A/N: This story is rated Teen for a reason, just to let you know as a reminder when you read this chapter.
Sorry for the delayed posting. I don't have planned dates when I update chapters I just try to get at least two chapters up a week, three or four would be better since I want to get this finished before I leave on the 20th of August.
It also doesn't help when your internet is on the fritz either.
Disclaimer: I do not own The Caster Chronicles Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl do.
Chapter Ten
She knew she wouldn't be able to talk to Macon on an empty stomach, anticipating it will be a long and eventual night ahead. She stopped at a McDonalds to get a burger, fries, and Coca Cola. She didn't have a lot of money on her at the moment and had to make do with something inexpensive.
Dark clouds were rolling into the Durham area that night, and Lila could only think of how fitting it was. Her insides were on a roller coaster. Macon had lied to her about the job, even though she did eventually get it. It hadn't made sense for him to lie to her. If he wanted her to pay him back, she would get it done faster with a job. Besides, her pay would be a lot better. However, as Barclay had told her Macon didn't make sense to most people he knew. The only person who had a shot was his mother—who was back in the Big Easy. So really no help at all.
Outside the Mickey D's there had been a public pay phone, and Lila called Marian to say she was coming back late that night. The only response Marian gave her was an "hmmm" and to say hi to Macon for her. Hanging up the telephone, Lila let out an exasperated sigh.
Looking at the address Barclay left her, she knew Macon was not where she expected him to be. She had thought he would live in the most posh neighborhoods, and living the life that even James Gatz would be enthralled with. Instead, his address was a bit more obscure and out of the way. Even though Durham was a fairly large city and part of a metropolitan area, it had its little crooks just like any other city. She found his place after a few misplaced turns here and there. Directions were not always her forte.
She pulled her car up to an old house; it was the last house on the street and a part of the historic district. An iron gate in front of it, and the house painted white but had wisteria vines growing up all over it. The house's Roman Doric columns had a bit of chipped paint on them though. The Spanish moss hung around the courtyard. There was a circular window on the top floor with iron designs around it. The overall effect was something out of a William Faulkner piece, which didn't deter her at all.
Pulling the gate open, Lila stepped into the yard. She could see the landscaping was simple, but effective. There were late-blooming flowers and plants that were ready to take their time to die, rest, and then grow anew in the spring to summer period. Gardening had never come to mind at when thinking about one Macon Ravenwood.
Going up the stairs, she heard the occasional creaks of an old home. A rocking chair sat on the upper porch, but the condition it was in told Lila that Macon hadn't used the chair ever. The chair hadn't looked safe to sit in, since it must have been over a hundred years old.
A large brass knocker in a shape of a gargoyle stared at her as she approached the front door. The eyes were beady, but she could have sworn for a brief moment they were red. Thunder rolled through the sky, and Lila jumped for a moment startled. Soon the rain came and she had, once again, forgotten an umbrella. Bringing her light jacket closer around her to fend off the chill and the rain, she grabbed the brass knocker and knocked it three times.
The rain drops were pouring with an increasing zeal. The sound of the thunder got heavier and heavier. She knocked on the door again, and put her ear to the door. She thought she heard a piano being played until she heard a loud bark. On the porch, Boo's hind legs coiled and were ready to pounce at her at any moment.
Boo's eyes…his eyes were different. Boos eyes had been green, but now they were grey. Grey and larger than she remembered them being. Even human looking. It probably was the lack of light on the porch. Lila stumbled having her back against the large brown chestnut door and Boo's growl from the back of his throat cut through the air like a hatchet to wood.
Boo barked at her, showing his razor sharp teeth and came at her. She stood her ground and yelled.
"Boo it's me! Tell Macon I want to talk to him."
Why had she thought that Boo would tell his master anything, except maybe lick his expensive shoes and wag his tail in blissful happiness.
Boo hadn't relented, and had his paws on her stomach before she could do anything else. Macon's dog was larger than any dog she had ever met, when he got up on his hand legs and his paws were on her stomach he had to been about five feet in length. Boo's eyes were searching, something she never thought she would be able to see in a dog's eyes. His breath stunk of the usual acridness of dog breath, and his teeth were near her throat. If his dog attacked her she was going to call animal services.
However, Boo got off of her chest and back onto his four feet. Boo's form was still guarded by the tightened muscles, but no longer found her a threat. She would have to talk to Macon about getting a trainer for him, since Boo seemed like the kind of dog that would kill anyone who saw someone threatening his master. Boo barked, and that is when she heard, even through the crushing rain, the door open and Macon stood there. His face, at first, had been stoic, but Lila saw underneath something was not right.
She stood there for a moment, and he didn't say a word. Boo had entered the house, and she wondered, if for a second, he would send his dog back out to finish her. Macon's eyes were narrowed, and for a single moment Macon did not look like the seventeen, debonair young man she had first met. He looked unnatural, and his already unique bronze eyes seemed to take on a dark complexion.
"Are you going to let me in, or are you just being nice to your dog?" She called out to him.
The thunder rumbled and there was a crash of lightening, startling Lila for a moment. All Macon had to do was spread his arm out and allow her to enter his humble abode. With the silk black pajamas he wore, he seemed more like a Count Dracula than a sarcastic, humor filled Cary Grant wannabee. As the door closed behind her, Lila wondered what she had gotten herself into.
She entered his house and instantly she felt like she was in a different era. The walls were made up with a brocade-like wall paper gilded with a gold and red fleur des lis pattern. Iron chandeliers and candelabras with candles that hung, or sat, all over the place. The stairs had heavy ruby carpeting and gold rods that kept the carpet in place. It wasn't the kind of interior one would see a college student's home, not even the most sophisticated. Macon was a class unto himself.
Boo stopped by Macon's side, and Macon leaned over to itch behind Boo's ear and, for a moment, Macon whispered into Boo's ear and let him go his own separate way. Macon hadn't looked at her, besides the initial opening of the door and letting her in. Her insides were tumbling with anticipation as to what in the world was going on here. Mere moments ago she as sure Boo would bite her neck and she would die from rabies.
Macon had glided into the living room, where a silver tray with a silver tea pot and four tea cups with plates sat. He grabbed one of the tea cups and poured himself some tea, forgetting to offer her a cup. Not that she wanted one anyways.
"Aren't you going to say something?"
The house was too quiet for her own tastes, and he sat down one a large couch and Boo came back to wrap himself around his master's feet. A large fire in the red brick flared with the crackles of the orange and red flame. Smothering the room with a heat so palpable she felt herself sweating. Taking off her sweater, wearing a striped blue t-shirt and capri blue jeans, she sat on the couch. A few feet away from Macon.
"Why are you here Lila?" Macon had turned to look at her, his face blank of any emotion before his gaze went back to what he was looking at right in front of him. .
"I'm here because I want answers Macon."
The lights flickered in the room, and Lila was sure the storm was affecting the electricity. Macon took a sip of his tea without saying another word. Steaming, Lila stood right in front of him and he only placed his tea cup back on its white china plate. His eyes narrowed. He wasn't going to intimidate her.
"I want to know who you think you are. What kind of person lies about a job opportunity? A person who gives a random young woman money and comforts her when she was humiliated. What kind of half-brother are you to have your half-sister go into an arranged marriage? What kind of person sends more mixed messages than a prepubescent boy? And most of all what kind of person just doesn't tell me the truth. I have hid nothing from you, but you have hid everything from me. What are you in the Mafia? Tell me now so I can leave the cannolis."
A small smile had graced Macon's features for a nanosecond, before a firm mask of determination filled it. In a blink of an eye, Macon sat down his tea cup and had walked only a few steps towards her. He took his hand and placed his fingers, lightly, on her chin. She glared at him right back, unafraid. She had pepper spray in her purse if worse came to worse.
"A monster," his voice came out like a whisper and more hoarse than she expected it to be.
Macon was many things, but monster wasn't one of them.
"You're way too over the top for your own good Ravenwood." Macon's eyes pierced into her very soul.
Stunned, she felt his fingers around her wrist when a moment before they were on her chin. It wasn't so hard that he was cutting off her circulation, but enough to catch someone's attention. The sensation of lightening through her veins was hard to miss.
"You don't even know what you are saying." He blinked his eyes, and his eyes focused in on her hair and face.
His entire body was racked with emotion. Macon's seriousness pained her. Cutting her like an apple going through a juicer. He had wit, but this side of Macon was far more disturbing than even Boo Radley's aggression.
"I know when I see a drama queen and you're being one," Lila stated as she took her own hands out of Macon's grip, he had relaxed them to let her go.
They stood in the center of his living room. The tea abandoned. The flames of the fire licked the logs, casting an eerie glow into the already dim room. Not sure what overcame her, all she knew was in this moment her body was reacting.
She flipped the back side of her left hand to run over Macon's cheek. His entire body stiffened at her action, and his hand was about to take her wrist when she snatched it away. His eyes haunted, and hers determined to get under this act because that is what it was. An act. He wanted to run, and she wasn't going to let him. He needed to face this like a man.
She brought his hand down back to his side and moved closer to Macon. She could feel his chest heave. Heavy breaths were coming out of him, and Lila wrapped her hands around his neck. She had to get up on her tip toes to reach Macon's ears as she whispered, "I'm asking you again, what's going on?"
He nuzzled her neck and Lila closed her eyes as the feeling overwhelmed her. The rational part of her new to stop whatever was happening because something was happening. Her body had lit a flame that couldn't be controlled. A thunderclap made itself heard as the two of them came closer and closer together. Either the fire was too hot, or the fire in her belly and his were more than enough for the two of them.
Macon's breath danced along her throat and tickled her at the same time; the euphoric feeling of his weight against her was a lot to take in but the sensation took her to heights she had never been when she had been in a similar position. His voice was hoarse and full of unrestrained emotion that filled the space in her ear, "Something that shouldn't, and can't, happen."
She brought her hands tighter around him, her senses heightened to the spice and nutmeg smell he wore. Her body felt the heat traveling down to her core, but keeping herself in the moment she enjoyed the intimacy between them as Macon's hands slowly crept down her back and pulled her more into him as his hands were placed around her hip. The two locked in a position as perfect as a missing piece in a jigsaw puzzle.
"Which is what?" Lila whispered into his ear.
The heat unbearable as her knees started to shake. Powerful waves of emotion filled her as she looked into Macon's eyes. Gone were the determined stoic, the playful wit, and the sarcastic mask of Macon Ravenwood. Before her was a young man who was rawer than he had been. His arms tightened around her as he brought his mouth to her ear.
"I'm falling Janie. I'm falling for you."
Before she knew what happened he kissed her, and the surprising part was that she kissed him back. Slow and tender he had brought his lips down onto her, awkward at first as if he never done this before but she opened her mouth open for him using her experience to help him. His tongue found hers and created their own rhythm, as her knees became jelly and Macon swooped her up like she was a Raggedy Ann doll. He carried her over to the couch where they continued their ministrations.
The kiss deepened to a place Lila had never been before, and she couldn't help but exhale gasps of pleasure. The feel of his mouth against hers, his body warm body against hers, and stroking his hand down the curves of her body she knew very quickly that she would become irrational if they were to continue. Her body heaved with an electrical jolt that overwhelmed her, and even in this blissful state knew that the feelings had to come to an end. Macon's eyes were only on her own, the dark depths of his eyes once puzzling to her now she could make it out. He had been hurt for so long, and only now was feeling something for the very first time in his life.
In an instant, it was all over as Macon sprang away from her and Lila stood up to see Macon pale as he looked at himself and her and whispered, "What have I done?"
One hadn't needed to know a lot of hunting lore to see the same look in Macon's eyes as a rabbit before a hunter. He wanted to run, and Lila would have none of it. They bore their souls that night, and even with all the things that happened they would not be easily forgotten.
Lila grabbed his wrist before anything could happen. The lights in the house were dimming and exploding with light faster than she thought possible, going from one extreme to another. Macon's gaze at the lights only added to his internal frustrations, even though it was just the storm causing it.
"I shouldn't have done that. We shouldn't have done that." Macon tried to get himself out of her grip, but she only held him tighter. She needed him to be real with her. He needed to be real with himself for a change instead of wearing a mask as he had been doing.
"Then why did it feel so right?"
Even Lila hadn't believed what came out of her mouth. Every part of what happened felt right. The feeling of his hands over her hips, and his tongue entwined with her own. The feelings were rushing to the forefront and she would have to keep her head. There had never been another guy who had made her feel like what she had just felt. Macon made her feel like a woman, instead of another pretty face.
Macon's eyes glazed over, either from pure emotion or some demon from his past wanting to come out and destroy him. Macon was fighting the battle. The house shook from a particular large thunderclap, but the storm within the home was far more turbulent.
"I…I don't…know," Macon's voice shook.
Hoarse and full of emotions he had never dared anyone to know about. Macon's entire body crumbled and Lila was there when he slid down to the ground near the staircase, when he had run off from their embrace in the middle of the living room. She took him into her own arms and stroked his back. His entire body rocked with sobs, but not a single cry was heard. The tears, however, fell freely.
#
As Lila rubbed circles on Macon's back she had nuzzled his neck as well. Macon smelled the faint confederate jasmine fragrance that lingered on Lila's throat. A perfume perhaps? He buried his face further into her neck. Like she was the only thing he had to live. She whispered into his ear and the shivers tingled down his spine as her voice was throat, "Whatever happened tonight Macon we can't go back, we can only go forward."
His only response was a whisper in her ear. "That was what I was afraid of."
He kissed her with more emotion than he had ever possessed. He could not turn back now, and would not turn back. He would reap what he sowed, but could not stop what he felt for her: love.
AN: Just to let you guys know romance scenes tend to be my weakest link. So, if you have any constructive criticism to give regarding this chapter in general, or the whole advancement of Lila and Macon's relationship, I am all ears. So, we're starting to get into the meat of the story now. Thanks for those readers who have continued to read this story and review. I am hoping you are enjoying it, seeing as I am having fun writing this story too.