Guardians (Seers Trilogy) (32 page)

During lunch I escaped to the bathroom. Patrick stood to follow me out of the cafeteria, but Lee must have sensed my need to be alone because she stood, latching onto my arm. Patrick probably also realized my need for privacy, but he wavered a moment before allowing us to go without him. He gave me a hard look, as if trying to judge if I was really coping as well as I kept assuring him I was. But in the end he stayed behind. So maybe I was getting the hang of lying.

I didn’t want to tell Lee about my fate. She’d definitely freak out, and I was already putting her through so much. She was my best friend. I knew she would want to know, would gladly take on the extra weight and concern in order to help me cope. But I was already having a hard time convincing Patrick I was okay—I didn’t want to lie to Lee as well. And so when we reached the bathroom, I told her I needed to make a phone call to Terence, alone. She nodded, though she looked curious. As the door swung closed behind me, I heard Lee tell a girl that someone was throwing up violently inside and to find another bathroom.

I made sure the stalls were all empty before dialing Terence.

He interrupted me as soon as I told him I was volunteering to help on the mission, urging me to talk to Patrick before making any rash decisions. I could pick up the keywords; it was obvious Patrick had told him about seeing the future me; probably that day at the malt shop, when they’d gone outside. Terence knew all about my destiny, and it was time he knew I knew about it too.

I took a deep breath and assured him I knew everything and was still prepared to help stop the Demon Lord.

I was prepared for a fight, but fortunately he agreed with me. He believed that trying to take out the Demon Lord was worth any risk. He only wished we had more eligible Seers.

It was then I told him I could get another Special Seer to join our ranks. At least, I was fairly certain I could. Peter Keegan might not be entirely willing at first, but I was pretty confident I could convince him to help. And I was pretty sure he was young enough.

Terence promised to call Dr. Radcliffe and let him know of my help immediately, before he and Hanif decided to go home. He also added that Alex and Ashley would be buried in their hometowns, according to their wishes.

All of this was happening in a fog. I hardly felt like the moment was real until he voiced the question I’d dreaded most. “Kate, have you told Patrick of your plans to help on the mission?”

I turned where I stood, facing my pale face in the mirror. “No. Not yet.”

“Don’t put it off. He deserves to know. Considering everything . . . He should know.”

I felt a tear slide down my cheek—the first real tear I’d shed since learning I was going to die in the near future. “Terence . . . you’ll help him out, after . . .” I tried again. “He’s going to need people around him, if things play out like he saw.”

“Kate, the future is never certain. But, if it will ease your mind, he won’t be alone. Do you honestly think his friends would abandon him?” He cleared his throat roughly, trying to push past the sudden emotion. “Now, Kate, since the Demon Lord doesn’t know about the warehouse, I think you should relocate there until the mission is complete. You’ll have Guardians around you. You won’t be alone.”

But Patrick won’t be with me when I die—when I go back. The future me said as much to him . . . I might as well be alone.

Emotion leaked into my voice as I ended the call. Terence told me one last time how brave I was, but I didn’t feel brave. I felt disconnected, alone, and afraid.

***

Grandma was stacking a suitcase on the porch when I got home. Lee was still with me, sensing my need to have her around. She had nothing better to do at home, she said. Surprisingly, she hadn’t questioned me point blank about what was wrong. I figured she would, eventually. But for now, she was willing to follow my timetable.

The twins hopped out of the car, rushing up to Grandma, who was just stepping back into the house.

“Are you going somewhere?” Jenna asked as she stepped through the open doorway.

“
We
are going on a little trip,” Grandma said, loud enough for me to hear from the driveway. “You remember my friend, Lilly Gibbs?”

“The one who broke her leg?” Josie asked.

Grandma nodded as she stepped back onto the porch, dragging a rolling suitcase that bulged with luggage. “I thought it would be nice of us to spend a week with her. Maybe more.”

“What about school?” Jenna asked, perceptibly appalled. “We can’t just leave!”

“I’ve already called Mr. Keegan.”

“Yes!” Josie punched the air.

Grandma continued quickly. “He can give me the necessary homework, and you can do it there.”

“No!” Josie groaned.

Jenna looked appeased—perhaps even excited.

Grandma pushed them toward the front door. “Hurry upstairs and go pack a couple bags. I want to leave within the hour.”

Once they were inside I popped the trunk, and Lee—who was already standing back there—helped push it open to let out the invisible Toni.

It startled me when I realized Toni
wasn’t
invisible. As soon as he was free of the trunk he stepped up to Lee, cradling her bruised face delicately in his hands. “Do you need some more Tylenol?” he murmured, deeply concerned.

Lee shook her head. “I’m fine. It looks a lot worse than it feels.”

He grunted. “I doubt that.”

She gave him a quick hug, her large poodle skirt melting around his legs from the cool breeze. “You worry too much. You should have seen me smack that guy. I haven’t picked up
Harry Potter
for years, but he sure served me well last night.”

He began to kiss her, as if he couldn’t wait another moment to touch her lips, and I turned around to give them some privacy. I knew Patrick would be only a couple minutes or so behind us, so I decided to figure out what Grandma was planning before he arrived.

She was still on the porch, waiting for me. Her arms were folded stiffly, her eyes tight with worry. She got right to the point as soon as I stepped up to her, her words quiet. “I can’t keep the twins here, Kate. It’s not fair to them. And I . . . I can’t go through something like last night again.”

I nodded. I understood completely.

“I want you to come with us,” Grandma said slowly. “It’s far enough away—we should be safe there until the Guardians can sort everything out.”

“I can’t. I have to stay here.”

She pulled in a deep breath. “Kate Bennett, I’d take you over my knee if I thought it would do any good. But I just have this feeling . . .” Her eyes filled with sudden tears. “It’s like your grandfather is right here. Right next to me, whispering that everything is going to be all right. That you’re old enough and wise enough to make your own decisions. You just have to promise me you’ll be safe.”

Though it was not something I could promise, I did so anyway.

“Is Jack inside?” I asked, quick to escape her before emotion overwhelmed me.

She nodded.

I gave her a brief hug and then slipped around her to find Jack in the kitchen. He was standing at the sink, staring out the window into the backyard. He turned when he heard me come in.

He took in my resolute expression, bobbing his head when he understood I had no intention of leaving. “I’ll go with them, if you’d like,” he offered.

“Please? They need you more than I do.”

He swallowed hard. “Holy dooley, girl—don’t look so morose.”

“I look morose?”

“You look . . . resigned.”

“I guess I am.”

“To what?”

I didn’t answer his question. “I might need your help, Jack. I want Patrick to go too.”

His eyebrows shot up. “Don’t be a galah. He’d never leave you. Especially not now.”

“I can’t tell you why, but . . . He needs to be with the twins now.”

He pursed his lips. “I already called Claire—she wants Maddy away from here. She’s not going to be happy, that’s for sure. But maybe Claire’s got a point.”

I moved closer, sticking out my hand. “Thank you, Jack. For everything you’ve done. For me and my family.”

He tried to smile as he shook my hand. “No worries, Kate. It was always my pleasure.”

I heard the front door open and I knew Patrick had arrived. I dropped Jack’s hand, but before I could move away he embraced me. “It’ll be all right, Kate. It’ll
all
be right.”

“Thanks, Jack,” I whispered against him.

By the time we pulled back, Patrick was standing in the kitchen, watching us. He looked to Jack. “Are you going, then?” he asked.

Jack answered smoothly. “Sure am. I think the young’uns will be glad to have me along.”

Patrick nodded once. He was avoiding my gaze. “I’m glad you’ll be with them. I think I might send Claire and Maddy, just in case. That should leave enough of us here for Kate’s protection, until we can figure out another way to stop the Demon Lord.”

“Patrick?” I asked suddenly. “Can I talk to you?”

It was obvious he didn’t want to look at me, but his head moved fractionally until our eyes locked. His were wary. “Of course,” he said with false ease.

I led the way into the family room, sensing him following right behind me. I tried to pull in steadying breaths, low and full. I didn’t stop until we stood in front of the dark TV, and when I turned around we stood facing each other for a long moment.

His breath was coming faster. His jaw was tightening with every second I hesitated.

I cracked my mouth open. “I’m staying here, but I want you to go with them.”

He stopped breathing altogether. He gripped both of my hands, squeezing tightly as he tugged me closer to him. “Kate,” he whispered thickly, hoping to keep our conversation muted in the quiet house. “Please, just hear me out. I know you’re terrified—
I’m
terrified. But I’ve been thinking this through all day. I have another option—a better option.”

I sighed, rolling my eyes toward the ceiling because it was too hard to look at him, to see the desperate hope in his gaze. “Patrick, I don’t want to argue—”

“Kate, I want you to come with me.”

I closed my eyes, ducking my head. “I can’t. I called Terence. I’m helping Hanif with the mission.”

He froze before me. “No,” he breathed at last. “You can’t do that. Without Alex’s military experience, you don’t stand a chance—”

“Peter Keegan is a Special Seer. I’m sure if he’s aware of what happened to Lee, he’ll help us out. We’ll have enough people to get the job done.”

His words were urgent—lined with desperation. “You can’t trust him. And even if you could, he’s only a schoolteacher. Kate, you can’t do this. You
cannot
lead these Seers in an assassination attempt. It’s not in you, and we both know it. You need to come with me.”

“I can’t go with the twins. It will only endanger them—”

“Not with the twins,” he interrupted, impatient I wasn’t following his line of thought. “Just you and me. We’ll go somewhere, where even the Guardians can’t find us. Somewhere with no ties to the Demon Lord.”

“What about the twins? My grandma?”

“It will only be for a few years. Until all of this has died down. Until Terence and the Council find another way to kill the Demon Lord. They will if we just give them time.”

I shook my head. “Patrick, this is insane.”

“No, it’s not. I can work, provide for you. I can protect you, keep you alive. It doesn’t matter where we go. I don’t care. As long as I’m with you and I know you’re safe.”

Tears blurred my eyes, and I knew he noticed because his grip on me tightened. More than anything, I wanted to do exactly what he was describing. Just me and him. I trusted him perfectly—he’d keep me safe. After so much pain and fear, I’d finally feel safe.

The idea was intoxicating. But I couldn’t lose my focus. “Toni? Lee?” I questioned, voice tight with emotion.

Patrick slid closer to me, voice turning soothing in an instant, sure he was winning me over. “He’ll protect her, Kate. They’ll be safe. Probably safer without us around.”

I shook my head slowly. “Patrick, you’re not thinking clearly.”

“This is all I’ve been thinking about since last night,” he argued. “We have to stay together. If I stay with you, that future can’t happen. As long as we’re together, things won’t play out that way.”

I blew out my breath. He was jumping to irrational conclusions. Didn’t he understand that this was going to happen whether he was with me or not? I don’t know how I knew, I just did. I was going to die, and we both needed to come to terms with it so we could focus on protecting the twins. “Patrick . . .”

His hands moved up to my shoulders, his long fingers flexing their hold, as if somehow he could force me to agree. “Kate, I’m
begging
you to come with me.”

“What if I did?” I whispered, staring at a point past his shoulder. “What if that’s what we did before? I came with you, and we were safe. For a while. And then everyone we left behind died because we weren’t there to stop it? What if this is exactly what we tried and it failed? What if the twins died because we were selfish and didn’t—”

“I don’t care,” he interrupted stubbornly. “I have to try.
You
have to try. For me. Kate, please, just do this for me.”

It would be easy to say
yes
. Yet it was impossible. Maybe he sensed that. And so he did something I never imagined he would.

He sank to one knee, his brilliant blue eyes running across my face before settling on mine. He spoke without further preamble. “Kate Bennett, will you marry me?”

I blinked down at him, completely shocked by the sudden shift in conversation.

His lips pressed together as he shifted to both knees, still clinging to my hands. His voice was uncommonly rough—throbbing with emotion. “I’m not afraid to beg, if that’s what it takes. I love you more than any man could ever love you, Kate, and I promise to always love you, to always care for you. For every day of forever. I won’t rest until I find a way to give you everything you deserve. I
swear
I will make you happy. Please,
please
say you’ll marry me.”

My mouth hung partially open. I was completely speechless. I’d often thought of how great it would be to love him for the rest of my life, but I hadn’t actually thought the word
marriage
. But to know he had . . . I was distracted by the thought of becoming his wife. Thinking about the possibility of marrying him, being his completely . . . It caused my heart to almost dissolve with pleasure. Even if we never had children, if he never grew old . . . Life would be great with him. More than great. It would be a miracle. It would be a type of heaven.