Wicked Fate (The Wicked Trilogy) (44 page)

“You’re s
o beautifu
l, Mage,” his green eyes examine
my face.

“Thank you,” I whisper shyly.

“No, thank you f
or coming as my date.
I’m really glad you agreed. I have the prettie
st girl in the place,” he smiles
sweetly.

The smile disappears
from hi
s face and the air around us gets heavy. I can
feel him contemplating
kissing me. His eyes never leave mine and I can’t
look away no matter how hard
I try.

My mouth goes dry and I can’t swallow. There are
so many people looking, there’s no way I can
just walk away
in the middle of our dance. This is wrong! This is so wrong! I feel like the room is spinning
and with all my might I br
eak the stare and look away. I feel
Ben go tense in my arms.

Acros
s the room, a pair of eyes catches
my attention a
nd for a second I think I’m seeing things. The sad gray eyes disappear and I find
myself searching
like a mad woman for the grey
again.

Now is
not
a time to lose my mind and I really hope that’s not what’s happening.

I push away slowly from Ben and look harder into the crowd
.
A flicker of gray eyes emerges once more.

“Adam?”  I squeak.

F
rom across the room, I’m almost positive I see him. The space around me starts
to spin
faster and little swimmers invade my vision.

I can’t faint. I won’t pass out in front of all these strangers and ruin Ben’s night.

I reach
out for Ben to catc
h me as the blackness swallows

me
up.

Chapter
34

Perseverance

When I wake up, I’m
in an elegant room draped across a sage
colored chaise lounge. I look
around at the expensive paintings and beautiful han
d carved crown moldings. I try to sit up, but
B
en stops
me.

“Before you get up
,
make sure you’re not dizzy anymore,” th
e look of concern on his face i
s touching.

“I’m fine. This happens all the time.”

“You’r
e such a girl, Mage,” he chuckles
.

“You’re jus
t now realizing that?” I laugh
.

“Well
,
of course I know you’re a girl, I just didn’t realize how much of a girl you are. Do you always faint like that in the midd
le of a crowded room?” he helps
me to my feet.

“Oh
, no…I
usually wait until there’s at least an
audience of a thousand,” I joke
.

“Come on
,
little lady
. L
et’s get you home.”

The drive home i
s a slow
one. I apologize
a million times for ruining his ceremonial
ball thingy. He’s
complet
ely sweet about it. Not once does
he mention the fact that I had called out Adam’s name befor
e I fainted. He probably thinks
the same thing that everyone e
lse thinks. I’m
losing my mind.

This time I’m
sure
I’m not
losing my mind. I know what I saw, I saw Adam, no doubt about that.

When we get
to my hous
e, instead of going inside we si
t on the
porch swing to talk. There are
fireflies swimming around us causing little spurts of yellow light to blink on and off througho
ut the front yard. There isn’t
a
cloud in sight and the moon lights the front porch perfectly. The stars wink at me every time I take
a peek at the sky.

I feel
B
en’s hand on mine.

“Mage, it’s obvious that you’re not ready for anything right now. I understand completely, but I think it might be easier if I stay away f
rom you for a while,” he says sadly.

I want
to hug him.

“I’m really sorry abo
ut tonight,” I apologize again.

“
I don’t know if you remember what you sa
id before you fainted, but
I can’t compete with him,” he slid
es his hand up my arm and smiles
sadly. “If he was some guy
who lived down that road, I’
d fight like hell for you, but I can’t fight someone who isn’t here.”

“I’m sorry,” I whisper
.

“Don’t be. I care about you, and it sucks,” he takes a deep breath.  “It’s my fault, not yours. I shouldn’t have let that happen.”

He reaches
down, gra
bs
m
y hand, and then softly squeezes
.
“I better go.”

He lifts
my han
d to his mouth and softly kisses my knuckles. He gets to his feet and stands
in front of me li
ke the last thing he ever wants to do is walk away
.

His bow
tie’s
untied and hanging
loosely around
his unbuttoned collar. He looks
tired and handsome all at the
same time. I don’t say anything. He turns and walks away.

I don’t want him to go away. I want
him
to
st
ay and talk to me. I want
him to
stay and be my friend. I don’t
want
any
complications
. Ben caring for me like
that
is a massive
co
mplication. Not because I don’t
care about him, but
because I care too much and it makes me feel guilty
.

“Wai
t,” I call
out to him.

He turns back and I can
barely make out his face on the moonlit porc
h. I stand and walk
over to him. Without a second thought
, I step up on my tip toes and
soft
ly kiss him on the lips. He kisses me back, but doesn’t
put his arms aro
und me. We both know it’s a goodbye kiss.

It hurt
s
s
o much, more than it should. We’ll see each other
, but
I think we both know that it’s
never
going
to
be like
this between us again. I pull back and look him in the face. He really i
s such a catch, and ha
ndsome as all get out, but I’m
in love
with
Adam.

“You were the most beautiful girl in the room tonight. I was truly honored to ha
ve you on my arm, ma’am,” he says
in
a fake southern twang.

There’s
still sadness in his eyes.

“Thank you. I’ll see you around
,
ok
ay?”

I turn to walk away and he grabs
my hand for a minute as if he’
s going to say one last thing. Ins
tead of speaking, he takes a deep breath, shakes his head, and then drops
my hand.

“Goodnight, Mage,” he says as he steps down the stairs and goes t
o his car.

I creep into the house and dart up the stairs. I don’t
feel like talking right now. I just wa
nt to get to
my room
,
lock the door
,
and block everyone out for the rest of the night.

I feel
bad, bad for
Ben and bad for Adam, if he
watch
ed
me kiss Ben on the front p
orch.

I st
ep into my room, dropping the little shawl
dra
ped over my shoulders to the floor. I slip out of my shoes and walk to the center of my small space
.

I need to know if I’m losing my mind or not.

“Adam?” I whisper
into the quiet dimly lit room.

Nothing happens
. No response, no nothing. Maybe I
am
going insane. Maybe that’
s
the best thing for me.  I fall onto my bed pushing my face into my hands. So many things ru
n through my hea
d and I try to block it all out.

I’m
m
entally preparing myself for sleep, when I realize that I’m sitting on something.

I stand and look down at my bed. Lying there, intricately placed, is a beautiful red rose encircled by small white magnolias.

My heart skips a beat.

The Language of Flowers

Quickly, I begin to dig through my bedside table in search of the book that Adam had given me months before. I find it and start flipping through the pages. My fingers won’t move fast enough. 

Since I’ve searched for it before, I instantly find the red rose.

Rose Full Bloom (
Thornless
; red) = I love you; love at first sight.

Tears prickle at my eyes.

Just knowing that I’m not losing it, that Adam is definitely still here with me, fills me with so much happiness and relief.

“I love you too, Adam,” I tearfully whisper into my empty room.

I flip through the pages again in search for magnolias. There are a few different kinds, but one in particular looks exactly like the ones sprawled across my bed. When I see its meaning, I fall to pieces.

Swamp Magnolia (white) = Perseverance

Perseverance—he’s telling me not to give up on him. Adam wants me to keep searching for a way for us to be together again and that’s what I fully plan on doing.

Over the last couple of months of my life, I’ve learned that I can do pretty much
anything that I put my mind to…
literally. If it’s the last thing I do with the magic in my hands, I
will
see his face again
.

The tears keep coming, except this time they’re happy tears.  A strange echoed noise from across the room catches my attention and my tears stop as I look up.

Ghostly, gray eyes slowly begin to appear across from me. They’re shadowy, never fully becoming clear. I blink my eyes trying to rid the blur, but the eyes keep coming in and out of focus. Blurring away one final time, they don’t return. It’s as if my eyes are just out of reach, as if I have to train them to see spirit again.

I give in once more to the tears, now happy and sad. He’s here with me, yet I can’t see him, it’s aggravation at its finest.

I feel a breeze move across my face. My cheeks tingle as the draft lifts my hair from my shoulders letting the air cool the back of my heated neck. Then
a familiar
warmth surrounds me—I instantly feel comfort and I know that that Adam’s holding me.

“Just stay until I fall asleep,” I say out loud.

Acknowledgements

Much appreciation goes out to all the people who supported me and told me to never give up. I would list every name, but honestly there are so many of you. I’m truly blessed to be surrounded by so much love. 

Also, thank you to every person on inkpop.com who read my story and begged for the next chapter, you single-handedly finished this book and I will forever be grateful for every bit of feedback and support received from you guys.

To Regina
Wamba
, thank you for the awesome cover art. You are amazing at what you do and I’m honored to have your work on the cover of my very first book.

To Jessica Baker of Carolina Images Photography for the great author pictures, thank you for being super patient in the Carolina heat. You’re awesome, chick!

Big thanks to all my friends who read and picked through my book. Jessica Stevens, Christina Sweat, Tracy Kyle, Shanna Groves, Angela St Jean, and Laura
Chaulklin
, Anna Leah, Mary Smith, Katie Shelby,
Ruthi
Kight
—you guys are awesome!  I appreciate the fresh eyes and honest opinions. You gave me that extra push I needed and it means more than you could ever know.