Want Me (Protector Series Book 3)

by Melissa Townsend

  “Uh, not exactly. You see, he barely told me anything aside from the fact that the process of me becoming an Executer was started. Without my knowledge or permission, I might add.” I used my fingers to make quotation marks in the air when I said the word Executer.

  “You will consider yourself lucky to be an Executer soon enough. Right, Taryn?”

  Taryn nodded obediently. She couldn’t even meet my eyes and I found myself wondering how I ever considered being friends with her.

  “Would you like to enlighten me on all things Executer? Because I currently have no desire to consider myself lucky.”

  Taryn gasped quietly while Mariah narrowed her eyes at me. I didn’t back down. I crossed my arms over my chest and waited for her explanation.

  “My parents were both like me. When I turned eighteen, my father took me to Seattle. To the same building you were at a few days ago. With the help of a unique intravenous cocktail and something similar to hypnosis, I was transformed. It took a week or so for the visions to become perfectly clear, but the desire to follow the wishes of my leader was there even sooner.” She studied me as I tried to take in everything she’d just said.

  “Most importantly, who is my supposed leader?” I asked with one raised brow.

  “That would be me,” Mariah said with a smirk.

  “Right. Of course you are. And what about the visions I’m not having?”

  “Taylor, the quicker you stop acting like this is some sort of joke the quicker we can get down to business. This is the only warning you will get,” she snapped before she stood and left the café.

  “She’s right, Taylor. This isn’t a joke. Don’t make things harder on yourself,” Taryn muttered.

  “You don’t get to talk to me like you care about me. You pretended to be my friend and made me trust you when you knew what they were planning. I’m not going to be what they want me to be, and I’m going to do everything possible to get myself out of here. I’d appreciate it if you stayed the hell out of my way.” I slammed my hands down on the table as I scooted my chair back.

  I saw Martha walk out of the kitchen with my taco salad balanced on a tray. “Can I take it to my room if I promise to bring the plate back down?” I asked. I could tell by the look in her eyes that she wanted to know what had happened with my dinner dates, but she only nodded. I grabbed the plate and walked out of the café without looking back at Taryn.

  I plugged my phone into the charger as soon as I got back to my room. My mind was racing and I wasn’t the least bit hungry, but I made myself eat half of the salad before raking the rest into the trash.

  My phone only had twenty-two percent battery after the tenth time I’d checked it, but I couldn’t wait any longer. I took the phone into my bathroom and turned on the shower to block out the sound of my voice before I called Macie.

  After three rings the line went silent. After a few seconds a busy tone came through the phone. I quickly found Jasper’s number in my contacts list and called him. Again, I heard the busy tone. I leaned my back against the wall and held my tears at bay as I attempted to call Macie one more time. It still wouldn’t go through. There must have been some sort of cell blocker on the property, and that realization was what pushed me over the edge. I slid down to the floor, buried my head between my knees, and cried.

  Sam

  Jasper and I landed in Jacksonville just after eight o’clock that night. I had tried calling the number that Kyle had left in his letter, but it had been disconnected. Jasper had talked me into getting a hotel room and going to the address on the envelope in the morning. We had the taxi driver take us through a drive thru for some burgers before dropping us off at the hotel.

  “What do you think this is about?” Jasper asked with a mouthful of foam from his toothpaste.

  “I have no idea, man.” I pulled the blankets back and took my shirt off before getting into the bed. I propped myself up against the headboard and looked back at Jasper.

  “Did you know Jarren had a brother?”

  “It’s news to me,” I shrugged.

  “The guy seemed like such a loner. I remember Macie saying that he never talked to anyone in their classes until one day he showed up with some newfound confidence.” Jasper swished water in his mouth and spit it into the sink. He tugged his shirt over his head and wiped his mouth with it. I shook my head at him and chuckled.

  “What? I’m going to wash it when we get back home,” he defended himself as he got into the bed on his side of the room.

  “You think Jarren had already started hanging out with Jon and Daniel when he made an effort to get on Macie’s good side?” I asked him.

  “Well, I definitely don’t think it was a coincidence.”

  I nodded and placed my hands on the back of my head.

  “Do you think he knows he’s dead?” Jasper asked quietly. When I didn’t answer, he rolled over to face my bed. “Nobody has found his body, and Jon and Daniel are locked up. Maybe his brother assumes he skipped town to avoid being taken down with his friends.”

  “Maybe,” I sighed. Thinking about that night still made me sick with grief, but I would never regret it. I’d saved my best friend’s girl the only way I’d seen possible that night. “I think this letter from Kyle has something to do with Taylor’s personality change. And her ending our relationship. She got it a few days before she told me she couldn’t be with me anymore and she’s been detaching from her emotions ever since.”

  “What exactly does he need help with? He doesn’t give you any kind of clue?”

  “Nope. I get the feeling that Taylor knew what he was talking about. That’s why he didn’t specify: because he knew she would understand.” I scooted down to lay flat on my back.

  “We’ll find out soon enough,” Jasper said through his yawn.

  I nodded as I stared at the ceiling and thought about meeting the brother of the man I’d killed almost a year ago. The brother of the man responsible for the worst night of my life.

  I spent that night tossing and turning while flashbacks of the night I buried Jarren in the bottom of a ravine just outside of Jacksonville haunted me. I was in the bathroom, dry-heaving into the toilet, when Jasper’s alarm went off.

  “Shit. You okay, man?” he asked as he appeared at the bathroom door.

  “Peachy,” I croaked as I sat down with my back against the bathtub.

  “Was it something you ate?”

  “Guess so. I’m good, J. Just going to shower before we head out.”

  He nodded but stood in the doorway a little while longer. He knew something was up, but he didn’t press me for information.

  We arrived at the address on the black envelope before eight that morning. Jasper paid the taxi driver while I stepped out onto the sidewalk. I got a bad feeling in the pit of my stomach as I took in the residence in front of me.

  The tiny yard was majorly overgrown. The sidewalk leading to the porch wasn’t even visible. The house itself was small and in desperate need of repairs. Shutters were either completely missing or hanging by a thread. The windows were covered in foil from the inside. The front door was hanging lopsided, and I was almost certain it would open with one swift push.

  “This is the place?” Jasper asked from behind me. I pointed to the house number that was painted on the curb and nodded.

  “Let’s do this, then,” he said with a confident nod.

  I stood frozen in place. “I—I’m not ready, J. I—I can’t meet him.” I started to pace back and forth on the sidewalk. “Fuck!” I yelled as I yanked one hand through my hair. “What the fuck kind of person am I? I’m just going to show up on this kid’s doorstep and ask him why he wrote my girlfriend some vague ass letter? And what, pretend that I have no idea who he is or why his life is all fucked up now?”

  “Sam? Hey, Sam,” Jasper tried to get my attention. “Stop!” he yelled as he firmly put his hand on my shoulder. I looked at him and saw the pity on his face. I couldn’t hold back any longer. I couldn’t hold i
t in. I fell to my knees, put my head in my hands, and cried. For the first time in a long time, I cried like a fucking baby. Jasper knelt beside me. He didn’t say anything because…what was there to say? I’d killed someone’s big brother. And what made it worse was, I’d do it all over again if it meant Macie and Taylor were safe.

  When I finally started to pull myself together, Jasper leaned in to look me in the eyes. “Is this why you were sick this morning?” he asked with his brows pinched together.

  I opened my mouth to answer when he interrupted me. “Before you lie to me, remember I ate the exact same shit you did.”

  I shut my mouth and just nodded slowly.

  “Have you been this tore up the whole time? I thought you were good, man. Raiders don’t deal with guilt. You’re a Raider. You shouldn’t be so upset about this. Unless—” he rambled on without giving me a chance to break in. “unless you love her,” he shrugged as he cocked his head to the side. His eyes got wide and he stood before continuing his rant. “But you were struggling the night it happened. You didn’t talk to me for days. I remember seeing your red, puffy eyes on more than one occasion. That doesn’t make sense. You didn’t even know Taylor, and you were still a hardcore Raider back then.” He held his arms out to his sides and smiled. “Your heart knew it then. Holy shit, Sam. She’s the one. The real one.”

  He stood there smiling and shaking his head simultaneously. I slowly got to my feet. “You’re off your rocker, man. What’s this trip doing to us?”

  “I’m fucking serious, Sam,” he said as he shoved my shoulder. “When Shiloh and Nat got together and she became a Protector, she wasn’t only able to feel someone else’s pain. She could see it happening while nobody else could. When Macie and I got together she could see the transferred version of me. Since day one, she saw me. Things change when you find the one your heart belongs to, Sam. And things changed for you when Taylor got into your truck that night.”

  My mouth dropped open. “Holy shit,” I muttered.

  “Damn straight,” J said as he smacked me on the back. “Now, let’s go find out what this guy knows so we can get home and let you start writing love letters to your girl,” he smirked.

  “Fuck off,” I said over my shoulder as I walked through the yard to the house in front of us.

  I let out a deep breath before I knocked on the door three times. Just as I’d thought, the door opened from the force of my knocking. I heard footsteps coming from inside.

  “Who’s there?” a male’s voice asked.

  “My name is Sam Johnson and my friend Jasper White is with me. We were hoping to find Kyle Adams.”

  “What do you want with Kyle?” the voice asked through the door.

  “Well, I’ve got this letter that he wrote my friend, Taylor Long,” I explained while I grabbed the letter out of my back pocket.

  “Taylor’s been really busy with work, so she asked us to come check on you,” Jasper chimed in from behind me. I turned around to shut him up, but the door opened and a kid no older than eighteen stepped onto the porch.

  “How’d you know I was Kyle?” he asked nervously.

  “Lucky guess,” Jasper shrugged.

  “So, about the letter,” I started.

  “I wrote to her over three months ago. She just now got around to checking on me? That figures.”

  Kyle looked physically exhausted. He laced his fingers and put his hands on top of his head. It was then that I noticed how skinny he was.

  “Are you hungry? We could go get a bite to eat and talk about all of this,” I suggested.

  Kyle looked behind him for a moment before shaking his head. “I can’t.”

  “What’s going on, man? We’re here to see if we can help you,” Jasper said, making it obvious that he was impatient.

  “It’s a long story,” he said as he stared at his feet.

  “You’ve got to tell us what you need from us, Kyle. Or what you need from Taylor. We can’t read your mind,” I told him.

  I saw movement behind Kyle, inside the house. I stepped to the side to get a better look past him and the feeling I’d had an hour ago intensified.

  Blonde curls bounced as a little girl padded up to the door. Her hair was severely tangled, her clothes were tattered and three sizes too big, and her bare feet were covered in dirt.

  “Who’s dis, Ky?” she asked in her soft little voice. I looked at Kyle and back to the girl several times before glancing at Jasper. He was just as shocked as I was.

  “Demi, these are some of my friends. They came to visit us. Why don’t you go change clothes and then you can come talk with them.”

  When she was out of sight, Kyle motioned for us to come inside. Jasper and I followed him and took a seat on an old, worn couch.

  “Where are your parents?” Jasper asked. Leave it to him to get straight to the point.

  “My mom left when I was a baby and my dad is working out of state. I live here with Demi. It’s just us,” Kyle said flatly.

  “And who’s Demi? You’re daughter? Sister?” Jasper dug.

  “Demi is my niece.”

  “I’m going to be sick,” I muttered as I quickly stood.

  “Sit your ass back down, Sam. We’re doing this. Now,” Jasper snapped.

  “Where are Demi’s parents, Kyle?” he asked. I stood by the door and silently willed him to say anything that meant Jarren wasn’t Demi’s father.

  “Her mom is in her eleventh rehab since Demi was born three years ago, and her dad died in a car accident last year.”

  “So Demi is your sister’s kid?” I asked, already feeling a sense of relief.

  “No, I don’t have a sister. Demi’s dad was my brother’s best friend. When he died my brother, Jarren, found out he was Demi’s godfather. So, when her mom fell off the wagon, Jarren got custody of her,” Kyle explained.

  I couldn’t swallow past the knot that had formed in my throat. I drug in a shaky breath and leaned against the wall to keep my balance. Jasper glanced in my direction before turning back to Kyle to continue his interrogation.

  “Why do you have Demi, now?”

  “My brother left town a month after she moved in with us. I haven’t heard from him since he left. Which isn’t all that surprising. He made it obvious that Demi was a job that he didn’t want,” Kyle said with a look of anger and sadness combined. “Demi doesn’t even remember him and I’m glad. She doesn’t deserve the disappointment that having him in her life will include,” he continued, sadly.

  “Why did you write that letter to Taylor?” J asked, completely detached from the situation at hand.

  “You know Tay-luh?” Demi asked as she skipped down the hall toward him.

  Jasper raised an eyebrow as she jumped on the couch and sat next to him. “Do you know Taylor?”

  “Ky says Tay-luh is gonna take me to her house and I get to live there as long as I want. She has pretty hair, huh?” she beamed up at Jasper as she spoke about Taylor.

  “Yeah, about that,” Kyle started and we narrowed our eyes at him until he continued.

  “I’m going to enlist in the Army and Taylor is the nicest person I’ve ever met. I hoped she wouldn’t mind helping with Demi until I got back,” he said as he gripped the back of his neck and stared at the floor.

  “You weren’t planning on coming back, Kyle. Don’t lie to me.” Jasper stood as he spoke to put emphasis on the fact that it wasn’t a good idea to lie to him.

  “Okay, okay. I didn’t plan on coming back anytime soon,” he said as he put his hands up as if to block Jasper from coming any closer to him.

  “Look, I’m only eighteen. I don’t know the first thing about taking care of a kid. I’ve been doing the best I can, but I think it’s pretty obvious that my best isn’t good enough. Demi will be better off with Taylor, and she deserves a life that she’ll never get if she stays with me.” Kyle’s voice broke on the last sentence.

  “We’ll take her back to Seattle. To Taylor,” I said. Then I looked at Jasper with
wide eyes because I couldn’t believe I’d just said that. Jasper mouthed the words What the fuck? as he looked back at me with equally wide eyes.

  Taylor

  “You know what you have to do, Taylor,” Mariah said. The look on her face was cool and impassive. I looked around us but didn’t recognize where we were. It was dark outside, and I was standing in the grass. There was a road no more than ten feet to my left and several buildings and lights in the distance.

  “What am I doing here?” I asked. My voice sounded breathless and I knew it was because I was beginning to panic.

  “Tonight is the night, Taylor. It’s time,” Mariah said.

  “Time for what? What the hell is going on?” I practically shouted.

  Mariah smirked before she glanced down at my hands. I followed her gaze and saw a knife in my left hand while the right trembled beside it. My knuckles were almost white from the tightness of my grip.

  “You know what he did, Taylor. He must be punished for his actions.”

  “Mariah, I don’t know what the fuck you’re talking about, but I’m not going to be punishing anyone. I won’t be needing this,” I spat as I tossed the knife on the ground between us. Only, I didn’t toss it. It was still in my hand and my knuckles were still white as I held onto it tightly. No matter how hard I tried to open my hand, my fingers wouldn’t budge.

  I heard the sound of Mariah’s manic laughter, and it made chills break out across my skin. When I looked up, she was gone, and Sam stood in her place. He was wearing a dark green shirt with dark jeans and the Nikes he always wore.

  “Sam?” My voice trembled as I spoke.

  He held his arms out to me and smiled. I wanted to run to him. To jump into his arms and forget about my time at Divided Paths, but the sound of Mariah’s voice stopped me.

  “You were there, Taylor. You watched him murder that young man. You watched him murder your boyfriend. He has yet to be punished, and it’s your job to change that,” she said quietly from her new spot to the left of me.