Chapter 28

Jade sighed and turned slowly in a circle, winding the chain of the swing a few more times. She lifted her feet off the ground to let her chair unravel, and spun around, bouncing from side to side, done with these dark conversations that seemed to be creeping further and further into her life. When the world was a blur of green grass, blue sky, and sunlight streaking past her eyes, unidentifiable except for the array of colors, she felt much more at peace all the worries seemed to slip away when there was nothing to focus on but the wind in her hair and the dizzying of her brain.
When the twirling stopped, Jade looked at Aiden, who watched her with a slight smile finally showing on his features. She let her feet fall to the wood chips, took a few steps back to gain some leverage, and then released, surging forward. She pumped her feet, using her arms for extra power, and propelled herself forward with every lean back and thrust of her legs.
Aiden began to swing next to her, catching up to her height quickly with his longer legs. Their clothes fluttered in the breeze and her hair flew all around her. Her butt jumped off the seat as she started beating gravity’s pull, just for a moment, and she felt like a kid again, she thought she could swing high enough to flip over the bar and even gain wings, like a fairy.
Finally, the time came when she knew she couldn’t go any higher. She pulled her forearms and shins in, racing backward one more time, and then gravity shoved her forward. Leaning back, she stretched her feet out and let go of the swing. The seat slid out from underneath her as she catapulted forward, flying through the air until the ground seemed to rise up and smack against her feet. She rolled forward, falling onto the grass beyond the corral while dead leaves crunched into her hair.
She turned her head, watching Aiden as he landed beside her with a thud and a somersault. Then they both started laughing.
"I haven’t done that in years," she said as she stared at the sky. She watched the clouds blow by, changing from white to smoky ebony to brilliant gold as they passed in front of the sun.
"Me neither. I think I can wait another few years before trying it again though I can feel a massive bruise growing on my butt right now." He groaned and rolled over onto his stomach.
"Home?" Jade said, wondering if they had talked about Benjamin enough, hoping Aiden had all the answers he needed for the moment.
"Home," he said and slowly stood up. He leaned over her, grabbed the hand she offered, and pulled her from the ground. She dusted the dirt and squashed leaves from her clothes and followed him to the car.
The ride home was safe, they steered clear of demon-related topics and instead talked about their friends and the holidays. Every time she looked at him, she knew he was only half-present. He was her guardian and her friend, and she knew he must be worried about her safety, but she couldn’t think of anything else she could do.
As they turned the corner onto her street, Aiden slammed on the brakes and her head almost flew through the front windshield because she had tucked her seatbelt behind her back.
"Aiden! What the hell?" She whipped around to berate him but noticed the hard look in his eyes. Turning her head slowly, she followed his line of vision as it trailed right to the steps of her front porch to Benjamin who sat casually against the rail.
Jade’s pulse raced at the sight of him. The whites of his eyes reflected the headlights and seemed to glow, while the rest of him, dressed in dark jeans and a black shirt, melted into the night. He saw the car and gracefully stood up, like a cat easing out of a nap. Jade smiled at him, feeling giddy, before twisting back around to say her goodbye to Aiden.
He, she noticed, was not smiling at all. Instead, he had a viselike grip on the steering wheel. His stare was so forceful, that Jade feared beams of sunlight would burst from his pupils and melt his windshield.
"Aiden?"
He twisted his hands around the wheel and his entire body tensed up, and Jade noticed the bulge of muscles under his long-sleeve shirt.
"Aiden?" She hesitantly extended her hand, barely touching his shoulder before he snapped his attention to her.
"Look, Jade, I tried to be a good friend and stay calm, I did, but how can you be so blind?" He took his hands from the wheel, running his fingers through his hair, practically ripping the strands from his scalp. "He’s a killer, okay? A killer. It’s what they are. Every time he sees you, part of him wants to kill you and I know he promised it wouldn't happen, but you’re a fool to believe him."
She reached for his arms, trying in vain to calm him down. She tried to speak, but he cut her off.
"No, okay, no you have to hear this. He lives on drinking human blood their very essence do you understand? And he’s going to live forever while you get old and die, and there is nothing, absolutely nothing in this world that will change that and even if you wanted to become a demon, you couldn’t. There’s no need to risk your life being with him when he’ll just kill you eventually." He was yelling now. "Maybe not now, but what about when you’re old and he still looks eighteen? What then? He’d kill you while you slept, and you wouldn't even know until it’s too late because you trust him."
He had made the word trust sound revolting, and she listened to his every word, not thinking of any response. The door behind her swung open and Jade jolted backward, into the hardness of what she knew could only be Benjamin’s chest.
"While I love seeing you act like a complete ass, Aiden, I’ve heard enough. I won’t sit here and listen to you talk crap about me. If you want to tell me something, say it to my face or shut up."
Jade watched Aiden grow angrier by the second she was too afraid to move, fearful that any action she took would add fuel to the already blazing fire.
"Jade?" Benjamin asked, and a hand stretched out in front of her, offering escape.
"Stop." Aiden grabbed her around the wrist.
Yup, Jade thought, I’ll just stay right here and not move a muscle. Aiden was glaring at a spot just over her shoulder, and based on the tingle prickling her neck, she guessed Benjamin’s face was right about at that spot.
They sat like that for what seemed like an hour to her... a complete standoff before Aiden released her hand. For a futile moment, she thought that he had relented and was going to end the absurdly egotistical fight. But then he reached for the handle, jumped out of the driver’s seat, and sprinted around the front of the car with his hand extended. Jade knew what he was doing before the fire shot from his hand.
"Aiden!" she shouted to no avail.
Benjamin was hit right in the chest with the full force of Aiden’s power. He flew off the ground, sailing through the air to land on his back. She knew he could have run away had he wanted to, that the fire was hurting him but was meant to remove him more than to harm him. Still, he let Aiden attack, not fighting back, but she saw the strain on his features and the taut pull of his lips.
She leaped from the car, directly into Aiden’s flames, and let them absorb into her body. It was the first time she had absorbed another Seraphina's power. She felt electrified from the tips of her toes to the top of her head. She let his power funnel into her, felt it spread throughout her limbs and warm her, and she almost began to feel like she was pulling the power from Aiden rather than him pushing it into her.
"Aiden, you have to stop someone might see."
He waited a second, full of internal struggles and rage, before ending his onslaught.
"Listen to me," she said, silencing him by covering his lips with her hand when he started to protest. "No, listen. This thing with Benjamin is something I have to do. I know you don’t understand it I know you hate it, but I need you to respect my decisions and let him be." She released his mouth, but he remained silent.
She stepped back, forming a triangle between them, looking from one boy to the other. "This goes for both of you, no fighting. None at all, or I will figure out something terrible to do to both of you. So, stop, I’m not some toy to fight over. I make my own choices, and nothing will change that. So, Aiden, go home."
A series of emotions fluttered across his face, from anger toward Benjamin to embarrassment over his actions, to what Jade dared say was apologetic for her sake. Regardless, he silently walked to the other side of his car, hopped in, and drove away without looking back.
"Well, now that he’s gone…" Benjamin supplied, and Jade faced him, noting the smug smile as he sauntered over and tried to hug her.
"Hold on." She put her palm against his chest, stopping him. "Thank you for not fighting him or running away, but you can’t taunt him either, which you know perfectly well was your intention when you opened the door." He had the decency to look guilty. "Promise?"
"Promise," he murmured, looking like a little boy whose favorite video game had just been taken away. But then his features brightened. "Care to seal it with a kiss?"
Jade’s insides felt like mush instantly. Her annoyance melted away to make room for the butterflies now flying in her stomach. She reached up and kissed him on the lips, ending it too soon because she was afraid her parents would walk outside at any moment after all of the commotion.
"What did you come over for anyway?" she questioned, all of a sudden curious to know why he had been waiting outside her house.
"I saw you and Aiden leave I just wanted to see how everything went. Clearly, not all that well." She shrugged. "Until about ten minutes ago, things were going great." She presented him with a wry smile, but he became suddenly alert and jerked his head toward her house.
"Your mom is about to come outside."
Jade’s eyes widened and she pushed him away. "Hide!"
A moment later, the front door creaked open. "Jade, honey? Is that you?"
"Yeah, Mom." She walked closer to the house and out of the darkness.
"I’m just making a phone call, be right in."
Her mother nodded, concern flashing in her features, before retreating inside the house.
"Movie?" Benjamin asked from somewhere beyond her sight. She nodded, because what else could you do if a hot guy asked to watch a movie with you in your bedroom? Jade knew he would sneak in silently and she prayed there were no stray pairs of underwear littering the floor when he got there.