Denial (Goblin's Kiss Series Book One) (9 page)

“Well, speech
time with Emma. I love the mystery title by the way. It fits. And
I
’
m
not always arrogant, just when it times well.”

He
did
hear. And he just
walked away from me. As if!

I had to jog to
catch up to him. “
Oh.no.you.don
’
t,
Ames Cahn. I don’
t know who you
think you are showing up here, but you have to tell me what you
know. I can
’
t stand it anymore.” Heck, I
sounded desperate.

He turned to me
now. “I can
’
t tell you that yet,
Emma.”

“What can you tell me, Ames?” I
found it easy to say his name. He seemed to enjoy saying
mine.

Just then, my phone buzzed. I
looked at the accursed text.

Rick.

U STL MY GRL

I erased the text and rolled my
eyes.

He took a sharp
breath. “Emma, you are a very talented girl who needs to be
patient. I can
’
t tell you what you want to know
right now, but I can give you one thing,” he came closer to me. His
hand moved slowly up my arm and lingered on the edge of my sleeve.
Then it skimmed against my cheek with the back of his fingers
brushing my jaw line and then...coldness.

I
didn
’
t even know I shut my eyes. When I opened them, he was gone.
Compliments were few and far between lately, so hearing his threw
me off my balance. I couldn
’
t react the right way to them.
And I was for sure very un-talented.

My heart was a freaking
mess.

Ugh, I
didn
’
t want to think about him. His playfulness and then abrupt
stoppage was grating on me. Sure, he just wanted to be freaky
friends. I knew this by the way he always pulled back just before
he crossed the line into territory that would make me a swoon
sap-happy walking hormone. I was fully aware of this disappointing
fact and hated him more for it. What was worse was why I cared in
the first place. Something weird happened when I touched him and I
was still denying it.

I was completely shaken and out of
sorts for class, but I went.

After class, I
went by home to change and then off to work. I was on work schedule
for senior year and therefore got off school at one
o
’
clock.

I parked in the
outer parking lot of the Townwest Mall. I spent my first hours
organizing clothes and cleaning out dressing rooms. I
didn
’
t hate my job, but it reminded me daily that there were
better things out there.

Well, except the frappes and
cinnamon rolls. They were my Wednesday treat. And since today was
Wednesday, treat day was here.

I stood in line
thinking back over the oddness of the day. I wanted like anything
to see Mr. Mysterious Ames again. I tried to convince myself it was
to get answers, but there where underlying reasons. Reasons I would
just keep denying. I didn
’
t need another failed
relationship and I am still sticking with my senior year
resolution, no boys. Especially ones that came wrapped in danger
like me. Mr. Ames Cahn wasn
’
t helping that
rule.

It was a
pipedream to think someone could show up out of thin air and want
me. Like me. Pursue me. He was here for something else, I just
didn
’
t know what.

I finished the night out and
headed home. In the driveway, the darkness loomed around me. I felt
uneasy and hurried into the house. I parked on the street since I
was always the first one home. My stepparents parked in the
driveway.

Randor walked in with me and
headed off to the mini-office in the corner of the dining room
where they worked. I’d already said a greeting to him before
work.

Both of my stepparents worked
together as teachers at the same school in the next suburb over
from where we went to school. When I arrived each night, it was the
same routine.

“Hi
mom. Hi dad.
” I grabbed a banana from the
bowl on the table and headed up to my room.

Today was only different because
it was the first day of school.

“Hi honey. Enjoy
your first day,” Gale asked while sipping her coffee at the bar
beside the kitchen. She turned the page of the Danielle Steele book
she had in front of her. Get it, Steele. My mom was infatuated with
her books since they shared a last name. Don
’
t think
it
’
s
too weird though, she loves Nora Roberts books
too.

“Yeah, mom. Great
classes.”

“What about Tonya? Any boys you
like?”

“Mom,” I dragged out the
word.

“Okay. Okay. But
you
’
ve moped for months. You can say you have a no boys rule but
we were made for finding and seeking out each other. Several years
from now, he
’
ll come and you need to be sure
you know what you
’
re looking for. You
wouldn
’
t want him to get away.”

I am only seventeen. Sometimes I
think she would marry me off now if she could just to be rid of
me.

“I know. My eyes are open, mom.” I
zipped into my room and bit my lip at the moan my mouth let escape
when my thoughts drifted to Ames Cahn.

I called Tonya and caught up on
her afternoon. Ames was in her last class, Western Civilization. I
took that sophomore year.

We hung up with nothing new for me
to figure out, but the same lack of information as
before.

I let sleep take me.

I followed her
to her home, watched her smile-happy neighbor walk in with her, and
stayed with her till she was back safe in her car and then on to
the little store where she worked in the shopping mall. The guy who
she let in her house, the neighbor, was a tad old for my taste as
in alone time. I didn
’
t see another car parked in front
hinting a parent was home. Luckily, mister “
all smiles
” was outta
there in less than two minutes.

I had several things I had to do
before I could get back to her.

First, I went to
see her realm, her rightful place. I knew what awaited her there
and it wasn
’
t good even if Joshlin
wasn
’
t either. Once, a while back, I
was
friends with the people
of her realm, but one man changed it all.

I faked my way
into the realm and asked to see Caydon, the current stand-in king,
even though I knew very well he was away. His people let me stand
unguarded, as they always did, while they went to get whoever would
be head of the guard in Caydon
’
s absence. I knew them all. Our
realms are in a current state of odds with each other, but I had an
edge only because Caydon despised Joshlin more than
me.

Once alone, I
snuck off to where I
’
d been before to read once more
Jem
’
s future and be sure I was doing the right thing however
wrong it might be. She wasn
’
t mine to keep. Her mother left
her all the facts. It all pointed to one conclusion. One of the
later letters even said it plain as day. Her “extra” powers were
not goblin born. They were something else. Somehow, when
I
’
d
read through them before, I
’
d missed the fact that I was the
enemy until Caydon pointed out that her mom
’
s letters said that I was
the one and only enemy. Or at least, that it was referring to me as
the one Emma can
’
t be with. I still
wasn
’
t sure he was right or if it couldn
’
t be circumvented. But the
other fate, i.e. Joshlin, was worse. I wouldn
’
t let that happen to
her.

Still, it made me take notice to
the fact that she is off limits. Perhaps that is why I can't take
my mind away from her.

A few days ago I
told Caydon I didn
’
t want her anyway. A few days ago
I was all for handing her over to Joshlin and getting back to my
norm. Let the realms corrupt each other for all I
care.

Once I had
confirmed the facts, I slipped out of their realm and whizzed over
to my own. She wasn
’
t safe no matter where she went.
The only solution was to keep her with me. But was that any safer
with the feelings I felt surfacing stronger and stronger the more
we were together and even apart?

On to the other errand.

He was right
where he would always be, eating luxuriously and fawned over by
women who didn
’
t necessarily want to be there,
but were living in the same luxuries if they kept him happy. King
Ares didn
’
t make very wise decisions in the end, but he was a better
king than this slime. I wish I had the strength to make it right,
but destiny doesn
’
t always help the
unfortunate.

He knew I was
there before he acknowledged me. I waited in patience, patience
that usually included inappropriate words even a sailor
wouldn
’
t share out loud. The room was loud, obnoxious and nothing
like my fathers way of running things.

“You saw her then?” Not a glance
my way.

“She is aware of who she is,” I
shared. Kind of.

“She have any power?”

His only need for her was his
thirst for power. So I did what I do best with him, I lied my pants
off. “None that I can see. What amount she does show is unworthy of
harnessing.”

“We
’
ll see once we get her trained or harnessed, whichever comes
first. Are you already moving to that phase,
brother?”

He has no right
to call me his brother when he
’
s not, but it
’
s my own fault
he
’
s
sitting in the king wanna-be seat. I
’
m the reason
he
’
s
king.

He finally
looked up from his female. I hated that these girls only thought
they were beautiful because the jerk gave them attention. They
deserved better than that. Sure, I
’
d drooled over my share, kissed a
few human girls even, but never did I treat them disrespectfully.
And human girls were surer of themselves, confident. Our kind
stayed trapped under the realm and sheltered. I wished for them to
spread their wings. Not go out and not return so to speak, just see
the outside world and appreciate its variety. It led me to
Emma.

“I have already
discussed it with Guard Wicker. He will see her soon and make his
first effort at seeing what she can conjure.” I hated talking like
she was a weapon or dirty or anything else just because Joshlin
knew what she was. He didn
’
t even know the half of
it.

“Very well. You can start
tomorrow. I have a retrieval I need taken care of.”

I panicked
letting all thoughts of hiding her magic flee. I
couldn
’
t leave Emma alone this long. Even while she slept I was
anxious. It was not a feeling or a skill I had ever felt compelled
to act on and it left me scrounging for words. I didn't like it. “I
will send Trigger or Jones. I have only a few hours before I need
to get back.”

He
’
d turned away from me for the last bit, but
I
’
d
piqued his interest. Verdangit!

“Why bother?” His less than kingly
eye turned upward examining my every move.

“No reason. The retrieval will
take more than a few hours and it would appear odd to not be in her
human school for the second day. We want her compliant, not running
scared.”

He opened his
mouth to say something, no doubt that he didn
’
t care if she was
scared. Instead he said, “Alright. Send both. I
don
’
t want a mess-up. An entire set of crops are missing and I
want to know who it was, dealt with, and order
restored.”

Yeah!
Cuz
’
that
’
s a fair king. Whoever stole it
was probably the starved family that provided his spread before him
now. Retrieving runaways and killing off human snoopers was not
what I wanted to do with my life, but there
weren
’
t many choices for my kind outside the realm. Either way, I
wasn’t going back to stay there after this was
over.