Hurricane (The Charmed) (11 page)

Lyla put a hand to her head. “Do I have time to at least brush my hair?”

Chase smiled. He liked her rumpled look. “If you want to.”

Lyla hit him with a pillow and stood up off the bed. Chase had other plans though. He grabbed her by the waist and hurled her back down to the bed, kissing her again then moving to her neck. His hands were all over her. Lyla didn’t fight it. It was impossible, their connection was too strong and anyway, fighting it would be more painful.

“I need you so bad, Lyla.”

“But there are people here.” She whispered, in between long kisses. Chase’s mouth was lighting a fire everywhere he touched.

“We’ll be quick.”

She succumbed, what were a few more minutes?

It turned out to be twenty. They made everyone wait twenty minutes. Lyla managed to brush her hair and change but that was it.

They walked into the room hand in hand. Lyla looked up at Chase and realized his hair was still disheveled. He caught her eye and winked at her with a smile.

“Lyla, it’s nice to meet you.” Harley held her hand out. “The name’s Harley, this is Brendan, you know Jaden already and over there sulking is Kayla.”

Harsh, Lyla thought. Lyla could feel hate coming off Kayla in waves. Kayla propelled herself to her feet and lunged. Chase held up a hand creating a field in front of them. The rest of the room stepped back in surprise.

“Back down, Kayla!” Chase shouted.

Tears formed in Kayla’s eyes. “I hate you! I hate all of you!” She ran from the house slamming the door.

Chase put his hand down, ending the shield. He started to go after Kayla when Jaden stopped him.

“Don’t. Your time’s done with her, I’ll go.”

Chase backed down and allowed him to pass.

“Damn, Chase! That was amazing!” Brendan smiled.

Chase looked over and saw they were all staring at him. Then he looked at his hand and back to his circle. “Guess it’s true, everything has magnified. I can feel it.”

“We have a few hours until Lyla’s parents are over. Let’s get a plan in place.” Mr. M ushered everyone to the kitchen table with the sandwiches to work on what was to come.

L
yla was pacing the tiny well-kept house. Harley and Brendan had approached the situation as a new challenge and Lyla was amazed at their support. She felt Harley would eventually be a good friend to her. Jaden came back a little frazzled but he was able to lend some quick thinking on the changes they had in mind. She wasn’t sure if Jaden liked her or supported their decisions but he seemed amiable enough. Together they created a plan and she hoped it would work.

The doorbell rang.

Mr. M opened the door and ushered them toward the living room. Her mother ran over to her and wrapped her in a big hug. “You’re okay? You’re okay?” She was touching Lyla on the head, neck, shoulders, searching her face.

Relief flooded Lyla. She wasn’t sure how her parents were going to take the marriage but at least this confirmed she was still their daughter. “I’m good, Mom. Actually, I’ve never been better.” Her father came over and hugged her.

“You know we never meant for you to be hurt. You know that, don’t you?”

“I wasn’t hurt.” Then it donned on her. “You mean the dying thing… yeah, well…I would have probably done the same thing if I was a parent.”

Her parents gave a sigh of relief.

Lyla looked around. “Where’s Mr. M?”

“He’s getting Chinese take-out. I think he wanted to give us some time alone.”

They sat down in the small quaint room facing each other.

Her mother spoke up. “So, will we get to meet this boy? What’s his name?”

“Chase. Yes. He’s showering right now.” Lyla paused. “How is this going to work now? I’m married, I’m in high school, I’m wanted by people. It’s confusing.”

“I don’t see why we all can’t continue the same way until school ends. Isn’t the marriage just a formality?”

Lyla knew her father would say this. She also knew how hard it would be to be away from Chase even for a little bit. Lyla looked down at her hands and spoke. “Mr. M offered to let us stay here.”

“What? No! There’s no reason. Your too young for all this, you can come home until you finish high school! No!” Both her parents were vocal at the same time.

Lyla jumped back in her seat, her parents had a way of stopping any form of speech from coming out of her mouth.

“Mom, Dad, I know this has been a shock. But not knowing what I was up against almost killed me. I love Chase, I need him with me. We’re stronger together.” She felt close to tears and willed them away.

“This is ridiculous.” Her father stood and began pacing. “We did this for your own good we kept you safe all these years.”

“I know Dad. But now the question is over. I would have died no matter what. I’m just grateful you came here and that Mr. M was prepared. I don’t know what will happen if we’re separated that long. There’s nothing in the texts about it.”

The front door opened and Mr. M and Jaden came in carrying packages of Chinese take-out boxes. Lyla stood to help them, grateful for the distraction.

Mr. M assessed the room as he walked into it. Problems he thought. He could feel the tension from outside. To make matters worse, Chase came out whistling. He stopped in the hallway, smoothed out his hair and held out his hand.

“Mr. and Mrs. Bleu, I’m Chase Fountaine.”

Mrs. Bleu shook Chase’s hand. Lyla’s father hesitated then relented. “Chase.”

The tension was thick and Chase worried his timing was off. He looked over at Mr. M who waved him to a chair at the dining table.

The rest of the group followed but Lyla could see her mother was not about to give in just yet.

Mr. M put plates in front of everyone and began opening boxes. “So, there’s enough tension in here to cut with a knife. Why don’t you bring me up to speed? Lyla?”

Lyla sat up a little taller in her seat. “My parents understand about the marriage but prefer I keep the same schedule as before.”

“Yep, we don’t see why she can’t, at least until school is out.”

Mr. M expected this. “Constance, Frank, I know it’s hard. What you’re going through. You thought she was safe, you certainly kept her safe until she was eighteen but this mark and the marriage changes everything.” He stopped to let that sink in. “They have to be close to each other for the next few months. They’re like batteries that need charging. We’re hoping that since this situation is a little different, my plan will keep them from going mad inside thirty days.

Lyla’s mother put down her fork, leaned back in her seat and crossed her arms.

Frank Bleu looked over at his wife. “Constance, he has a point. We don’t know what to expect.”

Mrs. Bleu stood a pained expression across her face. “Excuse me.”

Lyla got up to follow but Chase stopped her. “Let me?”

Lyla nodded her head yes and watched Chase walk away.

Chase opened the bedroom door and found Mrs. Bleu sitting by a bay window overlooking a flower garden.

“Mrs. Bleu?”

She turned to look at Chase. “Yes?”

Chase could see tears in her eyes. He walked over carefully.

“I felt Lyla the minute she came into town.” Chase stared out the window. “My parents aren’t the warmest people, Mr. M basically raised me. Everything I know about caring for someone comes from how he treats us. I love Lyla so much I have an ache inside when I’m not with her.” He looked up at her then. “Mrs. Bleu, I’ll always make sure she’s happy and safe.”

Lyla’s mother felt heartbroken. To feel so much for someone else made her happy her daughter found what none of their kind in the Charmed have. Love. In an effort to keep their kind pure, it has made them an unhappy race. She looked up at Chase and a tear fell from her eye. “I’m happy she’s found you, Chase. I can see how much you love her. We’ll work all this out.” She smiled at him. “Those marks look painful.”

Chase looked down at his arm. “I forget they’re there and how they must look to everyone. They’re not painful.” Chase smiled back.

“You’re both so young.”

Chase continued smiling. “It’s not like we had a choice.” Chase looked back out at the garden. “Why don’t we take it one week at a time?” He looked over at her. “We can start at Jaden’s house the first week that way Mr. M can help us through this. The next week we’ll try your home. I think we have to stay together, Mrs. Bleu.”

“What about your home? Won’t your parents miss you, even on some level?”

“Mr. M didn’t tell them. Not yet anyway. They travel a lot, I spend most my time here anyway.”

“So, you’ll come over next week? To stay with us?” She thought for a moment. “I think we can do that.”

Chase smiled. “Lyla has your eyes.”

“I’ve heard that.” She smiled at him. It was going to be really hard to hate this boy. “Let’s go, I’m starving.”

They went to the kitchen and dished up food. Mrs. Bleu told everyone the plan. Everyone agreed. Mr. M gave Chase a smile of appreciation.

“Okay, now for the part that’s really hard.”

Mr. Bleu looked up. “There’s a harder part than my daughter almost dying, getting married in a gunshot wedding and now needing birth control? Oh do tell.”

The table fluttered at his abrasive nature but Mr. M continued un-phased. “You have to let Lyla un-cloak.”

“Why?”

“I have to put a diminishing spell on both kids for the marks. If Lyla cloaks, the spell will conflict. It’s more dangerous to show the marks than to be seen at this point.”

“No. She can continue to be homeschooled and stay in our home. I don’t like that plan.”

“There’s not much to like about any of this. But we have to keep trying different things until one sticks.”

“Or gets them killed.” Lyla’s father stared down McCown.

“Point taken.” He thought for a moment. “How about her un-cloak at school then goes straight home?”

Lyla felt like a puppet, watching the adults talk about them like they weren’t there. She hated the idea of being a prisoner to this predicament. She looked over at Chase he looked to be of the same mindset.

Mr. Bleu was still arguing his case. “What if the High Council finds out?”

“I don’t think either of them will be seen again. They’ll try to protect them from power hungry people by incarcerating them.”

Chase spoke up. “Jail? We’ll be jailed? That hardly seems fair!”

“Well, now you see what we’re up against.” Mr. Bleu looked at Chase.

This was all too much for Lyla and like her mother she excused herself and walked out of the room to the back garden and sat down.

Chase came up and sat down next to her. “This sucks.”

“Yes it does.” Lyla leaned into him. “Chase, is it always going to be this way? Is this why they all go mad, from not having a normal life? From being hunted?”

“Maybe.”

They sat in silence for a while until they heard voices being raised in the house. They ran back in. Mr. M was in the air, Lyla’s father was holding him up by some invisible force.

Chase waved a hand and Mr. Bleu was thrown across the room, sliding across the kitchen table and landing in a heap in front of the stove. Chase had cancelled out Mr. Bleu’s powers.

Mrs. Bleu ran over to her husband and helped him up. He was a tall man with broad shoulders and a lanky frame that unfolded itself from the small area on the floor. “Why did you do that?”

“I was protecting my family. What were you two arguing about?”

“Sam wanted to keep you both here. I say you both stay permanently with us.”

Lyla’s mother stepped between the two. “For tonight you’ll stay here, Lyla will go with us.” She looked up at his face. The look of panic ran across his features.

Lyla’s mother placed a hand on Chase’s arm. “Just for tonight, Chase. It’ll be okay, both sides will calm down and we’ll talk tomorrow. Deal?”

“I don’t like it.”

Mr. M walked up rubbing his shoulder. “She has a point, Chase. If you’re able to spend a night away, there are possibilities I never thought of.”

Chase took Lyla’s hand and walked out of the room to his. He wrapped his arms around her holding her tight.

“This is so fucked-up.” Chase buried his face into her hair. She smelled like orange blossoms. He stroked her long blonde hair and moved his hands to her waist.

Lyla looked up into his eyes. They were light green, she couldn’t recall ever seeing that light a color before.

“Chase, we have to keep our heads. It is ridiculous but I guarantee you, my parents will be more sound tomorrow.” He looked away but Lyla pulled his face back by placing a hand on both sides of his face. “I love you.”

Chase wrapped her up in his arms and kissed her. When they finally broke apart Chase was calmer and more centered. She did that, brought him back to reality. They walked out together. Chase opened the car door for Lyla and watched the car drive away.

Mr. M watched Chase for any sign of problems but there wasn’t any, just sadness. Chase walked back into the house and straight to his room and shut the door.

Mr. M and Jaden turned in early. The house was quiet by ten.

Chase lay awake in bed thinking about their situation. This would never be over. He and Lyla would be forever on the run. He couldn’t imagine a life without her but part of him cursed the situation. They would always be looking over their shoulder. Chase began to drift off to sleep as the lights in the house winked off one by one. Chase’s last thoughts were of running away with her.