Enchanted Chaos (Enchanted Chaos 1)

Part of me wants to keep on running, but deep down, I know that isn’t what I’m going to do. I need to trust Gabe and go back with him. After all, if my dad knew about his powers, then he can’t be too horrible. Plus, maybe I can find out more about my ability. That is, if I’m like the Everettsons.

“All right, I’ll go back with you.” I sling the handle of my bag over my shoulder and walk toward them.

Fog laces from their lips as they exhale in relief then turn back for the truck. Me? I’m a nervous fucking wreck as I climb into the truck with them.

All these years, I believed I was the only one with strange powers. Now, come to find out, I’m not. It’s a lot to take in. All of this is.

We remain silent for the short ride home. Max and Holden keep throwing worried glances at me, as if expecting me to dive out of the truck or something. Their attention makes me feel squirmy inside, for several different reasons, some of which are for similar reasons as to why I blushed earlier today around Hunter.

By the time we pull up into the driveway, I’m a jumble of nerves, and my skin is sparkling with warmth.

I wonder if one of them is making me feel this way.

When Gabe parks the truck, everyone hops out and hikes up the pathway toward the front door, boots splashing in puddles.

Holden slows down when he nears the steps and waits for me to catch up.

“Are you okay?” he whispers lowly.

Max pauses by the front door and glances over his shoulder at me, waiting for my answer, I’m assuming.

I shrug as the image of them in the forest with their hands lit up flashes through my mind. “I’m really not sure.”

Holden squeezes my hand. “Everything’s going to be okay, Sky.” Despite his words, the hesitancy in his expression has me questioning if he believes his own words. But I don’t get too much time to stress about it as he folds his hand around mine and glittery warmth kisses my fingertips.

I bite down on my tongue to keep a gasp from fumbling past my lips.

I don’t … What is that?

Holden doesn’t seem to notice my reaction, holding my hand as he steers me past Max.

Gabe pushes the doors open then ushers us through the foyer and into the massive living room where the rest of the Everettsons are waiting. A fire is crackling in the fireplace, and the air smells of hot chocolate and cinnamon. The scene would feel homey, except for the nervousness trickling through the air.

“Go ahead and have a seat,” Gabe tells me while shucking off his jacket.

Swallowing nervously, I peer inside the room.

Easton and Foster are sitting on a sectional sofa, along with Emaline, and Hunter is lounging in a chair, his boots kicked off and his feet kicked up on an ottoman. Mugs are on the coffee table, along with a plate of cookies. And all their gazes are fixed on me. Well, not me per se, but mine and Holden’s interlocked fingers.

Shit, I forgot we were holding hands. Probably because the warmth of his touch makes me feel so relaxed.

I wiggle my hand from his grip and stuff my hands into the pockets of my jacket to hide how bad I’m trembling.

“Oh, sweetie.” Emaline rises to her feet, whisks across the room, and wraps her arms around me. “I’m so sorry you had to find out this way. We should’ve told you the moment you came to our home.” She hugs me tightly. “I just hope we didn’t scare you too badly.”

“It’s fine.” A partial lie, but what else am I supposed to say? “I just …” I sigh as she pulls back and looks me directly in the eye. “I just don’t understand why my parents never mentioned stuff like … well, whatever you were doing in those trees.” If they had said something, maybe I would’ve told them about my ability a long time ago. Not that we spent a lot of time talking to each other, but we did speak about important stuff sometimes. Now I can’t even tell them anything at all.

“They probably didn’t mention it because we asked them not to.” She smooths my hair out of my eyes. “It’s very important that no one finds out about us. If the wrong people did, we could end up experiments in some lab.”

“Like Gabe was?” I slip my hands out of my pockets.

Her wide eyes land on Gabe. “You told her that part already?”

He ruffles his damp hair into place. “I thought, if she knew what her father did for me, it’d help her feel a bit better about this.”

Emaline nods, her gaze traveling back to me. “So, you understand what’s at stake if anyone finds out about us?”

I nod, even though I don’t know all the details about what happened to Gabe or who these scientists are. But I’ve felt that fear myself of someone finding out about me, so I understan