House of Guardians

by Beatrice Sand

  He puts my hand back on the armrest, and slides his arms into the sleeves of his coat.

  “What are you doing?”

  “What do you think I’m doing?”

  “Oh, right, I should’ve known. You’re running off.”

  Annoyed, the man in front of me turns around once more. “Hey, go finish your argument with your boyfriend outside.”

  Sam snorts and shoots the man an angry look. Then he leans in close. “I came here tonight because I wanted to see you, Laurel, not to check up on you. From the moment I sat down, you’ve been trying to pick a fight with me and you finally succeeded. I’m sorry about Storm, okay? But now you’re chasing me away with all those absurd questions.” He gets up.

  “Don’t you want to know how the movie ends?” I ask pathetically.

  He looks at me mockingly. “At the end of the movie she finds him, they declare their love for each other, and then he dies, while she becomes immortal. It’s all very ironic,” he whispers, deliberately loudly. He pulls his beanie down over his head with both hands. “Who is the one with the blind spot now?” he says quietly.

  He thrusts his hands in his pockets and strolls out of the theater. The woman in front of me shoots me a devastating look.

  31

  laurel

  I tighten the belt of my parka and grab the woolen beret from my pocket. Quickly, I make my way to the parking lot through the puddles while I think about my quarrel with Sam. I really messed up. If I am planning on ever experiencing what it’s like to have a boyfriend and make love—and heaven knows Sam looks like he would be amazing at it—then I’d better start looking for someone else. My stomach is already hurting just at the thought. Sex, but not with Sam, or Sam, but without the physical aspect. If I needed to sign up for one of those options right now, I would choose the latter.

  My eyes narrow in shame when I think of the hurt I saw in his eyes when I told him I preferred the real deal—someone of flesh and blood. And then I basically told him to get lost. If he ever decides to pop up in my life again, I will be very much surprised.

  I start the engine and leave the parking lot. I have to apologize to Sam, but how?

  I stand for a few minutes staring at Sam’s front door. He’s not answering it. He probably knows it’s me. With a sigh, I turn around and start walking back to my car. Behind me the door opens and I turn back. He doesn’t greet me.

  “Hello, Sam.” My jaw is tense and the rigidity carries over into my voice. I notice what he is wearing—a simple white T-shirt, faded jeans, and he’s barefoot… My heart immediately beats faster, and I really wonder whether I—unlike what I had just thought—can be in his presence without yearning for his touch. I am hopelessly addicted to him, and I can’t believe that I have managed to chase away this divine specimen, who only a moment ago was holding my hand very sweetly.

  We have stared at each for an awkwardly long time, and he still hasn’t even said hi. “I-is this a bad time?”

  Sam folds his arms across his chest and a slow smile spreads on his face. “Would you leave if I said it was?”

  “If you order me to.”

  He pauses. “Do you think you can outsmart me, Laurel?”

  “No.”

  He stares at me, and I grow more nervous with each passing second. “Well, don’t hold back, now that you’ve come this far.”

  I clear my throat. “I was hoping I could talk to you for a minute.”

  “Yeah, I got that part. Go ahead.”

  “You don’t want me to come inside?”

  “If I did, I would have asked you.”

  “Oh, of course.” I fall silent again. How on earth do you apologize to a demigod? Do I fall on my knees? Crawl? Bow?

  “And, did they live happily ever after?” he asks suddenly.

  I lift my head. “Who?”

  “That vampire and his love interest.”

  It makes me laugh. “No, Sam, they didn’t, but you already knew that. Etienne asked if you had insight into the script, since today was the premiere.”

  “What did you tell him?”

  I shrug. “That it was all very predictable for you.”

  He stares at the ground, smiling, and then looks back up. “Relations between mortals and supernatural creatures have a tendency to end tragically. So, yeah, it was kind of easy to foretell.”

  I feel my body tensing up. Is he trying to tell me something?

  “What is it that you want to tell me, Laurel?” he asks, barely audibly enough for the human ear.

  “I want to apologize.”

  “What for?”

  “For my behavior in the movie theater. When I said that I’d prefer someone of flesh and blood… That’s not true.” I feel my cheeks blushing. “I mean, that’s not what I meant. I was annoyed by that whole situation with Storm, I had to make beds, distribute soaps and after that…”

  “Apology accepted.”

  “Really? Thank you.” Kind of lost, I keep standing in front of him. It’s cold and I put my hands deep in my pockets. “I, uh, I should get going then.”

  “I think that would be best. Do you want me to give you a ride home?”

  “No, that’s okay. I know how to get home.”

  “Yeah, right.”

  I am not the only one who looks lost right now. “You never answered my question.”

  “Don’t.”

  I can see the pleading in his eyes, but I manage to resist it. “You said that you couldn’t get me out of your head. Did you mean like in a vision?”

  Sam smiles faintly. “No, not like a vision, Laurel. It means that I can’t stop thinking about you. But whatever may be between us; it changes nothing about the fact that my life is determined by my origin. I’m not allowed to be with you. Please, go home.”

  I listen to the low, monotonous sound of his voice that cracks every now and then. I look at his face, without a doubt divinely proportioned all in all.

  “If you don’t go now, I’m afraid I can’t stop this anymore.”

  “Then don’t,” I whisper.

  “Our feelings… They’re wrong. Perverse.”

  Bam! That last one hits me like a blow in the face. He thinks our feelings for each other are perverse? “Okay, Sam,” I whisper huskily. My chin trembles. “I won’t bother you again.”

  I turn my back to him, but find myself being turned back around instantly. Sam pulls me up against him hard, and his mouth lands on mine. An electric sensation shoots through my body and I flinch.

  “Are you hurt?” his voice croaks.

  “It’s okay,” I say quickly, before he has a chance to change his mind.

  Sam raises his arms and his hands cup my face. He tilts his head, and this time he gently presses his mouth to mine. His lips rub mine softly, his tongue moistening my lips. I feel myself getting weak in the knees. This feels heavenly in spite of the sharp tingle his touch causes on my skin.

  “Better?” he asks, breaking the kiss. His warm breath flows over my skin.

  “Better,” I answer shyly, dumbfounded by this sudden closeness. He does it again—kisses me leisurely, running his tongue along my bottom lip softly and lazily. Then he increases the pressure and my lips part. A strange sound wells up from the back of my throat as his tongue invades my mouth, seeking mine. The prickling sensation intensifies, but then slowly increases and my body relaxes, gives in. Tasting Sam and smelling his masculine scent are driving me insane. And then, suddenly, nothing about this kiss is tender anymore.

  Sam wraps his arms around me more tightly, lifts me up, and backs me up against the wall. I lose my beret.

  “You are messing with my head,” he rasps accusingly, as if I have done something wrong. His hands slide up my body and play with my hair as his mouth plunders mine. I grab the fabric of his T-shirt and try to not succumb to the engulfing pressure
that feels as if he is making up for lost time. His hips press tightly against me.

  Good heavens… I drive him mad! I, Laurel Harper, drive Sampson Laurens, a breathtaking, guitar playing, demigod mad! While that arousing thought settles into my misty brain, I hungrily start to kiss him back. Suddenly, my hands are tangled up in his hair, which is soft to the touch, and I hear a deep moan—and this time it’s not coming from me. There is no laziness or tenderness left in this wild embrace. Sam’s fingers dig deep into my skin. I don’t care. I am not expecting tenderness from this rugged demigod. I am not expecting softness. All I know is that I have never been kissed this way before—nor have I ever desperately desired someone this much.

  Then, abruptly, he steps away from me, and I’m glad to find support against the wall of tree trunks. I don’t think I could have managed to stand on my own two feet right now.

  Slowly, I get my bearings again and we look at each other, bewildered. Sam bends to pick up my beret and hands it to me. He clears his throat. “It’s wrong because I’m a threat to you, Laurel. That’s why.”

  “I understand,” I gasp with an unsteady voice.

  “No, you don’t. Not really.”

  “Then make me understand,” I whisper.

  He looks at the surrounding woods and grabs my hand. In the living room he directs me to a chair. “Can I make you some coffee?”

  I shake my head; there is already enough adrenalin in my system as it is.

  Sam sighs and rubs his chin after giving me an inquisitive look. “Okay, then. I’ll try to make you understand, but I will be blunt. This time I’ll not go soft on you, it’s the only way to make you understand the seriousness of all of this.”

  I nod, trying hard to collect my wits about me after that scorching kiss.

  Sam sits down opposite of me. My God, he radiates sensuality right now with his feet bare and his hair all messed up because of me. I can hardly believe we just kissed, but the sensitivity of my mouth proves that it really did happen.

  “Before you came to the island, Renee was seeing Don, as you already know. You didn’t understand why he broke up with her when she was in the hospital with a fractured vertebra.”

  “No, I still don’t. The way he looks at her… it’s… I’m sorry, I’m interrupting you.”

  “If Don hadn’t done what he had to do, then your stepsister might not be alive today.”

  It takes a while to process this information and I’m positive that I’m misunderstanding something. I start to laugh nervously. “For a moment there, I thought you said that she might not still be alive if Don hadn’t end things with her.”

  Sam stares at me expressionlessly. “That’s exactly what I said.”

  I have trouble swallowing.

  “It’s not meant for them—or us—to be together. We can’t be intimate with mortals. My grandfather does not allow it. Sometimes it happens that one of us falls in love with a mortal, like Don did, but we don’t sell each other out to the priests. It’s a kind of code of honor, an unwritten rule. It’s the only bit of freedom we have. Don and Renee, and you and me, we were sold out.”

  “Then who would do such a thing, break that code?”

  “Adrian would. And he has.”

  “But why?”

  Sam looks at me soberly. “Because he’s after you, Laurel. He would do anything to keep us apart.”

  I’m confused. “Then what does he want from me? He’s not even allowed to be with me—your grandfather forbids it.”

  “The question should be, what have the Keepers done when they found out about us?”

  “What have the Keepers done?” My voice is barely above a whisper.

  “The night of the gala, at the beach… you were almost struck by lightning. The lightning bolts were thrown by Zeus, my grandfather.”

  I gasp for air when I realize that the lightning that night was not just a natural phenomenon, but also an attack on my life. And that Sam did not save my life once that night, but twice.

  “Remember the chair lift?”

  My eyes widen. “What about it?”

  “The accident was my fault, because we became too intimate. I tried to make it clear to you, but I didn’t know how.”

  “That night when I came to your hotel room I thought you hated me.”

  “I wanted you to stay away from me because I’m a threat to you.”

  My stomach cringes at the horrible thought that my life is in danger whenever I’m with Sam. I stare at him, shocked. “Renee’s accident wasn’t a coincidence, was it? Her horse got scared because of the lightning.”

  There’s a restrained expression on Sam’s face. “It’s not like our gods are trying to hurt you or Renee. They’re warnings for us, but they could potentially have a lethal outcome. It puts a lot of pressure on us. We constantly have to be alert and ready to intervene. Don was too late to intervene when Renee took a tumble off that horse.”

  “I think I understand now.” I walk away from the tiny living room.

  “Laurel…”

  I yank at the door and run to my car. I reach for my keys and they drop in a muddy puddle. When I go to pick them up, my whole body starts trembling. I fall to my knees and start crying.

  Sam squats in front of me and pulls my hands away.

  “No…” I try to push him off, but he lowers himself down behind me and wraps his arms around me as I burst into tears.

  For long minutes we sit like that on the ground. “Come on, let’s get you into the car,” Sam says softly and kisses my hair. He pulls me up gently. “I’ll drive you home.”

  “What are your plans this weekend?” Sam asks while taking a left turn.

  I feel butterflies in my belly when I think of the way he held me and soothed me while I was whimpering on his doorstep. I am not sure how to answer him, too afraid that he wants to meet with me, and at this point I am not sure of anything anymore. I could pay with my life for a date with Sam.

  Sam glances my way. “Are you okay?”

  “Yeah, I’m fine.”

  “Well, are you going to tell me about your wild plans or not?”

  “You mean apart from making beds and distributing soaps?”

  He smiles his widest smile. “I don’t feel sorry for you.”

  “You and Maude both.”

  He turns his face. “Maude? You saw her?”

  “I had coffee with her and Ava today.” I chuckle. “You didn’t know that, did you?”

  “Laurel, I’d rather you don’t m…”

  “Sam, please don’t ask me to end my friendship with her. What do you have against her?”

  He shrugs. “She makes me feel uncomfortable. I can’t explain it.”

  “Well, I believe she’s over you. She won’t bother you again.”

  He raises his brows. “You mean I’m free from those annoying stares?”

  “Yep. She has a boyfriend and you can’t beat him. He seems to be divine—something about a divine proportion.”

  Sam smiles, quickly changes lanes, and hits the gas. “Ah, phi. Well done.”

  “Phi?”

  “The 21st letter of the Greek alphabet, the golden section. What are you doing on Saturday?”

  “Are you trying to get a date?”

  “What if I were?”

  “I would feel flattered.”

  “No, Laurel,” he says softly, “I feel flattered.”

  I am dumbfounded. How is it possible that he thinks like that? Me, the girl next door, and him, the handsome, talented demigod. It feels like a fairytale—I even have a wicked stepmother.

  “Saturday?”

  “Oh, right.” He drags me into everyday life just as easily as into the garden of paradise. “I work the afternoon shift on Saturday and in the evening I have a party with Maude and Ava.” I chuckle. “I’m going to meet Ma
ude’s phi.” For a moment, I hesitate to say what I am about to say, but I say it anyway. “Sam… I understand if we can’t see each other anymore. I’ll be fine, really.” Someday.

  “But I won’t,” he whispers. “I need to see you.”

  Sam parks the car in front of the brasserie and walks me up to the house. He stops not far from the place where we had our disastrous goodbye before he left for the mountains.

  “I’d better turn around here, before Martin or Mia notices me.”

  Totally unexpected he presses a soft kiss on my lips.

  “Oh…” I smile timidly. “Thank you for opening up to me tonight. It will probably take a while for me to process it all, but it’s definitely been enlightening.”

  “I’m glad it was.”

  “Well, then, I’ll see you when I see you.” I am about to turn around when he hooks his fingers behind the belt of my coat.

  “Where are you going, Laurel? I wasn’t done with you yet.”

  I feel a fierce sting in my belly. With a firm, short tug he pulls me against him and lowers his head. For a moment, I think he is going to devour me again, but this time his kiss is sensual. His touch soft. I close my eyes.

  “Let me see your eyes,” he says without leaving my lips.

  His mouth is warm and firm and he kisses me slowly, like he has nothing better to do as the son of a deity. I had no idea that kissing could be that sensual. I’m eighteen years old and I’ve never slept with a guy. Too scared, too timid, but right now my entire body is yearning for Sam—timid or not. I am dying to know what it will be like between us—how he’ll do it, what sounds he’ll make… My desire for him is suddenly so intense that I am afraid to lose control.

  “Hey,” he says all soft and sweet. The backs of his fingers caress my cheek. “Don’t come see me at my place anymore. The next time I might not let you get away that easily.”

  He peeks at the dark sky, puts up the collar of his coat and shoves his hands in his pockets. “Sweet dreams, Laurel.” He shamelessly checks me out one last time and then saunters off, hanging his head.