The Secret Trinity: Reign (Fae-Witch Trilogy, Book 3) (4 page)

“Well?”  I asked, trying to act like he had no effect on me, although the rapid rise and fall of my chest quickly gave away my racing heart.

“Well what?”  Clay asked back in a low
,
gravelly voice.  I took this as a good sign that he didn’t even remember what we were just talking about.  I gently brushed his bangs away from his eyes and smiled, indulging in the fact that I had tripped him up for once.

“The cinnamon?”
  I asked, and he nodded yes in confirmation, leaning in to get another taste test, but I pushed my hand against his chest stopping him.

“Good to know.  I’m cold from the ice cream and my cozy bed is calling my name, goodnight.  The mess is all you this time.”  I concluded.  Pushing him off me I sat up and hopped off the table, trying to act all “no big deal”, like the way he had when he dip-kissed me this afternoon.  The truth was I wasn’t cold at all.  My blood felt like hot liquid trying to burst out of me into a firework explosion, and wanted desperately to reconnect from the separation I had caused, but I couldn’t let Clay know that.

“Wait, hang out and talk to me for a minute,” Clay said, following me into the living room.

“What do you want to talk about?”  I asked standing in front of the fireplace that never seemed to dwindle, pretending to regain some warmth.  Was this his moment?  Was he finally going to tell me what I already knew
, but so badly needed to hear it from
him.

“I don’t know.  I’m just not ready to go back to bed yet.  Keep me company, would you?”  He asked, patting his hand on the couch besid
e him.  I tried to hide the
swallow I took as I sat
next to him on the couch by clutching my trinity necklace.  I suddenly felt very flustered, and I didn’t know what to say.

“What’s with you?”  He asked
,
scanning me over.

“Nothing’s with me,” I responded too quickly, and he furrowed his brow in disbelief at my answer.

“You haven’t been acting the same since you came back from Liam’s Ashen Witches.  Would you please tell me what really went on over there?”  Clay asked in
a strained voice, obviously fed
up with trying to figure it out.

“I already told you everything,” I said with a nonchalant shrug.

“Then why do I feel like you’re avoiding me and keeping secrets,” Clay said, and I looked at him sharply.  He was so not going there.  What a perfectly opportune time to see how big of a hypocrite he really was.

“Well, to be honest, something has been bothering me lately, now that you ask.  I don’t know how to tell you this Clay, but ever since you lifted my masking spell, everyone has become clear to me, everyone
but you.”  I said, looking
over
at him
to ga
u
ge his reaction.

“What do you mean by clear?”  He asked with trepidation, obviously wary about where this conversation was going.

“I mean that I can see everyone in every way.  I can tell if people are more than human, and what they are, in their energy and their soul.  I think I can see these things even better than most
Fae
, but with you, it’s like you’re a mirage.  You’re an unclear haze of energy, and I can’t see your soul.  Why Clay,
why can’t I see it?”  I
asked,
the stress showing in my voice as I waited for him to confess.

“I really don’t know, Ari.  Maybe it’s because you don’t remember when we met, and it’s messing with your
Fae-dar
.”  Clay said with laugh, trying to lighten the mood.  But I couldn’t laugh, I felt sick.  I gave him the perfect opportunity to tell me, and still his lips were sealed.  I wanted to cry.  I didn’t even know what I expected from him, and I didn’t know why I cared so
much.  I started to stand from the couch, but Clay gently pushed my shoulder down until I sat again.

“Hey, don’t go.  I didn’t know a night owl like you could be so grouchy.  I thought you o
nly saved that for the mornings,” h
e said jokingly, tucking a piece of my hair behind my ear.  Before looking at him, I bit my lip, swallowing down the tears that threatened to surface.  His eyes reflected light like fiery blue crystals flickering off the orange flames, warming the room.  I watched him watch the fire, and he looked like he was in a trance.  Maybe he was trying to process the new information I had just given him.

I noticed a dark smudge by his ear, and when I squinted at it, I had to smile.  He had missed a little streak of chocolate when washing up, and I reached out wiping it from his ear with my thumb.  He caught my hand as I retracted it and pressed my palm against his cheek.  Clay looked at me in a way that made me very aware of my heartbeat.  He pulled my hand from his stubbly cheek and licked the chocolate from my thumb, which caused my whole body to buzz.  I was starting to resent how he so easily erased my anger with his touch.

“I should go to bed,” I whispered in a barely audible voice as I tried to compose my thoughts.  Unless he had something important to say to me, I had no reason to remain here with him.

“Stay,” Clay said softly.  Moving right up next to me, he put his arm over my shoulder and relaxed into the couch to watch the fire.  I looked around for a minute like William would come busting in and catch us snuggled up together.

“Stay,” Clay said even quieter this time, gently hugging me closer trying to ease my paranoid tension.  As much as I told myself to get up, to walk away, my body responded in the opposite manner, and I found myself resting my head against his chest wrapped in his arms watching the fire.  Soon my eyes became heavy, the sound of Clay’s drumming heart pressed to my ear was like a lu
llaby, soothing me
to sleep.

My eyes popped open and every muscle in my body went rigid.  The
sealment
nightmare woke me up again and I could no longer sleep.  Every time
in that dream,
I tu
rned to face Clay
only to be awakened before my eyes met his,
it
felt like drowning all over again.  It was as if sand was being shoved down my throat instead of air, gritting its way down into my lungs, burning and scraping my insides.  Would I ever get a full night’s sleep again?

I was suddenly aware that I was not in my bed.  Clay’s breath felt hot against the back of my neck as we lay on the couch, spooning together.  One of his arms acted as my pillow the other he had wrapped around my waist.  I scanned the room, and based on the light coming through the bay window, it only looked to be dawn.  I slowly lifted the weight of my head from Clay’s arm, preparing to peel myself from his embrace before Kayla came out here and saw us.  I didn’t even want to think about the amount of questions Kay
la and Morgan would hurl at me. 
I didn’t even want to have that conversation with myself.

I gently lifted Clay’s arm from my waist and carefully stood up from the couch.  I took one step away from the couch when a hand gripped onto the hem of my tank top, pulling me backwards.  I lost my balance, falling back onto the couch.  As soon as I fell, his arm circled around me bringing me right back into the spoon position I had started in.

“Where do you think you’re going,” Clay said, as his hold on my waist tightened and the soft vibrations of his voice in my ear made my spine tingle.

“I can’t sleep anymore.  I’m going to my room to get ready,” I said
,
not wanting to tell him the real reason.

“Get ready for what?  The sun isn’t even up yet,” he said, snuggling deeper into our embrace, trying to tempt me back to sleep.  I flipped over and scooted up until I was facing him
on the couch almost touching noses.  Clay dipped down and nuzzled his nose into the crook of my neck, wrapping me up in a full body hug, trying to prevent my attempts at departure.

“Clay, come on, what if Kayla comes out here?  I’m going to my room,” I said in a giggly voice because his breath on my neck tickled.

“Who cares,” Clay said.  Liking my reaction, he started to tickle my side.

“I care,” I said with a squeal, and I pushed his hand away from my side where he had just discovered the spot right below my ribcage.  I looked up at him, and he gave me a sleepy smile, pleased that he knew my most ticklish spot which would surely be used against me in the future.

“What’s the big deal?  She’s your best friend.  It’s not like she hasn’t figured out that you have a crush on me.  Everyone knows you can’t resist my charm.”  Clay said with a cocky smirk, and I rolled my eyes.

“First of all, puke, and second of all,
crush
is exactly right.  You and I are a car accident just waiting to happen.”  I said with a nervous swallow, afraid to tell him that I was too fragile for a
crush
; still reeling from a broken heart
and numbing fear inflicted by an evil
Famorii
.
I didn’t think
I
would ever recover from
that
.

“I think you just don’t want to deal with your feelings for me.  You are the Queen of denial, after all,” Clay said, now fully awake and unhappy with my response.

He has got to be kidding right?  Clay telling me that I’m in denial.  He was the one in denial.  I gave him every opportunity last night to tell me how he felt, to tell me that I was his Soul Keeper and he wanted to be with me, and still nothing.

I didn’t say a word.  I was seething.  I yanked his arm from my waist, lifted off the couch, and flew to my room in seconds.  When my feet landed in on the ground, I whirled around and caught a glimpse of Clay’s face peeking up over the couch, surprised by my brisk exit, and quickly shut the door.  I rested my forehead on the door and took a couple of deep
breaths.  I could feel his eye
s burning through the wall between us, trying to figure out what just happened.  I didn’t really care anymore.  I was sick of these games.  I couldn’t keep ho
ping that Clay would feel what I was feeling
.  The kissing, the flirting, the late night talks, I couldn’t take it.

This crush was crushing me, and I couldn’t bear it for one more minute.  My pain was quickly replaced with anger.  I squared my shoulders and gave myself a single nod of reassurance.  I wasn’t going to waste any more time waiting for Clay.  I only had a short life to live after all.  From now on, we were friends, and that would be it.  No more of this blurry in-between that was messing with my head, making me think I was seeing things and reading into things that just weren’t there.  Soul Keeper or not, he was obviously drawn to me, but he didn’t want to
see
me.  I didn’t want to
see
him anymore either, and I wasn’t going to try.  I turned on my heels and went to my bathroom to take a nice long relaxing soak in the tub and rid Clay from my thoughts for good.

“So are you going to tell me what happened last night?” Kayla said as we walked to the Council building for our defense meeting, choosing to opt for some fresh air.  My eyes shot in her direction afraid she had poked her head into the living room and saw Clay and me sleeping on the couch last night.  After my bath this morning I had managed to push him out of my head, and here Kayla was putting him right back in.

“What are you talking about?”  I asked, deciding to play dumb.

“I walked into the kitchen this morning and found a melted carton of ice cream lying in a sad puddle with two spoons on the floor.  It doesn’t take a detective to figure out that you have replaced me with another night owl friend to have food fights with.  I won’t pretend that I’m not hurt, but I guess if I found an
Eartha
hottie
to talk to
and
make
out with while coping with my insomnia, you’d also be getting the boot.”  Kayla said, nudging my shoulder.

“It’s not like that.  Clay an
d I are just friends, no making
out.  Trust me, the next time I need a fellow night owl to talk to, I’ll come knocking on your door.”  I said in a deflated voice.

“Who are you kidding?  Everyone can tell you two are totally into each other.  Even Jeremy’s grasping at straws trying to hang onto what little hope he has of hooking up with you,” Kayla stated clearly, not getting the message that I so did not want to talk about Clay.

“Well, maybe Jeremy’s chances are better than he thinks.  Look, Clay and I may have, you know, crossed the line of friendship a couple of times, but that is so over, okay?  So please, don’t tell anyone,” I confessed, wanting to end this conversation.

“I
knew it.  You two totally made
out!”  Kayla said in loud triumph.

“SHHHH!”
  I hissed, stopping abruptly on the glittering sidewalk to make sure no other pedestrians were in ear shot.

“Alright, alright, sorry.
  I won’t say anything.”  Kayla stated as we turned the corner and approached the Council building.

“Thanks,” I said with relief.  Now
t
here was another person keeping a secret for me.  When did my life become filled with so many lies and secrets?  Oh, that’s right.  My entire life has been filled with lies and secrets.  It was bad enough that I had to lie to my adoptive parents about everything that had happened and where I really was, but now Adam and Kayla were both keeping secrets for me too.  Who was I?  I had told myself that after hiding what I was my whole life, that I would always be honest with the people I cared about, and yet somehow it had gotten worse.