Wicked Fate (The Wicked Trilogy) (28 page)

All the laughter in his eyes is gone. I reach up to brush
a piece of hair out of his eye.

“I might be a witch, but I’
d never
do anything to you,” I smile mischievously.
“Unless you beg for it.”

In a flash, I’m on my back, books scattered everywhere, and he’s on top of me.

“I never beg,” he whispers as he runs his nose up the side of my neck. He starts planting little kisses behind my ear before he captures my earlobe in his teeth. “You want me, I can tell.”

My breath is coming out in little tiny pants and I feel my body warming to him.

“Could y’all please
not
do that in here?” Thaddeus is leaning against the desk covering his eyes with his hand.

I jerk up and push at Adam’s chest. How could I have forgotten about Thaddeus?

“What’s wrong?” his green eyes are glazed over and his breathing is altered.

“We’re not…alone,” my cheeks heat up.

Shaking his head and sighing he moves away from me, “Great timing, Casper.”

No more making out in the library.

And this is how the days that follow
go
, being with Adam.
When we aren’t g
iving each othe
r
googly
eyes at school, we’re
at the park
or the beach. It’
s the happiest time o
f my life. No matter what we do it never gets
old or boring. From playing cards, to running around outside with Sire, or just lounging
on the porch swing, I cherish every moment we have
together.

Even though we’
r
e completely happy, we both know that the other is
hoping and pray
ing that something bad doesn’t happen. I’m
always
on my guard no matter what we’re doing or where we are. I try
hard to cover my guarded self for Ad
am’s sake, but no matter what I’m
always on the lookout for trouble.

Part of me thinks
maybe it really
was
just a sick joke from the lady named Eris,
but the other part of me senses the trouble that’s
coming. I just hope that it’s all in my head.

We double with Bernie and Kale on Friday night and I see my second movie and eat real Mexican food for the first time ever. Adam says I’m a like a child in so many ways—experiencing so many new things. He’s
right,
I haven’t really been living my life. We make a pact to do something new whenever we get the chance.

Today’
s Saturday
,
and things c
ouldn’t be more wonderful. I’m lying on the beach and watching as Adam and Sire play with a Frisbee. I ru
n my fingers through the
soft grains of sand and enjoy
the cool breeze blowing off of the ocean. Far away in the distance
,
the Charle
ston pier and the sunset paint
a picture of pure perfection.

I reach up and play
with
the seashell earrings that Adam
had purch
ased for me earlier at the open-
air mark
et in downtown Charleston. I’m the luckiest girl
in the world right no
w. Lost in my euphoria, I don’t realize that Adam’s lying
beside me
until I feel
him softly run
ning
his fingers through my hair.

“I love your hair. I’m the lucki
est guy in the world,” he smiles
. “Here I am, lying on the beach with my own raven-haired goddess.”

The soft kiss he plants
on my
lips is sweet.

On the way back to my house
, we hold
hands
. I stick my
other h
and out of the car window letting
the wind move it
up and down.
Bliss.

“So, I think tonight I’m going to dig through the journals some more. Want to stay and keep me company?” I peek over my sunglasses at him.

“That depends, are you going to feed me dinner?” he jokes.

He drives home quickly to
take a showe
r. I take
the opportunity to run upstair
s and take one myself. I smell
like salt water, sand, and sun block.

Afterwards, I quickly dress in my favorite old, flannel
s
leep pants and a tank top. I pile my wet hair on top of my head, and skip downstairs.  I ransack the kitchen for snacks for the two of us, and then I settle
in the library
to start reading while I wait
on Adam.

I sit
in the middle of the floor on top of the makeshift chair of pillows that I made f
or my late nights. A few nights I’ve
even fallen aslee
p here. 

“You look so
adorable right now,” Adam says from the doorway.

His black jersey shorts are hanging from his hips and instead of wearing his shirt, it’s slung across his shoulder. I take him in with my eyes, from his smooth, dark chest, down to his low abdominal muscles that form a sexy v-shaped arrow.

It’s pointing to his happy place…as if I need directions to Wonderland.

He’s leaning against the door frame with his thick arms crossed over his chest, and he’s watching me with his I-want-you smile on.

“Like what you see?” he rubs his thumb across his bottom lip.

I look away quickly and roll my eyes. Damn him and all his
sexified
glory!

He walks over and stands
over me forcing me to have to look up at him.

“I was serious by-the-way, I don’t think you’ve ever looked more gorgeous
than you do right now. Are those men’s pajama pants you’re wearing?”

“Ok
ay,
ha
ha
. Go ahead and have your laugh. You’re funny.
Yes
,
these are men’s pants, but I don’t car
e, they’re comfortable.” I push
my chin out in defiance.

He si
t
s
down
beside me then lightly touches
my cheek.

“I’m not joking. You never wear your hair up like this. I can see all of your face this way. You’re so beautiful.”

He gives
me a soft kis
s then does a little shake.

“No more kissy-face. I’m going die from hypothermia from all the cold showers I’ve been taking,” he turns
away to grab one of the books.

“I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be. You’re worth the wait,” his boyish smile melts me.

No matter how many times he says these things it always fe
els like the first time. I watch
with a
smile on my face as he attempts
to op
en one of the journals. There’s no way he’
s getting it open,
yet every time he comes into the library he tries
.

“Tell me again why I can’t open these books.”

“Thaddeus says that only I c
an read them. Sorry,” I shrug
.

I begin to read again
.

“Oh yeah
,
that’s right! I keep forgetting about the ghost that lives in your library that I can’t see. That never ge
ts normal, you know?” he chuckles
.

“Yes
,
I’m well aware of the fact
that I’m a strange girl,” I say
without looking up from the journal.

I flip the page and continue
to read.
I hear him saying something about sixth senses and kicking Bruce Willis’ ass.

I don’t rememb
er falling asleep, but when I wake up I’m in Adam’s arms as he carries
me up t
he stairs to my bedroom. Sire’s following behind us. I reach up and wrap
my
arms around his neck resting
my head against his shoulder.

After a day like toda
y, I can
h
ardly keep my eyes open. I hear
the door to
my bedroom open and then he lays me in my bed. I feel
t
he covers go on top of me before he
soft
ly
kiss
es me
on the forehead.

“Goodnight
,
Mage, I’ll see you tomorrow
,
okay?”

I’m
i
n a sleepy fog and don’t know much at the
moment exc
ept for the fact that I don’t want Adam to leave. He turns to walk away and I reach out and grab
his arm.

“What’s wrong?” he whispers
into the darkness of my room.

“Please stay with me tonight. I don’t want to be alone.”

I feel
his arm stiffen und
er my hand and part of me wants to laugh. He’s
been nothing but a gentleman si
nce the very beginning and it’
s becoming very o
bvious that being a gentleman is getting harder for him each day that we’re together—no pun intended.

“I don’t think that’s a good idea
,
babe.”

“Please
, Adam?
At least stay w
ith me until I fall back asleep?
”

He sighs then pulls
the covers off of me and slips
into the bed. I slid
e over to make more room before turning on my side to face him.  He rolls onto his back and I snuggle
up to him draping my arm and leg over him. 

“
You’ll be the death of me, woman. I’ll stay
until you fall asleep
,
okay?”
He tucks his arm under my head.

“Okay,” I yawn
.

One minute I’m
walking hand and hand down the beach
with Adam. The next minute I’m
holdi
ng hands with a lady that looks
just
like me, except older. I stare at her and she smiles back at me. She le
t
s
go of my hand th
en puts her hand out as if she’s showing me the way, but isn’t coming with me. I trust her; she doesn’
t mean me any harm.

I start
to
step in the direction she wants
me to go. I stop suddenly
, face-to-
face
with the mirror eyed man from my
previous dream
. His expressionless eyes glare back at me; I can
see my fear in them. His long
, gray streaked, black hair blows
in the win
d. I wait for the inevitable and hold
my breath as I watch him lift his ha
nd towards me. His gentle smile transforms
into a wicked smirk.

The purple flames fly from his fingertips and head straight for me. I lift my hand and pray my blue fire will
be enough t
o hold his flames back. I gasp
w
ith shock when purple flames fly from
my finge
rtips as well. My fire connects with his and holds it back. Both of us try
hard to move past each other’s fir
e, but nothing happens
. The blazing ball in the c
enter of our two flames doesn’t budge. I push harder, but I can’t move it in his direction. I can
te
ll by the look on his face he’
s trying just as hard as me.

“Give up! You can’t beat me ju
st let it take you!” he screams
over the loud popping and cracking noises of the purple inferno.

“Never!”
I scream as loud as I can
.

“Mage!
Stop it, Mage!” I hear
Adam screaming at me.

I wake suddenly. I’m
sitting straight up in the bed screaming
at the top of my lungs as I shoot
purple flames across my be
droom. I drop my hand immediately and watch
as the
remainder of my flame dissolves
.

No harm has
been done to my room, but I’m
still in shock.
Purple flam
es?
Now
what’s happening to me? I turn to face
Adam,
he’s
on the very edge of my full sized bed staring back at me in shock.