Chapter 7
A/N: Thanks to Elmo Fanatic, deadandlovingit, RiteNameHere, CasterChroniclesLover, Howl3, l0verlynikolee, and Fogs of Gray for following the story.
I arrived at the Library at three forty-five. Hopefully, I could enjoy being with Ethan before Liv shows up. I walked through several tunnels until I came to the opening of the Lunae Libri. Ethan was digging through the shelves and placing books onto the table. His hair was long and wild. He strained to reach a book on a particularly high shelf. His muscles flexed under the blue t-shirt he was wearing. I smiled and walked up behind him.
"Hey Ethan." He looked down at me and smiled. The burns that were on his neck had faded to pink patches. The color had come back into his cheeks. He looked like a healthy teenage boy again. He leaned down and pecked me on the cheek before placing the book onto the table.
"You've been busy." Ethan shrugged and grabbed one of the books. I sat down at the table and grabbed another. We spent the next couple of minutes reading until we heard murmurs of voices coming down one of the tunnels. Liv and John turned the corner into the room, hand in hand. They stopped talking and came to sit at the table with us. John pulled a chair out for Liv, a chair that was right next to Ethan. I scowled and moved my chair closer to Ethan. Yes, I was being over-protective and jealous. But, after losing your boyfriend twice, you get like that. Ethan chuckled and grabbed my hand.
"You two find anything yet?" John asked while pulling out his own chair.
"Nothing so far. I'm still not that well versed in Caster lingo though. You find anything, L?" I shook my head and continued reading. I had no idea why Ethan grabbed this book. It was basically just telling of Caster History. Maybe, he though there was something in our history. We all sat in silence. Ethan's hand slipped from mine only to be placed on my knee. I smiled and patted his hand. Then, Ethan's hand began to slowly caress my thigh. I shivered at the feeling. Goosebumps raised on my arms. Ethan's hand roamed higher and he squeezed my upper thigh. I bit my lip and pushed his hand away. We can't do this. Last time I got tempted it ended in a disaster. Ethan placed his hand back onto the table and huffed. Teenage boys. I rolled my eyes and tried to focus on the page I was supposed to be reading.
"Well, this isn't awkward at all." John said while setting his book down. "If we're going to have any chance of uncovering this mystery, we need to sort some things out." I sat my book down and looked across the table at him. Ethan rolled his eyes and kept reading.
"Just to make things clear, I'm not after Lena. You can stop being threatened of me." Ethan scoffed and put the book down, harshly.
"I'm not threatened of you. I just don't like you. You helped Abraham and Sarafine in their quest to make Lena go dark. Just because you have everyone else fooled, don't think for a second I believe this. You can't be trusted." Ethan grabbed his book back off the table.
"People change. Macon went from being a Incubus to a Light Caster. Why is is so hard for you to believe that I've changed?" Ethan barely even glanced up from his book. He was pissed, I could tell.
Ethan. It's okay. Don't let him get under you're skin. Ethan's body relaxed a little. Silence spread through us again. I was reading about some light caster that had saved a town or something when Marian and Uncle Macon walked in.
"Hey. What are y'all doing here?" Ethan asked. He sat his book down and stood to give Marian a hug. Uncle Macon pulled two chairs to the table. One for him and one for Marian.
"We're here to help. Oh, and to make sure no one gets hurt." Marian chuckled and grabbed a book.
"Who got all these books out? They don't even seem relevant to the subject." John asked. Ethan raised his hand as he sat back down.
"I thought the best place to start would be the history of Casters. I can't be the only mortal whose fallen in love with a Caster. I bet a lot of people have. Someone is bound to know something. Maybe a figure from y'alls history. The hard part is finding out who." John shrugged and picked his book back up. I went back to reading when Ethan leaned over.
"I think I found something. There's this married couple in this book. It was rumored that the girl was a mortal. But somehow, they ended up having a child. Course it also says she died giving birth to their child." I cringed and leaned over to read the passage.
"Well it was only a rumor. Maybe people just assumed she was a mortal." Ethan's brow furrowed and he looked closely at the page.
"But what if it wasn't a rumor? We could have a lead." Liv stood up and came over to read over Ethan's shoulder. She was much to close to him for comfort. I took one of his hands in mine. A smile broke out across her face.
"Ethan you're a genius!" She threw her arms around Ethan and hugged tightly. Ethan stiffened but returned the hug.
"Thanks I guess. What did I do?" Ethan said. Liv was still hugging him. I bit my lip to stop myself from screaming at her. Don't touch him. Let him go. I balled my hands into fists until my fingernails cut deeply into my skin. Liv leaned away and she was smiling. She looked so happy. Next thing I knew, one of the shelves burst into flames. Ethan jumped up and moved away from the fire. He took one look at me and knew. Lena. I stood up and the flame went out. It had barely even charred any of the books. I glanced over at Liv. At least that stupid perky grin was off her face. Ethan grabbed my hand and drug me away from everyone else.
"Lena-" I cut him off and kissed him. It had been so long since I had tasted him. Ethan's hands snaked around my waist and he pulled me into him. The kiss was slow and passionate. Just kissing him doesn't hurt. We've kissed like this before. My lips parted as I let Ethan's tongue slide into my mouth. He pulled me closer. I wrapped my hands around his neck and tugged on his hair. Ethan chuckled into my mouth and then he picked me up. My legs wrapped around his waist immediately. He backed me into a shelf of books and pressed his body to mine. He felt amazing against me. His muscles were stiff. They moved under his shirt with him. I unwound my arms from his neck and slowly traced his torso. His muscles contracted under my hands. He was so perfect. My hands slide across his abdomen. Ethan groaned into my mouth. He released my lips but quickly replaced them back onto my neck. Oh no. This was getting too serious. I pressed into his chest but Ethan only pulled my tighter. His hands left my waist and began fiddling with the hem of my shirt.
"Ethan." I tried to protest but it came out as a more of a sigh. Me saying his name spurred him on as his hand crept up my shirt and over my abdomen. I pressed on his chest again.
"Ethan, wait." His right hand found its way under my bra line. I gasped as Ethan cupped my breast for the first time. His hand caressed me gently. Ethan moaned against my neck and then his lips found mine again. His tongue snaked back into my mouth as his hand squeezed my breast more aggressively. I gasped and pressed myself into his hand. We shouldn't be doing this. I'm going to hurt him.
"Ethan Lawson Wate!" Marian yelled. Ethan and I broke apart and turned to see Marian standing at the end of the row of shelves. I was about to explain when I heard a crash. Ethan collapsed against the other shelf, panting. I dropped down to my knees beside him and heard Marian rush over to us.
"Ethan. I told you to stop." The pink patches on his neck had turned a scarlet red. The marks were the exact width of my arms, they were placed were my arms had been. He smiled weakly at me.
"I'm okay. Just let me catch my breath." Ethan took a couple deep breaths and tried to sit up. He leaned against the bookcase and shut his eyes. He was sweating like he had just ran a marathon. Marian leaned over him and pressed her sweater to his forehead.
"Ethan, you're burning up!" Marian tisked and I heard footsteps beside us. I looked over and Uncle Macon passed Marian a glass of water. He glanced at me and sighed.
"We need to talk."
