For Ever (24 page)

Swallowing, I throw my bag over my shoulder
and walk toward him, but just as I reach the door Jeff squeezes
between us, smirking at me. My smile flattens when I hear his
thoughts, which are crude. I glare at him as he passes us. A second
later, there’s a clatter in the hallway, and I turn in time to see
Jeff looking around, furious and bewildered. His books are
scattered everywhere.

I look at Ever. “Did you … ?”

He raises an eyebrow.

“Shall we?” he asks, gesturing ahead of
him.

The smile at the edge of his lips makes my
heart beat faster, and as we walk, it’s impossible to ignore the
staring. A girl from my French class stops and whispers something
to the girl next to her. And while I’m sure Ever can see and hear
much more than I can, he doesn’t seem to notice or care. I open my
locker and cast a sidelong glance at him.

“Is it always this bad?” I mutter. “I mean
people watching you.”

“Never like this.”

He smiles wickedly.

“Oh, that’s great.”

I slam my locker and stalk toward the
cafeteria with my stomach doing back flips. I’m not hungry right
now, but I know I’ll regret it if I don’t eat something. I hurry
through the line. Then I glance around the cafeteria. I don’t see
my friends, which I decide is a good thing for now. I can’t imagine
sitting down at our table with Ever like it’s no big deal, so I nod
when he gestures toward his always-empty spot.

“Would you like to meet the others?” he
asks.

For a second I’m confused. Then my throat
tightens as I sit down across from him.

“You mean they’re
here
?”

He nods.

“And anxious to make your acquaintance.”

The bitterness in his tone makes my stomach
plunge. Was
that
the reason for my tropical vacation this
morning? Had he been trying to smooth things out? I study him and
choose my question carefully.

“Why do they want to meet me?”

Ever shrugs, his crystalline eyes giving
nothing away.

“They are curious, I suppose. They think I’ve
been hiding you from them.”

“
Have
you?”

He doesn’t answer, and that’s how I know it’s
going to get worse. There’s more bad news he hasn’t told me. I look
up when his hand reaches across the table and covers mine. Despite
my rising anxiety, I have to wonder if anyone else has noticed our
exchange.

“I told you, Wren. I will not let anything
happen to you.”

The blood thumps in my temple, and I swallow
hard.

“What if you’re outvoted?”

After all, he had said
others
. Plural.
But he doesn’t appear the least bit concerned about being
outmatched, which only makes me curious: doesn’t he owe more
allegiance to them than to me—a stranger and a human? I look down
and study the tray in front of me.

“I had all these questions for you last
night. Now I can’t remember a single one,” I mumble.

“You should eat something,” he says when I
continue my examination of the slice of pizza in front of me.

I take a cautious bite and then chew quickly
and chase it with juice. After a few minutes, I’ve eaten half the
slice and a few bites of salad. I feel so cut off from the normal
ebb and flow of things that I’m hesitant to look around, afraid
that everything and everyone else will have disappeared if I
do.

“Are you ready?” he asks once I’ve set down
my fork.

Dreading the inevitability in his words, I
nod, figuring I may as well get it over with. I swallow, unprepared
for how fast Ever’s eyes flicker toward the cafeteria doors. I turn
in my seat and watch the two individuals who just walked in. I know
it’s just me, but it feels like the entire cafeteria just fell
under a trance. I can’t seem to see anything beyond the pair
approaching us. They are remarkable, and it’s easy to see that the
only place they belong is beside Ever, a fact that makes me feel
even more inconsequential than I did a second ago.

I notice that they are both dressed in a
similar fashion as Ever—timelessly and stylishly, though not too
ostentatiously. The girl, or young woman, who I estimate could be
anywhere between seventeen and her early twenties, is stunning.
Several inches taller than I am, she has a perfectly golden skin
tone similar to Ever’s, though her cascade of lightly wavy blonde
hair is much lighter than his.

The first thing I notice about the young man
beside her is the tightly contained hostility rolling off him. As
they approach, his otherwise beautiful features twist in a look of
unreserved distaste. His build is different than Ever’s. He looks
more like a linebacker, broader but also shorter than Ever, though
he’s not diminutive by any standard. His dark brown hair, in
contrast to Ever’s, has the short-cropped style of a soldier.

I’ve been following their path toward us so
closely that I nearly leap out of my skin when I turn and see
Ever’s seat is vacant. My head jerks to the right, and I exhale
shakily when I see that he’s taken the seat next to me. His long
arm is stretched across the back of my chair in a manner that’s far
from casual. The two newcomers pause on the opposite side of the
table like two models waiting for their cover shot.

“It’s been too long,” the young woman
smirks.

Her remark sounds like an inside joke they
share, but Ever doesn’t smile. Instead, he gestures to the chair in
front of her. She slides sinuously into the seat. Her companion
remains standing across from me in a gesture I can only guess is
intended to display his disapproval. I can’t bring myself to make
eye contact, afraid of what I might find in their eyes.

“You must be Wren. We’ve heard so little
about you, thanks to him,” the girl says. Through my eyelashes, I
see her casting a reproachful but still affectionate look at Ever.
“I’m Audra.”

Finally I lift my eyes, hoping that she’s not
going to vaporize me. The table shudders slightly when Ever’s
entire body goes rigid as he registers my thought. Or maybe he was
thinking the same thing? I force myself to smile at her, noticing
that her eyes are a piercing cerulean blue. While they’re a
different color than Ever’s, they have the same startling glow.
There’s also a heightened level of acuity in her gaze, the same as
Ever’s. Not surprisingly, though, I can’t see anything behind her
eyes, other than mild disregard.

“It’s … interesting to meet you, Audra,” I
say carefully.

She watches me a moment longer and then
laughs. The attractive cadence of her laughter catches me off
guard. Did I miss the joke?

“You’ll have to forgive my amusement, for
it’s not often that Ever has been so far wide of the mark. All this
trouble for nothing. Shame on you,” she chides, her tone light.

I bristle when I realize that
I’m
the
nothing that she’s referring to.

“I’m glad you find it so entertaining that
he’s putting at risk everything we’ve worked for,” spits the young
man beside her. “For
this
.”

Before I’ve had a chance to feel completely
demoralized by his dismissal, he extends his hand across the
table.

“Wren, is it? I’m Chasen. So pleased to make
your acquaintance.”

Meeting his eyes, I’m struck by their fiery
copper color. The heat in his stare makes me crave the cool
greenness of Ever’s gaze. When I try, I discover that I can’t look
away from him. Even worse, I feel my hand rise from the table and
extend toward him.

“Touch her, and I’ll take that arm.”

I flinch, not at Ever’s words, but the tone
behind them. Calm, yet ruthless and cold. Free of my trance, I pull
back, feeling a little like I just willingly offered my hand to a
venomous snake.

“I’d like to see you try,” Chasen says
dryly.

Ever stiffens and wrenches my chair closer to
his.

“Chasen, you are spoiling our reunion,” Audra
chastises.

Her tone is familiar but laced with warning.
Leering, Chasen takes a step back. After a moment, Audra resumes
now that she seems satisfied everyone is behaving.

“Ever, we would take it as an act of goodwill
if you would bring your young lady friend to the house. Alistair
will want to meet her.”

Ever nods curtly, and my heart sinks. For
some stupid reason, I had been expecting them to disappear again
after having confirmed my insignificance.

“Wren, thank you for keeping my brother so
entertained
,” Audra smiles serenely.

She rises fluidly, and the two of them glide
across the cafeteria, completely oblivious to the curious eyes
watching their departure.

As air fills my lungs, I realize that I had
been holding my breath. I’m not sure for how long, but I feel
light-headed. Ever’s hand comes up beneath my chin, and he tilts my
face gently until I’m looking at him. In a sudden rush, reality
snaps back into place, and our surroundings seem excessively loud
and overwhelming.

“Are you all right?” he asks quietly.

I nod once. Taking another deep breath, I try
to unravel my thoughts.

“I just thought,” I pause. “I guess I thought
it was only you.”

I shake my head, embarrassed. How can I
explain that up until now Ever had, in a strange way, felt like
mine, my secret? That we had shared something just between the two
of us? Only, in reality, I’ve been
his
secret, one he’s been
keeping from those he truly belongs with.

“Would you like to come somewhere with
me?”

My eyes flicker to the large clock on the
wall, and I frown. Time matters. For me, anyway.

“Fifth starts in fifteen minutes,” I remind
him.

“You’re ahead in the reading aren’t you?”

I nod.

“And you have an A average in both English
and History?”

I nod warily. Algebra II is another
story.

“Then I think you’ll manage,” he says.

I look at him doubtfully, but before I can
start to argue about having never ditched a class before, he’s
already standing and waiting for me. I sigh and decide there’s a
first time for everything. Ditching. Blacking out and waking up on
a tropical island. Falling in love with an immortal.

As we begin walking across the cafeteria, I
nearly stumble when he takes my hand. Like every other time he’s
touched me, the feeling is somewhere between getting shocked and
being burned. It’s also wonderful. I look up at him questioningly.
Then I catch sight of my friends’ table and pull away from him.
There’s absolutely no way I’m going to be able to explain this to
them. I can’t even explain it to myself.

As I follow Ever, I try not to get my hopes
up. I am interested, though, to see where we’re going. Despite my
fears that we’re going to be stopped by a teacher, we arrive at his
car undetected. He opens the car door for me, and I sit down, still
a little numb over the latest development—Audra and Chasen,
specifically. Driving out of the student parking lot, Ever begins
to accelerate so quickly that I’m about to say something when he
turns to me.

“I’m not going to crash,” he says, as though
it’s a ludicrous possibility.

Loosening my grip on the hand-rest, I will
myself to look relaxed as I smirk at him.

“Good to know.”

We take a westbound ramp toward the coast,
and soon the office parks and subdivisions have all but
disappeared. Golden farmland streaks by the window, broken only by
patches of evergreens. The car veers on another highway west toward
Tillamook, and from there I glimpse only an occasional house or gas
station and a few rural townships, a general store sign advertising
a sale on ostrich jerky. Through the trees, I see a creek. The
crystal clear water skims over the rocks before swirling into
deep-green pools. As we continue to climb in elevation, Ever’s car
easily eats up the miles. Looking to the driver’s side, I study
Ever’s profile, framed by the golden halo of his hair. I bite my
lip and force my attention back to the windshield, trying not to
squeak in terror as the car glides into the passing lane to
overtake another car.

It seems like we’ve been driving for a long
time when the scenery transforms again. The road flattens, and on
either side of the highway pretty Jersey cows sprinkle acres of
pastureland. Ever slows considerably as we enter the largest town
I’ve seen since we left school. We pass the main street, and for
the briefest moment our surroundings seem removed from time, like
they could have been the same fifty years ago. Then we pass a
modern supermarket and the effect is ruined. A small patch of
weather-beaten homes disappears past the window as we leave the
town.

The road curves again, and soon we’re hugging
a bay, with the water lapping only feet from the road. I see a
green sign for
Cape Meares
right before the car banks to the
left. We’re in the trees again, and the road narrows, the pavement
becoming uneven. Ever takes another small road to the right, and
soon we arrive in a parking lot. He pulls into a space and looks
over at me before getting out. When I look through the windshield,
I find a wooden observation deck surrounded by tall trees. Beyond
that, the fog has swallowed everything else. I see only two other
cars besides Ever’s.

Getting out, I follow him to the edge and
lean against the railing of the outlook. I stare down the craggy
cliff side. Through the mist, I can see the churning ocean below,
the waves swirling chaotically toward the rock face before
exploding in a spray of foam. This angry, roiling coastline is
nothing like Southern California’s. It’s striking, but fierce and
alien.

“Wow,” I breathe.

I look back and find Ever just to my right,
his green eyes distant. He turns and gestures to the trees beyond
the parking lot. When he begins walking, I follow him uncertainly
and then stop when we reach a narrow, rugged trail. He pauses,
waiting until I join him. There’s no clear path, no guardrail, and
it’s clear—to me at least—that this area isn’t meant for visitors.
What’s worse is that Ever doesn’t appear remotely concerned about
the fog, the slick, moss and fern-covered ground, or the
nausea-inducing drop just to our left. There are tree roots poking
out from every direction. I’ve only taken a few tentative steps
when my toe catches on a partially buried stone. I’m sure I’m going
over the edge, but before I can even yelp Ever grasps my elbow and
steadies me.