A&E Kirk

“My anxious gaze swept the theater."Don’t worry. I told them it was Sunday,” Ayden said as we sat down.“And they believed you?”“Of course.” He passed me the popcorn and took off his jacket. “I’m the master of deception.”“Uh-huh. So, when did you become a Hitchcock fan?”“After I saw Psycho,” answered a voice clearly not Ayden’s.We turned to stare at Blake.And Jayden.And Tristan.And Logan.All sitting behind us.I smirked at a sheepish Ayden. “Oh yeah, master of deception.”

“Aurora?”“Logan?”He poked his head in and gawked. “He handcuffed you?”“Nah, it’s my latest fashion statement.”

“You don’t understand.She was mean to me. Very mean. And she’s dangerous. A very dangerous girl. I’m your guardian, Ayden. I have to protect you!It’s my sworn duty. My sworn duty!”“Protect me?”“Yes!” Pearl hovered frantically in front of “her boy,” and slathered her voice with disgust. “She threatened to…” Oh, she wouldn’t.“Kiss you!”She would. My cheeks fired. I stared at the floor.Ayden laughed. “Kiss me?”“Yeeeeesss,” Pearl wailed in agony. “She promised a big juicy kiss! On a real date. No pretending. With hand holding and—and cuddling!”And I thought it couldn’t get any worse.”

“I ended up in the nurse’s office after falling asleep in second period. She only agreed to not call my parents if I stayed under her supervision and rested. She wasn’t taking any chances with Dr. Lahey’s daughter and the heroine who’d saved the Ishida’s only girl, who, by the way, Ayden mentioned wasn’t back at school.She probably got to recover in her native habitat. Some far off exotic locale, lounging on a tropical beach drinking fruity umbrella drinks brought to her by hunky, scantily clad beach boys who rubbed her back with suntan oil and hung on her every word while I ran for my life in the Waiting World, woke from a coma, and, bam, back at school with ten million pounds of schoolwork to make up, and no beach boys. Except for Ayden. He’d make a good beach boy. But don’t get too excited. He’s just a pretend boyfriend.“You alright?” the nurse asked.“Fine.”“You’re sighing and making odd noises.”“Sorry.”

“I wanted to talk to her because she seemed the most likely to not be manipulating me, but because she looked like the one least likely to manipulate me, she could in fact be the master manipulator, manipulating me into manipulating myself by asking for her help, ergo—yeah, I’d looked it up and it wasn’t a person—I’d fallen right into her trap. Got it? Glad somebody did.”

“It’s getting closer,” Tristan said.Ayden nodded.“So let’s track it.”“No,” Ayden snapped. “She’s our priority.”“I know, but it’s following her, so,” Tristan held one hand up, “find the demon,” he held up the other, “find Aurora. It could work.”The itching intensified. Invisible claws grazed up the back of my neck, wrenching every nerve to painful attention. Another hungry screech sent spikes piercing my brain. Lights shattered my vision. I couldn’t breathe. I burst out of the suffocating space just as the engine roared to life and gunned the car forward.With a violent curse, Ayden slammed on the brakes but not before the Maserati rammed my hip. I hurtled into the air and rolled a fast spin onto the hood.“Or you could just hit her with the car,” Tristan said.“Real smooth.”

“We are killers,” Matthias said.Bad news.“Not girls. We don’t kill girls.”Good news.“She’s no girl.”Insulting news?“What? Of course she’s a girl.”“Want me to check?”“Shut up, Blake,” the rest of them chorused.”

“May I?” Jayden sat on the edge of the couch and poured me a fresh cup of tea. He placed his hand over the brew. As his eyes swirled a whirlpool of shimmering blues and greens, the liquid iced into a frozen block. He fanned his fingers and spider lines cracked the ice. Seconds later the tea boiled.“You control tea?”Jayden’s satisfied smile faltered. “No. I…I control water. The tea, the actual plant doesn’t change, however—” He caught my look and nodded. “Ohhh. You were beingfacetious.”“If that means joking, yes I was.”

“Backslapping and smiling all around. Even Matthias.“Oh my God,” I croaked. They all froze. “You havedimples!”The rest of the boys grinned at the Aussie who slapped a hand over his mouth to help cover the deep, adorable dimples prominently displayed in each cheek. He pointed a finger at us and said, “Knock it off!” but from behind his hand it actually came out “Naw ih aw!” We laughed harder. He gave up the hand and turned away in ahuff, but the dimples remained.”

“Ayden and Blake stared each other down. "Oh. My. God," Luna blurted from Ayden's back seat. "It's a love triangle."We all looked at her like she'd sprouted an alien from her head. "it's just like in a book. Two guys after one girl and-"I groaned. "That's ridiculous, Luna, this is not a love triangle.""Says the girl in the middle of a love triangle. Luna ignored my protests and prattled on. "Not one Hexy Boy but two. I've got to call Danica. Oooo," she squealed and clapped her hands,"We could have teams. Team Ayden and Team Blake. With T-shirt and buttons and-""I could make a website," Lucian offered."No!" My voice pitched with panic. "No teams. No shirts. No-""I'll get you some headshots," Blake said, turning his profile towards Luna and Lucian. "I've been told the left is my best side. What do you think?""Aurora's right," Ayden said. "This is buts. Blake you can follow us-""Dude, you know no one would pick Team Ayden. You're just jealous.""That's not true. My team would be way bigger than yours.""Dare to dream, little man, dare to dream.""Care to make a wager on it?""Absolutely.""Fine. How about-""You two shut up!" I shoved myself out of the car.”

“He likes you. You like him, you're just scared. Well," she glanced over her shoulder and dropped her voice, "unless you tell me he's some freaky psycho-killer..." I rolled my eyes and shook my head. "Then I'm not letting you mess this up for yourself. Your creepy hermit status is officially over.”

“And you're been nothing but a pain. So don't get all high and mighty. Good chocolate milk by the way."Muscles ticked in Matthias' jaw. "It's not chocolate milk. It's Milo."I took another sip. "Well, it's good.”

“His chin rested on top of my head as he stroked my hair. "It's alright," he murmured. "I'll keep you safe.""She okay?"Ayden jerked away, dropping his hands. And me.”

“How'd you get the burn?"Ignoring him only got me a barrage of chatter."Yeah, how?"'Did something, or someone, do it?""You're bleeding.""It's her knee again.""She opened it up.""Did you fall?""You've got grass in your hair.""Were you in a fight?""How'd you get grass in your hair?""I think she was in a fight.""Leaves and some dirt, too. And...is that a feather?""You were in a fight with a bird?""Hey, how did you manage to knock Blake down?""She didn't knock me down! I caught her.""Hah! A little girl took you out.""Shut up or I'll take you out.""Her extreme velocity overcame Blake's superior mass.""I am superior.""How'd you get moving so fast?"I stopped abruptly and turned on them, arms gesturing wildly. "Shut up!”

“You're sure? I thought I heard someone.""Nope, not a soul," Blake said. "Get it. Soul. Because we're in a church.”

“My eyes ran away from his. "I don't know what you're talking about.""Your blush says otherwise.""It's - it's just hot in here."His grin deepened. "Yes, it is.""Oh, shut up.”

“I caught you!" he beamed. "See, girls really do throw themselves at me. Hey, guys!" His voice echoed off the carved stone and marble of the empty cavernous space. "Oh, come on. I save the girl and no one's around to see it?""Sorry about that," I said. "But thanks.""I don't mind. I'm a contact sport kinda guy.”

“You've got to learn to stand your ground and," she flicked her feet in a little Irish stepdance and sang, "you've got to have faith, faith, faith."My jaw dropped. "You're kidding me, right? You're dancing in the streets and quoting George Michael. I'm about to get eaten alive!”

“Want some ice cream?"His head bumped the frame. "Ouch! What?" His voice was back to normal. He turned around. "Don't offer me ice cream. I just broke into your room and threatened you.”

“Stop her!" Matthias bellowed as he thundered downstairs.Blake's mouth twisted sideways, hand tightened on the knob. What little breath I'd regained, caught. Heart sputtered to a standstill. Then he swung the door open with a sweep of his arm."After you, milday."My legs didn't hesitate. I vaulted off the porch and hit the driveway running."What the bloody hell did you do that for?!""I'm her knight in shining armor. Seriously, dude, your chivalry needs some work. Ow!”

“Are you twins?""Yes. Very good." Jayden nodded. "But not identical. Fraternal. We developed from two distinct eggs. Identical twins develop from the splitting of one egg and-""I know," I said. "I've got a pair.""Of eggs?" Jayden said.Ayden closed his eyes. I would've needed the Heimlich maneuver if I'd been eating."No." I shook my head. "No, I-""Because you've got far more than two," Jayden said in a lecturing tone. "In fact, girls are born with approximately two million eggs patiently awaiting puberty to-""Ooookay." Ayden slung an arm around Jayden and gave him a rough squeeze. "Why don't you leave something for Sex Ed class, huh?" He raised one finger and plastered on a smile. "Excuse us a minute." He dragged Jayden down the hallway where they spoke in harsh whispers.”

“What do your parents do? Do they travel a lot?"My brow wrinkled. "No, they don't." I was tired of the interrogation. "Do yours?"He blinked. "What?""Do your parents travel a lot? Are they still married? How many in your family? How old are you? What classes do you have? Boxers or briefs? What's your GPA? Do you always go around knocking strange girls off their feet and then hammering them with a barrage of personal questions?" I finished with a cocky smile.Tristan hid a grin behind his fist. Mr. Exotic levelled me a steady stare, a sly smile gaining momentum. "Do you always end up straddling the guys that do?"Tristan choked. My smile froze. Crap."And as for boxers or briefs." One hand went to his belt buckle. "I'd be happy to..."Double crap. I jabbed a thumb over my shoulder towards my house "I've gotta go.”

“Uh, do you mind?"I glanced down and saw something far scarier than any demon. A guy. My age. And I was on top of him. Straddling his hips. Oh, jeez.”

“The demons diverted its sights from me and swooped down on the yappy mutt.Dogs aren't my thing.I hate dogs. And if this one was dumb enough to sacrifice itself for me, hallelujah. I kept running.After I reversed course.Stupid dog.”

“Ironic, is it not, that the great Divinicus Nex cowers in fear from that which should be her fated prey? A decidedly diametric circumstance."What? It's irritating when the monster hunting you has a better vocabulary than your own. Maybe it could do my eulogy?”