Chapter 8

I froze in the buttery soft red leather seat, mouth going suddenly dry. My top lip stuck to my teeth when I repeated his words. “You have a Guardian Angel?” It came out sounding more like a statement than a question.

Vycandor nodded, face unreadable. “Yeah. She just showed up one day claiming to be an angel of light.”

My forehead crinkled in surprise. “And you didn't believe her?”

He shook his head slowly back and forth, never taking his eyes off the road. “No. Not at first. I thought she was an escapee from the local psych hospital.”

“What made you change your mind?”

“She attempted to explain that the closer I came to turning sixteen, the more an emotionally charged power growing inside me would become more and more difficult to control if it wasn't balanced.”

I nodded. “Been there, done that." When he failed to continue I spurred him on. "So what happened next?”

Jaws clenching together with the memory, his fingers tightened around the shiny red steering wheel. “You might find this hard to believe, Chaos, but I'm the type of person who doesn't enjoy losing control.”

“You're right, I find that hard to believe.” I might have sounded more convincing if sarcasm hadn't leaked into my voice.

Vycandor glanced my way, but only for a second. “You think you're funny.”

I couldn't decide if he was asking me, or telling me.

I shrugged indifferently. “Only a lot.”

“Well, it wasn't funny when I had an outburst and almost killed Uncle Edgar. That's when I fled up to the keep, abandoned my restraint, and...”

“Went all Elsa by creating your own ice palace of solitude,” I finished for him.

Vycandor cocked an eyebrow at me. “Who's Elsa?”

“A Disney Princess with cryokinetic powers like yours,” I replied matter-of-factly.

He pressed his cherry red lips together to keep from smiling and failed miserably. “Well, this isn't a Disney movie, Chaos. This is real life. My life,” he added as if I hadn't pretty much experienced the exact same things. With the exception of the ice palace, that is. I had my trusty barn to escape to when I needed solitude, which suited me just fine. Between the two of us, there was only one Princess in this car.

And it sure as hell wasn't me.

Breaking into my stream of mental babble, Vycandor's voice became insistent. “If Courtney hadn't shown up when she did, I'd probably still be holed up in my turret chamber.”

I put up my free hand to interrupt him. “Wait. Who's Courtney?”

His smile eased, but it didn't erase the tension around his eyes. “She's my Guardian Angel. Haven't you been paying attention?”

My breath blew out in a huff. “Paying attention is over-rated. Speaking of angels, how much time did you spend with her anyway?” I added as if I didn't care. But I did. I totally did.

Vycandor craned his neck in an attempt to listen to something. “Is that what I think it is?”

I shifted forward in the seat, mouth hanging open like a fish. “What? What do you hear?”

“The sound of you being jealous of Courtney.”

I snapped my mouth shut and turned away so he couldn't see me blushing furiously.

Vycandor enjoyed his little victory, then said, “She taught me not only to control my powers, but how to use them as well. However, she's not the one who showed me where to find you." I was just about to ask him how he managed to find me when he lifted my hand to his lips. Still mad at him I tried to pull it back out of anger, but he refused to release me. Ever so tenderly he pressed a kiss to my index finger, before closing his lips around it. I shivered when I felt his tongue begin to swirl feverishly, pulling me deeper and deeper into his mouth – tempting me, teasing me, taunting me. Energy rose from his flesh like steam off a hot tub – the swirling power rising between us.

He bit down unexpectedly, causing me to yank back my injured hand. It wasn't from pain exactly. Although something felt like it ripped me wide open on the inside, leaving a gaping wound that made me yip in surprise, and left me feeling oddly exposed at the same time. The burning sensation that followed left me panting for more of whatever had just happened. I didn't even have words to describe it, but the only thing that came close was hunger.

It took a few frozen seconds for the throbbing pain in my finger to finally register. "Ouch! Why'd you bite me?”

His brow creased in surprise. “Did you just feel that?”

I held up my punctured appendage. “Yeah. I did.”

Vycandor grabbed my hand and squeezed. “No. I mean did you feel...that?”

I felt something alright. Red. Hot. Anger.

But there was also something else.

Something much, much deeper than anger. Deeper than pain. Deeper than even the worst hunger imaginable. He may have tasted my blood, but I tasted his yearning for me.

Reluctantly, I abandoned my own stubbornness and turned to face him.

Vycandor drew in a ragged breath. “You asked me to explain how I found you. That's how.”

I repeated the question because I didn't think he heard me the first time. “Why'd you bite me?”

Heaving a sigh, he admitted the truth. “Chaos, I crave you with an intensity I have no words to explain. That's why I had to show you. To make you understand. Courtney didn't have to lead me to you. I found you because I was meant to find you. The only question I have now is whether or not you feel the same way.”

I had to take a moment to stop and think. Surely I couldn't fall that easily into Vycandor's game of chase. Truth be told he had me right where he wanted me; my heart locked in a silver cage.  I took comfort in the fact that I still held the key to my freedom.

At least, for now anyway.

Waiting for my answer, his head swiveled from the highway to me and back again. A fine dew of sweat began to sheen on his forehead at the possibility that I didn't feel the same way. I knew only too well the feeling of unrequited love. The familiar pull of two opposites attracting made my resistance feel more like a drowning swimmer desperately reaching out to be saved. Without Thomas there to rescue me, Vycandor became my life ring and I intended to hold onto him with all my might.

Unable to meet his eyes that threatened to pull me under again, I covered my face in shame. With the admission I threw away the key and my only chance at freedom.

“It's true. I crave you.”

________________________________________________________

Please remember to vote!!!!  Even if you're not a fan of Chaos and Vycandor. Just remember, when it comes to Chaos, nothing is ever as it seems. Thomas may be gone at the moment, but he is not forgotten. I promise. Thanks for all your support!!!!