“You cannot talk to him anymore Eden; you have to end whatever there is between you.” Avalon softened his voice, almost pleading with me.

“There is nothing between us,” I replied just as softly; but my lips burned from the memory of our kiss. I looked out the window and watched the scenery fly by as Avalon drove a hundred miles an hour.

“Do not lie to me,” he said sternly. “Eden, don’t lie to yourself. He is dangerous and.... evil. You have no idea what you are getting yourself into. You cannot be so reckless,” Avalon’s eyes turned hard as he stared at the road ahead of him. I didn’t know how to respond to his allegations; I didn’t know why he hated Kiran so much. But I did know that Kiran was not evil and that he was not dangerous; at the same time an uneasy feeling washed over me and a small pit of fear began to grow in my stomach.

“There is nothing between us, really,” I tried to sound confident, but my voice was tiny and far off.

“Promise me you will not let it get farther than what it is right now. Promise me you will stay away from him,” Avalon turned to face me and the look on his face was enough to make me promise anything. I quickly shook my head “yes” and reached out to grab his hand. His skin was cold and when I touched it the magic easily flowed between us. My senses became even clearer and my magic became instantly stronger, rushing quickly throughout my body.

“He will take that away from you,” Avalon said sadly, and I understood that he was referencing our magic. “You have to trust me Eden.”

“I do,” I said simply, knowing that it was the complete truth. Whatever it was about Avalon, and whatever happened to our magic when we were together, I knew it was no mistake. I trusted him completely, and I knew he would only do what was best for me. I did not know however, if I could keep my promise to him and stay away from Kiran.

The rest of the drive home was made in silence. Avalon’s eyes never softened. I could feel his magic on edge and irritated. I could feel him always searching our perimeter, looking for other signs of magic. I was not sure what he was looking for, but it made me nervous.

Avalon pulled into the same spot on the street that he took the Lexus from what seemed like hours ago. He parked it perfectly and I relaxed a little, realizing he brought it back in excellent condition. We got out of the car, silent still and he walked me to the door.

I expect to say goodbye to him at the doorstep, but when I unlocked the front door and turned around to say goodnight, I realized he was following me inside.

“Where’s Sylvia?” Avalon asked. He began to search the downstairs of my house as if expecting to find an intruder. My throat closed in nervousness, wondering what exactly he was looking for.

“Um, I think she’ll be at the hospital all night,” I noticed that Avalon called my aunt “Sylvia” and I couldn’t remember ever giving him her full name.

“I better stay here tonight. Do you mind?” he didn’t wait for an answer, but walked over to the wicker basket of blankets behind the oversized couch and pulled out a large, warm quilt.

“I guess not,” I debated whether to be annoyed or scared, but in the end I decided I trusted him; and so I walked over to the linen closet and grabbed him a few feather pillows.

“Goodnight, Eden,” Avalon plopped down on the couch and pulled the blanket over him without even taking off his shoes.

“Goodnight, Avalon,” I replied and made my way up the stairs and into the quiet safety of my bedroom. What a night.

Chapter Twenty-Four

“It looks like you’ve made a new best friend,” Kiran’s crisp accent whispered in my ear from behind. He scared me so I turned too quickly to face him and our noses bumped. A shot of electricity rushed through my blood as we were less than millimeters apart from each other. And then I blushed as I remembered our kiss from the other night.

“What do you mean?” I asked, praying my breath had recovered from lunch.

“The new kid, it looks like you two are getting along well,” he sat down next to me at the lab table. Lilly was usually my chemistry partner, but because of her prolonged absence I was alone today.

“Avalon is um, nice,” I was not quite sure what Kiran was getting at; but almost positive he was just trying to extract some reaction from me.

I turned my attention back to my work, not really sure what to do. Both Avalon and Principal Saint had told me countless times to keep my distance from Kiran and I’d done my best, but Kiran hadn’t been given the same directions.

Well, actually he had been told to stay away from me; he just had the luxury of being able to do whatever he wanted. I found that a tiny bit irritating.

“I bet he is,” Kiran grunted and I realized for the first time that Kiran was jealous of Avalon. I couldn’t hold back a smile. I looked over at Avalon who was partnered with Adelaide Meyer, extricating her from her usual table with the “holy trinity”. Despite her separation from Seraphina and Evangeline she seemed completely at ease. Well at least she was completely drooling over Avalon, finding any excuse possible to touch him; my stomach churned violently, but not from jealousy.

More like I had an internal need to protect him. I found this weird, since we just met not that long ago, but the feeling remained despite that fact. I stared at them for a few seconds longer wondering if Avalon enjoyed the attention or was as annoyed with her as I was just watching them. Yuck.

“Have you met him yet?” I asked, half joking. I pretended to focus more intently on the busy work Mr. Hayman assigned, carefully looking up answers from the Table of Elements.

“No, not yet. I mean he did manage to break into my private club and all, but I wouldn’t say that we have met properly. Would you care to introduce us?” his English accent was the epitome of gentlemen-like behavior, but I noticed his eyes roll and shoulders slump a little.

“My pleasure,” I mumbled. I glanced again at Avalon understanding why all of the girls fawned over him, but that didn’t mean I necessarily felt the same way. He had turned into my only friend since Lilly’s absence and we had a lot of fun together, well at least a lot of excitement together. But he was definitely only a friend.

I had tried to like him. I had tried to play his games; but I couldn’t keep up. Besides I was pretty confident he was not the least bit interested in me. We were it seemed, just friends. Actually I didn’t even know if I could say that. He at least preferred to talk with me more than the other girls, but I just couldn’t figure him out.

If I understood Kiran’s feelings for me, or non-feelings for me, maybe I could have understood his jealousy, but at the moment it didn’t make any sense. Avalon and I usually sat together and talked together, but it was completely platonic. Kiran hadn’t tried to do very much of either since he kissed me. I guessed since he figured out who I was, I was no longer a curiosity; he probably got bored.

I touched my fingers to my lips remembering his passion. The back of my neck got hot suddenly and the electricity surged through my veins. Confusing or not, the memory of his lips against mine made me dizzy. I noticed that Kiran’s eyes were also on my lips and he was wearing his signature smirk.

“Is he taking you to the Fall Equinox dance?” Kiran pried, forcing his eyes from my mouth deep into my own.

“Hmmm…. I don’t know,” I tried to be coy, but knew that I would say no even if Avalon did ask; dancing was not really my thing. “Who are you taking?” I asked, taking the attention off myself. I already knew the answer though; in fact, the whole school knew the answer. It wasn’t like Seraphina was very quiet about their relationship anymore.

I was not totally sure if it was because she thought I was a threat to her precious relationship, or if she was scared that Kiran really wasn’t that into her; but whatever the reason, she was no longer reserved about her feelings. Every chance Seraphina got, she was all over him, or bragging about him. She loved to talk loudly about what Kiran bought her, or where he took her. Kiran remained silent, but was always by her side lately.

“Are you going to the dance?” he avoided my question.

“No, probably not.” I decided to be honest. I couldn’t play these games; I wasn’t any good at them.

“Why not?” Kiran asked sounding a little panicked.

“Well dances are not really my thing, besides I don’t want to go alone. Avalon and I really are just friends,” I put my pencil down and looked out the window. I’d been talking to Kiran for too long and felt like I was going to get into trouble.

Principal Saint warned me every time I saw him to stay away from Kiran, especially since he caught me at Kiran’s club the other night. As helpful as he had been in finally shedding some light on who I was; I found staying away from Kiran the hardest thing he had asked me to do. I understood that he hadn’t asked much of me, but there was something about Kiran that I was unable to keep myself from.

“Well you don’t have to go alone. You could um, come with us,” he sounded sincere, and I flashed him a grave look. He had got to be kidding me. A third wheel to a date between Kiran and Seraphina, no thank you.

“Sounds fun, but I think I’ll pass. Besides what would your girlfriend have to say about that?” I rolled my eyes.

“Well, maybe you could double with Talbott?” he suggested softly. “He doesn’t have a date yet.” This was getting ridiculous.

“Yeah…. maybe,” I laughed sarcastically, “Thanks, but no thanks your Majesty.” The bell rang and I was thankful to be done with Kingsley, at least for the day.

“That’s not funny,” he said defensively. I gathered my things, hoping that this conversation was over. If he followed me out the door and Principal Saint saw me talking to him, I was going to be in big trouble. “Eden, please wait,” he grabbed my wrist gently and I turned to look at him. Something in his eyes looked sad, like he was sorry for something.

“I just think that you would have fun if you came to the dance,” he gave me a saddened version of his custom smirk, and his eyes twinkled a little bit. The rest of the class was quickly leaving and I was afraid we would be alone in a second.

“Really, I can’t dance. If I went, it wouldn’t be fun for anyone…. trust me,” I tried to sound sincere, but my voice was breathy as Kiran pulled me a little closer, his fingers left my wrist and intertwine themselves with my fingers.

“Eden, are you ready?” Avalon was beside me and in an almost defensive stance. Oh no. I remembered my promise to Avalon and felt guilty for indulging myself with Kiran too long.

“Yes, almost,” I turned and smiled at him, refusing to drop my hand from Kiran’s. What was wrong with me? My magic flared at the memories of the last time we were this close and I regretted the fact that we were at school.

“Come on, let’s go,” Avalon’s voice was anxious and I was surprised that he was so impatient. The usually focused and clearer sensory perception that came from being around him felt tense and put me on edge. Avalon glared at Kiran, but every once in a while he turned to give me an impatient frown.