He shook his head. “I’ll deal with it.”
“New rules. I don’t want to talk about you watching me dying. We’ll handle that when the time comes, okay? Besides, you said I might not.” I grinned. “Who knows? I could be this awesome something special of a gal.”
His expression was wistful. “You are special, Zoe. Even if you are not the Redeemer from the prophecy.” He squeezed my hand, looking so sad. “Don’t worry about me. It’ll take some time to get this right in my head, and things may be strained between Shay and me, but my duty is to you first.” He paused. “You know he’s been living at my house for the last few days?”
I frowned. “Yeah,” I said slowly. “That’s gotta be awkward. He told me he was there. So that must have happened before the Marqs entered my life?”
“Mom, ever the gentle soul, invited him to stay with us after I told her he needed a place to crash for a while. She knows what he is, and our home is always open to good Enlightens.”
“See? You and I are always thinking the same way. I told Dad he was your family’s friend.”
Kieran’s smile was finally back. “We always did think alike.” He shrugged. “Seriously Z, it’ll be okay. I’m kinda glad I stopped by today. It’s like we’re back on the same page.”
“Hey kids!” Mom called from the back door. “I ordered pizza. Hungry?”
“Yes!” we both yelled at the same time.
“Come and get it!”
Kieran jumped off the chair and helped her with a large pizza box, then she walked back into the house with a smile on her face. We helped ourselves, and I discovered I was hungrier than I’d thought. I guess he was too, because it was a few minutes before we spoke.
Kieran grinned at me. “I bet you turned a lot of heads at Cali’s party,” he said. “How was it—I mean, besides the demon crashers?”
I tilted my head, considering. “Lots of glares and stares. Change is hard for some people to accept, I guess. I bet tomorrow is going to give them whiplash now that you and I are back to being besties.” I giggled and nudged his shoulder. “That won’t stop girls from asking you out, you know. Saturday’s announcement only encouraged them. You’ll have to fend them off with a stick! I feel for you.”
“Great. Thanks so much,” he said drily. “I’m not looking forward to that.”
The rest of dinner was eaten in silence, which wasn’t normal for us. I didn’t think it had anything to do with the demon problem, either. It was just that we’d upped the ante and brought the word “complicated” to a whole new level. When we were done, I walked him to the end of my driveway.
“All this is pretty intense, isn’t it?” he asked. “And, we’ll figure out a training schedule for you.”
I nodded. “I guess we’ll just take it one day at a time. It’s all we can do.”
“I suppose you’re right.” He smiled. “You almost always are.” He stepped closer and folded me into a hug, bringing back the comforting cotton scent I’d missed so much. “Night, Zoe,” he said softly, his breath tickling my ear. “And remember, don’t go out alone after I leave. Starting tomorrow, I’ll pick you up right here.”
I stepped back, grinning. “Kieran, come on. I can see your house from mine. I can handle walking there on my own.”
His smile dropped. “No, Zoe, you can’t. We have to keep you safe. Sidelle is going to move some of her classes around so she can be with you more, too.”
“How is she going to do that? We only have two months left of school.”
He crossed his arms. “Zoe, she’s a fairy. She can pretty much do whatever she wants. She doesn’t need a diploma, she’s here to protect you.” He winked, then started to walk back to his house. “Be safe, okay?”
As I headed back inside, my phone chimed with an incoming text from Shay.
Shay: U OK?
I quickly replied.
Me: Yes, all fine with K
Shay: Good
Me: K knows why we tingle when we touch
Shay: &
Me: Maybe I’ll let you squirm for a while
Shay: Cruel!
Me: Said U R my soul mate
After I sent the last text, Shay didn’t respond. I stared at my phone, my stomach sinking as I waited for his response, but nothing came. I gazed so intently, willing my phone to chime, that I didn’t hear Mom walk into the kitchen until she spoke from behind me.
“Looks like you and Kieran are back on track,” she said.
I glanced up at her, slightly dazed. “Yeah. We’re fine now. I have a bunch of homework to do tonight, so I’d better say goodnight now.”
She grinned. “Okay. Hey, your dad said he really likes Shay. That was nice of him to invite your dad to the car show next weekend. Why don’t you have him over for dinner sometime this week so we can get to know him better? You can invite Kieran, too.”
“Okay. I’ll ask them at school tomorrow.”
That should make for an interesting evening.
I arrived in my bedroom, and Shay’s face stared at me through the window. I just about screamed. When I realized it was him, my heart kept on racing, but now it was out of excitement, not terror. I closed my door and ran to let him in.
“What are you doing here?” I whispered before I could get the pane opened.
He glanced behind him, but didn’t say anything, just motioned for me to hurry up. I guessed he didn’t want to be stuck outside my window for too long, hovering like a giant butterfly. I’d forgotten how large his wings were. I stood back, amazed, as he came into my room.
He waved his cell phone, smiling. “I didn’t think this conversation should be said in a text.” Just like that, his wings disappeared and a new black T-shirt appeared.
“Shh. Keep your voice down,” I whispered. “How long were you out there, anyway?”
“Just after you sent that last text.”
I grimaced. “Sorry. If I’d known you were coming, I would’ve cut short the conversation with Mom.”
“Don’t worry about it,” he said with a wink. “We have all night.”
“What? You can’t stay here! My parents . . . if they found you in here—”
“Relax. You worry too much. You told your Mom that you have homework to do. Do you think they’ll check on you?”
I stared at him. “How did you know that’s what I told her?”
The charming smile was smug this time. He tapped his ears. “Super hearing.”
“You have super hearing?”
He nodded, looking intensely pleased with himself. “I’m all around superior to Ordinaries. Super strength, speed, hearing, and vision.”
I nodded, appreciating his levels of greatness. Lucky me. “I feel a bit like Lois Lane,” I admitted. “And you’re an angel—does that make you Super Angel?”
“Sure.” He chuckled and his eyes moved to my door. “Tell you what. If I hear them coming up the stairs, I’ll run into the closet until they’re gone.”
He was determined, I could see. I found it hard to argue. I plopped onto my bed and put my head in my hands. “What am I going to do with you?” I moaned.
He knelt and took my chin in his hand. “Hey, it’ll work. Trust me.”
“I do.” Without question. I dropped my eyes to the floor. “So, I kinda need to know what we,” I made a circular motion with my finger, “are.”
“I thought you would’ve figured that out.” He smiled.
“What am I besides your charge?”
“My . . . girlfriend.” His eyes were soft.
My first boyfriend!
“Do you want to talk about the text message?”
I scooted back against the headboard so Shay could sit nearest the door. “Yeah,” I said. “After you left, Kieran and I—”
He shook his head lightly. “You don’t have to tell me anything you guys talked about. I mean you can if you want to, and I’ll listen, but you don’t have to.”
“I know I don’t have to tell you. I want to.” When I grabbed h
is hand, we felt the familiar electrical current, and I stared straight into his eyes. Shay scooted closer and wrapped his free arm around my shoulders.
“We talked about how my feelings for him were different from my feelings for you, then he told me about the Council. I asked him about the tingle we feel, you and I, when we touch. He was interested in that. He wanted to know like how often, and if the sensation grew stronger depending on what we were doing. So I told him, and he said . . .” I dropped his hand and stared down at my own, feeling oddly embarrassed. “Basically, he said he thinks it means you are my soul mate.”
Shay didn’t say anything, so I looked up. “I’m not exactly sure what that means. We didn’t get into that part. He did say it wasn’t common for a Natural and an Ordinary.”
The warmth in his eyes was like chocolate syrup. “Yeah, but I don’t think you’re an Ordinary, Zoe. I think you’re something else. You were born to Ordinaries, so you can’t be nephilim, and Sidelle would’ve known instantly if you were a fairy. That kinda leaves you with being an Eternal. Probably an angel.”
Those words grabbed something in my chest, and I fought for air. Me, an angel. It didn’t seem possible. And yet I was learning so much about all my friends lately . . .
“How old is Sidelle?” I asked, needing to stall. “She wouldn’t tell me.”
He settled back against the headrest, as if he sensed I needed to move away from the conversation for a bit. “I don’t know. She’s a lot older than I am. If I had to guess, she’s been around since the beginning of time. I’m not sure if fairies are created or born. I don’t know if they can have children.”
Whoa.
“She said you and Kieran are just babies in the world of Enlightens. So Kieran’s not centuries old?”
“I’m not sure how old he is, either. He looks a lot younger than other angels, though. He says he has a dad, but I’m not sure if that’s figuratively or for real. I’ve never met him. All I know is when a male angel and a female human get together, they create a nephilim. I guess I never thought about two angels and what their offspring would be, or how that works.”
He ran a finger down my arm, and it left a cool, tingling sensation in its wake. My body shivered from the current rushing to my wrist.
“I’ve met Kieran’s parents.” I tilted my head. “Or at least the ones who live with him in the house. Are you saying they’re not his real folks? Come to think of it, I’ve only met his dad a couple dozen times over the years. Kieran says he travels a lot for work. His mom was always home in the afternoons and on the weekends, but I’m not sure I’ve ever seen her in the mornings. Don’t you think that’s strange?”
He shrugged. “Probably not. My dad ‘traveled’ a lot when I was growing up, and until I could understand why he wasn’t there, that seemed like a plausible story. Maybe his mom works a shift or something.”
We both seemed to be stalling, avoiding the conversation we needed to have, when we were interrupted by a soft knock on my door. Panicked, I shot a glare at Shay, since he’d promised to alert me to if my parents were coming. He turned his head toward the door but didn’t move. The knock came again.
“Zoe?” Stella asked softly through the door. “Are you up? Are you talking to someone in there?”
I shoved Shay off the bed. “Some Super Ears you have!” I hissed. “Hide in the closet! It’s my little sister, and she can’t find you in here. She’ll tell my parents for sure.”
“Just a sec!” I said, pushing him into the closet. I took a moment to get myself in order then opened the door and tried to block her entrance. “Hey. What’s up, Squirt?”
She peered under my arm that I had propped on the door frame. “Were you talking to someone? I thought I heard voices.”
“I was on my phone. I put it on speaker. Did you need something?”
Her eyes glowed. “Dad said you had a boy over here earlier who wasn’t Kieran. He said he showed him his cool car. Was that your new boyfriend? Dad likes him. He told me. Was that Shay? I wish I could have met him.” She pouted. “Is he cute?”
She obviously wasn’t going to go away anytime soon. I grabbed her arm and hauled her into the room, then I closed the door.
“What? I just wanna know. Geez.”
“I think he’s pretty hot,” Shay said as he stepped out of the closet, “if I do say so myself.”
Stella’s eyes widened in disbelief—and so did mine. I wasn’t sure if she was more surprised by me having a guy stashed in my closet, or his good looks.
“You were supposed to stay in the closet!” I said through clenched teeth, glancing down at my sister. “Stella, you can’t say anything to Mom and Dad.”
She stared at Shay and completely ignored me. “Hi, I’m Stella.”
“Hello, Stella. Name’s Shay.” He grinned at her. “And I know you can keep a secret.” He knelt to her level. “Because we don’t want to get Zoe in trouble, right?”
“I know how to keep a secret!” she exclaimed. “Are you Zoe’s boyfriend?”
“Yes, I am.”
“Okay, Stella. Now you’ve met Shay.” I gently turned her toward the door. “Off to bed.”
She wiggled out of my grasp and stepped farther into my room. “You’re coming over this week for dinner, right?”
“Um.” Shay wore a puzzled expression.
“Sorry. I didn’t get a chance to ask you. Mom wants to meet you, and my dad wants to get to know you better before next weekend, so they asked me to invite you for dinner.”
He looked back at Stella, still smiling. “I guess I am. Then I get to see your pretty face, again.” He touched the tip of her nose.
“Stella, it’s way past your bedtime. If Mom or Dad—”
“Okay, okay,” she said with a giggle. “I’ll leave you alone. Good night, Shay.”
“Good night, Stella.” He pointed at her then at himself. “Remember, this is our secret.”
“Okay, bye,” she squeaked as she shut the door behind her.
I leaned against the door and glared at him. “I thought you could hear when my parents were coming?”
“I can. But she’s not your parents, and she was already upstairs.”
I rolled my eyes then walked to my window. “So? You still could have given me a warning. What if she tells them?”
“Relax. It’ll be fine. Besides, we may need her help in covering for us when Kieran or I are staying here.” He came to stand next to me and put a reassuring hand on the small of my back. “She already knows Kieran, so she won’t tell on him. I figured it this way: If it’s a secret between her and me, she’d be more willing to keep it.”
“Kieran was right about you. You are a smooth talker.” I sighed. “All right. Wait here. I’m just going to say goodnight to my parents so they don’t come check on me. I’ll be right back.”
My parents sat in the living room watching the local news channel.
“Goodnight!” I called. “I talked to Shay, and he’s in for dinner this week. Let me know which night works best, and I’ll tell him. And I’ll ask Kieran tomorrow morning.”
“Okay. Goodnight, Zoe,” Mom said.
“Night, honey,” Dad said.
I gave them a hug and a kiss then sprinted back up the stairs. Shay stood in my room, examining my wall of photos: a baby picture of me, vacations at our lake house, Christmases, group shots with all my friends, and lots of random pictures of Kieran and me.
“Cute,” he said as I closed the door. He pointed at one of the baby pictures, grinning. For whatever reason, my parents had thought it would be hilarious to put me in a brown paper bag. “And before you ask, I’m staying the night so I can protect you.”
Oh my.
I didn’t say anything, just walked up behind him and wrapped my arms around his waist, leaning my head against his shoulder blade. He wrapped his hands around mine.
“What do you think about us being soul mates?” I asked. It was easier to ask from this position, since I didn’t have to look him
in those gorgeous aqua eyes. My stomach churned, fearing rejection. Maybe he wouldn’t want to be my soul mate. Then what? Would he be stuck with me forever even if he didn’t want me?
He turned from the wall and his eyes found mine. “I’m glad we know what it means. I was afraid it might mean something awful, like nature telling us that it wouldn’t work between us, so it’s a relief to find out it’s the exact opposite.” He smiled. “I’m glad it’s you.”
“I’m glad it’s you, too,” I whispered.
He leaned down to kiss me, a soft, tender touch, and when he pulled away I couldn’t open my eyes for a moment. He cleared his throat to bring me out of my daze.
“I should get ready for bed,” I said quickly, remembering those words: staying the night. “It’s late, and I have school tomorrow.” I reluctantly pulled away from him, and I felt his eyes on me as I reached my bathroom and shut the door. While there, I changed into yoga pants and a tank top, brushed my teeth, and washed my face. I even ran a comb through my hair.
When I opened the bathroom door, Shay stood at the window, gazing out. He’d turned out the light in the room, but a streetlamp illuminated one side of his face.
“Anything interesting out there?”
He smiled. “Not as interesting as in here.”
“Are you planning to stand there? I think my neighbors might call the police if they see someone looking out the window the whole night.”
One eyebrow lifted, and the corner of his mouth curled into a smirk. “I was hoping to find a more comfortable place.”
My heartbeat took off then, so I left his side and walked over to the bed, needing to keep my hands busy. I folded down half the covers and climbed into the side nearest the window. Inhaling deeply, I pulled the covers over me then reached over and turned back the other side of the comforter. In a rare, unsure moment, Shay hesitated, until I patted the empty side of the bed. He walked around the room, removed his boots, then stood in the half-light, staring at me.
Oh my God!
The Guardian, a Sword, & Stilettos (The Enlighten Series Book 1) Page 12