Dark Seraphine (The Seraphine Trilogy) (31 page)

“
The water angels?
”
I asked
,
perking up.

“
Those who are part
sea creature and
part angel
mixed together
.
That
’
s why I call them water angels. The only difference is
these special
beings
can walk on land. They look just like you and me
,”
she said
,
a sad look on her face.

“
Are these special water angels called Seraphines?
”
I already knew the answer. I just needed to hear someone like me say it was true.

She gave me a bright-eyed look.
“
I
’
m impressed. How did you
find out
?
”

“
You should be able to figure that out without me going into the boring details
. You see the dudes in black
too
,
remember?
”

“
Then you know about the Dark Seraphine?
”

“
I
’
ve heard a little bit about it.
”
I wished I didn
’
t.
T
he smoke demon
had said
the Dark Seraphine would lead
some kind of weird group on a mission to destroy the
world. I sighed and closed my eyes.

Could Gia
be
the Dark Seraphine?
Was it even possible? Just thinking about it made me feel weak.

I refused to believe the demon’s slick words
.
Both Paige and her smoke
sister had mentioned the
All Souls Dance
. They wanted
to know
Gia’s name by that day for some reason. O
ne thing was for
certain
,
I planned on being right
up in the action this weekend
.

“
Where
’
s Uncle M.
?
I need to head home before it gets too dark
,”
I
glanced at
my
watch
and cell phone
. The voice message I received from him was short and abrupt. He sounded
worried
about me leaving the house without telling him.

“
Shh. Do you hear it?
”
Mel asked
,
her eyes bright and wild. I did. Rising over the ocean
,
something that sounded like a flute drifted across the wind
,
filling me with
a strange sense of both
sadness and fear.

The
Dark Agent
s appeared out of nowhere.

“
Caleb
,”
she squealed
,
grasping hold of my arm as we stood together. Chills raced across my skin
,
but I had to keep a brave face on for Mel. Her body shivered.
A
wind moved around us, almost knocking me over. Yeah, it was that strong.

“
What do they want?
”
I
yelled
.

“
I don
’
t know
,”
Mel answered back. 
“
I
’
m scared.
”

“
Yeah
,
me too
,”
I said without feeling the least bit embarrassed.
“Let’s
head back to the lobby.
”

After we were safely inside the hospital
,
I turned to Mel
. “What was that
gust
all about?”

“Was it really wind? I think I felt something inside of it touch me,” Mel said.

My gaze darted around the area behind us. No Agents were inside the hospital. Except for that one
time
at the school’s gym, I had never seen them enter a building before.

“
Hey, I can get my uncle to ride back with you,
”
I said to her.

“
I’ll
be fine. I
’
m headed back up to my friend
’
s room. My parents will meet me here soon enough. Be careful out there
,
Caleb
,”
she said and strolled off down the hallway
,
glancing back one last time before she headed into the elevator.

I had that sinking feeling again. Something else bad was about to happen. Getting caught unprepared wasn
’
t an option.

Chapter
Seven
teen

Thorne moved on without Gia. Since most people didn
’
t realize Raze shared a strange kind of ancestral bond with her
,
it probably seemed like she cheated on him with her skateboarding teammate. I knew better
,
though. Gia
’
s only true connection was with me. She told me so herself. What I didn
’
t understand was why she chose to return to Ashley George without even bothering to contact me. When I got back to school
the next morning
,
I quickly found out why.

I spotted Gia as soon as I entered the building.
Marisa
and
Lelo were nowhere to be found, bu
t Raze walked
right
beside her
,
hulking like a giant. Forget all of that bodyguard crap. My whole body lit up just by watching her from a distance. The last time I saw her some crazy smoke demon girl was torturing her. Well
,
if you don
’
t count the nightmare that left red marks all over my arms and legs—the one where Gia danced with me until I um…yeah.

I deserved answers.

I didn
’
t give two shits about Raze
,
either.

Dark
Agent
s were back. And it was all over the
news
how the waters in our ocean turned black in some areas. Two of our classmates were still missing. An odd girl with big hair and no friends told me she can see the same
Walker
s that I
’
ve seen my entire life. I suddenly developed a super-human strength; something I figured Gia can explain better than anyone else.

Boy was my life normal.
Gia’s
boy Raze had better not mess with me today. With all of that crap bumbling around inside my head
,
it was anybody
’
s guess on
whom
or what might get my frustration.

I walked right up to Gia and ignored her bodyguard.
“
We need to talk.
”
She frowned and glanced at Raze.

“
Back off
,
Wood
,”
he warned.

“
Last time I checked
,
Gia knew how to speak for herself
,”
I stated.

“
Well,
that was then. Now
,
I
’
m telling you to move on
,”
Raze said in measured words.

The threat in his voice and the knowledge that he could probably floor me with a lightning bolt didn
’
t stop me. I kept my eyes focused
on Gia
’
s face. I didn
’
t understand her hesitation; and her refusal to put Raze in his place
,
the way she usually did
,
made my chest ache.

“
I
’
ve been worried about you
,”
I continued.

“
Don
’
t you have a girlfriend tucked away somewhere?
”
Raze asked.

“
I am not talking to you
,”
I snapped.

“
Now see
,
that
’
s rude
,”
he said
,
moving between Gia and me. A crowd formed around us. People always managed to sense a fight. Maybe it was because of that big word my mom always used…testosterone. Or in this case
,
people probably thought I
’
d lost my mind standing up to a giant like Raze. Even Thorne had enough sense to leave the issue alone. But he wasn
’
t the one who cared for Gia the way I
do
.

Sighing
,
Gia shoved around Raze and punched me with her words.
“
Look
,
whoever you are
,
I
’
m about to be late to class. I can
’
t afford a bad mark after missing so many days. Leave me alone.
”
Umph.
Nah. It was more like a head slam against a concrete block. She moved around me and started walking down the hall.

What the hell just happened here?

I couldn
’
t let it go; so I chased her down.

Grabbing her shoulders
,
I turned her around to face me.
“
Don
’
t do this. Don
’
t play mind games. That isn
’
t your style.
”

The blank expression she gave me cut through to my core. She really didn
’
t remember me. There was no feisty skateboard queen hidden inside. No sassy girl
waited
to chew me out for almost killing myself again. I could tell by her
dull expression
. Today
that spark in
her
eyes
I loved so much was gone.
The speckles of
blue and green had faded from inside her irises, leaving behind an empty pool.

“
What did she do to you?
”
I whispered furiously.
“
It
’
s me
,
the wave rider.
”
Desperation quivered in my voice. I didn
’
t care about how not cool I appeared right then.

“
Get your hands off of me. I don
’
t even know you
,”
she spat
,
a look of disgust distorting her perfect face. I held on tighter.
“
Ouch. You
’
re hurting me.
”

Next thing I knew
,
I flew sideways into a locker. Pain ripped through my left shoulder. I was pretty sure my body dented the metal.
“
Did you forget how to speak English
,
Wood?
”
Raze hissed as he stalked toward me.

The thing that I felt so many times before
,
a heated rush of energy
,
surged through me. Balling my fists
,
I charged toward Raze with all I had in me. Our bodies collided. But wait! I actually managed to slam him into a locker. How the freak did I do that? Cheers and yells exploded around me.

The look Raze gave me after he recovered was one combined with a lot of things: anger
,
shock
,
awe. I was right there with him on
feeling all of that too
. By the time he stood up
,
regrouped
,
and prepared for his next attack
,
Principal Armstrong was headed our way.

Crap! I
’
ll get suspended for sure.

People shuffled back to their classrooms. At once somebody yanked my shirt by the collar and tugged me away from the scene. I turned around and caught a view of my rescuer
,
Thorne Wiggins. Right. Now things were really getting strange.

“
So
,
Caleb. I heard you
’
re definitely interested in my little proposal
,”
Thorne
said loud enough for Principal Armstrong to overhear
.
“
Just play along
,
would you?
”
he muttered.

“
U
h
,
yeah, I’m down with that
,”
I answered.

We stopped at the doorway to my first period class. He slapped me on the shoulder
and
gave me a bright-eyed look.
“
Welcome to the team
,
Wood
,”
he blurted.

“
What? Oh
,
yeah
,
thanks for including me.
”
I was more than certain I
’
d regret this secret-agreement thing later. For now
,
it worked.
Raze didn’t get out of things as easily as I just did.
Principal Armstrong was scolding
him
. The golden boy—that would be Thorne—once again managed to make him turn his head.

We both glanced toward the principal and grinned. He gave us a stern look just before he walked off
,
a fuming Raze
hulking beside
him.

“
I don
’
t even want to know why you did that
,”
I said to Thorne.

“
Oh
,
you
’
ll find out soon enough.
”
H
e grinned and headed through our Trig
classroom’s
doorway.

* * *

“
I
’
m going to be the most envied fairy at the party tonight
,”
Erica gushed and stepped closer to me.
“
Sasuke never looked so sexy. Oh my God
,
Caleb. Your costume is
sw-eet!
”

“
It
’
s the Ninja suit. Complete with Japanese handwriting on the headband
,”
I said
,
trying to act happy and to keep my sanity in check.

Spending the last couple of days watching a Gia who didn
’
t seem to remember anyone except her skateboard crew killed me. I even started carrying Ticky around inside my book bag. Tonight I had the starfish in the pouch
hooked
to my
waist
.
I know.
I
’
m
pretty
hooked
.

One thing I did
realize
. The smoke girl was right. She promised to rip my soul apart one day at a time. It worked.

“
Why are you always so sad?
”
Erica asked
,
cradling my face between her hands. Kyle
’
s last words he said to me at the hospital came to mind. I needed to end this thing. It didn
’
t matter that Gia lost her memory. Using somebody in this way was just plain wrong.

“
Where
’
s Kyle and Shani
,”
Mom asked
,
trudging into
the living room. She fiddled with the camera on her phone. I was thankful for her appearance at just the right moment
,
yet again.

“
I
’
m not sure
,”
I answered
,
stepping out of Erica
’
s embrace.
“
They should be here by now.
”

“
No matter. Caleb
,
move back over there with Erica. I want a picture of the assassin and his butterfly
,”
Mom beamed. Erica and I laughed. With her mini skirt
,
white tights
,
and long sleeved tee-shirt with the light blue wings attached to the back
,
it was easy to see why
Mom
probably thought Erica was a butterfly.

“
Mom
,
meet Sasuke
,
your son the ninja. Beside me
,
is the Fairy Queen
of
,
uh…
what’s your kingdom called?
”

“
Narnia,” Erica beamed.