Tails (Transformations: Book 1)

18

Aria's heart pounded and she choked on her words, not knowing what to say. She cursed herself for her stupidity and took a deep breath, trying to focus. "I wasn't trying to sneak up on you."

"Liar." The grip on her arm tightened. "Why would you have left the party and come over here, otherwise?"

"I just wanted some air and I saw someone back here." She replied, making her voice as firm as possible under the circumstances. "I don't even know you, so why would I be looking for you."

The hand on her arm loosened, as though its owner was uncertain. He grabbed her by the shoulders and turned her to face him. In the light of the full moon, she could just make out a boy her age, wearing black shorts and a red t-shirt. The shirt struck her as odd, since nobody else wore red to the parties. He had shaggy, black hair and dark eyes. As he stared at her, a bewildered look crossed his face. "You really don't know who I am?" His voice was soft and had lost his deadly tinge.

Aria stared at him, blankly. "Should I?"

He opened his mouth to answer, but was interrupted as someone shouted, "Get away from her!" Kai rushed over and stepped between them. He glared at the dark-haired boy. "Leave her alone."

The boy shrugged, as if it were unimportant. "She came looking for me. I'm allowed to defend myself."

"Did he hurt you?" Kai spoke over his shoulder to Aria, never fully taking his eyes off the other boy, as if he was concerned he might still attack.

"No." Aria managed to find her voice, again. "Not really."

"If you're so concerned, keep a closer eye on the girl." The boy told him. "Stay away from me and I stay away from you. Everyone knows that."

Kai glared at him a moment longer, then grabbed Aria's hand and dragged her away. She glanced over her shoulder at the mysterious boy once more, but he slipped behind the building and out of sight.

Freya ran over to her as she saw them coming. "Are you okay?" She looked her over.

"I'm fine." Aria assured her. She noticed Kai was still holding her hand and pulled it away. "You should really worry more about appearances, shouldn't you?"

He shrugged, not wanting to respond.

"What happened?" Freya demanded, checking her for wounds.

Aria looked back towards the building. "There was a boy...I think I startled him..."

"Alizarin attacked her." Kai explained. "There's no excuse for it." He looked at Aria. "You should be more careful. You have no idea what he's capable of doing."

She remembered that she was annoyed with Kai and looked at him. "Well, at least he didn't lie to me about who he was. Why didn't you tell me the truth?"

Kai looked away, clearly embarrassed. "I liked pretending to be normal, for a little while. I liked that you didn't treat me like an untouchable prince."

Aria was speechless. She wasn't sure why she was so mad at him. She told herself it was because he lied to her, but could she really be permitted to fuss about such a thing. An image of Sapphira hanging on his arm flashed through her mind and she did her best to push it away. She couldn't be jealous. Just listening to Kai, he sounded like a cliché fairytale character. There was no way she had feelings for such a person. They were just friends. Aria sighed. "Okay. I guess I understand that. Everybody has secrets, right?"

He smiled at her and nodded. "Shall we head back to the party, now?"

Aria nodded and allowed him to lead the way. Freya sighed as she followed them. She glanced to the side of the building where she knew Alizarin stood, hiding in the shadows as he so often did. She ran to catch up with the pair as they entered the building.