Catalyst (13 page)

I was busy smiling at my reflection when Mitis walked up behind me. Jumping out of my skin, I whirled around to face him. “I didn’t know you were there.”

He smiled. “I know. You look pretty, Seven.”

Pretty? I didn’t know why it let me down. The word would have made most girls swoon. But I wanted to be beautiful for once in my life, wanted to be seen as a woman and not a girl.

Smiling tightly, I thanked him and asked if he needed time to change. He did, so I waited downstairs on the couch while he freshened up. And did he ever freshen up. He’d wet his hair. It was the first thing I noticed on his descent down the steps. Mitis was wearing a pair of Aric’s dark jeans, which somehow fit him. He was still in his boots and had put his own shirt back on. I’d noticed that he’d washed and hung it to dry in my bathroom. We had to get him some clothes. Tomorrow. We would do that tomorrow.

He smirked as my eyes tracked his movements. I probably looked like a cat in heat. He was delicious—and way out of my league. I was out of my mind.

Forgetting the fact that he was a scrub, guys that looked like Mitis didn’t go for girls who looked like me. They sought after the Sonnet’s of the world, leaving girls like me heartbroken and pining in their wake, wishing we could be what they wanted instead of what we were.

Guys like Mitis were dangerous creatures—the most deadly kind.

“Ready to go to the bonfire?”

“Yes. I can’t wait.” I stood up and walked proudly toward the door, shoulders square, praying he didn’t see the nervousness seeping into every cell in my body.

Ware
·
house

/wair-hous/

noun

1. A building, or part of one, for the storage of goods, merchandise, etc.
   

SEVEN LOOKED AMAZING
. I told her she looked pretty and watched her shrink away. Either she didn’t like the compliment or didn’t like it coming from me. I shouldn’t have kissed her. I shouldn’t have been so selfish, taking what I wanted, and not expecting her to react like any other girl would have done. Seven wasn’t a normal girl. I wasn’t a normal guy, and we couldn’t have a real relationship. She was dying, and I was planning to kill her father.

There was nothing normal there—at all.

Neither of us had a future.

My mother made me and Griffin suffer through the story of Romeo and Juliet. She’d always been a lover of books and traded what she could to get more of them. The two lovers were doomed from the outset. It was a tragedy much like the one Seven and I was living. Our households weren’t feuding but were enemies nonetheless. We were born into different circumstances, ones that were too difficult to overcome. Even if Griffin hadn’t died and Seven wasn’t dying. Even if all were right and well in the world, we would never be able to be together. I was an idiot for wanting her. And she was a fool because she wanted me in return.

In uncomfortable silence, I followed her down the stairs and out of the house, expecting her to walk down the driveway to the sidewalk. She didn’t take that path. Instead, she made tracks through the yard to the side of the house where the vehicles were kept.

“Zara is off tonight. She’s visiting friends on the other side of town. Our drivers have been given the evening off as well.”

“Okay.” Where was she going with this?

Seven reached into the front pocket of the jean skirt that hugged every curve of her body and pulled out a set of keys. She grinned, holding them up with a smile, teasing me with a jingle of metal. “I’m ready to mark a few more things off that list in your pocket.”

“How do you know it’s in my pocket?”

Her cheeks pinked. “It’s always in your pocket. You’re like the list keeper or something.”

I laughed, staring up at the clear blue sky. “Something like that.”

Seven walked around the sleek black car and unlocked it before sliding into the driver’s seat.

As I sat in the passenger seat, I looked at her. She was busy adjusting mirrors and reaching between her legs for the lever that would move the seat forward so that she could reach the pedals. “Shorty.”

She huffed. “Whatever. I’m not that short.”

“You’ve never driven before.”

Seven smiled and glanced over at me, before turning her attention to the ignition. She placed the key in and gave it a turn. The engine purred to life. “Better buckle up, Mitis.”

“Stick to the back roads and go slow.”

She rolled her eyes and buckled her safety belt. I did the same and hoped she could get us to the lake without crashing into something. I’d never driven either, so there was nothing I could say to help her.

“Ready?”

“As I’ll ever be.” It was the honest truth. Wiping my sweaty palms down the legs of my jeans, I held my breath as she slid the shifter into drive and hit the gas pedal. We lurched forward until she hit the brakes. The seatbelts worked. Mine had tightened, holding me in place. At least there was that.

Seven blew out a breath and laughed. “Let’s try that again.”

Easing her foot off the brake, she let the car roll down the driveway easily. I’d never been so thankful for the effects of gravity before.

It got sketchy when we had to stop and wait for a seemingly never-ending line of people who were filtering in from the northern city gate. “Where are they all coming back from? I didn’t realize people left the city often at all.”

I shook my head. “I don’t know. The only time I’ve seen simples leave the city is for market day, but that’s the only day I venture anywhere near the city, and I always approach the eastern gate.”

The line parted, allowing us to pass through and with a few more abrupt stops and a lot of concerned looks from those we passed along the streets, we made it to the lake and parked beyond a grove of trees, out of sight. She never said it, but Seven didn’t want Sonnet to know she’d “borrowed” the car.

The sun had set leaving only a fading light blue across the western sky. To the east, it was the deep blue of night, sprinkled with the faintest twinkling dots of light.

Without a word, we exited the car and walked to the front of it, standing and listening to the sounds of crickets, laughter, and loud conversation. It all filtered through the trees along with the orange glow of the fire itself, just yards beyond us.

“Before we go, can I see the list and pen, please?” Seven asked with a smile.

I slipped the paper and pen from my pocket and handed it to her. She unfolded it and laid it on the hood of the car, smoothing it with her hands. Clicking the pen, she smiled up at me before crossing off numbers eight and moving its tip toward number three.

1.    
   Go swimming.
   
2.    
   Sleep under the stars
   
3.    
   Go to a party
   
4.   
   Dance with a guy
   
5.    
   …in the rain
   
6.    
   Make a mess
   
7.    
   Have my first kiss
   
8.   
   Drive a car
   
9.    
   ….really fast.
   
10. Walk the perimeter of the wall
    
11.  
    Go to the market
    
12. Drink alcohol
    
13. Get a tattoo
    
14. Blend in
    
15. Belly laugh
    
16. Hold someone’s hand
    
17. Give a random person a hug
    
18. Help Mitis
    
19. …and his friend.
    

20. Leave the city.

21. Take a piggyback ride from a really hot guy.

I stopped her. “Hey, List Keeper says you have to actually go to the party first.”

Seven smiled and playfully huffed. “Fine.” Folding the list, she handed it and the pen back to me. “Here you go, Keeper.”

“Handsome Keeper, to you.”

She grumbled something as she walked away. It sounded something like, “To my sister, too.” It wasn’t like I was eager to be on Sonnet’s radar. And I damn sure didn’t want Seven’s anywhere near Aric. Jogging, I caught up with her quickly.

“Stay away from Aric.”

Seven scowled. “He used to be my friend.”

“He’s not a friend. He’s pathetic.”

“Are you jealous, Mitis?”

I scoffed. “Hell no.”

She smiled. “Handsome Keeper or Jealous Keeper? You know green isn’t a good color on you.”

“Shut up, Seven. And
you
look good in any color you wear.” She stopped, mouth agape. “Just so you know, I
have
been looking. I’ve been paying
very
close attention.”

I ran my finger down the side of her neck, across her collarbone. She gasped and I smirked. Knowing my touch affected someone else, someone like Seven, was a major boost to the ego. Mine felt like it was on steroids, flexing and strutting around pounding on his chest. Handsome Keeper has caveman ego. Me Mitis. Me kill Aric. Me touch Seven some more.

Threading her cool fingers through mine, we walked closer. Everything was louder; we were about to leave the trees, not that they weren’t sparse. They were spindly and wouldn’t have hidden the car if the sun were out. Darkness covered many secrets.

“You feel okay?” I asked her.

“Yeah, I do. Thanks.”

We stepped onto the sand, hand in hand. Someone was sitting near the fire itself, strumming a guitar. He had a few loyal fans hovering around him. I hadn’t spotted Sonnet or Aric. Glancing at Seven, she was pinching her bottom lip between her thumb and forefinger and taking it all in. It seemed like the only open stretch of sand was the one we stood upon. People were everywhere, bodies swaying to the sound of popping wood and guitar riffs.

Everyone held ceramic mugs. I hadn’t thought to bring anything, and neither had Seven. She wanted to drink. That was on her list, and that was fine. One drink was no problem. But she had to stay relatively sober. We had to get that car back to her house somehow.

No doubt, her father would frown upon the pet driving the family car. He’d kill the pet for wrecking the family car.

I snorted. Seven looked up at me questioningly, so to cover myself and my thoughts, I nodded to a guy who was jerking around like he was having a seizure. He thought it was dancing, I guessed. She giggled and pulled me into the fray. Where had timid Seven gone?

“We need a mug,” she announced.

Glancing around, I was trying to spot one someone had laid down and forgotten. That’s when his voice came from behind Seven. “You can have mine.”

“Um, thanks. Are you sure, Aric?”

“I’m positive,” he answered confidently. “I just filled it.”

Seven smiled and looked toward me before taking a sip. Her face scrunched up, and she gasped and coughed. “That is terrible! It’s like gasoline!”

Aric doubled over with a laugh loud enough to alert Sonnet to our presence.

“That is my skirt, Seven!”

Seven smiled. “Yep.”

“It doesn’t even fit you. You’re too flat. I mean you’re so boyish, you have no curves at all.”

I saw the moment Seven’s cheeks flushed and was about to tell Sonnet where to shove the tiny scrap of denim, but Aric beat me to it. “Shut up, Sonnet. Seven is tiny. She always has been. But she’s lovely the way she is.”

Seven smiled at him and me, but it didn’t reach her eyes. That alone boiled my blood. In thirty seconds, her sister had broken her again. Hushed announcements of Sonnet’s sick sister being present floated through the crowd. Eyes glanced in her direction from all around. She whispered to me, “I can’t blend in here.”

“Want to dance?” Aric asked her.

She smiled sweetly at Sonnet and then accepted his hand. “That would be great.”

That left me and Sonnet to watch the pair. Aric moved her toward the fire. I watched the flames lick at the night sky from behind her silhouette. For a moment, I felt exactly like that flame. I burned for her. Only for her.

Sonnet doused me with ice water the moment her claws dug into my forearm. “You’re with me, pet.”

Gritting my teeth, I let her lead me over toward Aric and Seven. Holding my breath, I let her sway against me. Aric was keeping a respectable distance between his body and Seven’s. Sonnet didn’t know the meaning of the word boundary. She was angry—at Aric for asking Seven to dance and at Seven for accepting.

I wasn’t exactly thrilled with the pair of them either. Had she not heard me tell her to steer clear of him?

Seven pulled away from Aric, smiled and thanked him for the dance and then walked toward the water’s edge, right where it teased and lapped at the shore. She looked down, studying the pull and tug of the water against the sand. Tiny grains swept to and fro by a current it was powerless to escape.

She and I both knew what that felt like. Sonnet was determined to make Aric pay for his attention to her sister. She grinded her body against mine, trying her best to be seductive, but it came across as nothing but desperate.

Aric stood near the fire, enveloped by a couple of guys around his age. He laughed and talked with them, all the while watching Seven’s slender form from afar. Was it strange—me watching him watch Seven? Probably. But I wouldn’t let him get her alone. I didn’t trust the guy.

A couple said hello to her as they passed by on their way to a more secluded spot.
I’d love to take Seven somewhere more private.

At some point, I’d stopped dancing along with Sonnet. She stood in front of me, fists clenched, staring at Seven with more contempt than any sibling should have for the other.

I left her to fume alone, making my way through the gyrating bodies to Seven’s side. “First party all you expected?”

She shook her head.

“Want to get out of here?”

Seven glanced up at me and nodded. I held my hand out for her, and she placed hers in it. We didn’t bother to say goodbye to Aric or Sonnet. Those two deserved one another, and the unhappiness they felt.