Flame of Frost (The Caelestian Chronicles: Book #1)

Chapter 11 - Lupus? Wait... You mean literally?

Boy, was I wrong. This day got weirder.

"Can I come in?" Lupus asks.
After a moment, I shake my head and then manage to nod.

An old, humorous memory strikes me.
I was eleven. Young Grace was sitting beside me in the automaton craft class, flushed, as a young boy with sandy blonde hair helped her to attach the wiring. Lupus.

The LED eyes glowed blue. Grace jumped, wrapping her arms around Lupus as she planted a kiss on his cheek and his face became red.

The younger me laughed and started singing: "Lupus and Grace sitting in a tree. K-I-S-S-I-N-G."

Then Lupus stood up and said, "I— er, Mr. Winston is calling me. Bye." And then he gave me that 'I'll kill you later' look and took off.

"You like him, don't you?" I asked Grace.
She flushed even more and shook her head. Liar.

"No?" I pressed on.

"No."

"Are you sure? Because—"

"Yes, I am sure."

"Because—" I whispered. "Lup said he liked you."

Grace's unnerving silver eyes lighted up like the moon. "H-He did?"

Actually, he hadn't but I was just messing with her. "Yes, maybe."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"It means that maybe he wants to know if you like him?"

She looked down. And muttered something almost inaudible. "I like him. I like him a lot, Lex."

I smiled. "I know."

My plan of uniting them turned to rubbles when Lupus left two years ago.

"I have to go," he had said to me, eyes glassy with tears. "My u— dad won't listen."

I was pretty sure I was crying myself. He was my best friend, just as close to me as Grace. After all, we grew up together, travelled from city to city together.

Grace enveloped him into a hug and sobbed. "Don't leave, please. Please," she muttered against his chest.
He wrapped his arm around her and gestured to me with his other arm for a group hug.
I obliged.

He closed his eyes straining to keep away the tears. "I will miss you guys. A lot." A tear escaped his eye and fell onto my forehead.

"Let me talk to your dad," I told him. "I can convince him, I'm very convincing."

"I know that, don't I?" He chuckled humorlessly. "He cannot meet you, though. I told him but..." He shook his head.
Grace sobbed again, keeping her arm tight around him as if it'll keep him from leaving. Lup kissed her forehead.

"Keep in touch, will you?" I asked.

He winced. "I will."
Although, he never did.

Blinding rage takes over me as I stride to Lupus and grab his collar.
"Where the hell—?"

He laughs. He laughed. The nerve!
"Stop laughing! Where the hell were you? You never picked our convos! You just disappeared!" I start screaming, remembering how him leaving destroyed Grace. "And you come back now and act like nothing happened, you as—"

He envelopes me in a bear hug, cutting off the curse-bomb I was about to drop. "Yeah, I missed you too."

I hate myself for it, but I surrender. The happiness of seeing my old friend again made me forget all the bad things that happened today and before. I pull away. Lupus has grown as tall as Austin, maybe more. With his pointed nose, ears and wolfish features — which go well with his name — he looks like he is preying on almost everything he lays his eyes on. Though that spark of kindness in his eyes, it's still there.