Shift (The Neturu Chronicles) (24 page)

               
A vision of Jackson appears in Kayla’s head, but she quickly shakes it
away.  “I think I would like you to make me dinner, and we can start
there.”

               
“When can I make you dinner?”

               
“Why not tonight?”

               
Damien nods. “I’ll take you to Jackson’s.  They have a bigger kitchen,
with more stuff.  Wear your bathing suit, though.  We can go
swimming.  It’ll be fun.”

               
“Will there be a Jacuzzi?  I love those.”

               
“There's a Jacuzzi and a steam room, so a date, just the two of us, tonight.”

               
Kayla smiles. “That sounds nice.”

               
“Okay,” Damien breathes out as he brings himself down to her. Their lips meet
and the kiss is sweet and gentle.  Kayla wraps her arms around him and
pulls him closer.  After a while, Damien pulls back.  “All right, we
should get back to your body.  I don’t want to overdo it your first time.”

               
“I'm sorry, I don’t know what comes over me when I’m around you.”  Then
she thinks to herself, Jackson too. 

               
Laughing, Damien tells her, “It’s a hormonal thing.  We’re at the age
where our species starts to reproduce.  If you were around a human, you
wouldn’t necessarily feel it, but when you’re around one of us, it will hit you
like a ton of bricks.  If you have a strong connection to someone, it’s
almost impossible to control.”

               
Again, Kayla’s mind drifts to Jackson, and she has to shake her head free of
the thought.  “That’s good to know, and it explains a lot.  I always
thought the guys at school were just too stupid to hold my interest, which of
course many of them are, but maybe it’s just because I can’t connect to human
men.”

               
“Come on, dear,” Damien says, taking her hands in his.  “We should go
back.”

               
“How do I do that?”

               
“Close your eyes and exhale.  Feel all the energy drain from you.

               
Kayla takes a deep breath and lets it out, relaxing her body at the same time.
She senses that she's being drawn away and when she opens her eyes, she is back
in her body.

               
Jackson is sitting in the living room of her house, glaring at her and
Damien.  “Wow, nice of you guys to return.”

               
“Oh stop, Jackson.” Damien sighs behind her.  “I’m supposed to be training
her.”

               
“
We
are supposed to be training her, remember?  She wanted
me
to help her,” Jackson snaps back.

               
Feeling Damien laugh behind her, Kayla hears him say, “Really?  How much
time have you put into training someone?”

               
Kayla nudges Damien with her elbow. “Stop it.  I want his help.” 

               
“All right, whatever you want, sweetie.”

               
“Sweetie?” Jackson growls. “Already jumping into pet names?  Did I miss
something?”

               
Blushing, Kayla looks away from him.  Damien sighs and says, “We’re having
our first official date tonight.”

               
“You can’t take her out in public,” Jackson yells.  “Are you nuts?”

               
“Not particularly. I’m making her a nice dinner.”

               
With a confused look, Jackson says, “Here?”

               
“No, your house.  Your parents told us they were going to be gone tonight
and that we were supposed to keep an eye on Kayla.  Who better to do that
than me?”

               
“
We
could do it.”

               
Kayla inhales deeply. “I want to have dinner with Damien.  We want to have
a date.  Does that bother you?”

               
Jackson looks at her.  “I guess not.  It’s just my house.”

               
“I’m a guest there,” Damien interjects.  “If you want to get particular,
you have to host me.  I am a council representative.  So really, I
can do whatever the hell I want.”

               
“Damien,” Kayla exclaims.  “Stop it!  We can do it here.  We’re
alone anyways.”

               
He turns to her.  “That’s the problem.  I don’t want to be
disrespectful to your parents, because if I kiss you when they aren’t home and
we’re alone, it may make things awkward.”

               
“You kiss me all the time without them around.  I don’t get it.”

               
“Jackson is in the house,” Damien replies.  “I don’t know.  It’s just
a situation I want to avoid.  I’ve been alone with enough girls, but I
want it to be different with you.  You deserve more.”

               
Narrowing her eyes, Kayla says, “I’m not sure how to feel about that
comment.  Just a hint, don’t compare me to girls you’ve messed around
with.”

               
“Duly noted.”

               
“Anyway,” Kayla sighs, shaking her head.  “So Jackson’s house it is.”

               
Jackson crosses his arms. “And what exactly do you expect me to do while you’re
enjoying this date?”

               
“You can…bake us something,” Damien answers with a devilish smirk. “But I have
a feeling you’re going to pout in your room.”

               
An angry look passes over Jackson’s face. “I’m not going to pout.  I don’t
care what you do.”

               
“That’s good,” Damien draws out, acting blasé.  “We should continue with
Kayla’s training.  I would rather start our date than stand around here.”

               
“Okay, what’s next?” Kayla asks.

               
Damien smiles. “I think you’ll be happy about this part.  You’re going to
shift.”

               
Throwing her hands up, Kayla squeals. “Yea!”

               
Both guys laugh.  Damien instructs, “You need to change into whatever dog
form you turned into before.  We’re going to stick to the basic
familiarity.”

               
“Okay,” Kayla replies, closing her eyes.  She starts to think of being the
golden retriever again.

               
“Wait, Kayla, hold on,” Jackson yells.  Before Kayla can stop it, she
shifts into the dog.  Jackson and Damien stare at her.  “Well…”
Jackson starts.  “I guess she can do that rather easily.”  Happiness
overtakes her at his compliment. She feels her tail start to wag, so she turns
around to see it, which causes her to turn in circles.  Jackson bursts out
laughing.  “That’s cute, Kayla.  I can take a video of you on my
phone if you want to see yourself.”

               
Kayla growls and Damien chuckles. “Bite him and I’ll give you a dollar.” 
Kayla looks at Damien, and he just smiles.  “All right, turn back into
yourself.”

               
Kayla closes her eyes and concentrates really hard.  It takes a little
longer, but she shifts back to herself again.  “I did it!”

               
“You did.  Good job,” Jackson says.

               
A wave of dizziness passes over her, and she stumbles backward.  She
falls, but a pair of arms catches her.  She looks up at Jackson. 
“You were supposed to let me hit the floor, remember?  If I faint, you
weren’t going to catch me.”

               
“I was joking.” Jackson groans.  “Anyway, your first shifts are going to
be the hardest.  They’ll cause you to be really tired and a little bit
dizzy.”

               
“Good to know now.”

               
Jackson rolls his eyes.  “You’re the one who shifted before we could say
anything. Besides, I have no idea how you managed to shift back up on your
feet.  It usually takes someone years to learn how to do that.”

               
“I didn’t really think about it,” Kayla says, shrugging.

               
“Okay, we will have you do it again and then meditate and then shift and then
meditate,” Damien declares.  “We’ll take a break in between shifts so that
you can rest and eat.  You’re going to need to eat more while you
’
re training.”

               
“I don’t want to gain weight,” Kayla spits out.

               
Damien is the one who rolls his eyes this time.  “Kayla, your metabolism
is going to shoot through the roof.  If you don’t eat enough food, you’ll
get sick.”

               
“Oh.”

               
“You’re beautiful and don’t need to think about that,” Damien states, coming
over to her.  He takes her hands in his.  “Why do girls obsess over
that stuff?”

               
Shrugging, Kayla bows her head. “I don’t know.”

               
“Well, you don’t need to worry about that, let’s get you to shift one more time
and then we’ll meditate again.”

               
By the time they finish the first round of training Kayla is starving. 
They order pizza and she eats way more than she could possibly imagine. 
The guys laugh at her.  She glares at them. “Shut up.  Not all of us
can have perfect physiques like you two.”

               
“You’re gorgeous, stop it,” Damien says, shaking his head.

               
“Yeah, really Kayla,” Jackson groans.  “How often do we need to fluff your
ego, as you always say?”  He grins at her.

               
She gives him a look.  “All the time; I’m a girl after all.”

               
He rolls his eyes in return.  After lunch they resume training. 
Damien is polite enough to not block out Jackson during their
meditations.  When they finish their last meditation, Kayla asks, “What
happens if someone comes up to us while we’re there?  Do we sense it?”

               
“Yeah,” Jackson replies.  “You can sense people come from a
distance.  You don’t need to worry.”

               
“That’s good,” Kayla states, stifling a yawn.  “Okay, I’m kind of tired
now.”

               
Damien nods. “We’re done for the day.  Go get ready so we can go to
Jackson’s.  You need to tell me what you want to eat.”

               
“What can you make?” Kayla inquires with a smile.

               
He returns the expression. “What do you like, seafood, beef, pork, Italian,
Mexican?”

               
“I love seafood.”

               
“All right, I’ll make you shrimp scampi then.  I do make that very well,”
Damien declares.  He turns to Jackson.  “Do you want to take her to
your house while I go to the grocery store?”

               
Jackson sighs. “Sure, that’s fine.”

               
“Okay, I’ll see you guys in a bit.”  He walks over and kisses Kayla gently
on the lips.  “Don’t get into trouble,” he whispers against her.

               
“I’ll try not to,” she replies with a smirk.

               
He turns and starts to walk out of the room.  “Behave yourself, Jackson,
and try not to hurt her feelings.”  With that, Damien leaves through the
front door.

               
When it closes, Kayla sees Jackson clench his fists.  “He’s so annoying,”
Jackson snaps.  He looks at Kayla. “And you’re attracted to that?”

               
“Yeah, actually I am.”

               
Jackson takes in a deep breath. “You should go get ready.”

               
“Fine,” Kayla snaps.  She stomps up the stairs to her room. “He infuriates
me but at the same time, he is so…shut up, Kayla, you can’t think things like
that.  Damien. You need to get ready for Damien.  He is who you
want.”

               
She goes to her closet and starts looking through her clothes.  Her cell
phone rings as she sifts through different items.  Kayla runs across the
room, hoping it’s her parents.  When she sees that it’s Tracy, she
hesitantly answers. “Hello?”

               
“Do you ever answer your phone?” Tracy yells.  “I know you have mono, but
you can at least talk to me.”

               
“Mono?”

               
There’s a pause. “Yeah, Jackson called me last night to tell me that.  I
don’t get it though, those aren’t usual signs of mono, and you don’t sound sick
either.”

               
Kayla coughs and groans. “Oh no, I‘m sick, trust me.  I’m going to be out
for at least a week.”

               
“That’s awful. You poor thing, where’d you get it from?”

               
“I have no idea.”

               
 “Did you give it to Jackson or Damien?  It is the kissing disease,
and you have been kissing them both.”

               
Slightly embarrassed, Kayla replies, “Oh
my gosh
, I’m
like a kissing slut.  What is wrong with me?”

               
“There’s nothing wrong with you. 
It’s
two boys,
not fourteen. Anyways, did you get them sick?”

               
“No, they’re fine.  I’m sick, you know, fever, sore throat.”