Page 57 of Caelum

Surprised, I scolded, “If you don’t want an honest answer, don’t ask the question.” Spinning on my heel, I carried on down the path that would lead to the gardens on the west side of the property. I didn’t know what they were growing, but I liked the earthy smell and loved the view of the ocean even more.

Before I could take more than a few steps, though, his hand reached for my arm. I flinched at the strength in his grip then relaxed when he didn’t force me to look at him. He did nothing more than gently cup my elbow as he said, “Wait up.”

These prepositions would be the death of me.

I frowned at him. “Why ‘wait up?’ Why not just ‘wait?’”

He blinked. “Reed was right.”

That had me huffing. “Yes, yes. I’m some kind of Victorian throwback. I can’t help it. Explain.”

“Explain what?”

“The difference between ‘wait’ and the ‘wait up,’” I demanded impatiently.

His brow puckered as he contemplated my question. I liked the way he scowled—it made his dark brows lower over his eyes, triggering a storm within the blue orbs that reminded me of the water crashing into the shore. “They mean the same thing.”

“I gathered that. So why didn’t you just ask me to wait?”

“Because that’s not the phrase,” he mumbled, reaching up and rubbing the back of his neck.

I could tell he was regretting talking to me, but now he’d made the first move, had indicated that he didn’t want me to go even if I was odd, I asked, “Why do you hate Stefan and the others? And why did Samuel call me a slut?”

His mouth opened, then he frowned again which had him firming his lips before he eventually mumbled, “You’re very blunt, aren’t you?”

A small smile played about my lips. “Yes.”

“Brusque too.” He began to walk, and when I didn’t follow, he half-turned to beckon me to move with him.

Our feet crunched on the pebbled path. The stones were white, and they glittered under the hot rays of the sun. Tiny occlusions in the stones made them seem like they were illuminated from the inside out. Against the roaring blue of the sky, I felt like I was walking on fire.

At my side, the hundred-year-old plus facade of the building gave way to a more modern stucco, and I’d noticed that the hodgepodge of different styles reflected different eras. There was one wall that looked like it had been blasted with tiny pebbles and another built of brick. For all that, it was like walking around a prison, and I’d be the one to know having lived in one most of my life.

With my gaze on the pebbles, I let Frazer speak because I didn’t have anything of interest to say, whereas he did.

Or so I thought.

“We’ve just never gotten along.”

It was my turn to scowl. “That’s it? That’s your reasoning?”

The others had told me that he and his friends were spoiled and thought themselves better than the others, but in my interactions with Reed, and now Frazer, I hadn’t noticed that. Samuel wasn’t pleasant, but bad pennies had a habit of turning up everywhere.

Look at Dre.

Maybe he was their version of Dre, with his constant scowl, endless huffing, and his champion-level ability to make me feel like a bowl made of butter on a summer’s day—useless.

He shrugged, and I could see he was taken aback by my disappointment in his answer. “Have you ever just disliked someone from sight alone?”

I thought about Sister Elizabeth with her perfect hair and perfect face and imperfect nature that made her a cat among the pigeons… I’d had to deal with her every day when I helped out at the compound’s school. “Yes. I have.”

“Then you know what I mean.”

Though I’d ponder that at a later date, wondering who was telling the truth and who was stretching it, I asked, “Why did you follow me outside?”

He shrugged. “You seemed sad.”

My eyes flared in surprise, which was actually quite uncomfortable considering how bright it was out here. There was a difference in light on the island. A difference I’d never come across before.

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