Kallos (Kallos Series) (19 page)

Brandon isn’t far behind her and sits shotgun. The car ride took ten minutes, and they are parking. Brandon is the first one out of the car and that leaves Sean and Kallos alone. Before they go in, she needs to talk to him, “Sean can we talk?” She can't see his face, but she knows that he heard her. “About what happened earlier, I’m sorry. I didn’t know what was going to happen. I'm more surprised than you are.” He doesn’t say anything for a few minutes; then, he turns around to face her.

“I know that you didn’t mean to do what you did. But, if you are already getting some of your powers, that means you will be changing sooner than we thought. And today, when you had your attack, she can’t take your pain. What if we can’t take it when you are going through the change? Kallos, the pain with these attacks are like a little warm up to the real change. When the change happens, you might not make it. That’s why it was good to have Ian and me to take your pain away. No matter how Ian is acting, I know it would kill him to lose you, and I wouldn’t know what to do. Ares told me that it’s a possibility that none of us would make it. He also said you will be the first Aphrodite ever reincarnated.” Kallos already knew that if she makes it through the change then she would be the first; Apollo and Ares have been reincarnated many times.

She really took a long look at Sean, and she can see anguish. He is really scared of losing her. Kallos moves up so their faces are inches from each other. She puts her hands on the sides of his face. When their eyes meet, Kallos shivers; there is something about him that always makes her do that. Her birthmark is tingling because she is touching him; since they met they always seemed to be touching in some way. She slowly moves closer so she can get what she has craved since she met him.

Their lips are almost touching when someone pounds on the driver’s window. Kallos jumps and hits her head on the roof; Sean swears and turns to see who it is. Her heart is beating so fast that she doesn’t even notice who it is. All she hears is Sean saying that they are coming now. She sighs; she really wanted a kiss. No, she needed a kiss. Her day has been so confusing and stressful.

“We need to get going,” Sean says and gets out of the car. Before Kallos has time to react, he is at her door. He opens it for her and puts out his hand. “My dad says that everyone is here and that Ian is acting strange.” His dad is the one who caught them almost making out. They are standing outside, and it feels chillier than it was when they left Kallos’ house. Kallos is shivering, and then she feels a warm arm go around her shoulders. She leans into Sean’s warm body and grins. This is perfect; being with him like this is perfect. They are heading to the house, and she can see that it is decorated for the party. Ian’s favorite colors were all over the house, red and silver. There are balloons everywhere, and a huge
Happy Birthday, Ian
banner. Kallos looks around; the whole school must be here, even people she hasn’t met yet. She looks at Sean, and he just shakes his head, “Our parents always go over board for our birthday parties.”

“I can see that.” Sean just smiles at her. They walk into the kitchen and that is where they find Ian, and he isn’t alone. Kallos stops in her tracks because Ian is surrounded by girls, and they aren’t wearing very much clothing. She can feel her heart stopping, and she wants to cry.

Nikki is sitting on his lap and is whispering something in his ear. Kallos can hear him laughing, and she feels her blood boil. Sean is trying to pull her away from them, but Kallos isn’t letting him. She is going to walk over to Ian no matter who is trying to stop her. Once again, she can feel the heat rising up and heading to her hands. Ian looks up at her; their eyes meet; and it feels like someone punched her in the stomach. His beautiful, baby blue eyes aren’t there anymore; they are replaced with a threatening dark blue.

“Kallos, you don’t want to do that. He isn’t himself right now,” she heard Sean say. She did stop, but she didn’t look at Sean. “We should go and see my parents.” Kallos finally looks away from Ian and turn to face Sean.

“I just want to give him this,” she holds up the card, and Sean looks like he is going to say something, but she doesn’t let him. “Will you come with me?” He thinks about it for a second and then nods. He grabs her hand, and they walk towards the group. As they were walking up, she can hear what they are talking about.

“So, Ian, how’s your birthday?” Nikki asks, and he smiles at her. It is that same smile that Ian gave Kallos this morning when she told Ian that she loved him.

“Thanks to you, it's perfect.” His words slam into Kallos’ heart, and she wants to run. If it weren’t for Sean holding her tight, she would have. The way Ian is looking at Nikki makes Kallos want to slap him. She knows that he isn’t the Ian she loves right now, but it still hurts. He is just about to kiss Nikki when Sean clears his throat.

“Hey, Bro, Kallos has something for you,” Sean’s hand tightens on Kallos’. She looks around and all of the other girls are giving her dirty looks. Ian looks at her, and for a second, Kallos can see her Ian. The light blue broke through the evil, dark blue for just that second. It's taking everything she has inside of her to give him the card. She hands it to him, and he looks down.

“Thanks, Kallos,” he stands up, and she is thinking that maybe he is going to hug her, but he opens his jacket and put the card inside. Then he sits down and goes back to what he was doing before.

“Come on, let’s go and meet my parents. They can’t wait to meet you,” Sean murmurs in her ear. She lets him pull her away from this horrible scene and out into the living room.

The house is packed with people her age and older. She sees Brandon in the corner and he is with a girl. That doesn’t surprise her; he seems to be a ladies’ man or thinks he is. Sean is pulling her up the stairs, and it is getting quiet. When they reach the top of the stairs, he pulls her to the side and wraps his arms around her. “I’m sorry that you had to see that,” he says into her ear. When she first met the boys, she never thought that Sean would be the one comforting her. She always figured that it would be Ian. She isn’t minding Sean being the sweet, loving guy.

“You don’t have anything to be sorry about. Besides it’s not him; there’s something wrong with him,” Kallos tells herself that and repeats it so it burns into her brain. Sean moves away from her; now they are face to face.

“You know that you are way more beautiful than those girls down there.” She burst out laughing. He doesn’t have to do much to make her feel better. “It wasn’t that funny.” She laughs again. She leans in and kisses him. His arms tighten around her, and hers automatically go around his neck. This is what she needed; she wanted someone that she loved to hold her. He is the one to pull away, but he doesn’t go far. He places his forehead on hers, and they are eye to eye.

Kallos smiles at him. She never thought she would be this happy, but there is still a part of her that is hurting from Ian’s behavior. She is really hoping that they can fix him and soon. She doesn’t know how much more she can take from him. “My parents are waiting for us,” Sean smiles at her and kisses her nose. She isn’t thinking about his parents right now; she is thinking about kissing him some more.

“Okay, let’s go,” Kallos moves away from him, but he grabs her hand. He slowly brings it to his lips and kisses it.

“Now, we can go. I can’t wait for them to meet the girl I love.” They start walking to a door that leads outside. She looks over at him. It was getting colder outside, and she doesn’t want to go out there. She stops walking and that makes him look at her.

“What?”

“It’s cold out there, and my shirt isn’t that warm.”

“I’ll be right back.” He kisses her forehead and walks into a room. A few seconds later, he comes out with a black sweater. He hands it to her, and she puts it on Kallos grins because it smells like him. They walk outside and she sees a man and a woman. The woman is smiling at her. She has long, curly black hair. Her eyes are light blue, and they remind her of Ian’s eyes. She is wearing a bright red knee length dress. The off the shoulder look fits Sean’s and Ian’s mother but Kallos knows she wouldn’t be able to pull off such a sexy look. Kallos looks over at the man His gray eyes remind her of Sean’s, smiling she starts looking him over and realizes this is where Sean gets his broad masculine shoulders and tall frame from. The woman comes up to Kallos and pulls her into a tight embrace.

“It is so nice to finally meet you, Kallos. I’m Lisa Hunter,” she says and let’s go, but she doesn’t move too far away. Kallos looks over at Sean to see if he can help her, and she could tell that he is holding back his laughter. “You are more beautiful in person.”

“Thank you, ma’am, and it’s nice to meet you.” Sean finally walks up and reaches for Kallos’ hand. She gladly takes it. It’s not that she doesn’t like Sean’s mom, but it’s a little weird that she knows Kallos, and Kallos doesn’t know her.

“This is my dad, Joey Hunter,” Sean says and is still trying not to laugh. Sean knows that she was feeling uncomfortable when his mom was hugging her. She puts out her hand and offers it to Mr. Hunter. He takes it in his big, warm hand.

“My wife is right; you are more beautiful in person. Pictures don’t do you justice.” He grins at Kallos, and she knows where his sons got their charm and dimples. “And I can see why you caught my sons’ eyes.” Kallos feels herself blushing. Yep, Ian and Sean are like their dad.

“Thank you, Sir.” she mumbles.

“Okay, I think you guys embarrassed her enough,” Sean says as he pulls Kallos to sit on the love seat. She looks around and notices that the balcony looks like a living room, but outside. Sean puts his arm around her, and she moves closer to him. She is telling herself that she is moving closer because she is cold; really she just wants him to touch her. The scene down stairs still is hurting her, and she needs someone to take the hurt away. That brings her back to reality; she knows that their mom might be able to tell her what’s going on with Ian.

“Ma’am?” Lisa looks at Kallos with one eyebrow raised, and Kallos is freaking out. Did she already do something wrong?

“Ma’am? No, Kallos call me Lisa,” she smiles at Kallos.

“Lisa, do you know what’s going on with Ian?” Lisa nods and moves to the chair across from Sean and Kallos.

“I do, but I wasn’t sure until I saw him. It’s like he is a different person. He is getting his full demon blood, and right now, the evil is beating the good.”

“But that didn’t happen to me,” Sean says, and his hand started to rub Kallos’ shoulder. She leans back into him.

“I know, but you are different. Maybe your god half is stronger. Ian’s god part is fighting with his demon part. And it looks like the demon is winning. He needs to be reminded of love.”

“You mean like a war inside of him?” Kallos asks and knows the answer before Lisa nods. “What can we do?”

“Well, tell me something. When you kiss him, does he act like the real Ian?” Kallos can feel her eyes widen. This is Ian’s mother asking her about kissing her son. Kallos feels a little uncomfortable. Lisa laughs, and she looks at Kallos again. “Don’t worry, Sweetie. I know that my boys have kissed a few girls and even done more.” She glances suspiciously at Sean. Kallos looks over at him too, and he looks away from her. This is something that they will need to talk about later.

“Yes, he is the real Ian when I kiss him,” Kallos says and looks back at Lisa.

“Then, all I think that needs to be done is that when you kiss him; remind him that you love him.” That seems too easy. “And when you tell him, you must be touching his bare skin.” That makes her eyes enlarge. “No, Sweetie, not quite like that. You just have to touch him with your hands. He just needs to be shirtless. And when you tell him that you love him, your left hand must be on his heart. Then, you have to kiss him there. You doing this, I believe, will bring him back to normal.” Okay, that didn’t seem that bad. “Will you do it?” Kallos doesn’t have to think twice before she nods. “Okay, Sean, tell your brother that we have his birthday present in his room.” Lisa looks at Sean.

“Okay, but I will be waiting outside. Just in case you need me.” He said the last part to Kallos and she nods. He gives her a quick kiss and then stands to leave. She can tell that Lisa wants to tell her more but wants to wait until Sean can’t hear her.

“Now, I will show you to Ian’s room.”

“What aren’t you telling me?” Lisa glances at Kallos and grins.

“You don’t miss much do you?” Kallos shakes her head. “Well, you have to change into a bikini. We need as much of your skin to touch his as possible. So, this is what needs to be done. But you need to hurry; you don’t want him walking in on you half-dressed do you?”

“No!” Kallos blurts out, and Lisa just laughs.

“Then, follow me.” Lisa gets up and Kallos follows. They walk down the hallway to a door that has Ian’s name on it. “Okay, Sweetie, the bikini is on the bed.”

****

Sean heads back down to his brother. He wants to punch his brother for treating Kallos this way. He has a good feeling he knows what Ian did with Nikki, and that is going to kill Kallos when she finds out. Sean knows that he and Kallos are also going to have to talk about what he has done. Sean knows that she is a virgin and that is fine with him, that isn't why he loves her. Sean can see Ian dancing with Nikki and Karissa. It seems like Sean’s ex-girlfriend is showing her true feelings for once. Sean isn't stupid; he has always known that Karissa had a thing for his younger brother.

“Ian!” Sean has to shout over the loud rap music. His brother’s eyes find him, and he looks at Sean like he wants to fight. “Ma’ sent me to get you for your birthday present!” Ian just stares at Sean for a second and then he nods.

As they walk away from the music, Sean can smell his brother; he smells like Nikki and Karissa. “You know you are going to break Kallos' heart. Did you really have to bang both of them?” Ian's eyes seem to get darker. “And everyone thinks I am the bad ass. That I don't care about anyone but myself, but that isn't true. I care about Kallos, and I will do anything to make sure she doesn't get hurt. Right now, you’re hurting her. You need to fight your demon. You need to be stronger for Kallos. She can only take so much before she breaks.” They are almost to Ian's bedroom when Ian turns to look at Sean.