Chasing Promises: (Capturing Magic, Book 3) Page 10

  The pain is swelling through him and, since my touch seemed to soothe it a little, I stand up on my tiptoes and kiss his cheek. His hand twitches in mine as I lean back, and he turns to look at me, clearly startled.

  “What was that for?” he questions.

  “I just …” I realize then that maybe the whole kissing thing on the dance floor was all for show. Maybe he doesn’t want to kiss me. Maybe all his joking about kissing me was just that—jokes.

  And when I really think about it, he’s never kissed me just to kiss me. It’s always been to either put magic in me or because we were pretending. However, I’ve kissed him.

  As reality douses over me, I start to step back when he suddenly leans in with his eyes shut and brushes his lips against mine. It’s a soft kiss, way more softer than all the ones that happened between us while we were dancing. I expect him to pull back and leave it at that, but then he tangles his fingers through my hair and draws me closer until his lips collide with mine again. This kiss is a lot less gentler and more branding as he sweeps his tongue into my mouth and lightly tugs on my hair. It’s a quick kiss, though. Deep, but quick. And then he’s pulling away and looking at me.

  “I think we might be opening Pandora’s box,” he says, sounding a bit breathless.

  I literally have no idea what he means, and instead of explaining further, he just kisses me again.

  “Do you know how much I’ve wanted to do this to you since the first time I met you?” he asks, the playfulness returning to his tone.

  “I actually do, since you’ve told me like every two seconds,” I tease back, glad it seems like he’s returning to his normal, relaxed self again.

  “Did I?” He plays dumb. “Huh? That doesn’t seem like something I’d say.”

  I give him an unimpressed look. “That sounds exactly like something you’d say.”

  “Really?” He continues to play dumb, but then a sly look spreads across his face. “I also think I may have mentioned playing a game of cat and mouse with you. Looks like I won.” Before I can ream into him for that, he places a quick kiss on my cheek then twirls me around and pushes me into someone.

  Metal woven arms loop around me and stop me from falling face-first onto the floor. My cheek presses against a metal chest, and when I hear the soft thud of a heartbeat reverberating from inside, I know Arrow is the one holding me.

  But that still doesn’t explain why East pushed me into him.

  And apparently, Arrow thinks the same thing.

  “Why the hell did you do that?” he asks East.

  Well, I think he’s talking to East.

  “Because you were walking around like a grumpy ogre, and I thought it might cheer you up,” East replies with hilarity in his tone.

  Well, at least he’s feeling better.

  “I’m just a little uneasy with all these creatures around,” he stresses, wrapping his fingers around my upper arms, like he’s about to push me away from him, which wouldn’t be the first time.

  “Aren’t we all,” East says. “But I think we both know that’s not the only reason … Keep an eye on our little thief. I’m going to go check in on soundcheck.”

  I feel him walk away, his emotions morphing into a soft murmur.

  Arrow moves me back then but doesn’t push me away like I expected.

  “Hey,” I say stupidly, unsure of what else to say. This is the first time we’ve spoken one-on-one after that whole shower incident, and I can tell we’re both a bit uncomfortable.

  “Hi.” He cracks a smile then hastily bites it back. “Har, I just wanted to say that I’m sorry.”

  “For what?” I ask, totally perplexed.

  “For …” He lowers his voice, tension creasing his features. “For kissing you in the shower.”

  “You already apologized for that,” I remind him. “In that note.”

  “Yeah, but I wanted to apologize again.”

  “Well, you don’t have to. You don’t even need to be sorry for it.”

  “No, I do,” he assures me.

  “Why?” I ask, wondering why he seems so persistent about this.

  “But I am … Because of what I am,” he says, his jaw set tight.

  And I guess, considering how creatures treat cyborgs, I can understand why he’d think that. That doesn’t mean I think that way, and he needs to understand that.

  “That shouldn’t bother anyone, and it definitely doesn’t bother me.” I smile so he knows I mean what I say.

  A crease forms between his brows. “I don’t … I don’t understand you.”

  “Hardly anyone does.”

  “Maybe. But they’d be lucky if they got to.”

  My smile widens as I wrap my arms around him, planning on giving him a hug, but he ends up pressing his bronzed lips against mine. Then, just like the first time he kissed me, he starts to panic and pull back. Before he can get very far, I pull him closer and slip my tongue into his mouth, unsure what the hell I’m doing, just knowing that I don’t want him to be afraid of me.

  After giving him a soft kiss, I move back and smile up at him. “There. Now we’re even.”

  While it’s hard to tell, I’m fairly certain he might be blushing.

  Then he looks away and stares at … well, a wall.

  “Was that okay to do?” I ask, worried maybe I crossed a line and ruined our friendship.

  Nodding, he returns his eyes to mine. Then, sucking in an unsteady breath, he dips his lips and kisses me back. It’s a gentle kiss, no tongue or anything, but I feel it all the way to my toes. Then he pulls back and looks at me, nervousness creeping through his features.

  “I like you, Harlynn, I really do,” he admits without looking me in the eye. “I just … I just have no idea what the fuck I’m doing.”

  “That would make two of us,” I mutter in agreement.

  His gaze flicks up to me, and he offers me a small smile, which I return.

  “Do you feel less grumpy now?” I ask.

  “Yeah, I do.” He brushes his mechanical fingers across my cheek, causing my eyelashes to flutter.

  He watches in utter fascination as he moves his fingertips across my jawline and along my lips. I think about the time I polished his hand and how he seemed fascinated by it. He looks that way right now, too, as he traces his metal-kissed fingertip along my lip.

  I wonder if he’s ever touched anyone like this before.

  I’m about to ask him, even though I’ll probably look stupid, when I hear someone clear their throat.

  Arrow hastily jerks back and lowers his hand to his side, the gadgets in his arm turning as he does.

  “Good, my plan worked,” East says in a glittering tone.

  I twist around and eye him over suspiciously. “What plan?”

  “The plan where your pretty little lips brought my drummer out of his funk.” He winks at me.

  “I didn’t do anything with my lips.”

  “Sure you didn’t.” He smirks at me. “That’s why Arrow is blushing right now. Because you did nothing with your lips.”

  Well, at least he seems completely better now. Not that I don’t believe for a second that the pain he felt has just healed. No, he just tucked it away. I would know since I do that all the time.

  “I’m not blushing,” Arrow insists with annoyance.

  East shakes his head. “It’s okay to like her, man.” He glances at me then traces his finger underneath my chin. “There’s a lot to like.”

  I make a big show of rolling my eyes at his cheesy line.

  He just grins, lowering his hand from my chin. “Always pretending,” he teases. “Deep down, we both know you like it.”

  I want to argue with him, but I can’t.

  Thankfully, Asher arrives and offers a distraction.

  “We’re going to go on in just a few,” he tells East and Arrow then looks at me. “I want you to stay right here while we perform. It’ll make it so you’re kind of alone, yet we’re close enough that, if Maple tries to take
you, she won’t get very far.”

  I exhale the tension from my body. “So, this is where I’m bait?”

  Asher gives me a warily look. “I don’t want to call it that. Maple doesn’t have a chance of getting anywhere.”

  “Are you …? Are you sure about that?” I ask, a little bit nervous about seeing the half-genie, half-faerie again, remembering how much sick and twisted pleasure she was getting from smacking Maxton.

  “Yes, I’m sure.” He doesn’t miss a beat. He also sounds like the intense genie I first met. The only difference is that it doesn’t make me as uneasy as it used to. Then he molds his palms to my cheek, cupping my face between his hands as he looks me straight in the eye. “I already promised you nothing would happen to you, and have I ever broken any of my promises to you?”

  I shake my head. “No.”

  “Okay, then.” He lowers his hands from my face.

  Then the three of them head up on stage, leaving me with no choice but to trust him.

  But the most unsettling part about all of this is I kind of do.

  Harlynn

  My revelation that I do trust the guys has fear spiking through me. Trust is fucking terrifying. And I’m pretty sure I’ve never trusted anyone before. At least, not after my parents died.

  I’m one shallow breath away from having a panic attack and fleeing, you know, like the old Harlynn would do, when Ash East Arrow starts to play their first song. I’ve heard their music before, through the stereo, but never live.

  The dark, haunting lyrics … the sultry rhythm … the sound of Asher’s voice … watching them play on stage … all of it wraps around me and starts to carry me away to a different world, a different place. For an amazing, breathtaking moment, everything is almost perfect. Then I feel it. That heat again. Sparking in my chest, like a flickering fire, begging to come out. And for a moment, I want to release it, unleash the heat inside of me.

  “I need to get out of here,” I whisper, backing away from the stage as that heat magnifies into something more powerful.

  Why is this happening now? What is this? What is happening to me?

  I glance down at my arms, and my pulse quickens at the sight of the iridescent glow illuminating my skin. Every time my powers have appeared, something bad has happened. What if I lose control of them again?

  “Looks like I made it here just in time.” The sound of Maple’s voice rises over the music.

  I whirl around, preparing to … well, I’m not sure. Part of me wants to unleash this building power inside me, while the other part remembers the dream I had and what the power did. So, instead, I spin back toward the stage and open my mouth to scream, but something hits me in the back, a wave of heat, I think.

  Shit, I think Maple used her powers on me, is the last thought I have before everything goes dark.

  Harlynn

  When my eyelids lift open again, darkness still encompasses me. Only, it’s a different kind of darkness. A night darkness.

  I startle completely awake as I become painfully aware that I’m outside at night on Steel.

  The polished ground below me is icy-cold, and the mechanical trees are buzzing with electricity that shoots sparks toward the sky.

  “What’s going on?” I mumble as I sit up, pressing the heel of my hand to my forehead. I have a headache from hell, and my memory is all spotty, like holes have been burrowed into it.

  “What’s going on is that I’m about to finally prove myself to Axel.” Maple wanders out from the trees, her eyes pale against the sparks hissing from the trees.

  I swallow hard as memories trickle back to me. Of her showing up at the party, of her using her magic to knock me out. And then, apparently, while I was out, she dragged me outside.

  Where are Asher, East, and Arrow? Did she hurt them, too? Or, have they not realized yet that I’m missing?

  Bait. They told me I’d be bait, but they also told me that they wouldn’t let anything happen to me. Maybe this is part of the plan. Perhaps they’re out in the trees, waiting for Maple to confess what I am.

  As I scan the trees, though, I don’t see any sign of them.

  Maybe the plan just went wrong.

  Don’t freak out, Harlynn. Steel is still on lockdown, so Maple can’t take you anywhere.

  “Who’s Axel?” I ask as I sit up straighter and start conjuring up a plan to get away from her.

  A twisted smile curls at her lips. “Your new master. And mine.”

  “You mean, Asher’s father?” I ask.

  Her growing smile says it all.

  “Yeah, I hate to break it to you, but he’s not my master, and he’s never going to be.” I jump to my feet and move to run, even though I have no clue where I’m going.

  Another chilling thought occurs to me. Where are the monsters that the guys warned me about?

  I gulp but keep moving, my boots scuffing the ground—

  Maple throws her hands out, and a glowing orb slams into my chest. I crash to the ground, the wind knocked out of me, pain radiating throughout my body.

  “Genie magic is very powerful, isn’t it?” She walks over to me and crouches down. “Although, mine has gotten a lot more powerful ever since the lockdown was lifted and Axel allowed me to channel his powers. He was channeling it into Maxton, but after he messed up so terribly with the arch thing, Maxton is done, so he gave his powers to me. Axel’s children have become a great disappointment and inconvenience to him.”

  “Wait … The lockdown’s been lifted?” I croak out as I try to push to my feet, but the pain is too much. And what does she mean Maxton is done? Does that mean Axel killed him?

  Pain emits through my chest, but it’s a different kind of pain than the magic she hit me with.

  It also doesn’t help that she places her hand on my back and pushes me down.

  “Yep. I sent in an anonymous tip about who collapsed the arch,” she says. “Even Asher, East, and Arrow won’t be able to charm their way out of the destruction of a world arch.”

  Fear and worry slam through me. “You turned them in for the destruction of the arch?”

  “I had to,” she insists. “If they weren’t arrested, then they’d come looking for you, and I couldn’t have that. Not that I didn’t enjoy turning them in. They never treated me right.”

  Over the hissing sparks, I hear a swoosh.

  “Good. Our portal is here.” She grabs the back of my shirt and drags me to my feet.

  When I glance up, I see a swirling vortex has formed in the middle of the trees.

  While I’m unsure where the portal goes, I have a hunch it leads to Axel. Part of me wants to walk right in there and finally, finally get my revenge, but the other part of me knows I’m not ready. Not when I don’t have a clue about how to work my powers. Not when I’m not prepared. So, digging into every ounce of strength I have in me, I place my hand on Maple’s arm and try to do a reenactment of what I did the last time she captured me.

  But she just laughs.

  “Try all you want. I’m more prepared this time.” She jerks on my arm and pulls me toward the vortex.

  Panic flares through me as I dig my heels in and try to fight her, but she’s stronger than she looks.

  Think outside the box, Harlynn.

  As I rack my mind for a way around this, my gaze lands on a polished rock laying on the ground and an idea comes to me. It’s totally old-school, before magic Harlynn, but that Harlynn was pretty badass, too, even though I don’t always give her credit for it.

  I let my legs buckle, the move throwing off Maple enough that we both trip to the ground. Her fingers leave me, and I hurriedly crawl toward the rock.

  “Oh no, you don’t,” she growls out, and I hear her magic hissing.

  I don’t stop, though. I grab the rock, roll over, and throw it at her as hard as I can.

  It slams against her head so hard that the impact sends a deafening clank echoing across the land. But it does the trick as her eyes shut and she collapses to the groun
d.

  I’m not sure how much time I have until she wakes up, but since she’s part genie and part faerie and is channeling Axel’s powers, it’s probably not enough time. I should just shove her into the portal and run back to the world traveling vehicle. Well, if I can find my way back. But Maple might have the answers to everything—what I am, what I can do, why Axel wants me. That’s why the guys wanted to capture her. So, in a very sporadic decision, and one that’ll probably bite me in the ass later, I grab Maple’s foot and drag her behind me as I start down the path that hopefully leads to the vehicle.

  The air is quiet except for the hissing sparks crackling from the trees and my grunts as I pull Maple behind me. I can’t see a single monster in sight and begin to question if perhaps the monsters are just legends.

  Back on my home planet, the paranormals would make up stories all the time in order to instill fear in humans. Maybe the rulers of this planet created the stories to instill fear in the cyborgs. It does seem plausible.

  Of course, a few seconds after arriving at that conclusion, a crapload of glowing eyes abruptly appear in the darkness.

  Harlynn

  You know, I used to be able to remain super chill, even in stressful situations, but I also used to think stealing food was a stressful situation. Never did I have to deal with being surrounded by at least a dozen robotic hellhounds. That’s what they look like, anyway. I honestly don’t know what they are. They’re huge; that’s a given. They also seem to be really fixated on me as they creep from the trees, hunger glowing from their eyes.

  Panic soars through me as I inch back slowly. “Um, good doggies,” I say as I tug on Maple’s leg—

  One of the beasts releases a roaring growl and snaps its teeth at me.

  I freeze.

  Keep calm, Harlynn, and figure out a way out of this.

  There has to be a way out of this. I mean, I found a way out of Maple taking me to Axel. For now, anyway. She could wake up at any moment, though. I’m not so sure that would matter since I’m pretty positive we’re both about to get eaten—