Burning (22 page)

Anita leaned around me and announced
, "Oh, you'll find what you need under the bathroom sink in my old room."  She winked at them, and I doubt a single person in the room didn't understand her meaning. 

"Why do you have...?  Never mind
. Don't tell me," Chloë backtracked. 

"Just because he didn't give in didn't mean I didn't try," she answered
, smirking at me. 

Chapter Twelve

Almost Isn't Good Enough

Chloë

Bridgett's blond head poked into the kitchen while I was getting coffee.  "Do you have any grimoires or spell books related to elfish magic?" 

"No, but I can see if Marguerite—I mean, my mom—does.  Why?"

"Well, all of the information I have says the ritual has to be performed during the three days around the full moon.  Since that was last week..." she trailed off.
 

"That means we have to wait about three more weeks," I finished.
 

"I could be wrong, but if we perform the ritual wrong
, I don't know what might happen.  I also need to gather a few items."

"I'm pretty strong now, and so is Finn.  As long as we don't spend too much time apart
, we should be able to wait.  I'd like to make it special, kind of like an engagement party?  What do you think, Finn?"  My voice rose at the end so I could let him know that I could sense him in the hall. 

He sauntered into the room looking like the black-haired, blue-eyed devil he was. 
He smiled his megawatt grin.  Shameless. He tossed his arm around my shoulders and kissed the side of my head. 

"Engagement party?  Who's getting married?"  His eyes glittered with amusement. 
I poked his hard stomach.  "Kidding," he said, throwing his hands up in surrender.  "Does this mean I can give you your ring now?" 

"No!" Bridgett shouted as Finn reached into his pocket.
 

I cast her a scathing look.  "I thought we were past this?" 

She ignored me while she feverishly flipped through her notes.  "Huh?" she asked, looking away from her spiral notebook.  She shook her head to clear it.  "Oh, sorry.  It's not what you think.  In my research, I found that Finn is supposed to give you a ring.  See, the bonding ceremony is really more of a marriage ritual for elves.  Since you both want this to be more of an engagement celebration, he should give you the ring during the ceremony."

"Ah.  Do I need to give him a ring too?"  Bridgett's face flamed bright red.  I groaned, "I'm not going to like this
, am I?" 

"Uh...well...you are supposed to give him a key.  Not a plain house key, although I guess you could, but usually it is a decorative skeleton key.  M
ost people string it on a chain," Bridgett fumbled out.

"Why a key?  Do you know
, Finn?" 

Finn shrugged.  "I know practically nothing about elfish culture." 

Bridgett looked down and nervously played with her fingers.  "Supernatural societies are mostly patriarchal—with the exception of your family, Chloë.  Girls were locked away when they weren't accompanied by their fathers or older brothers.  The key was to show control passing from male relatives to a husband."

"Yup
. I don't like it," I commented. 

Finn shifted me to stand in front of him but held me away from his body.  I glanced over my shoulder to ask him what he was doing, but the heated expression on his face answered my question.
 

"You actually like the idea." 

He pulled me back against him, confirming his aroused state.  I felt his warm breath tickle my neck as he drew his nose up my skin. 

"
Call me stupid, but the idea of having unlimited access to your bed is very appealing." 

"You already have unlimited access to my bed," I said breathlessly.
 

"And I want everyone to know it," he whispered in my ear.

I failed to see how anyone could miss it.  In the three days since we had been rescued, we were rarely out of bed, except to eat, shower, and use the restroom.  Finn's fingers started teasing the skin above my jeans. 

"You have a
one-track mind," I chided, embarrassed at his display in front of Bridgett. 

"Mmmm..." he muttered in agreement.
 

Bridgett waved a "no big deal" gesture with her hand.
  "Bonded males are awful.  He might learn to control himself in public, but privately, he will probably always be like this from now on.  My dad chases my mom around the house, and they have been mated for about three hundred years."

"See
? I'm totally normal," he said and hoisted me onto his shoulder. 

"Did you need any help
, Bridgett?" I asked while Finn started moving away. 

She laughed.  "I think Finn has other plans.  I'll see what the others are doing, since Dean said we can't go anywhere alone."
 

Finn m
oved steadily toward our room, which was originally his room. 

"You know, I think I'm actually starting to like her," I said, still hanging upside down over his shoulder.

"I'm very glad she agreed to perform the ritual for us.  I've got a cousin I should invite out here after things return to abnormal." 

"Abnormal?" I asked. 

"Well, things are never really normal around here."  He tossed the door open, entered, and kicked it shut.

He slid me down his body
to put me down.  I looked up, since he was eight inches taller than my five foot six.  His black, wavy hair flopped into his face, creating a stark contrast between his fair skin and bright blue eyes.  The look reflected in them was blue fire. 

He kissed me possessively and fisted his hand in my hair. 
"Tell me why you don't want to give me a key," he demanded.  He tugged my hair back so I looked him straight in the face.  Gone was the boy who was unsure of his feelings I’d met freshman year.  Before me stood a man who knew what he wanted and was determined to get it.  This Finn didn't waver between emotions. 

As independent and strong as I
was, this Finn was my equal. 

"If it means
that much to you, I'll do it." 

He guided me down to the bed, moving forward like a stalking predator.  "I knew you'd see it my way," he whispered before he pounced.

Anita

"Hey
, Bridgett," I greeted. "What brings you by so early?" 

"I need to go into town and pick up a few items for the bonding ceremony
—crystals, seeds, and some fresh sage.  They have to be prepared ahead of time, according to my research, and I want to make sure I don't mess it up.  Dean said we can't go anywhere alone, and I was hoping you would go with me.  Chloë and Finn are...uhm...busy." 

I looked toward the stairs and made sure not to stretch my enhanced vampire hearing.  "Again?  I'm giving them another day and I'm turning the hose on them."  She was staring at me expectantly
, and then I remembered that she’d asked me to go into town with her.  "Oh, into town today?  Dean and I are meeting my mother at a potluck for her church in West Valley." 

She looked puzzled.  "West Valley?  I'm new here
. Where is that?" 

"Oh, it's part of Yakima.  The good part,
if there is such a thing," I answered, mocking my hometown.

"Maybe I can get Leah or Jo to go with me." 

Outside, I noticed her skipping toward the garage/apartment that Jo, Leah, and Cooper shared.  I jumped when I felt Dean's hands slide around my waist. 

"How did you sneak up on
me
?" 

He pointed to himself.  "Predator
, remember?  I'm built to stalk silently.  What did Bridgett want?"

"She needs to do some shopping for the bonding ritual.  Ours was simple
. Why does theirs need so much stuff?" 

I could tell he was thinking because his forehead always crinkled up. 
"Probably because their magic manifests externally.  My magic only affects me physically.  Elves draw their magic from nature, and the bonding rites have to recognize the source of power.  She wasn't going to go by herself, was she?"

I shook my head.  "She said she is going to see what Leah and Jo are doing and ask them to go." 

"Good.  We can't risk anyone getting cornered alone.  She has seemed happier the last few days," Dean observed. 

"Yeah
, she has.  I actually think I might be starting to like her," I admitted. 

"Me too.  Maybe once this is all over
, she will consider sticking around."

"Ready to be asked when we are going to have kids?" I teased. 

"Probably more so than you are.  I'll tell anyone who asks when we are going to procreate that we are working on it."  A smug grin pulled at his lips, and he knew he'd won that round of teasing. 

Finn

"Have you seen my phone?" I asked Chloë. 

"Finn, our phones were taken when we were abducted.  I'm fairly sure they were blown up during our rescue," Chloë answered.
 

"Well that sucks.  I wanted to see if the elf gathering thing was finished yet.  I'd like my parents to come to our ceremony." 

"We could go into town and pick up new ones," she suggested. 

"I don't think the two of us count as going as a group.
We aren't really strong enough to defend ourselves, let alone each other." 

"Bridgett needed to go into town to buy some stuff for the ceremony.  Let's go find her and the three of us can go together." 

Bridgett wasn't in the house.  In the garage apartment, Cooper and Jo were snuggled up watching a movie. 

"Have either of you seen Bridgett?" I asked. 

Cooper turned around and waggled his eyebrows at us.  "Hey, look who's out of bed." 

"Bridgett?" I redirected him. 

"Oh, yeah.  She was here about an hour ago wanting to go into town.  We had just started this movie and didn't want to go.  She mentioned going to ask Leah.  Try over at Grey's. That's where Leah is."

Without a phone
, we couldn't call over there.  I wasn't really interested in popping in unannounced and catch Grey and Leah in the act.  I didn't want to know what kind of moves he had gained in a thousand years, especially since Chloë was intimately aware of them. 

"Let's get this over with.  We are going to knock really loudly," Chloë said. 

"You aren't bothered by him being with Leah, are you?" I asked nervously. 

"No, but I don't want to catch them doing anything either.  I also don't want to walk in on Dean and Anita or Cooper and Jo."

We drove the short distance to his house because I didn't want Chloë to risk teleporting us there.  We were stronger, but I wanted us to stay that way.  I banged on the door like I was trying to break it down, and Leah rushed to open it.  We followed her down to the basement, where Grey had an entire apartment set up. 

"Is Bridgett here?" Chloë asked.  The tone of her voice told me
that she was starting to panic. 

"No
. She stopped by to see if Leah could go with her to the store.  I didn't think the two of them should go out together.  I said she needed Dean, Cooper, or Carlos if she had to go during the day," Grey answered. 

Chloë started to pace.  "Call Dean or Anita and see if she is with them." 

Grey and Leah both pulled out their phones.  It seemed to take an excruciatingly long period of time before they responded back. 

Leah shook her head.  "Dean says they are both in Yakima at Anita's mom's church."
 

Grey dialed another number.  "Carlos, is Bridgett with you?  We can't find her.  She wanted to go into town but no one wanted to go.  I'm afraid she went alone.  Yeah, I'll call when we hear from her."

"This feels really wrong.  We should have gone with her, Finn," Chloë panicked. 

I wrapped my arms around her and rested my chin on the top of her head.  "I know.  Here she was making an effort for us, and I was too preoccupied to help when she asked for it."
 

Grey turned his back on all of us and said, "We are all to blame here.  Every single one of us blew her off today."
  A ping announced a new text message.  He walked back to his sofa and picked up his phone.  "Chloë, why are you texting me when we are in the same room?"

Grey

"That must be from a few days ago.  My phone was destroyed along with Finn's in the explosion," Chloë insisted. 

Granted I
wasn’t the best with technology, but this seemed to be new. 

I stared at the screen.  I could tell the line of text was a web
address, but I wasn't sure how to access it.  "Leah, can you help me with this?" 

She smiled at me.  "It's so cute that you can't use your
smartphone." 

"No, it's embarrassing.  Can you open that address?" 

She touched it and my screen changed to a live web feed.

I enlarged the picture
. Well, I tapped a few times and it enlarged itself.  I felt fear surge through my veins.  "Leah, call Dean and Anita and tell them to break every traffic law they have to and get back here immediately.  Then call Cooper and tell him and your sister to get over here now."