Chasing Secrets (Capturing Magic Series Book 4) Read online

  I kind of feel glowy inside my chest right now, but it’s not because of my powers. No, it’s something different, something new and foreign and unknown, and that scares me but also makes me curious to find out what it is.

  And there’s a ton of things I could say at that moment—monumental and meaningful things—but all I can manage is, “Thank you.” And then, to try to lighten the mood, I add, “You must have a thing for polishing. I’ll make a mental note of that.” I don’t really mean it in a sexual way, but when his cheeks turn pink, I realize maybe he means it in that way. And then I start to blush.

  Jeez, aren’t we really two peas in a pod? Well, two created creatures in a closet.

  “So, what do you want to know about me?” He changes the subject.

  I was originally planning on asking him basically what he just told me.

  I rack my mind for a question and end up saying the first thing that pops into my mind. And I instantly regret it. “Have you ever been in love?” Why did I just ask that? Out of all the things, with the curse still hanging over us, after he just touched me practically everywhere …

  He appears a bit uneasy about the question, too, his fingers twitchy on my face like he wants to pull away but doesn’t.

  “No,” he answers, and I’m not sure if I like the answer or not.

  On the one hand, it makes my stomach plummet, thinking about the women he may have been with, but on the other hand, I know how lonely life can be without love.

  “I’ve honestly barely been with anyone … intimately, which complicates falling in love since, to do that, you have to get close to someone.” He grows squirmy. “And like I’ve kind of told you before, not a lot of creatures want to get close to a cyborg. And that’s a normal cyborg. Who the hell knows how creatures would react if they found out I had a heart?”

  “I like that you have a heart,” I tell him, looping my arms around the back of his neck, wanting to comfort him like he did with me moments ago. “It makes you seem special, which you are.” I smile so he knows I’m telling the truth.

  He stares down at me in confused wonderment. “You know, over the last few weeks, I try to think back and remember what it was like before I met you, and all I can see is darkness.”

  My heart aches for him. “I hope it’s not like that anymore.”

  “No, not at all. It’s light now. Bright light.” He raises his hand to touch my face while leaning in to kiss me. And I fully plan on letting him. But over the sound of my excited heart, I hear a throat clear from somewhere in the room.

  “Okay, as much as I hate to break up this little moment,” East says, “we really do need to talk with you.”

  And just like that, the little bubble Arrow and I somehow built around us pops as I’m reminded of everything going on.

  But the thing that keeps me going is that, while a lot of bad shit is happening right now, there’s also a little good. And it’s the good I hold on to, because if I don’t, I’ll end up crumbling.

  Harlynn

  After East pops the bubble that Arrow and I had built around ourselves in that closet, we both start to panic.

  “What’s wrong?” Arrow asks East.

  “Can I talk to you out in the hallway for a moment?” East says to Arrow, giving him a pressing look.

  Okay, when East first said, “We really need to talk to you,” I thought he meant both Arrow and me, but apparently not.

  Confusion crosses Arrow’s expression. “Yeah, sure.”

  East offers him a tight smile then heads for the doorway. Right before they walk out, though, East glances back at me. Usually, he’s sporting an impish grin, but his smile is different this time. I can’t even put my finger on why that is. Then he looks away and steps out into the hallway. And I’m left wondering what in the worlds they’re talking about.

  While I don’t want to eavesdrop, I find myself wishing I could hear what they were saying. It’d be wrong, though, to listen to them. Sure, I’ve done it in the past, but that was before I trusted them. Apparently, my ears have a mind of their own, because I can suddenly hear everything they’re saying as clearly as if they were standing right beside me.

  “How bad is the snow right now?” Arrow is saying.

  “It’s pretty bad. And it’s currently snowing at an alarming rate,” East tells him. “I haven’t been here in ages … I forgot how shitty the weather is.”

  That’s what they’re talking about? The weather?

  Okay, then.

  I start to shut down my newfound super-hearing when I hear East mutter, “Asher and I need to talk to you about something. Something important. And while we don’t really have time right now to get too into it, I feel like, considering you and our little mouse seem to be getting really close, I should probably tell you what the conversation is going to be about.” He pauses. “That thing Max told Asher … that way … Asher and I have been talking, and we both think we should try it. That is, if you’re on the same page. I’m not really sure if you are or not, since you barely said anything about it when we first brought it up. And this has never really been your thing, but then you were in there with her doing gods know what…” He pauses again. “What were you doing in there?”

  “What the hell kind of question is that?” Arrow asks, his discomfort ringing in his tone.

  “The kind of question that you’ll need to be comfortable with if this is going to work,” East stresses. “That is, if you want to make it work. Like I said, you’ve barely said anything about this, so Ash and I really don’t have a fucking clue what to think.”

  Arrow remains silent for a beat. “Are you guys …? Are you guys okay with it?”

  “At first, I wasn’t sure,” East admits with a bit of uncertainty in his tone. “I mean, it’s not like I haven’t done anything like this before, but that was always on a sexual level. Never an emotional one. With Harlynn … she’s a little bit different, and this … it would be different than the stuff I’ve done in the past.”

  “I like that she’s different,” Arrow tells him.

  “I completely agree. And while I’d love for this to fucking work, it’s that she’s different that’s going to make this a little bit more complicated than what we’re all used to. And you’ve never even done anything like this—you’ve barely done anything at all—so you need to make sure that you can handle it. Because, if you can’t, we … well, I’m not sure what we’ll do, but we can’t tell Harlynn about this until we’re all on board with the plan. And even then, telling her about this is going to complicate stuff.”

  What in the worlds are they talking about?

  “I know … I want to be able to handle it. I just … I barely have any clue what I’m doing,” Arrow says with a heavy sigh.

  “None of us really do. However, I really do believe that if anyone can handle this, it’s us. We’ve all been through a lot of shit in our lives, and I think, if we can make this work, it could be worth it—all that shit we’ve been through to get to this point in our lives.”

  “Maybe,” Arrow mumbles.

  They grow quiet after that, and I think they may have wandered out into the living room. I know I should get up and follow so we can get this show on the road, but I keep replaying what they said. They’d been so vague that I’m not even positive what they were talking about. But every word they uttered seemed to center around something that Maxton told them about me.

  And with everything Maxton knows about me, it has me worried. Really, really worried.

  Harlynn

  It takes me a minute to talk myself into leaving the room, but eventually, I work up the lady balls to do it. When I enter the living room, all the guys are there, drinking some sort of lavender liquid from crystal glasses and talking about something called an energy reader. And all of them are bundled up in more clothes than I’ve ever seen them wear.

  Asher is sporting a leather jacket over a hooded one, gloves, black pants, and studded boots. East has on a button-down coat, thick boots,
grey pants decorated with chains, and a knitted cap is on his head, wisps of his blond hair hanging out of it and falling into his eyes. Arrow has on the same outfit I saw him in earlier; only, he’s added a black pocketed coat over it. And Maxton is wearing all black from his unlaced boots to a hoodie. His black hair is also damp like he just got out of the shower.

  Seeing all of them bundled up makes it evident how un-bundled up I am. Arrow had mentioned something about me wearing a coat over my outfit, but then he never picked one out. I guess I could always pick one out for myself. I mean, I used to be competent enough to pick out my own outfits, but I kind of like when he picks out my stuff.

  Stop being so ridiculous and just go pick out your own coat, Harlynn.

  Rolling my eyes at my own dumbassness, I turn around to do just that. The movement captures all of their attention, and their gazes drift to me.

  As soon as Asher sees me—well, the outfit I’m wearing—his brows rise. “What the hell are you wearing, little thief? You’re going to freeze to fucking death.”

  “Hey, I was just about to go put on a coat,” I protest. “I just forgot to before I walked out here.”

  He rubs his lips together, his smoky gaze flicking up and down my body. “Arrow picked that outfit out for you?”

  I nod, glancing at Arrow, who is busying himself with pouring a drink. “Yeah.” I return my gaze to Asher. “Why?”

  “It’s nothing.” Asher glances at Arrow, his gaze burrowing a hole into him. “I’m just starting to wonder if our drummer might have a thing for you in corsets.”

  Arrow massages the back of his neck then turns to Asher with a drink in his hand. “I like the way she looks right now,” he says, glancing at me then focusing on his drink.

  “I’m sure you do,” Asher tells him. “She always looks lovely, right?”

  I’m not certain what’s happening, but something definitely is. I’d be worried, except East looks positively amused by the entire exchange, his lips curled into a grin. Even Maxton has a hint of a smile on his face. Asher’s expression, though, is unreadable. And so is Arrow’s. Well, that is until he lifts his gaze from his drink and fixes his attention on Asher, carrying his gaze.

  “Yeah, she does,” he replies with a hint of a challenge in his eyes.

  Asher cocks a brow in response, the edges of his pale blue lips tugging upward.

  The room goes so quiet you could hear a speck of pixie dust drop.

  “Um … what in the faeries is going on?” I break the silence. “Why are you all acting like twitchy troll babies?”

  Asher’s gaze skates to me. “Troll babies aren’t twitchy, little thief. They’re blobby lumps that barely move at all.”

  “Seems like my statement’s pretty accurate, then,” I quip with a haughty smile, “since you’re all just standing around here, not moving, arguing about corsets.”

  East snorts a laugh, nearly choking on his drink. Maxton glances at all of us, amusement flickering in his haunted eyes. Arrow scratches his nose, I think to conceal a smile. Then he mutters, “She’s sort of right.”

  Asher rolls his eyes then fastens his gaze on me. “You’ve got my cyborg wrapped around your little finger. Do you know that?”

  I sneak another glance at Arrow. As I briefly lock eyes with him, images of what happened between us in the closet flash through my mind.

  Before I start to blush, I look back at Asher. “I do not have him wrapped around my finger,” I insist, because I don’t want to have anyone wrapped around my finger. I want to have the kind of friendship where, if Arrow doesn’t want to do something that I want him to do, he won’t. I want to have the sort of friendship I didn’t have with Jason. Not that I had Jason wrapped around my finger. No, sadly, I think it was the other way around.

  “You do, too,” Asher disagrees then downs his drink in one long gulp. “It’s fine, though. I think Arrow might like being wrapped around your finger.” When Arrow makes no effort to protest, Asher sets the glass down onto the counter and eyes me over. “As lovely as you look, you really do need to go put on a coat.”

  I give him a salute then spin back around and hurry toward my room. The moment I’m out of their view, I release a shaky breath that I wasn’t even aware I was holding in. But holy intensity, that was a lot to take in—the looks they kept giving each other, and then the intense looks they kept giving me.

  Hopefully, it’ll get easier, because I really do need to start breathing properly when I’m around them.

  Crossing my fingers that’ll happen, I enter my room and start toward my closet when I hear footsteps from behind me. A second later, the scent of spun sugar engulfs me, letting me know East is right behind me.

  “What? Can’t I go into my closet without an escort?” I joke as I peer over my shoulder at him.

  He grins, splaying his fingers across the small of my back as he moves up behind me. “You could, but what’d be the fun in that?”

  “It’d give me some alone time,” I quip with a grin. “Something I’m in desperate need of.”

  “Is that true?” He seems genuinely interested.

  I want to say yes just so he won’t get the upper hand of knowing I don’t like being alone. But the lie won’t leave my tongue, and he grins, totally pleased.

  “You’re such a little liar,” he mocks then spins me around and dips his head, grazing his lips across mine. “Don’t worry, though; even your lies taste delicious.”

  My knees shake a bit from his touch, and I place my palms against his chest to steady myself, only to discover that his heart is beating wildly, which is weird. East has always seemed like a calm creature.

  “I don’t even know what that means,” I tell him.

  He drags his teeth along his bottom lip. “It means, everything about you tastes delicious. Your scent … your skin …” He traces his fingers along the side of my arm, sliding them up to my shoulder then to the back of my neck. “You’re all sugar and sweetness. Makes me wonder what other parts of you taste like that.”

  I blast him with a nasty look, but he just grins.

  “Don’t pretend like you don’t want me to find that out, too, little mouse.” He dips his head and brushes his lips across mine. When he pulls back, he captures my bottom lip between his teeth and bites it gently. I let out a soft whimper, and he pulls back, smiling. “I think you like that.”

  “No,” I try to lie, but then sigh, knowing my little whimper was proof that I did like it. “Fine. I did.”

  Smiling, he slants in toward me. At first, I think he’s going to kiss me again and my stomach flutters with excitement. But he ends up moving his lips toward my ear, causing those flutters to fizzle with disappointment.

  Thank gods he can’t hear what I’m thinking right now.

  “You know, the more you tell me what you like, the better I can make you feel,” he whispers in my ear, his lips softly grazing my skin. “Like, for example, now that I know you like me biting your lip, I can try biting other parts of you.” He grazes his teeth along my earlobe.

  I whimper again, gripping his sides.

  “I take it you liked that,” he says with a drop of amusement.

  I can barely focus on anything else but the tingles kissing every inch of my flesh, but I manage to bob my head up and down.

  “Good pet,” he whispers.

  I turn my head to glare at him, but he moves his mouth to the arch of my neck and bites the sensitive area. I gasp, digging my fingernails into his flesh as so many wonderful sensations spin through me that I can barely remember where the hell I am.

  He kisses the spot softly before leaning back and looking me in the eye. “See? The truth isn’t so terrible, right?”

  I’m still so riled up that my normal instinct to lie doesn’t come to me. “It’s not that the truth is so terrible,” I admit dazedly. “I just don’t like feeling clueless.”

  He settles one of his hands on my waist then brushes strands of hair out of my face. “What do you feel clueless about?�
��

  I shrug. “Stuff … Like kissing stuff … and other stuff … I don’t even know what I’m doing …” I bite down on my tongue as he struggles not to grin. “You know what? If you’re gonna laugh at me, just forget I said anything.” I move to step out of his hold, but he tightens his grip on my waist and holds me in place. Then he splays his fingers along my cheek and angles my face toward him.

  “I’m not laughing at you,” he assures me.

  “Maybe. But you were smiling amusedly at me.”

  “That’s because you’re amusing.”

  “You think my inexperience is amusing?” I question dubiously.

  “Honestly?” he asks.

  I nod, even though I think it’s more of a rhetorical question.

  “Not really.”

  I’m unsure how to respond to his statement or how I even feel about it, since I’m unsure what he even means.

  And here comes clueless Harlynn, appearing in the worst of moments.

  “To be even more honest,” he continues, “it makes me kind of nervous.”

  “What?” That so wasn’t something I ever expected to come out of his mouth. “How?”

  He elevates a shoulder. “I’m not used to having to be careful with a creature.”

  “Oh.” I struggle not to frown. I feel like a freak of nature, but I guess that’s exactly what I am.

  “Har,” he says, and my heart flutters at his use of my name. Well, a close version to it. “I don’t mean that in a bad way.” He grazes his fingers across my cheek. “I’m nervous because I want to be careful with you, but I’m worried I might fuck it up.”