Gray (Awakening Book 1) (13 page)

I slammed my locker door, furious to have to waste time at school when there were so many more important things which needed to be dealt with. All I wanted was to leave, but Kassia had insisted school was important.
Psht.

It was a relief when I saw JJ not far down the hall from me, his eyes fixed on the floor in front of him. He was such a sweet guy, but I had begun to wonder if his silence in social situations was more than simple shyness. He was a nice little mystery to contemplate while I waited for the school day to end.

I moved to stand next to him, my brows raised high. “I have a question for you,” I said, unsure if he would respond.

He swallowed and flicked his eyes around, then gave me a look of question.

“Do you have an opinion on cars?"

His brows rose and his lips quivered before very slowly, he smiled. “Cars are handy to get you to places,” he said in his usual quiet voice.

I grinned at him, pleased to be on the verge of drawing him out. “Color or style preference?”

“I prefer them to have engines which run.”

I snorted out a laugh. “So you’re not picky, I take it.”

“Mine is twenty years old and rusty. I just like that it runs.”

“I’m pickier than you are,” I said with a nod. “I prefer for them to have character, pizazz and sex-appeal.”

His whole face lit with amusement. “Are we talking about cars or people?”

“Both.”

“I’d rather be alone, Shayla.”

“I’d rather have a cool set of wheels which can take me to someplace I can either be alone, or with somebody I trust.”

“Why do you need a car for that?”

I nodded. “Good point. So does this mean we can be besties now?” I asked, my hands clasped together prayerfully.

He flicked his eyes to meet mine, then gave me a small smile, but didn’t speak.

Seemed like that would be the most I could expect to get from him, so it was enough. I motioned toward our class, more sure than ever that his shyness had more to do with a fear of crowds than anything else. One on one, he was great.

As we walked, I felt the heat of someone’s eyes fixed on me. It was no friendly gaze either. I didn’t have to look to know it was Paul, then again, maybe it was London. It didn’t matter in the least to me. Neither of them mattered. I had good friends. Who needed more?

Ben walked over to my other side, his brow furrowed. “You look like you’re in pissy mode today,” he said by way of greeting.

“You look tall,” I responded, then nodded to JJ. “You want to play this little game called ‘state the obvious’?”

His lips turned up in a small smile. “Would it be too obvious if I said I’d rather not play?”

Ben stared at him for a moment, obviously not having expected him to speak in public, then he smiled. “I could state a few more obvious things than that, but I wouldn’t want to piss Shayla off even more than she already looks.”

I rolled my eyes at him, but since he knew what was going on, it seemed useless not to tell him a portion of the truth. “Kassia bribed me into going to school today by telling me she’d buy me a car when I get my license.”

“Why would that make you mad?”

I scowled at him. “Because there are things I wanted to do today which cannot be done while I’m stuck in this building.”

“You can go after school.”

I flopped down in a desk and glowered at my bag. “I don’t know what to do. I’m so used to fighting for my life, I don’t know how to handle—” I broke off, irritated to have said those things in public.

JJ sat down in the desk in front of me and turned, his eyes fixed on my desktop. “I don’t say much, so when I’m around, people tend to forget about me. I hear everything. I don’t gossip.”

I sighed and rubbed at my brows. “I never thought you were a gossip, JJ. I just don’t know what’s going on in my life and don’t particularly want to air out my dirty laundry in public.”

“Would you like me to leave?”

I shook my head. “I like having you around, JJ. Your calmness makes me feel entirely at ease.”

He smiled, though turned back to the front when the bell rang.

I glanced over at Ben, not at all surprised to see his eyes fixed on me. “I take my driver’s test tomorrow,” I whispered while our teacher began to take attendance.

“Want some company when you’re picking out your car?” he whispered back.

I placed my finger on my chin in a thoughtful pose. After a moment, I nodded. “I’d like that.”

And suddenly, everything felt right to me. Even the idea of being at school wasn’t as terrible, because Ben, JJ and Francis were all there too.

The trouble was, despite the presence of my friends, the day sucked. Homework began to pile up like bricks in a wall which wanted to separate me from freedom. No. Not a chance. Nothing could hold me back ever again, not even a mountain of homework.

By the time school ended, all I wanted was a fight. I was restless, irritable and so not in the mood to deal with anything at all. It seemed best to lock myself in my bedroom until the storm inside me subsided.

“Shayla!”

I glanced wearily over my shoulder while walking toward the place where Kassia always picked me up. I just wanted to get home. Why would anyone be foolish enough to stop me in the moment?

Francis jogged over, his fiery red hair like a beacon of hope on a dark night. “The group and I were all going to get together, hang out tonight. Want me to pick you up?” he asked with a big, bright smile.

I shook my head. “I can’t tonight, Francis. I need some time to do homework,” I said, unwilling to inflict my company on anyone in the moment.

He tipped his chin back and let out a derisive sound. “Meaning you have plans with Ben?” he asked in a cold voice.

I glanced over at him, baffled by the tone. “No, Francis. I have homework coming out my ears and am in a piss poor mood.” I did my best not to take it out on him, but he appeared to be in the mood for a fight.

“Whatever, Shayla. I’m sure you and Ben can cheer each other up.”

I stopped and gave him a hard look, no longer confused, but downright angry. “What is your problem, Francis?” I didn’t really want to know, but was too irritated with him not to ask.

He threw his hands up into the air. “I’m sick of you, Shayla! You come back and I think, hey, this is awesome. My best friend from when I was a little kid is here. This is going to be great. But all of a sudden, you’re not my Shayla. You’re just one of those stupid girls that flocks around Ben because he’s tall or whatever it is that girls like about him. You’re just like every other dumb girl and I’m sick of it!” he shouted, his cheeks a blotchy pink as he panted for breath.

I stepped forward and poked him in the chest. “Ben has nothing to do with anything, Francis. What’s this really about?”

He sneered. “Of course it’s about him. You and London can have a cat-fight over him now.”

“I’m not fighting with anybody but you right now.”

“You don’t even know the guy. He almost got kicked out of school last year and has been arrested like six times, but you’re just going to throw away our friendship over HIM?!”

My heart started to pound. “Throw away? What are you—”

“Yeah, throw away. I don’t hang out with shallow, idiotic broads.”

I reeled back, hurt and baffled by his reaction, though the anger won out. “I’ve recently started remembering some of the things I went through when I was gone and this one thing sticks out to me. See, I was chained to the wall in a cave after this one really bad beating and the thing which got me through, helped me not to lose my mind, was the memory of my best friend. I remembered laughing with you while our moms dragged us shopping with them, laughing over nothing, like we always did.” I wiped away a tear which slid down my cheek. “The friends I’ve made in the last month have been a serious comfort, a great distraction from everything which could have broken me. You, Ben and JJ made me feel like the world wasn’t crashing in around me. Hopefully, they won’t turn out to be the kind of guy you are.” I turned away. I wanted to punch him, but didn’t. He wasn’t worth the energy it would take to pull back my temper.

By the time I got home, my bad mood had escalated to something foul. Francis. What was wrong with him? Why would he go from such a sweet, cheerful guy to that obnoxious, angry kid I didn’t even want to know?

I didn’t go inside, too irritated to bother. Instead, I walked to the back yard and sat down in the grass. The stones around me called out. They wanted to cheer me up, but there was nothing which could do that.

“Gray One.”

My head jerked up. My eyes met a pair of bold, black ones. “Dorian,” I whispered, then jumped to my feet and threw my arms around his neck. He was safe. He was there with me. No stupid fight with my former best friend could affect me in the least. Dorian was there.

He pulled me back after a moment and squeezed my hand. “You look well, Gray One. I am pleased to see this,” he said like it was entirely normal for him to speak to me in the human world.

I kind of wanted to pop him one, but decided to wait. I just motioned toward the house. “Come inside,” I said. It was not a request.

He bowed his head slightly. He obviously recognized it as an order. He followed me up the back steps and inside, like it was all just the most normal thing we’d ever done.

My sister didn’t look surprised by the sight of Dorian when I led him into the living room. She just nodded in greeting and went back to the paperwork she had been doing.

“So do you two know each other?” I asked, my arms folded.

Kassia let out an exasperated breath. “Shayla, whatever your problem is, it has nothing to do with me or your friend there, so retract your claws and try speaking without the tone."

I glowered at her, but she was right. I was mad at Francis and at how crappy my day had been. It had nothing to do with either of them.

I did my best to push back my anger, but it simply would not fade. It grew until my body began to shake, my face so hot, I felt feverish. That was not right.

Dorian stepped forward and laid his palm on my brow, his face set in lines of determination. The contact of his hand cooled my feverishness, but nothing changed. He had lied to me.

“Focus on the water, Gray One. The water will calm you.”

I took a step back from him. The house vibrated under my feet. What was happening to me?

Dorian leaned closer and took my hand. “You are angry with me, I know. I lied to you on many occasions, hid much from you. Focus on me, Gray One, not the stones. The stones around us feel your anger and call to you. You will destroy this place if you do not hold back your power."

“Why did you lie to me?” I asked, my teeth clenched. I tried to do as he had said, though nothing happened. The stones vibrated, then began to shake.

My sister stared at us, her eyes wide. “Ben helped her get control last time. You want me to call him?”

Dorian shook his head. “No. She needs to learn to control the elements without assistance.”

“You’re assisting her,” Kassia said challengingly, her arms folded.

He didn’t respond to that, but fixed his black eyes on mine. “Gray One, hear me. I lied to you to protect you from the pain. You were so young when the Black Queen had me take you to Svartálfaheimr. I only wished you to have some peace.”

The ground around us shook all the harder, each and every stone in the entire town called out to me. They wanted to help and oh, I wanted to ask them to . . . no. Dorian was not the one the stones should go after.

I focused on the anger inside me and shoved it down deep. Whoever had killed my mom and dad were the ones who deserved to die, not Dorian. He had done as he had been told, but those killers, they would pay.

Dorian nodded when the world stilled. “You must listen to me, Gray One,” he said, like nothing had happened at all.

I took in a shaky breath and did my best to push back the feeling of betrayal. So he had only come because he had something to tell me. Had he ever really been my friend, or was I nothing more than a responsibility?

He turned his eyes from me, to Kassia and let out a world-weary sigh. “The Black and the White have lived separate since the beginning of time. They are different as night and day, but when the Black and White are joined, the magic of their offspring is phenomenal. I am of a far weaker bloodline than you, so my magic is a mere drop in the bucket in comparison to what you will hold when your awakening begins.” He gave me a searching look and shook his head. “The boy with the sight who you have become friends with, he is a danger to you.”

“How so?”

“You need peace in order to access your magic at this point. He is the peace you have found, but not one which can be relied on.”

I threw my hands up into the air and groaned. “Dorian, say what you have to say and stop beating around the bush!”

“His existence is common knowledge to the immortals on this side. If you do not learn to access peace without him, when he is killed, you will be a danger to everything and everyone in this world.”