You're Magic

 

Chapter Nine

 

I crack open an eyelid, using all my energy to do so. Chase, looking like an angel that’s been through hell, stares at me, his eyes burning.

“Hi,” he whispers and I start to cry.

Why, you ask? Well, it’s not because I’m an emotional wreck or anything. ‘Course not.

Chase wipes away the tears from my cheeks, kneeling next to my bed. He holds up a bottle in his right hand. The bottle is clear, the size of your average water bottle, but in a crystalline glass. The liquid inside of it is lime green and I eye it warily.

I don’t have the energy to talk—only to cry—and Chase picks up on this. “I need you to drink this.” He says without explanation. I draw in a raspy breath and my eyes start to flutter closed again, but Chase’s urgent voice pries them open. “Please.” He says.

I nod, an almost imperceptible movement, and try to reach for the glass but don’t have the energy to do so.

Chase brings the glass closer to me and presses it to my lips. I gulp down the lime green liquid, ignoring the burn as it slides down my throat. I stop drinking when the burning grows too intense though and Chase pulls the glass away. “You’re almost done,” he encourages me but I shake my head, feeling the green liquid hit disagree with my stomach. My vision starts to blur and my head fills with a raging pain. Yet somehow, I find the energy to turn away from Chase, curling into the fetus position. I really don’t want to drink it anymore.

“Skye, there’s just a little bit left.” Chase’s voice informs me, but I moan in pain and ignore him. Suddenly, Brody stalks up to Chase, roughly grabs the glass from his hands and reaches out an arm, prying me out of my fetus position so that I’m lying on my back. He shoves the glass against my mouth, and tilts it upward so that it swirls down towards my mouth. I press my lips together; my head filled with pain, and try to pull away. Brody grabs my face to keep me still and forces me to drink the lime green liquid. When I’m finished, the pain inside of my head has intensified so much that I have to muffle a scream with a pillow.

I can feel the liquid reacting with my body, spiraling through my veins, and I know that it’s what it causing the pain. I sit up, thinking I can reach a finger toward the back of my throat to try and make myself throw up the liquid, therefore stopping the pain. Chase’s hands grab my wrists before I can try, though, and he brings them to my sides gently. In frustration and agonizing pain I start to cry (surprise!) again. I lean back against the bloody pillows, sobbing, while Chase gets onto my bed beside me, pulling me towards his chest. I lean against him, taking comfort in his strong arms being wrapped around me, and weep for all that has happened to me and this family.

Eventually, I notice that the pain has eased up significantly. I sniffle, blinking, confused. Chase brushes a piece of hair away from my face.

“I got the antidote.” He tells me, explaining why I feel so much better. “I told you I’d fix this.”

I blink up at him, mouth dropping open slightly. I feel energy resurfacing, pain easing, nausea disappearing, and I throw my arms around Chase, hugging him tightly.

“Thank you.” I whisper into his collarbone. “Thank you. Thank you. Thank y—“

A clearing of a throat interrupts me, and I pull away from Chase, looking around my room where everybody is gathered. “That goes for all of you.” I say, eyes earnest. “I don’t deserve such a loving family and,” I take a breath. “And I thank God for every one of you every day.”

Margaret smiles, patting my hand gently. “I can’t tell you how glad I am that you’re better.” She says and gets up from my bed, moving with grace towards her husband. Mr. Davenport smiles deeply at me, and he and Logan murmur similar things before they leave. Brody, his eyes still in pain, tells me that he’s happy I’m okay.

And suddenly, Chase and I are alone.

I turn to look at him, my hands automatically reaching up to his face, framing it with each of my hands, and staring into his eyes. “I don’t know how to thank you.” I tell him, and my hands fall from his chiseled cheekbones to his chest.

“You don’t need to thank me.” He says, smiling that smile of his. I do my best to ignore the flutter of butterflies in my stomach and smile back. When my hands come in contact with a cold, unfamiliar object I look down, frowning. Around Chase’s neck sits a silver necklace, where a flat rectangular metal tag hangs. Engraved into the metal reads: Chase M. Davenport—Property of the Company.

I feel my jaw drop open and I try to find the clasp to unhook the necklace from around his neck. Only, I can’t find one. Panicking, I try to tug it off, with no success. I keep on tugging, frantic, only to have Chase’s hands pry my fingers free from the chain, bringing them to my lap.

“What is that?” I whisper, eyes swarming with tears. Chase clenches his jaw and looks away, avoiding my eyes and avoiding my question. “What is that?” I ask again.

Chase looks at me, his eyes unreadable. “I belong to the Company.” He tells me.

I shake my head feverishly, dismissing the idea. “No, you don’t. You never had that necklace before.” I say, groping for an explanation but coming up with nothing. Chase sighs quietly, his thumb wiping a tear away from my cheek. “I belong to them now, Skye. It was part of a deal I made in order to…” he trails off, brushing away more tears.

“In order to what?” I ask brokenly, knowing what to expect by now.

“In order to get the antidote.” Chase says softly. “In order to save you.”

I shake my head, grabbing his hands as if he’s going to float away and I’m anchoring him to the earth. “No. No.” I repeat, eyes serious. “They’ll kill you.” I say, feeling sick at the thought.

Chase clenches his jaw again. “Maybe,” he admits and I start to cry again. His unreadable eyes turn sad at the sight of my crying and I automatically feel bad. He pulls me close again, cradling my head against his chest.

I sniff loudly, wiping my eyes with the back of my hand. “I’m not going to let you go back there.” I say, leaning back to look Chase in the eye.

He smiles sadly. “Unfortunately I don’t have much of a choice.”

I frown, wiping at my eyes again. “What do you mean?” I ask him.

Chase brushes a piece of hair away from my eyes. “If I’m not there by Friday, the Company is going to send someone to get me.” He explains, and I take a sharp intake of breath.

“Then we’ll fight them.” I say, resolve in my voice. “Look, Chase. I’m not losing you, okay? After everything that we’ve been through, I’m not going to stand by and let you get yourself killed.”

Chase looks at me with adoration, shaking his head. “Do you really think I’m going to let you fight the Company?” He asks me and I pause before shrugging.

“I’m not asking you to let me.” I say and Chase chuckles.

“Nobody in this house is going to let you fight the Company.” He says, thumb brushing against my cheekbone. I narrow my eyes.

“Have you forgotten that I’m a Persuader?” I ask him, rising at eyebrow. He clenches his jaw, anger working its way into his eyes.

“Have you forgotten that I’m a Controller?” He asks me and I sigh as I pick up his hand, mindlessly tracing patterns on his palm.

The anger fades from Chase’s eyes and he looks at me steadily. “Skye, it’s going to be okay.” He tells me, and I shake my head, my turn to be angry.

“You always say that, Chase!” I say, exasperated. “But when has it ever been okay?”

He looks at me and I feel my anger melting when I look into his eyes.

“It’ll be okay as long as we’re together.” He tells me, and the very last of my anger disappears. I look down at his hand that I’m holding in both of mine.

“We can fix this.” I say, looking up and reaching out to touch the chain around his neck. My fingers brush against Chase’s collarbone, slowly moving over the necklace.

I suddenly realize how close I am to him, and my heart picks up pace.

I look up to see Chase lowering his lips to mine, kissing me unhurriedly. I kiss him back, my arms sliding around his neck. We only pull away when we hear a throat being cleared, and even then, we do so reluctantly.

I look up to see Brody standing in the doorway, his face unreadable. “We’re all going to go out for dinner tonight.” Brody tell us, smiling with his mouth but not his eyes. “Mom just decided for everybody. Skye, do you feel well enough to go?” He asks me.

I smile. “Yeah, absolutely. I just need to get cleaned up and I’ll be good.” I say, still smiling. Brody nods curtly, ignoring Chase, and turns to leave. When he’s gone I look at Chase.

“Logan took a memory from me.” I tell him, not meaning to tattle on Logan. I’m just really upset that he took something from me and won’t even explain to me why.

Chase frowns. “Are you sure?” he asks me, and I nod.

“Positive.” I say, knowing it. Chase’s frown deepens and he shakes his head.

“That’s not something Logan would do unless he felt he had to.” He says and then sighs, confused. “I’ll talk to him about it.” Chase looks up, giving me a smile.

“I need to shower and get ready if we’re going out tonight.” I tell him, climbing off my bed. I walk over to my dresser, hesitating. “Is it fancy or casual dinner?” I ask.

Chase grins, gets off my bed and walks over to me, kissing me softly. “I’ll go ask.”

I smile, catching his arm as he turns to walk away. “Hey,” I say softly. “Thank you.”

“For what?”

“Everything,” I say, meaning it with every inch of myself. It hits me, as it does frequently, how much I truly love Chase. He’s seen every side of me, every bad hair day and bad mood, and yet still he’d sacrifice his life for me and then question why in the heavens I’d be thankful towards him.

“Promise me something,” Chase says, lifting my hand up and kissing my wrist softly, his eyes on me.

While his eyes hold me captive, I nod my head absentmindedly. “Anything,” I say.

“Promise that you won’t fight the Company.” He says, raising an eyebrow at me. I blink, trying to pull myself away from his eyes.

“Then promise me you won’t go back there.” I say stubbornly. Chase is under no illusion though, and can see the fear creeping into my eyes at the mention of the Company. I shudder as I remember myself, wrist bound, head hung low with tears streaming down my face, in the hands of the Company. Having to imagine Chase there is easily ten times worse.

“What is it?” He asks me, concern on his face. “What’s wrong?”

I half-heartedly try to tug my arm away him. “Talk to me, Skye.” He says softly and I snake my arms around his neck, holding on to him while words escape me. Chase wraps his own arms around me, hugging me close, letting me work things out in my head.

“When I was at the Company, they tortured me with my own fears.” I say, pausing to take a breath, pulling back slightly so that I can look at Chase, finding strength in him. “One of my worst fears was seeing you hurt.”

Chase’s knuckles graze against my cheek softly. “I’m not going to let them scare you anymore.” He tells me, and my heart thumps painfully against my chest.

“I don’t want them to hurt you.” I say quietly, my eyes sad, frightened. Chase doesn’t say anything for a moment and when he does his voice is calm, and controlled.

“Come here,” he says, grabbing my hand and pulling me toward the door leading out from my bedroom. We leave my room and I follow him until we get outside by the lake. Big boulders, sharp edged and flat edged, gray and rocky, seclude us from the house.

“Why are we out here?” I ask Chase, noting the darkening sky with threatening rain clouds.

“Because your fears are unnecessary,” he says, smiling down at me slightly. I narrow my eyes at him, turning to walk away but he throws an arm out casually, blocking my path. He presses the palm of his hands against a boulder, effectively blocking any exits. I glare at him and something flickers in his eyes, the bright blue holding me.

“You forget that I’m a Controller,” he says, voice light. My eyes are narrowed still.

“No I don’t.” I protest and Chase leans his head down, so that our eyes are level, causing my breathing to go unsteady which makes Chase grin and me glare.

“If that were true you’d have a little more faith in me.” He says and I raise an eyebrow, questioning him. “I can Control minds at the Company right now. I don’t have to be there, and I can still control their minds.” He tells me, and I nod, knowing how powerful he is. “So why, love, do you think that they can hurt me?”

I ponder the question and then reach up, tracing a finger lightly over his collarbone, tracing the same finger over the thin necklace hung around his neck. “Because they own you,” I whisper, dropping my hand and my eyes.

“I’m stronger than them,” he says lowly and I look up, eyes confused.

“I know that your strong, Chase, but one man cannot take on the Company!” I say, exasperated. He looks away from my face for a minute, the muscle in his jaw working.

When he looks at me again, his eyes are calm. “Let me prove to you how strong I am.” He says, smiling mischievously. “Then, maybe, you’ll believe me.”

I shake my head, beginning to protest, but sigh. Ah, what the hell. Might as well. Good rhyme, Skye. Go me.

“You may proceed.” I say sarcastically. Chase grins, his hands on either side of me still, pressed against the boulder.

“You love Chase very much,” his voice—that voice of his—says, with a grin in it. I nod, my eyes locked on his.

“I do,” I say quietly, eyes unblinking.

“Tell him how much he means to you.” His silky voice tells me and I find myself obliging, ready to spill my guts. A part of me—a really small part—knows that it’s only because of Chase’s Talent that I’m agreeing to tell him these things, but that part is overcome with the need to talk, the need to do what Chase’s voice is telling me.

“If it weren’t for you, I’d be dead.” I say and my voice is emotional, my eyes still locked on his. Chase is smiling at me, encouraging me to go on. “You left for…two, three days and I felt like you took half of me with you. It was like I couldn’t breathe without being reminded of you. You’re my best friend, my boyfriend, the most important thing to me in this world.” The smile slides off of Chase’s face and his eyes watch me carefully. “When my parents died you were the only reason I kept living. You made me continue on with life—you made me okay. For that, I can’t repay you. No matter how many times I thank you I’ll always be in your debt.”

Chase tries to say something but I hold up a hand, stopping him, continuing. “And I’m okay with that. More than okay with that.” I pause, lower my eyes. “You’re the most beautiful person I’ve ever met. And I know that’s cheesy, I do. I just…you are gorgeous. You know that. And not just on the outside, which sounds even more cheesy. You’re a genuinely good person. You care about your family more than anyone I’ve ever met, and every single day you make me feel like I’m the most important part of your day.” I pause, take a breath.

“If I could spend every single day for the rest of my life with you, it wouldn’t be enough. And I know that sounds greedy, but whatever. And I know I’m a bad girlfriend. I talk too much, I’m moody, I don’t always look great, and I’m pretty freaking emotional. And you put up with me, God only knows why.”

I gulp down air, my eyes meeting his squarely. “Okay, I’m done talking.” I tell him.

 

It’s quiet for a minute and something…loosens in my head, my thoughts flowing freely now. I know that Chase is done Controlling my mind, I can tell somehow. We stare at each other, until a flush starts creeping its way up my neck, over my face and I wrench my eyes away from him, breaking his gaze as the effect of what I just said takes its hold on me. Holy crap, I probably freaked him out. No guy wants to hear about how dear he is to your heart. I know this is a horrible thing to say, but it’s like I had Tourette’s and couldn’t control what I was saying. I glare at Chase, shoving at his chest, angry now.

“That was not fair.” I say, anger coloring my voice. Chase doesn’t move, his arms still cornering me, his eyes blazing.

Before I can say anything else, and boy was I going to, he’s pressing his lips to the base of my throat, kissing me softly. All thoughts cease, and I close my eyes, savoring the feel of his lips against my skin.

“You’re right,” he says against my skin, planting lazy kisses on my shoulders. I mean to ask him about what, but can’t seem to think clearly. “I shouldn’t have done that.” He says, continuing to place kisses on my skin, working his way up my neck. “But I’m glad I did.” His lips find the hollow beneath my ear and I shiver. “You keep your feelings locked up; it’s not often that I get to see what you’re really feeling.”

My eyes are still closed, and I keep them that way, feeling another blush take over my skin at the thought of all the things I just said. “Forgive me.”

He kisses my eyelids softly, my temple, my forehead—everywhere but my lips. “I love you, Skye, more than I ever thought possible. More than I knew I could. Every time you cry, or hurt, I’m hurting with you. I always told myself I’d never become attached to someone like this, become so dependent on them that to be away for three days would kill me. But I am. You are the most breath taking girl that I’ve ever laid eyes on, and I rather enjoy the jealous glares I get from those wishing to have you.” He kisses beside my mouth ever so gently and I sigh quietly. “My entire heart is yours, Skye. There isn’t a part of me that isn’t.” He pauses. “I’m yours, love.”

His voice trails off and I open my eyes finally, desire invading my mind. I capture Chase’s mouth with mine, kissing him hard. He kisses back, surprised at my enthusiasm.

“I thought you were mad at me,” he says, pulling his mouth away from mine. We’re both breathing heavily, and I blink my eyes, focusing on the words coming from Chase’s lips. His lips…

I force myself to focus, blinking up at Chase. “I am. You made me say all those things and then you asked me to forgive you in that voice of yours that you know I can’t resist, so it’s really not fair at all for you to even use it, because then I’m defenseless and pretty much have to forgive you, because that voice of yours is just so…you know what? Never mind. Because I am mad at you and you—“

“Skye—“ Chase interrupt me, his eyes dancing, his mouth smiling faintly.

“What?” I ask, confused.

“Stop talking.” He says, and then he’s kissing me again. I respond, my hands snaking around his neck, my back against a boulder. He kisses me lazily, as if he’s got all the time in the world, slowly driving me crazy. But at the same time he kisses me hungrily, as if he can’t get enough of me. This, also, is driving me slowly mad.

At the clear sound of a bell being rung, I jump away from Chase, throwing a hand up to my heart as if trying to get away. D****t, heart, I thought we had this talk.

Chase looks at me, grinning. “That means that we’re leaving in fifteen minutes.” He explains. My eyes widen and I turn on my heel, racing up to the house.

“I haven’t even showered yet!” I yell, racing into the house. Logan sees me in passing and chuckles, laughing harder when he sees Chase walking into the house after me, walking leisurely. “Women,” Chase says, grinning, shaking his head conspiratorially with his brother. Logan snorts.

“I’m not deaf!” I yell good-naturedly, racing into my room and closing the door behind me without care. I hear their laughs and smile, stripping off my clothes quickly and jumping into the shower, shivering in the cold water, waiting for it to turn warm. I shower quickly; washing, shaving, shampooing and conditioning in record time. I then jump out of the shower, wrap my hair in a towel and grimace at my reflection in the mirror.

I throw on mascara and lip chap (Burts Bees, how I love you), and unwrap my hair from the towel, letting my waves tumble down my back. I tie my robe around me tighter, and narrow my eyes at the tangles, accepting the challenge.

Of course, my hairbrush didn’t exactly accept the challenge. I end up looking at my mess of hair in the mirror, biting my lip sadly. “Work with me!” I murmur out loud, tugging the hairbrush through my hair impatiently. I hear a throaty chuckle, and the bathroom door is cracked open.

“Are you decent?” Chase asks, a grin in his voice. I groan.

“Not even close.” I say, hating my hair with every ounce of me. Chase comes into the bathroom, sees my dilemma and tries not to laugh. “Help,” I say sadly. I can see him forcing down a laugh.

He grabs the hairbrush from my hand, and runs it through my hair smoothly. I gape. “You’re magic.” I say, and Chase does laugh now. He brushes the rest of my hair for me and then hands me the brush as I turn around. His hands brush away a piece of hair from my eyes, as I get caught in his eyes. My eyes drop to his lips but I shake my head at myself, knowing that we should be leaving like, now. “Thanks.” I say, and then swat at his chest. “I need to change, go, go!”

Chase grins, his eyes traveling over me and my robe intimately. “Sure you don’t need me to pick out your outfit too?” He jokes and I look at him, laughing despite myself.

“Get out of here!” I yell, grinning and he leaves, winking at me before he goes.

I race over to my closet and yank a sundress off of a hanger. I pull it on over my head, the soft pink complimenting my beige skin. Then I grab a pair of wedges from a shelf hurriedly, running from my room and arriving in the foyer out of breath.

Everyone—Maggie, Mr. Davenport, Mrs. Davenport, Elena, Demetri, Logan, Brody and Chase—stand, waiting.

“Sorry, sorry!” I say, heaving a sigh and grinning at the people who I’ve come to think of as my family. Except for Demetri. I truly despise him.

I slip my feet into the shoes, walking up to Chase, whose eyes are lazily travelling over me. “You look beautiful,” he whispers into my hair, making me smile. I see Brody lag behind, eyes dark, as we all walk outside.

We split into different cars, me riding shotgun in Chase’s Porsche. “This car missed me.” I say as I sit down, knees pulled up under me and close the door to his car.

Chase laughs and walks around to the driver’s side. I notice that it’s just Chase and I in his car and guess that everyone else split up somehow too.

The whole ride, we talk nonstop. About nothing. About everything. About anything.

When we finally get to the restaurant, a casual and darkly-lit restaurant, we are led to the table the Davenports had reserved. I note the empty table with enough seats for ten. “Notice how we’re here first.” I say and he raises his eyebrows at me. “It’s because you drive so fast.” I say and Chase laughs, shaking his head at me.

We sit down, in the middle of the table, across from each other, waiting for everyone else. When they arrive they wander to the back of the restaurant towards our table, seating themselves.

To my chagrin, Demetri sits on one side of me. But, to make it better, Brody sits on the other side of me. A muscle in Chase’s jaw twitches and I see him send Demetri a warning look, meaning: if you so much as look at her I’ll kill you. Demetri nods slightly, commuting that he got the message. Chase’s eyes then flicker to me and I smile slightly, letting him know it’s okay.

We order appetizers, Mr. and Mrs. Davenport sitting beside each other, hands held, reunited. We all talk, laugh, and enjoy dinner together. Chase shoots me looks telling me exactly how good he thinks I look. My stomach flips and my heart thumps, and I send him the exact same looks, noting the black t-shirt fitting him perfectly, his muscles evident. His hair is gently tousled, his eyes smoldering.

And through the dinner, I can’t help but to notice how Brody doesn’t look at me once.

Reviews

[Aimee]

Awh, this chapter was sooo sweet!
[:

Reallyyyy can't wait until the next.
:D

[Rusty]

I wait daily for your chapters, and they keep getting better and better, I love the twists that you put into your characters, and the love story is always a plus.