“And hopefully not be so stupid about it this time,” Kim said from the door way.
“Do you think I care about that? I don’t want you near that book ever again!” I said, my voice higher with each word.
“Okay…okay,” Jared said. “Don’t get upset.”
“Why would I be upset? My boyfriend comes home looking like he just escaped from a horror movie.” I took one of the wet cloths Bex had brought upstairs and used it to wipe a deep cut above his eye. “Tell me everything.”
“The details aren’t important,” Kim said.
“The bottom line is, I failed,” Jared said, his teeth clinched.
Kim shrugged. “We know who’s guarding it, what they’re capable of, and every angle of their defense, Jared. I wouldn’t call that failure.”
“So what’s Isaac like?” Bex said, dropping more fragments into the plate.
“He’s highly trained,” Jared answered.
“And psychotic,” Kim said. “You should have seen them. It was like a scene from Rambo. Neither of them would quit, and they’re both Hybrids, so it was like a never-ending fight scene. One punch here, knife wound there, elbow, face punch, and then one of them goes flying across the room. Lather. Rinse. Repeat.”
“That’s enough,” Jared said.
My stomach wrenched at her words. “Please don’t go back. Not until Bex or Claire can go with you.”
Jared looked away. “It’s not that I couldn’t handle it on my own, Nina.”
“That’s not what I meant,” I whispered.
He frowned, apology in his eyes. “I know. I’m sorry,” he said with a sigh. “Kim’s right. We did learn a lot last night. The problem is, Claire’s not here, and Bex has to stay with you.”
“What about someone else? Another Hybrid?” I asked.
Bex laughed once. “If it comes down to it, we’ll have to take Donovan down. No one is going to help us down another Hybrid without good reason.”
I looked down at Jared’s bloodied hands, and then back to his stormy blue-grey eyes. “And saving me isn’t good enough for them.”
Jared nodded. “We have to persuade them that something big is coming, and to do that we need the book.”
Kim knocked on the door jamb. “Now that’s irony. C’mon, Nigh. I’ll take you to work.”
“Is that okay?” I asked Jared.
“I’d rather you wait,” he said.
“Don’t be ridiculous,” Kim said. She pulled up her shirt, revealing a handgun stuffed half-way into her jeans. “I’m packin’, demons run when they see me coming, and as Donovan learned last night…my right hook is wicked accurate.”
The glance Jared and I traded turned into involuntary smiles.
“Bex will be right behind you,” Jared said.
I kissed his cheek. “Maybe I should stay home today.”
“This is nothing. You should see the other guys,” Jared said with a wink. “Go on.”
Kim lifted my briefcase off the floor, and held it out. I rushed to the bathroom, washed the blood from my hands, and then followed her down the stairs.
“Let’s take my car,” I said.
Kim shrugged. “Whatever.”
As promised, the ride to work was safe and uneventful, and Bex pulled into the parking lot on his new, barely-street legal Ducati Streetfighter just as I stepped out of the car. Kim stayed behind as I rushed into Titan, thankful that being the CEO sort-of-in-training granted me a spot on the elevator.
“Good morning,” I said to my co-workers as the doors slid closed.
Riding in close proximity to so many proved not so lucky after all. The thought of everyone breathing in such a confined space made me a bit claustrophobic.
When the elevator doors opened, I pushed my way out, taking a deep breath when my heels hit the carpet. “Oh, thank God.”
Grant's door was open, and his ankles were crossed on top of his desk, and he was lazily leaned back in his chair. My momentary relief from the elevator was short-lived, and my face screwed in disgust.
I made a bee-line for my office, hoping Grant would be too comfortable to get out of his chair.
“Hey Peanut,” Grant said just as I sat down.
“Nina,” Beth said, walking in with her head down. She was biting on the end of her pencil, concentrating on her notebook planner. “The meeting with Yawa…Yaw…the Japanese is on Thursday, but the Wellington’s will be in town, and hoped to squeeze in some time.”
“Make time. I’d love to steal them away from Donaldson,” I said tapping a pen against my desk.
“Sounds like it’s a better day,” Grant said, nodding. He bowed out without another word.
“Now it is,” I said, noting Beth’s smile as she stifled a giggle.
“So,” she said, forcing her smile to fade. “Chad’s been asking. Have you heard from Ryan lately? Or at all?”
I no longer had to fight a smile, my face immediately fell. “No. Nothing.”
Beth nodded. “I hope he’s okay.”
“If he wasn’t, we would find out, right?” I said to reassure her.
She took a deep breath, and nodded. “Right. I’ve gotta make some copies. You want coffee?”
“No, thanks.”
Once Beth was off doing other things, Grant returned.
“I actually had a point to coming in here. I needed to talk to you about Beth.”
“Oh?”
Grant flashed his million-dollar smile, and I had to physically restrain myself from recoiling.
“Peanut, I realize she’s your friend, but it’s not exactly cost-efficient to keep her on-board during the school year.”
“Are you suggesting I fire her?” I said, raising an eyebrow.
Grant sighed. “You’re not looking at this objectively. You’re in the office, yes, but technically you’re still an intern until you graduate. Why would I pay someone to assist an intern?”
“Because I told you to.”
After a short pause, Grant smiled, wider than before. “You’re going to do just fine here.”
“Thank you, Grant. That will be all.”
He shook his head, chuckling to himself as he left the way he came.
Buried under a few stacks of documents, Beth brought me back to reality with her chirpy voice. “Time to go home, Nigh.”
“Oh.” I looked at my watch, and then smiled. “Home.”
I haphazardly stuffed a few files into my brief case before rushing down the hall, and then pressed the button. As soon as the doors opened, I hopped inside, fidgeting the entire trip to the first floor. The doors slid open, revealing the brilliant late-afternoon sun gleaming through the lobby glass. Jared was waiting by the Escalade, a contrived smile on his face.
“What is it?” I asked, after greeting him with a quick kiss. My excitement to see him was infiltrated by a sense of dread. The two didn't settle well, and I instantly fell nauseous.
He raised a pair of my sneakers. “I thought we could check out what’s left of the loft. See if anything’s left.”
I could only nod, dreading the sight of our home reduce to a heap of ash.
“Put these on,” he said. “It'll be hard enough sifting through everything, let alone in heels.”
I took the shoes in my hand, and then sat on the curb. Jared handed me a pair of socks, and I tugged those on, followed by the sneakers. He watched me in silence, a residual forced grin on his face. He wasn't looking forward to the aftermath anymore than I.
The drive seemed to take an eternity, yet it still wasn’t long enough for me to prepare. When Jared pulled to the curb, I stumbled from the Escalade, each side of my hair bunched in my fists. “Oh my God,” I whispered.
Jared milled about the charred remnants, bending down once in a while to inspect something not-quite destroyed.
“There’s a few boxes in the back,” Jared said. “Would you grab one?”
I took wide steps and hopped until I was clear of the debris, and then went to the Escalade, opening the back door. I brough
t back a large, cardboard box. There were two more, but it was overly optimistic to bother with them, we couldn’t fill up the first one. Silverware, a few brittle-edged pictures, and the monitor of my laptop were among partially intact documents, and a set of throwing knives. Yellow tape surrounded most of the carnage.
My hands turned black as I dug slowly, but surely through the black mess under our feet.
“What are you looking so ambitiously for?” Jared asked.
“I was hoping we’d find at least pieces of your journal, but I haven’t even seen the binding. Have you come across it?”
He smiled. “I keep it in the Escalade. It’s safe and sound.”
“Good,” I said, overwhelmed at the mountain of rubble.
“We should go. The Fire Marshall has already interviewed me twice. If anyone sees us poking around, it’s going to attract attention.”
“I guess.” I stood up from my squatted position, throwing down a charred piece of the frame that the last picture of my father was in.”
“I’m sorry about that,” Jared said. “I should have tried to get that out, too.”
“It’s not your fault. They did this to get a reaction, to see if we’d retaliate, or if it would cause dissension between us. The last thing I’m going to do is give them what they want. It’s just stuff.”
Jared walked over to me, tenderly wiping my face. “You’re covered in soot. Let’s go home.”
“That’s not home, Jared. This was home, and it's gone.” I was surprised at the tears that welled up in my eyes. Crying hadn't crossed my mind until that very moment.
“Maybe we should start looking for a place?” he smiled.
“So they can torch it again? No, thank you.”
Jared’s expression was pained. “It won’t happen again.”
“You don’t know that,” I said, tugging on his hand, leading him to the Escalade. “We have no idea what they’ll do next.”
Chapter Ten
New
Summer wound down, and Beth and I undertook the process of delegation. Our schedule at Brown would make it impossible to maintain the hours we’d been keeping at Titan.
Jared made frequent calls to Claire to check on Ryan’s progress, which steadily improved. At times faster than Claire would have liked. To all of our surprise, Ryan wasn't fighting the decision to decommission him. He was focused on getting well and getting back to the States — something none of us had anticipated.
As promised, Jared didn’t try another ambush on Shax, or Donovan and Isaac. Instead, he became obsessed with constructing a fail-safe plan, one that included a Plan B, and help. He refused to let the book get away from him a second time.
Bex grew two more inches, which was a good thing. His inflated ego needed all the room he could give it.
Jared and I spent my last day of Summer Break at our Oak Tree. We stretched out across a blanket Jared had spread over the grass, just inside the shade of the tree. I kept my eyes closed, quiet and lazy, listening to the bugs buzzing and the grass dancing in the wind.
“You’re officially a college junior tomorrow,” he said with a proud smile, brushing the petals of a wildflower down the line of my jaw.
“I am,” I said. “Another summer gone by. Just one more left before I graduate.”
Jared squeezed my hand, turning his attention to the carving above us. “Hmmm…where do you see yourself this time next year?”
I breathed out a laugh. “I have no idea. Why don’t we make this an annual event? We spend the day at our Oak tree the last day of Summer Break next year, too.” Jared grimaced, and my expression mimicked his. “What?”
He worked to smooth out the deepening line between his brows. “Nothing.”
“Jared,” I warned. I became impatient very quickly when he kept things from me, and he seemed to be taking that risk more frequently.
He sighed. “I was hoping your answer would be different, that’s all.”
“Different how?” I asked.
“I was hoping that you would say you saw yourself married this time next year,” he said quietly.
“Oh,” I said, sheepish.
“I’m trying very hard to be patient about this,” he said, his voice suddenly strained. “I don’t understand why you’re putting it off.” He chuckled nervously. “I thought we’d be married by now.” His eyes were still bright, but I could hear the edge of worry in his voice.
“We’ve discussed this, Jared. A lot. I don’t have time to plan a wedding right now. It’s not that I’m putting it off, I’ve just got a lot on my plate is all,” I said, twisting my ring around my finger.
Jared rested his hand on mine. “I know you do. But it doesn’t have to be an elaborate event. We’re engaged, we’re living together…is there a problem I should be aware of?”
“Of course not,” I smiled. “I just need a little more time.”
Jared’s contrived smile didn’t hide the heavy disappointment in his eyes, but I pretended not to notice. I wanted to marry him more than anything, but I wanted to do it right. I certainly didn’t want to feel rushed to get home from our honeymoon because of chapters to study, papers to write, or learning how to run another department of Jack’s company.
“A year is a reasonable engagement. Two years is….” he trailed off, clearly vexed by the idea of waiting another year.
“We won’t have a two year engagement, Jared,” I assured him.
“So you’re going to settle on a date sometime this year?” he asked, hopeful. The look in his eyes made it impossible to say anything but yes.
“I will. I just have to find time to plan a wedding between twenty hours of school and Titan.” I felt my expression compress as I thought about the ramifications of my statement.
Jared looked ahead, his eyes tightening with focus. “I will find time. I will create time if I have to.”
“Well, you do have Divine connections. I’m sure you could make that happen,” I teased. I peered up the giant tree, squinting from the sunshine poking through the leaves. The branches swayed with the breeze, and I smiled. “I love it here.”
“Good. I do, too.”
“It’s so amazing that Gabe brought Lillian to this exact spot.” My eyes lingered on the rudimentary heart and initials of Jared’s parents, and then on the elegant details of the vines and leaves inside the heart with our initials inside. I looked back to Jared’s glowing blue-grey eyes. “Is there anything you can’t do?”
“Just get my fiancé to actually marry me,” he said, winking.
I pressed my lips together into a tight line. “I said I’d set a date.”
“I’ll believe it when I see it.” Jared said, raising an eyebrow.
“Is that a challenge?”
“Whatever works,” Jared grinned.
“I promise. I’ll set a date.”
“Within the next ten years?” he asked playfully.
“I’ll set a date for this year,” I said, stubbornly raising my chin.
“This year,” Jared repeated, dubious.
“Did you think I was kidding when I said yes?”
“No. I just didn’t realize when you said yes that you meant someday.” His tone was lighthearted, but I felt a twinge of guilt in my chest. Jared immediately reacted. “I’m kidding, sweetheart,” he said, tucking my hair behind my ear. Instead of the ends of my hair wrapping around the bottom of my ear like it used to, it brushed against my shoulder.
I looked down, picking at my fingernails. “I know, but it’s true. You didn’t expect a long engagement.”
“Well, I assumed maybe a year with everything happening so fast. But when the year came and went and you never so much as mentioned it….”
“Oh. You think it’s not important to me,” I said, my face feeling hot.
“I didn’t say that,” he quickly backpedaled.
I looked up at him under my lashes. “But that’s what you’re thinking.”
“Well,” he hesitated, “you do tend to insinua
te that there are other things you’d rather focus on. I understand, but I can’t help but be a little disappointed. It was my idea after all,” he grinned, kissing my forehead.
I slowly crawled into his lap. “I love you, Jared Ryel. There is nothing I want more than to be your wife. I promise to get right to work on that date, okay?”
Jared beamed. “Thank you.” His lips traveled to mine, but quickly pulled away. “You’d better keep this to yourself. I think mom has finally accepted that no amount of encouragement on her part is going to produce a wedding. It’s probably best to let her think you have other things on your mind.”
“Good plan,” I said, leaning him back against the blanket.
He smiled. “Speaking of Lillian…she invited us to dinner. Apparently, she has a surprise.”
“A surprise….” I trailed off. “Do you know what it is?”
Jared shook his head. “Not a clue.”
I looked at my watch. “We’d better get going if we’re going to wash up and make dinner.”
Jared stood up and brought me with him. We rolled the blanket and I fastened it to the back of Jared's motorcycle, and then we made a quick stop at the loft, trading the bike for the Escalade.
After a quick stop at Cynthia’s, Jared drove us to his mother’s. We had been to Lillian’s more than enough times for me to get past the night of the invasion, but no matter how many times we made a visit, an overwhelming sick feeling still came over me as we pulled into the drive.
“No need to be nervous,” Jared said.
“I’m not. I’m starting to wonder if it’s post-traumatic stress,” I said with a half-smile.
Jared didn’t share my humor over the subject. “It’s a possibility,” he said as he opened the passenger door.
We walked to the house, and Jared stopped abruptly.
“What?” I asked, scanning his face.
He was working far too hard to mask an emotion. “Nothing. Everything is fine.”
“Jared,” I said as we walked. “Something’s wrong.”
“No. No, everything’s fine.”
The closer we got to the door, the harder my heart throbbed against my chest. Jared reached out with one finger to press the doorbell.
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