Broken (The Immortal Coven Book 1) (5 page)

There was more, I could sense it. If there was one thing I’m good at, it’s smelling a baloney statement a mile away. Case in point: the Santa Claus lie only lasted till my 4
th
Christmas. The moment my mother started with the, ‘you better watch out’ nonsense – I knew she was lying.

“Some girls who want me to be friends with them claim to be witches. How do you know Dmitri?” I asked her again, this time looking at him. The same flicker of baloney filled his eyes as well.

Had I not just almost kissed this boy? And here he seems so different again.

“You will have that, Celia.” Aunt Olivia interrupted. “The kids here are still trying to find out who they are and spend way too much time watching television.” She hesitated, throwing a sideways glace at Dmitri, “and as far as your little buddy here, I’ve seen him around lately. The question again is, ‘Why is he in my house?” she finished.

My spine straightened at the sound of her authoritative tone. “He’s one of my classmates.”

“A classmate you kiss then?’ she stated, the palm of her hand fixing itself on the crook of her hip.

I sighed, “Whom I choose to kiss is none of your concern.”

“The hell it isn’t. Until you’re 18, you are my responsibility. You will not be making bad choices under my watch young lady.”

Once again, the ‘Young Lady’ title was shoved in my face. Don’t adults realize that speaking to the teenage youth takes an ounce of finesse?

I nodded my head just once, followed by the roll of the eyes. The glass landed hard in the sink and I was done speaking for the time being.

“Dmitri, you ready?” I asked him, prompting that we were leaving, and now.

If there was anything I had learned in the past four weeks, it’s been that arguing with Aunt Olivia is absolutely pointless. She is bent on making sure I feel like I’m a child and understand that as a child I am restricted to limits.

Luckily, she didn’t stop me from walking out the front door. Dmitri followed slowly, made a quiet comment to my Aunt and closed the front door behind him.

“Maybe I should just go home. I don’t want to cause any problems between the two of you.” He suggested.

I took in the site of him standing on the porch of our house. Just before, when he was about to kiss me, he’d said that I had the power to derail him from his every choice. Staring up at him this very moment had me questioning that.

“Let’s go for a walk.” I suggested, testing his statement.

“Why not, maybe the fresh air will get your mind off of what just happened?” he countered quickly. Walking past me and heading for the road.

Funny how he would want me to forget the one exciting thing that has happened to me in the past few weeks. I’d never thought before to ask him where he lived, and as he was walking I suppose I just assumed he lived close by but then I recalled his car from the other day.

“Car ride?” I asked, fishing for the information.

He turned the moment he reached my gate, “Sure, why not. I only live a block or so away.”

A walk, then a car ride. Sure, why not. It would also shine some light into his family life, something we hadn’t talked about.

Taking the first few steps, my compliance forced a smile on his face.

After about a minute or so of trekking up the sidewalk in silence, Dmitri gave me a sideways glance.

It felt like he was taking his time, waiting for the right moment to bring something up. My reaction to this behavior has always been the same: “Spit it out.” The command followed by a giggle of my own.

He chuckled, the softness returning to his features, and everything seemed normal again, “I’m sorry about earlier. I guess I lost my head.”

Instinctively, I asked, “Are you referring to our ‘Almost’ kiss?”  God knows I wouldn’t mind stopping the walk to pick that up where we left off. Not that I would ever admit it to him, however.

Without looking over to me, “Yeah, that. We probably shouldn’t go that route.” He started, “I mean, look at your Aunt’s reaction to me. She obviously has some issues with you spending time with boys.”

“She has issues with everything, Dmitri. Don’t take it personally.” My eyes dropped towards the path, the concrete under our every step seeming ancient. “She is just very over protective. It has to do with my mom’s death.”

“Are you sure about that?” he asked abruptly, clearly regretting having said it. “I’m sorry. It’s none of my business.”

“I am curious why she reacted that way when she saw you. It was like she has something against you, but she doesn’t even know you.”

“Like she said, she’s seen me around.” The way he repeated Olivia’s statement left me unnerved.

“Here is me.” He interrupted my thinking, pointing to a two story house on the top of a perfectly manicured hill of lush green grass. It was gorgeous.

“Wow!” was all I could muster.

I followed behind him as we walked up the driveway. He stopped at his car but my sight was set on the house. By the looks of it, his family was well off.

I’d never noticed the house before, and it could be because the trees at street level block the full extent of the concrete structure, but it was one of the biggest houses in Brooksville I’d ever seen.

“No one is home.” He interrupted my thought.

I looked over and realized he was waiting for me at his car.

“It’s beautiful.”

“Thanks.” was all he replied, basically waiting for me to come back to where he was.

Fine. He didn’t want to show me his house. He didn’t have to say it for me to catch his drift.

Shrugging my shoulders and heading his way, I realized our little adventure was going to be on his terms. As I reached the car door, he flashed me a smile that spoke volumes. We were spending time together…not sharing it with anyone else.

“You ready?” he asked, his tone clear with concern.

“Yes.” A three letter word I could find myself using with him a lot.

We got into the car and within moments the Charger roared to life. It was then, I understood why he asked me if I was ready. The black leather interior superficially gripped my soul and did little to protect the underlying fear.

“Take a breath, Celia.” Dmitri ordered.

I shifted my face to him and saw clearly how worried he’d become. His forehead filled with several deep crease lines.

Had I done that? Did I look so terrified sitting in the front seat of his unmoving vehicle?

Closing my eyes tight, I released the air I had involuntarily been holding. Doing as he said was easier than I thought it would be.

“We don’t have to go anywhere, you know. We can just sit here and talk.” His voice now thicker; masculine even. I had to look up at him to make sure he was being serious.

“I just…” I stammered, “I think I just need a minute.”

His hand reached out and took mine in his own. I intertwined my fingers with his and just looked at our clasped hands. “I’ll give you all the minutes you need.” He whispered.

“I was in a car accident a little over a month ago.” I admitted to him. I could feel the knot in my throat already forming.

“Yeah, I know” he replied, shifting his view out the front windshield. The manner in which he said it stirred an inner alarm.

“How do you know?” I breathed, my voice scratched, the curiosity more as to what the town had gossiped about regarding my mother’s death.

“We live in Brooksville, Celia. One thing I’ve learned since I moved here is how fast news travels, and your mom had a lot of friends in this area.” He paused, looking at me again. “The accident was all over the newspaper, along with your picture. I learned about it just like everyone else.”

“I hadn’t realized.” I murmured to myself, vainly wondering which picture they’d chosen to go along with the article.

“I was in an accident once; a long time ago. It took a considerable amount of time for me to be the person I was before then. If it hadn’t been for a friend, I probably wouldn’t be here today.”

“Are you trying to tell me you want to be that person for me?” I asked him sarcastically.

“Don’t knock it. I’m a really good friend. I know how to make soup for when you’re sick, cupcakes for birthdays, and I can even keep up with Calculus.” He chuckled to himself.

“Hmmm…” I pondered where he was going with all this.

“So basically, what you’re saying is that I would be foolish not to be your friend.” I started, shifting so I was comfortably facing him in the leathery seat.

I watched as his body followed mine.

“Absolutely.” He grinned. “But that’s all I should be…your friend.” He added as a warning.

“That’s all I need, Dmitri.” I shot back, my eyes falling back to his hand holding mine. The warmth transferring from each palm.

“Yeah, well…” he stammered, letting go of it as if it was poison. “There are boundaries I suppose I haven’t learned yet.”

“Those should be clear from the start of this friendship. It would make things simpler.” I added.

Nodding his head, he faced the steering wheel and sat just a tad straighter. The idea of a clear friendship with a female obviously challenging him.

“Friends typically have each other’s backs.” I offered as a starter.

He nodded several times, “That will never be a problem…” he trailed off.

With a tilt of my head, “and what might be a problem?” I questioned.

He threw me a sideways glance, “I don’t argue much. I’m not into the drama of it all. These girls here, they seem to thrive on the drama of social life.”

While I hadn’t spent much time with these girls he was referring to, if today was any indication of what I was in store for in the female department, I knew why he wasn’t interested in any of them.

“I get what you mean.” I agreed, “I’m also not much for being treated like a child. If you disagree with me on something, tell me like it is.”

“I think I can do that.” He smiled the gleam in his eye returning.

“…and what almost happened earlier at my house, us almost kissing…we shouldn’t go there. It will get really confusing and I’m too messed up right now to have you messing with my head.”

“You’re not messed up; you’re just dealing with life.” He began. “The path you were on changed, and now you need to find your own path.”

“Sometimes you sound like such an adult. You seem like a completely different person from the boy I met.”

“Am I to take that as a compliment or worry that you think I have a multiple personality disorder?”

I busted out laughing but only because at one point today I think it had crossed my mind that he suffered from something of that nature. “You can take it as a compliment for the time being, but if you do it often I may have to say something to your parents.”

As I giggled at my own statement I realized what I said affected him. The mere mention of his parents had him on edge.

“I’d rather you not talk to my parents at all if it were possible.” And with that, the shadow of darkness and mystery shrouded upon him once more.

“What’s wrong with your parents?” my asking was more to understand his reaction.

“They are not around much.”

“So, you are alone all the time?” I questioned.

“Basically.” he retorted.

“I’m sorry. Sounds like a difficult way to grow up.”

“I’ve managed. It keeps me… in line. It’s when I do something against their wishes that I am faced with a difficult time.”

“For example?”

Again, I noticed an inner struggle. He fidgeted with the wheel and shook his head.

“We all have our demons, Celia. No one is perfect.” Was all he said. He turned the key in the ignition and silenced the humming engine. The soft music that had been playing in the background stopped and all I could hear was the beating of my own heart.

My hand reached out and touched his cheek, instantly making his face turn into the palm of my hand. His eye lids closed, and his lips pressed softly to the inner part of my palm. The warmth of his lips jumbled my reasoning.

“My mother always used to say that perfection is in the eye of the beholder,” I paused, softly and slowly moving the thumb across the softness of his jaw line, “from where I sit, you are pretty darn close, Dmitri.”  I sighed softly.

“I think you are going to have to get used to being confused, Celia.” He whispered into my hand, his eyes opening and peering into mine. The hue once more playing tricks with my mind. Were they dark brown, or really a dark blue?

“Why is that?” I asked, the words merely a whisper. My body too seemed to be inching closer to his.

“Because as hard as I try, I’m having a hard time fighting this pull.” He replied just as his lips hovered over mine.

I’d dreamt of a moment like this once. I was being lured into a kiss and my whole body had become powerless, and even if I would want to fight the attraction, I couldn’t, wouldn’t be able to.

He the powerful giant and I the tiny little flower. Pulling me up from the ground, he gripped more than my limbs….he tore my being from its center and kept me as his prize.