Awakened (Unbound, Book 3)

Chapter Four

"I made it through yesterday, didn't I?" I shrugged, hoping to come across as carefree. "And I only skipped fourth."

"You still need to eat. Stay strong."

He looked at me as I had looked at him. Just the sound of his voice made me want to scratch my ears until I was rendered deaf, and every time he glanced my way, my skin crawled. He'd pretended to be a loving father, but that didn't last, and I wouldn't forgive him for taking my mother's things from my room so he could trick me into believing she didn't exist. And yet none of that even compared to placing spells on me, his own daughter, so I would believe his lies.

"I am strong," I said, and held his gaze for a moment of silence. Strong enough to skip the changes in my schedule you orchestrated.

"I'll make you toast to eat on the way," Mrs. Renaldi said.

She'd been so quiet, I forgot she was there. But turning to smile her way, it was like I could feel the apprehension that she was feeling. I frowned as her eyes continued to dart between us. I could tell it wasn't the exchange that concerned her, but the repercussions I could suffer for my defiance.

I looked back at Devland and found him watching me with a narrowed gaze but sensed nothing. Either Mrs. Renaldi was the worst poker player in the world, or Devland was empty. I couldn't tell which was true and didn't want to find out until a neat bow was tied on everything else.

Turning back to Mrs. Renaldi. "I—"

The doorbell rang.

"You better get that," Devland said, and then left, going back to his office instead of the dining room as he called over his shoulder for Mrs. Renaldi to bring him eggs and toast.

"Don't be rude, Nora," Mrs. Renaldi said, and pointed to the door. "Let the boy in."

I grimaced in an attempt to smile. "Can't I just sneak out the back?"

"You keep leaving that boy to have breakfast with me like yesterday, and he's going to stop coming for you," she said. "Neither of you want that to happen, trust me."

Mrs. Renaldi tsked and disappeared into the dining room. I followed her with my gaze until she was gone and then turned to face the door like a box of cobras would spring out if I opened it. My mouth went dry and I tried to ignore the beat of my heart speeding up to echo in my ears, but that just made it more pronounced. Tomorrow, I would leave earlier.

The doorbell rang again, startling me out of my thoughts. I rubbed the sweat from my palms on the thighs of my black yoga pants, not at all sure the doorknob would turn if I didn't, and called back to Mrs. Renaldi, "I want just toast! To go!"

***

Coming face-to-face with a smiling Calin, with the sun haloing his tousled hair and both dimples at-the-ready, made my determination to avoid him not only weak, but nonexistent. I wish I could use my lack of memory as an excuse for kissing him—once by the bleachers and again at the dance—but I couldn't. Truth was, I had my memory for both occasions, and it was exactly what I wanted. Even after being tricked by someone else's glamour pretending to be Calin. But what I felt had to be set aside. What I wanted—and what Wickenton and the magical community needed—was for me to remain focused on what Zachariah had said, and that couldn't be accomplished until the prankster was ousted.

Suspecting Duvessa was the prankster wasn't the same as proving it.

So, I'd agreed to go to school with Calin and we were now in his car, leaving me no way of escaping his presence. But no matter what I felt, maybe rattling Duvessa would make her mess up whatever she was planning next. If not, Calin could be counted on to help plan her downfall. But looking like we were together wasn't the same thing as being together, and I needed to concentrate on everything but my love life, no matter how tempting getting lost in it became.

I turned in my seat and looked at Calin, and then jumped right in. "I'm sorry I kissed you at the dance."

He continued to watch the road like he hadn't heard me.

"Calin? I said—"

"I know what you said." He re-gripped the steering wheel and looked sideways, and then back to the road. "I don't believe you."

"I'm sorry?"

"I don't believe that you're sorry, Nora, and I don't want you to be."

"But... It shouldn't have happened," I said, and turned to stare forward again. "I shouldn't have kissed you."

"What? In general, or to tick off Duvessa? Because, in case the warm-up by the bleachers was any indication to you, I didn't mind it either way. In fact, I'm hoping Duvessa pisses you off again soon."

"Don't be ridiculous."

I turned my head to stare out the passenger window, not wanting to be tempted to watch Calin. As sure as he sounded, and as good as hearing it felt, an undertone of confusion laced his voice. The emotions mixed together and hit me head-on until it felt as though there was rolling waves lapping just beneath my skin, fusing with what I felt until I couldn't form a single thought, let alone a defense. The control I'd managed to maintain since he told me about the first prank nearly snapped.

"Nora—"

"Don't. Touch me." I closed my eyes and tried to picture myself alone in the desert with nothing surrounding me.

"What's wrong?"

The car pulled to a stop and Calin turned it off. I opened my eyes, relieved to see Grimas in front of us, and then bolted without answering. It was hard to breathe. Every instinct told me to run. The farther away from Calin I could get was the only way not to feel the overwhelming need to be with him.

"Nora."

I looked up, but not before hitting my nose against Calin's chest. He'd rounded the car and blocked my exit, the driver's door still wide open. Calin reached out and I swallowed, not willing to make any more of a scene as everyone stopped to stare. My eyes travelled slowly to hold his gaze, but the moment his hands landed on my shoulder, everything else fell away.

The confusion he induced, the curiosity of the crowd....

Everything became calm.

Once Calin touched me, I couldn't even feel my own emotions, when a moment before it felt like I was suffocating. When it was just me, with no one else around, I felt in perfect control. But whatever Calin felt in the car, plus all the feelings of those around us, raised the possibility of a power meltdown from a storm watch to a full-blown, get-in-your-bunker warning.

Until he touched me.

He smiled and looked down. I followed his gaze with my own but shook my head to deny the hand he'd dropped from my shoulder to extend. Calin darted his gaze around everyone, and then held mine, his brows slanting in question. Power meltdown? Gossip? Or him?

I sighed and accepted his hand, and he smiled in victory. We would have to talk about his expectations—this was nothing more than friendship—but for now, I wouldn't complain. Stupid would be me, not accepting the free pass, and not avoiding playing my hand too early. But then, it was also stupid to lead us both on like this. My body's reaction and his deduction of meaning must be confused.

The smart thing would be to turn around and flee, no matter how the added pleasure of walking past Duvessa made me feel.

A/N:

Sorry for the late update, but it is a longer chapter :) 

What do you think is going on with Nora's control? How do you think Duvessa is going to react to seeing Nora and Calin together?