Under The Starlight (Book Two of Three: The Light Series) (Finished)

Chapter Two

Fang let the two men stare at each other while she took the bag off of Caleb's shoulder. It was frigging cold. As suspected, he had clothes for her. She smiled. Caleb had always been so reliable. She unfolded the jeans, found a plain black t-shirt, and couldn't help the way her smile widened as she discovered the panties and bra. He really did think of everything. She dressed quickly before returning to the bag. There were socks and a beautiful pair of black buckle boots with no heel. 

She slipped them on, then turned to face the men again. Neither of them had moved. She rolled her eyes. Forget Tobi and all his issues a moment, she had something she needed to do. Immediately. She had waited way too long to do this. She grabbed Caleb's shoulder and spun him to face her. She took hold of his shirt collar and pulled him down to her, kissing him roughly. 

Caleb stepped closer, wrapping an arm around her waist and cupping her cheek with his free hand as he kissed her back. Their lips parted simultaneously as the kiss deepened. She moved her arms, wrapping one around his neck and tangling her fingers in his hair. This needed to be done. She had been in love with Caleb for years but Raven had always told her a relationship with him would be out of the question. 

Just as things were getting heavy- and getting good- a loud throat clearing broke the mood. Caleb pulled away and Fang looked over to Tobi, annoyed. "Excuse me," She glared. He crossed his arms and held her gaze. "Don't you think we have important things to figure out?" He challenged her. She sighed. He was right. She would just have to undress Caleb later.  

She stepped away from him and ran a hand through her hair. 

"Fang, what happened?" Caleb asked her gently. 

She turned to look at him. "I was hoping you could tell me. I don't know how I got here, or why I wasn't with you." 

Caleb let out a sigh. "It's worse than I thought. It's gotten you, too." 

Fang furrowed her brow. "What do you mean, me too? What's going on?"

Caleb rubbed the back of his neck and took a seat on a fallen tree nearby. She followed and sat next to him. Tobi folded himself down on the ground several feet away from them. He looked like he was pouting, but Fang hardly had the time or the energy to care.

"It started after you left-"

Fang cut Caleb off almost immediately. "What? What do you mean I left? Willingly? Why?" 

Caleb looked at her a moment, expectantly. She bit her lip and he continued. "After your first transformation, you became distant. It was a few months before you made your move, but you announced that you didn't belong and then you left. We tried to stop you, but you were determined. You outmaneuvered us and then you vanished. We looked for you, but we couldn't find where you'd gone." He chuckled a bit. "You are a brilliant woman. You manipulated the connection in our heads so that we could still speak when you chose to, but I couldn't see where you were."

Fang shook her head as he spoke, but remained silent. She couldn't help but smirk a little. Leave it to her to be able to block the psychic at will. She listened as Caleb continued.

"A few months after you left... Raven started having... signs." He looked away, and Fang's heart nearly stopped. "She started forgetting things. We didn't think anything of it at first, but then... it got worse. She was forgetting things that she shouldn't have. Who we were, who she was. You noticed I'm alone?" He turned back to her. She nodded. "That's because the others are looking for Raven. She ran, just like you did. It wasn't because she was angry with us, but because she was afraid." 

He sighed and rubbed the back of his neck. "Alixica, Raven is gone. The others are all looking for her. She's in danger."

"WHAT?!" Fang shot to her feet. "What do you mean, she's gone?! Where could she have even- how could you have-" She paused, taking a deep breath and running her hands through her hair. "Okay. What's our next move? Where are we meeting them?" She turned to Caleb.

"We aren't-" He began, but Fang cut him off again.

"What do you mean we aren't?" She gaped at him, walking forward and dropping down so their foreheads were touching. "Caleb, why aren't we going after my sister?" She looked him dead in the eye, her heart thundering in her ears. Fear coursed through her. 

His gaze didn't waver from hers. "Alixica, you and I are-"

"No, us and him." She interrupted again, turning her head to look at Tobi. He'd been sitting cross-legged on the ground, eyes wide. He blinked rapidly before a crooked grin came across his face. He rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly. 

"Why?" Caleb's voice was cold.

"Because I've been trying to get away from him for a bit and every time we get too far apart, I start to fade. So does he. We separate, we die." Fang spoke matter-of-factly as if she had some idea as to why and the entire thing didn't confuse her. 

Caleb sighed. "Fine. We are going to England."

Fang's brow furrowed. "Why the hell do we need to go there?"

"Because we believe that's where everything started. And unless we figure out what exactly you and Raven are, it's very likely that the two of you are going to die."