Once Nate was through the door, he quickly began to realize the level of danger. Hanna’s face was white with terror and she and Kaelen stood unnaturally stiff as they talked to Zane. Hanna knew something Nate didn’t but had no way to warn him.
“Go back inside, Nate,” Zane directed his words to Nate but didn’t take his eyes off Hanna and Kaelen.
“Probably a good idea,” Hanna said, her voice trembling.
“I’m fine, thank you,” Nate responded coolly.
While he was talking, he managed to edge a little closer to Kaelen and Hanna without Zane reacting. Now that he was looking at Zane from their perspective, he could finally see why Hanna was so terrified. Just inside Zane’s partially zipped sweatshirt, Nate could distinctly see the barrel of gun sticking out, aimed directly at the nervous couple. Nate forced himself to take a deep breath before he spoke, just to make sure he had time to choose his words carefully, and then cautiously he took one step forward, hoping to redirect Zane’s anger towards him.
It worked. Zane shifted the gun and shouted, “Don’t come any closer or I’ll shoot you!”
Nate could clearly hear fear in Zane’s voice. He didn’t want to kill anyone. He was just hurt and overreacting. Being a protector had exposed Nate to some grisly crimes. He’d seen cold-blooded murder first hand. This was different. Maybe Nate could save Zane from his own impulsive behavior. He certainly could understand how love could make you a little crazy.
Behind his back, Nate carefully used one of his hands to signal Hanna. While Nate kept him talking, Kaelen and Hanna began to noiselessly edge their way back towards the patio door.
“You don’t want to shoot me, Zane,” Nate said, holding Zane’s fiery gaze. “What you want is to go back in time, to have Hanna again, right?”
Hanna and Kaelen were just a handful of feet from the patio doors when Hanna’s high heel caught in a divot on the sidewalk and she stumbled. Kaelen caught her before she fell but the sudden commotion spooked Zane. Acting only on the pure adrenaline now coursing through his veins, he turned towards the commotion on the patio and pulled the trigger at the same time. The sound of the gun going off was deafening as it bounced off the mountainside and returned to them as a thunderous echo.
In a split second, Nate reacted. He wasn’t close enough to Zane to grab the gun from him so he did the next best thing. He put himself between the bullet and Hanna, who was now frantically trying to open the patio door.
Inside the ballroom, chaos broke out. Jennie had pushed her way to the doors and watched helplessly as Nate absorbed the bullet and landed in a crumpled heap on the ground.
Someone behind her yelled out over the deafening music, “Call 911! Someone’s been shot.”
Jennie didn’t care if Nate told her to wait in the ballroom. She thrust open the doors, exposing herself to Zane’s firepower. For a just a second her eyes locked onto Zane’s. Regret had already begun to set in. He was trembling, shaking so badly that he lost control of the gun and it fell to the ground with a dull clank. Already, sirens raged in the background, warning Zane that his capturers were on their way. Zane looked at the gun and then he forced his gaze to meet Jennie’s one more time, as if for the first time realizing what he had done.
“I’m sorry,” he mouthed to her and then he turned and stumbled away out into the dark night.
Before he was even out of sight, Jennie ran to Nate and dropped to her knees, thinking he was already dead. She stretched out her bare hands and began stroking his soft wheat-colored hair. When he groaned and rolled over, she shrieked, first from the surprise and then out of pure joy. Before he could respond, she wrapped her arms around him and buried her face in his neck. Tears were coming now fast and furious, dripping from her cheeks and onto Nate’s skin, leaving a warm, wet sensation that rivaled the cool night air. The minute their skin connected, the sensation of warmth and comfort that had come in the past flowed effortlessly between them.
“Jen,” he said, his words sounding muffled from their awkward position. Jennie either didn’t hear him or couldn’t bring herself to let go.
“Jen,” he said, more firmly this time, “I’m okay. I didn’t get hit. I just fell down.”
Finally, with this assurance she pulled back. Still a little disoriented by the fall, Nate first sat up and got his bearings before finally slowly rising to his feet.
“You really didn’t get hit?” she asked. Nate pulled back his dark coat to show her that there were no bullet wounds. As if she needed proof, she ran her hands thoroughly across his chest and stomach. Nate smiled at her reaction and tried not to enjoy her touch while at the same time storing away the memories to savor another time.
By now, students had begun to venture out onto the small porch and police were everywhere. The dance was prematurely shut down and the hotel became a crime scene with Jennie and Nate stuck in the middle of it. The rest of their night was spent answering questions and helping the police in any way they could. Finally, near midnight they were free to go.
The air had turned chilly with winter moisture. Nate was quick to notice Jennie shivering on the way out to the limo. Braiden and Marissa were long gone; it was just the two of them now walking in the dark of night. Nate took off his coat and wrapped it around Jennie’s shoulders. They were quiet as they walked, both frazzled from the night’s events. On the ride home, they sat close together but not touching. So much had changed in such a short period of time. Jennie wanted to crawl into Nate’s arms, but he seemed lost in his own thoughts. Still feeling cold, she slipped her hands into the wide pockets of his coat but recoiled when she felt the cold metal of a bullet in the right hand pocket.
Jennie felt her stomach lurch as she tried to make sense of her discovery. To be sure, she was right, she rolled the bullet between her thumb and her fingers, feeling the rough edges that had been malformed as it was pushed through the barrel of Zane’s gun.
It couldn’t be, she thought. She glanced over at Nate; he appeared to be focused on something outside the window. Taking great care to be inconspicuous, she began systematically running her fingers across the front of his coat. The fabric was soft and cool to the touch and just when she thought she might be losing her mind, her pinky finger snagged on a small bullet sized hole several inches below the collar.
Jennie could actually feel her heartbeat surge inside of her chest as she tried to come to grips with the tangible evidence of what seemed to be an impossibility. No matter how she rationalized it, she knew that pinky-sized tear was a bullet hole and that Nate shouldn’t be sitting next to her in the limo.
“Pull over,” she burst out suddenly. Nate turned to find her ripping off his coat like it was made of venomous snakes. In the dark, he could see her green eyes filled with bewilderment. Once it was off, Jennie nearly threw the coat at him.
“Pull over,” she cried out again as she dug through her purse, looking for her phone.
Jennie was so upset she hadn’t even noticed them pull up in front of her house. Once she realized she was home, she threw the door open and scrambled out of the car. Feeling equally confused by her sudden and rash behavior, Nate followed her out.
“Jen,” he called out as he trailed behind her. “Jen, stop!”
Once they reached the porch, Jennie finally did stop but the front door opened and her father stepped out, interrupting them. Clustered just behind Jennie’s father were her mother and sister, looking equally worried.
“The police called,” Jennie’s father Alex said, wrapping his arms protectively around her. “Are you all right?”
Finally, the night’s events took their toll and Jennie began crying, letting out great sobs that she’d been holding in for hours. Her family hovered around her asking questions and trying to comfort her. Unsure what else to do, Nate slipped away, unnoticed except by Jennie’s father, who watched his departure with curious eyes. Before he ever reached his car, Jennie’s family had taken her inside, closed the door behind them and with finality turned off the por
ch light.
It wasn’t until Nate was getting ready for bed later that night that he discovered the hole in the tuxedo coat. He felt sick to his stomach as he realized that Jennie had probably already discovered the tear made by the bullet. At least now he understood her strange behavior. Immediately, he thrust his hand in the pocket and found nothing. The bullet he’d so carefully hidden was gone. Nate moaned and let his head fall down in defeat.
This complication was so much bigger than anything he’d ever faced. He’d had to explain a lot of crazy things to the people he protected, but this time, his actions seemed unexplainable. He was in over his head and he knew it. Putting his pride aside, he quickly decided to call Celeste. For the first time in all the years they’d worked together he called her not out of fear, but because he really needed her. Not long after the phone was placed back in its cradle, he collapsed on the bed and waited with his eyes closed for her knock at the door.
At Jennie’s house, she pulled the tiny bullet out of her purse and placed it in her nightstand drawer before climbing into bed. As she lay in bed unable to sleep, thoughts about Nate rattled around like thousands of tiny puzzle pieces begging to be put together into some kind of plausible picture. It seemed the harder she tried to make sense of the night’s events, the more confused she felt. There were so many things about Nate that didn’t seem to fit, and yet she hadn’t acknowledged them until tonight. Little things, things that were unique about him. There had to be more information. Things she still didn’t know, things she couldn’t understand. She hoped that was the case; otherwise there was no way she could live with the terrifying reality that she was quickly falling in love with him.
Finally, after hours of wrestling with her own thoughts, exhaustion took over and she succumbed to sleep.
Chapter 12
Nate must have checked his cell phone every hour for the rest of the night. He’d learned to enjoy sleeping even though his body didn’t require it. Normally, he spent four or five hours a night sleeping but the night following the dance, he was too nervous to sleep for any length of time. Finally, at six thirty in the morning he received a text.
Meet me for donuts.
Nate stared blankly at the message. Celeste wasn’t the best texter. She’d only been using a cell phone for a couple of years and would often forget to write the entire message.
Nate had no idea what donut shop she had in mind or what time she wanted to meet. Nate climbed out of bed and showered, realizing he’d better get started looking for her.
An hour later, he found Celeste sitting in front of a large, half empty box of donuts. Considering she was more than likely there to discipline Nate for his mistakes at the dance, she seemed relatively happy. Nate sat down and watched her systematically lick the chocolate frosting from her fingers one by one. Maybe the donuts were soothing to her, or maybe she was going to reassign Nate and she knew the struggle was over. Either way, her relaxed demeanor was a welcome change.
“Have one,” Celeste said with her mouth full, “they’re delicious.” Nate picked up a maple bar and placed it on a napkin in front of him. Celeste took another one out and started in on it. Nate couldn’t take the suspense anymore.
“I know you know about my disastrous date,” he began. “I also know that you know what a mess this assignment is turning into.”
Celeste let out a little chuckle. “Yeah, you are entertaining,” she said, uncharacteristically amused by his mishaps.
“You’re not mad?” He questioned.
“Naw, you were just trying to do the right thing…mmm…I just love these donuts.”
She paused and looked up toward the display counter as if she was trying to decide if she wanted some for the road before continuing.
“Besides, Kaelen’s protector failed and you saved his life, so the boss is happy.”
Nate’s eyes grew wide as he understood. “Kaelen and Hanna weren’t supposed to die, and I stepped in and saved them?”
“Yup,” she said. “That Kaelen kid, he’s going to build on the moon someday...but you did make a big mess letting Jennie wear that coat.”
Nate hung his head; so much for enjoying small victories.
Currently between donuts, Celeste began to eye the maple bar sitting on the napkin in front of Nate.
“Are you going to eat that?” she asked.
Recognizing that Celeste wasn’t really asking, he slid the napkin across the table and watched her attack the maple bar.
“What you need is a distraction,” she said, spitting tiny bits of donut as she spoke.
“Please finish your bite before you talk,” Nate complained. As soon as the words came out, he wished to take them back. She was his superior and she was Celeste, after all. Celeste shot him a withering glance before addressing him again.
“Do you want my help or not?” she asked. She looked a little irritated, but by now she’d accumulated quite a bit of chocolate and powdered sugar around her lips so it was hard for Nate to take her seriously.
“I do,” he said sincerely, trying not to focus on her messy mouth.
Celeste put what was left of the maple bar down and began tapping her long fingernails on the table as if she was thinking intently.
“How long does a gossip cycle last in high school?” She asked then answered her own question, “Maybe two weeks, give or take?”
Nate was quiet, wondering when or even if he should respond.
She continued, “We need to take you out of school for a few weeks, minimize the impact of what happened...make you invisible and uninteresting…as much as possible.”
Finally, Nate tried to interject. “Why do…”
Celeste was on a roll. Nate should have known better than to get in her way. “Because we need to keep this about your friendship with Jennie and that’s it. If you’re out of school, you’ll be out of the limelight, and if Jennie has to bring you your homework, she’ll stay close. Don’t worry, a substitute protector will be at school, but you will finish the job as planned.”
Celeste sat back in her chair and picked out a new donut as if her simple plan had fixed everything. Nate didn’t share her optimism.
“What happens when she asks me about the bullet?” he asked.
“Tell her that you found it on the ground and it must be a miracle. Heck, tell her you have a guardian angel looking out for you. Some form of the truth would be a welcome change, don’t you think?”
Nate studied her expression carefully. Even though she was mocking him, she was also being honest. Celeste was always honest, sometimes to a fault.
Nate reached in and took the last donut. “Whatever you say, boss.”
“Good.” She said as she pushed her robust frame away from the table. “Now get me a donut to replace the one you stole.”
Nate could plainly see that she was smiling but he wasn’t taking any chances. He walked up to pick out a new donut for Celeste from the large glass case in the front of the store. When he turned around, she was gone. After buying himself a new maple bar he returned to the table to clean up the mess she’d made. Under the box of donuts, Nate found a plain white piece of paper with a final message.
Chicken Pox. You’ll get chicken pox because she has already had them.
Nate winced at the thought of what was coming before he crumpled up the paper and stuck it in his pocket. He would burn it at home. After cleaning their table, Nate pulled out his phone and left a simple message for Jennie, telling her he wasn’t feeling very well. Now all he had to do was go home and wait for the itching to start.
Chapter 13
On Monday at school, fresh gossip spread like a wildfire fueled by the Santa Ana winds. It was inescapable and Jennie and Nate were at the heart of it. She must have answered the same questions a hundred times and by the end of the day, Jennie wanted to run away and never come back.
Jennie had developed a vehement dislike for gossip. One of the reasons she connected with Marissa in the first place was their common contempt f
or gossipmongers. Nothing good ever came from talking about other people. In fact, in her freshman year she’d been the victim of malicious gossip and vowed never to be part of hurting someone else the way she’d been hurt.
Although the constant chatter about the weekend was annoying, the worst part was having Nate’s heroism constantly brought back to her attention, especially when it was already weighing so heavy on her mind.
Nate was still home sick with the chicken pox, which seemed to create more questions among the curious student body. By now, rumors were all over school that Jennie and Nate were dating. She felt conflicted. There had been sparks at the dance. Anyone could see that, but after she found the bullet, she began to question everything. Who was this guy, anyway? He appears out of nowhere, has no parents and sends her into orbit every time they touch.
The more she thought about him over the weekend, the more bewildered she became.
He can run like the wind, draw everything and isn’t afraid, well, of anything. Oh, and let’s not forget, he’s absolutely gorgeous, and covered in muscles from head to toe. That alone should set off alarms in her head, yet all day long, she found herself missing him. After just a few months, he was so deeply entrenched in her life that she missed him after just one day.
By the end of the day, Jennie was worn out. Worn out from the gossip and worn out from her own conflicting feelings. She’d gathered his missed schoolwork from his teachers and now had to decide whether or not she would take it to him. In the end, she decided to send Braiden. She wasn’t ready; she needed more time. Maybe tomorrow she would know what to do with all these crazy feelings.
Chapter 14
Nate had never experienced a fever before. He was a relatively young protector. Some of the protectors he’d met had been through all kinds of human experiences, but his missions had never merited being sick. First, he would bury himself in blankets, trying to control the shivering, and then just a few minutes later he would be on top of the covers with an icepack, trying to cool himself down. It was maddening and he began to wonder how humans get sick every year without going crazy. Celeste did stop by for a little while but all she did was tell him to toughen up or rummage through his cupboards looking for sweets. Finally, he feigned sleep so that she would leave. He looked at the clock—3:55—Jennie would probably bring his work by soon and he couldn’t wait. Even with their short time apart he missed being with her. He still worried about the missing bullet, but more than anything, he just wanted to see her, to know that their friendship was intact.
Unbreakable Love Page 5