Lost Seraphine (The Seraphine Trilogy #2) (4 page)

Caleb

I ease the Challenger into my usual parking spot, the one that’s located three cars down from where Erica used to park her Benz.

People have stopped asking me about her. I guess after dating the head cheerleader I was thinking I’d get a ton of grief about the way I supposedly broke her heart. She dated Thorne Wiggins for a couple of months after our breakup, if you wanna call it that. Didn’t happen that way, though. Kids fell right back in line, waiting to board the Erica and Thorne love-hate train, desperate to have a bit of normal back in their lives, I guess. Even Kyle accepted our breakup, making sure to tell me something seemed kinda off about the way Erica tried to literally attach herself to me every day. It was funny when Valentine’s Day came and went.

All the pink and red streamers, balloons and hearts draped all over the hallways most definitely gave an Erica-ish feel to everything. I don’t ever recall a time when so much energy was put into Valentine’s Day. It was as if the students somehow mourned Erica through an obsessive use of the colors she loved best. It’s still hard for me to believe someone who loves pink that way can be some kind of weird dark queen. I know Gia wouldn’t lie to me, though.

Now we’ve almost made it to Spring Break.

The kids at school have moved on about their lives, acting like nothing ever happened last Halloween. Sometimes, though, shadows from the past continue to hang around even after the events that created them have long gone by. That’s the best way to describe the mood hanging over Gia and me this morning. I glance over at her sitting in the passenger seat. The denim mini skirt paired with the green P-Rod tee she’s wearing does something to me.

She’s so gorgeous and I’m completely hooked. I’m not worried about the secrets she keeps. I know she’ll eventually talk to me, but right now I’m worried because she has been quiet ever since we left my house. There’s something she’s not telling me and what’s bothering my girl, bothers me. I want to know, so I do what I do best, use my charming mouth to get information.

“Looks like Erica hasn’t magically morphed herself back to school yet,” I begin. Gia rolls her head my way and gives me a strange look, something like a cross between annoyed and… love struck, maybe?

“At some point you have to accept what she really is, Caleb,” she says in a tired voice.

“I think I’m more worried about your girl Mel showing back up. What do you think?”

“The Melusine Witch is on the bottom of the things-to-worry-about list. We need to find out what’s really going on with Erica. There’s a prophecy and a ticked off creature who makes people think she’s some innocent girl. Together they equal trouble.”

She turns her head back toward the window, so I leave the issue alone for now. Gia has given up so much for me. I still don’t understand why and there’s no way I’ll ever think I’m worthy of such loyalty. She also hasn’t told me where she goes each day after school. I know she heads out to this place she calls a safe house, something like a sanctuary where other people from places like Gia live now. I even tried to follow her one day, and no, I haven’t told her about the battle I had with my curiosity.

There’s a path in the woods. It starts just outside the forest on the other side of my house. I’ve seen Gia use it a few times, but when I try to follow her, I get lost in a crap load of branches and bushes. Talk about not seeing the forest for the trees, right? I’ve attempted to make my way through this path three times. Yeah, I lied when I said I’d only ventured onto it once. Each time I head down the pathway, I get turned around. Plus, this weird, fuzzy feeling enters my head, making me feel like somebody’s mucking around with my thoughts.

Wherever she goes and whatever she’s doing… I could make things a lot easier than I have been doing. I mean, she’s doing all this for me. It’s my job to try to be less of an ass. Trust, my man; that’s the word I think you’re looking for.

“Hey. I don’t mean to doubt you,” I begin. “I just—well, there’s a lot going on. It’s almost too much to bear.” She turns toward me and gives me a smile and that look; the one that touches me deep in my soul and melts away my resolve to be hard. I reach out and pull her into my arms, inhaling the floral scent that always surrounds her body.

In response, my heart speeds up, it always does. It doesn’t matter that all heads turn our way as people shuffle toward the entrance. All that matters right now is making sure the girl of my dreams feels every bit the princess of my heart when she’s with me. I pull back and pass my lips over hers.

The electricity that stuns me each time we touch one another this way still remains. Damn she’s sexy. Kissing her always feels right. There’s no way some stupid prophecy can come between us. I’ll kick the crap out of anyone who tries to tell me otherwise.

Our kiss deepens and our breaths become one. It’s funny how one little act can affect me so much. Sitting here and holding Gia in my arms makes me feel invincible, but even all things eternal have to end at some point, especially when the subject of invincibility has friends like mine.

Taps on the window beside Gia rip us both out of our heated moment and I glance around Gia’s head. Kyle stands with his face pressed up against the window, his brown hair and wide dark eyes distorted. He gives me this weird grin that only serves to irritate me even more.

“Let me guess. Kyle,” Gia says, her eyes boring into mine.

“Is my annoyance that obvious?”

“Very much so.”

I turn my body away from Gia, open my door and hop out of the car. Both Kyle and his girlfriend, Shani, scurry toward me and are standing beside my door by the time I get out, goofy grins breaking through the knowing look on their faces. I wonder if maybe the two of them together have superpowers given the way they’ve moved around the car so fast.

We’ve been friends since like forever; Kyle, Shani and me. Well, since as long as I can remember. Mom moved back here after she returned from UCLA a few years after I was born. She and Kyle’s mom were best friends in grade school and grew up together. So both our families have roots here in New Bern. Shani’s family came here from Wisconsin when she was eight-years-old.

My two love struck buddies are doing the matching outfits thing again. Kyle’s white tee shirt, beige cargo shorts and messy windblown hair give him an offbeat surfer’s look. Shani’s cropped, cream-colored turtle neck and yeah, she’s wearing a pair of cargos that dip low enough to show off her well-toned abs. The color of her turtle neck makes her dark eyes and jet black hai
r—
that she always wears in a brai
d—
stand out, gleaming in the morning sun.

I make a mental note to tease Kyle about this later. I’m just glad to see them back together and happy. Last summer was the worst. That’s was when the two of them had split up and then got back together during the beginning of our senior year. I’m just glad to see them happy, even though it sometimes means I have to endure these moments of sappiness.

“What?” I ask, trying not to turn my head toward Gia as she makes her way out of the car.

“We didn’t say anything,” both my friends answer in unison.

I scoff with a light laugh and shake my head. “Oh, come on. Speaking at the same time, now, are we? Seriously?”

“Look who’s talking? Uh, was that you I just caught all wrapped up in the arms of your lovey dovey?” Kyle sings the last few words of his sentence. “Or maybe the guy I saw was your doppelganger.” He waggles his eyebrows, but he can’t hold back that smug grin.

I glance over at Gia and shake my head. She gives me a sweet smile as she comes to stand beside Shani. The two girls exchange knowing looks and then start giggling. It makes me feel good to see my friends accepting Gia this way. Sure, Shani has her reservations. She’s also that way about all my previous girlfriends; but she’s been acting more friendly toward Gia lately. Even suggesting we all go out on some kind of quadruple date.

“Well, you’d know all about the slobbering arts, wouldn’t you?” I tease back.

“Hey! Don’t hate the playa. Just continue to join me in my game.” Kyle runs a hand through his hair and touches his index finger to his tongue and then he makes a sizzling sound. “Yeah, I still got that heat factor going on.”

“It’s a thoroughly enjoyable game and yes, you are hot, let me add.” Shani eases her arm around Kyle’s waist and kisses him straight on the mouth. In return, he turns toward her and deepens the kiss, putting on the kind of show our classmates love, but the teachers somehow won’t appreciate. A few hoots and hollers sound out around us as people walk by.

Kyle temporarily comes up for air and says, “That’s right. Who’s the king of this world? I am.” He turns back to Shani. “Now, where were we, babes?”

The warning bell clangs through the air, saving me from the scene between my two friends that Gia and I are about to witness, no doubt.

“Whatever, dude.” I reach out and take Gia’s things, slinging both our bags over my shoulder and place my arm across Gia’s shoulders, startling her a bit. She has that faraway look on her face again. For some reason, she keeps glancing toward the woods in front of the school.

“You all right?” I ask.

“Course I am. Why wouldn’t I be?” She blinks a few times and gives me a nervous smile, the one where she turns up the left side of her mouth. Don’t get me wrong, it’s cute and I love her crooked smile, however I’ve learned these little tics are things Gia does when she isn’t being straight up with me.

* * *

~Gia~

Ashley George hits me in a different way today. Yeah, sure it’s still the same dreary brick building with our purple and silver school colors draped across too many places scattered around the campus. The hallways still holds a familiar smell, you know, the scent that’s a cross between locker rooms and old houses. Slants of light create gold streaks in the hallways as you pass by the doors to the classrooms. Kids still drift back and forth between classes, trying to make do with the five minute break we have in between each one.

Something’s different today, though; changed. I don’t even think I really want to know what might be behind whatever thing I’m sensing. Maybe the school hasn’t changed. Or maybe it’s just that I’m allowing myself to see it for the first time through a human girl’s eyes. I squeeze the hand of my very warm-blooded boyfriend even tighter. With Caleb’s support I know I can make this new life work for me.

You see, in my land the word love is used with a lot of care. We share a common bond with our family and friends. There’s no racial conflict or prejudices against any particular group. Some of us look different, but we still consider ourselves a family rather than a particular group of people.

Our leader, my father—a sea king the humans have nicknamed Poseidon—has his hands full. We all understand that we must work together in order for our race to thrive.

As we move on through the day, I watch the way Caleb interacts with his friends and find myself stabbed by a slice of fear in my chest. His friends are beautiful, if not a bit irksome at times. To pass the I’m-good-enough-for-Caleb test, I had to suffer through endless questions from Kyle’s girlfriend, Shani, the girl who reminds me so much of Cori and Lelo with her long, black braid that sweeps across her waist and gorgeously smooth skin that’s a fantastic caramel color. I was given a couple of extra points for being somewhat of a skateboard celebrity. Over the past few months, she has warmed up to me more and more.

And Kyle, the guy who’s always dressed in white tees and camos all throughout the seasons, accepted me right away. A handshake, crooked smile and a knowing wink in Caleb’s direction the day we announced ourselves a couple was all I got as my introduction to the club. His friends accepting me this way has made it so much easier for us.

The life the humans share with one another is fragile. I shudder to think of what horrible plan Bernael has in store for them.

An age old conflict between my race, the Seraphine, and the sea witches known as the Melusine looms closer than ever before. Some of my people blame Caleb and me for upsetting the balance, a power created to separate our world from the human lands. Now the children of the fallen Angel of Chaos, who are the lost souls Caleb has nicknamed the Dark Agents, walk the earth. More of them arrive each day. The ability for Bernael’s servants to cross over comes easily now that the barrier between this world and ours has weakened.

Glancing around at the students preparing for the long day ahead, I feel conflicted. I’m happy for their freedom and a little jealous at the same time. These kids will all go home to loving families when school ends today. Me? I’ll say good night to Caleb and then head to the safe house, a place where there’s no one else like me.

Only kids who have been touched by the blood of angels—the Caducean demon slayers, the children and descendants of the Archangel Gabriel—can see Bernael’s children. The Seraphine can see their leader himself, but we can’t see the fallen souls that follow him.

For some reason, my Caleb, who has just found out his father is a man whose identity puzzles even my father, can see them. Neither of us knows why. All of this bothers Caleb and, because he hurts inside, I feel that same pain. I will help him figure out what happened to his father.

Together we can handle anything.

I shudder when I think of being apart from him for even one second. Before Caleb came back into my life, I always wondered about my purpose, my role in this conflict, the meaning of my sheltered life as a Seraphine princess. Now I know.