Five: A Maor Novel (Maor series) (27 page)

Chapter
46

Love

Tastes like: Truffles

Smells like: Roses

Sounds like: Wind-chimes

Feels like: Silky-satin

Looks
like: Two people, eyes locked across a crowded room.

‘Shaylee, what’s wrong?’ Kael’s voice on the phone is sharp.
I bite my lip and almost regret calling him, but I can’t stay here; I can’t
face Tristan right now.

‘Um, can you come get me, please?’ My voice echoes back
to me like I’m on speakerphone. ‘Are you driving?’

‘Yes,’ he replies, ‘I’m almost there. What happened?’

I worry my lip again and start walking down the
driveway, scuffing my sandals against the pebbles.

‘I – I can’t. Just come, please?’

‘Shaylee?’ Tristan’s voice sounds from behind me and I
spin around, my heart picking up speed.

‘What -’

‘I can’t talk now,’ I whisper and quickly disconnect the
call.

Tristan breathes a sigh of relief and reaches out to put
one hand on my shoulder but I take a step back from him. He frowns and notices
the cell phone in my hand.

‘Was that Kael?’ he asks.

I drop my gaze to the white pebbles at his feet and nod.

‘He’s on his way to pick me up.’

There is a short silence and I glance up, regretting the
action instantly when I see the hurt splashed across his face.

‘I thought we were having a good time?’ he says softly.

I sigh and look away, unable to meet his gaze.

‘We were, but…’

‘Is it because I kissed you?’

With relief, I register the soft rattle of the gate sliding
open at the end of the drive.

‘I can’t do this now, Tristan,’ I say.

Kael’s truck comes into view, tires crunching as he speeds
down the driveway. Tristan catches my arm and spins me back around just as the
truck skids to a halt next to us.

‘Talk to me, Shaylee,’ Tristan says. ‘I didn’t mean to
scare you.’

‘What’s going on?’ Kael’s voice cuts the air, hard and
icy and we both turn as he slams the door and strides toward us.

‘Stay out of this, Kael,’ Tristan warns.

‘What the hell did you do to her?’

‘It’s none of your business,’ Tristan shoots back.

‘Stop it!’ I say, stepping between the two boys.

Would it always be like this? Kael on one side; Tristan
on the other; and me in the middle, trying to keep them apart and myself
together at the same time?

‘Kael, can you just take me home, please?’

‘Shaylee -’ Tristan says with a pleading note in his
voice but I look away.

‘We’ll talk later, okay? Please Tristan…’

Kael throws another threatening look in Tristan’s
direction, tucks my arm under his and leads me toward the car. He helps me into
the passenger seat before he climbs into the driver’s seat.

As he steers the truck back down the drive, I can’t help
but chance a quick glance in the rearview mirror. Tristan just stands there,
watching us with a forlorn expression, his reflection slowly diminishing in
size.

‘So are you going to tell me what happened?’ Kael asks,
after we’ve cleared the gate of Tristan’s estate.

I put both hands over my face and shake my head.

‘I don’t want to talk about it.’

‘Why?’

‘It’s none of your business.’

‘It’s my job.’

I just shake my head again.

‘Did he hurt you?’ Kael asks, his voice hard.

‘No.’

‘Did he say something to upset you?’

‘No.’

The car swerves to the left and Kael hits the brakes,
skidding to a halt in the emergency lane. He twists in his seat, grabs my hands
away from my face and glowers at me.

‘For God’s sake, what did he do to upset you so much?’

‘Nothing.’

‘If he hurt you, so help me, I’ll -’

‘He didn’t hurt me.’

‘Then what -’

‘He kissed me, okay?’ I blurt out. I close my eyes and feel
the blood rush to my cheeks.

Kael is silent for a moment but I dare not look at him. After
a while he speaks and his voice sounds strangely tense.

‘He kissed you?’

‘Yes,’ I whisper, risking a glance beneath my long
lashes in his direction. His jaw is clenched tight and his eyes are almost
black.

‘He
kissed
you,’
he repeats and this time, I just nod. ‘You got upset because your fiancé
kissed
you?’ he says. There is a strained,
forced kind of humor in his tone. I can’t figure out if he’s angry or laughing
at me.

‘Without my consent!’ I say indignantly.

‘Well, you did consent to marry him.’

‘I didn’t consent to anything!’

‘So you expected him to ask permission?’

‘No – yes – ugh! He just shouldn’t have kissed me when I
didn’t want him to!’

‘Like I did?’ Kael asks, his voice deeper now, more
serious.

‘No…’ my cheeks are flaming, ‘that was different,’ I
look down at my lap.

‘Yes, it was,’ he says quietly. I raise my eyes to his
and he stares at me with such intensity that I turn away again. ‘The difference
is: I’m not your fiancé. I had no right to kiss you.’

I sit silently for a moment, my hands clasped in my lap,
unsure of how to respond.

‘It’s not about that,’ I whisper.

‘Then what’s it about?’ he demands, sounding angry now.

‘I didn’t want him to kiss me.’

‘But you wanted me to kiss you?’

I lift my eyes and stare at him, paralyzed and unable to
speak.

I remember the heat of his lips against mine, the
strength of his arms, curling around my body. Yes, I’d wanted him to kiss me
then, just as I want him to reach across the centre console right now and drag
me into his lap.

I shake my head slightly at the thought and Kael’s jaw
clenches as he reads his own interpretation into the movement. He takes a deep
breath and pulls the car back onto the road, while I continue to sit there,
staring at him, lost in my own revelations. Somewhere in the weeks that have
passed since I arrived in Aylburton, in between the dates with Tristan and
day-to-day life lived in Kael’s shadow, I’ve fallen in love with the wrong guy.

‘Hey babe, where’ve you been all day?’ Michelle nudges
me in the
Bistro
at lunch.

‘What do you mean? I’ve been with you all the time,’ I
reply, chasing a piece of crisp lettuce across my plate.

‘Sure, in body but your mind’s on vacation somewhere.’

I give her an apologetic smile.

‘Sorry, I’ve got a few things on my mind.’

‘I’m sure,’ she says, taking a large bite from her chicken-mayo
sandwich. ‘Heard you spent the day at Tristan’s estate yesterday.’

I glance up sharply.

‘Where’d you hear that?’

‘News travels fast in Aylburton remember?’ She swallows her
mouthful and smiles. ‘How’d it go?’

I grimace and spear a wedge of tomato with my fork.

 
‘Not very well.’
I drop my fork and push my plate away.

She shoots me a knowing look.

‘You don’t like Mrs. Westwood?’

‘She wasn’t there.’

Michelle arches her brows.

‘Don’t look at me like that,’ I say, ‘Nothing
happened…well, sort of…’

Michelle lifts her eyebrows even further and I feel my
cheeks flame.

‘I asked Kael to come get me early,’ I admit.

Michelle just watches me, chewing slowly. I take a deep
breath and exhale slowly.

‘He kissed me.’

‘
Kael
kissed
you?’ she asks, her voice a surprised squeak.

‘No, I mean yes, but - Tristan kissed me.’

She frowns at me, swallows loudly and puts the rest of
her sandwich down on the plate.

‘Let me get this straight. Kael kissed you
and
Tristan kissed you?’

I nod, miserably.

‘And…you liked the one more than the other?’

I nod again.

‘And let me guess – it wasn’t your fiancé’s kiss that
had your heart pounding?’

I drop my head into my hands and shake my head.
 

‘That could present a problem.’ Michelle agrees. She
leans across the table toward me and there is amusement in her voice. ‘So, just
how much heart pounding was there?’

I lift my head and glare at her.

‘It’s not funny Mish!’

She suppresses a smile, tilts her head and widens her
eyes.

‘Holey Smokes! You’re in love with him!’ she accuses. I
groan and sink deeper into my seat.

‘Now that is definitely a big problem!’ she exclaims. ‘That’s
one way to piss off the Circle…’

I shoot her a meaningful look.

‘Well I hope they never find out.’

‘They won’t hear it from me, if that’s what you’re
asking,’ she says, ‘but do you mean to say you’re not going to do anything
about it?’

‘What am I supposed to do? It’s not like I’ve been given
a choice.’

Michelle leans back in her chair, considering me.

‘How does Kael feel about you?’

‘I don’t really know,’ I admit. ‘I think he feels
something – I mean he kissed me, right? But he hasn’t exactly confessed his
undying love.’

Michelle snorts.

‘You haven’t dated much, have you?’

‘No,’ I confess, ‘but what has that got to do with it?’

She leans forward in her chair, folding her arms on the
edge of the table, the half-eaten sandwich lying forgotten before her.

‘Did
he
kiss
you, or did
you
kiss him?’

‘Well, I kissed him first and then…he kissed me back.’

My fingers move of their own volition to my mouth, where
the pressure of Kael’s lips is imprinted on mine.

‘I’ve seen the way he watches you,’ Michelle says.

‘But that could just be the
seastnan
link,’

‘I don’t see Jake watching your grandmother like that,’
Michelle argues. She shakes her head. ‘I don’t know how the hell it happened but
I think he feels something for you too – something more than the
seastnan
link.’

I feel a flicker of hope spark somewhere in the vicinity
of my chest, but it is quickly extinguished as reality sinks in.

‘It wouldn’t make any difference, Michelle. It’s
probably better if he doesn’t have any feelings for me.’

‘What do you mean?’

‘It’s not like we could ever be together,’ I sigh and
drop my head back into my hands.

Michelle glares at me.

‘So you’re just going to give up?’

‘What choice do I have?’

‘It’s your life! You get to make all the choices!’

‘Not in my family.’

‘That’s a load of rubbish!’

I stare at her in surprise.

‘What do you expect me to do? Defy the Circle?’

‘It’s not as though you weren’t planning on doing that
anyway,’ Michelle responds. ‘You can’t honestly tell me you were going to go
ahead with their plans and marry Tristan? I may not know you for long, but you
have a stubborn, independent streak, babes. I know you’d never be able to just lie
down and let the Circle rule your life.’

I sigh and look down at my untouched salad.

‘There’s more at stake here than just what I want,
Michelle,’ I argue.

‘Yes, I know. There’s power and immortality and sustainability
and all that sh-’

‘Thanks for reminding me!’

‘I’m not done,’ she adds. ‘What I want to know is, what
is the point of having unlimited power and living forever, if you can’t share
it with someone you love?’

I stare at her.

‘Why are you even encouraging me here? Aren’t you worried
about the Maor and what this will do to our people?’

Michelle gives a short laugh. ‘We’ve survived this far,
I’m sure we’ll manage. I have my own opinions about immortality anyway. Besides,
it’s not my job to think about the
greater
good
, as they call it. That’s what the
Tanistry
and the Circle is here for.’

 
‘Well I don’t
have that luxury, Mish. These will someday be my people.’ I exhale heavily and
slump forward onto the table, head on my arms. ‘Doesn’t matter anyway, Kael
would never even think about going against the Circle.’