Infatuation

Anger boiled me throughout. With each sentence I couldn't believe Nathaniel had done this to me—he just took off. Searching another cabin without giving me a freaking heads-up! Damn it, this man was getting on my nerves. No more than Mel had, though. When I saw her... I was going to—

Hearing voices inside a not-too-small shed, I inched closer and closer. The vacation cabin lights were lit. There was definitely someone here, unlike the other two empty ones me and Nate had torn apart.

Peeking through the slit on the door, I chanted a very loud 'Bingo' in my head. This girl was so done for. If she thought she could bail on me and make me worry until my hair turned white without reaping the consequences she was in for a major let down.

The door creaked a little when I pushed it. Melissa's aquamarine irises landed on me. Quickly, the annoyance displayed deepened and her eyes gave a roll.

“Of course you're here too, why wouldn't you be? Anyone else? Reed, maybe? I'd love to talk to him, I have many questions for him about my Mom.” Melissa asked in a mixture of anger and more sarcasm than ever before.

Ignoring how her hair looked different and she seemed... I don't know, just not like the old Mel—I shut the door with a kick of my foot, adopting a very stern expression. I didn't do stern or strict but Melissa had killed my happy-mode days ago.

“I was hoping you stopped acting like a bitch, I was wrong.” I uncrossed my arms throwing them up with huge disbelieve on how she behaved back in Miami.

“I told you I could be a bitch.” The sweet smile she'd been faking morphed into a mocking-smirk, which wasn't any better for me. “Did you have a nice nap?”

Alright, Melissa was my best friend, but right now all I wanted to do was shove her head under water hoping somehow to revert her attitude. She was out of line.

“Don't taunt me. Right now, I'm tempted to tie you up and lock you in a room until this is all over.” I threatened, knowing I couldn't do it because Nate would pretty much kill me if I touched her before they could sort things out.

He was raging.

Speaking of Nate... my eyes deviated to the left. They didn't find Nate, though. Instead, I found myself gazing at a taller guy—and I could really describe him as tall, dark and handsome. My eyes bulked a little as he turned to gaze at me shortly. I recognized him then. It was Eric... no, Aric, that was it. Aric, Nate's half-brother.

The first time I'd seen him, I'd been too blinded by adrenaline and then pain—that he was responsible for, by the way—and hadn't taken a good long look. Now that I had—

“I'd like to see you try, but right now, I have more important things to deal with.” Melissa's tough words called my attention to her once more, manly because those weren't the kind of things she said. “You and I are long overdue for a talk.”

Wow, she did sound different, I barely recognized her voice.

“You heard her,”

My eyes went to Nathaniel and widened.

“But—” I started off.

“Would you stop meddling in our business?” Her voice turned cold as did her eyes, like I'd never experienced before. “Get out. Both of you.”

My feet were firmly planted on the ground, I was not going anywhere without saying a few things to this Melissa 2.0..

“Come on now, no one needs a third leg, darling.” It took me a while o figure out Aric was talking—talking to me. When he grabbed my arm, he spun me, catching me off guard. “Walk,” My forest eyes blinked taking the velvet smoothness his voice held, there was no deepness like in Nathaniel's—I stood up to him, taking a step to turn around, his fingers didn't curl tighter but his gaze bore into mine. “Let the love birds solve their problems.”

With a groan that was big enough to bring on a headache, I stormed off in a big way.

The air was dewy, which ticked me off, my hair would get super puffy, really fast. That was the cherry on top of the cake, seriously it was.

When a twig broke behind me, I looked over my shoulder. Only now seeing Nate's brother had stalked me quietly.

My eyes rolled.

“What do you want?” My voice was sharp and cutting.

Aric had stopped just as I had, leaning his nice shoulder on a tree.

“To make sure you don't set the forest on fire. You look a little... crazed, luv.” I was stoked—did he just call me crazy? 'Cuz if he had, I'd be showing him what the true meaning of that word meant.

“Listen up,” I initiated closing our distance with a few steps. “You don't talk to me unless it's an emergency and—” I couldn't believe I was going to say this after what she did, but Mel was still my best friend. “And it concerns Melissa. We're enemies, I don't trust you. Melissa shouldn't either, but I can't seem to get her thick head to understand it.”

“Maybe it's because I never did anything to hurt her? I don't want Melissa to be taken by The Order, or else she would've been taken already.”

“Oh, sure, you're just a good-spirited assassin, who decided to go against his own.” I rolled my eyes. “Sorry, didn't know you had a death wish.”

Aric smirked faintly.

“Not really, I don't. But I don't want them to have her—or I wouldn't have agreed to teach her how to fight.”

“You what?” I paled, imaging Melissa fighting—oh crap, this was not good, she was already breaking enough rules, like running away, if she knew how to fight... “You're not going to teach her a thing! She has me and—and Nate—” I stuttered.

“I've been teaching all this time. She's very talented, by the way. It really is in her veins.” He didn't cease with the self-satisfied smirk once he rendered me speechless, seriously, I was open mouthed and that wasn't easy to do.

Too bad for him it wasn't in a good way.

“You—you idiot! Now because you taught her a few moves she thinks she can take on a freaking army!” Melissa was stubborn when she wanted and Nate, unfortunately, seemed to amplify some of her bad habits... “You bastard!” My hand shot out, striking his left cheek.

Emerald eyes open and closed several times, now, it was my turn to be proud. For the first time since I'd met him, I'd been able to knock out this guy's calm front.

Aric found it in himself to show me the outlines of a grin.

“I'm starting to think you're the one with the death wish.” He drawled slightly, and for the first time I noticed he had an accent—weird that I only noticed it now, or not, since I'd been too busy so immersed in taking out my anger.

I still felt like taking it out, only now, the target seemed to have shifted.

“Stay away from Melissa—”

“She wants me around, darling.”

I gritted my teeth.

“Fine, then stay away from me.” I spun around, my pony tail bobbing side-ways. “Or I'll grant you your death wish.” I whispered grudgingly.