Guardians (Seers Trilogy) (21 page)

Alyssa brandished the case, which I recognized it easily. It had been my mom’s favorite movie.

“
Somewhere in Time
,” Alyssa said.

Lee was grinning happily. “It’s horribly romantic.”

“Ew,” Toni muttered through his mouthful of popcorn. Everyone ignored him.

“Jane Seymour is absolutely gorgeous!” Alyssa said, playing off of Lee’s enthusiasm perfectly.

“Oh, I know—and Christopher Reeve without tights!” They both giggled.

Jaxon grunted. “Sounds dumb.”

Maria elbowed him pointedly.

Patrick whispered lowly beside me, curious. “Have you seen it?”

I nodded, unable to form words at the moment. I had no idea how many times I’d seen the heartbreaking romance played out, but I’d taken my mom’s copy off the shelf soon after the funeral. It was probably boxed up in the garage out of sight, where I didn’t have to be reminded of her. The two of us would watch it whenever my dad was out late or when she was sick. I’d curl up with her, crying a little bit more each time I watched it. Her eyes would always be red and puffy afterward, and dad would only have to take one look before he smiled, knowing exactly what had made her cry. “You’re a hopeless romantic,” he’d tell her, the eyes behind his glasses full of love.

The wash of memories made me both warm and cold. I swallowed, hoping Toni and Jaxon would protest more loudly so they’d pick something else—anything else.

But no one was about to argue with Lee, and Aaron was more than willing to please Alyssa. Before I could decide if I could handle this, the projector was on, the lights were switched off, and the movie was starting.

Jaxon and Maria cuddled closely—they could have been the same person, for all the space they were taking. They were in sharp contrast to Aaron and Alyssa, who held hands chastely on the love seat. Lee pushed Toni’s feet away so she could sit beside him, and she dug her hand into the popcorn bowl before turning her whole attention to the large screen.

Patrick leaned back into the couch, angling his body so he was leaning partially against the armrest. He wrapped his strong arms around me and I allowed myself to rest against his hard chest, my head tucked under his chin. I tried to relax so Patrick wouldn’t realize how scared I was. I honestly didn’t know if I could watch this, but I certainly didn’t want to cause a scene by leaving.

Surprisingly, the movie became easier for me to watch as it progressed. I watched the characters fight to be together—fight the very fabric of time—and I felt a closeness to my mother that I hadn’t known for so long. Even though my tears flowed easily, I found myself smiling as well.

Patrick’s hold on me never wavered. I knew he was paying strict attention to my fluctuating emotions, perhaps thinking my tears came only from the drama on screen—still, the story managed to hold his attention. He’d never seen the movie, obviously, and he’d been completely sucked in—despite Toni’s occasional muttering. It still surprised me that immortal people didn’t take the time to watch movies. I mean, when you had forever, it seemed like you could manage to spare a couple hours here and there, but, according to Patrick, Toni was probably the closest a Guardian had ever come to becoming a couch potato. I wasn’t about to admit that immortals might have their priorities straight, compared to us mortals, but I’d definitely enjoyed introducing Patrick to my favorite films. I mean, he hadn’t even seen
Star Wars
—how out of touch could you get?

I was toying with Patrick’s leather bracelet when Christopher Reeve pulled out the stupid penny and disappeared from the past, and that was when I realized Patrick wasn’t breathing.

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—”