“Is he okay?” I asked, following her down the alley.
“Uh, yeah, you worry too much,” she said, her annoyed expression obvious even in the dark.
She led me up the iron stairs of the entry way and then opened the door to let me inside. I ran up the stairs to the loft and collapsed into the bed. An overwhelming feeling of relief tore through me, and I did my best to weep quietly to avoid further ridicule from Claire.
I dried my eyes as I heard her light footsteps climb the stairs and stop beside the bed.
“Wow,” she deadpanned, chomping on a wad of gum too big for her petite mouth. “Why don’t you take a shower?” she asked.
I ignored her.
Claire sighed and sat down on Jared’s side of the bed.
I froze for a moment, bracing for an obnoxious comment from her. She sat quietly.
I shot a confused glance her way. “W-What are you doing?” I asked, sniffing.
“I’m supposed to sit with you,” she said, sounding bored.
“Sit with me? Why?”
“I just am. Go take a shower, will you? You’re a mess.”
I sniffed again and ambled to the shower, too baffled to argue. Claire never missed an opportunity to make me feel like an idiot, but surely she could understand my tears. I hurried through my nightly routine, anxious that every noise outside the bathroom was Jared returning home.
When I finished, Claire was downstairs. I slipped on one of Jared’s T-shirts. It was a poor substitute, but it would have to do until he came home. With impeccable timing, she returned as I slipped under the covers.
She looked away from me, suddenly uncomfortable. “That’s Jared’s favorite shirt.”
I looked down and noticed the dead giveaway: It was ratty and worn. The dark gray heather cotton was thin, and I smiled as I made out the faded words across the front; it was from a Red Hot Chili Peppers concert four years ago. I looked up at Claire who showed signs of a slight grin.
“My dad took him to that concert,” she mused, sitting on the bed beside me.
“You look like him,” I said. Gabe had had light blond hair as well, and Claire had inherited his ice blue eyes.
Those eyes instantly glazed over with anger. “Don’t talk about him. You . . .” She stopped herself. “Just go to sleep, Nina.”
Falling asleep with Claire sitting over me like a prison guard wasn’t likely, so I turned my back to her, focusing on Jared. I wondered what it was that he was doing and wondered why he hadn’t called. I opened my mouth to ask Claire, but given her mood, I thought better of it.
The clock switched from p.m. to a.m. as the numbers switched to midnight. Jared still hadn’t called, and I was almost worried enough to ask Claire to call him. At that moment, Claire stood up and walked over to the railing. The outside door slammed, footsteps echoed up the iron steps, and then the front door opened and closed quietly. Claire’s eyes followed the footsteps up the stairs until Jared came into view.
The sight of him shocked me. His face was smudged with dirt and blood, along with his shirt, jacket, and jeans. His knuckles were swollen and bloody. I noticed that on a few of them the hide had ripped away and hung by just a few centimeters of skin.
“Jared?” I said, ripping the covers off to run to him.
“I’m okay,” he said, holding me away. “I’m dirty. Let me jump in the shower.”
Without a word, Claire retreated downstairs.
I paced the room, chewing on my nails until he reappeared. He was dressed and clean shaven; the only remnants of his earlier disheveled appearance were his already healing knuckles.
“What happened?” I asked in firm tone.
“I’m sorry I wasn’t there. Something came up,” he said, eyeing my bandage-free hand.
“Obviously,” I said, crossing my arms. “Are you okay?”
“I’m fine. Dawson stopped by The Rock to pay you a visit. I had to act quickly.” He walked by me to pull the first aid kit from under the bed.
“Mr. Dawson?” I asked, shocked.
“He was armed, and he also had . . .” Jared’s jaw tensed. “He had paraphernalia.”
“What kind of paraphernalia?” I said, sitting on the bed.
“The kind you use to tie someone up and torture him. He was planning to get his hands on that package tonight.”
I swallowed loudly. If Jared hadn’t been there to protect me, I didn’t want to think where I would be.
He didn’t look up when he spoke. “He won’t bother you again.”
“You . . .”
I watched as he worked silently, dabbing antibiotic ointment across my hand. The cut was now the beginning of a bright pink scar; the infection had dissipated days ago.
After a long pause, Jared answered me. “I didn’t kill him, not that I didn’t have to exercise restraint. He gave up information, but not nearly enough. I let my emotions get in the way.” He sighed and shook his head. “He wasn’t conscious long enough to tell me everything I needed.”
“You tortured him,” I said, watching Jared fasten the last piece of tape on the flawlessly wrapped gauze. I braced for his answer; the Jared I knew wasn’t capable of the horror that I imagined.
“I wanted to snap his spine and throw him in the Narragansett to drown, Nina. He’s lucky he ended up with his life.”
His job was to protect me by any means necessary; I just hadn’t stopped to think what that would be. “What did you find out?”
“We’ll discuss it tomorrow. You need to rest,” he whispered. He placed me gingerly on the bed, kissing the palm of my bandaged hand.
When he tried to pull away, I squeezed his fingers with mine. “I was worried. I drove here prepared to beg you back.”
He laughed once. “In what alternate universe would you ever have to beg me back?”
“I’ve had to rip out two microphones and nearly freeze to death in the pouring rain to get you back before. Driving to your apartment and knocking on your door isn’t the most extreme measure I’ve taken.”
Jared’s expression was pained. “I noticed your car out front. I’m sorry I had to leave without an explanation. I didn’t have a choice.”
“It was better than the alternative,” I said, my grin fading as I considered the possibilities.
Jared touched the side of my face and then left me to walk toward the stairs. I sat up to protest, but Jared paused. “I’ll be right back,” he assured me.
Relaxing against the bed, I listened to his footsteps jog down the steps. He was silent when he reached the couch, and in the next moment, I heard him climb the stairs again.
He sat beside me and held a small red box in the palm of his hand. “Don’t get too excited. It’s nothing major.”
I smiled and took the box from his hands, pulling on the small silver loop on the top. I looked at him, raising my eyebrows in surprise.
“It’s to make up for tonight. So? What do you think?”
Hanging from the lid was a shiny silver key.
“To the loft,” he explained. “Next time something comes up, you won’t have to wait outside in the cold.”
“When did you have time to do this?” I asked, still processing the shiny object spinning around from a thin red ribbon.
Jared shrugged. “I had it made a few days ago. I’ve been meaning to give it to you, but you haven’t needed it until now.”
“You’re giving me a key?” My eyebrows lifted in disbelief.
Jared nodded, and then his brows pulled together. “I promised you I would never leave you. I meant it. If something like this happens again, come here. Wait for me.” He touched his hand gently to my cheek. “I’ll earn your trust back.”
“I trust you,” I said, mimicking his expression.
Jared leaned over and pressed his lips to mine. “And I trust you. Nice work in your room today.”
I cringed. “You heard that, did you?”
Jared chuckled. “All of it. I think it’s going to take me by surprise every time I he
ar you say my name in perfunctory conversation. It’s a good thing Ryan . . .”
“It’s a good thing Ryan, what?” I asked, leaning over to bring his eyes to mine.
“It’s a good thing I have patience,” Jared said, looking everywhere but my eyes.
“You have a lot of patience, but that’s not what you were going to say.”
Jared’s eyes bounced from me to the floor to other things in the room, uncomfortable with where the conversation was headed. “It has to do with what I told you we would discuss later.”
“Claire’s training has to do with Ryan?”
Jared sighed. “You’re not going to wait now, are you?”
I shook my head slowly, not sure what to expect. The two names seemed to be on different sides of the universe.
Jared leaned his head down, looking at me from under his eyebrows. “The night at the pub, when you first met Claire, Ryan put his hands on me.” I nodded and Jared continued, “When she grabbed his hand, she felt something. She felt his pain.” Jared patiently waited for me to comprehend.
“Ryan is Claire’s Taleh?” I whispered, knowing she could hear me, anyway. I couldn’t believe it, and at the same time I felt excited, as if I’d just heard a juicy bit of gossip. “But when we were mugged . . .” Claire was talented, even among her kind. She wouldn’t have let Ryan be hurt in that way.
“That’s why the situation went further than I normally allow. Claire had them targeted. It would have just taken a second to take them out, but when Ryan jumped in, Claire couldn’t get a clear shot. She couldn’t risk it. That’s when I decided to intercede.” Jared’s eyes began to cloud over. The worst was coming.
“Why didn’t you want to tell me?”
Jared leaned over and kissed me. It was urgent and deep, the way he kissed me before I left him to speak with my mother, as if he were kissing me good-bye forever.
He reluctantly pulled away to look at me. “It was for purely selfish reasons. I wanted to wait so you and I could . . . So you could get to know me better.”
“You lost me.”
“Remember when I was explaining the Taleh, you mentioned how convenient it was that Gabe protected Jack and I protected you?”
I nodded. “Yes, you said that angel groups tend to stay in families or among those who are connected somehow.” Now that he’d brought it to my attention, it made more sense. “Claire is Ryan’s protector because he’s a friend?”
Jared sighed and shifted nervously beside me. “Claire being Ryan’s protector means he is supposed to be in your life. Permanently.”
I smiled and shook my head. “So what are you saying? That Ryan’s going to be family somehow?” Jared waited, and my eyes widened in disbelief. “You think I’m supposed to marry him? Oh, come on! That’s ridiculous!”
“That would be the only explanation,” Jared said, his expression grave.
“You’re not serious. There’s no way for you to know that. It could be any number of things.”
“I thought that if you didn’t get to know me first then you’d want to be with him. He is supposed to be your husband, one of these days. I would understand why, armed with that knowledge, you might feel differently. He’s a good friend to you, and he’s persistent,” Jared said, his face twisting into an annoyed expression.
I held his face in my hands and looked directly into his eyes. “Quit it. I’m in love with you, Jared. There is no me without you.”
He watched me for a moment. “I’m sorry I kept it from you.”
“You don’t have a single thing to worry about. I promise,” I said.
Jared switched off the lamp and crawled over to his side, pulling me to him.
“I missed you,” I said, settling into his arms. “It’s going to be hard to go back to the way it was when my hand heals. I could start staying at Andrews this weekend.”
“You don’t have to leave,” Jared whispered in the dim light.
I buried my head into his chest. I had never wanted anything more, but Ryan’s words about moving too fast came to the forefront of my mind.
“I would love that, someday,” I said, hoping to preserve his feelings.
“Someday,” he repeated, sighing. “I understand. It’s too fast.”
“Maybe just a little.” I smiled, kissing his chest.
~*~
The next morning, I woke up in Jared’s arms. He was awake, patiently holding me against him. My smile faded when I realized it would be our last morning together for a while.
“What is it?” Jared asked, sensing my disappointment.
I sucked in a deep, disheartening breath. “It’s Friday. I’m going back to Andrews tonight.”
“You have a key. You can use it whenever you’d like.”
“That’s right,” I said, looking up at him with a smile. “That’s comforting.”
Jared brushed my bangs from my face. “I’m going to miss seeing you like this in the morning especially in my shirt. It would have had a whole new significance had I known that one day you would be lying in my arms with it on. An interesting choice, I might add. That’s my favorite one.”
“I heard.”
“Take it with you. I want you to have it.”
“But it’s your favorite shirt!” I argued, pulling away to look at him.
“My mornings won’t be quite as disappointing from now on if I know you’re waking up in that shirt,” he countered.
“Good point. I’m taking it. But it’s only on loan.”
“Oh, there’s no doubt in my mind that one of these days it will be a permanent fixture in my closet again. You can’t live in Andrews forever.”
I bit my lip and pressed my cheek against his bare chest. It seemed a little silly, lying here with him and knowing we both would rather I just stay. I would never hear the end of it from my friends, and my mother would be an entirely different set of problems.
“I could stay here on the weekends,” I said.
“You will?” he asked, his eyes brightening.
“If that’s okay, I don’t want to impose.”
Jared kissed me until I could feel a tingling in my toes. Just as I needed to take a breath, he pulled away. “I would have everything you own here by the time you finished your classes today if you’d let me. Having you stay here on weekends is absolutely okay.”
A smile spanned the width of my face, and I wrapped my arms around his neck. When he said things like that, it was hard for me to remember why I couldn’t just give in to what he wanted—to what I wanted. I immediately felt better knowing that I had a few more days with him.
“You’re going to be late. I’ll make coffee,” he said, jogging downstairs.
I hurried through my shower, and Jared handed me a pink travel mug as I put my coat on. I raised an eyebrow at the color and then looked back at him.
“It’s Claire’s.” He shrugged.
“Um, I thought I would take my car today. Do you mind picking me up, later?”
Jared didn’t hide his disappointment. “Sure. Just give me a call when you’re ready.”
I leaned up on my toes to kiss him. “Okay. I’ll see you later.”
~*~
The professor began to lecture just as I slid into my seat. Kim leaned over to whisper in my ear.
“Beth and I are going for coffee after class. You coming?”
“Sure. I’ll drive,” I offered.
I felt as if I hadn’t spent enough time with Kim and Beth lately. An afternoon at the café would give us time to catch up. At least I would get caught up on their lives; my news included almost getting kidnapped and tortured and my boyfriend nearly beating the man to death who had tried.
The three of us huddled at the table of the coffee shop, waiting to thaw. The temperature had dropped significantly after lunch, and the wind was brutal. I was glad that I would be lying on a beach somewhere in just over a week.
I sipped my coffee as Beth chattered about Chad. Things between them were progressing, and she m
entioned she wasn’t homesick for the first time since she’d come to Brown. She was even considering getting an apartment in the summer instead of returning to Oklahoma.
I tried to concentrate on the conversation, but I found myself focusing on the new information Jared had forced out of Dawson. I wanted to know what it was that Jared was keeping from me; it couldn’t be good news.
“Nigh. Nigh! Where are you? You look like you’re a million miles away,” Kim said. She and Beth were both staring at me with matching expressions.
“Ugh, I’m sorry. I just have a lot going on,” I said, blinking.
Beth’s cell phone hummed. By the tone, I knew that it was Chad. Apparently he was out and about, and she invited him to join us.
“I hope that’s okay,” Beth said to us after disconnecting the line.
Kim shrugged. “Fine with me.”
“Ryan is with him,” Beth added, eyeing me.
I made sure my face was smooth. I hadn’t seen Ryan since Jared had told me that Ryan and I were meant to be together. I wasn’t sure how to act around him with that knowledge.
Ten minutes later the door chimed as Chad and Ryan strolled through it. They were both in gym clothes, sweaty and tired.
Ryan had his white hat pulled down over his eyes and didn’t speak when he sat across from me at the table. He leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms.
“What have you two been up to?” Beth asked, standing up to sit on Chad’s lap.
“We just finished a basketball game. We lost,” Chad said in an embittered tone.
“They cheated. Repeatedly.” Ryan chuckled, only his smile visible.
“What? You can’t handle prison rules?” Kim elbowed him, making him sway for a moment.
Ryan pulled his hat up and over to the side, his eyes finally in view. “I can handle prison rules; it’s the cheating when there are supposed to be rules that bothers me. I lost twenty bucks!”
“Oh no!” Beth said, laughing. “Did you lose money, baby?” Chad pursed his lips and nodded, still brooding. “Aw!” she said, rubbing his back.
We sat at the table, discussing the game. Our laughter saturated the room, causing the other patrons to stare. After a while, Ryan leaned over and pulled my chair closer to him, the legs grating against the floor. He stretched his arm around the back of my chair and smiled, flashing the deep dimple in his cheek.
The Providence Trilogy Bundle: Providence; Requiem; Eden Page 19