Exaltation (18 page)

“Are you asking around about me?”

Raven shrugged. “I listen more than I speak at school.”

One shallow nod.

“So what’s going on at home? Divorce?”

Rydell smirked. “Just didn’t really agree with my father.”

Raven covered her mouth with her hand to mock shock. “That makes you, like, so original.”

He laughed, a deep, bellowing laugh.

“You have daddy issues?” he asked.

“Me? Nope. I have the best father in existence.”

“Mother issues?”

“Don’t have one.”

He tilted his head. “Should I point out the obvious?”

Now Raven was laughing. “You know not all of us are given a mother and a father. And that’s just fine because there were always people willing to fill those empty roles. I have plenty of mother figures. The best I could hope for.”

“Like a Thelma Ray.”

“Just like her. She taught me respect. The twins’ mom taught me to be a powerful thinker, an independent woman. My aunt taught me to appreciate all that could not be seen. There are more mother figures for sure. Family is created by those we pull to us, not by blood.” She could see a pain in his eyes and didn’t understand why. “Not sure what’s going on at home. Or if you want to talk about it or not, but I’ll listen. And if you don’t want to talk about it that’s cool, too. Talk about what makes you happy, that helps make the dark moments look more insignificant.”

Rydell hesitated for a second. Family. Dagen was his family. So were all those behind them who were counting on him to end this girl.

“I don’t know which way I’m heading right now so it’s hard for me to think about what makes me happy.”

“Well…sometimes if you think back to the last time you were happy that helps you plot a new course.”

He took in a sharp breath. His
happy
moments were not in his immortal life, and were ones he had done a stand up job of forgetting about. They were all a haze. Far enough away that even if a conversation triggered him to reach back he had time to stop himself before he really remembered anything. He always felt it though, the emotions of it, how horribly it ended.

He had to focus on what was in front him now, not a past that was long gone. He had to charm this girl.

“Even if you wish the last time had happened under different circumstances?”

“Maybe think about how you would have made it better? Work toward that point?”

“That might work,” he said in a deep, seductive tone. One he’d used to lure a girl or two before.

“So how would you have made your last happy moment different, Rydell?”

He eased closer to her and she took in a sharp breath then let it out slowly.

“I would have stared into her eyes, past the surface.” Rydell slowly searched her shell-shocked gaze. “I would have smiled faintly as my eyes drifted to her lips and I’d silently ask for permission to taste what I don’t deserve,” he said as his eyes did just that.

“Then?” Raven breathed.
Yep, you woke a sleeping lion, girl…but at least he’s purring right about now.

“I would have carefully cradled her beautiful face in my hands.”

Raven sighed as she felt his palms against her cheeks.
Where in the hell did you come from—what boy talks like this?!

“I would’ve made sure the first brush of my lips told her how remarkably precious she was.”

I’m so screwed,
Raven thought.
A REGRETTABLE has me in his snare! And I … love it! Gah. Not. Good.

He leaned in, his lips touched the corner of hers. They were searing with heat and trembling, ever so slightly. He pulled away, just barely letting his stare linger where his lips just met hers.

“I would have told her, even though I knew we were impossible…the moment I felt her against me, my life changed. For worse or for better I don’t know, but it changed me…”

His lips met the opposite side of her mouth and lingered there for a while longer. He pulled away just enough to trace his thumb across her bottom lip.

“I would have told her that no matter how hard I try I’m a flawed soul who can’t keep the promises I make to myself much less her.”

Yep. You’re a witch, a damn sexy one at that.
“What promises?” Raven asked with a tremble, as she reached her hands for his waist.

“That I would stop us from crossing the point of no return. That I could walk away from you and act like you are nothing but another empty moment in my life.”

This boy was in pain. Raven knew that. She knew it had nothing to do with her. Someone had ripped him open and this was what was left. She awoke him, or at least made him think back to the way his life was before the agony.

She had a good instinct about boys and knew the reason she saw him as a
regrettable
was because he was not hers, couldn’t be. Some girl had broken him, hurt him. His heart was still with her.

But…when in Rome…

“I don’t think she would want you to walk away. I think she’d tell you she never regretted meeting you, crossing a line with you.” Her hands squeezed his waist. “She might admit she senses how dangerous this thing between the two of you could be, too. But she believes paths are crossed because the souls need each other at that moment. Even if it’s just to get over something…or…wake you up enough to go back to where you want to be.”

Rydell lost his game right then. He was heavy into enchanting her, trying to figure out what this was, and when she said that, she pushed him to remember what he forgot on purpose—the emotions of his mortal life.

To fight claiming those memories once again he leaned in slowly and met her lips. Raven closed her eyes as she felt the gentle power behind them, as she felt the strength of them part hers and his tongue slid against hers.

Sin.

Right as Rydell deepened the kiss the heat between their lips intensified. Raven felt a strong vibration of vim in the air. Her eyes were closed but she could have sworn she saw a flash of light. Before she could question it he was gone from her arms.

Raven opened her eyes to find herself against the wall which was at least ten feet behind her. He was standing in the same place, looking at her with wide eyes.

Raven was humiliated. She had no idea how she was she going to explain this to him
. What
did he see? What did he feel? Did I do this? Did I lose control of my vim? Did I fly out of his arms? What was that light?
  Her mind would not stop racing.

“Are you okay?” he asked as he started to move closer to her.

“Good,” Raven said shortly. “Just,” she raised her hand to tell him to stop. She didn’t trust herself. Or any reaction her body might have. She didn’t want to hurt him.

“Don’t run,” he said in a deeply pleading tone.

Did he seriously just tell me not to run? Maybe he didn’t feel what I felt or see anything. Then again maybe he did...yep, you’re a witch.

Raven squinted her eyes closed. “You sure you’re not the one who wants to run?” she quipped dryly.

“I told you I couldn’t keep the promises I make to myself.”

“You think I’m a freak. I’m sure someone turned you on to the idea of trying to hook up with me. I’m sure your boy Dagen is outside wanting to know if I’m as off point as rumored. How far you got.”

“Why would you think that?” Rydell asked, as disgust filled his eyes.

“That’s what all boys do. Call me a unicorn or something.”
Even the witch boys.

Rydell let out a slow breath. “I’m sorry…” His eyes shifted over her. “I went too far.” He meant it, too. He didn’t get this energy thing between them. How it was enticing and repelling at the same time. He sure as hell didn’t mean to scare her. It was clear to him she was still learning how to control the power of her soul.

He looked down and then turned.

Raven didn’t want him to leave for a thousand reasons and they were not all because she didn’t know what he may or may not have felt with that kiss.

She only meant to stride slowly toward him, but she was behind him in an instant. Her vim was out of control. And it was scaring her to death. She didn’t know what had triggered this but she was not a fan.

Rydell felt her behind him and turned. No shock, that she had made it there without a sound, was on his face.

“How come I get the impression that even though we’re speaking to one another we’re not having the same conversation?” Raven asked him.

“Because you’re a smart girl.”

There was not an ounce of teasing in his tone.

Raven heard the auditorium doors open. Soren, and all those working with him, must be done for the night.

“Was anything weird about that kiss to you?” Raven asked him bluntly.

His ice blue eyes moved to her lips for an instant. “Beyond the fact that every time you kiss me you run from my arms?”

“You’re going to break my heart,” Raven said under her breath. “You don’t think I’m weird? This isn’t some game to you? You’re for real about what is between us?”

It took him a second but he finally said, “I want to figure it out.”

Raven held his stare as she nodded once. “What kind of car do you have?”

It was a mood-changing question. A playful smile emerged across Rydell’s lips. “I didn’t take you as a materialistic kind of girl.”

“I’m not.”

“Then why did you ask? Do you need a ride?”

“No. They say it’s going to be too wet to race tomorrow, and I’m off, so that only means one thing.”

“Which is?”

“Mudding.”

“Are you asking me out?” he asked, as seriousness found him once again.

“I’m being easy again, aren’t I?”

“Nothing about you is easy,” he said quietly. Meaning every damn word.

“Raven?” Soren shouted across the ring.

“Coming,” she yelled back. “Either way, I’ll see you at school tomorrow.”

Raven started to skate past him but he carefully grasped her arm. He leaned in so his lips were against her ear and he whispered, “I didn’t mean to let that much energy go. For it to scare you. You make me forget who I am. I meant it…I’m sorry.”

Raven breathed out. “That we have in common, Rydell,” she said, as squeezed his hand and skated away as fast as she could.

Chapter Sixteen

Rydell watched Raven gather her things, as she and Soren whispered back and forth then left.

Soren was confusing Rydell, too. He was a guardian. From all accounts from Rydell’s people he was the fiercest, the one that stood before them all each time they fought. Looking at him across the rink he just seemed like a laid back kid.

Soren was letting Rydell get close to Raven, which made
zero
sense. He should have sensed how dangerous he is. All Rydell could assume was that Raven had the final say. If she wanted someone near, the others couldn’t stop her.

Rydell revved his motor up. Dagen approached then slid into the passenger seat and slammed the door. He leaned against it with a furious expression aimed at Rydell.

“Did you get your boy fixed up?” Rydell asked, as he put the car in gear. Dagen had been playing nursemaid to Kade, wrapping a cloth around his hand which apparently had been hurt.

“Pretty bad burn,” Dagen said.

“You’re supposed to be helping him not letting him touch hot motors while they’re running.”

“Agreed,” Dagen said, as he cleared his throat. “Then again, when you’re looking at a motor and all the lights in the parking lot go out and a wave of energy knocks you forward, accidents
do
tend to happen.”

Rydell leaned back as he slammed a stoic expression firmly in place. He knew it had happened. A jolt of vim between him and Raven was powerful, pulled all the energy in the air to one place then pushed it away like a wave. What was twisted to him was the kiss was more innocent than their first, and had a bigger impact…she was coming into power. This was getting real, fast.

“For a second I thought this was all over. That you went in there and took care of business.”

“I told you I was going to try to figure it out.”

“Right. And you also told me you were going to be careful,” Dagen argued in the most respectable tone he could manage.

Rydell angled a glare at him. “I needed to figure out if she was playing me.”

“Her? Playing you?” he quipped. “King, we’re the ones acting like we’re in high school for Creator sake. I mean it was fun for a hot second but I’m
over
it.”

“Have you found Benjamin yet?”

“I was going to do that right after I was finished with my homework, boss man.”

Once again Rydell tossed a lethal glare his way.

Dagen raised his hand to tell him he was joking. “We’re looking for him.”

“Find him. He disobeyed me and he came to close to her again. Something is off about that.”

“Which I’m going to strangle him for,” Dagen seethed. “It would be our luck as soon as we get you side by side with Raven he shows up and the party is over. But then again, you had already managed to get
really
close with Raven. So I don’t imagine he could have ruined much.”

“I want to speak to him,” Rydell said, in a tone that clearly stated not many words would be used.

“Speak or rip apart?”

“Depends.”

“On?”

“I want to know if he forced himself on Raven. Exactly how he tried to take out her soul.”

“Looking for tips?”

Rydell jerked the car to the side of the road and grabbed Dagen by the shirt. Then manifested them both deep in the woods which were lining the highway and slammed him into a tree.

“
Destroy the soul.
Those were my orders. I didn’t say for him to put his hands where they did
not
belong. I did
not
say for him to force himself on her. I did
not
say for him to put a fear streak on her.”

“You want to back the fuck down,” Dagen said to him, as he looked at Rydell’s fists, which were clenching his shirt.

Rydell pulled away and turned with a curse.

“Listen,” Dagen said, “I wasn’t there when it happened. All I know was he was really hurt when it was over. I think he’s already paid whatever price for his actions.”

Rydell turned to face him. “You think there’s a punishment that is justifiable for what his obvious intent was?”

Defensive bewilderment filled Dagen’s stare. “What did that girl tell you? What’s she doing to you, King? You’re the one who gave the order.”

“I gave an order to stop her from killing us!”

“And he almost died trying to do that! What’s her story? I’m with you, King. There are lines you do not cross. I
fucking
get it. I just want to make sure she’s not turning you against your
own
people. Especially considering you just threw me against a tree because of some mood swing.”

Rydell cursed, knowing Dagen was right. “She doesn’t remember it. I bring it up, she doesn’t. Now you tell me why her father would take the steps to suppress the memory? What one of ours did to his daughter—his
sixteen-year-old
daughter—that would cause that action?”

“Can I point out once again the goal was to end her because she had already killed fifty of our men at the age of
twelve?
”

“Because we engaged her.”

“You’re going to let her destroy us…,” Dagen said, as his stare rapidly moved over Rydell.

Rydell rushed his hand through his dark hair and let out a growl laced with a curse. “I didn’t say that. I said we
engaged
. How do we not know we’re premature? How fair is it for us to strike first?”

“So we’re waiting for the beast to grow up?”

“She’s not a beast!” Rydell bellowed.

At once, all of nature around them silenced, as if it knew a ferocious beast was amidst them…and they were right. Rydell was at his most primal point.
Protect the girl.
Each and every moral dormant thought said.

“That’s not what I meant. Everyone and everything looks cute and innocent when they’re in infancy. But this is life. The circle of it. It’s kill or be killed. And you know you’re the main course on her menu. Yet five minutes ago you were in that rink making out with her.”

“I kissed her
dammit
. That was it. One kiss. I didn’t even fucking touch her.”
Creator I wanted to!

Dagen’s eyes went wide.

“Yeah. That much power in
one
kiss,” Rydell said as he cursed again.

“All right then,” Dagen said, letting out a deep breath. “This is fucked up. I get it. If Benjamin crossed a line he’ll answer for it. I’ll do it myself. Swear. I get that this is not fair for you or her. That she has no idea what she is or will become in her future. That all makes sense. But what I don’t get is what we’re doing now. Because the longer we’re here the more dangerous it is. Even if you decide to get her to fall for you, or whatever, Revelin is not going to agree with you. You’re pointing an arrow right at her. Not to mention we’ve already set a curse in place with one of the twins. And I don’t even want to think about what that ass Berries has up his sleeve.”

“You really think River means that much to Kade?” Rydell asked, looking over Dagen. He was pretty sure that girl’s eye was on Dagen, but he wasn’t going to say as much. Not only that, Kade was all about the car recently, not the girl.

Rydell and the others never knew how the curse would manifest with their victims. More times than not it hurt the person the victim was trying to reach, or cared about the most. There was no way to really know who that was.

“He’s getting smart. As much as I break on that car, he fixes. He’s going to win the race and when he does the curse is going to start. And for all you know Raven will be right next to River when that goes down. We’ve been here too long. We were supposed to get close and then get out.”

“How was I supposed to know that I would have a fever!”

Dagen aggressively stepped up to Rydell. “Tell me this,
King
. If she never kissed you would we be having this conversation?”

Rydell turned his head.

“Fevers feel each other before they
ever
touch. It is said they are made of one soul. That’s why I’m calling
bullshit
on this. You were a breath away from her for
weeks
—nothing. You kiss her and our battle plan goes up in fucking smoke. It’s not a fucking fever, it’s something else.”

“Like what?”

“Fucking
mercy
,” Dagen spat.

“Maybe so. You don’t get it though. This girl was born to destroy Revelin. He needs to go down.”

“And to take him down she has to take you down. I’m not letting you fucking die, King. None of us deserve to pay for that asshat’s sins!”

Rydell jerked his stare away. He needed time to figure this out. At the very least, if he decided to walk away he was going to have to make sure he didn’t leave Raven in danger. He had to undo this deal with Kade, and he had to make sure Berries was not up to anything twisted when it came to Jamison.

“Take Kade’s car apart, piece by piece.”

“You cannot be serious,” Dagen said with a glare. He wanted out of this city, this dimension, everything—yesterday. He felt dread lurking. He’d never felt that before, not even when he followed King away from Revelin. Which told him bad shit was on the horizon. And all of it had to do with Raven.

“Yeah, I am. Then you’re going to give him dating advice. You’re going to tell him how to talk to the girl without waving some macho flag, she doesn’t care about, in her face.”

“You don’t know that will stop the curse. Fuck, we don’t even know if River will be who the curse strikes—it could be his dad, someone else for all we know.”

“Dagen, I need you to find a way around this.”

“King, I’ll try. I’ll fuck his car up, get him hung up on another girl, whatever. I just want this behind us. You’re not right, man. I can see it in your eyes.”

“Maybe I just don’t want to hurt people anymore.”

“They do it to themselves,” Dagen argued.

Rydell didn’t respond. His eyes went wide, his body tensed, and a roar came from his chest as he went to his knees. 

It was Revelin.

“He’s calling you again? King! Look at me!” Dagen bellowed, as he dove to the ground before Rydell.

For days this call from Revelin had been coming. Each time Rydell fought it off, but this time, the pull was so strong he didn’t think he could. At the very least, he was sure Revelin would manifest where Rydell was if he didn’t go to him. Rydell didn’t want him that close to Raven or any of this.

“Listen to me. You find Benjamin. You make sure he’s here when I get back. And figure out how to get Kade straight. No one touches Raven. You make sure of that. You hear me?”

“I’m going with you,” Dagen said, prepared to do just that.

“No. This is my place. You’re in charge right now.”

“King, do not do this. He was bound to feel that kiss. He has to have figured out what is going on. He will kill you just to make a point.”

“And if he does, you go to Raven’s father and you tell him that you and our faction are going to stand and protect them. You lay it all out.”

“Are you insane!”

“We’re not killing innocents. I doubt Revelin will strike me. He can’t afford how weak that will make him right now. But if he does, my last words to you are that we do not harm the innocent. Ever.”

And with that Rydell vanished to face his king.