Chapter 17

The cloud of fog surrounding the dorms and campus really was the best cover for our escape and we managed to make it to the edge of the forest where we were supposed to rendezvous with James and Lexi. It surprised me that the plan had worked as well as it did, not that I didn't want it to – believe me no-one wanted it to work more than me – I just wasn't prepared for how little effort it would take on my part.

We had been waiting for close to twenty minutes and both of us were starting to get a little anxious. Had they been caught? Did they make it out at least? The waiting was worse than the breaking out, especially now that we were so close to finally being in control of our own lives again. I felt like somewhat of a criminal mastermind having pulled it off and I smiled at the idea.

It had been less than three weeks, however impossible that was to believe, since we received our sentence and already we were forced to do something that could have them extend our incarceration until we're at least thirty. Not that we cared enough to abandon this silly plan, because to us it was the only way we could survive.

I'm aware that it sounds pathetic, juvenile even, but at the end of the day it was the only punishment they could don out that they were certain would hurt us the way we – no doubt – hurt them when we left. While I did understand why we were being punished, my sixteen year old brain wasn't about to just accept it and had my father even asked my opinion I could have told him in certainty that this would happen. I was only sixteen though and he was my father so he wasn't about to listen to the mad ranting's of a teenager, especially when he'd already made up his mind.

It's funny how all this could have been avoided if he just listened or if he'd thought before he acted, but I knew that – despite being calculated and cool as a guardian – when it came to me all sense of rationality vanished from his mind.

I had been so caught up in my own depressive thoughts that I didn't notice when Declan went rigid beside me and I almost yelped when he pulled me into the trees, but his hand covered my mouth and swallowed the exclamation on my lips.

His body was pressed up against mine, my back against a tree. I was intensely aware of his hand covering my mouth and his forearm by my head, essentially caging me in. His chest was hard against my cheek and I could feel unbridled heat emanating from every pore in his body. There was something alluring about the position, sexual even, and the air around us charged and changed the longer we remained in that position. It wasn't awkward though, not like I should have been, but the tension was tangible and made my breath catch in my throat.

I heard faint rapid footsteps approaching, stopping just short of the tree and I panicked for just a second until I found Declan's eyes staring down at me and the world ceased to exist almost instantly. Hundreds of questions passing from his eyes to mine and in a rare slip of self-control, my eyes briefly darted to his lips and back up to his eyes. He didn't miss the action and just as the footsteps disappeared back into the distance, he removed his hand from my mouth dipped his head down and kissed me.

Much like the first time, I kissed him back without any hesitation. Unlike the first time though, he didn't pull back and neither did I. He didn't abruptly end the kiss and I didn't punch him because of it. Instead I was pulling on his black t shirt in an attempt to get him even closer, though our bodies were already pressed firmly together.

We were both frantic and breathing heavily, despite the fact that it had been only seconds since his lips met mine. He tasted like warm vanilla, like I would imagine amber tasted like if it had a flavor. Everything about him was comforting and warm, inviting me into its splendor – he was like a piece of home in an uncertain time. Physical and emotional comfort radiated from the closeness of his body and when he slipped his tongue in my mouth I moaned softly – a sound I didn't even know I was capable of making.

I felt him smile against my lips at the sound and I had to stop a giggle bubbling up from inside me. Our bodies molded together like we had been created specifically for one another. My hand were now fisted at his chest, bunching up his shirt, and I could feel the hard lines of his bare stomach pressed up against mine. His fingers curling around my ribcage right at the edge of my bra. His skin against my skin sending electricity coursing through my body, but it was more than just coursing. It felt almost like I was conducting electricity, sending it into his body wherever our skin touched. I couldn't be certain that he felt it, but the way our bodies responded to one another made it almost inevitable that he was.

We were so consumed by one another that we didn't hear them approach and we only broke away from each other, breathing heavily, when we heard two familiar gasps. He was gone so quickly and I shivered at the loss of the heat he'd been generating and instinctively wrapped my arms around myself.

James and Lexi were staring at us in disbelief and I found it hard to meet either of their gazes so I sneaked a peek at Declan who didn't share my aversion and was looking at the two with a strange expression on his face, one I couldn't quite place. It was somewhere between "couldn't you have stayed away for longer", "how dare you interrupt us", and "there's nothing abnormal about what you just witnessed". A strange combination, but it was clearly etched on his beautiful face.

I found it equally heartwarming and horrifying that the emotions that were clearly missing from his face was regret and shame. Heartwarming because I was glad he didn't see it as a mistake, but horrifying because neither did I.

The four of us stared at each other for quite a while and my body responded when Declan moved closer to me once again. I could hear my heart thundering in my ears and Lexi grinned at me. With that grin she told me that she could clearly hear the effect that small movement had on me, luckily she couldn't sense the relief I had felt by having him close once more – though from the look on James' face he had guessed as much.

None of us said anything it wasn't like there was nothing to say, but none of us knew exactly how to voice what we wanted to say so we just stood there in awkward silence. Lexi and I both jumped when a high-pitched alarm shattered the silence and splintered off of all the surfaces around us.

"It seems our absence has been noticed. We'd better get going, this place will be swarming with guardians shortly and if you guys want to stay gone I suggest we get moving, now."

Declan was moving away from me again, but before I could voice my protest he grabbed my hand once more and pulled me along with him knowing full well that the others would follow suit without hesitation.

Again I was surprised by just how much emotion his hand around mine could evoke within me and that as foreign as the feeling was it still felt familiar and oddly comforting. I found myself wondering if holding my hand evoked the same emotion in him, but that was just silly. He'd most likely be immune to such teenage nonsense, though as he looked back at me fondly I second guessed my analysis in its entirety.

I could feel Lexi and James' eyes bore into my back, and while there was no hostility there it did make me slightly uncomfortable and knowing them they would definitely have loads of questions for me. Though in this moment all any of us really cared about was to get to the cabin safely without being detected.

I found it strange, however, that with Micah it hadn't been as all-consuming and we'd never been caught unaware of other presences. With Declan it was the complete opposite. We'd be so enthralled with one another, so consumed, that a moroi and a novice guardian had gotten the drop on us.

That seemed dangerous, being so caught up in someone that the whole world ceased to exist didn't particularly sit right with me, but something was definitely happening between us that was getting increasingly hard to ignore. I shouldn't have been ignoring it in the first place, because Declan made me feel things that no other person ever had and while it felt so wrong – thinking about my relationship with Micah – it couldn't really be. Nothing that felt this good could ever truly be wrong, right?

With Micah I had control and he was the safe, sane choice. With Declan I completely lacked self-control and while I knew I'd always be safe with him around, I also knew that it was insane – complete madness. I could tell Declan things that I'd never be able to tell Micah and it was not because he wouldn't understand, it was more that I didn't afford Micah the same level of trust than I had Declan. I secretly wondered why exactly that was.

My mind was spinning, racing, trying to make sense of a senseless situation and I was developing a killer headache. The sun was also starting to peak up over the horizon and we quickened our pace to make it to the cabin before the new day finally hit.

While daylight is normally our night, I had a keen awareness that it wouldn't deter the guardians from an all-out manhunt in search of us, which made it all the more important for us to get to the cabin as soon as possible.

I started wondering if our parents had been notified yet and, if they had, if they were already on their way. I felt a slight pang of remorse knowing they'd be worried about me, but at the same time I was angry at their omission of the truth for the entirety of my life. Everything could have been different had they just confided in me enough to let me in on the truth, but all that told me was that they didn't trust me. The same people who raised me with honesty and trust as the cornerstones of character, had lied to me and shattered my trust in them and by extension proved that they didn't at all practice what they preached.

It was a real teenage way to look at it, but at the end of the day it didn't matter how mature I acted I was at my core still a teenager and I did feel teenage emotion even if I sometimes tried to convince myself otherwise.

I had really gotten myself into something crazy complicated this time, between my two love interests and my parents I had enough emotional damage to keep a therapist busy for years. I scoffed at the idea and Declan looked back and frowned at me.

"Tired?"

He questioned and I shook my head, which made him frown even deeper. He eyed me suspiciously and pulled me closer to him, stopping for just a second so Lexi and James could catch up. Honestly I hadn't even noticed they had fallen behind.

Declan smirked at me and my breath caught in my throat, he seemed to have that effect on me whenever our eyes met. For a second I was thinking he might kiss me again, but then he moved my hair behind my shoulder exposing my neck. At first I thought it was an odd thing for him to do, but he'd realized that both James and Lexi was within earshot and whatever he had wanted to tell me he wanted to say without an audience.

Declan truly had the art of seduction down to a T and when he bent his head down once more, I understood what had been going through his head as he whispered in my ear. His breath on my ear tickled and I suppressed a sigh, but he prolonged the moment by just breathing and I could see the smile on his face when he saw Goosebumps cover my exposed arms. I could see on his face that my reaction filled him with some sense of wonder, but just as I thought he wasn't actually going to say anything he surprised me once again.

"Too bad, might have been really fun to carry you."

I flushed blood red and took a step back just as Lexi and James caught up. My heart was hammering again and Lexi raised a single brow at me with a knowing smile on her face. I rolled my eyes at her just in time before Declan pulled me along once more.

The effect Declan had on me was infuriating yet welcome at the same time. The anger was mostly directed at myself for not being strong enough to resist, but I welcomed my weakness as well, because it meant that I was being tested in a way that wouldn't be possible with anyone other than Declan.

Lexi fell into step beside me, that pesky eyebrow of hers still raised in question. I had wanted to tell her to wait until we were at the cabin before she bombarded me with questions, but I could see any attempt at putting this conversation off for a later time was going to be futile. I knew Lexi and I knew how relentless she could be whenever someone knew something that she didn't, so I sighed in defeat welcoming the onslaught of questions reluctantly.