Tethered Wings (Hidden Wings Series) (14 page)

“Good. I’ll see you soon,” he chimed.

“See you soon,” I whispered, as he walked out the door.

I jumped off the bed and limped to the bathroom.
Dang it.
My knee was bruised and it was throbbing. I removed Kade’s make-shift tourniquet and replaced it with anti-bacterial ointment and a bandage. After, I went to the dresser and realized I didn’t have a bathing suit. Lia packed my bags with warm winter things, not summer things.

“Knock-knock,” Lia said, stepping into the room. She looked at me and shook her head. “What happened to you?”

“I fell coming up the stairs,” I groaned.

“Are you serious? Well, I brought you something. I figured you’d need this.” Lia held up a bright-pink, two-piece bikini.

“Are
you
serious?” I gasped.

“It was either pink, or black with pink polka-dots. I know you don’t do polka-dots,” she said.

“Nope. But if this is your suit, it’s not going to fit me,” I stated.

“It’ll fit, you’ll see. Now march into that bathroom and change,” she demanded, pointing at the door. I begrudgingly obliged.

I had worn bathing suits to the beach in L.A. all the time, but there were always tons of other scantily clad beach-goers, which made me feel more comfortable. Here, it was just a few of us, and even fewer women in bikinis.

In the bathroom, I slid the bathing suit on, and damn…Lia was right. It fit perfectly. I turned to the mirror and glanced at myself. Not too bad.

I pulled my hair up into a ponytail, and let a few strands fall to the sides. Lia knocked and as soon as I unlocked the door, she opened it.

Her jaw dropped. “I told you it would fit. Oh my god, Emma. You look freaking hot. Like bathing suit model hot.”

“Whatever!” I said, grabbing a towel and wrapping it around me. I didn’t like drawing attention to myself, and this bathing suit was a definite attention-getter. I quickly threw on some jeans shorts and a t-shirt.

“Girl, if you got it, you should definitely flaunt it. If I had legs like you, I’d constantly be doing the catwalk walk, like all the time. Work it,” she said. She began to walk the length of my room like a supermodel.

“What the heck are you doing?” Jeremy said, opening the door and popping in.

“Pretending like I’m Emma,” Lia said, with a hand on her hip, popping her hips side to side with each step. “I’m sexy and I know it,” she began to sing.

“What?” Jeremy squeaked.

“Relax. Don’t hurt yourself, hun. You had to be here,” she said, flicking her hair behind her.

Jeremy scoffed and rolled his eyes. “Well everyone is at the bottom of the stairs. You guys better hurry up.”

I grabbed my towel, sunscreen, and sunglasses, and threw them into a backpack.

“Ready?” I said, holding my arm out to Lia.

“Always.” She linked hers around mine.

We both sang and did the yellow-brick-road dance from the Wizard of Oz, as we headed out the door. “We’re off to see…”

“Yes, you’re both off, but couldn’t you
try
to be normal for one day?” Jeremy interrupted.

“Normal is lame and boring, especially when we are supah-stahs!” Lia dropped down on one knee and flew both of her arms up into the air with jazz hands.

I started cracking up, and Jeremy had obviously had all he could take.

“Oh my God. You’re embarrassing me,” he huffed.

“Jeremy, you sound just like my mother, and there are many reasons why I didn’t invite her on this trip. So please, give me my moment of freedom and let me live out loud,” she said with a serious face, waving her finger at him.

“Whatever, weirdo.”

“Oh, I love that song!” Lia exasperated.

“What?” Jeremy twisted back to her.

“Never mind,” she grinned and winked at me.

“We love you, Jeremy,” I called after him.

“Yeah right,” he muttered.

Alaine must have given the gang all the details because they were packed and ready to go. Malachi was in long jeans shorts, and had a black tank-top on. His tanned muscles bulged and were shining like he’d rubbed oil over himself. He had his signature dark Oakley sunglasses on, making him look even more sinister than usual.

Dominic had on board shorts, and a white t-shirt that made his green eyes glow. Kade walked out from around the corner and also had on swim shorts on with a white tank-top. The chiseled definition of his arms and shoulders was drool-worthy. His chocolate-brown hair was drawn back and his hazel eyes beamed as they landed on me. He threw me a private air kiss.

“Oh heck, Emma. You are so lucky. Can I come live with you?” Lia whispered.

I smiled. If she only knew what living her entailed, she probably wouldn’t have even come to visit.

“Let’s load up,” Alaine said cheerfully.

“Your aunt is beautiful, and you seriously look a lot like her,” Lia admitted.

She had on a sleek, one piece bathing suit, with a long, colorful sarong wrapped around her waist. Her hair was pulled back into a long ponytail and she wore a large brimmed hat and sunglasses. She
did
look like royalty.   

We loaded into one Hummer. The other was off to the side, and the side door was open.

I wondered how Ethon was going to get there, or if he even agreed. Actually, I knew he would, especially if it involved my safety. Now that I thought about it, he would most likely be flying there.

When we arrived at the lake, it was even more beautiful than I expected. In my mind, I pictured a large muddy hole, filled with water and fish trying to suck the life out of me. But the lake was bigger than I imagined, and actually looked like a real lake. There was sand placed around the edges, making it look beach-like. Manicured grass butted up to the sand, and beyond that, were beautiful spruce and birch trees.

I was a gorgeous setting. Two small row boats were set on the beach, and in another corner was a volleyball net. On the far side of the bank, I noticed a large birch tree with a fat rope tied to one of its branches.

“Wow. This place is amazing,” Lia said as she stepped out of the vehicle.

Our party consisted of Alaine, Dominic, Malachi, Kade, Courtney, Caleb, Jeremy, Lia and me.

I knew our extra backup wasn’t too far behind.

Warmth and tingling pricks shot across my skin, causing me to pause. Ethon was here. I glanced around and saw nothing. But I knew he was out there, hidden in the shadows of the trees.

I hoped today would be Lucian free, but I always expected the worse. Prepare for the worst, and hope for the best. That was my new motto. These days, when we least expected it, it usually happened. That had become the story of my life. But at least we were prepared. 

Alaine laid out a large blanket on the grass and set up a chair with an umbrella. She looked like she’d done this a few times before and was completely prepared.

As soon as Dominic jumped out of the car he ripped his shirt off.

Lia grabbed my arm and squeezed as she watched him run to the rope swing. He was perfection…but they all were. 

Lia and Courtney stripped down to their bathing suits and headed for the water.

Jeremy also took his shirt off and followed after Dominic. His lean, non-muscular body looked awkward as he hobbled over the heated sand toward the rope swing. Caleb kept his shirt and shorts on, sitting in the sand, watching Lia and Courtney.

“Come in, Caleb,” Lia called. He paused, then slowly got up, took his shirt off, and jumped - splashing water all over them. The girls screamed and a water fight began.

I laughed, happy to see them having fun.

Malachi carried his chair to a nice shady spot on the lake and set himself up. He had a small cooler with drinks and snacks. He looked pretty cool with his dark shades on. Maybe, if everything went well, he could get a nap in like he’d wanted to.

It was just me and Kade left.

“Would you like to take a boat out onto the lake with me?” I asked.

“Sure,” he smiled.

He pulled his shirt off, and headed for the boat.

Lia did a double take as she noticed him walk by. Her head snapped over to me with wide eyes.

I smiled and laughed inside. Yep. He was perfect, and he was mine. But then I noticed something I never saw before. His back was covered with scars from the burns, and I suddenly had a horrible flashback.

It all seemed like an unbelievable nightmare, but the sight of his scars brought it all back, making it real. My eyes misted over. His scars. The pain he endured. They were an outward sign of his love for me, and a realization of what he did. He risked his life to save mine. He protected me, and for that, his scars had become his most beautiful feature. A perfect reminder of everything he was to me.  

He pulled the boat into the water and jumped in, glancing up at me. “Coming?” he asked holding his hand out. I nodded and smiled, discreetly wiping away the tear which escaped my eye.

“Take it off, Emma!” Lia hollered. I glared at her, and shook my head. “Girl, if you don’t take it off, I’ll come up there and rip it off.” Her eyes were locked and narrowed, and I knew she would do just as she said. She never made idle threats. Lia
always
followed through.

I sighed and reluctantly pulled off my top and then slowly slipped off my shorts.

Every eye darted to the bright pink.

Dammit.
I suddenly felt naked.

There was a loud whistle from across the lake. Dominic.

“Looking hot, Emma!” he yelled. He was standing on one of the branches of the big tree.

I shook my head, my face flushed with the heat of embarrassment. I quickly made my way toward the boat, and hopped inside. A crooked grin formed on Kade’s lips as he carefully appraised me.

“Beautiful,” he breathed.

“Thank you. But it’s not mine.”

“I wasn’t talking about the suit.”

I blushed, if I could blush any more than I already had. Taking my seat opposite of Kade, he grabbed the oars and began to row us out into the middle of the lake. I was hoping we could spend some time alone out there.

“Hey! If you guys want to see something totally awesome, I suggest you look this way,” Dominic announced on the largest, highest branch of the tree. With the rope in hand, he jumped, dropping down and flying outward, traveling at a crazy speed. As he reached his highest point, he let go and tucked his legs, spinning...one, two, three, four,
five
times before hitting the water with a splash.

“Holy shit!” Jeremy cursed.

Everyone started clapping, except Malachi, whose head was tilted forward. He was probably asleep.

Jeremy was freaking out, clapping and cheering. I watched as he started to climb the tree, and highly doubted he could do one, let alone half a flip.

We all watched as Jeremy climbed to the largest limb, and grabbed hold of the rope.

“Don’t hurt yourself,” Lia yelled. She had to. She was a mother-hen.

Jeremy hesitated.

“Are you chickening out?” Lia laughed.

He glanced down toward her. “Never,” he yelled, and pushed off the branch. He swung awkwardly out over the lake, and a high pitched scream loudly followed after him. I found myself laughing, but as soon as he reached the highest point, he didn’t let go.

His eyes were shut.

“Jeremy, let go!” I bellowed, standing up, my heart pounding. But he didn’t listen, and hugged tighter to the rope.

“Let go you idiot!” Lia yelled, trying to run in the water toward him. Everyone started to scream at him to let go, but he had become one with the rope.

Dominic started to swim toward him, and Malachi jumped from his chair and started running. Even Alaine was headed his way. 

“He’s gonna hit the tree!” I screamed, slapping my hands over my mouth. My heart sunk as I helplessly watched him flying backward towards the tree, at a speed which could knock him out, or possibly injure him badly.  My breath seized.

An instant wave of electricity buzzed around me, and the leaves begin to rustle. Then, with a sudden strong gust of wind, and a blink of an eye later, Jeremy was magically off the rope, and safely on the ground.

He stood there, eyes still closed…screaming. That is, until he realized he was safe. When his eyes opened, they were wide, dazed and confused. 

Lia pointed to him. “How did—? What the—? Did anyone see that?” She stuttered.

“I think he let go,” Courtney answered, also confused. 

“That was some crazy crap right there. How the hell did he get on the ground? He should have smacked that tree,” Lia exhaled, her hands grasping the sides of her head.

I knew exactly what happened. Ethon saved him. He was the only one who could fly that fast.  

I shook my head and smiled, exhaling a sigh of relief. Thank goodness he was safe.