A Touch of Souls (Immortal Souls) (11 page)

"What?" I questioned nonchalantly.

"What are you doing?" he asked, eyeing me and all the food on the counter.

"I'm hungry? Don't you guys eat?"

"Yes, we
eat, we just don't really cook all that often."

"Well, I'm here and I'm hungry. So I shall cook," I replied turning back to my business.

"Hmph," came his reply before walking into the living room and plopping down on the couch.

"Hey," I called to him in the living room, "where does Adrian go every night?"

"Not my business," came his vague answer.

"Well, who covered me up last night?"

"I'm not sure. Maybe Adrian came home and did," he answered as if he couldn't care less, but I could tell by his voice that he knew who did it, and I was willing to bet it wasn't Adrian.

"Uh-huh." I went back to making breakfast, and by the time I was finished, Adrian strolled through the door. "Hey, where were you?"

"I had some business to take care of," he answered while throwing a backpack into a chair and making his way to the kitchen. He stopped as soon as he laid his eyes on me and growled, "Why in the hell are you wearing
his
shirt?!"

"Uh, uhm oh, well..."

"Your door was locked and her clothes are being washed. I just gave her a shirt, calm down," Dimitri, thank God, said walking in and saving me. I saw the warning glance Adrian sent Dimitri and I got a little scared. I had never seen this part of Adrian and I didn't like it.

"Well, hey guys, I made breakfast! Want some?" I asked, trying to change the subject and clear the air.

Both of them grunted and helped me in setting the table. I sat at the head of the table to avoid any conflict between the guys, but that proved useless when both sat on either side of me. Breakfast passed in silence, save for the clinking and scratching of utensils on plates. Standing, I didn't even make it to the kitchen before Adrian broke the silence, "Will you please change?" I could just imagine the sneer he was giving Dimitri as I walked to his room, which was miraculously unlocked, and grabbed a t shirt and boxer shorts out of a drawer. Noticing one of my bags on the floor, I took Dimitri's shirt and stuffed it inside. Maybe no one would notice...

I walked back into the living room in my new found attire to find Adrian and Dimitri already arguing, and by the sound of it, they were fighting over me.
But what? Did Adrian know about the kiss?

"She needs to train and she has to do that with me! It has already been determined!" Dimitri was yelling.

"Just like it is
determined
that its forbidden for you to be with her?!"
Wait, what?

"Hey, what are you two arguing about?" I demanded.

"Oh, nothing. Come on, let's go," Adrian answered, tucking me under his arm and turning me away from Dimitri.

"I don't have any clothes!" I exclaimed, pushing him in the chest away from me.

"I'll buy you some, let's just go!" he growled at me. I stepped away from him with my mouth hanging open. Never had I expected him to speak to me like that. Instantly, his eyes softened and he apologized, "Oh my goodness, Gwen! I am so sorry!" Ignoring his apology, I ran through the door and across the street. I didn't care what I was wearing anymore. I knew there was a river near by and that was where I was headed. I needed to be near the water, to control it, let it soothe me.

I didn't know if Adrian had followed me, but by the time I got to the river, I was sure he hadn't because he would have caught up by now. Sitting down, I instantly called a ball of water to me without even having to imagine it in my hand. It felt right to control the
element, to it have bend completely to my will. It brought me a sense of peace to know that there was at least one thing in my life I had the ability to control.

I wondered if I could control all the elements the same way, and as soon as that thought came to mind, I was reminded of when the storm was
effected by my mood. Had that really happened? It felt like so long ago. It seemed like yesterday was the first day of school, but now prom was only a few weeks away. My senior year was going by way too fast! I couldn't even remember any of it! I had no memories of an amazing senior year. This year was supposed to be the best, but here it was, the craziest.

My anger flared, and suddenly there was a ball of fire in my hand.
There's not even fire nearby.
But I had started that fire at Adrian's when I was fighting with Dimitri. Laughing, I threw the fire ball in the air and it disappeared with little more than a thought from me. I couldn't believe what was happening to me. I felt a giggle of hysteria bubble up inside of me, maybe my house and family weren't really gone. Maybe I wasn't some kind of freak of nature and Dimitri and Adrian weren't real. Maybe this was all just a dream, a very long and vivid dream.

"Hey?
You out here?" Adrian's voice called out. I felt my momentary high float away as I realized that this wasn't really a dream and everything that had happened was real. My parents and house were gone, my best friend had turned against me for unknown reasons, and I truly was a freak of nature.

"I'm here," I sighed, letting my head drop into my hands. When had my life become such a train wreck?

"You need to come home, we have a few things to discuss, and as much as I don't like it, Dimitri needs to be there too."

"Have you two always fought like this?" I hadn't seen them fight before they came out with all of this angel war bull shit. Was that what was causing it?

"No, not particularly," he said with a sad smile, reaching out his hand to help me up off the ground.

We rode home in his car in a silence that could only indicate we were both lost in our own thoughts. I kept wondering if I was the cause of the tension between the two, I couldn't help but feel that I was.
And what was forbidden for Dimitri?
They surely couldn't have been talking about me.

"What do we need to talk about?" I demanded as soon as I set foot into the house. Dimitri turned and glared at Adrian before grabbing my hand and leading me to the couch. Adrian cleared his throat and looked at our intertwined hands once we sat down and Dimitri hadn't let go of my hand yet, not that I was complaining

"Your training," Dimitri said, reluctantly releasing my hand.

"Training?
What training?"

"We need to train you to defend yourself. There will be people who want to come after you-"

"Not that I would ever leave you alone," Adrian interrupted.

"WE won't leave you alone unless we have to, but even with us with you, they will try to get to you. Make you try to help them. I have to train you to defend yourself as well as try to work with you on your witch powers," Dimitri continued.

"Oh, yeah! I almost forgot! Look what I can do," I shouted a little louder than necessary, before forming a ball of fire in my hand. I giggled when I saw how well it worked. The two guys watched as I made the ball of fire roll up my arms and around my neck.

"Amazing," Dimitri muttered, before reaching out a hand and trying to touch it. Before he was even able to make contact, he jerked his hand back as the heat warned his hand from further progression.

"That's my girl," Adrian said, putting a little too much emphasis on 'my' and glaring at Dimitri.

"So wait, why do you have to train me instead of Adrian?" I asked, curious.

"Well, I am of higher rank than he is, so the job automatically falls to me," Dimitri responded with a smug smile. I was so tired of this brotherly fighting bullshit.

"I have to go to bed, we have school in the morning," I said with a big yawn to prove my point. School seemed like such a trivial thing at this moment, but I wanted to keep as much "normal" as I could in my life right now. I started to
lay down on the couch like I had the night before, but Dimitri grabbed my arm before I had the chance to lay down completely.

"Hey, you are not going to sleep on the couch. You can sleep in my bed and I'll sleep in here, okay?"

"Uh, why can't I just sleep in Adrian's bed?"

"I have to go
somewhere, I'll be back in the morning before you even wake up, okay?" I was instantly perplexed, earlier, he didn't want me to be around Dimitri, but now he wanted me to sleep in his bed? Adrian's mood swings were giving me whiplash. He leaned in and gave me a lingering kiss before turning around and walking out the door.

"Don't you ever wonder where he goes at night?" I asked, looking at Dimitri.

"Nope."

"And you're not the least bit curious as to why he locks his door when he leaves?"

"Look, I have my secrets, he has his. He doesn't ask me, I don't ask him. It's just how things are."

"Fine, but I am not sleeping in your bed."

"You didn't have a problem with it before, now did you?"

"I have a boyfriend now," I countered.

"You had a boyfriend then, too," he replied with a smirk. Damn it!

Completely ignoring him, I made my way to his room and climbed into his bed. As I pulled the covers up, I noticed him walking into the bathroom. "What the hell are you doing?!" I shrieked. I could not handle knowing he was in there naked and showering whil
e I was lying here on his bed.

"I'm taking a shower? Isn't it obvious?"

"Can't it wait til morning?"

"No. I don't like showering in the mornings," he answered with a wink.

"Fine!" I climbed out of his ridiculously high bed and made my way to the living room. No way was I going to just lay there while he showered right next to me. Too much temptation. After fifteen minutes of just sitting on the couch waiting for him to be done, I felt my eyelids grow heavy and I laid down to close my eyes until he finished.

I woke to the feeling of being raised up into someone's arms and I jerked away, but the grip tightened on me. Looking down, I saw a pair of muscular, tan, and oh so sexy legs covered from the knees up by only a towel.
Oh, Lord.
My gaze traveled up to take in the very defined muscles on Dimitri's chest and I had the urge to run my hands over it.

Dimitri's face was, just like always, breathtaking. He had a five o' clock shadow that made him even more irresistible. His full lips were turned down into a frown and I wanted so badly to just kiss him while he was here, holding me in his arms. His violet eyes got cloudy and I looked away embarrassed that I had forgotten he could read my mind.

"I didn't want you sleeping on the couch," he explained.

"I can walk," I said gesturing toward the floor for him to put me down.

'I don't mind carrying you, really," he answered with a shy smile. There was no denying my feelings for this gorgeous boy. If only I could figure out how he felt about me. Sometimes it felt like he wanted me just as badly as I wanted him, yet there were also days when it seemed like he couldn't even bear to look at me. He carried me into his room and laid me down on his bed. As I caught the scent drifting from him when he set me down, I couldn't help but think of his shirt I still had.

"Goodnight," he whispered before leaning down close to my ear. My breath stopped as I thought he was going to kiss me again. My heart begged for it, pounding deep in my chest. "You can keep the shirt," he chuckled in my ear. I felt my face burn a deep red as he turned and walked casually out of the room.

"No! Please no! Don't hurt him!" I screamed as I watched Jayne take a knife to Dimitri's wings.

"Just go!" Dimitri yelled at me. "You have to get out of he-" his words were cut off by his agonizing scream as Jayne started sawing at his left wing.

"Dimitri!" I yelled trying to get on my feet through the pain of the hole in my leg from the arrow protruding. When I was on my feet, I grabbed the arrow and yanked. Blood poured from the wound as I tried to make my way toward Jayne.

"I have to get you out of here!" Adrian yelled from behind me, grabbing me around the waist and hauling me in the opposite direction of Jayne and Dimitri.

"No! I have to help them!" I yelled, but he was already lifting me off the ground. Before I knew it, we were too high off the ground for me to see anything. "Adrian! We have to help him!"

"He'll be fine,
Angel."
Adrian mocked.

"What's going on?!"
I screamed at him. "You should be trying to help!"

"Oh, I am helping.
Just not you."

"What are y-" I couldn't even finish my question, all I knew was that I was falling. Adrian had dropped me and now I was hurtling fast toward the ground. I was going to die. The world erupted into blue light before I heard Dimitri frantically yelling at me.

"Hey! Wake up!" I felt strong hands shaking my shoulders. "What happened?" Dimitri demanded once I opened my eyes and looked at him.

"Adrian! He's not on our side! He's fallen!"

"It was just a dream, it wasn't real. Adrian could never be fallen, okay? You saw his wings yourself," Dimitri said with a reassuring smile.