Caloric
Chapter 21

“Do I really have to get in there?” Phoenyx complained.

“Yes, you do,” Sebastian said. “You promised. Although, I have to admit, I’m loving just looking at you in that bikini.”

She stuck her tongue out at him. Then she sucked in a breath and held it as she dipped her toe into the bubbling hot water. It actually felt not totally horrible, so she let her foot fall farther and farther until it was flat against the first step of the hot tub.

“Come on, Phoenyx, just take the leap and get all the way in,” Skylar encouraged, sitting across from Sebastian with his arms resting back on either side of the top of the tub.

Sebastian grabbed her hand and pulled her in, gracefully and easily spinning her to catch her on his lap. The splash of the warm water on her legs and stomach sent goose bumps all over but the fact that she was on Sebastian’s lap made up for the felinic discomfort of being partially submerged.

“You are such a brat!” she whined.

“Aha, but admit it, this isn’t as bad as you thought it would be,” he said.

She shrugged.

“Well then, let me make you more comfortable,” he said. He held one side of her face and kissed her.

Oh, those lips could dissolve all the tension in the world. She gave in eagerly, instantly wanting more. They had not had any alone time together since escaping yesterday morning, and the one thing she still wanted more than anything had yet to be attained.

After they left the lodge, they first went to a diner and ate until they were all sick. Then they decided it would be best to go to the hospital and get themselves checked out. There was no way they could tell anyone what actually happened to them—“we were kidnapped and tortured by a secret society that tried to steal our powers from us because we are the four elements in living form.” No, they’d all get thrown in a loony bin, and it would just call a bunch of unnecessary attention. No reason to get the cops involved in a threat that was already eradicated. So they came up with a story encompassing all the bad things they’d gone through so the doctors would know what to look for, but that wouldn’t cause any trouble: they all went to some party, got drunk, had something slipped into their drinks—to give an explanation for the tranquilizers and chloroform they’d all been given. Then, while they were in a pool, someone accidentally kicked a radio in and they got shocked—to give an explanation for them all having been partially electrocuted. The effort of making up the lie and going to the hospital had been wasted because they all turned out to be fine, save for being abnormally malnourished, and the doctors lectured them about drinking less and eating more.

After a few hours at the hospital and a while preparing what they were going to say, Phoenyx and Lily both called their parents. As she suspected, Phoenyx’s mom had no idea there was anything wrong. She had been slightly concerned that Phoenyx hadn’t returned her three phone calls but assumed Phoenyx was just having a lot of fun meeting new people and getting settled in.

Lily’s parents were a completely different story; they had totally freaked out. Lily had never been away from home for more than a day before and, in those cases, her parents knew where she was and when she’d be home. Lily had been gone for over a week and they had no idea where she was or what could have happened to her. Naturally her parents had the cops going crazy looking for her.

So Lily made up a quite ingenious excuse. Apparently, she had pledged a fancy sorority on campus and, as initiation, the sorority kidnapped all the pledges and took them to a camp where they were put through a week of challenges in which they were not allowed to contact anyone. Lily went along with it because this sorority would look good on her resume. Her parents would be pleased to know that the week away from home made her reconsider the sorority and she wouldn’t join. Lily was an exceptional liar considering that chances were she never lied to her parents before in her life. She told them she would be home in two days.

After all they went through, Skylar and Sebastian thought they all needed a day of fun together to celebrate their freedom, so last night they flew them all first class to Las Vegas to stay in one of their favorite hotels, Caesar’s Palace. They promised they would buy the girls a flight home tomorrow, and they spent the day living it up and relaxing. Since this was their last night all together, Phoenyx figured she’d live up to the promise she made to Sebastian the night they met. Tonight she would make sure they had some time alone, in his room.

“All right, I got the champagne,” Lily said, coming over to the hot tub in her adorable little purple bikini with a skirt bottom, carrying a bottle of champagne in one hand and four tiny glasses in the other. She slipped into the tub and sat next to Skylar, and he did the honors of popping it open and pouring a glass for everyone.

“To freedom,” Skylar said, raising his glass.

“To being a bunch of extremely good looking, super powerful bad-asses,” Sebastian said as he raised his glass, making them all laugh.

“So, wait, you’re telling me I actually made the ground shake?” Lily asked after taking a sip.

“Yeah, you did,” Phoenyx said. “You scared the hell out of everyone. Who knew you had it in you.”

Lily blushed, still unable to get her mind around it. “I just can’t believe it.”

“I still can’t believe I missed it all,” Skylar said. “Seeing it through the two of your minds is okay but I would have loved to see them all get what they deserved with my own eyes.”

“It doesn’t matter now,” Sebastian said. “All that matters is we’re free and life is beautiful.”

“So, what’s next for all of us?” Phoenyx asked. “Lily, I know you’re going back to college in Seattle.”

“Yes but I definitely want to visit you guys on winter break,” Lily said. “I’m actually really going to miss you all. Now that we all have working cell phones again, you’d better all text me every day.”

They laughed and all assured they would keep in contact.

“My classes start in five days. What about you two, what are your plans?” Phoenyx asked, fishing for an answer about where she stood with Sebastian.

“Well, funny you should mention that,” Sebastian said. “Skylar and I were talking last night and we decided…maybe we could both use a bit of an education.”

“An education? You mean college?” she asked.

“Yeah, as a matter of fact, UCLA doesn’t look too bad,” Sebastian said.

“Really? You’re going to leave behind a world of riches and luxury in Las Vegas to go to school in LA?” she pressed, trying to hide her hopefulness.

“Yep,” Sebastian said with a big smile. “We both have a ton of money saved up and, whenever we need more, it’s a short flight from LA to Vegas. I figure I’ll study business, or marine biology, or maybe law with how much I get in trouble.”

She laughed giddily.

“What are you going to study, Skylar?” she asked.

“I’ve always had an interest in Physics,” he said. “Seeing as we’re all a bit of a scientific phenomenon, it might be worthwhile to study.”

“Okay, just as long as we don’t end up as your test subjects,” Lily said.

“I make no promises,” Skylar joked.

Phoenyx turned back to Sebastian. “So, you’re really doing this? You’re going to move to LA and go to school with me?”

“Well, I still owe you that date,” he said jokingly, then his face became sincere and his voice hushed so that only she heard. “I only just found you and I’m not ready to let go.” He took her hand in his and braided his fingers through hers.

She smiled. “Not that I don’t love being in this delightful hot tub, but why don’t you and I take this party to your room? We have unfinished business to attend to.” She winked at him.

“Well, we have to go now. See you guys in the morning,” Sebastian said to Lily and Skylar quite eagerly. He then pulled Phoenyx out of the tub, threw her over his shoulder, and headed to his room.

Laughing exuberantly, Phoenyx waved at Lily and Skylar until they were out of sight. She was ecstatic to finally have Sebastian all to herself.

About the Author:

Tricia Barr always loved the written word, however, loving history and the idea of travel more, she pursued a degree in Anthropology. She graduated from the University of Arizona in 2011 and looked hard for a job in her field for two years before she realized that her degree would not allow her the travel opportunities she truly wanted.

Now she works as a writer and a jack-of-all-trades with her husband, Eric Bar, leaving them both plenty of time and freedom to travel on their own terms as they try to start a family.

Visit Tricia Barr online at:

http://www.tricia-barr.com

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Forest-mind is aware she is yet too young for such power and responsibility. It has no choice—the lives of all Thera’s people and the existence of the Elanraigh Forest itself, depend on Thera fulfilling her destiny. Can she learn what she must of gift, and heart, to survive what comes their way?

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Some ancient secrets should remain buried.

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