Grey Thorns

Chapter 60- Deep Waters

I tried to keep my distance from him once in the pool, though I wasn't exactly in the pool, my feet were. I didn't want to feel clingy cause I know he's still on edge but I urged to be closer to him. He was sitting on the pool step texting and I was on the other side of the shallow end texting, trying to text anyway. I just kept staring at him until my phone buzzed again from Kurt. It's horrible here, Gabriel sends us on hunting trips twice a day. The demons are swarming here.  He sent me. I bite my lip. Liam can't possibly expect to keep me locked up here forever. They will find me eventually or take everyone down in the process. I blink out of my train of thought and write: I know, that's why we had to leave otherwise you all would be in even more danger. Has anyone gotten hurt? 

He responded quickly. About 100 people around here have went missing so far. 23 found dead.

I stare at the message repeatedly and go ridged. The one thing I hate most is other people's suffering. Now their suffering is because of me... That's one thing I vowed to never allow. No one should suffer because of me. I glance up at Liam in thought. Liam will push the subject away and try to tell me everything's okay when it isn't. I can't depend on him to trust my instincts. I can't tell him. I think a little deeper. What if Liam became one of those 23 people dead? I shiver at the thought. I stare back down at my phone. That's 23 too many. I send.  

"What are you thinking so hard about?" he asks and I look away from the screen and set it down on the pavement. "I don't know." I lie and he stands up and walks into the water. His legs were wet from sitting on the step. His waist was above the water and the way his body moved through the water almost made me forget the mess I've made. "I think you do know." he says and stops in front of me. For once, I could actually look down at him and not up at him. "I was thinking about you." I halfway lie. I was thinking about what it'd be like if he was dead. But he doesn't have to know that. "You never think that hard about me." he says, his voice velvety. "Maybe since you're out of my head, I can think a little bit less cautiously." I say and he raises an eyebrow. "You're not still upset with me, are you?" he asks and I shake my head. "I'm the one that followed you downstairs and you were the one upset, remember?" I say flatly and he lays his hands on my thighs. I tried not to look into his too deeply. 

"I've always chased after you, so what's the problem?" he asks a little more serious. I tuck a lock of hair behind my ear and look away from him in attempt to rid the burning in my stomach to pull him closer. "Has Jamesworth called yet?" I ask, changing subjects and he nods. "He texted and said this evening at 8 at the Lake." he says  his eyes glimmering from the reflection off the water. I force a faint smile and he leans forward, trying to hide his own smile by kissing me. "Why aren't you in the water?" he mumbles. "Cause you're in my way." I say and he laughs and pulls me by my lower back into the water before spreading his hand on my jawline to deepen the kiss. I pull away leaving him confused. "Can you teach me how to orb?" I ask and he furrows his eyebrows. "Why now?" he asks and I shrug. "Cause I can't fly or orb." I say dryly and he grows a big smirk. "Right." he says under his breath and shrugs. "Can it wait until after the ceremony?" he asks with his hands running up and down my side. He seemed more possessive than normal lately. I haven't decided weather it's a good or bad change. What ever it is, it made my knees weaken. 

"Won't we be distracted after the ceremony?" I ask shyly and he lets a small smile pull the corner of his mouth up.  "Good point." he says simply and sighs before stepping away from me. "Fine." he moves to the edge of the pool and lifts himself out of the water with grace and I throw myself on the edge of the pavement while he had his back turned. I rubbed my still wounded leg as I stood up. He noticed and furrowed his eyebrows. "Does it still bother you?" he asks and I shrug. "Sometimes." I say and he glances away after a moment and clears his throat. "We normally don't orb that much because it takes a lot of energy so... yeah." he says and meets my eyes. I crossed my arms once I saw where his eyes landed on. "Problem?" I half way smirk and he looks back up at me. "No its just your mark is still spreading." he says and I look down at it. It nearly faded just below my belly button and sprawled out all the way up to my chest, not quite to my collar bone yet. I'm pretty sure my back is almost covered. The lines were thin and dark compared to my fair skin. When I looked back up at him I saw the hint of admiration in his eyes.