Shift (The Neturu Chronicles) (22 page)

               
Kayla shakes her head.  “It’s not him.  It’s everything.  He got
my mind off of everything today, and now he's being a tool, so I have nothing
better to do but think about it all.”  She wraps her arms around Damien as
the tears soak his shirt.

               
He gently kisses the top of her head.  “I know it’s a lot.  If you
need to cry and get it out, then I’ll hold you until you’re done.”

               
Making good on his promise, Damien holds her as she continues to cry. Before
her tears dry, they hear, “Is she seriously crying?”

               
“Yeah,” Damien quietly replies. 

               
Jackson walks in.  “Kayla, I didn’t mean to hurt you.”

               
“It’s not that,” Damien replies.  “She’s just really upset about
everything.”

               
“I can turn into something absolutely ridiculous if that will put a smile on
your face,” Jackson tells Kayla.

               
Kayla sniffles. “Like what?”

               
“Ummm, I don’t know,” Jackson replies. “Pick something.”

               
She peeks at him from Damien’s arms.  “I thought you were limited in what
you can shift to?”

               
“True,” Jackson agrees.  “My family can usually change into roughly twenty
things.  I’ve only shifted into ten.  See, it’s whatever forms you
first pick.  I could try for thirty, but it probably wouldn’t work.”

               
“Fine,” Kayla mutters.  “Turn into a baboon, because I think that’s what
you remind me of right now.”  She feels Damien laugh against her.

               
Shaking his head, Jackson whispers, “All right.”  His body begins to
shimmer and suddenly a baboon is sitting on the floor in front of her and
Damien.

               
“Oh
my gosh
!” Kayla exclaims.  “That is too
funny.”  She turns to Damien.  “Can I touch him?  He understands
me right?”

               
“Yeah,” Damien says.  “Go ahead.  Check him out.”

               
Hesitantly, Kayla approaches him.  She touches his head and then runs her
fingers through the hair.  “Dude!  That is so freaky and
awesome
.”

               
“See, shifting is kind of cool,” Damien says from behind her.

               
“Uh-huh, this is
amazing
.”  She spins around and looks at
Damien.  “Can you do this?”

               
Damien laughs. “What a baboon?”

               
“Yeah,” Kayla retorts.

               
Snorting, Damien replies, “Not that I would particularly want to, but
yes.  I’m not as limited as Jackson’s family.  I
’
ve turned into thirty-four different
things so far.”

               
A smile spreads over her face. “What’s the coolest thing you can turn into?”

               
“I have no idea.” Damien chuckles.  “I don’t have to limit size, but in
your kitchen it may be a good idea.”

               
“A lion,” Kayla giddily exclaims.  Suddenly, Jackson is standing next to
her.  “That was awesome.”  She turns back to Damien.  “Do it, do
it, do it!”

               
Damien shakes his head and then shifts.  Kayla starts laughing.  “So
cool.  So freaking cool!”  She practically runs over to Damien and
tackles him.  “You’re a lion!  There’s a lion in my kitchen.” 
The lion rolls over onto its side.  Kayla runs her hands across the fur
and bends over.  Putting her face against him, she smiles.  “This is
excellent!”

               
“Yeah, yeah, yeah he can turn into a lion,” Jackson grumbles.

               
“You can’t make this uncool, no way.”

               
Without warning, the lion disappears and she finds herself lying on Damien’s
stomach.  “So, see, we can shift.”

               
“I want to do it!”

               
“Oh, no, no, no, no, no,” Damien says, shaking his head.  “We need to
train you and take it
really
slow.”

               
Pouting, Kayla says, “You guys suck.”

               
“Come on, we have chocolate cake,” Jackson reminds them with a smile.  He
looks at it and frowns.  “A chocolate cake with a big knife in the center
of it.”

               
Damien chuckles. “My girl here needed to expel some pent-up frustration.”

               
“I see that.” Jackson sighs.  “I'm sorry Kayla.  That was every shade
of wrong.”

               
“Jackson,” Kayla snaps.  “I don’t want to hear it again, just leave it
alone.”

               
Damien chimes in, “You don’t want him anyway, I’m much better: better fighter,
better gentleman, better kisser, better…yes, well, I’m just better.”

               
Jackson groans. “Whatever, Damien.”

               
“So, weird question,” Kayla says, sitting up.  “What sex do you turn into
when you turn into an animal?”

               
“The same as whatever you are,” Damien answers.

               
“Okay, kind of a disturbing question…we don’t do anything as animals…right?”

               
Damien rolls over in hysterical laughter.  “Oh, that is gross.  No. I
am all for experimenting, but
no
!”

               
“Don’t laugh at me!” Kayla yells, trying not to giggle herself.  “So that
means we can’t do anything with humans.  Thank God I never tried.”

               
Both guys fall silent.  Finally, Damien replies, “No, we can.”

               
“How?  We’re from another planet.”

               
“We took on the shapes of humans.  Our bodies naturally adapted,” Damien
says as he stands.  He sticks his hand out to Kayla and she takes
it.  “Though, it’s not supposed to be the same.  We can go to a
different level of existence and almost mentally connect when we are with our
own kind.”

               
Kayla blushes. “Have you guys been with humans?”

               
The silence returns before Damien finally says, “I have, though we kind of
covered that already.”

               
“True,” Kayla whispers.  She looks at Jackson.  “What about you?”

               
“Do I really need to answer that?” he asks.

               
Shrugging, Kayla says, “I guess not.  I’m a virgin, so my experience is
non-existent.”

               
“That isn’t a bad thing,” Damien states as he walks over to the cake.  He
takes the knife and starts to cut pieces.  “Just because I’ve been with
girls, doesn’t mean it meant anything.”

               
“That’s horrible,
”
Kayla
yells.

               
Damien turns around.  “I’m not going to lie about it.  I have never
been in love, or close to it.”

               
“Then why in the world would you sleep with girls, if you didn’t care about
them?” Kayla snaps, slightly annoyed.

               
He turns and starts searching the cupboards for plates.  When Damien
finally finds them, he pulls three out.  “Listen, I’ve had girls of all
ages throw themselves at me. 
It’s
hard being my
age and…rejecting that.”

               
“Can we
please
get on a different subject?” Jackson exclaims.  “I
do
not
want to talk about Damien’s sex life.”

               
“Sorry,” Kayla mutters.  “Just curious, I guess.”

               
Damien puts a piece of cake on a plate and hands it to Kayla.  “I will
always be honest with you, and you can ask me anything.  Maybe we can save
it for when Jackson isn’t around.”

               
“I think I like you; at least you’re open.”

               
Bending down, Damien kisses her.  “I really would like to get to know you
better, so honesty is the best policy.”

               
Blushing, she walks over and gets forks for everyone.  When she gives one
to Damien, he carefully puts a bite of cake on it and holds it out for her. 
She can’t help but giggle.  Leaning forward, she puts it in her mouth.

               
“You guys are going to make me throw up,” Jackson snidely remarks.

               
Damien bends over and kisses her again, laughing against her lips.  “My
plan is to make you vomit so that you’ll leave us alone, and I can seduce her.”

               
Kayla shoves him away, giggling.  “Remember, you have to take me on
romantic dates and buy me awesome presents.”

               
“I did bring you cake, like you asked,” Damien notes. “What does that get me?”

               
“A kiss…later…when we’re alone,” Kayla teases as she continues to giggle.

               
“Okay, vomit coming,” Jackson exasperates.  “Going to hurl…all over cake.”

               
“Nooo!” Kayla yells running to Jackson.  He bends over, looking like he’s
going to puke, so Kayla takes her hand and shoves his face into the cake. Laugh
hysterically, Kayla takes a couple steps back.  “Don’t kill me, I’m too
cute to die so young.”

               
Jackson stands up and wipes some of the cake off his face.  “You are in
trouble.”

               
“Leave the poor girl alone,” Damien says, “because this rules.  I would
have done it myself if I were standing there.”

               
“Kayla,” Jackson starts.

               
Giggling, she replies, “What?”

               
“Come here.”  Jackson grabs Kayla and kisses her, wiping cake all over her
face.  Jackson pulls away.  “There, now that’s a kiss.”

               
“You ass!” Kayla exclaims.

               
Jackson takes a chunk of cake and swipes it across Kayla’s face.  “No, now
I’m an ass!”

               
“Hey,” she yells.  “Not fair!”

               
“Come here, let me help you get it off,” Damien says, holding up a towel.

               
 “Okay,” Kayla says, reaching behind her.  As soon as Damien is
within arm’s reach, she throws a piece of cake at him...and misses.  She
gasps, stumbling back to the counter, knowing he’ll retaliate.

               
Damien takes a piece of cake off his shoulder and eats it. “Good cake, too bad
there won’t be any to actually eat.”

               
Kayla whirls around and digs a big piece of cake out of the pan, but as she
turns back, Damien is standing in front of her.  Screaming, Kayla shoves
the cake at him, this time hitting him in the face. “Got ya!”

               
He shoves her against the counter and takes a plate of cake.  “You’re in
so much trouble.”  Damien lifts the plate and smiles at her.  She
winces as she waits for it, but is shocked when Damien slams the cake into
Jackson’s face. 

               
“What the hell?” Jackson shouts.  “Damien, you traitor!  That’s it,
you’re both in trouble.”

               
“Holy crap, run, run!” Kayla yells shoving Damien.  He quickly turns and
pulls her behind him.  They dart through the kitchen and into the
hallway.  Cake slams into the wall next to them.  When they turn the
corner, Kayla pulls Damien to the right and enters the bathroom.  She
turns and slams the door shut, locking it.

               
“You have a thing about hiding in bathrooms,” Jackson says through the
door.  “You don’t have a secret way out of this one.”

               
Kayla giggles and says, “I have good company in here.  I think we can keep
ourselves entertained.”

               
“I know we can keep ourselves entertained,” Damien says as he sits on the
counter.

               
“You two have fun in there.  I’m going to sit here and eat this cake and
wait for you to come out.”

               
“You do that,” Kayla yells through the door.  She starts to go through the
cupboards.  “Where did Mom put the washcloths?”

               
Damien jumps down from the counter. “What do you need a washcloth for?”

               
Giving him a look, Kayla says, “To wash this chocolate mess off.”

               
“Oh, I would much rather lick it off of you,” Damien murmurs quietly. 
“Because that cake tasted really good, and I imagine the taste will only
improve the longer it's on your skin.”

               
“Damien, really, be serious,” Kayla scolds.

               
He steps up to her and pulls her against him.  “No, trust me on this
one.”  Damien tilts his head and gently licks cake off her neck, then with
a soft press of his lips, he kisses her.

               
“Okay.” Kayla gulps.  “You did it.  Now…umm…”

               
“Mmm,” he hums against her skin.  He does it again.

               
Her knees buckle.  “Damien,” she whispers.

               
Bringing his head up, he is only inches away from her.  “Yes?”