Ethereal

Nina's POV

After forty-five minutes of Trigonometry, I wanted to back Samantha into a wall. I doubted I could put the fear of God in her, like Cameron had when we'd first met, but I wanted to.

I nibbled the crap out of my pen cap.

Everyone knew Sam was Mr. Erin's fav student—not for brains—so, it hadn't surprised me when he tipped down his colorful, round glasses to catch a good look. What bothered me and most girls was that every guy stopped and stared when she'd walked in.

It was a good thing Vanessa didn't have Trigg. Because not even sweet Gary had kept his eyes off. V hadn't gone into big details about their relationship, only that they were an item. Apparently, winter break had done us both good when it came to boys. Sam, too. It was like she was the walking embodiment of Aphrodite.

Class was let out and thoughts of Sam's growing popularity among boys faded. I hurried to pack everything and run after a dodgy auburn haired friend. I had to hand it to Dawn, I'd climbed mountains and walked for miles in Hell, but she was in better shape. Or it could be the leg factor. Hers were longer.

"Dawn!" I yelped almost plowing into an innocent girl. "Wait. Please." It was too early to run.

I stopped a good foot from her. As she spun, I saw those warm chestnut eyes under layers of curls. Seeing her made me realize just how glad I was for being back and for having stayed, instead of moving back to San Diego with my step-brother and his grandparents. Even if I missed him immensely.

"Hey," I whispered.

Dawn held up a hand, giving me something between a smile and a grimace. Breathing, I decided to cut the bull and move up closer.

"Why are you running from me?"

"I'm not running—"

"Yes, you are. The minute English ended you took off. Just now, you weren't planning on stopping, were you?" Dawn's mocha skin was highlighted under the hall's artificial light. "Dawn." I pressed.

Her face pinched before she exploded in my face with a bad case of verbal diarrhea.

"Yes, I'm avoiding you! Last time I saw you, you and Cameron were running out of the Winter Ball! First, I thought you were getting hot and heavy in some dark corner—" I squealed her name. She completely ignored it. Wish I could say the same for a group of freshman. "Then I found out your house burned and—and your family's gone and... and... I called you, like, a hundred times in one hour—forget that, I called every day after that night. Until V told me where you were. When you didn't return my calls I just thought..." some of her ranting energy wore off. "I just thought you wanted nothing to do with me anymore."

"I know that I should've returned your calls. I know that." I touched her shoulder, eyes big and pleading. "But why wouldn't I want to be friends anymore? You didn't set that fire, Dawn."

"It didn't kill V's dad, either, but she locked me out afterwards. Even now things aren't the same between us." The agitation in her voice made me want to punch myself in the face.

"Was that... was that why you looked surprised to see me—at English? You thought I wasn't coming back?" Meekly, she nodded. I latched onto both her arms. "No, no. I would never do that! I would never leave without saying goodbye."

"I know what happened—what you're dealing with is hard. Vanessa was destroyed after losing her dad. I can't imagine what that feels like, little alone losing your whole family. Just... Two whole weeks...?" she bit her lip. "You could've texted."

"I know," I groaned, upset that I couldn't say Hell had no cell-phone reception. "I've been a terrible friend. I'm sorry for it, I really am. And... I want to make up for it." My hands lost some grip on her shoulders, unsure. "If you still want to be friends?"

Dawn made me sweat for a long while before all the bubbleness that made her up breached the surface. Her arms lunged around me. I didn't have hug-phobia like Cameron, but it took a bit for my arms to wrap around her, too. Once I did, there was no denying the smile on my face.

"You can always count on me," she whispered. "I just wanted you to know that."

A sharp urge to sob showed up. I closed my eyes tightly, nodding my head. I did know that. Blinking my eyes, I saw people staring, talking. Some looked away when they saw me watching. It made me mad at first, then, I focused on ignoring them.

Pulling away, I saw Dawn's own eyes sparkling. She smiled despite it.

"I think I know how you can make it up to me."

"Oh?" She made her way to a vending machine.

With a naughty grin that promised nothing good, she said, "Tell me what you did with Satan."

A strong pain grew on my cheekbone. I'd walked right into the vending machine's glass. But my head was spinning around because of what she said.

"I didn't do anything with Satan." I said quickly, as Dawn tried to check my reddening left cheek.

Her brows slammed down. "You're telling me you and Cameron were together two whole weeks and nothing happened? Girl, what do I need to do for you two—"

"Cameron?" I felt so stupid right now. "You meant... Oh."

"No, Nina. I meant the actual Satan." She smirked. "Yes, Cameron. The moody twin whose clothes you want to rip off every time your five feet from each other."

"Tune it down, please..." I asked in vain.

She faced me, hands in a prayer, "Come on! You said you'd make it up to me. I want to know your Facebook status and juicy details. Don't hold out on me. Unless we're talking kinky stuff like—"

"There was no kinky stuff." Unless I counted the time he'd been shackled and I'd tortured him. I still wasn't sure if he'd been kidding or if that had actually turned him on.

Some things were better off not known.

After feeding the machine, she clicked a button and a sack of M&M's tumbled down.

"But something did happen." She said, bending to grab her snack. She saw my eyes come alive. "Tell me!"

"Oh, fine! Come on." We went outside, sitting on a dry spot on Julian Ivory's main stairs.

I told Dawn about our first kiss, below the oak tree on their property, leaving out what had led to it—the Cambion bite, Phillip's sacrifice and the massive lightning storm. Telling how things progressed was a little harder, most details were supernatural-related, like the countless times I thought I'd lost him. Thankfully, she didn't ask where and when the other kisses went down, or where we'd danced together. The answers would shock her out of her skin. She would never believe we attended a ball thrown by Mammon, a Fallen Angel.

"You're living together?" Her eyes danced with rowdy thoughts.

"Yes," I took a red M&M. "And sleeping in separate rooms. I told you, we're taking things slow."

She laughed, "I didn't think Cameron knew the meaning of the word 'slow'." I can't believe I giggled like a darn school girl. Dawn brought out this carefree part of me, though. "Well, I just have one more question." She tossed the empty yellow bag into a trash can, as we made our way inside for another class. "Is Phillip okay with it?"

I refrained from stopping, stoic-faced.

Was the guy who broke up with me—because he liked me like a sister—okay with me and his twin dating?

"I think so. Why?"

"Noting," she shrugged. "Zeke thinks he's acting a little off. I thought you and Cam dating was the reason."

A little off? I swallowed, hoping Cameron did have a handle on Phillip.

***

Lunch rolled around and Dawn wasn't present. Judging by Zeke's absence, I'd say they were somewhere killing calories. While I was stabbing something the lunch ladies were trying to pass for food.

V's tray slammed beside mine.

"Something isn't right." I wasn't the only one disgusted with meat-surprise.

"I know," I wrinkled my nose, lifting the gooey thing with a fork. "Food in Hell tasted and looked two hundred times better than this." Not a lie.

The lack of response made me look at her. She had her rosewood eyes fixed on a usually empty table, from what I remembered. But it wasn't empty today. Sam was sitting on the round bench and two boys, on either side of her, made for a very packed sandwich. I looked around trying to pinpoint where Daren was. Last time I checked, they were together.

I found him in the jock table, happily laughing it off with some football players.

"Are Daren and her still a thing?"

"Heck if I know..." she muttered. "I saw them a couple of times at the Lighthouse and they seemed fine. When I say 'fine', I mean Daren was being a prick and Sam a bitch." V uncapped a bottle that read TOMATO JUICE. I gave it a pointed look. She took a quick sip. "It's not... actual tomato juice."

I chuckled at the guilty face she made.

"Just hope no one asks for a drink." She nodded strongly, putting it in her backpack. I had to admit, it was smart thinking. Better than getting caught with stolen blood bags. "All the guys in Trigg stared when she walked in. Honestly, it was like they'd never seen a woman before."

"All the guys?" V's voice had gone up a nudge.

I had to learn to keep my mouth shut.

"Yeah, it was like... like they were in a trance. It's the strangest thing." If I didn't know better, I'd say she was a Witch.

The cafeteria's loud talk became murmurs, at the same time, tingles coursed down my back. Looking over my shoulder, I saw Cam walk over, killer swag on. Most girls would've melted. Oh, who was I kidding? I felt that way. But the quiet voices weren't because of him, not only. Phillip was coming, too.

Eyes drifted between the twins and me. Lovely. The nasty comments were going to get started again, and this time, they would have a little truth. I had kissed both brothers, yes. I'd dated Phillip for about a month, until I found out what they were—Nephilim. Offspring of Angels with humans.

Turned out, Phill had wanted to keep a close eye on me, to protect me and understand what I was. Back then, I'd had a crush on Phillip, so, finding out hurt a lot. But he saved Henry, my little brother, from the raging fire that took my family away. After that, we'd been on the road to recovery.

Now...

Cameron sat beside me, while Phillip sat as far as possible.

Now, I had no idea where we were.

"How was History?"

"Old," Cam answered with a lazy drawl. "How was Chemistry?"

"Explosive."

A slow, wry smile played on his cherry-pale lips. I felt a hand wrap leg, moving lower, lower, until a teasing finger was stroking behind my knee. The kind of self-control I called on not to squirm was uncanny.

"No lunch?" I managed, once he moved from one finger to two, massaging the soft tissue in a circular motion.

"What's with the short breath?" He asked, having the indecency of looking like an innocent baby-kitten. "I can give you mouth-to-mouth if you need." He husked, lips touching my ear shell.

When we were together the whole world shrunk away, leaving us in a little bubble. This time was no different. The side of my nose pressed against his, my lips sweetly pecked a corner of Cam's mouth. A shudder rolled over him. I hadn't noticed my eyes had closed, but once they opened, they drifted up finding refuge in his.

Cameron hadn't said he loved me. Not in so many words. But when he looked at me like... like I was his infinity? It was all the confirmation I needed.

A set of hands fell over Cam's shoulders. I jumped. He craned his head back, getting kissed on the cheek. Looked like Dawn and Zeke had come out of their hidey-hole. Dawn giggled when Cameron wiped his cheek furiously. They were like two kids at a playground.

"I hate you," he grumbled, putting a bit of distance between us.

"As long as it's not the same way you hated Nina, I don't have a problem with that." Zeke sat beside Phill, grinning. I blushed madly.

"Oh, shut up." Cameron got up with an eye roll, heading for the lunch line.

Zeke earned giggles from us girls.

"I'm just warming up," Zeke rubbed his hands, his attempt at a sinister smile came off as goofy. "Hey, man, Coach Adams wants to talk to you... What are you doing?"

On cue, all of us looked at Phillip. A notebook was open wide, along with a six-inch book. Phill's eyes took a beat from reading, eyeing us.

"I was supposed to turn this in last semester. I have to make up for it." Phillip mumbled, vibrant eyes brushing mine. I knew why he hadn't turned in his History homework. It hadn't been laziness—not that time—he'd been working on it when Cameron got bitten by a Cambion.

Cambions were product of Fallens and humans. Their bite was lethal to Nephilims. Unless you got your hands on an antidote. Either by making one, or like Phill had desperately done, summon a Fallen and strike a Deal. In his case, Phillip had to offer himself up, in exchange for the elixir that saved his brother's life.

"What does Coach Adams want?" Phill kicked back in his chair, stretching his arms well behind his back, straining his chest muscles against his Tee.

"Beats me," Zeke shrugged. "Maybe it's because you missed tryouts?"

"Yeah, that's probably it." He scratched a temple with his pencil, getting back to work.

Wow, I was impressed.

"Any idea of when Marie Antoinette lost her head?"

We all looked at him at a loss.

"October sixteenth, 1793." Murmured a deep voice. A beat later, Cam sunk back in place. A lone, green apple in hand. He glared at Phill. "You're welcome."

The younger twin smirked into the notebook.

"Don't be so sensitive, brother."

A click of static settled in the air. Anticipating something bad, I reached for the apple in Cameron's hand, taking a bite. Glinting, midnight skies pinned me with disbelief. I chewed the piece slowly, staring deep into his eyes until a smirk quirked Cam's lips.

The flavor was strong, a little acid. Cam loved bitter-sweet.

"It's nice to share," I batted my lashes his way. Telling him to keep himself in check. "Is that your lunch?"

Taking the hint, Cameron's teeth tore a big chunk.

"I had pizza for breakfast." Oh yeah. Both twins had disturbing eating habits. I'd almost puked when I saw Phill eat Chinese leftovers at eight A.M. "What about you? Those mash potatoes aren't going to eat themselves."

"This is meat." I stated, not blaming him for mistaking the goopy stuff on my plate for ran-over-potatoes. The "meat" color was yellowish.

Pausing mid-bite, Cam held out the apple. I happily took a tiny bite.

Lunch hour carried on with Zeke and Cameron talking sports. Namely football. Dawn told V and me how Zeke had climbed through her window on Christmas Eve, to leave her a present, and she'd woken up thinking he was a burglar! I imagined Dawn and her curls jumping in fear, tackling the typical American Boy.

I slipped my hand over Cam's, then. He'd done something similar once. On my birthday, he'd climbed through my bedroom window, leaving a gift along with a beautiful card. Much to my dismay, the card had perished in the fire, with so many other memories...

The amber star-shaped necklace was hanging safely on my neck, though.

Once we left the cafeteria, I got pulled aside. The motion was so abrupt I lost all notion of where I was. Hotness danced along my neck, and his kiss had no comparison. Hurried but deep. Cam left me breathless with a smooch.

His eyes were smoky with lust when my face slipped from his grasp.

Holy Nephilim babies.

He was so good... but so perfectly bad.

"What was that for?" I rasped.

Cam caged me between his arms, stapling me to a locker. I really hoped the owner didn't need to use it.

"I felt like kissing my girlfriend. So, I did." His girlfriend. His. I was his.

"Alpha-male gene kicking in?" He gave a wolfish smirk. "You're incorrigible."

"Look at you, using big words!" I stabbed a finger in his chest. Next time, it would be his eye. "It's adorable when you start getting your angry-face on." He pinched my cheek.

I huffed, turning my head left—you had to be kidding me!

"We have to talk." I said, still eyeballing Sam and her new groupies.

I turned back to him and saw he hadn't taken his eyes off me.

"That's normally a bad thing." He joked. I could swear I saw a speck of vulnerability.

I gave him a slight smile. My fingers latched onto the jacket's lapels and I tugged Cam's mouth to mine. It was a delicate kiss, assuring and peaceful. As if it had grown wings, my heart flapped madly when I noticed Cameron's arms had snuck around my waist.

"It's not about us. I'm… I'm kinda loving 'us'." Cam made an appreciative sound in the back of his throat. "It's about what happened today in English," our gazes met. "It happened in Trigg, too. It's happening right now."

He glanced to where I nodded, spotting Sam and her four-guy-pack. They were hovering around her like gaping idiots.

"That," Cam turned his sights to me. "Is incredibly disturbing. Why would you scar me for life, little bird?" Keeping a grin under wraps, I smacked his chest.

"I'm serious, Cam. That can't be normal. Right? It's like she's lust personified or whatever." I hoped I didn't sound jealous in his ears, because I didn't feel it. She could keep all the other guys.

The only one I wanted, was the guy I was most certainly, crazily, head-over-heels in love with.

"I don't know," his arms coiled tight around me. "I've never seen Sam get this much attention before."

"It's not just attention." I interjected. "In English everyone looked mystified when she waltzed in. Every guy—"

"Not me." He scowled.

"Yes. Not you." I patted his chest. "But the same happened in Trigg. It's weird." And seriously annoying.

I watched everyone hop off to class while Cameron thought things over, but not even he had a clear answer, simply telling me to stray from Samantha—which wasn't a problem. I liked her as much as I liked the crappy cafeteria's food.