“I’m coming.” Rich put his arms around her shoulders. She sucked her teeth.
Eight looked from Wiz to me and waved goodbye. “Call me tonight as soon as you’re done, Cameo. Please.”
“I will. Don’t stress.”
Wiz seized my hand and led me out onto the dance floor. His fingers seemed warmer than usual as if he had a fever. Tiny beads of sweat formed around his X brand. Every few steps he stumbled. And to think I’d been frightened that he’d soar down on Eight or me with great power.
“Maybe we should go outside instead,” I offered. “You look hot.”
“Thank you.” He smiled.
“Not funny. You’re sick.”
He displayed a weak smile. “I’m not sick, Cameo.”
“You’re something.”
He sighed. “I’m dying.”
Blood leaked out his ears indicating something wasn’t just wrong with Wiz, something was really wrong.
Chapter 18
“Dying?” The word stung my lips. He nodded and said nothing else.
We stepped outside into a courtyard. The moon gleamed through the caged city’s barred ceiling. Almost everything was white. I strolled around bushels of white roses. Sparkling white fruit shaped like bells hung down from the trees that stood along the pathway. The fruit was nothing like I’d ever seen before. Glitter coated the outer edges. Every time a breeze blew through the trees a ringing sound came and a sugary scent drifted in the air. Further away I could see a white-pebbled pathway outlined with ivory park benches. No one stood outside but us, the flowers, and trees.
“What type of fruit is that?” I pointed to the branches.
“Nothing that exists on the Earth.” Wiz’s grip tightened more on my hand as he stumbled forward. “The fairies love their experiments with nature. I forgot the name of this type of fruit, but it’s definitely from the fairy realm.”
“How did they get here?”
“The seeds must have slipped through a portal somehow, most likely in a person’s pocket or luggage as they traveled over. It must have been long ago. I’ve heard that the new fairy king established a force to monitor the portals and make sure nothing slips by.”
I paused. “Where did you hear that from? I mean, how do you know people in the fairy realm?”
“One of the reasons why you’re so smart is that when most people think they know everything and make declarations, you sit back, listen, and ask questions.”
“That’s not an answer.”
“No, it’s not.” He coughed. My body tensed as his chest sank in and out, while he coughed into his hand. Even though, he’d been keeping secrets and trapped me in his room for no greater reason than to keep me away from Eight, icy fear crept into veins. I didn’t want anything to happen to him.
What would life be like without Wiz?
For some reason I couldn’t imagine life without him somewhere in the habitat. Even if he was my enemy, I still couldn’t wrap my mind around him not being here.
“Let’s sit down over there on those benches.” I motioned to the end of the path.
“No.” He pulled me to him as orchestra music drifted out into the garden. “Let’s dance here.”
“I don’t want to dance.”
“I do.” He twirled me around. I gritted my teeth. He slipped his hand down my exposed back which caused every bit of skin he touched to shiver. “You’re so beautiful. I can’t believe I’ve gotten to be near you for so long.”
He brushed his soft lips against my forehead and then kissed my X brand. “If I had the time I would spend every second convincing you to fall in love with me.”
“Why are you talking like that?”
“Because it’s true. I told you before, I like you more than you will ever understand. I wish I had the time to be with you and persuade you to be mine.”
My skin warmed at his words. I trembled under his arms. “And what if I already am?”
He sighed and gave me a weak smile. “It’s only a misguided crush. If you knew who I really was, you would run.”
I stopped dancing, climbed out of his arms, and backed away. “Then tell me who you are.”
“You can find out after I’m gone.” He returned his hands to my waist, pulled me in, and pressed me to his body. His citrus scent captured me. Warmth radiated from his skin. I felt guilty for enjoying the sensation of being in his arms.
“How will you die?”
“Don’t worry about it.”
“Can we stop whatever is killing you?”
“No.” He landed delicate kisses on the side of my face. Blood dripped from his nose. He yanked out a handkerchief and wiped it away. “I can’t even kiss you like I want to without the blood promise reminding me that I can’t.”
“Why are you dying?” I wasn’t about to let this go.
“Just drop it.”
“Is it because you can’t find the shadow stones?”
Laughter bubbled out of his chest. “I’ve always had them, Cameo. I already told you that.”
“Then where are they?” I inched back and gazed at him.
“You’re not going to drop this are you?”
I formed my hands into fists and targeted him with my gaze. “Never. I’m not going to be around you as you say you’re dying and talking in riddles. If you really care about me, the way you’re saying, then you have to start answering questions. Starting with where are the stones.”
“Here.” The worms pushed his skin up an inch. They wiggled and moved around his face into that weird maze of sunken and risen skin.
“W-what?”
“They’re inside of me.” His skin returned to normal as he leaned in to kiss me.
I moved his face away. “Stop. Explain to me why in Shango’s name the stones are inside of your body. Is that what is killing you?”
Oh my goddess. This was worse
than I had ever thought. How did he get the stones into him and why would he do that?
“Cameo, why can’t you just give me tonight?” He raised his eyebrows and looked at me with pleading eyes. “No questions. No demands to know everything. Let’s just pretend like we’re young lovers with nothing but time.”
I backed away from him, stepping into the grass of the courtyard and edging back into a tree. The bark pressed against the skin of my back. “I need to know the truth, Wiz. Everything, please.”
“You don’t need to know anything.”
An exasperated breath escaped my lips. I rushed over to him and hit his chest. He barely moved an inch.
“Stop with the freaking secrets,” I hissed.
“Why? You’re not in danger. When I die, I take him with me.” Wiz captured my hands, brought them to his lips, and landed a kiss on each fingertip. “We’ll both die and everybody lives happily ever after.”
“Not me.”
“You will.”
“Not if you’re gone.”
He released my fingers, moved away from me, and dug his hands into his tuxedo pants pockets. “You’ll go to college, meet a really nice guy that’s as smart as you. And he’ll see the beauty I see every time I look at you. He’ll see how valuable you are and he’ll never let you go.”
“Wiz, just let me help you.”
He ignored me. “He’ll buy you flowers and candy, take you places I never could. You’ll have kids, a dog, and maybe a few pixies in the backyard. That’s the life I want for you. That’s the reason why I’m willing to die. I owe you that much.”
“You don’t owe me anything.” I crossed my arms over my chest. “I’m going to take online college courses so unless this guy meets me over my computer, your dream love affair won’t happen. And by the way, I’m not a big fan of pixies or dogs.”
“Promise me you’ll go to college.” He leaned his head to the side. His lips formed into a frown. “Stay on campus. Be around normal kids.”
“I’m odd looking. It’s not fun to be the odd person around normal people. This is stupid anyway.” I closed my eyes and hugged myself. Tears threatened to spill from my eyes. “I don’t like talking about you dying. Please, let me help you.”
“You can’t.” His voice sounded right in front of me.
I opened my eyes. “Does the blood promise stop you from telling me what’s wrong?”
“The blood promise is what will actually take me. It doesn’t matter if I say it out loud or not. The promise knows my intentions to break it and because of that, it’s killing me softly, trying its best to save me.”
I considered his words and remembered that the promise was with
B.D. and that some of it dealt with Wiz not being able to touch me. “What is the whole promise?”
“Come here.”
I stepped toward him. Only a few inches remained between us. A sweet breeze brushed past me. The fruit on the trees rang. Within seconds, Wiz drew me in and buried his face into my neck. I gasped as he nibbled at my collarbone. My body exploded with heat. Wrapping my arms around his neck, I forgot about what I asked, promising to ask it again in another second, or two, or three. I let my head fall back as he groaned into my skin, slipping his lips along my shoulder. I craved more of his nibbling and prayed he’d stray lower, to places untouched by any man.
But he stopped, jumped back, and screamed. Blood trickled out of his ears once again. He held his hands to his temples and collapsed to his knees, crying out in pain.
“Wiz!” I went to him.
He pushed me away. His voice came out hoarse and rasping. “Don’t. Just give me a second.”
Minutes passed. He got out of his jacket and cleaned the blood from his ears. When he was done, the jacket fell to the ground and he stormed my way with a determined look. I stepped back. “You probably shouldn’t touch me if it’s hurting you.”
“I’m starting to get used to the pain.”
“But still.”
He embraced me and licked the curve of my neck. Again the sensation of being seared burst in the area that he licked. “Does it hurt when I tease your petals?”
“They’re scales.” I panted, placed my hands on his shoulders so I could try to push him away.
“Does it hurt?”
“No, it feels so good. But you have to stop.” I pushed but it was like pushing a steel wall.
“They incite me with a lust that scares the realm out of me.” He lapped at my scales with his tongue. My legs wobbled. My heartbeats sped up and pounded in my ears. “Every time I touch them I ache to have you like no guy has ever had you before.”
I moved his head away with my hand, hoping to catch a breath or two. “How do you know no guy has had me before? I’m pretty experienced.”
He stiffened under me and targeted me with glowing eyes. “Not funny.”
And then he screamed again, falling back and stumbling to the ground. “Damn it!”
I dug my nails into my palms.
What can I do?
He shook in the grass. I remained where I was and figured that if I touched him it would only cause him more pain. At least no blood spilled out. A sheen of sweat now coated his skin as he took his time getting up.
“Okay.” I held my hands out in front of me. “No more licking, hugging, or touching me.”
He bared those silver fangs at me. “Says who?”
“Says me.”
“You don’t get to make that choice tonight.” He blurred to me in seconds. My breath lodged in my throat from his speed. His power thickened in the air like invisible vapors. It prickled against my skin and chilled me to the core. His eyes brightened and illuminated the area around us into shades of green and blue. “I crave you. Ever since I can remember, even when it was wrong to look at you in that way. I yearned to hold you. I’ve been watching you the whole time, from birth until then. I saw how your mother hurt you, how the kids picked on you, and when you ran away I stayed with you every minute, protecting you the whole time.”
“If you yearn for me so much then why not just take me? Why not—”
“Because that was never the plan.” He averted his gaze “You were meant for me. You weren’t meant for something else.”
“What?” I tensed.
“Please, Cameo,” he begged.
“What do you think will happen if you tell me? Is it the blood promise again?”
“As you can see, I don’t care about what the promise will do to me.”
“Then what?”
“You’ll hate me, run away, and hide.”
“No, I won’t.”
“You will.” He laughed.
Oh my goddess!
“Then let’s do a blood promise. Unlike you, I don’t enjoy pain.” I held my hands out to him. “I’ll promise through my blood that I’ll never leave you. I won’t hide. I’ll stay next to you until the end.”
“You would be bitter and enraged the whole time.” He gave me a weak smile.
“Let me worry about that.”
“It’s probably exactly what I deserve.”
“Vanity.” He stepped back. The dagger materialized in his hand. Shock hit my chest as if someone had punched me. He cut a line into his arm. The sharp point pierced his skin. Blood seeped out of the cut. Tiny red gems spilled out too.
“With this blood I promise to tell Cameo all of my secrets and to protect her from harm until my dying breath.” The two gems floated in the air between us. He flicked his hand. The gems rattled, rose to his cheek, and sank back into his body.
“Are those shadow stones?” I asked.
“Tiny flecks of one.”
Vanity disappeared. Wiz’s tuxedo shirt began to fade from a crisp white into a tan color. Strands of fur sprouted along the material and grew. The end of his jacket lengthened to his ankles and formed into his signature trench coat. His pants shifted into jeans. His shirt vanished and exposed the muscled chest that I ogled most times when he wasn’t looking.
He can change his clothes like I change images. How long has he been able to do this?
“W-what type of magic is this?” My fingers shook.
“Fairy.” He gazed at me with a serious expression.
“Glamour?”
“Stronger. So you want to know the truth and obviously you won’t leave me alone, then let’s go.” He yanked my arms to him. “Hold on to me. I won’t let you go.”
“Okay.”
“Room!” We spun into a blur of motion. Shades of white formed into black shadows that swarmed around us. A buzz crowded my ears. I couldn’t hear anything not even the screams that ripped out of my mouth as I clung to his shoulders. My blood pulsed inside me with fear and anxiety.