I angled my head and caught a glimpse of his face. He was pale, whiter than I’d seen him since his horrible sickness. I didn’t dare say anything, with the room so quiet, but I took this moment to step out of my own thoughts and quickly see this movie through his eyes, to try and figure out what could have possibly triggered his adverse reaction.
The story of a man who traveled through time to find the woman he loved, only to have fate rip him from her side. Though our story was quite different, many of the elements remained the same—too many. Someday we’d be separated, and even though it wouldn’t be because of something as trivial as what happened to these two lovers, there was nothing we could do to stop it. Sooner or later Patrick would be left here, and I would be forced to another plane of existence. I was confident that a mistake of Patrick’s wouldn’t lead to our end, but even if he didn’t have to blame himself, I knew he wouldn’t respond well to my death.
And I feared that I would struggle with this movie.
All I could do was grip his hand, a stranglehold too desperate to be comforting.
The credits finally rolled, but no one moved. The girls were sniffling, and the guys were sporting various expressions; Aaron’s arm was around Alyssa’s trembling shoulders, Jaxon was yawning and patting Maria’s arm, and Toni was rolling his eyes even as he squeezed Lee’s fingers.
Patrick’s breath was rattling slowly from his lungs, his whole body stiff around me. Neither of us spoke, though I knew a similar weight lay heavily on our minds.
When Aaron flipped on the light, the room seemed brighter than it had been before the movie. Patrick released me so I could stoop over and retrieve my flip-flops which I’d kicked to the floor earlier, and I knew by the firm set of his jaw that he didn’t want to talk about what had happened so silently between us.
Toni and Lee were already standing when I looked up, their hands carefully at their sides despite the cuddling that had been taking place moments earlier. Jaxon was pulling Maria to her feet.
I pushed up from the couch, Patrick right behind me. He stepped away, preparing to lift one of the partially emptied bowls of popcorn, but Aaron assured him the cleanup could happen later. It was almost eleven, and I was feeling the late hour. After some fast but sincere thank-yous and good-byes we were walking out the front door, each toward our separate cars. Jaxon offered to give Alyssa a ride home, and Aaron followed us out to the porch to make sure we all got on our way safely.
After silently opening my door Patrick went around and slipped into the driver’s seat. He started the car, waiting to flip on the lights until Toni and Lee joined us. Lee was talking to Aaron, Toni standing firmly behind her.
I took this moment of privacy to look at Patrick through the dimness of the car, opening my mouth to speak the words I hadn’t yet formed in my mind.
He beat me to it. “Kate, don’t worry about me. I’m fine.” His voice was precisely measured, but he couldn’t fool me. He was extremely bothered.
My mouth twisted, revealing my doubt. “I’m sorry. I should have warned you at the beginning, I just didn’t realize . . .”
His eyes still carried a haunted look, but a carefully structured smile lifted his lips. “Really, Kate, it’s okay. It was just a movie.”
Before I could answer Toni pulled the back door open, and Lee climbed in behind me. I waved to Aaron as we pulled away from the curb, starting down the quiet residential street behind Jaxon’s car.
“Well, that was the dumbest movie I’ve ever seen,” Toni declared loudly.
Lee’s slap against his arm was even louder. “Knock it off! It was beautiful.”
“A penny? The obsessive freak forgot to check his pennies? I mean, really! He was driven mad by his obsession with a picture, but he didn’t recheck his change? How stupid can you get?”
I glanced at Patrick’s mutedly glowing profile, but the dash lights didn’t reveal much—just a blank, hard expression.
Lee snorted. “It’s tragic, not stupid.”
Toni continued to rave, as if he hadn’t heard her. “He lets one dumb mistake ruin everything. And then he just gives up and dies? How’s that not stupid?”
Lee wasn’t convinced. “He did try to go back, but there was nothing he could do. It was too late. She was already gone.”
“I still think it was dumb.”
Lee was silent—I knew my friend well enough to know without seeing that she was scowling deeply, refusing to engage in a debate when she knew the opposition could not be swayed.
Patrick changed the subject firmly. “Toni, are you on duty tonight?”
“Nope. It’s my night off.”
Patrick nodded, almost to himself. “We’ll stop at Kate’s house, then you can drop Lee off on your way back to the warehouse.”
“Sounds good,” he replied easily.
We drove in near silence for another minute or so. We were nearing my house when Patrick suddenly slammed on the brakes. I grabbed the dash as it came sailing toward my face, a gasp escaping me as my seat belt locked into place. Adrenaline rushed through my body, but Patrick was already apologizing heavily. “There was a dog—I’m sorry.”
I glanced out the windshield and saw a small beagle staring up at us, just in front of the hood. But seeing the reason for the abrupt stop didn’t calm my actively racing heart.
Lee blew out her breath shortly. “Oreos, that was close.”
“Gee, Patrick,” Toni grunted. “Do you think you could stop a little harder next time? My head didn’t get yanked off this time around.”
“Are you okay?” Patrick’s words were for everyone, but his eyes were on me. I nodded quickly, mostly because I couldn’t speak.
Toni’s voice was faintly sick. “I think my stomach’s in Canada.”
Patrick honked the horn briefly and the dog responded by loping over to the sidewalk. The car rolled forward once the way was clear, though Patrick drove more cautiously than before.
He pulled carefully into my driveway and released his seat belt. The back doors opened, and I reached down for my purse, only to find that the contents had been dumped all over the floor. Receipts, pens, wallet, sunglasses, hand sanitizer—the purse was pretty much empty now. Patrick saw the mess and immediately leaned over to help me clean it up. I shoved things in quickly, conscious of the fact Lee was standing just outside my door, waiting to get in. I picked up a tube of lip gloss and Patrick snatched up a handful of receipts.
Once everything was off the floor I opened my door and stepped out, shoving the odds and ends that filled one hand into the open purse. Lee gave me a half hug, whispering that she’d talk to me tomorrow.
I walked around the front of the car, offering a quick wave to Toni as he backed out. He nodded in response, and then they were driving down the street. The porch light was on, keeping us from total darkness. Patrick walked easily beside me, unfolding the different receipts while we moved. He shook his head after rifling through a few. “Kate, some of these are months old. Why keep them?”
I grabbed the ones he’d already looked at. “I hate cleaning my purse out, that’s why.”
He smiled, a fond edge to the gesture, then he went back to looking at the receipts he still held. We stepped onto the porch and I moved in front of him, pulling out my key from inside my purse. It was near the bottom, though, so it took a little longer to dig it out than normal. I heard Patrick’s steady breathing behind me, heard the rustle of unfolding paper—silence.
I turned instinctively, hand still buried in my purse, fingers still wriggling around. They stopped moving when I saw his pale face. He was staring at a wrinkled sheet of paper—one that I’d completely forgotten about. It had been mixed in with the receipts, and I hadn’t noticed it before. Now it was open. His intensely furrowed brow was trying to make sense of the words, my picture.
My stomach dropped. All I could do was watch his eyebrows draw together and see his mouth twist into an uncomprehending frown as he read.
“Kate,” he finally breathed
, eyes riveted on the page. “What is this?”
I swallowed hard, my voice bare and halting. “I . . . I meant to tell you . . .”
“Kate, what is this?” he repeated more urgently, wounded eyes flickering up to mine. He was reading the words, but they didn’t make sense.
I pursed my lips, meeting his stare even though it was difficult. I wasn’t sure what to say, how to make this moment less alarming for him. I settled for the truth. “It’s a wanted poster.” I winced as soon as the words were out. Poor word choice—I couldn’t have made that sound any more dramatic, had I tried. I fought quickly to repair the damage. “Selena’s been distributing them, for the Demon Lord.”
His eyes were still on mine, his face frozen. “Why do you have it?” he whispered. “How on earth do you . . . ?”
I grimaced. This wasn’t going to be good. “Clyde gave it to me.”
“Clyde?” He blinked. It was almost like he was in shock.
“Clyde—my grandpa’s friend. I went to visit him last week.”
“Last week?” His voice rose just a little. The paper was shaking in his hands.
I let a sigh escape. I wasn’t handling this well at all. I pulled my hand out of my purse, taking a slow step toward him. “Why don’t we go inside. I’ll tell you everything, I promise.”
He glanced back at the page, blanching at the sight of my face smiling back up at him. “How did they get this picture, Kate?”
I shook my head. “I don’t know.”
His eyes widened suddenly, and I knew he’d seen the reward money for the first time. A second later his eyes ran over the most disturbing thing. His tone was sick. “They know where you live.”
I wrapped my fingers around one of his wrists, but even then he didn’t look up at me. “Patrick, let’s go inside. We can talk in there, okay?”
His eyes slowly rose. His voice was choked. “Why didn’t you tell me? Why didn’t you show me this?”
I gently rubbed his arm; the action didn’t seem to soothe him. “I didn’t want to worry you. I didn’t see the point in making a big deal—”
He was overcoming his speechlessness. In fact, he was getting loud. I hoped he’d had the presence of mind to go invisible first. “The point? The point? Kate, I’m your Guardian! It’s my job to keep you safe, and I can’t do that if I don’t have all the information!” Understanding flashed across his face. “That Demon at the school—he was hunting you because of this. Wasn’t he? And you knew! Why didn’t you tell me?”
His accusations hurt, but it was the helpless tone ringing in his voice that hurt the most. “Patrick, please, just listen to me—”
The front door opened, interrupting my explanation mixed with apology, and Jack’s head poked out. “Hey, you two, I don’t mean to be clucky, but you’ve got school tomorrow. Your grandmother’s already gone to . . . Patrick? Is something wrong?”
I spoke before Patrick could. “Nothing’s wrong. Why would you think something’s wrong?”
Jack gave me a strange look. “Well, I don’t know. You don’t have to be a knocker, though—I just thought I’d ask.”
I expected Patrick to say something, but he didn’t. He’d lapsed back into his blistering silence. Still gripping his wrist, I pulled him into the house, wanting to herd him up to my bedroom as quickly as possible.
Jack held the door for us, flipping off the porch light with the quick flick of a finger. He didn’t seem to notice the page Patrick was holding, even though he wasn’t trying to cover it up at all. “Can I ask how your date went?” Jack ventured carefully, obviously sensing the tension.
I nodded once. “It was good. Thanks for waiting up.”
“Um . . . I’m on duty.”
“Right—well, thanks anyway.”
He rolled his eyes. “I won’t tell your grandma.”
“Huh?”
“You two can go upstairs if you want. I’m no whistle blower.”
Though it would definitely give him the wrong idea, I thanked him concisely before steering Patrick up the stairs. My bedroom door was open, and once the light was on and we were both inside, I shut it before turning back to face my agitated Guardian.
He was watching me from a few short steps away. His words were low but uncompromising. “Kate, you were wrong to keep this to yourself. We needed to know this.”
We? Was he trying to keep this fight from becoming overly personal? It was obvious that he was in full Guardian mode, and I wasn’t sure if that was better or worse. It felt less accusing than if he’d said I, but the we certainly made me feel stupider.
“What’s the big deal?” I asked suddenly. “It’s not like it’s a surprise or anything. So what if the Demon Lord spread some flyers?”
He jerked the paper, accidentally flinging some receipts to the floor. “They have your address,” he snapped.
“So? The Demon Lord’s always known where I lived. That’s why I have you guys, all this extra protection—”
“This is different.”
“How?” I found myself almost hissing. It was infuriating that he could rave and be as loud as he wanted—Jack was the only other person in the house with the ability to hear him—but I had to keep my own voice moderate or fear waking my sisters.
His finger jabbed low on the page. “One million dollars. Do you have any idea how that’s going to stir up the local Demon population?”
“It’s a lot, I know—”
“It’s not just the reward that will attract them. It’s the idea of the reward, the chance to capture someone worth so much. They like the high danger gives them, and an absurd reward like this promises them just that.”
I succeeded in shrugging, though the motion was stiff. “So you’ll protect me.”
He groaned as the page slapped against his right leg, dropping out of sight. “Like I protected you last time? Kate, I’m trying—believe me, I’m trying for all I’m worth—but I can’t be everywhere. As much as I hate to admit it, I can’t keep you safe from everything the Demon Lord is capable of throwing.”
“I know—that’s why I have Toni, Jack, Claire—everyone!”
He swallowed convulsively, shaking his head. “You’re no longer safe here. This house has been compromised.”
“Compromised?” The word twisted my mouth in an unfamiliar way. “What about Jenna and Josie? What about my grandma? We can’t just leave. I can’t do that to them. And if Terence finds out, he’ll make us go and you know it.”
“Better to have you upset with me than dead.” His voice cracked on the last word, losing the power he’d held earlier.
I pulled in a deep breath, trying to steady my nerves and subdue my flaring temper. I didn’t want to do this with him. I peeled away from the door, crossing the short distance to stand in front of him. He was watching me warily, unwilling to relax. I reached up and placed a hand on either side of his tight face.
I kept my voice soft. “I don’t want to argue. But I can’t go. I can’t lose my home. Can you understand that? In the past six months I’ve lost three of the most important people in my life. I can’t lose anymore. I’ll go crazy if I do.”
He stared at me, his penetrating gaze revealing nothing. His lips parted. “Kate. I. Can’t. Lose. You.”
I pulled closer to him, my arms pressing against his hard chest, my fingers tensing on his face. “You won’t. I promise.”
He let out a weak, mirthless laugh. “You can’t promise that.”
“Patrick, please. Please . . .”
He studied my face, but I saw no sign of surrender in his firm expression.
I closed my eyes and ducked my head against his stiff collar, my nose brushing the bare skin of his pulsing throat. My hands slipped from his face and my arms wound around his shoulders, his neck. “Please,” I breathed. “Patrick, please don’t make me leave my home.”
The room was silent aside from our steadily lengthening breaths. I heard his heart beating beneath my cheek, and I felt his exhale stir my hair. A minute p
assed. My thoughts were jumbled, unable to organize, only hope. Finally there was movement. His clenched fist—the one holding the flyer—pressed against the small of my back, his other hand spread over the back of my head, keeping me pressed up against him.
His words came out, low but surprisingly strong. “I won’t tell Terence. Or any of the others. Because you’re right. He would make you leave, despite the fact that the Demon Lord already knows where to find you.”
My arms flexed around him, my eyes pinching more tightly closed. “Thank you—”
His movement cut me off as his hand on my head slipped abruptly to my shoulder. I lifted my head and opened my eyes so I could catch a glimpse of his serious expression—the firm set of his jaw. “You have to promise me something in return,” he said, his gaze unwavering. “And I mean this, Kate.”
I tried not to let his intensity intimidate me. “Of course—whatever you want.”
The papers in his hands dropped to the floor and he cradled my head with his large hands, his fingers tracing my face as he leaned closer. His nose brushed mine, and then our foreheads were resting against each other. His eyes were closed tightly. “I want you to promise that you won’t go anywhere without telling me first. No more vigilante visits to Clyde, and absolutely no more secrets. I need all the information. I need you to be completely honest with me. Can you promise me that?”
His lips were too close to ignore. I pressed my mouth to his. His fingers trailed into my hair, mindful of the stitches. One hand eventually dropped to cup my waist and shift me closer up along the length of his body.
When I finally pulled away—my breath shaky and my hands buried in his hair—I answered him without reservation. “I promise.”
Ten
The evening before Thanksgiving found me in the kitchen with my grandma. She was regretting the fact that we only had one oven in our kitchen, because she was used to the two at her old house. She had to alter her dinner plans accordingly, so we were baking a batch of pies tonight in order to get ahead for the big feast tomorrow. The twins were in the other room, watching TV with Jack and Patrick. I was somewhat grateful for the chance to be alone with her, doing something as simple as cooking.
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