Chapter 14: Secret revealed

Kell:

She pulls away from my hand. I had never seen her so frightened and alone before. However, she also seems wary. Like she expects me to mock her or reject her. Her lips are trembling, and her eyes are glimmering with tears.

“I saw them die. I saw those missing girls die. One of them…her name was Leslie, and the other one’s name is Sophie. Someone killed them.”

Her chest heaves as she lets out a few heartbreaking sobs. I don’t know what to do. So, I pull her into my arms and hold her close and whisper soothing words. It’s heart-wrenching to watch her fall apart this way. I’ve always thought of Amara as the kind of girl who is in control of her life, and it’s surprising to see that it is not the case. She continues to cry as if her heart has been broken. After a few moments, she pulls back, wipes her tears, and hesitantly asks, “Please tell me you believe me, Kell. I need you to believe me.”

Jaw tight, I rub my thumb across her wet cheek and whisper, “I believe you.”

She gives me a watery smile and throws herself back into my arms. “Thank you for not thinking that I’m crazy. You don’t know how hard it has been to keep this secret.”

We don’t say another after that. Soon after, she drifts back to sleep in my arms, but this time, she looks more relaxed. It’s as if the burden of her secret weighed her down. I watch her sleep, amazed at how much she has changed my life, and it has only been a couple of days.

Morning comes quickly. Like the night before, I wake up with her still in my arms. Her skin glows under the light of the sun, making it look almost ethereal, and her dark hair is spread around her like a curtain. I look out the window and blink my eyes as I try to clear the sleep from them. My phone chirps nearby, signaling that I’m getting a text. I try not to awake Amara as I reach for my phone. It’s a message from Alex.

You better go to school today. No excuses. Alex never ceases to amaze me. The guy looks like he’s in his twenties and acts like he’s an old man. Sometimes it feels a little weird to take orders from someone who does not look that much older than me, but I respect the hell out of him. As I scroll through my texts, I see that Mikhail and Carrick sent some random texts, then place the phone back on the nightstand. At first, I lay my head back and close my eyes to savor the feel of Amara’s sweet body against mine. But I know that the world is not going to go away just because I close my eyes. After a few minutes, I place a kiss on her head and nudge her awake. Her eyes crinkle in annoyance, then she opens her eyes and gives me a withering glare. I know her glare is meant to look intimidating, but she’s just so cute. Who knew that she was such a grump in the mornings?

Pulling her close, I place a kiss on the tip of her crinkled button nose. “It’s time to wake up, beauty queen.” But she is not deterred. Instead of glowering again, she turns her back to me and lifts the covers over her head, growling unintelligible words. I’m sure she’s cursing my name.

Since my beauty queen refuses to wake up, I take matters into my own hand. I rip the covers from her and pull her into my arms. She squeals in anger and pummels my chest with an outraged glare. “Put me down, Kell. I’m still tired.”

Ignoring her protests, I carry her struggling form into the bathroom. “Stay still, beauty queen; I don’t want to drop you.” She takes a few deep breaths and asks as calmly as she can. “Just put me down, Kell.”

Ignoring her request, I give her a mischievous smile and move into the shower stall. Before she can argue further, I turn on the water and push her into it. Her squeals of outrage resound across the bathroom as the cold water pelts down her body. She tries to fight me off, but I hold my hands over her shoulder and settle her down. “Relax, beauty queen. We have to go to school. Alex will kill me if I don’t go.”

Giving me her most indignant look, she nods her head and pushes me away from the shower. “Then I better get clean.”

I step back and hold my hands up in surrender. However, I can’t help but take one last look at her nearly transparent lacy pink underwear as I make my retreat. What do you expect, I’m a guy? And with the way I feel about Amara, I had never been so tempted in my life. I chuckle loudly when she glares at me through the shower glass and gestures for me to leave. I can feel her penetrating stare as I make my way to the door.

Surprisingly, Carrick and Haley show up at her house a few minutes later to drop off some clothing for me. I guess the cat’s out of the bag. Amara meets me later and gives my clothing a questioning glare.

I simply shrug my shoulders. “Ready to go?”

At first, I think she’s going to tell me to go to hell, but then she simply nods her head and steps around me to walk out the door. The drive to the school is a quiet affair. It’s not an uncomfortable quiet. It’s more like a contemplative silence. It’s as if we know that something in our relationship has changed, and we’re trying to figure it out.

Unfortunately, we don’t have any classes together, so I spend most of the day worried about her. I stopped by her classrooms to ask her how she was doing whenever I could. She would simply give me the most infuriating smile and say she was fine. It was very frustrating, and I think she knew it.

Carrick and Haley, on the other hand, seem happy. He told me during lunchtime that he asked Haley to be his girlfriend, and she said yes. When he asked me if I asked Amara, I said no. I mean, it’s not as easy for me. I don’t know if Amara is my mate. She never mentioned having any dreams of me. She only mentioned the visions. Plus, how do I explain the glowing eyes, claws, and wings during sex? I just can’t risk telling her.

The day goes slowly, which adds to my frustration. As soon as football practice is over, I go in search of Amara. We planned to do some research on the girls in her visions. I’m hoping that whatever is wrong with her will get better if we can find the girl she is having visions of. Maybe that will also be a good time to talk about what happened the night before.