Ravens (19 page)

She imagined he learned a lot about
people from running into their thoughts, though his true power laid in causing
illusions. He could have fun causing special illusions in this Randal character
if he persisted moving in on Kendra.

Randal picked up the check after
dessert. Kendra hungered for more, but the addition of dessert would ease her.
Though she didn’t have money, she argued with Randal and insisted on paying at
least for her half, but he persisted and won. This was his honor for him, so it
seemed. 

Randal wiped his mouth and placed the
napkin on the table. Pushing his chair out, he excused himself. When Randal
left for the bathroom, Liam crossed the street in a few running strides and,
placing one hand on the wooden railing, swung over the barrier between the
private patio and the sidewalk. People stared, and some gasped, when they
caught the darkness of his eyes.

Liam slid into Randal’s seat, startling
Kendra who looked around, trying to remain inconspicuous.

“What are you doing?” she growled.

The waitress approached the table,
placed a copy of the bill, change, and fresh chocolate mints on the table, not
bothering to pay enough attention to know Liam was a Raven.

“So what?” Liam leaned on the table,
unwrapped a chocolate mint, and popped it into his mouth. “Did he run out
already?”

“He went to wash his hands. He’ll be
back any minute, so you should leave.”

“Or what? Is he gonna make me move?”

“I’ll make you move,” she growled.

“Did he pay for all of it, or did he
cheap out and you guys went halfsies?”

“Why do you care?”

“Just wondering. He’s way too old for
you, you know.”

“He’s twenty-two and he’s nicer than
you.”

“Yeah, that’s old, and nice? Wanna know
what he thought all that time?”

“No. Go away Liam.”

“Don’t want to know the truth about your
precious math teacher? While he babbled on about life, he actually thought
about what it would be like to toss a Raven, and all the ways he’d like to hit
that. I can’t blame him; I find myself doing it all the time.”

“Liam!” she hissed.

“It’s the truth. You want a perfect man,
but darling, he just don’t exist.”

“Uh,” she groaned. “If you’re trying to
keep him out of my pants so
you
can get into them, this isn’t helping
your case. I’m still pissed at you. You should be trying to regain my trust,
not tempt me to rip your head off.”

“I love it when you’re aggressive.”

Kendra had to refrain from grabbing him
by the collar and pulling him across the table. She wanted nothing more than to
sink her teeth into him.
No, no, no!
He couldn’t play games with her
emotions. She shoved the thought out of her head.

She wanted nothing more than to smash
his head into the table. There, that sounded appropriate. She couldn’t possibly
be so pissed at him and still attracted to him, could she?

“I guess I don’t want to start a fight
tonight.” He stood and headed inside.

Kendra exhaled when Randal emerged.
Good, Liam hadn’t jumped him in the restroom. She wouldn’t have to call the
ambulance for poor Randal and then beat Liam senseless, at least, not tonight.

Randal took his seat. “I thought maybe
you bolted. Glad you’re still here.”

“Thank you for dinner. I guess I’d
better get going.”

“So soon?” he asked.

“Yeah, it’s going to be a long evening
for me,” she replied. A long evening meant figuring out what to do with her
life here.

“You really want to spend it alone?”

Just like other world Randal,
flirtatious and always wanting to go that extra mile. And by extra mile...
well, Kendra supposed Liam was right. A guy was still a guy no matter which
dimension or universe he was in. How disappointing. She wanted a grasp on
security, even for just a few hours, but the guy wanted to fill those hours
with something physical.

“Perhaps another evening?” She led the
conversation away from the topic.

“I hope so. It’s a school night. I have
a lot of tests to grade.”

“Math?” She cringed. “Really, math?”

He chuckled. “I guess a select few of us
actually enjoy it.”

“I guess math is your thing, and martial
arts is mine. We’ll agree to disagree.”

“Maybe sometime you can show me what you
can do. Maybe I’ll learn to like martial arts.”

“C’mon, you really don’t like martial
arts? You’ve never seen a martial arts movie or even an action movie and gotten
pumped up and wanted to do what they could do? Never tried it out as a kid and
broke your arm, or as an adult and messed up your friend’s face?”

“No.” He laughed. “Can’t say that I
have. I guess I’m cautious.”

“I’ve never met a guy who felt that way.
It seems to be a genetic code, you know: football, beer, and martial arts.”

Chapter Eighteen

A troubled soul with body art and
unnatural hair color didn’t normally attract Randal, but he couldn’t deny the
beauty Kendra held. He found himself undeniably drawn to her. He was obsessed
with Ravens since he first heard of them. The uncanny features and superhuman
abilities were something straight out of his favorite graphic novels. He
couldn’t help but to be lured by them.

As a teacher, he loved to learn. He
hated to think how much time and knowledge mankind lost by the scattered and
heated groups of anti-Ravens in the world. He wondered why the government
didn’t stand up for their equal rights and how civilization as a whole could
regress by building internment camps.

He believed the Ravens’ stories about a
parallel world and their accidental and unavoidable leap into this universe.
Many scientists believed in parallel worlds and numerous dimensions, they’d
been debating over it and attempted to prove it long before the Ravens existed.
What did they call it, multi-verse theory? What a shame to waste an invaluable
chance.

Randal wanted to know everything, but
with the rift between humans and Ravens, why would one ever confide in him?
Very few spoke with him. Randal desperately hoped that Kendra would call him or
meet with him again. He had so many questions and Kendra probably had a few
answers.

The breeze picked up for a few seconds
and Kendra’s ebony and pink locks danced like a silken sheet before him. Randal
found himself desperately wanting Kendra to stay so they could move back to a
quieter and more secluded place. Forget the knowledge for tonight. Raven or
not, Kendra ignited an intense attraction.

Thankfully, they were in a public place
because he found himself wondering if he wouldn’t ravage her. He wanted to
devour her in kisses, and wrap the Raven and her powers around him in what he
could only imagine as mind-blowing intimacy.

If Kendra and his other world self were
only friends, he questioned the holdup. He had only known her for a few hours
and he could barely keep his natural intentions at bay. The other world Randal
knew her longer and had yet to advance past “sorta dating.”

Something strong must have acted as an
anti-catalyst.

“Don’t you consider this a rare and
beneficial relationship?” Randal avoided using the term alliance as he
subconsciously attempted to keep her from leaving so soon.

“Excuse me?” Kendra raised a brow.

“Well, I mean, you’re a Raven,” he
whispered the last word, “and I’m human. There’s so much I can learn about you
and your kind, and there’s so much that I can do for you in return.”

“Like what?”

“Well, for starters, getting you into an
apartment, a car, some type of night job where you would have very little
interaction with others. I’d be the human front. I realize how difficult it is
to get by in this world when people shun you by the look of those beautiful
eyes.”

The expression on her face dispelled any
notion of taking this conversation to a more comfortable place. Her slightly
tense demeanor shifted into recoiled. She became rigid, her lips together, and
he feared he went too far.

“We’ll see where this leads.”

“I hope so.”

Kendra stood, and Randal followed.

“I had a nice time,” he said awkwardly.

“Me too. Thanks for dinner.” She kept
her hands in her back pockets. “See ya around.”

Randal smiled. Kendra sauntered away,
slightly swinging her arms at her sides with the graceful sway of her hips. He
took his seat and finished his drink.

“Hey!” A young male Raven slammed his
fist down on the table, drawing attention from other restaurant goers. Kendra
must’ve been too far away to hear the commotion because she didn’t turn.

The Raven startled Randal at first, but
he calmed down despite the Raven and his rough, angry voice as he took Kendra’s
seat. “I never met the other world version of you, but I made sure he stayed
away from Kendra. I
am
here in this world and I
can
personally,
and by personally, I mean physically, make sure you stay away from her.”

Randal leaned back and crossed his arms,
coolly replying, “I think that’s her decision.”

“Ravens and humans don’t mix,” he
growled.

“I’m assuming that’s not the real reason
for this encounter.”

“Listen up, Randal, this is just a
warning. Next time, I won’t be so nice.” His eyes flickered white. “I know what
you were thinking and now, she does too. You don’t have to wonder what that
anti-catalyst element was. You’re looking at him.”

Randal twitched. How could this guy have
known his thoughts? Did he actually read his mind? If so, mortification and
alarm must’ve raced through to the Raven. He knew Ravens were superhuman, but
could they read his thoughts? Had Kendra read his thoughts? Ah, man, Kendra
knowing it while he sat in front of her saying something else had to be the
worst.

The Raven continued without a pause, “I
promise if I find you sniffing around her again,” he lowered his tone and
tilted forward against the table, “I will hunt you down and destroy you.”

No matter how secure and kind Randal
tried to be, any human, to their specific degree of necessary convincing,
trembled in fear before an enraged Raven. This was the natural order of things
in this universe, and natural order always presided. Ravens were stronger and
faster. No human in his right mind would face off with a Raven. No human with
common sense would combat a male Raven over a female Raven. Illogical, crazy,
stupid—Randal could take his pick.

****

Kendra wandered back toward the park,
determined to wait in her spot until the portal opened. How ludicrous to
imagine the forces of the universe sucked innocent people from one dimension
and deposited them into this world without a way to transport them back.
Perhaps, it seldom occurred and they were seen as disappearances just as no one
in the other world knew what happened with Julie and Liam.

Kendra found her tree. The shadows
changed during her absence, moving to the left. She sat in the same spot,
although the sunlight found its way to her body by pushing the cast of the tree
away. She leaned against the trunk and pulled her left knee to a bend, and
rested her elbow there.

Not surprisingly, Liam appeared from the
tree line, marching toward her with a straight back and clear determination.
His broad shoulders, wide and rigid, demanded her attention. He took his seat
in front of Kendra, with his back against a tree trunk.

The two resumed their staring match.

“I’d hate to say I told you so about
that Randal guy, but I can tell the moment you figured out his endgame,” he
said triumphantly.

Kendra stared at the young man, biting
her lip to keep herself from admitting her defeat.

“You sure are cute when you do that.
Nice shades. Where’d you pick them from?” he asked.

Kendra didn’t respond.

“I’m not the bad guy, you know?”

“You’re not the good guy. Good guys
don’t manipulate. They aren’t killers, and they don’t live a shady, secret
life.”

“Well, guess I
am
the bad guy.”
He grinned. “I didn’t choose to be this way. This world makes us like this. You
know what they say: girls are attracted to the bad boys. It’s us bad guys that
girls want to have scorching love affairs with.”

“Spare me the flirtation, as dismal as
it is.” She removed her shades.

“There are those beautiful, black eyes.”
He could stare into them all day. Even Randal, a mere human, acknowledged the
desire.

Kendra straightened her leg and
stretched. Liam’s gaze never faltered.

“Sure wish I could get one last taste of
you, love. I just don’t understand what you saw in Randal, in this world or
that, but I don’t care as long you end up mine.”

“Shut your trap.”

“I know I’m the bad guy. I have to be.
It’s the same old story: I’m the bad boy with little care in the world, and I
do what I want, take what I want, and never face the consequences until now.
Now, when the only thing I truly want is within reach, she doesn’t want me.”