Free Elemental Reality by Cesya Cuono Page A

emerald green eyes—same as Oli’s—sparkled in the kitchen light, and her voice was dulcet with a rich Australian accent. She strolled out of the kitchen and to the foot of the stairs. “Oli, there’s someone here to see you,” she called up as she flipped her curly, auburn hair over her shoulder.
    A couple seconds later, I heard the soft pad of footsteps coming down the stairs. I watched his sister—I assumed—intently as she crossed her arms over her chest. Oli’s hand appeared on the banister. He must have said something in a hushed voice because she nodded toward the kitchen. When he stepped around her his eyes fell on me, and he immediately perked up. I stood as he entered the kitchen. He pulled me into an embrace, which I gratefully relaxed into. I wrapped my arms around his back, and we stayed like that for a few seconds before I figured out what I was going to say.
    “I’m sorry,” I whispered into his chest.
    “It’s not your fault, Kitten,” he said as he placed his hand on the back of my head in comfort.
    I was shocked. Not my fault? How was it not my fault? I left with another guy, as far as he understood.
    “I should have never left with him. I didn’t want to, but I wasn’t strong enough to overpower the darkness,” I mumbled, almost incoherent in my tears. “Though I did break through for a few seconds.” He stiffened at my admittance. I picked my head off his chest and glanced up. “What’s wrong?”
    “What darkness are you talking about, Kitten?”
    I hesitated for a second, but the concern on his face was genuine. “The one that secluded my thoughts and turned me into his puppet,” I said as if it was a normal, everyday occurrence. Anguish clouded his otherwise chiseled features. “I’m sorry. Don’t be upset with me. I pummeled through the darkness right before he kissed me. Then I may have kneed him in the groin.” I beamed at the memory.
    “You . . . what?” He looked astonished and pained.
    “I kneed him after I screamed in his face. He was startled and confused, so during his confusion I let him have it.” My frantic words turned nervous all of a sudden. He was going to think I’d escaped from the mental institute. “You know with the kneeing.” I mimicked the motion, facing away from him. “And the-the crushing of important manly bits.”
    He cupped my face, running the pads of his thumbs over my cheeks and smiled at my rambling. “Callie, you’re special.”
    I stiffened at his words. “That’s the second time I’ve heard that tonight. What’s so special about me? My stellar international business skills?”
    “More than you realize.” He stared at me in adoration.
    Right. I sucked in a much-needed breath. “Why didn’t you come after me, Oli? Why’d you just stand there and scowl at me?”
    “Kitten.” He sounded frustrated. “That look wasn’t meant for you; it was meant for him .” He gritted his teeth on the last word.
    “Him? You mean Cayden?”
    “Yes,” he growled.
    I tugged his hands off my face and stepped back, crossing my arms over my chest. “You know him?” My voice was accusatory.
    His eyebrows scrunched together, a frown splayed on his face. “Not personally. I know of him and what he’s capable of doing.”
    I inched back further and narrowed my eyes. “How?”
    “It’s . . . complicated.”
    “Let me get this straight. You’re telling me you let me leave with someone who is capable of making another person feel, basically, like a black hole? Void of everything except their secluded thoughts?” I roared.
    “I didn’t let you do anything.” His voice softened to lessen the blow of his words. “If I had been able to move from my spot, I would have been there in a heartbeat, taking you away from him. But that same darkness blocked me from helping you. I would have done anything to come after you, Kitten. Anything.” He looked anguished.
    “Why would it block you from me?”
    “Because we’re—” His words were