Taking Flight (Teen Paranormal Romance Series) (The Caged Series Book 3) Read online

  I hated to see her sad; it hurt worse than any of my own problems. We tried to make her life better, but had we? It seemed like she was always crying, and it was always about one of us.

  Phoenix took one look at her and shoved Jaxson into the hallway, slamming the door in his face. “Buzz off, asswipe. This doesn’t concern you.”

  I sat down on the side of Lexus’ bed and rubbed her back while Phoenix hovered nearby, pacing.

  “Lexus? What’s wrong? Are you sick? Sarah said you should go to the nurse. Is your stomach still upset?”

  She sat up and nodded, taking a shaky breath and wiping away her tears with the back of her hand. “I just don’t feel good.” Her face scrunched with an emotion way more complicated than just the ache of an upset stomach, but why didn’t she want to tell me?

  “Let me take you to the nurse; she can give you some medicine.” I held out my hand to help her up.

  She shook her head and laid back down, turning her head away from me and covering her eyes with her arm. “I’ll be fine. I just need some… time alone.”

  Her words hit me like a punch in the gut. Why was she pushing us away? Was this relationship too much for her? I knew it was too good to be true, this fragile triangle we’d made.

  “Come on, Lex. Don’t be stubborn. Get some Pepto Bismol from the nurse and you’ll feel a lot better,” Phoenix said, but I frowned at him. Didn’t he see there was something else going on here?

  “Lex, please. Talk to me. What is it? Did somebody say something? Did Jaxson do something?”

  She grunted out a harsh laugh and pulled her arm away from her head, scowling. “No, this one’s all on me.”

  I frowned, more confused than ever. “Well, Sarah seemed to think it involved me, too. But not Phoenix.”

  She looked at me wistfully, her sweet face so beautiful, even in her sorrow. “It’s not your fault, Griffin. It doesn’t need to be your problem. I can take care of it. It’s better if you’re not involved. Just go.”

  Panic stirred my insides, and my whole body shook with the thought of losing her. “Lex, any problem you have automatically becomes my problem.” Phoenix gave my arm a slug, and I rolled my eyes at him. “Our problem. We’re in this together, right? When are you going to understand that you don’t have to be alone anymore? We love you, Lexus. We’re here for you, no matter what. Will you please tell us what’s going on?”

  Her eyes got misty, and she sucked in her lips to stem her tears before covering her face with her hands.

  “I don’t want to ruin your life, Griffin. It’s bad enough I’ve ruined mine,” she whimpered.

  Phoenix snarled and pushed me out of the way, obviously dissatisfied with how I was handling this. He grabbed ahold of her shoulders and forced her to look at him. “What the hell, Lexus? What are you talking about? How did you ruin your life? Spill it. Now.”

  She dropped her head, her face still buried in her hands, and her body convulsed with a giant sob. When she pulled her hands away, her face was contorted with agony. “I think I’m pregnant,” she whispered.

  “Holy shit,” we said in unison, jumping up.

  Phoenix shook his head emphatically. “No way, Lexus. Not a chance. I mean, you only had sex once, right? And you used protection. Didn’t you?”

  Phoenix glanced at me for confirmation, but my face was blank, turned to stone. The sun had gone dark and everything around me was black. She was right. Her life was ruined. But it wasn’t her fault; it was mine. Guilt crashed into me.

  Phoenix’s face instantly morphed from disbelief to rage at the sight of me. “You bastard!” he snarled, and his fist flew through the air and connected with my jaw, bones crunching. The force sent my body on a collision course with the nightstand, and my brain ricocheted in my skull as it made contact with the sharp, wooden corner. Pain exploded in my head, and the world disappeared.

  6

  One second was all it took to ruin my life and take my brother’s. It all happened so fast — one second I was blown away by Lexus’ admission, and the next I was so angry at Griffin I exploded. A second later, and my brother lay on the ground, dying, because of me. Pain, fear, guilt, horror, and panic slammed into me all at once, paralyzing me.

  Everything after that happened in slow motion.

  Blood gushed from my brother’s head, spewing across the room, and the door flew open as Lexus screamed. Jaxson took one look at the scene and started backing away, but Lexus jumped up and grabbed him, agony turning her face into someone else’s.

  I felt the electricity crackle between them, more intense than any I’d ever seen, and their bodies vibrated as Lexus dug her fingers into Jaxson, a wordless plea passing between them.

  Suddenly, the world started moving in slow motion, backward, and I gaped as I watched the last 30 seconds go in reverse. Jaxson backed out of the room, Lexus sat back down on the bed, and my brother’s body lifted from the ground as the blood disappeared back into his head. I felt my arm reverse through the swing till it was by my side again, and Griffin was standing next to me. A loud pop of suction signaled that time had restarted, but the three of us stood frozen until Jaxson crashed through the doorway again.

  “What the hell just happened?” He screeched, gaping in amazement at me, Lexus, and my uninjured brother. “Did we just… reverse time?!”

  Lexus rushed to embrace Griffin, but emotion crashed through me like a freight train, and I stumbled backward, falling down on Sarah’s bed. Tremors shook my body as I stared at my brother, absorbing what had just happened. He held his head, now whole again, and stared back at me, and I imagined every word he was thinking without him saying any of it — out of control, crazy, dangerous.

  “Griffin, I…” How do you apologize for almost killing someone, especially the person you love more than anyone? I didn’t have any words for that.

  I rose to my feet again and reached for my brother, wrapping my arms around him, proving to myself that he was whole and well, and letting my apologies pour out through my body. He backed up a little and stiffened when I grabbed him.

  “Griffin, I’m sorry. I never meant for that to happen! I don’t know what I was thinking; I just lost it for a minute. I’m so sorry!” I blurted out everything I was thinking, trying to convince him to forgive me, trying to soften the coldness I felt when I got near him. He’d forgive me eventually, wouldn’t he? I knew I’d been reckless, but all’s well that ends well, right?

  He glared at me and didn’t say anything, and his eyes turned towards Lexus, who wrapped her hands around him. She nuzzled his chest, and he buried his face in her hair, and suddenly I felt like I had just lost both of them.

  “Hello? Are we gonna talk about what just happened here?” Jaxson’s voice cut through the drama like a commercial in the middle of a soap opera. It was freakin’ incredible, what they’d just done, but we were all so glad that Griffin was okay, we hadn’t even stopped to absorb the fact that Jaxson and Lexus had just turned back time.

  “Thank you, Jaxson; you saved my life,” Griffin whispered solemnly, and me and Lex nodded in awe.

  Jaxson narrowed his eyes and glanced back and forth between the three of us. “You know, I’m sure Anders would be very interested to learn about all this.”

  “No!” Lexus yelped, pushing away from Griffin and grabbing onto Jaxson. “You can’t, Jaxson! If he finds out about any of this, he’ll expel us all. Please, just keep this between us.”

  Jaxson narrowed his eyes at Lexus in a way that made me shudder. “Fine, but my silence will cost you. Come find me when you’re ready to negotiate.” He sneered and winked as he left the room, a picture-perfect villainous exit. I couldn’t help but roll my eyes at him.

  My brother turned his attention back to Lexus, sighing, wrapping his arms around her. “Don’t worry, Lexus. I’m going to take care of you. We’re in this together. The first thing we need to do is find out if you’re really pregnant or not.”

  “I can help.” I jumped up, hoping to earn their forg
iveness, trying to keep the precarious relationship from falling apart. My body vibrated with anxiousness.

  “I’ll go to the nurse, ask for some condoms. Sounds like you need some, anyway.” I glared at my brother, still mad as hell that he slept with Lexus without protection. “I’ll get her talking, see if she has any pregnancy tests, try to swipe one.”

  Griffin nodded, satisfied with my suggestion, and Lexus gave me a look of gratitude that let me know that at least she didn’t hate me.

  I hustled out of the room and down to the nurse’s office, hoping there wasn’t a wait. It was still lunch time, and I wanted to get this done before our next class so we wouldn’t have to try to explain why we were skipping. My heart was still pounding like a heavy-metal drummer, and I put my hands on my knees and took a few deep breaths to calm myself. I need to get control of myself so I could do this.

  The door was open, and an older woman sat at the desk, flipping the pages of a novel. Her pink scrubs matched the color of her cheeks, and I wondered what she was reading. She looked like a grandma with her wide hips and mom-style, permed hair, but her eyes were big and she was biting her lip like she was really into the story. The picture on the front made it look like a romance novel. I didn’t know what was weirder, having to talk to an old lady I didn’t even know about sex or the idea of her fantasizing about it.

  I knocked on the doorframe and poked my head in. “Uh, Nurse Fletcher? Can I talk to you for a minute?”

  She startled and dropped the book, losing her page, looking flustered and guilty. “Sure, sure! Come on in. I don’t think we’ve met yet. What’s your name?”

  “Yeah, I’m new here. Just started a few weeks ago. My name’s Phoenix.” I gave her what Griffin called my “panty-melting” smile, running my fingers through my hair and making my eyes twinkle, taking advantage of the one thing I had going for me. I figured it might be good to have her on my side if Lexus was pregnant.

  She blushed a little more and fluttered her eyelashes, putting her hand on her chest like she was short of breath. “What can I help you with, Phoenix?”

  “Uhhh…” I glanced nervously at the open door behind me and the random students walking by.

  “Sorry.” She walked around the desk and closed the door then motioned for me to follow her into the back area. “Have a seat. Tell me what’s bothering you.” She waved her hand towards an examination table.

  I shrugged and hopped up on the table, the protective paper crinkling beneath my dangling legs. Why did I all of a sudden feel like a little kid about to get in trouble?

  “Uh, I was wondering if you might have any condoms?”

  Nurse Fletcher blushed again but tried to keep her face serious. She nodded and turned around, opening one of the plain, white cabinets that lined the walls and pulling out a basket full of Trojans. I craned my neck, trying to see what else was in there. Sure enough, there were a couple boxes with a picture of a pee stick on them. I didn’t want to ask her for one and risk exposing Lexus, but how else was I going to get one with her in here? I needed a distraction. The nurse was digging through some pamphlets, so I sent a quick text to Griffin.

  * * *

  come distract the nurse for a minute, stat

  * * *

  The nurse turned back towards me with a gentle smile and handed me a box of condoms and a brochure with a cheesy teen couple on it. “Phoenix, I wouldn’t be doing my job as a healthcare professional if I didn’t take a minute to talk to you about safe sex.”

  I groaned inside, but tried to keep my face straight. I knew all about safe sex; for once, it was my brother who was the reckless idiot. I had to let her talk for a minute, though, to give Griffin a chance to get down here. She sat down on a stool and rolled it closer to me, the wheels creaking on the hard flooring.

  “Practicing safe sex means more than just using condoms, Phoenix. Although condoms are a great way to prevent pregnancy and the spread of STDs, there are other things you need to keep in mind if you’re going to be sexually active—”

  Griffin must’ve busted ass to get down there, because the nurse had barely started lecturing me before I heard a knock on the door to her office. She glanced from me to the door and back again.

  “I want to talk about this a little more and answer any questions you have, but let me just see who that is, okay? I’ll be back in a minute.”

  I nodded, and she left the room, pulling the door closed behind her. It didn’t latch, though, so I could still make out most of what she was saying.

  “Well hello,” she said with a nervous laugh, and I knew seeing my double had startled her.

  “Hey, I’m looking for my brother, Phoenix. Someone said they saw him come in here. I wanted to make sure he’s okay,” Griffin said.

  Now that I knew it was him, I jumped off the table and rushed for the cabinet with the pregnancy tests in it, grabbing one of them and shoving it in the back of my shirt, making sure it was tucked into my jeans so the box wouldn’t fall out. On second thought, I grabbed another one just in case and stuck it with the other. I wondered for a minute if there was anything else useful I should try to nab, but I didn’t want to get in trouble for stealing. Even if she saw the missing pregnancy tests, she probably wouldn’t rat me out, but she might if I took anything else.

  “Phoenix is here, but he’s fine. He’ll be out in a minute, okay?” The nurse reassured him.

  I sent him a quick text, letting him know I was good, then hopped back up on the table, making sure the nurse wouldn’t be able to see the bulges in my shirt when she walked in. I held my breath to try to calm my heartbeat.

  I heard the ding of my text on Griffin’s phone and knew he’d read it by his response. “Okay, tell him I’ll just wait out here for him, would you?”

  “Sure thing,” Nurse Fletcher said, and I heard the door close. A few seconds later she knocked on the door to the exam room then let herself back in.

  “Your brother is waiting for you outside.” She smiled, probably feeling overwhelmed by the pair of us.

  I listened to her ramble for a few more minutes about safe sex, said no when she asked if I had any questions, then promised her I’d come ask if I thought of any. Actually, I had all kinds of questions about pregnancy, but I didn’t dare ask those yet. Besides, I was sure the internet could tell me way more than I ever wanted to know about it.

  I had to walk backwards a little bit, acting like I didn’t want to leave, but I managed to keep my back turned so she wouldn’t see the outline of the boxes under my shirt. As soon as I was out the door, I let out a big breath, feeling awkward and embarrassed. Griffin was waiting for me as promised.

  “I got it. Now, let’s go find out if you’re an even bigger asshole than I am.”

  Griffin scowled at me but followed me back up to Lexus’ room. The bell rang, and the hallways cleared, but there was no way we could go to class without knowing.

  Lexus was curled up on her bed, hugging her knees to her stomach, but she jumped up when we walked through the door.

  “Sorry, guess I could’ve knocked.” I smiled at her, but she just grimaced. I was feeling buoyant after my successful trip to the nurse’s office, but Lexus’ problems might just be starting. Lexus and Griffin’s, that was.

  My brother was just as much to blame for this as she was, if not more so. Lexus was naive, innocent, trusting. The thought of using protection probably never even crossed her mind when Griffin was luring her into bed. She just wanted someone to love her. But Griffin should’ve known better. I still wanted to punch his lights out.

  The image of Griffin’s bloody face flashed across my memory, followed by an instant replay of his head hitting the nightstand and splitting open, then the whole process reversing itself. I shook my head, freaked out by it. The whole time-reversal thing was monumental, and we definitely needed to talk about it, but right now we had more important things to worry about.

  I was almost positive that Griffin would man up and do the right thing by Lexus if she
was pregnant. But even so, it would screw up everything. What would happen to the three of us? This was bound to knock our wobbly relationship off the ledge.

  I didn’t know much about the signs of pregnancy, but I hoped to God that Lexus was wrong about it.

  I pulled first one and then the other box out from under my shirt and handed them to Lexus. She looked up at me in confusion. “Just to be sure, you know?”

  She nodded and grabbed a small bag, stuffing the tests inside. Her whole body was shaking, her frail limbs pale and thin, and her eyes were staring a hole in the ground. I would’ve done anything to take it all away from her. “I’ll be back in a couple minutes,” she whimpered.

  Griffin and I both followed her to the bathroom and stood outside the door while she went in to take the test. I wanted to yell at him some more, make him see what a jackass he was, but his face looked like he had his balls in a vise, and he was already pissed at me, so I kept my mouth shut. For a minute I wondered if this was how he felt every time I did something royally stupid. But at least I’d never gotten a girl pregnant before.

  7

  I gasped as soon as Lexus walked out of the bathroom, and oxygen flowed back to my brain, making me feel lightheaded and dizzy. I didn’t realize I was capable of holding my breath for three full minutes, but I’m pretty sure that’s what I did. Meanwhile, I’d imagined every possible outcome.

  If Lexus was pregnant, she’d have to drop out of Magna Virtus. Would the Lewises take her in, or would she have to go back to her mother? Would she even want to keep the baby? What if she wanted to abort it?

  And where did I fit in to all of this? Could I step up and take care of her and be a father to our baby? I had no idea how to be a good dad. My own parents were a cloudy, half-forgotten memory. Would I be okay with it if she wanted to give it up for adoption? It would probably be easier if she just ended the pregnancy, but how did I feel about that? I had no idea what I wanted.