Shimmering Chaos (Enchanted Chaos Series ) Page 8

  A purr reverberates from somewhere.

  My gaze tracks the noise to Porter, who’s clutching the life out of the steering wheel as his eyes flicker wildly. Another purr fumbles from his lips, his head turning in my direction, his gaze welding with mine. The most confusing sensations wave through me and a gasp fumbles from my lips.

  “I want…” Porter murmurs, his hands lifting from the steering wheel, and he reaches for me.

  “What’re you doing?” Max’s voice slices through the moment as he reaches for the wheel. “Get your head cleared out before I clear it out for you.” Max’s cold eyes fasten on Hunter. “And you’re usually better at controlling your shit. What the hell’s a matter with you?”

  “I have no idea, but I think it might be the…” Hunter stares at me for an unnerving moment then tears his gaze off me and pats the back of Porter’s seat. “Pull over. I need some fresh air.”

  Porter rubs his lips together, his eyes flashing like fireflies as he rips his gaze off me. Then he takes the wheel back from Max and pulls over onto the side of the road. Without saying a word, he hops out and lifts the seat up before walking away.

  Hunter carefully sits me up and climbs out, shutting the door behind him.

  Silence encompasses Max and me as Hunter and Porter hike away from the car and into the trees.

  Once I can no longer see them, I turn toward Max. “Is everything okay?”

  Max gives a wavering nod, sweeping strands of his hair out of his eyes. “They’re fine. They just needed a time out.”

  “From me?”

  “No… from…” He rubs his hand across his mouth then lets out a sigh, lowering his hand to his lap. “The power that was trapped inside you while you were in that room… some of it ended up slipping down the link between us and it’s making all of us a bit… unsteady.”

  “Did it hurt you?” Did I hurt someone else today?

  He shakes his head then rotates in his seat and reaches out to take my hand. “You didn’t do anything wrong. And this thing with the link… Hunter has an ability to repair broken energies, and is going to work on repairing the link as quickly as he can.”

  “So I broke the link?” And here I thought I was controlling my powers better.

  He shakes his head again. “It’s not really broken so much as… altered.”

  “Altered how?”

  Reluctance creeps across his features. “You’re very full of questions. Not that it’s a bad thing. It’s just…” He closes his eyes and sucks in an inhale before opening his eyes again. “I’m not sure how to answer them.”

  “I’m sorry, but I need to know…” My words fade as his glowing green eyes collide with mine and exhaustion drips into my veins.

  My eyelids start to lower, and I know Max is the one doing it, making me fall asleep.

  The question is, why?

  What could be so bad that he’d knock me out with his powers just to avoid telling me?

  Chapter 9

  When I open my eyes again, I’m lying in my bed and darkness has settled across the sky outside.

  Even with all the sleep, I feel groggy as I sit up and stretch my arms out. On a positive note, a lamp has been left on, so I’m not completely in the dark. But my head is also buzzing with confusion and my stomach is rumbling with hunger.

  As I climb out of bed to go find something to eat, my mind races with questions. Why were Porter and Hunter acting so weird before they got out of the car? And why did Max put me to sleep just to avoid answering my questions? If I’m being completely honest with myself, it kind of annoys me that he hypnotized me again. The next time I see him, I’m going to demand that he stop doing it to me.

  Yep, I’m making it a goal.

  Before I walk out of the room, I check my reflection in the mirror to see if anything that happened to me today did any physical damage. I instantly cringe at how swollen my lip is and the dried blood left over from where Brody bit me.

  Rage simmers underneath my skin, and the sky outside reacts, lightning reflecting across the darkness. I take a few breaths to steady my rage then step out of my room.

  The house is silent as I make my way down the hallway and toward the stairs, not even Kash the faerie is shrieking. I begin to question if anyone is home, but when I walk into the kitchen, Foster’s standing near the kitchen island, cupping the side of his face with his hand.

  His gaze collides with mine as I enter the room, his eyes back to the striking shade of lightning-blue.

  “Hey,” he greets me with a hesitant smile. “How are you feeling?” He shakes his head. “Sorry, that’s a dumb fucking question, isn’t it?”

  “No, it really isn’t.” I pad over to him and lean against the counter. “I’m fine for the most part, but I’m really confused how I got here. The last thing I can remember is being in the car with Porter, Hunter, and Max. Then we had to pull over because Porter and Hunter were acting weird. Max started to explain that they were acting like weirdoes because my power did something wonky to the link, but when I asked him exactly what it did, he got super twitchy and knocked me out with his hypnotizing powers.”

  Foster blinks at me. “Wow, I’m pretty sure that’s the most I’ve ever heard you say at once.”

  “Sorry,” I mutter. “I’m just really confused and starting to get annoyed.”

  “I didn’t mean that as a bad thing. It just means you’re getting comfortable around us.” He shifts his weight and scratches at the back of his neck. “And I’m sorry for what Max did. Sometimes when he panics, he turns to his power. It’s a bad habit of his. He’s been working on breaking it, but fucks up sometimes.”

  “I get it.” Sort of. “But I still don’t get why he made me pass out or why he was panicking to begin with when all I did was ask a question.”

  Foster restlessly drums his fingers against the countertop. “I don’t want to scare you.”

  “You guys lying to me and knocking me out is scaring me,” I point out, crossing my arms.

  “I guess you’re probably right.” He moves his hand away from the counter and turns toward me. “When you were in the room of darkness and your power was trapped inside you, some of it leaked through the link and kind of… spilled into my brothers and me.”

  “Wait… So my powers are actually in you guys right now?” Holy crap, when Max said my powers leaked down the link, I didn’t think he meant my powers actually went into them.

  Panic flares through me and a bolt of lightning zaps across the ceiling.

  Foster places a hand on my shoulder. “Easy, Sky. It’s not as bad as it sounds.” His fingers splay around my shoulder and he holds onto me, his touch singing to sleep the adrenaline soaring through me. “And Hunter is working on repairing the link. Once he does, your power won’t be able to leak into us anymore.”

  “So it’s still going into you guys?” I ask with wide eyes.

  He nods. “But it’s fine. It’s not hurting anyone.”

  “Then why were Porter and Hunter acting so weird? And why was Max so evasive about telling me?”

  “Porter and Hunter always act weird, but even more so right now because your power is energizing their power and making their abilities a bit magnified. And Max was reluctant to tell you this because we knew you’d feel guilty.” His fingers trace a path down my arm. “We can tell from when you talk about your powers that you’ve spent a lot of time worrying that you were going to hurt someone.” When his hand reaches mine, he gives it a squeeze. “But you didn’t hurt any of us. I swear.”

  I search his face for a sign that he’s lying, but all I can see is lightning blue eyes piercing into me.

  “How are you feeling about the other stuff that happened?” He changes the subject and I have an inkling he did it on purpose. “About Brody and being in that room?”

  I smash my lips together, unsure if I want to, or even can, answer him.

  If I let myself think about what happened in that room, I can almost feel Brody’s lips against mine an
d feel the pain of seeing the images that darkness showed me. Particularly the ones of my parents leaving me. Could that be true? Could they have left me? Did they ever care about me?

  Does anyone care about me?

  “I’m not sure how I feel…” I admit. “Did you …?” I struggle to get the words out. “Did you find Brody in that room?”

  Foster’s eyes briefly flash blue, but then he carefully nods. “I did.”

  “Was he …? Was he okay?”

  Foster works his jaw from side to side. “He was okay until I got ahold of him.”

  My stomach clenches. “What did you do?”

  “Nothing he didn’t deserve,” Foster bites out. “Not after what he did to you … And locking you in that fucking room …” An uneven exhale eases from his lips. Then, with his free hand, he brushes his finger lightly across my bottom lip, his face a portrait of pain. With each stroke of his finger, I swear the imprint of Brody’s lips against mine fades.

  “Did …? Did Easton tell you what darkness said to me in that room?” I can barely utter the words, too distracted by how calm his touch is making me feel. “About knowing what I am and the condition I’m in?”

  He nods, tracing his fingers along my hairline and pushing my hair back from my eyes. “I sent a message to my parents about it. I’m not sure if the darkness in that room can actually escape and contact the elemental god of darkness or if it was just trying to screw with you, but they’re going to try to find out. Until then, we’re going to lay low and stay at the house, okay?”

  “But what did darkness mean when it said, the condition I’m in?”

  “I’m not sure. But my best guess is you being locked in that room and that it was draining your powers from you.”

  I take a subtle breath as I attempt to process everything he just told me. How my lips hurt Brody. How my powers seeped into the Everettson brothers.

  I’m such a risk. Why would anyone ever want to be around me? Not that the Everettsons have a choice in the matter, I guess. Well, unless their parents decide to kick my ass to the curb.

  “So, no more school for now?” I attempt to focus on something else instead of my sudden burst of self-loathing.

  He nods. “Not until my mom finds out more about the room of darkness.”

  “What if they do find out it warned the god of darkness?” Not that I’m saddened by the fact that I get a few days off from having to go to that school again. In fact, I’m grateful I don’t have to go back yet.

  Honestly, I wish I never had to return.

  “We’ll figure that out when the time comes. If nothing else, we can attend another school. We just need to make sure you’re well-protected and that darkness doesn’t know where you are. Here, you’re pretty damn safe. There’re enough protection spells around our house.”

  “That’s good.” I work to bottle back the fear creeping through me, but a bit oozes through, making the light bulbs flicker on and off. “So, there’re more schools for elementals on earth?”

  His gaze flits from the flickering light bulbs to me. “They’re a ways away, but yeah.” He draws a path with his fingertip down the side of my face to my jawline, his eyes crammed with puzzling guilt. “I’m so sorry for letting that happen to you. What happened to you while you were in that room was probably awful, and I … I wish … I’m so sorry. I promised you’d be safe, and I failed you.”

  “You didn’t fail me.” I’m taken aback by the guilt in his voice. “Stuff like that happened to me all the time in my normal school. Well, not that I was ever locked in a room of darkness, but one time, some guys locked me in the janitor’s closet. But I’m sure they would’ve locked me in a room of darkness if we had one at our school.”

  “What happened today should’ve never happened. And what happened in your past should’ve never happened either. You never should’ve had to go through any of what you did … Brody …” His fingers twitch and his whole body tightens. “He only did it to get back at me. If I’d just been nice when I turned Sofie down, none of this would’ve happened.”

  “I’m not so sure about that. I briefly met Sofie and her friend, who apparently saw me holding your hand at school—that’s what she was upset about. And besides, if you had to reject her several times, she should’ve taken the hint long before she did.”

  “Maybe.” He studies me, tracing his fingers along my hairline then my jaw. “What all did they do to you? Brody and his lackeys … I know you said Brody kissed you, but …” He swallows, the ground shaking with whatever he’s feeling inside.

  I shrug, but a foul taste burns at my tongue. “Brody made his friend drop my body temperature to a hypothermic level, and then his other friend blasted me with darkness. After that, I blacked out and woke up in that room. Brody was there, and he … well, he tried to kiss me, and then bit my lip when I bit his tongue.” My voice quivers, and I swiftly clear my throat. “But, yeah, anyway, he didn’t get very far before he passed out.” But, did he even pass out? I never did see him afterward …

  Remorse pours from Foster’s lightning-blue gaze. “I’m so fucking sorry, but I promise, that if we return to the academy, you won’t have to worry about Brody or his friends again. From now on, you’re going to feel safe.”

  The way he says I’ll never have to worry about being hurt by Brody again leaves me wondering if he hasn’t told me the full story. That maybe…

  “Did I …? Did my kiss kill Brody?” I blurt out.

  Foster swiftly shakes his head. “No, he just passed out. I swear.”

  Relief trickles through me, but rapidly dissipates. “Did you kill him?”

  “As much as I wanted to, no, I didn’t. When he woke up, I did get a few good punches in and blasted water through his body. Then someone broke up the fight. And since Brody was already on probation, he got kicked out of school.” He sweeps his knuckles across my cheek, watching in fascination as my eyelashes flutter. “Him and his friends who locked you in that room are never allowed on school grounds again.”

  “What about Sofie?”

  “With a bit of practice, you’ll be able to handle Sofie if you need to. Her powers are weak.”

  “I don’t even know how to use my powers properly. Today more than proves that.”

  “What happened today wasn’t your fault. And you’ll learn how to control your powers in time. My brothers and I will make sure of that. In fact, we should probably start as soon as possible.” He lowers his hand from his cheek, revealing a gnarly bruise forming on his skin.

  “Holy shit, did Brody do that to you?”

  He gives a dismissive shrug. “It’s just a little bruise. Brody ended up way worse. He’s lucky I was smart enough to control most of my powers or his ass might have been fried.”

  I place my hand on his cheek, and light skims across my fingers and along the bruise. “Why’s your skin so cold?”

  He lifts the hand he’d been holding against his cheek and lines his palm against the side of my neck. I flinch as a chill bites my flesh and let out a squeal.

  “I used my ice power to make an ice pack.” He withdraws his hand with a trace of a grin on his face.

  Remembering the goal I made to myself earlier, I ask, “Can you show me how to do that?”

  “Sure.” He sets his hand on top of mine, trapping my palm against his cheek. “Just think about coldness seeping through your veins and channel it toward your hand. It also helps to visualize it.”

  I do what he says, and only a handful of seconds later, my hand is as cold as an ice pack.

  He smiles. “You catch on to everything so easily. It makes me wonder how powerful you’re going to be.”

  His compliment makes me blush, but weirdly, it doesn’t make the ice in my hand melt.

  “Don’t be embarrassed about being powerful. It’s a good thing.”

  “I’m not embarrassed about that. It’s just …” Stupid flushing cheeks. “I just don’t do well with compliments … I’m not used to them.”

  �
�I have no idea how that’s possible.” His gaze searches my face. Then he steps forward, backing me up against the counter. “You’re so gorgeous, smart, powerful, funny, and brave. How has no one ever told you that?”

  “Because I’m not any of those things, and I’m definitely not brave. I mean, I cried when I was in the darkness room, for hell’s sake. That’s not bravery.”

  He looks at me solemnly. “That room is made for experienced elemental protectors who’ve had years and years of practice fighting against evil. The fact that you made it out of there and are standing here talking to me, completely sane, proves how brave and powerful you are.”

  “Maybe I’m not sane right now,” I quip, trying to lighten the mood before my powers start to surface.

  His expression is serious as he rests a hand on my hip. “You’re impressive. That’s what you are.”

  His gaze zeroes in on my lips. I remain motionless, more conflicted than I was earlier when he tried to kiss me. I’m not even sure why, or what I want. Maybe it’s the stress of the day. Or maybe it’s because the more time we spend together, the more connected and at ease I feel with him.

  But, do I really want him to kiss me? Does he really want to kiss me? Especially after everything that happened? After Brody just forced a kiss on me?

  His lips never touch mine, though. Instead, he rests his forehead against mine. He doesn’t say anything, just breathes in and out with his hands on my hips. I think I might like him a bit in this moment, for not trying to kiss me when I’m not sure if I’m ready for it.

  As we settle into silence, his power currents into me, warm and calming, and I’m pretty sure some of mine whisks into him.

  While I’ve never actually, really kissed anyone, I wonder if it’s overrated, because there’s no way it could feel better than this … than our powers and this … calm he’s putting inside me.

  “You feel so good,” he whispers, his breath tickling my cheeks. “Like everything and nothing at the same time.”

  I understand what he means. While his touch and power bring a calmness to me, it also pours the most wonderful energy inside me.