Demon kissed: demon kissed

Chapter 16

Shannon emerged from the crowd with a surprised look on her face. She inserted herself between Collin and I, and then pulled me away from the staring eyes of the crowd we'd attracted. Nothing was said. Nothing had to be. I could see the look on her face, and I saw the thanks she nodded at Collin before she drove me home.

Soaked to the bone, I sat in her car, and blasted the heater in my face. Every attempt was made not to take out my anger on Shannon. I did something incredibly stupid, and got caught.

After a long silence she said, "Dumping you in cold water was the best thing he coulda did for you." Turning my wet head, I stared at her. My eyebrow shot up, as my mouth fell open. She was siding with him? "No," she said. "I'm serious. For Martis, cold water is like a reset button. It has the same shocking effect that cold water has on humans, but without any of the risk of hypothermia. The cold is supposed to purge ailments from immortals. Did it help?"

"Help?" I chattered. "Help! No, it didn't help. He threw me in cold water, in front of everyone. Now, I'll be the wet virgin. Awh, suck. That's so much worse!" My head slumped forward, as I clutched my face.

"Ivy, you're an idiot," her sharp words shot through my pride in a way uniquely Shannon. "I'm not talking about your social standing. There's no way that little display helped your social life. Although the skaters may avoid you now." She smiled, suppressing a laugh. "Did it help you purge whatever was bugging you? I'm assuming the idea of being around Eric, and knowing who he is, had you freaked. Are you better now?"

"Maybe." She glared at me while I sulked. "Okay, yes. It helped. That's gone for now. But won't it just come back?"

She glanced at me out of the corner of her eye, "Only if you let it." Her face took on a star struck expression. "I wish I had enough guts to throw you in a fountain." She laughed, "It's almost like he knew that would snap you out of it. Too bad he's not a Martis." She wagged her eyebrows at me.

I stared at her in disbelief. "Awh crap, Shan. Now you like him? You can't like him. You hate his guts. He hates you. You can't like each other. My head will implode."

The car came to a stop, a few doors down from my house. She smiled at me. "Maybe he's not so bad. I mean, he kept you from indulging your inner-Valefar. Ivy, Martis don't sleep around. That could have damaged the ratio of your inner good to bad. We don't know what hurls you into the prophecy. Collin may have kept you from making a huge mistake." She shrugged, "So, maybe he's not so bad."

"Come inside. I need to tell you something—about him—and me." Seeing an odd look cross her face, I quickly added, "And it's not what you think."

After I changed into dry clothes, I felt better. Oddly, the dunk didn't leave me chilled all night. It felt more like jumping into a cool pool on an insanely hot day. I felt refreshed, and the crushing fear was gone. Shannon sat at the foot of my bed. I plopped down on the pillows by the headboard.

"Shannon," I said, "I think I've done something to Collin. I didn't tell anyone else about it, because I thought it might be Valefar induced."

Shannon nodded, green eyes widening. "Ivy, what'd you do?"

Taking a deep breath, I continued, "I don't know. He can hear me. And I can hear him. It's like mind reading, but more vivid. This sounds weird, but it feels like our spirits are intertwined—like we're bonded or something. Tell me you've heard of this?" I gripped my fingers tightly.

She leaned back against the wall, looking very intrigued. "It's only with Collin? Not anyone else?"

I nodded, "Only him."

"Hmmm. Seyers have unique powers the rest of us don't, but I'm not aware of anything like this. But, it doesn't mean it's not there. It means I'm not a Seyer." She pulled her hair over her shoulder, twirling the ends.