Celtic Rose (3 page)

Finally, they were on the road to Phoenix, singing along with their favorite songs, enjoying every minute of the freedom they felt. They took turns driving, switching every four hours so they wouldn’t get too tired. They took breaks to eat and stretch their legs when they switched, but other than that they drove straight through the day and part of the night. At the last truck stop before the last leg of driving, they saw a lot of swords and other medieval garb down one of the aisles.

“Oh hey, I just remembered something I was going to tell you this morning,” Ramina said as they took their food to a table and sat down.

“Yeah, there was something I wanted to tell you to, but you go ahead,” Kallisto said, becoming excited as she remembered about the dream.

“I’ve been having the weirdest dreams ever. Last night seemed to continue and give more details than the one the night before,” Ramina said excitedly. Kallisto froze mid-bite. Her excitement was squashed and confusion replaced it–that was exactly what she was going to say. “I was on a ship, and from what I could tell I was the princess of Scotland. The other ship was an Irish ship and Kalan was the prince on that ship, which made you the hooded princess, I’m sure. Anyway, you grabbed the Scottish prince, which ended up being my brother. How weird is that? It was so weird; I screamed at you. I wanted to hurt you for grabbing him. I couldn’t believe I actually felt that way toward you, but it was like I didn’t even know you.” She finally really looked at Kallisto as she said the last and saw her furrowed brow. “What’s the matter?”

“I had that exact same dream last night, Ramina.” Kallisto said seriously. Ramina looked at her for a bit then started laughing.

“Oh that’s a good one, Kal. I almost thought you were really serious.” She stopped laughing as she said the last. Kallisto never changed her expression. She didn’t start laughing or even smirk. “No way, Kallisto, that’s not even possible.”

“Apparently it is possible, because I’m serious. I shoved the sword to his throat and made him bleed a little so you’d get my point. I made you go to the top of the ramp and wait before I let him go,” Kallisto spouted. Ramina gawked at her, unable to speak. They were silent for a very long time. Ramina picked up her fork and started eating with a confused expression. Kallisto, not knowing what to say, started eating as well. They cleaned up their mess, dumped their trash, and headed for the car without a word, then drove several miles before the silence was broken. Ramina suddenly started giggling without cause. Kallisto, confused, glanced at her, but had to grin at her laughter.

“What’s so funny?” Kallisto giggled.

“Oh nothin’…I was just thinking about us playing with swords and you swinging around on that rope like Tarzan.” Ramina laughed so hard she doubled over. Kallisto laughed along with her.

“Yeah, that was pretty funny,” Kallisto said with a grin.

The rest of the ride to Arizona was lighter and back to being exciting and fun. The girls put on some more music and started singing along with it, and left the freaky thoughts behind for another day. They finally arrived in Phoenix sometime after ten that night.

The hotel they checked into was a beautiful old-looking building. The lobby looked old as well, like a movie hotel from the fifties. Their room also had classic charm. The key they received was even a skeleton key–they thought that was a nice touch. Their room was spacious, large enough for a small group to gather. The beds, both queen size, sat side by side on the right wall with a side table between them, and two matching dressers against the far wall. To the left was the opening to the kitchen, which was also large. A little further down on the left was the bathroom, which housed a shower, a toilet, and a sink with a mirrored medicine cabinet above it; there wasn’t room for much more. Kallisto walked into the kitchen to look around. The kitchen was fully equipped with dishes, microwave, refrigerator, and coffee pot. They had brought a few groceries so Kallisto took the time to unload them and put them away, while Ramina unpacked their suitcases. They convened at the beds and talked as they got ready for bed.

“It’s really weird that we had the same dream,” Kallisto continued their earlier conversation.

“Yeah–but hey, we’re always around each other and we’re really close; maybe we had the same dream because we watched some show together. Remember that show we watched a while back? That medieval show with the prince and princess; kind of a Romeo and Juliet type show?” Ramina reasoned.

Chapter 2

The distant sound of a knock pulled Kallisto from her sleep. She had slept dreamlessly all night. Jumping awake, she looked over at the clock and realized it was only seven in the morning.

“Who on earth could that be this early?” Ramina pulled a pillow over her head.

Kallisto took that as a sign that she was getting the door. Reluctantly, she slid out of bed, throwing her pillow at Ramina’s stomach as she walked past.

“Oomph! Hey!” Pulling the pillow away, Ramina scowled at Kallisto as she grabbed the doorknob.

Kallisto stuck her tongue out at Ramina and she grimaced, pulling the pillow over her face as Kallisto opened the door. Kallisto thought she’d made a huge mistake by not looking through the peephole first, because there in the hallway stood her brother, in all his glory, with two of the most handsome men she had ever seen. She tried to slam the door but to no avail; her brother just pushed it back and walked in, signaling for the angelic creatures behind him to follow. Kalan grinned hugely as Kallisto back stepped in shock.

Kallisto and Kalan shared the same black hair color, but their eyes were very different. He was gifted with ice blue eyes that, in Kallisto’s opinion, made him very handsome. He had the strong, muscular build of a swimmer, but he’d been good at just about any sport, and ended up being crowned king in all the pageants he’d been nominated for. As if that wasn’t enough, he was also a brain.

“Shame on you, trying to slam the door in my face! Is that any way to treat your brother?” he said with a grin as he pulled her into a bear-hug.

Ramina jumped at the sound of his voice and fell out of bed, landing on the floor in a tangled mess of blankets, sheets and limbs. Laughing, Kalan went to the foot of Ramina’s bed and leaned over the side. “Ah, Miss Fauxton, still falling for me I see.” Kalan stepped back, just dodging the kick Ramina directed at his feet.

“You wish, Craven!” Ramina yelled as she got up and headed for the restroom, grabbing her clothes on the way. Kalan’s eyes nearly popped out of his head. Ramina was wearing a red camisole and some very short shorts that all together did not leave much to the imagination. The color set off her dark hair and eyes. As she stomped past Kallisto, she grinned at her knowingly. She was a very outgoing person. The fact that there were two other fantastic looking guys in the room did not even faze her. As Kallisto looked at the other two, she noticed that only one was ogling Ramina. The other had his eyes on her, appraising what she was wearing.

Kallisto didn’t feel self-conscious, due to the fact that she had just a little more clothes on than Ramina. She wore a long-sleeved button-up pajama shirt that was a silky leopard print, and athletic pants. They were tight, but in no way revealing. She watched the guy eying her until he looked up and they both glanced away, smiling in embarrassment. Kalan saw this and smirked.

Kalan walked over to Kallisto and picked her up, hugging her again. “I missed ya, sis. Why didn’t you call and tell me you were coming? I’d have been here last night.” He placed her back on the floor closer to her ogler than was necessary.

“Yeah, that’s why we didn’t call. We never would’ve gotten to sleep then.” She crossed her arms over her chest and smirked at Kalan. He shoved her slightly, but so early in the morning that was all that was needed to have her stumble into her admirer. He grabbed her quickly and sat her back up, giving her a kind grin. Kallisto’s cheeks blazed a cross between embarrassment and anger.

“Sorry, I don’t have good balance this early in the morning,” She looked sharply at her now laughing brother. She shoved him back but, of course, he never even budged. It was like shoving a brick wall. The guy beside her chuckled.

“It’s all right…I don’t mind having a beautiful woman shoved into me.” He grinned widely. He had gorgeous lips, and Kallisto couldn’t help but smile back. His voice took her off guard. It was very nice–not too deep, and not too high. It was just right for that wonderful face.

Kalan finally decided to remember his manners. “Oh, yeah! This is William Blake.” He pointed to the guy who had watched Ramina. He was about the same height as Kalan with red hair. As Kallisto looked closer at him, she could see that he had the prettiest blue eyes, almost the color of the sky on a cloudy day; very light blue. He had a toned body, and his shirt hugged tightly to the muscles defined in his arms, shoulders, and chest. In all, he had quite a bit of muscle mass but he wasn’t too big; he was just right. His stomach was flat; undoubtedly he’d have a six-pack of abs underneath that shirt. His jeans were form-fitting also, but to avoid any more embarrassment, she decided not to linger at the sight. She looked back at his face. He grinned widely at her approving expression, clearly happy that she counted him as someone worth looking at.

He came up and shook her hand. “Hello Kallisto.” There was a hint of an accent in his voice…Scottish, maybe?

Kallisto smiled back, not a bit surprised that she didn’t need to be introduced. If they were good enough friends that Kalan would bring them here knowing they would be in pajamas–or the equivalent anyway–then certainly they were good enough friends for him to talk about his sister with. She thought they probably felt like they knew her already; too bad she didn’t feel the same. Her brother had never mentioned them.

“Hello William, it’s nice to meet you.” She noticed him look her over once after they had released hands, and then he grinned at Kalan, patting him on the shoulder. She guessed he was showing her brother that he approved.

Finally Kalan took her shoulder and turned her to the one she really wanted to know the name of. “This is Talus Reyn,” he said, as if he was showing a car he wanted her to buy. Talus was tall with fairly short black hair, but it was long enough to flow to his neck. He had a defined jaw line, and beautiful blue-green eyes, the color of the ocean on a bright-sunny day. His muscles were as defined as William’s, and they stood out in his tight, long sleeved black shirt. Kallisto did trail down and look at his jeans. They were tight and his muscles curved in all the right places. She felt a little warm. When she looked back up he was smiling.

Kallisto looked at her brother, confused by the way he’d presented Talus. As Talus put his hand out to shake her’s, Kalan pushed her toward him yet again. This time, she grabbed for Talus and he grabbed for her, and they ended up in an embrace. She took a step back as soon as she got her footing so she wasn’t flush against him, but neither of them let go. She turned her head slightly to catch a glimpse of Kalan grinning mischievously.

“Well, that was subtle,” she said with as much sarcasm as she could muster. Talus’ laugh made her turn back and look at him. He smiled brightly at her for a second and they dropped their arms to their sides.

“Sorry about that. I made the mistake of commenting on how good you look, and your brother has been hounding me ever since. Apparently he thinks I’d be a good match for you.” He grinned and looked away. Kallisto did also. His voice made something deep inside her tighten. She shuddered slightly, but luckily no one seemed to notice but her.

“I tried to convince Kalan I was the best choice for you but he didn’t seem as convinced,” William stated smugly.

Kallisto flushed again. She imagined she looked like a lobster by that point.

“Where were you guys when I was in high school?” she said as she turned to walk into the kitchen. She really needed some coffee. The guys followed and sat at the table. Kallisto had never had two guys like her at once when she was in school. Most of the time the guys who dated her did so either on a bet, or they wanted to claim they had slept with the only virgin left in their class. It never happened though. She still took pride in being the only virgin left in that class. The only reasons she was still a virgin were: One, her brother would kill, or at least seriously maim, anyone who tried, and two, none of the guys she had dated ever really appealed to her in that way.

After she put the food on the counter, she went and started the coffee maker. Kalan and William were in a heated argument about where Ramina and Kallisto would sit. William wanted them to sit on each side of him. Kalan, of course, did not want either one of them near him. William understood not wanting
Kallisto
near him but he couldn’t get Kalan to tell him why Ramina couldn’t sit by him.

“It’s not like she’s dating anyone! What’s your problem?” William shoved Kalan but he stayed quiet. Kallisto’s brother was very good at hiding his feelings for Ramina from everyone but her, but she thought as his feelings grew, his hiding place would get smaller. He’d burst sooner or later; she hoped sooner rather than later. William was even getting on her nerves, just a little.