Celestra Forever After (25 page)

We take the ferry home, unable to hide our silly grins, our incessant laughter. I’m not exactly sure how I’m going to break it to my mother that Gage and I are married. I’m pretty sure she’ll be psyched, overall, but more than slightly disappointed that she wasn’t there to witness the event, let alone plan for it and buy a crap-ton of decorations from the local craft store in a gaudy act of worship to all things tulle and tinsel.

Gage drives us to the Landon house and frowns as he looks up at the glorified cabin.

“How are we going to do this?”

“We’ll figure it out.” I tug on his fingers. We hop out and rush up the stairs, my lower half burning—killing me as if shards of glass were cutting through my insides with every single step. Thoughts of Gage raking over me—his body filling mine—wash over me, and I close my eyes for one sweet second.

A shadowed figure steps out from behind the old patio umbrella that Tad has lounging against the side of the house. My skin prickles on edge as the figure emerges into the light. Wickedness oozes from that direction like a toxin, stopping up the air with its venomous poison. It takes a moment for her full infamy to come into focus—it’s the viper herself—Chloe.

“What the hell do you want?” I’m still pissed that I didn’t take up the issue of little Ms. Deviant with my mother while I was in Ahava. Trust me, it’s the first order of business when I get back.

“So it’s true?” She looks from me to Gage, her eyes falling to our conjoined hands—my ring. Her face pinches with grief. This is the sword in Chloe’s heart, and, in a way, I’m glad I get to see her reaction firsthand. It’s a twisted wedding gift that only Chloe could deliver.

“Get out of here, Chloe,” Gage pants out the words with a budding rage. “Believe me, there’s nothing you can do to ruin this day.”

I smirk at her. “I see good news travels fast.” I don’t really give a shit how the hell she found out just as long as she doesn’t go blabbing it to anyone who’ll listen—but, then again, this is Chloe, and, if she’s anything, she’s vindictive. “I wouldn’t be surprised if you implanted a GPS tracking device on Gage. I’m sure you were sad to see that his body landed in all the right places.” My insides give a sharp bite of pain attesting to this.

Her face inches back as if I had slapped her. “You’ll regret this.”

“I regret nothing, except the fact your leash is too fucking long for my liking. But don’t worry, my sweet little bitch. I plan on taking care of that, too. You see, finally, everything is going my way—the faction war, the celestial booby trap my mother and I lured you into, and most importantly, I have
Gage
. It’s all coming up roses for me.”

She barks out an echoing laugh and startles me. “You’re a bigger fool now than you ever were before,” Chloe purrs with a satisfied smile as if she’s in on some cosmic joke that I’m not yet privy to. “In fact, you just cost yourself everything.” She looks to Gage, angst riddled as if she were in physical pain. “Oh, Skyla.” She crimps a wicked grin. “The beauty is, you have no idea what you’ve done.” She turns to me and touches her hand to my forehead. An electrical current travels through me, immobilizing my muscles, my ability to breathe.
Let me tell you everything—

Gage pushes her off. “Keep the hell away from her.”

“We need to talk, Skyla,” she says as the cawing of a bird fills the air. Chloe glances up and winces. “I’m the only one who’ll tell you the truth, Messenger—or should I say Oliver?” Her dark eyes narrow in on mine with a strangled intensity. “Believe me, no one else in the universe wants to fill you in on what you’ve just done.” The cawing increases in volume as the raven draws near—Holden Kragger in Nevermore’s form. “But, then, I was always trying to stop you.” She breaks out in a cackle before jumping over the railing, straight down a fifty-foot suicide plunge—down into the earth and into the Transfer where trash like Chloe truly belongs.

“Don’t listen to her, Skyla.” Gage presses a kiss to my forehead. “We’re not buying any more of her bullshit.”

“Of course, not.” I’d be lying if I didn’t say her urgency caught me off guard. “But a part of me is curious as to what she had to say and why she was willing to stoop to telepathy in front of you of all people.” Not a single logical scenario runs through my mind. “Probably just more lies.” I melt into my newly christened husband. “The only person I can truly trust is standing right here in front of me.”

The earth trembles. The porch jumps beneath our feet.

The sky erupts in a lavender sizzle as if my mother were saying not so fast.

I clutch onto Gage.

Just what the hell is going on?

Gage

The lights are all on downstairs at the Landon house. Skyla and I step inside and hear shouting from the kitchen. Her sisters are already at it, threatening to hack each other’s hair off once again.

“Skyla?” Her mother’s voice rises from the kitchen, and we head that way.

Her stepfather, Tad, and mom both rise when we step into the room, their faces rife with worry.

Crap.

“There’s the culprit.” He wags a finger at me. “I told you she wasn’t alone, freezing in the rain. The only place she fell was in a nice warm bed with the linebacker.”

“Not true.” Skyla is quick to cover her lips and give me that I’m sorry look.

I know Skyla. It’s not that she meant to lie, it’s that she can’t stand the thought of Tad ratting her out on a lucky guess.

“Skyla?” Her mother rushes over and cups her cheeks. “God, I thought you were lying in a ditch somewhere. Demetri was just about to get an entire taskforce out looking for you.”

“I was about to do the same.” Tad lifts his pants by the belt loops and flares his nostrils at me.

Right. A brownie troop is about all Tad has the authority to amass and not even that.

“I wasn’t lying in a ditch.” Skyla takes a step away from me. “I was up late studying and missed the last ferry.”

“You could have
called
.” Her mother cuts the air with the caustic edge in her voice, and the baby sleeping in the playpen begins to wail. “In fact”—she heads over and scoops up the infant—“you could have picked up your phone. I must have called about
sixteen
times. And where did you
sleep
? In the library?” She drills us with her suspicion while lifting her shirt for the baby, and I train my eyes on Skyla. I’ve lost count of how many times her mother has flashed the world her tits. I’m not against her feeding the baby. I’m just against seeing things that might haunt me forever which include any private part of Skyla’s mom—my new mother-in-law. A dull smile perks on my lips as I wrap my arms around Skyla.

“I wasn’t at the library.” Skyla trembles beneath me. I’ve seen her go around this block with her mother enough times to know it ends in nothing more than a whimper.

“Didn’t think so,” she snips. “You know why? That was the first place Demetri called, and they close at
eleven!
”

“Oh, right.” Skyla spins into me before gently lowering my hands from her hips. “I was with a friend.”
Sorry,
she mouths before turning once again to face her mom. “We have a very important paper due in history. And, by the way, thank you for filling me in on the fact Mr. Dudley would be teaching. He darn near gave me a heart attack.”

“Isn’t that man fantastic?” Lizbeth’s eyes enlarge as if she meant it on a level that didn’t include grading papers or teaching about early American settlers.

It’s one thing to have her mom gushing about Dudley, but if Skyla starts in I might be moved to hunt down the sacrilegious Sector and clock him. I may anyway.

“I don’t think he’s so great.” Skyla’s sister, Melissa, spits it out like rusty nails. “He gives a shit load of homework, and, I swear, he’s purposefully giving me a hard time because Skyla rejected his sexual advances.”

All eyes spin toward her sister.

“So he’s still teaching at West?” Skyla relaxes into me, and my hard-on ticks to life. Just the memory of being with her, being
in
her is enough to set me off. After Skyla lost it this morning, before I ever really begun to pleasure her, the only thought running through my mind was thank God it was her, not me. That was my biggest fear—ending the game before I ever got a chance to properly run the bases. Hell, I don’t mind one bit that Skyla was so gone she couldn’t take it. That’s my goal, to elicit that response in her time and time again.

“Of course, he’s still working there.” Her mother shakes her head. “You know they don’t pay those teachers near enough. Poor guy has to moonlight just to make ends meet.”

Poor guy? Has she seen the size of his house?

“Speaking of meeting ends—we’re no longer meeting ours.” Tad belts it out loud enough to get the dead’s attention. “
Greg
”—he looks right at me—“you take Skyla out as much as you can. Feed her three solid squares—if you know what I mean.” He pats his stomach. “And, if you’re a gentleman, you’ll bring dinner in a few nights a week, for the rest of us. I like extra cheese on my burgers—in fact, make it a double.”

“Oh, stop.” Lizbeth bounces the baby in his direction. “It’s not that bad.” She glances at Skyla. “We’re just trying out a very tight budget.” This coming from the family that lived off pork rinds for a month. Something tells me the Landons are going to give a whole new meaning to the words shoestring budget.

“Did someone say
budget
?” Brielle and Drake walk in with their hair frozen in the air from a good night’s romp. I’m pretty sure no one would bat an eye if I spent the night. “That’s all my mother talks about after Mr. Edinger dumped her.”

“He did not
dump
her.” Lizbeth rolls her eyes. I can feel it coming, so I wrap my arms around Skyla like a seatbelt.

“Why are you always defending him?” Skyla goes off like a landmine every single time Lizbeth brings up Demetri. “If that’s what Brielle says happened, then that’s the way it went down.”

Probably with a little more drama
, I say giving her hand a squeeze, and it’s only then I notice she’s wearing my grandmother’s ring, right here in the open. I’d warn her, but a part of me doesn’t really mind if our secret gets out. I want the entire damn world to know Skyla is my wife.

“He said, she said.” Lizbeth shakes her head. “Anyway, at this house, we should all try to watch what we spend.” She goes on jostling that baby until its bare feet vibrate through the air.

“Speaking of spending”—Tad crosses his arms while looking at me and Bree—“I think it’s high time we start collecting rent around here.” Tad is a nut job but mostly harmless. I’m pretty sure he doesn’t have the balls to ask me to pay him a red cent. “Brielle and Greg need to ante up or be prepared to start bringing sack lunches. Better, yet,
both
.”

“It’s
Gage!
” Skyla thunders.

“It matters not”—he wags a finger in my direction—“because each time he leaves, the refrigerator is ten pounds lighter.”

“I swear—I’m not eating out of the fridge.” Is he for real?

“Darn right you’re not.” He points hard at the ceiling. “See that?” A security camera sits perched in the corner aimed right at the kitchen. “I’ve got that baby on 24/7, and I’m watching ground zero like a hawk—
Greg
.” He leans in, staring at me like he wants to start a fist fight—and sadly I’m betting I’d deck him if he asked for it. “Now come on, Lizbeth”—he snatches his wallet off the counter—“I’m taking you out to breakfast.” A greasy smile spreads over his face. “The bank has free coffee and donuts until ten-thirty.” He growls back at me while stuffing himself into his jacket. “Not eating out the fridge…” he mumbles. “You know what?” He takes a step into me with his hair flipped through the air like a bad hairpiece. “If you were smart, you’d marry Skyla ASAP and whisk her the heck off this island before that quarterback brother of yours rolls back into town and marries her himself. Everyone knows that girls prefer a quarterback.”

“Tad!” Skyla shouts.

A boiling rage percolates in me. Never in my life have I wanted to deck someone so bad. I force myself to look past the idiot, out the window, and focus in on the fog pressing against the glass. He knows just enough of the history that Logan and I share with Skyla to push my buttons. I wonder if it’s true? What if Logan takes one look at her tomorrow—next week—and tries to take her away? What if he succeeds? A rage brews in me, and, for a fleeting moment, fresh hatred for Logan bubbles to the surface. But it flees as quick as it came, and my rage is replaced right back on that bonehead of a stepfather that Skyla and I will have to find a way to endure for the rest of our lives. I can’t bring myself to look at him so I train my eyes on that damn window.

“You hear that
Greg
?” he screams in my face. “You’re a liability to my family’s welfare. All you do is take, take,
take!
”

My pulse quickens. My body heats up like an inferno. If I look at him I’ll lose it. I’m a second away from stuffing my fist in his gut as I continue to burn my rage into that single sheet of glass.

The window buckles under the pressure and splinters like a bolt of lightning frozen in time.

Something in my chest loosens, and I break out in a cold sweat, panting as if I just sprinted to the moon and back.

“Would you look at that?” Lizbeth stalks over to the fractured glass, and Tad follows, bitching about their bad luck.

Skyla touches my cheek, her face rife with worry. She looks over at the window then back at me.

She suspects something.

She should.

After all, it was me who did it.