I can tell. Maybe this will do me some good, too. I’m kinda hoping this will get my mind off kissing Gia for a little while, anyway. Yeah, I know. I’m hopeless.

“I love listening to the sea girls sing,” he says suddenly, redirecting our conversation, yet again. “What did Shani call them? Oh yeah, undines. That’s kind of a sexy name, isn’t it?” He’s all over the place with his thoughts, the sign of someone who’s more mentally stressed than he realizes. “You hear them? Aren’t their voices the most gorgeous things you’ve ever heard?” I don’t hear anything except the slosh of some pretty big waves twisting our itty bitty boat in ways that don’t agree with my barbecue chips and chocolate milk dinner.

I frown and glance around. At once, the bracelet Mabry gave me hums to life. Crap! This isn’t good. “Right. So we’re going to turn this baby around now.”

“No, wait!” Kyle hisses at me, grabbing my arm that’s holding the oar, his grip unnaturally strong. “Can’t you hear the words? They’re saying something about Shani. The
y—
I think they know where she is.”

“This isn’t funny, Kyle.”

“Do I look like I’m laughing?”

Nope. He doesn’t.

Fact, my friend probably does hear something, a thing I obviously can’t pick up. Fiction, if he does hear the thing or girls or whatever is the source of the singing newsfeed, then they’re probably simply telling him what he wants to hear. Which leads me to the result that we’re in trouble.

Before I get the chance to explain that he’s probably imagining the noise, he leans over and dives straight into the water.

“Kyle! Shit, man. What are you doing?” I lean over the side of the boat and glance down into the water, staring at the place where Kyle’s head just went under for about ten seconds before I make the decision to go against what Gia and my mom asked me not to do. Stop kidding yourself. You already did that, dude.

My friend can be drowning for all I know. Or even worse, those little kids with the shark teeth might have already gotten hold of him again. As far as I’m concerned, there’s only one choice to make.

I swallow hard and dive into the water. The underwater lights assault my eyes at once. Is it freaking me out as much as it did the first time this happened to me? Uh, yeah.

It’s like I have a lantern built inside my head, shining a light through my eyes, making the darkness of the sea easy for me to navigate. What probably feels like freezing cold water to most normal people feels warm to me. Holding my breath, I scan the area where I last saw Kyle.

Swimming about twenty feet ahead of me, Kyle moves faster than I’ve ever seen him swim before during the times we horsed around in the neighborhood pools.

What’s he focused on?

Below us, the sea gives off an eerie glow, a ribbon of colors spread out in a blanket covering the bottom. I don’t remember seeing this the last time I ventured under the surface.

Up ahead of Kyle, a girl is floating under the sea. It’s a trap. I know it. Every muscle in my body tenses and my chest tightens to a painful knot. Visions of Kyle’s broken body from the last encounter with these strange sea people flash through my head. My body won’t move fast enough. I might be some kind of demi-super hero’s son, but I don’t think he gave me quite enough speed to qualify for the job.

Kyle reaches the girl. I can see the determination in the way my friend strokes toward his goal. I don’t need to see the look in his eyes. The girl he loves has been taken from him and he believes that whoever that is in front of him can give him some answers. I can’t yell out to him, beg him to stop swimming toward his doom. I mean, come on; how not normal can a girl floating underneath the ocean be? And exactly how is Kyle able to find his way around in all this?

That’s when something assaults my head.

No, I’m not talking about the kind of thing that happens when you get smacked upside the head with a baseball, either. Nah. This feels different, unlike anything I’ve ever experienced before.

A strange energy pulses through me. The sensation starts at my feet, surges up through my legs, my stomach, my chest. Finally, the bolt of energy—because that’s what it feels like more than anything else—slams into my brain.

At once, I stop swimming. My feet turn inward and my legs won’t move. My arms lock into place. They’re extended out to the sides. My body forms the shape of a cross, a human one floating inside the water. A doomed human if I can’t manage to move before I run out of air, which should’ve already happened.

A group of girls surround Kyle. I’m talking gorgeous girls with fins and hair floating around their heads like halos... Gia’s people, I guess. Something about the way they’re holding onto Kyle doesn’t seem right. I can’t help thinking, haven’t we been through all this before?

Kyle’s body starts convulsing. He has gone too long without air. So have I, but things don’t seem to be affecting me in the same way. I’m super glad I brought Ticky along. Ever since the time I almost drowned, me and the starfish that Gia gifted me with, the one that gives me the ability to breathe underwater don’t part ways whenever I go near the sea.

The girls wrap their slender arms around my friend and start drifting away, going deeper into the darker parts of the ocean. A tangle of seaweed wraps itself around my ankles, holding me in place.

“Hey!” I yell, a gurgle of water flowing out of my mouth and then the heat rushes through me. Even inside the ocean with its blanket of ice cold liquid, the voice inside me, the one I’m pretty sure the guy from my drea
m—
yeah, that would be Mabr
y—
has been telling me to use, roars out of my mouth.