Whispers

Amendments

With Sasha’s death—murder—plaguing his thoughts, and the voices insisting he find her killer, Lucius sought solace in Karina’s presence after a sleepless night. He stared at his face in the mirror for only a second—seeing the dark shadows under his eyes—and knew he needed to see her. He tried to distract himself by reading, working out, staring into the fire, but nothing helped. His sheets were rumpled from all the tossing and turning.

Making the decision, he set aside his whispering for the day. He wouldn’t be able to concentrate anyway. Seeing a dead whisperer was a shock to his system.

For beings who were supposed to live forever, Sasha’s still body was a grim reminder that they were not immortal. That their existence could easily be ended by those more powerful than they were. Lucius’ life came close to ending if not for the girl he couldn’t wait until the end of the day to be with. He sucked up his pride and followed her around school like a lap dog she didn’t know was there.

At the back of his mind, he knew what he was doing was creepy. He was officially stalking her. And the worst part was he couldn’t stop himself.

The voices would only shut up when he was near her. He needed the break from the yammering badly. The sigh of relief that came out of him when he walked through the double doors by her side made his body shudder. Since he couldn’t just go to school and pretend to be a student, he had to content himself with shadowing her.

It wasn't so bad until he almost walked into the girl's bathroom with her before the first period. He hadn't been paying attention to where they were going. Luckily, he noticed the round sign with the stick figure of a girl in a dress on the door in time.

He gave her the privacy she needed by leaning against the wall by the door. By the volume of conversation, there were quite a few of them inside. The day hadn’t even started and already they needed to face a mirror. Girls, Lucius shook his head. Never in his centuries would he ever understand them. A greater mystery there was none.

What delighted him were the greetings Karina received. Everywhere she went classmates and schoolmates stopped to say “good morning” or a quick “hello.” If he had doubted Karina’s popularity—not that he ever did since their afternoon at the merchant’s alley—all of those doubts were gone. While she was in the bathroom, the girls with her chatted merrily, Karina chimed in every few sentences exchanged. Then one girl asked something that aroused Lucius’ interest.

“How’s Ben doing, Karina?” a girl with an unusually high-pitched voice asked.

A long pause.

It seemed to grow silent inside the bathroom. Lucius had to stop himself from reaching out with his senses so he could see what was going on. But, just as his patience was at its limit, Karina spoke.

“He’s doing great,” she said. “I’m actually planning on seeing him today.”

A stab of panic pinched at Lucius’ heart. Was Ben the boy in the picture?

Again, thoughts of Karina having a boyfriend polluted his mind. She said their time at the amusement park was a date. There was nothing in her manner that indicated she was lying to him. And, if she was lying, Lucius would have known. He steeled himself for the truth. He needed to get to the bottom of who this Ben person was.

“Please tell him to get well soon, okay?” a girl with an accent Lucius couldn’t identify because it was so faint said.

“I will,” Karina said as she walked out of the bathroom.

The slight strain on her face wasn’t lost on Lucius. In fact, he almost forgot he was invisible to her because he was about to hold her hand and ask her if she was all right. He held back. But when she stopped in front of her locker, just staring at the lock without making a move to punch in the combination, Lucius reached out and touched her hand. Karina squeaked, quickly examining her hand like it had been bitten by an insect. She looked around. Students were hurrying to first period behind her.

For one second, her traveling gaze landed on Lucius. It was crazy for him to hope she had seen him, or at least sense his presence, but he knew better.

As if woken up from her stupor, she quickly opened her locker and made a book swap. The warning bell rang. She slammed the locker shut, did an about face and hurried to her classroom. Lucius had to sprint to keep up with her.

Lucius skidded to a stop when Karina ducked into one of the rooms. Electric shivers ran down his spine. Memories of the day Tommy changed Blackwood High replayed in Lucius’ mind.

As he stepped inside to stand at the back corner nearest the door, guilt weighed on his chest. He had been responsible for the tributes all over the school for those who had lost their lives that day. He had been the one who thought he could make a difference and used Tommy as his solution.

Standing inside the same classroom, recalling the scene over and over again, Lucius wasn’t sure he had done the right thing. That whispering may go down in whisperer history as one of his best—he had certainly earned his page in the chronicles—but he finally understood it wasn’t his proudest moment. In fact, in all his centuries whispering, he couldn’t think of one thing he could be proud of.

Sinking deeper into shame and remorse, Lucius endured the rest of the day. Karina had no idea he was with her, and the darker his mood became, the more thankful he was that she couldn’t see him. She would definitely ask what was bothering him, and he wouldn’t be able to give her a proper answer. Telling the truth would be fruitless. He would have to explain what he was to actually get her to understand. But despite the initial apprehension, he was intrigued to see how she would react to the truth.

Suppressing insane thoughts of revealing what he was to her, Lucius watched Karina pick out an apple, an egg sandwich, and bottled water from the lunch counter. He wanted to carry the tray for her.

When she turned around, so many hands came up, waving her to sit with them. Karina smiled at all of them graciously and took her lunch outside. She walked across the lawn to a magnolia tree. Surprisingly, for that time of the year, it was still in bloom. The sweetness of its blossoms relaxed the riot of nerves in Lucius. He arranged himself beside Karina, a large root coming between them. He leaned back and looked up at the blue sky. The kind of blue that mimicked Karina’s eyes.

And without caring, he started speaking even if he knew she couldn’t hear him. “The first time I saw you, I was dying. I thought you were an angel come to take me to my resting place. You were so beautiful, looking down at me with your fiery hair raining down on me. I thought to myself, if you were the last thing I saw, it was okay for everything to end there.”

He sighed. Karina bit into her apple. Its crunch louder than what Lucius thought it would be. It was odd that she would choose to eat alone when there was a whole cafeteria willing to have her sit at their table. Not that he was complaining. Having her to himself, even for a few minutes, was more than he could ask for.

“But you saved me,” he continued, watching the leaves move in the breeze, sunlight passing between them. "You didn't even know who I was, and yet, you wanted to help me. You didn't think twice about it. What kind of human would do such a thing?" After a pause, he answered his own question. "A selfless one. You are the most giving, most caring, most compassionate human I've ever known and believe me when I say I've met my share of humans. With what I do for a living . . .”

He let his words trail off, the breeze ruffling his sable hair. To sit there with Karina, her quietly eating was the most relaxing activity. It beat being on a beach somewhere.

“I’m a very bad person, Karina. I don’t know what you think of me, but it’s true. If only you knew what I’d done all these years. What I did to Tommy.” His voice hitched, caught in a throat that hurt. Tears welled up and spilled over. “I don’t deserve to live. I know that much. I don’t know what to do with myself anymore. When I was standing in that classroom again, I knew what I had done wasn’t right. Desmond, he’s my best friend, was right to be worried. I watched Tommy pull out that gun knowing I’d suggested to him everything he was about to do. I watched and I didn’t do anything to stop him. Not that I could, mind you. But that’s not the point.” He rested his arm across his eyes, hiding his shame from the world. “I was ready to die, but you wouldn’t let me. Of course, you don’t remember that you saved me, but I remember. As I started to get to know you, I began to see you were more than just a pretty face. You were more angelic than I could have ever thought. I didn’t even know humans like you existed. You give so much of yourself, and I find that so amazing. I tried to stay away. I thought I would poison your purity with my presence. That’s why I kept leaving. But no matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t stay away. I always needed to see you, be with you. You silence the voices in my head. And more than that, you’ve given me something to live for. Something that I want to protect. You of all people cannot be hurt. You cannot be harmed. The world needs someone like you too much, and I’d do anything in my power to keep it that way.”

Lucius wiped away his tears, galvanized by his conviction. He had found his purpose. He wasn’t just a whisperer anymore. He was a being that had enough power to keep Karina safe. Granted, there weren’t any immediate threats to her wellbeing, but he wanted to keep it that way. It was the only way he could make up for all those years of whispering. If he could save souls through Karina, then he would make it happen.

Karina dusted breadcrumbs from her hand before she stood up and took her tray back to the cafeteria. Every step Lucius took for the rest of the afternoon was lighter after he had made his decision. No matter what happened between him and Karina, he would be there for her.

When the final bell finally signaled the end of the day, Lucius flashed himself to across the street from the school and waited. He ran his fingers through his hair, adjusted his jacket, made sure his aviators were on properly. Excitement sparked in him. Finally having her see him felt better than anything else. Having her talk to him. Touching her. No words could describe the feelings that went through him.

The moment she stepped through those double doors, her hair hanging over her shoulders, she took his breath away. It was like he was seeing her for the first time. Something inside him said he would never tire of seeing her. He craved it too much.

And when her eyes met his and she smiled, it was like seeing the sun rise for the first time. Angels could be singing arias and Lucius wouldn’t hear them, all that he was focused on the girl who ran across the street toward him. He matched her smile with one of his own. He took her bag from her shoulder and held her hand. The warmth of her skin on his felt like the first hint of summer in the air.

“Hi,” he said, unashamed to rake his gaze hungrily over her face. He traced every line, every curve, committing everything to memory. Taking a mental picture of her.

“Hi,” she said back, her gaze just as eager as his.

They stood there for the longest time just looking into each other’s eyes, not speaking. The parking lot of Blackwood High emptied and the students dispersed without them noticing. Karina blinked once and shifted all her weight on her toes, using them to give her the inches she needed to reach Lucius’ lips. And in the most delicious second of his life, Lucius knew he was home.

It was a chaste kiss. Tentative. Almost unsure.

Karina broke contact and searched his face.

Without hesitation, he gathered her into the circle of his arms, molding her soft curves to the hard planes of his, and bent down to claim her lips with his own. He supported all her weight when she wrapped her arms around his neck.

At some point, Karina’s feet no longer touched the ground. Lucius nipped at her lower lip, causing her to gasp. The heat of their bodies collided, creating a cocoon around them, sealing them inside their own world of touch and sensation. If Lucius didn’t feel the hardness of the pavement beneath his feet, he was sure they had floated off the ground to join the fireworks he was sure burst in the sky above them. Karina kissed him like he was breath for her, hungry and eager to take him in. He matched her enthusiasm with his own, never wanting the contact to end.

His world turned upside down when the tip of her tongue touched his. It was a supercharged touch. Like he had stuck a paperclip into a socket, therefore, short-circuiting the power grid. He felt tingles all over his body. He couldn’t have her close enough. He hugged her so tightly that he wondered if she could still breathe. The crush of his body on hers must have been suffocating, but she didn’t break free. He slid his hands down her back, relishing its elegant line. She tangled her fingers in his hair before closing them into a fist. The hurt adding to the pleasure her lips gave.

He didn’t know how long they kissed. It could have been minutes. It could have been hours. He had lost complete track of time. And when Karina finally pulled away, he had to suppress a groan.

The emptiness the lack of her touch was too great to bear. It was made worse by her pink cheeks and kiss swollen lips. He wanted to keep going, but he was also sure that if he did, he would have to explain to her why he had teleported them to his bedroom. He was so close to having them both horizontal on his king-sized bed that a part of him was thankful she had the presence of mind to stop.

But she wasn’t helping his shattered control by biting her lower lip and smiling up at him. He wanted to take that full lip between his teeth and nibble his way to wherever she would let him reach. It was wrong of him to imagine her on his bed, her pale skin setting off his dark sheets, but he was a guy, after all. Something would be wrong with him if he didn’t let himself go there.

One thing he knew, he was a goner. Never would he know a life without Karina in it. Everything before her was a dull gray. The kiss they shared ruined him for the rest of the women out in the world. He would never allow himself to know the lips of another when he had the best standing right in front of him. He prayed she would let him stay by her side forever because without her he would have nothing. It scared him. Very much so. He already knew she had this kind of power over him, but now that he had allowed himself to accept it fully, it was terrifying to have his whole being depend on this fragile human being, so easily hurt, so easily destroyed.

He pushed away the morbid thoughts with extreme prejudice. He didn’t want to spoil the moment.

“Thank you,” he said. Surely she saw how he felt in his eyes. It was too obvious to deny.

"For what?" she asked softly like they were sharing a secret with each other.

“For being you.”

She blushed, amazement in the blue depths of her eyes. He bent down and gave her a quick kiss on each cheekbone. The sweet scent of her perfume so unique to her that he was sure every time he smelled anything with a hint of lilac, vanilla, or orange blossom, he would think of her.

“What do you want to do today?” he asked, aware the sun had dipped further down the horizon from the length of the shadows on the street.

He stepped back, giving her some space to breathe. They had shared a pretty intense few minutes and he wanted her to process. He already knew how he felt. He wanted her to make her own decisions when it came to him, so he would give her the time she needed. But if that kiss was any indicator, he was very confident with himself.

“Will you go with me somewhere?” she said, not taking her eyes from his face.

She kept searching like she was reading every expression that he showed her. He didn't mind. He actually wanted her to look at no one else but him.

“Anywhere.” He spoke the truth. He would go anywhere with her, no questions asked. And, as if to prove his point, he took her hand and planted a kiss on her palm. “I’d follow you anywhere,” he whispered over the lines on her hand.

She gasped, surprise entering the sweetness of her face. He paused a second, gazing into her eyes, hoping he hadn’t scared her with the declaration.

She answered him with a shy smile, lacing her fingers with his. Lucius held in his relief. Everything was too new, too tentative that it was like walking on glass. If he made a single mistake, he would surely bleed.

Then she spoke the inevitable: “There’s someone I want you to meet.”