Denial (Goblin's Kiss Series Book One) (45 page)

He searched my
body again like before. Revelation hit me. “You
didn
’
t know. I
’
m not telling you where it
is."

If his face could draw in that
fast with one small secret that I could hold, what would he do when
I make sure to keep another one? I felt powerful against the
almighty Ames Cahn.

He looked away from me making me
as restless as him. “Do you want me to tell you?” I sure as heck
should hold this over his head.

Eyes brightening, he nodded and
opened his mouth in anticipation. Ohhh! I loved this power. I
lifted my arm and pointed. His shoulders kind of rose and fell
again.

“I knew it had to be near there.”
His eyes did the dancing thing where his pupils dilated large and
too odd to be human.

“How?” That
wasn
’
t nearly as exciting as the play out in my
mind.

“Because it was too good to true
that you would show me your bare as—bum.”

I think
it
’
s
funny he watches his language in front of me, but also wondered if
he was changing in that way or simply just “watching it” for me for
some other reason. I hoped the first was true.

“Yes. Good assumption.”

Hmm. I wondered if he was
wondering why we both have them. “Why do you think we both have
it?”

“Not real sure. Never met anyone
who did before. Kind of alarming really.” His eyes drew up in
decision.

“You
’
re acting like
I
’
m
the enemy now. Is it a big deal I have a different...birthmark
thingy?”

He shrugged and put both hands in
his pockets. “Yes and no. It depends on what you decide next I
guess, but no, they mean nothing that I am aware of. It is not in
any record book that I have seen.”

He was so allusive in his answers.
I would just have to ask Katelyn if she knew anything about
it.

“Ames, what did Joshlin mean by
the kiss? How did he know?”

His turn to blush. “It simply
means that I screwed up.”

My
horror wasn
’
t
hidden.

“No, not with you necessarily,” he
reached for me placing back of his thumb on my cheek, “just
that...well according to legend, the true heir will kiss his
beloved signifying that she is his queen only if he is true of
heart to only her and all that jazz.”

All that jazz was some powerful
mojo. And Joshlin lacked a sore amount of it. “But you were bound
to me long before I even knew about the real you with just touching
each other,” I protested.

If it was possible, he blushed
more. “I guess I knew deep down then that you were my
queen.”

Hmmm!
“Nevertheless, it will all work out. You will not give up anything
for me and I will be sure the realm hears what I have to say. I
can
’
t go back to the life I had before.”

“Nor I,” he said sure of himself,
his green eyes dancing.

“Then we are in
this together,” I tried very hard to sound sure of myself. I craved
more than just together, but I wasn
’
t ready for
that.

“I
wouldn
’
t want it any other way.”

A few weeks went
by and I tried tirelessly to make sure Emma
’
s life was as “normal” as I
could make it. Between high school, after school classes to
increase her powers with Wicker and Katelyn, and the nights with
me, we were officially busy. I let my own school time go telling
her I
’
d been out of school for three years and that a few days were
only bearable because she was there.

Emma
made a huge deal of
announcing to the realm a thank you to Wicker in honor or his
father. She gave the ole “I wouldn
’
t be here today without him” and
I thought Paul Wicker might kiss the ground she walked on before it
was over, he was so moved by it. I harped on him for days for
looking like he might shed tears in front of others. It
wasn
’
t that I thought it made him a wuss, it
’
s just that
he
’
d
been this hardnosed, hard to crack mess like myself so I knew where
he was coming from. It was me going through the same motions until
I met a girl who changed and made me into a whole person instead of
this half carried shell of a man who hated the
world.

Emma just doesn
’
t realize she has more than
physical power inside her. She has the power to move mountains with
her keen sense of people
’
s needs and ability to help them
when they need it the most. She could have walked away that first
day, denied it all and left me for the vultures. She was born to be
the queen this realm needs but she still denies it.
It
’
s
this that makes her perfect for our people. A humbling leader is
something they
’
ve never seen.

My days were
spent rebuilding the realm and making changes. Joshlin was securely
locked up in a little house on the other side of the mountain with
an entrance inside to be able to breathe. I didn
’
t want him to
suffer...too much.

Caydon was never
far, watching and waiting. I
’
d slipped up and mentioned I
wasn
’
t alone when I saw her in my younger years. Caydon changed
after that. A day after finding her, his elder entrusted the
queen
’
s journal in his care. Emma
’
s mother. Caydon
wasn
’
t my friend anymore just like Wicker became my closest after
that. To a ten-year-old boy, that was your whole
world.

Emma was the
light in my darkness. It is a very centered cliché but I can
testify that it describes exactly where I
’
ve been and where I am now.
Her smile at the end of the day is indescribable.

I finally told
her that her mother was human like my own. She
wasn
’
t surprised since I told her early on she was only half
goblin and didn
’
t dwell on it
much.

She asked about
the eyes finally. I wondered when she would. I explained that it
tended to only be in the dominant males of our realms who were true
heirs, but I was the first to have eyes like my own. Since Joshlin
and Caydon were sideshow acts, their eyes didn
’
t react the same. In
fact, you
’
d never notice the difference if the two of us were not
around. At the time, she and I are the only living heirs in our
area. Until one of us had a son, another male
wouldn
’
t have the same trait. We were still different from even the
other realm leaders. A fire lit in the eyes of the true leader of a
realm, but both Emma and my eyes were different than even them.
Describing the difference is like showing the difference between a
sixty-watt light bulb for the norm, a seventy-five watt for the
goblin kings of the past, and a hundred high wattage incandescent
bulb for the two of us. They just didn
’
t compare.

Of course, mentioning children
among our conversation was a tad uncomfortable in the first
place.

Her eyes...I
didn
’
t know for sure. Once again, the females of our realms never
had any amount of enhanced powers or visible traits that made them
stand out but she was something new to her realm. The only heir
that was a female.

I decided to
focus on the traits and have centered on whether they half came
from her mother
’
s side. I would investigate that
later. I didn
’
t want anyone very personally
acquainted with Emma to ask about her eyes except for me. I hoped
no one would ever be that close to her again.

With only a few months to go
before graduation now, Emma is planning to move out of the house
with her stepparents and into my realm. With me.

I
haven
’
t found a way to make that easy on her yet except that she
doesn
’
t fit in at the house she grew up in. She belongs with
me.

But I will wait
for when she is ready. For now, Katelyn had her father completely
redo the room Emma stayed in before stripping every pile of lace
into a burn pile. Emma left school early one day last week for the
“burning of the frilly” as she called it. She wanted band posters
and a CD player as her only requests. I didn
’
t even know she liked
music that much.

I confirmed with
Wicker
’
s snooping around that Caydon was indeed behind the attack at
the coffee shop. He wants her for his own and rightfully deserves a
chance. I just wasn
’
t ready to give him that chance
yet. I wanted what I wanted even if it was selfish and short
lasting.

Once, I told her
the reasons I kept so many secrets from her. After explaining that
first day I met her and how she was far from evil, I told her that
my greatest fear was her thinking I only liked her for who and what
she was. That some “destiny” was the only reason she would want me.
But she knew none of that and still felt as strong as I did. She
didn
’
t like me telling her how much I knew she wanted me in the
beginning. She didn
’
t like that at all. But she did
repeat several times how she could read me. Oh, the
possibilities.

Saying goodbye
to Phillip and Gale would be hard since they did take care of me my
whole life, but they were far from loving parents. They had always
considered me the freaky adopted child who lived with them. It was
easier to ignore me than face my individualized talents, as I like
to call them. Once in junior year, I overheard them talking while
Tonya and I were brushing our teeth from a long night of vampire
movies and popcorn. It was after midnight and I
’
d assumed they were
asleep long before, but through the vent in the bathroom I heard my
stepfather distinctly say, “We need to check her into a
hospital.”

The other voice belonged to my
stepmother who told him, “No, she only has a year and half of
school. After that, we will send her to college. Let her leave on
her own.”

“But we have to pay for
it.”

“No, she is a ward of the state
still. She can file for financial aid and be out of our
hands.”

How could they
care so little about me? I didn
’
t choose to be the way I am. That
night, I curled up and let Tonya pick all the movies. She knew
something was wrong, but never said. I was so grateful to her as a
friend even if sometimes I wasn
’
t the easiest to be friends
with.

And
that
’
s where I am now. At school, with my best friend, getting
every bit as excited as the rest of the senior class about being
done with high school. Where my friends were headed off to the
universities, I had no doubt what my future held.

And it
wasn
’
t at the part time job I was so ready to quit. Ames kept
telling me money wasn
’
t an issue for me anymore. I was
finally convinced. He didn
’
t understand that I wanted to
keep myself from becoming too dependent and turning into some kind
of vile rich kid like person who didn
’
t appreciate what I had. But then
I realized something, I wouldn
’
t. I didn
’
t need things. I never
have.

The goblin realm
was where I belonged with a gorgeous king named Ames. I wanted it
more than I wanted anything in my life. I didn
’
t want to just go off
and get married or anything, but get to know him better and work as
a team to restore the realm as it truly should be. The influences
of both our fathers continue to taint the surface tension of the
crowd sometimes, but Ames is really great at diffusing the
masses.

I told him two
weeks ago about my “plan” in life. He
’
d joined my friends and I after
school for tacos letting me play hooky from
Wicker
’
s lesson. Tonya was the master at getting me to go against
the rules and it didn
’
t take much to convince Ames.
He
’
d
eat anything, anywhere. I invited Katelyn and she had the time of
her life. She threatened Wicker with staying with me and going to
high school, she had so much fun. My friends liked Katelyn
too.