CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
“What the hell happened to your hair?” Cassie demands the second Caleb and I step into the lobby.
“Cassie, sweetheart,” Jaxon stage whispers, “I’m pretty sure you aren’t supposed to tell your friends when they have bad hair days. Isn’t that girl code or something?”
“No! It was perfect when we left her, and now, all the curls I put in it this morning have fallen out.” She pouts.
“She took a quick nap. Must’ve gotten messed up then,” Caleb lies smoothly.
The whole time they’re talking, I stand slightly behind Caleb, turning a darker shade of red by the second.
“Oh, well, that sucks.” Cassie throws her hands in the air. “All that hard work, and a nap ruins it for me.”
“Didn’t ruin anything for me,” Caleb mumbles, making sure only I hear him.
If my cheeks get any hotter, they might catch fire. At least I could extinguish a small flame now if it were to happen.
“Hey, kids!” Dad greets us as he and Leanne enter the lobby. “I thought we might just have a quick dinner down at the hotel restaurant and do our own things this evening. Any objections?”
When no one objects, we follow Dad to the restaurant attached to the hotel. Like the rest of the hotel, it’s elegant. Chandeliers made of crystal hang from the ceiling. Each table is dressed with perfectly pressed tablecloths and topped with a single, fresh cut yellow rose placed in crystal vases. Soft classical music plays in the background.
The whole setting relaxes me.
I follow everyone else and watch as Dad and Jaxon pull out Leanne’s and Cassie’s chairs. I don’t really think anything of it and head for the seat next to the one Caleb is about to sit in.
“Baby?” I startle at Caleb’s low whisper.
“Huh?” I glance over at him and find him standing behind the chair he pulled out.
“Do you want to sit over there instead?” His forehead scrunches in confusion, and his adorableness distracts me.
“No, I thought that was your spot,” I admit sheepishly once my brain catches up with the conversation.
He gives me a kind smile and gestures for the chair he holds out. I sit down, and he pushes it in for me. I thought this only happened in really cheesy romance novels. Not that there’s anything wrong with cheesy romance novels, they happen to be my favorite. I used to pretend I was the princess stuck in the tower or the wallflower the popular boy noticed. I guess my real life isn’t far off from my fantasy books anymore.
“So, dear sister.” Jaxon’s voice pulls me from my daydreaming. “Care to share why you didn’t set those Fallen fuckwads on fire or drown them in the mop bucket or whatever. You could have even startled them with an earthquake or blown them over or something, anything.”
“I wasn’t sure what was happening.” I frown down at my intertwined fingers. “I froze and sort of forgot I could even do those things. It was all too fast, I didn’t have time to think. Don’t be mad Jaxon, please.”
“Shit,” he mumbles and the scrape of a chair echoes around the quiet dining room. Looking up, I watch as Jaxon glides around the table and kneels beside me, pulling my chair out slightly and allowing him to see me better. “Sis, I’m not mad at you. I was scared as shit when Caleb said you were taking too long and he wanted to check on you. I was so damned angry when I saw those guys dragging you toward that back door. But I wasn’t mad at you, and I’m not now. I’m just worried about you.
“When we get home Caleb and I are going to buckle down on teaching you more self-defense. I would say Dad could help, but I’m pretty sure we don’t want him giving himself a black eye again.”
The table erupts in laughter at Jaxon’s last comment, but a shocked gasp escapes me as I blink quizzically toward my father.
“It was one time, son.” Dad pouts. “You’ll never let me live that down, will you?”
There’s a chorus of, “No’s,” from around the table, and Dad glares at everyone. Just then our waiter comes up and glances around the table, his eyes stop at me, and the look he gives me makes my stomach a bit uneasy, though he seems normal enough. Short blond hair with dull-blue eyes. He’s about Caleb’s age, and he wears a uniform consisting of black slacks, black shiny shoes, and a white, button-up shirt.
“Good evening.” His low, formal voice sounds like a cartoon character. “My name if Fredrick, and I will be your server this evening.”
Cassie tries to hide a snort behind her hands and plays it off as a cough. I wonder what that’s about, but our waiter distracts me from asking her.
“Can I start you off with some drinks this evening?” he asks, still staring at me.
“S-s-sprite, p-p-please,” I mumble and stare down at my plate to break the eye contact he seems insistent on.
Everyone around the table calls out their drink orders as well. The waiter leaves without another word, and the chatting at the table turns to things like the drive here and our plans for the weekend. Cassie glances over my shoulder quite a few times, but every time I look, I notice nothing out of the ordinary.
Fredrick returns with our drinks, handing mine to me first. His fingers brush against mine as I take the glass from him, and I pull back quickly, nearly dropping my drink. I don’t like to be touched by strangers, even by accident.
I mumble, “Thanks,” and turn away from him.
After handing out the rest of the drinks, he takes our food orders, starting with me, then heads off to send it in.
As we wait for our food, Cassie occasionally glances over my shoulder. Eventually, she leans in and whispers something in Jaxon’s ear, making his head snap up, and his eyes dart to whatever Cassie has been staring at. His eyes narrow into a menacing glare, and he whispers something back to Cassie.
“Can I kill him?” Cassie begs, giving Jaxon puppy eyes.
Jaxon shakes his head while still glaring over my shoulder. “No.”
“Just a little?” Cassie cajoles, holding her thumb and index finger up to show a small amount.
Jaxon snorts, his glare softening as he turns his attention to Cassie. “We don’t have that kind of bail money, sweetheart.”
Cassie huffs and crosses her arms and pouting in protest.
As I’m about to ask what’s wrong, our waiter shows up with refills for our drinks. After quickly handing them out to everyone else he sets mine in front of me and leans toward me to whisper, “I added a cherry on top, just for you.”
“U-u-uh, th-th-thank y-y-you?” I mumble, not knowing what else to say.
He grins down at me. “You can call me Freddie, sweets.”
I’m at a loss for what to say to him, but luckily, I’m saved when Jaxon starts to sing under his breath, “One, two, Freddie’s comin’ for you. Three, four, better lock your door. Five, six, pick up your crucifix. Seven, eight, stay up late. Nine, ten, never sleep again.”
I’m not sure what he’s referring to, but I don’t get a chance to ask before Cassie bursts into a fit of giggles. Dad and Leanne try to hide their chuckles, but Caleb simply glares, his eyes narrowed into dangerous slits, his teeth clenched, and his jaw set. I’m glad his anger isn’t directed at me. I know it isn’t because he’s sending the scary glare at our waiter. I’m still not sure what exactly is going on.
“I think we would like to switch waiters, please… Freddie,” my father insists while trying to keep a straight face.
Freddie glares at everyone, then turns to me and says, “Your loss,” before stomping off toward the kitchen.
I’m left trying to work out what he thinks I’ve lost and why everyone else seems to think he’s wrong and I haven’t lost anything.
The rest of dinner passes quickly with delicious food and mindless chitchat. We end up with a new waiter, an older gentleman by the name of Bill. He’s quiet, but efficient. Instead of appearing silly by asking what happened, I decide to wait.
~
Once back in our hotel room, Caleb and I settle in to watch a movie and relax for the evening. I use the quiet moment to figure out what happened at dinner and what I missed.
“Caleb,” I whisper during a slow spot in the movie.
“Hmm?”
“Why did Dad switch waiters at dinner?”
He stiffens beside me. “Why? Did you not want him to?”
He sounds upset by the idea, and I don’t understand why.
“No, I didn’t mind. The first one made me a bit uncomfortable, but he didn’t seem to do anything wrong. I just don’t know why Dad didn’t like him.” I muse. “None of you seemed to like him, actually.”
“Baby girl, you’re perfect.” He chuckles and pulls me in for a hug. “He was flirting with you, baby. Jaxon also told me when he’d walk away from the table and go to the waiter station behind us, he would stare at you and talk to the other waiters, pointing and making lewd gestures your way. He’s lucky I didn’t burn all his hair off, but I didn’t want to cause a scene, and Mark took care of it before I could.”
“Oh,” I murmur, a bit surprised.
Is that what flirting is like? It just seemed creepy to me, but maybe that’s because I’ve never had anyone flirt with me before. I shake it off and continue watching our movie.
Then another thought occurs to me. “What was that song Jaxon was singing?”
“Don’t worry about it, baby girl,” Caleb says with a grin. “You have enough nightmare’s as it is.”
He doesn’t allow me to press the matter. Instead, he places a gentle kiss on my lips.
The kiss doesn’t stay gentle for long, and we miss the entire second half of the movie.
~
After Caleb makes sure I receive a thorough goodnight kiss, we decide to head to bed. We need to be up early for my meeting, and I don’t want to be too tired during the test tomorrow. It doesn’t take him long before he’s in a deep sleep beside me.
I lie staring at the ceiling for hours, trying to get my mind off the tests in the morning. We need to be at the council’s office by eight, and its already midnight. I should find a way to get some sleep, but I can’t seem to stop thinking about what would happen if I fail tomorrow. Will the Fallen win this so-called war? Will my new family hate me? Wouldn’t that mean Caleb and I can’t be together? If I really am this Chosen person, will the Elementals be upset I’m so new to their world? Will they want to follow a girl that wasn’t trained her whole life like they’ve been?
This leads to thoughts of my success. Will my feelings for Caleb change? Won’t people be after me all the time because I’m supposedly this big powerful person? Can I handle leading people I’ve never even met to some victory? I can’t even squish a bug without feeling guilty. How am I supposed to kill a Fallen? I understand they’re really more like soulless demons, but they used to be people, right?
Is it sort of the same as killing a zombie? Now, I’m comparing real life Fallen to fictional zombies. I’ve officially lost it. Then again, if someone had asked me a month ago if Fallen were real, I’d have called them crazy. Maybe zombies are real, too. I shift to my side for the millionth time and come face to face with a wide-awake Caleb.
My eyes widen, and I squeak in surprise.
“Baby girl,” His voice is rough with sleep, and it does strange things to my heart rate. “Why are you still awake? And why can’t you keep still?”
“I didn’t mean to wake you,” I whisper. “I can’t stop thinking about tomorrow, and it’s making me restless.”
“Come here.” He rolls onto his back and shifts the covers, making it easier for me to slide closer to him. “Lay your head on my chest.”
I do as he says, and his left arm comes to rest on my back, while his right hand takes hold of my left resting our joined hands on his stomach. He massages my back slowly as he kisses the top of my head.
“You’re amazing, baby,” he whispers. “You shouldn’t worry because I know you’ll pass. Your dad and Leanne know it, too. Even Cassie and Jaxon know you’ll get through tomorrow with no problems. We’ll all be there for you. Now try to get a little sleep before we have to wake up, okay?”
I nod against his chest and curl tighter into his side. His left hand continues to slowly rub small circles on my back. It’s incredibly relaxing, and I melt into him even more.
“Caleb?” I mumble as I start to doze off.
“Hm?” He sounds just as sleepy as me.
“Are zombies real?” I ask, thinking of my earlier worries.
Caleb’s chest vibrates with laughter. “Go to sleep, silly girl.”
It isn’t long before the smooth rhythm of his hand on my back puts me in a deep sleep.