Starbound (13 page)

“Claudia, be nice,” I scolded, still feeling fuzzy, and pressed a hand to my temple.

“It’s cool,” Zeke said, standing up and gathering his books. “My work here is done.”

I glanced up. “I’ll see you later?”

“Sure,” Zeke assured, giving me a smile that looked almost sad. Now what would the happy-go-lucky Zeke be sad about? I weeded through my brain, trying to recall what in the world we had been talking about before Claudia rudely meandered her way between us.

“What were you doing with him?” Claudia asked in a voice mightier than God.

“Nothing. We’re friends.” I stared after Zeke, picking away at the blank spot. There was this wall in my brain, and I couldn’t see past it.

“Since when?”

I rolled my eyes. “Actually I’ve known Zeke most of my life.”

Her eyes checked him over one last time before he disappeared behind closed doors. “He is kinda cute in that dorky way.”

I tried not to smile. “You guys would be so adorable together.”

She gave me a saucy grin that said she was up to no good. “Yeah, we would.”

Seth

Kat.

Only
she
smelled that wonderful, of cherries, summer, and all the things I wanted but could never have.

I think I loved those jeans. Well, at least on Kat, tight in all the right places.

Walking into Ms. Harper’s English class behind her, I decided perhaps being this close to her was a very bad idea. She looked over her shoulder at me, eyeing me funnily, like she had something to say but couldn’t remember what it was.

Zeke. My lifesaver.

He must have already gotten to her, because I’d been expecting an icy exterior. Sweet thanks, that boy moved fast.

“Hey, Seth.” Her sexy voice washed over me as I struggled to keep from tossing her on one the desks and having my way with her.

I blinked. “Oh, you’re talking to me again? Last I checked, you’ve been giving me the silent treatment since sixth grade.” There was nothing I loved more than pissing her off, except for kissing her. It was a fine line. There was just something so distracting about getting under that California tan skin of hers. Not that I wouldn’t like to get under more than just her skin.

Would I ever.

I really needed to stop thinking with my hormones. They were going to get us both in a serious shit-ton of trouble.

It was also familiar territory for us—the bantering. At least when we were taking snubs at each other we knew where we stood. It was the blazing gazes that stirred trouble.

Iridescent eyes narrowed and lit up like blue flames. “Kiss my ass, Seth.”

And just like that everything was right in the world between Kat and me. I breathed a sigh of relief and took my seat, avoiding those expressive eyes for the remainder of class.

By the time lunch rolled around, I was ready to call it a day. She was driving me freaking bonkers. I watched her from across the common room. Long curls curved around her face, and her eyes were looking at Claudia as she yakked away, yet Kat still looked lost. Biting her lip, I could see the internal clocks ticking away in her brain. She was gnawing away at something in that noggin of hers.

“Ugh. Do you ever stop starting at her? It’s exhausting.” Elena groaned, bumping my shoulder with hers.

“Do you ever stop forcing yourself on me?” I snapped back. Ever since I agreed to her stupid terms, she’d been bugging the shit out of me. Every time I turned around Elena was there, smothering me. I couldn’t breathe. She was drowning me, when all I really wanted was to be left alone.

“Nope.” She weaved her fingers through my hair. “It is just too much fun.”

I jerked away. “Not here.”

She lifted a brow. “Why not? Afraid Miss Popularity will see us. Isn’t that the point?”

A bolt of anger ricocheted inside me. “You don’t know jackshit about Kat.”

“Touchy, touchy.” She pursed her blood red lips. “I know that you want her, yet you won’t accept her. Sounds pretty twisted, Seth.”

“Trust me, it’s a whole lot more complicated.”

“Always is when Katia’s involved.”

“Ain’t that the truth,” I grumbled.

She continued like she didn’t hear me, turning in the chair so our legs sort of interlocked. “So, what do you want to do this weekend, lover boy?”

Internally I groaned. “I’ve got to work most of the weekend,” I informed her, aggravation in my tone.

Her silver eyes flashed in annoyance. “That job consumes your life. Between your precious kitty Kat and the grease shop, there is time for nothing else.”

I couldn’t figure out how she was okay with this arrangement. Elena damn well knew that the only feelings I had for her were friendly, and those were starting to dwindle. Her actions as of late were low, even for her standards. Why she wanted to ruin that, taint it with this fake relationship, was beyond my understanding.

In a way, I felt sorry for her. I knew that deep down Elena longed for love and acceptance. She wanted people to see her for who she really was, not a goth-freak. Under all that gunk, there was a really cool girl any guy would be lucky to have.

Just not me.

But then again I couldn’t feel too bad; she had entrapped me.

I shrugged and leaned back in the chair with a cocky grin on my face, glad to have an excuse. “Hey, a guy has to earn a living.”

She jabbed me in the side. “Be real. You tinker with cars. That hardly constitutes as work.” She got this prowess gleam in her eyes that had me on guard. “And maybe I am trying to help you, Seth,” she whispered.

Her face was inches from mine, and she pressed up against me. There was nowhere to retreat as she used her body to cut off my means of escape. I knew she was going to kiss me, which was the very last thing I wanted. Clearing my mind, I looked anywhere but at her and her sultry red lips. It wasn’t working. What did she mean she was trying to help me?

“Let’s spice things up, shall we?” she murmured. There was trouble brewing in her voice, and her eyes glistened with mischief.

The next thing I knew, Elena had her lips on my mine. And it wasn’t just any kiss. She went for it full throttle. Her hands cupped the back of my head, trapping my lips with hers, moving softly over mine.

It was a nice kiss, but I didn’t feel anything.

It was mechanical.

There was no gut-wrenching punch—no warm fuzzies like the time Kat had kissed me.

Chapter 13

Katia

I was listening to Claudia go on and on about some college guy she had hooked up with on Halloween night while I had been MIA with the circle. I didn’t hear a single word she said. My mind had that fogginess blanketing it, and no matter what I did I couldn’t clear the cobwebs. It was like an itch I couldn’t scratch—like Seth.

I tried to supply the appropriate responses, all while picking away at the black spot in my head. It was like déjà vu. I got the sense that I had been down this path before.

A tingle skirted down my spine, and I looked across the span of the commons. It was filled with a cluster of kids hanging out during lunch, stuffing caffeine and carbs into their bellies. Then my eyes zeroed in on one pair. They were intimately sealed in a smoldering embrace, lips working over each other. Their faces were hidden from me, but I didn’t need to see them. My body’s reaction told me enough.

All I saw was murderous red.

Starbursts of hot jealousy raced through my blood, spiking with insane rage. “I am going to rip out her ovaries.”

“What?” Claudia asked, genuinely confused and taken aback, and then she followed my burning gaze. “Oh.” I could hear the smirk in her tone. “Since when is your crush interested in goth-girl?”

“He’s not,” I growled, suddenly feeling strangled by the scarf I had around my neck. Maybe I could use it to choke Elena.

Claudia had on her bad-girl grin. “Well, by the looks of how far she has her tongue down his throat, I would say that they have been doing a lot more than nothing.”

She was so not helping. Before I realized what I was doing, my feet were marching across the common room straight at Elena. I was going to pulverize her. Seth was mine. He was my… Holy shit.

I was struck by the truth of those words. Seth was indeed mine. He was my starsoul. And that asshole had wiped my memories. Again.

I was going to throttle them both, slowly, until their eyes bulged.

How could they do this to me?

It wasn’t enough that he kept screwing with my memories; the two of them had to go flaunt their groping, rub it in my face. If Seth hadn’t shattered my heart before, the two had just about finished the job.

Neither of them heard me coming, not until I snarled in murder. “What do you think you are doing with Seth?” My nostrils might have flared.

Elena took her sweet time untangling herself from him and each second I envisioned a different way to kill her. Facing me, she kept a hand on his chest. “I think it’s pretty obvious what we were doing.” She smiled smugly.

“Elena.” Seth’s voice was dark and low.

I was acting on pure instinct alone and words were just popping out of my mouth. “He’s mine. Nothing you can do or say will ever change that.”

She arched a brow mockingly, and I wanted to deck her in the nose. “Not from where I stand. He is fair game until you bind yourself to him, which you haven’t. Starbound or not, Seth’s with me,” she hissed under her breath.

Seth just stood there like a statue with his mouth hanging open.

My jaw started to throb as I clenched it in fury. “We’ll see about that.” The next thing I knew, I was sailing through the air as I launched myself at Elena.

She squealed in surprise as we tumbled to the floor. It was a good thing it was carpeted, but the impact of the fall was still harsh. We landed on our sides, facing each other, and she went straight for my hair and yanked. A total bitch move, considering she had a boy cut and it was impossible to grip her black spikes. My head snapped back. Luckily I outweighed her, and my legs were like pythons. Thank you, Claudia, for all those grueling cheerleading practices.

I rolled over, pinning her with my extra twenty pounds. A crowd had started to form, along with the sounds of jeering. Who didn’t love a good fight during school? Catfight? Even better. This wasn’t my first rodeo. You didn’t get to the top of the food chain without taking a few people down along the way.

Before I had a chance to really get my grubs on Elena, arms of steel wrapped around my waist and hoisted me up. “Relax, little spitfire,” Seth whispered in my ear.

“Let. Me. Go.” I strained unsuccessfully against his bonds, which only increased my angry streak. I didn’t want his hands on any part of me. And I wanted them everywhere.

He chuckled softly for my ears alone. “I am not sure that is wise.”

I stilled in his arms, not because I’d calmed down, but because a different kind of flame began to spread through my body. Being in his arms suddenly took on a whole new meaning. Awareness seeped into my limps as I went lax, molding my body with his. I knew the nanosecond he felt the change, and I swore I heard him sigh. The warmth of his breath fanned my hair, and I leaned my head back against his chest.

Across from us was Zeke, holding a very wild and uncooperative Elena. He looked like he had his hands full and was enjoying it. With the last ounce of sanity I had left, I pushed against Seth’s arms, not expecting them to budge, but he let me go.

The moment my feet hit the ground, I was gone and I didn’t look back. I didn’t care what they did, or what he had to say. How many times was I going to make an idiot of myself over Seth Nightingale? Right now I needed fresh air, time to clear my head—to think—without the interference of magick.

Hightailing it out of the commons, I headed straight for the double doors of the school exit. A gust of wind tore through the air, kicking my hair up in my face. The heat of adrenaline left my flesh and an arctic chill replaced it. November in Vermillion had blown in like phantoms in the mist. It was too late to wish I had thought to grab a sweater.

“Katia,” called a sweet voice behind me.

I let out a long ragged breath I hadn’t realized I’d been holding and turned around. “Olivia, this isn’t really a good time—”

“I need to tell you something.” She was persistent, and the somber color of her purple eyes gave me pause.

“Okay.” I pushed the hair out of my face and tried to calm my overtaxed heart.

Olivia did a quick survey of the area to make sure we were alone. “Seth is only with Elena because she forced him.”

I angled my head and narrowed my eyes. “What do you mean?”

She pulled me to the side of the brick building, eyes darting all over the place before landing back on my face. “The night you got the concussion, Seth begged Elena to heal you. She refused.”

“Figures,” I snipped, nothing shocked me anymore.

“But you know Elena. She doesn’t do anything out of the goodness of her heart.”

I bristled, afraid I knew where this was headed. My heart began to beat rapidly against my ribs.

She barreled forward, determined to get it all off her chest. “Seth was desperate and would have agreed to anything if it made you better.”

“Lately I’m not so sure about that.” Doubt rose in my eyes.

She shuffled her feet on the concrete path, the sun glinting off her red hair. “It’s all a front. Zeke and I both know how Seth
really
feels about you. Elena does, too.”

I wasn’t going to stand here shivering and argue about Seth’s so-called feelings. “So her condition
was
Seth?” There was an astonished bite to my words. Disbelief didn’t even cover what I was feeling.

Olivia stuck her hands into the pockets of her skinny jeans and looked at me under tentative lashes, probably assuming I would freak out. “You got it. She would only heal you if Seth agreed to go out with her.”

I ran my hands through my hair unsure what else to do with them, when all I really wanted was to hit something. “Un-freaking-believable. What is with everyone lately? Seth has Zeke screwing with my memories. Elena makes the moves on Seth. And I have no idea what is going on.”