Ungifted (31 page)

Russ smiled and the look in his eyes changed. What I saw made my breath catch in my lungs. He started leaning toward me very, very slowly. But he couldn’t be about to do what I thought he was going to do. Could he?

“Nobody punch me,” he said, and then, sure enough, he kissed me.

He’d only touched his lips to mine lightly at first, and it felt as if that’s all he’d meant to do. But then, as if he couldn’t help it, he kissed me.
Really
kissed me. It was slow and soft and amazing.

It wasn’t a tenth of the kiss we’d shared the other night, but that kiss hadn’t been for me. I could feel the difference. This didn’t have the desperation or the overwhelming love behind it, but it was nice and it was mine. He was kissing Grace this time, not Dani.

I could have stayed locked in that kiss forever, but far too soon he pulled back. “How do you feel now?” he asked quietly.

I couldn’t bring myself to open my eyes. I felt so calm, so relaxed. Which was really weird because Russ had just kissed me in front of a whole bunch of people and basically asked me if I liked it. I should have been mortified and on the verge of a panic attack.

“Are you seriously asking me that?” I said. I still sounded a little breathless.

“Better?” he asked. “Less anxious?”

“Amazing,” I admitted. “Would you all throw tomatoes if I said ‘you complete me’?’”

Cynthia laughed. “What did you do to her? She’s completely drunk.”

“No,” Russ said. “She’s in the cravings.”

He was right. I was definitely craving something. Him. Big time. But somehow I don’t think that’s what he meant, because everyone gasped and spouted denials. Ethan was the most resistant of all. “No,” he said. “It’s not possible. She’s human. She has no aura.”

“Think about it,” Russ argued. “Maybe she does. Maybe it’s just too weak to see.”

“I’ve never heard of an aura being that weak.”

“What are the cravings?” I asked.

“It’s when a supernatural first comes into their power,” Cynthia said, gaping at me as if she were staring at an alien species. “We don’t know how to control our power. We use up a lot of our supernatural energy, so we need the energy of others. We crave it. Physical contact is the best way to pass supernatural energy, and the more intimate the touch, the more energy is transferred.” She lost herself in thought for a second and then decided she agreed with Russ. “It does make a lot of sense. It would explain why we’re all drawn to her. It would explain her behavior lately.”

“No, it wouldn’t,” Preston argued. “Do you remember the cravings at all? For her to be experiencing them all this time, with as little physical contact as she’s had, she’d be a wreck. She’d be so sick. We’d have all noticed it long before now.”

“Not if her aura is really that weak,” Russ insisted. “Trust me. I just went through all this with Dani. It’s the exact same, just on a much smaller scale. If Grace’s aura was really so weak you can’t see it, then she wouldn’t need much energy to sustain it. The cravings would be very light. They’d come on so gradually it would feel exactly like depression or anxiety.”

“He’s right,” Caleb agreed. “It makes sense.”

“But she’s human!” Ethan said. “I swear she is. I feel it. Plus, her parents are human.”

“Dani’s parents are both human.”

This argument had my head spinning. I could barely keep up. “What are you saying?” I asked. “You guys, I’m so lost.”

“I don’t think you’re human, Grace,” Russ said. “I think you’re just like Dani. I think you’re a pure, like she is. I think you’re a new type of supernatural that no one’s ever seen before. You’re Dani’s opposite.”

“Do you really think?” Cynthia asked.

“There’s definitely a connection between them. They could be identical twins. They were born on the same day. They both came into their power around their sixteenth birthdays. They’re both something that defies supernatural possibilities, and their powers are exact opposites of each other. They’re yin and yang. Wouldn’t it make sense then that if Dani has the strongest aura of any supernatural ever, Grace would have the weakest?”

“Great,” I groaned when I finally understood what he was telling me. “You’re saying I’m a supernatural and I’m
still
the most pathetic person on the planet?”

Preston and I made it out
for dinner, but this hadn’t felt much like a birthday party, or even a date. Not that I had much dating experience, but I was fairly sure you weren’t supposed to spend your entire date talking supernatural politics, history, and other guys over dinner.

Preston started the evening giving me a bit of history about how the resistance was formed, then moved on to trying to make me see their point, and finally, asked for my help with Russ.

“He didn’t come to
us
, Grace. He came to
you
. The resistance doesn’t know that, but it’s true. You’re the one who can get to Russ. You’re the one who could convince him to trust the resistance. You’re probably the only one.”

“No!” I gasped. “I won’t do that! He’s been lied to and manipulated his entire life. I won’t add to the tragedy. Don’t ask me to.”

“The resistance needs him, Grace.”

When I still said nothing, Preston tried a different approach. “It’s not like we’re asking something horrible. The resistance could help him, too. He’s on his own. They could give him a place to stay. Teach him to be a great warlock. Give him people he can trust.”

“No,” I said again. “I want no part of it. I have nothing to do with your resistance or your council. This is a supernatural fight. The token human is neutral.”

Preston sighed.

“I’m probably the only person in the world who wouldn’t try to use Russ, and that’s what he really needs right now,” I said. “I’ll be his friend, but that’s it. And I’m warning you now, as his friend I won’t sit back and watch the rest of you try to manipulate him. If I know you’re not being straight with him about anything, I’ll tell him.”

The contemplative look on Preston’s face annoyed me. Was he dissecting my feelings for Russ again? Assuming things I’d never admitted to, like being
infatuated
with Russ as he’d claimed earlier?

“What?” I muttered. “I’d do the same for you, too, if you needed it, so stop looking at me like that.”

“Like what?” Preston asked, slightly startled.

“I don’t know, like you’re trying to understand my loyalty to him. Because I’m not choosing him over you guys. It’s just the right thing to do in this case.”

Preston surprised me with a grin. “I know, Grace. Relax. I was only admiring your ethics. Sure, it’d be easier if you would help us, but it’s impossible to argue with you when you’re being so…good. I have no doubt you’ll be the perfect friend for Russ Devereaux. He’s a lucky guy.”

“Oh.” That shut me up. When Preston smiled at me, my annoyance was replaced with my stomach giving out. And my heart fluttering. I felt the heat rising in my face and dropped my gaze to my lap.

I was grateful that when the waitress came with our dessert the topic of conversation changed. “There,” I said as the woman set down a large, gooey piece of lava cake. She’d even stuck a lit candle in it for me. “Didn’t I promise a volcano of chocolate?”

“That you did,” Preston said. He was smiling at the cake but when his eyes met mine, all the playfulness left them. “Thank you, Grace.”

His intensity used to scare me but now when he looked at me the way he was right then, it felt different. He wasn’t trying to intimidate me. He was just being Preston. I wondered if he kissed with that same level of energy. I realized I was staring at his mouth and mentally kicked myself.

“Make a wish.”

Preston held my gaze a second longer, then blew out his birthday candle with the ghost of a smile on his face. His lips puckered so nicely that I wished he had a million candles to blow out. I gave myself another mental scolding. Preston was going to be an alpha. He was off limits.

After we finished dessert, Preston refused to let me pay for dinner. “This was supposed to be my treat—my birthday gift to you,” I argued when he slipped the server some cash before I could.

“You’ve already given me the best gift. I haven’t been out like this in a really long time. I never get to do normal things and feel like a normal guy. Tonight was a nice break. It means a lot to me. Let me keep up the pretense a little while longer and pay for dinner.”

His mood was light, but his words made my heart feel heavy. Cynthia had tried to explain the pressure he was under being the future alpha of his pack. I hadn’t really understood how much pressure she’d meant until that moment.

Things fell quiet a moment and then Preston reached his arm across the table, holding his open palm out to me. “Let me see your hand.”

I was startled, but I couldn’t refuse the offer. I slipped my hand in his and tried my best not to shiver at the contact.

“Does this really help you feel better?” Preston asked curiously. He was staring at our hands as he brushed his thumb back and forth over the backs of my fingers.

“Yeah, it really does.” I stared down at our fingers. “Do you think Russ is right about me? Do you think I’m not human?”

“I don’t know what to think about you, Grace. You’re a conundrum. But, to be honest, I hope he’s wrong.”

I felt myself frown. “Would it really be so horrible if I were one of you? Am I really so pathetic as Ethan says?”

Preston’s smile vanished and he looked at me with anger in his eyes. “You are not pathetic, Grace. Ethan’s opinion is his own problem.”

I cast a self-conscious glance in Ethan’s direction. He was standing stoically near the front of the restaurant where he could see the whole dining room. It was the first time he’d acted like a real bodyguard. He was clear across the room, but even though he was giving Preston and me our privacy, I knew his nephilim hearing was probably picking up our whole conversation.

“I would be disappointed if you weren’t human because you give me so much hope,” Preston explained. “I think you’re going to give a lot of supernaturals hope.”

I blushed and looked away again.

“You’re important, Grace. You have no idea how much good you could do for us.”

Preston’s grip on my hand tightened and then, suddenly, we were ripped apart with the force of a freight train. I barely had time to blink before I found myself on the floor, pinned beneath Ethan. He’d cushioned the blow, but I was still breathless from the sheer speed of his movement.

Before I could speak, he had us on our feet again and was thrusting me into Preston’s arms. “Get her in the car. I’ll be right there,” he growled in a voice so menacing it scared me.

He was gone in another blink and that’s when I noticed what was left of the chair I’d been sitting in. The chandelier I’d been sitting under lay in shattered bits. Most of the ceiling was on the floor with it. Had it not been for Ethan, I’d have been rubble, too. He’d saved my life again.

Preston scooped me into his arms and rushed me out to the Suburban. I didn’t realize how badly I was shaking until Preston tried to set me on my feet and I nearly collapsed. Preston crushed me to his chest. “It’s all right. You’re safe now.”

When I still couldn’t stop trembling, Preston pulled my chin up and forced me to look into his eyes. “Do you hear me, Grace? I won’t let anything happen to you, and neither will Ethan.”

He kept talking, but I didn’t hear a word he said. Maybe I was in shock. Or maybe I was just wrapped in his strong arms, staring up at his perfectly kissable lips, wishing he would close the distance between us.

“Freaking witches and their damn cloaking spells!”

Ethan was back. Moment of lusting after Preston officially over.

“No luck, then?” Preston asked.

“I never saw a thing. I felt the magic, but I couldn’t tell where it was coming from or what they were trying to do. If the same thing hadn’t happened at school, I wouldn’t have thought about the ceiling. I’m lucky I got to her in time.”

“That wasn’t luck,” Preston argued. “I’ve never seen anyone move that fast. Not even other nephilim.”

“Yeah, well, it almost wasn’t fast enough. Let’s get her home before something else happens.”