Part 23 (1/2)

”Its nothing, really, I'm fine,” I said. I tried to convince him as well as me. I don't think it worked. I made an attempt to free myself from him, he squeezed me tighter. ”Caleb, you're hurting me,” I said. He scared me.

”Looks like somebody already did that. What the h.e.l.l happened while I was gone?” he held to me tight. I saw something in his face I had never seen before, anger.

”Can I please get in the tub?” I asked. I felt how naked I was, it made my skin crawl. I wanted to climb in and let the water wrap around me.

Caleb let go of my arms. I walked around him and got in the tub. I was careful to avoid looking at him. I didn't want to see the rage in his face. He turned and walked out, closing the door behind him. I was thankful. I didn't want to talk about what had happened since he disappeared. It was not something I wanted to relive. What was I supposed to say, ”After you left, my dead mother whisked Pallo and I off to a romantic location. Once there, I found out about having lived before, freaked out, and ran straight into the arms of a homicidal maniac, Talia. She tried to have her pets tear me to shreds. I ended up leaving there a murderer. But, hey, after we got home, I went out partying and managed to squeeze in a little bit of o.r.g.a.s.mic dancing and neck-nibbling with an old boyfriend on the dance floor. Gee, wait, it only gets better. I left there and went and made love to Pallo. Turns out, he was just f.u.c.king me though, so don't sweat that one. I was lucky enough to b.u.mp into the crazy lady one more time before returning to Pallo's, where I willingly let Giovanni bite me again. That is how I got the bruises. But hey, Pallo's free right, oh, I even managed to b.u.mp into my long lost father, the King. At least something good came out of it. Right?” Yeah, running this over in my head sounded worse and worse every time.

Somehow, I didn't think Caleb would want me to tell him what happened while he was gone. I didn't even like thinking about it, let alone saying it out loud. I had to fight to keep from being sick again. I tried to rid myself of the suffocating feeling of shame. I knew better than to behave this way. Why I lost control so easily and frequently lately?

Chapter 25.

I finished, and walked over to my room to get dressed. I decided on a pair of tan pants, and a blue cotton tank top. It was short and my belly showed again, but that was the style, all the girls were wearing it. I loved it. It was a throwback to the seventies. It was great. I picked out a pair of brown sandals and slid them on. I pulled all of my hair up into a loose bun, and headed downstairs. I could tell that the sun was on the verge of rising. Had we really had s.e.x all night long? I should have been more tired than I was. I think stress will do that to you. When I turned into the kitchen, I smelled Caleb's pancakes. They smelled delicious. I hoped my appet.i.te was trying to come back. My jeans were getting a little loose on me. I was fine to start with. I had no intent on walking around looking like a stick figure. No thanks!

I walked in and saw breakfast sitting on the table. Caleb was the only one in the kitchen. I hadn't pa.s.sed Ken on the way down. I wondered where he was. Caleb turned and looked at me. He answered before I could even ask.

”Ken left a few minutes ago,” he said dryly.

I pulled a chair out to sit down. ”He left? Why?”

Caleb sat in the end chair and put his elbows on the table, propping his chin up with his large hands. He looked so beautiful in the light from the rising sun. It came in the kitchen door window and illuminating him. He was perfect in every way.

”He said he had to think about some things. Can you blame him?” he asked. His tone was different, it was annoyed. He looked at me, and there was no love in his eyes. I picked up one of the pancakes, and put it on my plate. I tried to ignore him staring at me. His energy p.r.i.c.kled up my arm. He used his power on me.

”What?” I asked, still concentrating hard on looking at my food.

”Ken told me everything.”

I stopped chewing and tried to swallow. You never really know how dry a pancake can seem until you are in a stressful situation. I picked up a gla.s.s of water from the table, and tried to help it slide down. Finally, I looked at Caleb. His normally soft face looked drawn and tight.

”What do you want me to say? What will make it all right?”

He let out a sigh as he tipped his head slightly. ”I want you to deny it. I want you to tell me that Ken's a liar.”

The p.r.i.c.kling on my arm got worse. I wanted to reach down and scratch it, I didn't. I looked into Caleb's dark, forest green eyes. Ken wouldn't lie to him. Ken had many faults, but lying wasn't one of them. I learned that after meeting Talia, he had been telling me the truth all along. He didn't know her and he couldn't help himself. No, I knew that Ken had told Caleb the absolute truth. What I didn't know was how much Ken let him in on, everything or just part of it?

”Ken's not a liar,” I said. I looked down and fixed my eyes on my gla.s.s of water. I couldn't look at Caleb, I couldn't see the hurt and anger in his eyes.

Caleb's fist slammed down onto the table and water leapt out of my gla.s.s. I screamed. Caleb rose to his feet. He kicked the chair back against the refrigerator and walked into the hallway.

”Caleb,” I said softly.

He stopped, but didn't turn around. I said his name again. He stood very still.

”I'm sorry.”

His head bent down, his hair had long since fallen out of its tight braid. It covered his back like a blonde mane. He took a deep breath as he headed upstairs. I wasn't sure what he'd done. I had a feeling he packed his bags to leave. I had managed to be fooled by Pallo, left by Ken, and now Caleb. I was worried that if I blinked someone else would be gone too. With the way I'd been behaving, I wished I could get away from myself. I started towards the stairs. I heard his footsteps coming down towards them. Caleb had put on his black boots and a black tee s.h.i.+rt. He had something in his hand. It was his crossbow. I grabbed the railing.

”Caleb?” I put my hand up to try to slow him down. He moved quickly, just missing knocking me backwards. ”Caleb, what are you doing?”

He stood before the door, his back faced me. ”I'm going to kill him,” he said and pulled the door open. I couldn't get myself to let go of the railing. He was going to kill him? Oh my G.o.d, he was going to kill Pallo! I ran out the door and found him getting into his truck.

”Caleb ... no!” I screamed, running to block him from closing the truck door.

”Don't try to protect him,” he said, trying to ease me out of the doorway. I didn't budge. I would not let the two of them kill each other. Caleb's power flowed like needles over my arms. I tried to rub it away, it did no good.

”No, stay, we can fix this, please, I know we can. Caleb.”

A sudden wind rose, lifting my hair, pus.h.i.+ng Caleb's power away, surrounding me. Caleb stopped trying to push me away from the vehicle, and started trying to pull me into it.

”No!” he shouted. He lifted his hand towards me, the wind lashed out at him. His arm ripped open.

”Bella!” the wind whispered to me. My feet rose from the ground. I tipped my head back. I felt like I a bird, wind cradling me, lifting me from the ground. Something pulled on my waist. I looked down. Caleb had wrapped his arms around me tightly. He shouted at me, but I couldn't hear what he said.

”Come, Bella.” The wind spoke to me again, so soft, so smooth, so Giovanni's voice. Giovanni! I snapped my head up and looked around. I levitated in the air, three feet off the ground. Caleb fought to keep hold of me, yelling at me to fight it. I did the only thing I could think to do. I started screaming.

The wind that had felt so gentle yanked at my hair and my arms. I tried to reach my hands down to grab Caleb, but the pressure was too strong. Something yanked my body up. I kept screaming. My waist slid up and out of Caleb's arms. He tried to hold onto my legs, but it was no use. He would have to let me go or risk tearing me in half. He let go. My body lifted higher into the air. Air wrapped itself around me tighter and tighter, making breathing difficult. I closed my eyes.

Something struck me from behind, cras.h.i.+ng onto my back, sending me flying toward the ground. Caleb, with cat-like reflexes, broke my fall. I landed on him, and whatever hit me landed on me. The wind stopped. I no longer heard Giovanni's call to me.

Whatever hit me lifted itself slowly off of my back. I rolled over. Caleb and I looked up. We spoke at the same time.

”Kerrigan?”

We were lying on our backs in the gra.s.s, staring up at Kerrigan. He was in his normal black dress robes. He had a red sash tied around his waist--similar to the one Caleb had come home wearing. His hair was loose and hung down to his waist, and he looked a little out of breath. Good to know, I was beginning to think he was a superhero.

He reached out and pulled us to our feet.

”My King, thank you, we are honored that you a.s.sisted us,” Caleb said, bending down on one knee. I looked at him like he was nuts, then faced Kerrigan. He nodded and winked at me. I shrugged and bent down next to Caleb.

”Thanks, oh honorable one, who is the King ... yeah, thanks,” I said.

Hey! It's not like I was used to wors.h.i.+pping someone other than rock stars and the inventor of chocolate.

Caleb snickered and covered his mouth. I laughed and fell back onto the ground. It felt good to smile and be happy.

Kerrigan coughed. I stopped and let Caleb pull me to my feet. ”Come, I need to pay my head counselor a visit,” he said and walked down the lane.

I looked at Caleb, he looked at Kerrigan. ”My King, surely you can't mean you are going back to the Dark Realm now, after all of these years?”

”Stop, Caleb. You have known me all of your life, please call me Kerrigan. As for the Court, it appears that my presence there is much needed. Would you agree?”

Caleb nodded and we followed him. Midway down the lane he veered off the path and into the woods. We headed down the slope towards the river. If Caleb hadn't held tight to my arm, I would have tumbled all the way down the thing. I watched Kerrigan walk right out and onto the river. He walked on it, not in it. I looked at Caleb. He smiled and followed after him, holding tight to my hand. I stepped onto the river. It seemed to be made of gla.s.s. My feet stayed completely dry. I concentrated so hard on my feet that when a rush of air pa.s.sed me I looked up to see us standing in a dark cavern. I could tell that we were no longer standing near the river, at least as I knew it. I watched Caleb and my father duck down to avoid hitting there heads on the top of the cave. I didn't have that problem. I could stand on my tiptoes and touch nothing.

I followed behind them, still holding Caleb's hand. The cave was damp and smelled musty. I used my free hand to steady myself. Slime stuck to my fingers, and I yanked my hand away. I let out a small gasp. It echoed in the cave. Caleb turned around and looked at me as I tried to get the slimy goop off of my hand. He smiled and took my hand and wiped it on his s.h.i.+rt. He bent down and kissed my cheek. I immediately looked to my father. He was still walking ahead of us, but he had his head turned towards us, he smiled. s.e.x was not shameful in the faerie community. I had never learned their ways. I was not really one of them, I had never been raised with them. I felt like I should hide my feelings for Caleb in front of my father, but he seemed pleased.