"Really?" I asked, taking in the quiet solitude of the island. It was as different as night and day from his perch on the Empire State Building.
"It's peaceful," he said, lying back in the sand and closing his eyes, perfectly at ease.
I wondered if he had forgotten about our near-kiss at Anthony's as I lay down beside him, closing my eyes also. Without opening his eyes, Emrys reached over and laced his fingers through mine. We lay there without speaking, cushioned by the soft sand beneath us, listening to the small waves gently crash on the shore. The warm sun on my face made me drowsy. I yawned heavily, realizing suddenly how exhausted I really was. I'd barely slept during the last forty-eight hours, coupled with the fact that I had traveled to three time zones in one day making my legs feel like they were incased in cement. I tried to fight off my drowsiness, but I couldn't help dozing off. Just before sleep pulled me completely under, I felt his lips on the pulse point of my wrist.
CHAPTER NINE
The sound of raised voices woke me from a deep sleep. I sat up disoriented, expecting to see the ocean in front of me, but instead I saw that I was in my own room. Emrys, of course, was nowhere to be found.
"Damn him," I said, glancing at the clock on my nightstand table. It showed ten o'clock, and judging by the darkness outside, it was obviously the evening.
I stood up and swung my legs off the bed. "Great," I grumbled, noticing the sand that now coated my bed sheets. My skin felt gritty from the layer of sand that still covered my arms. I brushed it off as best I could, and desperately needed a shower, but with the raised voices hitting a higher octave, it was probably best to face the music sooner than later.
It was no surprise to see everyone in the living room when I entered. It's what they did in a crisis.
Everyone looked my way at once, taking in my disheveled appearance. I probably should have at least run a brush through my hair before I made my grand entrance.
"What happened to you?" Krista gasped, dragging me in for a tight hug before pulling back and wrinkling her nose in distaste. "You smell like seaweed. Where have you been?" she asked as her voice turned shrill. She was clearly pissed.
"Just around," I said, not sure what to tell her. I'm sure getting a tattoo in Shanghai wouldn't go over well at the moment.
"Jordyn?" Haniel commanded.
"Haniel," I mocked him. "It sucks to be kept in the dark, doesn't it?" I said, working to ignore Krista's hurt expression.
"Jordyn, that's enough," Mark said in a loud booming voice as he wrapped his arm around Krista. "We're all kept in the dark about some things, but that doesn't give you the right to disrespect us. We've bent over backward to welcome you into our home, and you repay us by mocking our rules and throwing our words back in our faces."
His words cut me to the core. He had every right to be angry. My beef was with Haniel, not the Guides and Protectors. They'd all welcomed me in and treated me like I belonged, despite our differences.
Worst of all was Lynn, who looked so conflicted, like she didn't know what to think about me at the moment. By snapping at Krista, I was hurting their whole group. That's how they worked. Lynn and I may be best friends, but her loyalty would always belong to those in her group. At that moment, I felt every bit the outsider that I was.
My stomach felt like I'd swallowed a bowling ball, but I spoke up. "You're right," I said remorsefully as my eyes welled up. "You guys don't deserve my disrespect, but you also need to understand that I'm almost an adult. If I was a normal person, I'd be heading off to college in the fall all on my own. You guys should be less worried about me, knowing I can take care of myself."
"Yes, but even with your gifts, it doesn't help if your mind is being bent by thatTrader," Krista said, grimacing over the word Trader like it had left a foul taste in her mouth.
"I…" I bit back the urge to argue with her. The air felt sticky with their prejudice and narrow-minded beliefs. For a moment, I debated coming clean about the whole mind-bending thing, but if I admitted it now, they'd be even more pissed.
"Can we talk about this later? I need to take a shower," I said, indicating my arms that still had patches of the light powdered sand clinging to them.
Krista and Haniel tried to answer at the same time.
"Not until you tell us where you were!" Haniel puffed out, sounding like a disgruntled parent.
"Of course you can," Krista answered, glaring at Haniel.
I turned, relieved to walk away when something that had been nagging at the back of my mind resurfaced. I turned back around to address Haniel. "If you were so concerned about me, why didn't you come get me?" I asked, genuinely curious.
"The Soul Trader shielded your location," Haniel answered calmly.
I nodded, trying to control my laughter. Emrys was no dummy. Whatever tricks a Soul Trader had, obviously even Haniel couldn't police them the way he would like. No wonder he was so pissed.
Reaching the bathroom, I was startled when I saw my reflection in the mirror. Krista's assessment was dead on. I looked like something that even the cat wouldn't want to drag in. My hair was matted and grimy from lying in the sand. A small patch of sand was stuck to my left cheek, and my clothes looked like I had dragged them behind a dune buggy. That fricking Emrys. I guarantee he laughed his ass off, knowing the reaction I would get to how I looked. I pulled off my shirt in frustration and tossed it on the floor.
"Jordyn, I brought you my bottle of deep moisturizing conditioner," Krista said, stepping into my bathroom only to come to an abrupt halt when she spotted my tattoo. "What is that?" she asked in a strangled voice.
Her question was a bit dense since it was quite obvious what it was. "Um, a butterfly," I answered, playing dumb.
"I know it's a butterfly. What the hell is it doing on your back?"