Five (Elemental Enmity Series Book I) (10 page)

I gave myself an inward shake, closing off my emotions. If he was fae, I couldn’t let him know I was on to him. That would be the stupidest thing I could do. What would keep him from throwing me over his shoulder and bounding out the door? It sure wasn’t going to be the scrawny cashier. Thinking about me or Cassie fighting him off was laughable. Besides, with the way that red-haired dude had her in his sights, she’d be right beside me.

“I suppose,” I said calmly. That came out better than I had hoped, especially considering my battling emotions.

The sun god lifted a blue shirt from the rack, holding it up to me. He didn’t even bother looking at the tag, yet it was exactly my size. Soft as a feathery boa, his knuckles brushed my chin. I nearly doubled over from the strangest sensation I had ever experienced. A storm of emotions threatened to drown me: passion, fear, excitement, anxiety, longing. You name it. I was feeling it all at once.

If that wasn’t bad enough, sharp pain erupted in my scar. I stepped back, trying to cover my escape with a smile.

His tropical eyes narrowed slightly. With a small grin on his face, he stepped nearer, entrancing me where I stood. “If I could, I would drape you in the finest silks. I would gift you with pearls, adorn your body with precious gems, and set you on the throne you deserve. Unfortunately, this will have to do.” The corners of his mouth lifted further in an earth-shattering smile. His gaze darted to the floor and back to mine. Redoubled in intensity, his look shot through my soul. “For now.”

I might as well have been a gazelle caught in crosshairs. I needed to bolt so badly I didn’t care in that moment if Cassie was with me or not. I had to leave. Imagining myself in this man’s arms came too easily for me. The temptation to give in to my feelings rolled onward. My control was moments from shattering.

At the same time, I couldn’t run screaming from the store like I wanted, and expect to stay here very long. I locked my senses down instantly, worried I would be in real trouble if he found out how freaked out I was.

Cassie took the shirt from him. “Why don’t we go ring these up?” she asked no one in particular. Her expression held mostly curiosity, yet something else lurked in her gaze that I didn’t have the strength to analyze.

I followed her to the register, trying to ignore the heat of the sun god’s nearness as he dogged my steps. My body screamed at me to take advantage of the situation and lean into him. I was painfully aware of every step he took; how his frame angled toward mine. His warm breath on my neck sent the pleasant kind of shivers through me in spite of my fear. He slipped fluidly around us and handed the cashier a hundred.

“I would rather pay,” I said, whipping out my wallet. I refused to be indebted to him.

The cashier looked back and forth between the two of us like a little boy trapped between arguing parents. More than anything he seemed as though he didn’t want to take sides. I gave him the stare I usually reserved for Sarah when she tried to lie about her homework, but it did no good. He still took the darn bill. I turned away in disgust.

“My pleasure, Rayla,” said my suitor in triumph. Was it his tone or the way he used my name that battled my will? “I am completely enchanted by you. Come to the game with me.” It was a command, not a request. The weird part was I almost blurted out a quick ‘yes’ without even thinking about it, but thankfully, Cassie responded before I could.

Her expression fell as she scanned each of the men hopefully, but even the red haired guy looked at me. “She has a date already.” Her inflection betrayed her jealousy, and given the situation, I couldn’t blame her for being upset.

“Cancel it,” the sun god said, giving me a smile that could fry the moon.

“I don’t even know your name,” I said, my throat closing up and making my voice hoarse. My attraction notwithstanding, I was terrified of him. I didn’t know Zach very well, either. But given the choice, I would pick him a million times over. Something about him set me at ease.

Besides, he was at least human. Most men swagger or bounce when they walk. This guy didn’t even move right. He glided like a wave, or more like a shark lurking under a swell.

“How rude of me,” he said, with an ocean of promise in his grin. “I’m Luke. Give me a chance, beautiful, and I will quench every desire you have.”

There was no humor in his tone or expression. He was too much—literally. The age-old question about beauty had been answered, at least for me. It had the capacity to be as disturbing as the most grotesque thing out there.

The words were torture to get out. “I’m sorry, but as Cassie said, I already have a date.” I was as calm as a reflecting pool on the surface while suppressing a turbulent hurricane of conflicting emotions underneath.

He narrowed his eyes at me. Looking utterly flummoxed, he gave me a shrug. “As you wish, Rayla,” he said, using that odd inflection to my name. “We will have plenty of opportunities to get to know one another now that I have found you.” His statement was bad enough, but his gaze reflected a horrifying promise of certainty.

“Sure thing,” I said, trying to keep my voice from shaking. “See you around.”

Before I could move a muscle, another voice rang out. “Perhaps Rayla would prefer one of us.” The man with the dark ponytail and caramel eyes stepped forward.

His words blew over me like a balmy zephyr. I was a sail that had no tether. My breath came so fast and shallow that my head swam.

I couldn’t take anymore contact with these men. My entire body trembled, and if I stayed here any longer, I was a goner for sure. It was all I could do to focus on leaving. “We really have to get going. It was nice to meet you, Luke, and the rest of you, too...” I turned toward them in a polite dismissal. I should have known better.

The Latin lover stepped forward, bowing. “You may call me Taylor. I am at your disposal.”

I smiled hesitantly. He stepped back formally.

“I am Finn,” the Celtic dream said in a rich brogue. “If it’s a real man you are wanting, look no further.”

I turned away shyly. His expression held the promise of endless nights spent in his arms. How odd. I was certain he liked Cassie.

“You are but a pup,” the dark warrior chided, sidling around Finn. “I am Jett, your deepest desire. I will take you to depths unexplored. Anything you want, I will give you.”

Jett’s nearness blasted through me to my core. I shook with the intensity of it. Could he be the man from the woods? My reaction to him was eerily similar. I stared at his lips, trying to decide. His resultant smile sent a shiver to my toes.

I scanned the others again. To be fair, it could have been any one of them.

Crossing my arms, I cleared my throat. “That’s quite a promise, but I’m afraid I will have to decline, gentlemen. Cassie, we need to leave.”

When I turned to her on trembling legs, she gaped at me then glanced at Finn. Her eyes clouded over with hurt. How could I blame her? She just got ignored by four of the most gorgeous men in existence. Even the one that had at first seemed interested in her. That never happened, and it didn’t make any sense unless I had something to offer these men that she didn’t.
Heavens
. Maybe Aunt Grace had been telling the truth.

I turned to glare at him, but he had already noticed. He caught her arm when she walked past him, his gaze caressing her. “Were circumstances different, lass, I would take you in my arms and never let you go.”

Cassie yanked free from his light grip making her stumble backward. She nearly toppled one of the clothes racks over. With all the intensity of a category five tornado, she glared at him. “Who said I would let you?”

He smiled ferociously. “Och, I’ve not seen the likes of you in ages. A truly spirited woman is hard to come by nowadays. I’d gladly spend eternity bound to you.”

Besides the fact that what he said could have come out of an old geezer, who could guess what he meant by that? I knew plenty of spirited women. Myself included. He needed to get out more. When we headed for the door, Cassie shot Finn the dirtiest look I had ever seen, giving him a grunt in reply.

“You might be worth losing it all,” Finn said softly.

She turned back to him, her eyes suddenly glistening. When she spoke, her voice was a faint whisper. “What did you just say?”

The gleam in his smile turned into a sad, dying ember. “’Tis better left unspoken, sweet one.”

She gave him one last glance before she huffed out of the store with me on her heels. Aunt Grace had been right. I should have never come to Notre Dame.

“That was special,” Cassie said hotly. The closer we got to campus, the tighter she walked.

We were halfway to our dorm. A light rain misted into us, lending a shine to the gray of the sidewalk. Steam might as well have been rising from her dampened hair in addition to the concrete. I had been too caught up in my growing fear to start the conversation we needed to have. “Have we been transported to Oz, or what?”

I looked behind us, sighing in relief. At least we weren’t being followed. “They were very strange.”

“Understatement. No offense, Rayla, but what makes you so irresistible?”

How did she expect me to not be insulted by such a question? “Maybe Aunt Grace was telling the truth,” I said. Based on what had just happened, I had to consider the idea that the fae might actually be real. Cassie had seen those men, just like me. She wasn’t denying it. She couldn’t have missed how different they were. My heart still hammered against my ribs, and it wasn’t from exertion.

She laughed, a spark of contempt behind her tone. With trembling fingers, she brushed water from her cheek. “And maybe there are gigantic snails that bark like dogs and a land so full of color you think your brain will explode from sensual overload.”

I stopped midstride. Maybe we could finally get somewhere with this. “Sounds like you know of such a place.”

“What?” she said, twirling toward me, outraged. “Do you think I’m crazy or something?”

“Cassie, you are the last person I would ever consider mad.” Her gaze fell to the sidewalk, making me hurt for her. I lightened my tone. “Given what I have seen in the past few weeks,
I
might be.”

Her head snapped up, and she brought her nose within inches of mine. “That isn’t something to joke about, Rayla. You try spending years in therapy for having hallucinations, and see if you think it’s so funny to have lost your senses.”

I backed up, realization that I had offended her slamming into me. “I am such an idiot, Cassie, I didn’t mean to imply—”

She shut her eyes tight. “Don’t worry about it.” Smiling meekly at me, she splayed her hands then folded her arms around her chest.

The intense breeze blew her wet hair around like Medusa’s tendrils. What was the deal with this weather? The trees swayed violently under the suddenly sunny sky. I had the distinct impression a major storm was coming, which would totally suck. I wasn’t looking forward to spending four hours out in a downpour. I should cancel my date, but I didn’t want to. I liked Zach, a lot. And no fae lord was going to scare me into missing out on a fun time with him. Besides, we would be with other people.

She gave me a tight shrug when I asked if she was okay. “I’m just a little sensitive about the subject.”

I wasn’t about to push her into a corner right now, so I didn’t say anything else. How could I purposely inflict distress on my best friend? I would save my questions for a time when she wasn’t already guarded. She had to have a good reason for acting this way. Maybe I would finally get some answers if I could ever get her to trust me.

I tried Aunt Grace when we got back to the dorm. To my utter shock, the call went through.

Exhaustion was clear in her tone. Had she been working double shifts again? “Oh, Rayla, I’m so relieved to hear from you. Are you all right?”

That was subjective. “As good as I can be with a bunch of—what did you call them—oh yeah, fae lords trying to convince me to go on a date with them.” I grunted. “I wouldn’t have been half as worried if I had known that was all they wanted.” I was angry at Aunt Grace. I should have known about this stuff, but I didn’t want to worry her needlessly.