Dark Masterpiece (Serendipity Series 3) (23 page)

Ash seemed to shrink under Traevyn’s stare
and he took a step back. “Oh, sorry,” he said. “I didn’t know.” He
gave Evie a dismal look. “Maybe some other time.”

She tried to give him a reassuring smile and
nodded, but he was retreating almost instantly. She frowned and
turned to face Traevyn. “That was beyond rude,” she spat.

He frowned. “Why was it rude? I was just
stating a fact.”

She folded her arms. “Stating a fact, were
you? Well, I wasn’t aware that we had plans tomorrow. It would have
been nice if you’d asked.” She snorted and rolled her eyes. “I
swear, sometimes I think you crawled right out of the cave.”

His dark eyebrows drew together in a scowl.
“You mean you’d rather go off with him?”

She blinked in
bewilderment. Where in the world was
this
coming from? “That’s not the
point. What’s the matter with you? You can’t just come up and
inform me of what my plans are! At least he asked me like a
gentleman! You were just rude! He was just trying to be
nice!”

Traevyn stood up tall in the way he did when
he was feeling backed into a corner. “Oh, I’m sure he’d like to do
a lot more than be nice to you.” His voice was more like a snarling
hiss than anything else.

She stammered for a few incoherent seconds
before she flung her arms up in the air in exasperation. “What the
heck are you talking about?”

“It’s only obvious to everyone here that he
is interested in you.”

Evie stood very still,
feeling a molten rage replace the regular flow of her blood.
How
dare
he!
How
dare
he try
and deter someone from liking her! It didn’t happen very often!
Actually, it never happened at all! “So what if he does?” she
shouted. “Am I not allowed to have someone like me? Am I not worthy
of that?”

Traevyn seemed slightly taken aback by her
vehement response.

“I have the right to have a
life! Who dubbed you my lord and master? Besides, even if he does
like me, what does it matter to
you
?
” She
felt tears sting her eyes again. Hot, angry tears. What
did
it matter to him?
Why did he even care? He’d said it himself. She was a special
friend.
A
friend
.
So
what did it matter if she went out with another guy?

Traevyn’s face grew sober and dark. He
walked up to her, trapping her against the wall and towering over
her with his powerful presence. Evie gasped at his sudden nearness
and she looked up into his angry, green eyes, her own fury rapidly
dissipating.

He dipped his head so that his mouth was
against the side of her face. “Perhaps I wanted you all to myself.”
His voice was still a snarl, but it carried a sensual, purring
undertone that was devastating to her heart and breathing
ability.

She shivered as his breath tickled her ear
and strange tingles ran down her spine. Then, just like that, he
was gone, striding away and leaving her all alone. She let out a
slow breath and looked down at her trembling hands, confused by
that entire series of events.

“Evie!”

She jumped at her brother’s sudden sharp
remark and frowned as Seth stood before her, scowling.

“What do you think you’re doing?” he
snapped.

She blinked rapidly in complete
confusion.

“You’ve been flirting with Ash all day!” he
supplied.

Her irritation quickly returned. “So what?”
she cried. “Can’t I flirt?”

“No!” he exclaimed. “You can’t!”

She stepped back in surprise.

Seth shook his head and met
her eyes with force, as if to drive home his point with his glare
alone. “You are going to ruin
everything
. If you pulled your head
out of your butt and started paying attention you’d notice that
Traevyn has been staring at you all friggin’ day, not to mention
whatever happened between you two in the mountains.”

She looked down to hide a blush.

“You know how Traevyn was when we first met
him,” he continued. “Now he laughs and smiles and plays. That’s
because of you, idiot!”

She opened her mouth to reprimand him for
calling her a name, but he took her firmly by the shoulders,
cutting her off.

“You’re being stupid, Evie,” he stated.
“That man does not open up to people. He opened up to you! That
means something! And you’re just going to let everything you want
walk away because of your own stupid insecurity!” He snorted and
let go of her. “Grow up.” He turned and left her standing
there.

Evie stared after Seth, feeling so
overwhelmed she didn’t know what to do with herself. She sat down
where she was standing and put her head in her hands. She sighed
and tried to sort out both Traevyn’s reaction to the possibility of
her going out with Ash and Seth’s powerful words.

* * * *

Talis gave Traevyn the once-over with his
eyes as he entered the house. Traevyn pretended not to see as he
continued to sit with an irritated frown on the sofa, but he saw
well enough.

Talis sighed and sat next to him. “The next
time you decide to scare the crap out of my roommate do you think
you could let me know first? That way I can start looking for a new
one?”

Traevyn glanced at Talis dismally, but said
nothing.

Talis rolled his eyes heavenward. “Traevyn,
you look like a wet cat.”

“Thanks Talis, but you’re really not making
me feel any better.”

Talis chuckled. “Did she reject you?”

He frowned. “Not exactly… Unless her calling
me a caveman counts.”

“No, that was just stating the obvious.”

Traevyn expelled a forceful breath. There
were times when he really hated having brothers.

“Did she say she would go out with Ash?”

“No, but she wanted to,” he snapped.

“Did she say that?”

Traevyn’s sullen frown deepened.

Talis nodded. “I thought so. Next time, try
communicating. It works better than dictatorship.” He patted his
brother on the shoulder and stood to leave.

“How do you know all of this anyway?”
Traevyn questioned. “You weren’t part of the conversation.”

Talis fixed Traevyn with a look. “Please,
the way you two were yelling… The entire neighborhood was part of
the conversation.”

Traevyn sighed in irritation at both himself
and the entire situation. He knew he might not have behaved in a
very dignified manner, but he couldn’t help it. Something about the
thought of Evie spending time alone with Ash… Not that there was
anything wrong with Ash. He was actually rather nice. It was just
that he had grown accustomed to having Evie to himself…

He rolled his eyes. Oh, come on. Who was he
trying to fool? The truth was that the thought of Evie choosing Ash
over him made him sick because Amy had chosen another man over him.
He was terrified of being rejected and his response to that was to
act like a jerk. Yeah, that would definitely insure him a place by
her side.

He sighed again. Evie had no reason to feel
guilty. She didn’t owe anything to him. He had no claim on her. Had
he just assumed that the beautiful light she emitted was solely for
him? A sharp pain stabbed at his heart to think that it wasn’t, to
think of her showering her beauty on some other man. When had he
come to cherish that? When had he come to want it all for himself?
The same voice inside him, the one that kept seeming to point out
the obvious, told him that the desire to have all of her beauty for
himself meant something, meant more than he had been willing to
admit. It terrified him. It invigorated him. It made him want to
scream with the confusion of it all.

Just then, Evie entered the house and his
heart leapt into his throat, nearly choking him. “Evie,” he
croaked.

She stopped and gave him a measured stare.
“Yes, Conan?”

His lips quirked at the corners and he
averted his gaze. “Come here, please.” It was not a command, just a
quiet request.

She went to sit next to him, her arms
folded.

Traevyn turned to face her. “There’s this
place by the airport called Airport Mesa. It’s a lookout point
where you can watch the sun set over the red rocks. I…” He looked
down, hating how she always made him feel so vulnerable. He’d swore
he would never feel vulnerable again, but he knew, deep in his
heart, that Evie had the ability to hurt him badly if she wanted
to.

He thought back to when she had kissed him
to stop his emotional tangent. He remembered how she had anchored
him, led him to safety with her gentle, guiding light. How many
times had he turned to her since then? How many times had he sought
out her company to chase the shadows away? He had told her that she
held a part of him, part of his soul. She held the one part of his
soul that had not been poisoned, the one part that was still good
and pure and hopeful. He had given it to her out of blind trust,
something he would never have done for anyone else. She held the
only good left in him and she could shatter it in a second if she
wanted to. This realization hit him hard and his hands started to
tremble.

He cleared his throat and tried to focus. “I
was hoping maybe you would go to dinner with me and then I could
take you there, but…” He swallowed hard and closed his eyes,
forcing himself to say what nearly killed him. “…if you would be
happier going to the movies with Ash, go… I have no right to claim
anything on you or your life, and I’m sorry.” He shivered, feeling
very cold. She could slay him, slay him right now, and she didn’t
even know it. She didn’t know it because he had never told her. He
hadn’t even told himself until now. He hadn’t wanted to believe
that he could care for her so much because it would make him weak.
It would make him open and vulnerable. Love had always been his
weakness, emotion his undoing. He supposed it came with the
territory of being creative.

“Traevyn…”

Her soft voice sent waves of warmth through
him. He felt her gentle fingers lightly close over his and his
heart lurched. He feared her words, feared her rejection, yet he
held onto her soft touch.

“Hey, look at me,” she coaxed.

Traevyn slowly turned his eyes up to meet
Evie’s. She gave him a soft smile. “I would rather go to dinner
with you than go to a hundred movies with someone else,” she
murmured. “All you had to do was ask.”

Several different emotions flashed through
him right before his lips split into a grin. His fingers tightened
on hers and happiness surged to life inside of him.

She smiled and lifted her free hand to touch
his cheek. Traevyn trapped her hand there with his own, leaning his
cheek into her palm and feeling her touch in the very depths of his
being. He needed Evie. It was suddenly clear to him. He needed Evie
to live. She showed him how to breathe again. She made his heart
remember how to beat.

He shook his head and let out a slow breath.
“I’m sorry for how I treated you back there. It was rather barbaric
of me. I actually imagine clubbing you over the head and dragging
you by the hair might have had better results.”

She giggled.

“It’s just that—” He needed to tell her. He
needed to tell her how much she meant to him. He met her eyes.
“Evie, I—” The words got stuck in his throat, refused to emerge. He
couldn’t. Not yet. He couldn’t face her possible rejection yet. It
would destroy him if she turned him down. The words he would have
said dissolved and he forced a smile. “Never mind.” He clasped both
of her hands in his and gave her a great, fake smile when
everything inside of him was in turmoil. “Let’s go back out and
enjoy everyone’s company,” he suggested. “I promise not to be
insane.”

She grinned and rolled her eyes playfully.
“You can’t really get around that one.”

She stood and kept her hand in his, guiding
him back outside.

Traevyn tried to force his troubled thoughts
out of his mind for the time being. He just wanted to have a good
time without being so lost in his own mind that he looked like a
brooding statue. He had already scared the wits out of Ash… A
sadistic, satisfied smile twisted his lips. He was kind of happy
about that. He couldn’t deny it.

Evie led him to the pool and jumped in while
he stood, trying to decide if he even wanted to get in. He was
already almost dry and—

Suddenly, Seth and Talis crashed into him and
all three of them went flying into the water.

Evie shrieked as an enormous splash attacked
her and Traevyn emerged coughing and sputtering, his hair clinging
to his face, as well as Seth’s.

Seth swatted at the wet strands, trying to
remove them. One was coiled around his throat and he snorted.
“Dude, this is like a bad horror movie.” He shoved Traevyn’s hair
aside and laughed, treading water nearby.

Traevyn pulled his hair out of his face and
shook his head. He fixed a scowl on Talis and Seth, but couldn’t
maintain it for long. They were grinning like the devils they were
and he chuckled. He pulled his arm back and sent a stream of water
right at both of them.

Evie shrieked again as she got some of the
attack. She frowned and advanced, sending a splash of her own as
Talis and Seth retaliated. The three of them had backed Traevyn
into a corner and he lunged forward, hauling Seth out of the water
and body slamming him back into it.

Evie laughed as her brother went flying. She
saw Traevyn turn his attention to her next and she squealed, trying
to turn and escape. He was too fast. His arm was around her waist
and he pulled her up to hold in front of him as Talis continued to
send little, annoying splashes directly in his face.

Traevyn laughed. “Stop! I have a hostage!” he
cried.