Appointed Read online

  Anj sighed, letting her lead him through the buffet. A small part of him wanted to protest. He was more than capable of helping himself, but she’d fight him on it, and he didn’t have the energy. They had been fighting for so many months, he was pretty sure they’d filled their quota for a while. Besides, deep down he knew whatever argument she presented would be right. He should save his magic for when they were shopping downtown and seeing all the sights he’d seen countless times before but never got enough of. He also needed to learn how to be less self-reliant and stubborn. It was something they both had to work on actually.

  Lead by example. “How gelatinous is the gravy? Are there chunks of sausage in it?”

  “Looks pretty thick and chunky,” she said.

  “Then I’ll pass,” he said, and listened as Jewl put more things on his plate without consulting him first. It frightened him how well she knew him sometimes, in a good sort of way. While the idea of being transparent and easy to figure out made him vulnerable, it was also nice to not have to put up a cool front all the time.

  She finished placing things on his plate and grabbed his wrist to lead him away from the table. “Pancakes and French toast, a couple of sausage links, and a lot of bacon. Do you want any fruit?”

  “Yes.”

  “Then I’ll go get you some, but first, here’s the table. I’ll be back soon.” She helped him put his plate down then walked away.

  Anj ran his hands over the top of the chair before sitting, and listened for the sounds of his brother or Cheyenne in hopes that he wasn’t alone. They either weren’t back yet or they were being awfully quiet. Rather than say something and possibly make a fool out of himself, he decided to eat, hovering a hand over his plate as he tried to decide where to start. He picked up his fork and stabbed a pile of potatoes. Soon he heard the sound of Jewl walking back and was happy to not be alone.

  “I was just about to resort to eavesdropping for entertainment,” he said.

  Jewl made a quiet, thoughtful-sounding noise. “You’re on edge this morning.”

  “So are you,” he pointed out in between bites.

  She didn’t reply, only kept eating.

  What did I do wrong now? He couldn’t help but scowl as he ate. “I see Cheyenne and Zes have disappeared again.”

  “Probably to a closet,” Jewl mumbled.

  “Or they’re having it out.”

  “Yeah, something like that.”

  “Jealous?” He couldn’t help but smirk a little.

  It was taking things further than he probably should have, but he couldn’t help it. He didn’t want to think about his brother fighting. Zes deserved all the happiness in the world. Besides, Anj knew he wouldn’t do anything stupid or move too quickly. His brother was the careful one, the smart one, so Anj didn’t feel too bad about cracking a joke.

  “Of?” Jewl asked.

  “I wasn’t sure if that was your way of subtly hinting for some alone time,” he said, trying to be coy and bring some lightness back to their conversation. Ever since he’d mentioned not wanting to talk about things right then, she’d seemed tense. Maybe she didn’t believe me when I said we’d talk later? Rebuilding all of the lost trust is going to be a lot more work than I thought.

  Jewl was quiet for a moment. “I wouldn’t mind some of that, but no. I’m not jealous.”

  “So what’s bothering you?” he asked.

  “I’m just wondering when a break is going to come,” she said in a soft voice. “That’s wishful thinking though. Things aren’t going to get any easier, are they? Not after what happened down in the underworld. I thought maybe we’d be in the clear, but if you’re upset people are making your life miserable…”

  He grabbed her hand and kissed it. “No, things probably won’t be easy. But I love you. You love me. It’ll keep us strong for whatever we’re going to face. Try not to worry about it so much.”

  “You know I don’t like change, Anj, and everything is — my sense of security, we’re all growing up, even our relationship. It’s all different. I just need some time to adjust.”

  “Would you prefer I not tell you things until you’re ready?” he asked.

  She squeezed his hand. “No. I want to know. Just don’t be surprised if I’m a little weird at first.”

  “You’ve always been a little weird. That wouldn’t be anything surprising to me,” he teased.

  “Hush, you know what I mean. New topic. The others are coming back.”

  “New topic. Right. I love you.”

  “I love you too, but you being schmoopy is not a believable topic change,” she said.

  He shrugged. “I should change that then, because I don’t think I tell you it enough.”

  “I’d rather not be gag inducing.”

  “But it’s so much fun!”

  The chairs shifted at the table, and Anj caught a whiff of his brother’s familiar scent. “What’s so much fun?” Zes asked.

  “Teasing her,” Anj said.

  And while he was curious as to whether or not everything was all right between his brother and his brother’s girlfriend, Anj didn’t dare ask where they’d been. They all needed to focus on being normal. Zes went about his usual food-shoveling routine, which was as good a sign as any that things were better. The girls talked about their respective shopping plans, and Anj’s mind wandered back to the vision he’d had about Cheyenne and Denver.

  I’m missing something, a key piece of information. And I can’t help but wonder if everyone else knows what it is. He’d ask, but then he’d be talking about something he shouldn’t be. The last thing he needed was for someone else to get hurt on account of him.

  Chapter Nine

  The next time I see Denver, I am going to hurt him, Zes vowed. Cheyenne had asked him to not do anything irrational, but in his mind, it didn’t seem all too irrational of a thing to do. Denver deserved a lot worse, and while he understood Cheyenne’s desire for peace, Zes couldn’t stand by and watch the guy go unpunished either. Anj wanted him to be the bigger person, but didn’t a good man defend his woman’s honor?

  The group of Vala students walked the streets of downtown, and he did all he could to keep calm, happy, and put on a show, but Zes always wore his emotions on his sleeve. Generally, when he wasn’t in a good mood, everyone knew it. Cheyenne must have noticed he was only pretending, because there was something different about the way she held onto his hand. Almost as if she felt guilty? Which didn’t make sense to him at all.

  “Do you want to go back?” she asked.

  “No,” he said, keeping his voice low. Though Anj was engrossed in his own conversation with Jewl, Zes didn’t want to run the risk of his brother getting curious. Anj had a tendency to do that.

  “Okay, because if you’re uncomfortable—”

  “I’m not uncomfortable.”

  “Then how can I make it up to you so you’re happy?” Her eyes were wide and desperate.

  Zes shook his head. “Make what up to me exactly?”

  “What happened before—”

  “I thought we already made up after our other fight. And it’s not your fault he decided to attack you again,” he said.

  She shifted her weight slightly and bit down on her lower lip. “No, I guess not. But I still feel bad.”

  “What is it that you told me? If I didn’t do anything wrong, then I can’t feel sorry for it? Same thing applies here.”

  “I just don’t like seeing you so mad.”

  “I’m going to be for a little while, and there’s no way around it. Please, let’s not talk about it anymore? It doesn’t help.” Didn’t she understand how much he hated Denver? This wasn’t going to be so easy for him to forgive. Maybe if he believed Denver had even a tiny bit of good inside, Zes would have an easier time with it. But all the guy did was go out of his way to torment everyone he crossed paths with.

  She sighed. “Fine, but it isn’t worth dwelling on. Don’t let him poison this. That’s giving him what he wants.”
>
  “Just promise me one more time you’ll stay away from him?”

  “Easier said than done. We have classes together, and he’s not all bad. He—”

  “Don’t say he couldn’t help it, Chey, you’re better than that,” Zes said. “Don’t make excuses for him. And he is bad. I’ve never seen him do anything good for anyone. He tried to kill me once, did I tell you that?”

  “No, you didn’t,” she said, her body stiffening.

  “Well, he did. Word got around to him that I can’t swim, and he decided to shove me into a pool to see for himself. In fact, he dove in right after me so he could watch me sink to the bottom and drown. Pretty sure he would have left me there if other people weren’t around, but of course he played hero and brought me out of the water again. Had the nerve to say ‘You’re welcome’ too. Like I should be thanking him or something? And we can’t forget about what he did to you at the dance. Kissing you like that. I bet he knew I was there watching.”

  “He’s really got an agenda against you,” Cheyenne said, and he detected a hint of sarcasm in her voice.

  He rolled his eyes. “Fine, if you don’t want to believe me, then that’s your choice. But I’m not lying.”

  Zes winced slightly because the burn on his arm decided to flare up then. It’d been doing that off and on all morning. Fire coursed through his arm, and then a soft, cooling tingle would spread over where the demons had branded him. The more peculiar thing was that it did it in sync with his emotions. When he was sad or disappointed, happy even, it burned. Whenever he was angry or passionate, the cooling began.

  Cheyenne rubbed his arm, slowly running her hand up and down its length, and he felt a strange, soothing warmth over the pain. “Still hurts?”

  “I’m fine,” he lied. Truth was, the brand worried him. Mostly because he had no idea what it meant. They were both quiet for a while.

  “I believe you,” she said at last. “I’ve seen him do things that are horrible. But I have a hard time accepting that anyone is pure evil. I was raised to expect good in everyone, to find it and not let go. I’ll be more careful. I shouldn’t have agreed to hang out with him.”

  “I still don’t get why you were out in the first place.”

  “Getting ice, I told you.”

  He shook his head. “The coincidence of it all makes me warier of him.”

  “Zes, please,” she said, still rubbing his arm.

  “Hmm?”

  “Let it go.”

  He didn’t bother fighting her about it. If she didn’t understand what he was trying to tell her, there was no way to make her. She would have to come to the conclusion on her own. He hated it, because he wasn’t sure how many more times he could stand watching her get hurt. The gentleness of her nature was beautiful, and the idea of Denver taking advantage of it killed Zes.

  If she wants me to let it go, I guess I have to. “I hope you don’t mind if I steal you away for dinner tonight. I made a reservation, thought we could explore the town a little?”

  “I’d like that,” she said with a small smile.

  “I wish there was a way I could keep you by me the whole night,” he whispered.

  A soft blush spread across her cheeks. “Sometime again soon.”

  When she said that, his burn began to tingle again.

  Chapter Ten

  So what am I missing? Anj thought as they walked through the streets of downtown. Thinking helped drown out some of the overwhelming sounds surrounding him. Not only was everyone talking, but there were cars speeding by, honking, sirens, and a whole assortment of other noises for him to pick through. He loved the chaos, but without focus, he could easily get lost in the scene. Instead, he focused his attention on the dream as Jewl led him along, her arm in his.

  He kept going over the words that had been spoken between Denver and Cheyenne, trying to figure out what part he wasn’t understanding. And he kept coming up completely dry. It was frustrating. What do I see?

  Reconstructing the scene in his mind exactly as he’d seen it, he started the conversation he’d dreamed of over again. Instead of listening to the words, he focused on what he saw. A lot of it didn’t make sense to him because there was so much of the visual world to learn. Most of the visual cues he knew were from watching Zes, but even those were only the mannerisms his brother had. They didn’t speak for people as a whole and especially not for girls. Anj could recognize tension and that was about as far as his body language skills went. When it came to flirting, most of it went over his head.

  “Jewl,” he said softly. “Are there any good things that cause people to shiver?”

  “A few. Sometimes people are overwhelmed by an emotion, touched, and it makes tingles and your body reacts to it. You’ve never felt those before? Ever?”

  “Tingles, yes, but not to the point where I do that.” He paused. “And leaning forward, making eye contact?” Denver had done a lot of that.

  “Generally, people make eye contact with people they’re interested in listening to.”

  “I knew that,” he said. Or he should have. It seemed too obvious of an answer. “What about nervous fidgeting? Finding reasons to touch in small ways? Or—”

  “Is this all being done by the same person?”

  “Yes.” The same two people actually, but he didn’t feel the need to get so specific just yet. It would all mean the same in the end.

  Jewl’s hand tightened on his arm. “Who’s been flirting with you? Do I have to go bust some heads? Chew some more fangirls out? I’m definitely not afraid to.”

  He couldn’t help but laugh. Her fiery, feisty side was one of his favorite things about her. “No one did those things to me. But is that what all of it means? Flirting?”

  “Yes, honey. Normal people usually touch and get nervous and make eyes at each other. Not everyone can be as cool and collected as you are.” She got quiet for a moment. “If no one is flirting with you, or rather doing those things to you, then why are you asking? Usually you only ask because someone is.”

  “Usually, yes, and someone is, but not to me,” he clarified.

  “So then why?”

  “Want to cash in on your gift now?” Anj asked with a small smile. They were in the middle of the city, so anyone could be listening in. There was also enough ambient noise around to drown out their conversation to passersby. Besides, he could tell Zes and Cheyenne were engrossed with each other.

  Jewl squeezed his hand. “So long as you’re sure now is a good time.”

  “I could use your amazing insight. So I’ve told you there are Elders who run the show for people like me,” he said.

  “You’ve mentioned them once or twice, but I don’t know who they are or what they do.”

  “There are three of them, and they make sure the rules are obeyed. They also have the wonderful task of teaching all us lesser Fates about our abilities. I’ve been given some homework. The assignment is to analyze a dream I had last night. It was about Denver and Cheyenne and why he bites her.” He kept his voice low and spoke quickly, hoping she’d be able to keep up with everything he said.

  Jewl was quiet again. “How interesting. So you saw them doing these things, is that what you’re saying?”

  “Yes, I did. And I thought maybe they were flirting, but I needed to be sure. You know I’m not the best with figuring people out.”

  “Tell me everything you saw,” she said.

  And he did, starting from the beginning of the dream and going through every detail, every word exchanged, not leaving a thing out because it could have been important. “She was denying wanting to help him, but they have some kind of deal going on. Do you think that’s why she lets him bite her? Because of this deal? She gives him her blood, and he dilutes her mind with all of this crap? Makes her think he has the answers she’s looking for?”

  “Maybe, but while Denver is a lot of things, I can’t say I’ve ever seen him lie.”

  Poor Zes. As much as Anj didn’t want to admit it, Jewl wa
s right. Denver didn’t lie. The guy got too much pleasure out of telling people exactly what he thought of them. But he was manipulative and selfish. Anj had a hard time believing that Denver’s motivations were pure. There was something else going on.

  “So she was flirting with him, and she wanted him to do it,” Anj said, verbalizing everything to make it feel more solid. Talking out his hypotheses always helped them make more sense.

  Jewl patted his hand. “I don’t like being the bearer of bad news—”

  “Most of the time you do, actually.”

  “Not when it comes to you and your brother. I love you, and he’s my best friend, so that makes you both off-limits in that regard. But as I was saying, I don’t like being the bearer of bad news, but I think you’ve hit the nail on the head. I’ve thought this for a while. Don’t get me wrong, Cheyenne’s my friend now. She and Zes make a sweet couple even if they’re taking things way too fast. Denver is always going to get in their way, though, until she cuts him off for good. It’s like he’s some kind of security blanket for her. Or maybe she is for him.”

  “You have a lot of opinions,” Anj observed.

  “I have to.”

  “Why? That’s not like you. It’s not your problem, you know?”

  “It kind of is, but anyway, there you go. That’s what I think, and I hope it helps you with these Elders.”

  Anj frowned and briefly flashed on his magic so he could get a better read on how Jewl felt. She was frowning as well, deeply, her brow so furrowed it hurt his face just seeing it. Her pale blue, almost gray eyes were downcast, and her entire body had tensed up.

  “What do you mean, it’s your problem?” he asked, not liking this look on her one bit.

  Jewl dodged his question. “So why do you think you need to know all of this anyway? Aren’t you supposed to see things that are significant for the betterment of mankind? Yeah, this is dramatic and makes life difficult for you. But it seems like a waste of time compared to all the other things you could be dreaming about.”

  He shrugged, relaxing his grip on her arm some to encourage her to not be so… whatever it was she was feeling. “Good question. Just like why did I have a vision about my father that day in the kitchen? You’re asking someone who doesn’t have answers.”