Page 102 of The Fallen Ones

I’d gotten so caught up in my artwork that I’d forgotten all about my date with Brandon. Not only that, the Fallen Ones had kept me on my toes. It had only been a few days before that one turned up outside Caleb’s workplace and had his way with me. While I wanted the Fallen Ones, I wasn’t sure if they were serious about me and unmasking. I told myself I’d continue on with Brandon though because he wasn’t so bad and treated me good. I knew I’d been told to ditch him, but I needed more than commands to change my life like that.

Lily: Yes, of course. What time did we say?

Brandon: You didn’t forget, did you?

His tone seemed a little off, but I put it down to my overthinking. I often thought people were angry with me when they weren’t. I was so used to that growing up the way I had.

Lily: No. I’m just checking the time to make sure I’m ready.

Brandon: I’ll come grab you at six. Wear something sexy.

I read his message and felt a little uneasy at his suggestion I wear something sexy. I guessed he didn’t mean anything by it, but it was a weird thing to say to someone you’d only just gone on a few dates with. It seemed like something you’d say to someone you were established and comfortable with.

I frowned down at the message and decided to just roll with it because maybe he was comfortable with me and it didn’t mean anything.

Lily: OK. See you at six.

I shot him the final message then tucked my phone back into jean pocket.

I worked a little long before deciding I’d finish my painting later. I needed to get ready for my date and wanted to shower and wash the dried paint from my hands and face.

As I got ready, I couldn’t shake my thoughts on whether I was doing the right thing by going out with Brandon. I felt like maybe I was playing with fire seeing him and letting the Fallen Oneshave me whenever they felt like. They’d already made it known they wanted me to drop Brandon. It was the same old argument in my head though. With the holidays approaching, the last thing I wanted was to spend another one alone. I had Caleb, but I tended to shy away from seeing him on Christmas because I didn’t want to interfere with his family’s stuff. He swore up and down it wasn’t interfering, but it still didn’t feel right despite me actually liking his family.

Maybe having Brandon for the holidays could make it a brighter time for me. Maybe our relationship would blossom and become more. This little voice in the back of my mind said he wasn’t the one I wanted more with and I really did need to cut it off now rather than later.

I sighed, wishing I just had the answers to everything. What mattered most right now was getting the names of the Fallen Ones. I’d asked Liv for an update, but she said every lead came up blank. She was equally as clueless as I was.

Even Caleb had no idea. I’d have thought someone would have a clue and would have slipped up on it. Nothing so far though.

There was a knock on my apartment door as I ran my lip gloss over my red stained lips.

To my surprise it was Caleb.

“Damn, Lil bit. You look stunning. Where you off to?” His eyes widened as he looked me up and down.

My face heated at his reaction. He always made me feel so pretty.

“I have a date,” I replied.

“Oh, I completely forgot about your date. I just wanted to give you this.” He handed me a small gift bag.

“What is it?” I asked taking it from him.

“Take a look.” He nodded toward the back.

I pulled the bag open and looked at the gift he’d brought me.

It was a beautiful set of real horse hair paintbrushes and a tiny blank porcelain seahorse.

“I love it. Caleb you really shouldn’t have,” I said throwing my arms around him.

“I saw it and thought you’d like it. I remember how much your mom loved seahorses. I figured you could paint it for her.” His words ripped into my heart causing a lump to crawl its way up my throat.

“You’re going to make me cry. Thank you so much. You really are the best.” I hugged him tighter while fighting back tears that threatened to spill all over his shoulder. Caleb held me back. Having his arms around me always made me feel like I was safe and untouchable by anything that could ever hurt me or break my heart. He gave the best hugs.

“This looks cozy,” Brandon said as he stepped out the elevator and moved towards us. I pulled quickly away from Caleb and caught the look of irritation cloud his handsome feature as Brandon approached us.

“Caleb brought a seahorse for me to paint,” I explained, my heart racing as I looked back and forth between the pair.

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