Two Tribes, page 21
part #1 of Young Atlanteans Series
Finally JJ swam to the side and, with a slosh of water, hauled himself up the chrome steps.
She took another step back at the sight of him. It was him, but it wasn’t. It felt like he’d grown as he towered over her. His skin was pale, almost grey, and the tattoos that were always there were punctuated with grey tiger-like stripes – even his face.
His arm moved out and grabbed her arm before she could scream. Stop! he said, but it entered her mind and his lips never moved.
She cowered and looked up at him, petrified, but he held onto her firmly. It was JJ but not JJ. He was different. His unusual aquamarine eyes seemed larger somehow and his face looked fierce, slashed in Vs on his forehead and cheeks. The stripes licked down his neck and onto his chest. Her scream seemed to die in her throat in absolute terror as she took the whole of him in. Ribcage. Legs. Stripes everywhere. He looked primal and dangerous, like nothing she’d ever seen before.
She stood rigid; in shock. His words – you can choose whether you want to know or not, – reverberated around her brain. Anything rather than face the one word she knew lurked there, in front of her.
This is me, JJ said straight to her mind again.
She closed her eyes, willing him to go away. Let her go to bed and wake up and this all be a dream. But when she opened them he was still there, looking soulfully at her. Waiting patiently for her to acclimatize.
Please don’t be scared. Calm down and we’ll talk. Remember, I can make it all go away … if you want, he said, with large, sad eyes.
Her heart thundered in her chest. Her first instinct was to run if her legs would actually move, but they were frozen. Until she finally let in the word she’d been too terrified to face. Alien.
And then she screamed. ‘Make it go away!’
CHAPTER 23
Xavier phoned ahead and got Paige to meet him on the corner of her road. He didn’t want to waste valuable time getting caught up with her mother or brother and sister. And, of course, he wanted her to get the full impact of his new car.
It was almost dark as he went to turn into her road. The streetlights were coming on and it felt like his blood buzzed through his veins. The roof was down and the great sounds of Lil Skies was pumping out of the state-of-the-art sound system he’d insisted was installed before it left the forecourt.
There she was. Bathed in the orange beam from a streetlight, looking paler, younger and more fragile than he remembered. His heart wobbled for an instant as he took in her blue skinny jeans and the short fake-fur jacket. Then she saw him. The small, insecure smile reminded him why he liked her and he forgot any misgivings as he pulled into the kerb. ‘Get in,’ he said, with a huge grin. He leaned over the passenger seat and opened the door for her.
She got in eagerly, eyes wide with admiration, mouthing ‘wow’ as she settled into her seat. ‘Oh my god, Xavier. Where did you get this?’
He leaned over and she met him with a small peck on the lips. Then he grinned and pulled away. ‘It’s mine. It came today.’
When she didn’t say anything, he glanced across at her. ‘Did you bring a bag?’ His eyes had already dropped to the small rucksack she clutched in her lap. She nodded, looking really nervous. ‘I said I was staying at Jade’s.’
Xavier nodded and watched the road. He kept an eye on her in small glances though. She looked as though she’d bolt at any minute. ‘Relax. It’ll be fine, I promise. We’ll talk, OK. No big deal.’
She dragged in a ragged breath and gave him that small, unsure smile again. He could tell she was trying really hard to hide her nerves, but when she wasn’t gripping her bag hard enough to turn her knuckles white, she kept pushing her hair back behind her ear with a slightly shaking hand. All tells, even if her aura wasn’t flashing indigo and purple.
They reached the wharf in no time at all. He was grateful as he was sure she wouldn’t have made it through a longer journey without making him turn around. As it was, her eyes widened in terror as he hit the key fob and the garage door opened for them to descend into the darkness under his building. The lights bloomed and he pulled into his designated parking space.
She looked terrified as the roof slowly rose behind her. He would have teased her if he wasn’t so worried she’d run. ‘Come on. I can’t wait to show you my new place.’
She forced a smile and unclipped her seat belt. Xavier jumped out and ran round to open the door for her. He helped her out and felt how much she was shaking. He couldn’t help himself, he pulled her in for a hug. She froze in his arms, but she didn’t pull away. In the end he kissed her cheek and let her go, stealing a breath of her wonderful clean soap and shampoo smell. She did look up at him and smile genuinely then. ‘OK?’ he asked.
She nodded and let out a little of her tension, so he took her hand and led her to the cage lift at the far side of the car park. He pulled it open and closed it when they were both inside with a noisy scrape and crunch of metal. ‘Shall I carry that for you?’ he said, pointing at the bag she still had clutched to her chest.
‘It’s OK,’ she said, shaking her head a little manically. He got the impression it was comforting her in some way, like a barrier between them or something.
‘OK, then.’ He pushed the button and the lift moved up with a judder.
She looked straight ahead of her, watching the five floors come and go until they got to the sixth. He stole sneaky peaks at her cute profile the whole way. ‘You don’t have to stay over if you don’t want to. I’ll take you home at any time?’ The lift came to a stop and he smiled as he pulled the cage across.
‘Thank you,’ she said, looking truly grateful. It made him mildly ashamed that, deep down, he had every intention of making her stay. She didn’t understand that she was literally the only person he wanted to celebrate his new circumstances with. He kept it to himself, though, and held out an arm for her to leave the lift.
‘JJ isn’t home,’ he said, overtaking her and putting his key in the door. He looked down into her eyes before he pushed it open. ‘I just thought it would be nice to talk, drink a little alcohol and not have to worry about driving.’
He took in her aura as she looked up, listening to him carefully. She was assessing whether she believed him or not. The red tinge of worry around her became speckled in orange. She did that when she was considering something she wasn’t sure of. She was carefully gauging him for any hint of sleazebag. He applauded her for it. Humans were too trusting. A young girl couldn’t be too careful.
He smiled a little, giving her the strong hint that he knew and she visibly relaxed. Then he pushed open the door with a, ‘Ta-dah!’ and all nerves seemed forgotten.
Paige wandered into the apartment, looking around her. The bag she had been clutching was soon being dragged along the polished concrete floor.
Xavier quietly closed the door and followed her, smiling, taking in every nuance of her reaction. She seemed awestruck. It was exactly what he was going for.
She looked up at the vaulted ceiling, threaded with silver industrial air ducts. Then her eyes went straight to the aquarium – you couldn’t miss it – and the expensive art pieces along the far wall of exposed brick. She ran her hand along the burnished-metal countertop of the industrial style kitchen. She almost ran to the window to check out the view – which was pretty spectacular over London and the canal below. She pointed at his huge bed, soft and inviting with its throw in autumn russets and browns, and hitched a breath at the glass door next to it, calling you to venture out to the terrace. Everything rolled perfectly from one to the other. ‘It’s like one of those huge lofts single guys always have in the films,’ she said, whirling around to him, eyes sparkling with excitement.
Xavier was grinning widely.
‘Alexa, play some Russ!’ he called out.
‘Playing Russ,’ the female voice replied immediately.
‘It’s amazing, Xavier.’
‘Make yourself comfortable,’ he said, going to the fridge and taking out the bottle of champagne he’d stashed to cool earlier. He watched her pick up a few of the small sculptures and books he’d bought, examine them and put them back down. She seemed genuinely interested in them. In her day-to-day life she was a diamond in a yard of coal that nobody noticed because she was still in the rough. Both he and JJ had been brought up to appreciate beautiful things and to honour what separated a species like Atlanteans and humans from the animals. He could see it would grow in Paige too, with the encouragement he planned to give her. ‘How do you afford all this?’ she said, holding a Philip Jackson that probably cost more than her mother earned in a month.
He smiled ruefully and passed her a glass of champagne. ‘Drink … then we’ll talk.’
She took the flute and took a sip. Her face brightened. ‘Fizzy,’ she said with a giggle. ‘I’ve had this at my cousin’s wedding.’
He smiled, hiding his sadness. It was Dom Pérignon, so he doubted that very much. Her eyes stayed rooted to his, watching his reaction. Looking for the slightest hint he was mocking her, trying to work out just how rich and powerful his family was. All the while he calculated how near the truth he wanted to go with her.
He held out an arm for her to join him on the black leather sofa while he checked off a list in his head. Did he want to have sex with her? Yes. Did he intend to carry on seeing her after? Probably. Did he want to get to know her? Yes. Then, as he took his seat, the most poignant question of all: did he want her to get close to him? Maybe. Possibly. Which led him to the killer, real issue: did he want her to trust him? He leaned back and let out a long breath, because he knew the answer to that was yes. He wanted her to know and like him no matter who he was. For some reason that was extremely important to him. Maybe parts of JJ were rubbing off on him. He got sick of playing a part because of duty.
However, despite all of the above being true, he would have to take his time and reveal little truths in increments. He didn’t want to scare her off or put her in any kind of danger. The less she knew, the safer it was for her. He’d need to walk a fine line.
She sat at the far end of the sofa, turning her body to face him so her lower leg was across the cushion. She was sipping her drink and still looking around her. He leaned forward and topped up her glass and sat back, mirroring her position with a creak of expensive leather. He waved her on with a hand. ‘Ask me your questions and I’ll do my best to answer them honestly.’ It felt fairly safe. She couldn’t possibly touch on the truth; it was too far out of her experience.
Her eyes widened with excitement as if they were playing a game, then darted about as if she was scrambling in her mind for just the right question before the small window of opportunity closed.
‘It’s OK,’ he said, laughing. ‘We have all night. There isn’t a time limit on them.’
She nodded and relaxed back into her seat. Then she took a large gulp of her drink. ‘OK,’ she said as if gathering her thoughts. ‘Tell me who you really are.’
He paused for a beat and frowned a little. She was waiting on his words, excitedly, but it struck him how truly knowing her question was and that it was now or never for honesty. What he said then would set the tone for their whole relationship. She seemed so vulnerable and small he convinced himself he just wanted to protect her, so he cautiously gave her his full name. ‘Xavier Michelangelo Sebastian Dubonnetti, eldest son of Dante Dubonnetti and Tia Bonaci Storm.’ He was watching her closely while he debated whether to continue. She seemed undaunted and nodded in encouragement for him to continue. So he did. ‘King and Queen of the Atlantean nation.’
For a moment she looked at him and blinked in absolute silence. It went on for so long he felt an overwhelming urge to say, ‘gotcha’. But he kept quiet, held eye contact and kept the gravity of the situation. He wanted her to get it, he really did.
Understanding entered her face slowly, like the filling of a cup. Until it was full and she had to preserve it from spilling over and losing valuable drops. Her perfectly arched eyebrows drew together. ‘You’re serious,’ she said flatly. ‘And JJ?’
He nodded, grateful she wasn’t freaking out. It was a good question – a great question, in fact. The one at the nub of it all. ‘Eldest son of Jay Gardiner – adopted son of the Dubonnetti, Bonaci, Santalini and Floriann royal families, former king and lover of Tia Bonaci Storm. My half-brother and equal heir to the crown.’
Her eyes widened with every damning detail and the dawning realization that he wasn’t joking. ‘Oh my god. You are.’
He searched her face, mapping the honesty of it. She had no guile or game. What you saw was truly what you got. Then he frowned as a smile crept across it.
‘So where is your nemesis now?’
He burst out laughing. He couldn’t help himself and she joined him. It was pretty funny, with the champagne helping, of course. ‘Chasing Latitia Johnson, I expect.’
It seemed to fuel their laughter and suddenly everything was hysterically funny, like the lid suddenly blown off a pressure cooker. His stomach hurt from laughing so much.
‘So why are you here, in this dump,’ she said, rolling her eyes exaggeratedly at their opulent surroundings, and they laughed hard again.
It wasn’t going at all how he imagined. As he held his sides, trying to get sensible, he thought how much he was enjoying himself with her. He thought she’d get upset and then he’d have to comfort her and sneak his way into her affections that way. Instead, he looked at her in semi-amazement and appreciated she’d be a much harder nut to crack. ‘Punishment,’ he said, simply. ‘To teach us how the other half live.’
She sobered instantly, realizing he was serious.
‘We got kicked out of our exclusive New Hampshire school. It was the last straw.’
Suddenly her face had transformed to real concern. ‘What for?’
‘Fighting.’ Then he couldn’t help the slow grin. ‘Womanizing – JJ, was, anyway.’
She laughed a little. ‘Of course,’ she mimicked. ‘So let me get this straight,’ she said, looking up at the ceiling. ‘You’re supposed to be slumming it with the Johnsons – wait! How do you even know the Johnsons? Doesn’t matter,’ she said, dismissing it with a hand. ‘So you moved out and spent your dad’s money on this place?’
He smiled and tipped his head. She was a clever girl and he knew exactly where her mind was going. ‘That’s right. Temporarily. We plan on getting our own revenue source, eventually.’
She looked concerned again. ‘Doesn’t living here kind of fly in the face of what your dad’s trying to teach you?’
He tipped his head again, smiling wider. He shouldn’t be surprised that she wasn’t like most girls, gushing that they were there with a prince. Paige immediately got that it wasn’t as important as why he was there in the first place. ‘Or you could argue that this is exactly what my father was going for. Reaching our potential and dealing with loads of the people we will one day oversee.’ As the last of his words left his mouth, he saw that he’d fallen right into her clever little trap. He grinned and his eyes dropped to her mouth. She was frighteningly brilliant and he imagined all the delicious things he’d like to do with her.
‘Then what are you hoping to achieve with me?’ She said it sadly, as if she totally knew the answer to that.
Words disappeared. Patter was never going to cut it. Xavier slid across the leather in one fluid move. She was warm and in his arms in a single second and he was kissing her. Long, deep and glorious; it was what he’d been thinking of doing all along. One hand tangled in her hair and the other pulling her backside closer so she was forced to climb into his lap and he relished it. The taste, the softness; all that encased the fiercely sexy, diamond-sharp mind. She drove him wild. Actions were the way to communicate with this girl. She would see straight through bullshit and he loved that.
When he finally pulled apart for air, her eyes looked bewildered and desolate. ‘What’s the matter?’ he said, panicking he’d read it all wrong and at the same time knowing he hadn’t because her aura was pulsing the rainbow.
‘What’s the matter?’ she said, nonplussed. ‘It’s great you like me, Xavier, but don’t you think it’s a kind of given that you’re on a time limit here? I’m a one night, one week, maybe a month tops, event in your otherwise busy life.’
Her eyes were accusing him and he understood.
‘I’m just a placeholder, Xavier,’ she said sadly as a final full stop to his libido. ‘Even I know that.’
He frowned, suddenly angry with her. ‘Even you?’ he repeated, putting her away from him and standing up abruptly from his seat. He looked around at all the ridiculous, pointless things he’d bought that weekend. It was partly to anger his father in his usual competition with JJ, but a lot of it was to impress Paige. It had seemed imperative to take the opportunity while JJ was away. He pushed his hand up through his hair in frustration, because in a lot of ways she was right.
‘You’ll soon have a new pet project.’ She stood up too and began to search around until her eyes landed on her bag that she’d let go of a few feet away.
In that moment he understood how completely self-centred he’d been. He half laughed to himself at how right his father had been to send them there. It wasn’t a game to people like Paige. This was her life and he had no right to toy with it. ‘I’m sorry,’ he said, watching her bend to retrieve her bag. ‘You’re right and I didn’t get it, but I do now.’ He held out a hand for her to take.
She looked at it, unsure, then allowed him to lead her back to the sofa. ‘Can I get a glass of water, please?’
‘Sure,’ he said, going to the kitchen area, filling a tumbler and bringing it back to her.
He watched her drink the whole glass down in unladylike gulps and he wondered if it was to give herself time to think or to clear her head from the champagne. He decided there and then that to salvage this he’d need to let her know how he felt, maybe for the first time in his life. ‘I genuinely like you, Paige. I admire your ambition. You’re clever – much cleverer than me.’
