Sterling (15 page)

“Knowing what you are, how long do you think it would be before you hurt him? You can do some serious damage you know…you
could
kill him. If you accept me as your Ghuardian, you can learn to control it enough that, should you want,” he nodded at the window, “you could be with a human.”

“You say human like we are some kind of alien.” I said flatly.

“Have you ever seen ‘Invasion of the Body Snatchers’?”

I pursed my lips.

“I’m giving you a chance to live a worthy life. You must know about the world you belong in—the world of Breed. You must feel this. Being among humans is no longer your place. You cannot run from what you are, you will not be able to protect yourself when another Mage finds you. And they will find you.”

I sighed and watched a passing car. I didn’t want to live my life on the run, in hiding.

“Yes, you should be afraid. God help you without a Ghuardian who could protect you. You would be used in the worst kind of way. You need to be learned.”

“So I can wield the power as you do? Sending out your energy to the nearest pair of panties is such a great example of the power you have. I’m not stupid you know; you’re good looking,” I reluctantly pointed out, “but you aren’t
that
good looking. That was quite a show you put on last night.”

He leaned back and folding his fingers behind his head. “Power has its perks.”

“Power also corrupts,” I added.

Justus’s eyes fell to his lap and his brow formed a single vertical crease on his forehead. Completely switching gears his voice suddenly thundered, “Turn around.
Now
!”

I blanched as I whipped my neck around and hunched my shoulders thinking that someone was coming up from behind to attack. But all I saw was a man at a nearby table whose eyes sunk low and turned away. When my heart came out of my throat, I realized he wasn’t yelling at me, but the guy behind us.

Justus gazed over my body.  “You really should dress more appropriate, too much skin draws attention and you do not have enough fabric in the back.” he swirled a finger in the air.”

“I’m wearing a sleeveless shirt, not a thong.”

“I can’t force you, but I can promise you one certainty.”

I raised my head and looked directly at him as he rose to his feet.

“You cannot control it on your own. I tapped your energy and there’s a lot of it. You are not tempered enough to protect yourself. The wrong kind of Mage will find you, and make you their…pet.” His lip curled when he said that and I was surprised at how much it angered him. “And I’m not about to go into the many details of why you don’t want that to happen. Time is ticking and you can’t hide from who you are. Leave this life behind Zoë, while you still have the freedom to do so.”

He took my wrist and pressed a card into it, making a crisp snap from his finger pulling off the edge.

“Keep it, should you change your mind. My offer still stands. Goodbye, Zoë.” When he left the shop I studied the card. It was charcoal grey with the name Justus De Gradi in white raised print and a phone number below. I ran my finger over the finely embossed gold ring before tucking the card in my jean pocket.

The trip ended soon enough and we were back at Adam’s house, but there was tension beneath the surface. Things changed, and he didn’t look at me quite the same. His look was sad and distant. I didn’t like who I had become either and it had nothing to do with being a Mage. I was living off of his generosity only proved that I had become nothing less than a mooch.

There was a light knock on the bedroom door.

“Come in.”

Adam stepped over my legs and took a seat on the floor by the bathroom, leaning against the wall with one leg propped up and his arm casually draped over his knee.

“There’s something you should know.”

My attention focused away from the blank ceiling overhead and fell to Adam. I didn’t like the look on his face at all. “Now you’re scaring me.”

He knocked his head against the wall. “You have a mark. I didn’t say anything before, I guess I was hoping—”

“What mark? I don’t have a mark; I’ve seen my body, Raze.”

“I’ve seen your body too.” His face became splotchy as it heated with embarrassment.

“Care to elaborate?”

“When I cleaned you I didn’t dress you right away, I put you in the bed and covered you up. It wasn’t until later, after you transformed that I put clothes on you.” His hand scratched the back of his neck. “I had some underwear, and I didn’t want you waking up naked. Suffice it to say that putting underwear on an unconscious woman is something I never did before, and it’s no easy feat.”

My bottom jaw stuck out.
Underwear
. I never really thought about where those mystery panties came from let alone how they got on me. I had other things on my mind at the time, but now it was sparkling clear.

“Let me just save myself the embarrassment.”
As if he could
. “You have a mark on your right cheek.”

And I knew he didn’t mean the cheek on my face.

I propelled into the bathroom, the mirror was too high so I lowered my sweats on the right exposing part of my bare ass as I strained to get a glimpse from over my shoulder. Adam tapped my arm with a handheld mirror which I snatched away.

“Lower,” he said.

There it was—a mark low on my cheek nearly where it met my leg on the inner side. It was smaller than Justus’s and different. It looked like a wavy line with two curved patterns intersecting it at one end.

I set the mirror on the sink and pulled my pants back up. There was only one option.

“This, whatever we’re doing here, I can’t do it anymore. I need to know what I am,” and my eyes fell on his imploringly.

“I know.” His finger swept a lock of hair from my face.

“Why did you just decide to tell me all of a sudden? You could have kept it to yourself.”

“I had no right to, and there’s something else that concerns me. It’s been on my mind since Justus brought it up that night. On more than one occasion, someone has been following you. I don’t like that someone wants to hurt you and I may not be able to protect you. Maybe you’re safer…with him.”

So I made the call.

Chapter 13

It was dawn on a Thursday when Justus arrived.
I sat on the edge of the bed with my bag packed. Adam walked in and sat down beside me; his shirt smelled like clean laundry and sunshine. We were on the heels of winter and I didn’t have a single scrap of warm clothing, so Adam lent me his sweatshirt. The sleeves were rolled up since they were far too long for my arms. I dipped my nose into his heavy scent, deciding I would not wash it.

Adam was my home.

“You call me if you change your mind. I’ll come get you, no questions asked.”

So much had happened in a short period of time and I was forever indebted to him. It was my decision but I didn’t realize how much it was going to hurt to leave Adam, and I was staving off tears.

“If he treats you bad I want to know, I don’t put up with that shit and neither will you. Anyone who raises a hand to you will bleed.”

The softness of his hand stroking over mine swelled a sadness in me something awful.

“I’ve been pretty annoying to live with.”

“Not true.”

“You mean to tell me you’ll miss the cracker crumbs on your sofa, the fact I peel off all the labels from your beer bottles and leave the water running the entire time I’m brushing my teeth? I guess now is the time to confess I’ve also been drinking straight out of the orange juice carton
and
I ruined two rolls of your film. They’re in the fern pot on the back patio, in case you’re wondering.”

His eyes widened.

“See? Things are already looking up.”

“You brought life into my home, Zoë, you make me laugh. That’s something that I hadn’t done in a long time.”

My arms fell over his shoulders pulling him close. “Promise you’ll see me again?”

There was a loud pounding at the front door. Adam pulled from my reach and went to answer.

“Is she ready? I don’t have time to linger.” Justus sounded annoyed.

“I want you to listen to what I’m putting down. For whatever reason, Zoë trusts you, and I trust her decision. But I don’t know you, so I don’t fucking trust you. You treat her with respect, and if you lay one goddamned finger on her I’ll break your neck in five places, feel me?”

“I’m ready.” The two men were standing toe-to-toe as I dragged my heavy bag.

Justus tucked his hands indifferently in his fitted leather jacket. He greeted me with a restrained smile. “I’m glad you came to your senses.”

Completely irritated with that greeting I bumped my shoulder against his arm as I walked past him through the door. Without warning, Justus lifted my bag and strolled towards a gunmetal sports car parked in the driveway. One that hollered ‘this driver has a big cock’. Not that I wanted to test that theory.

“Nice wheels,” I said unimpressed.

“This, my dear lady, is an Aston Martin.” He slid his fingers along her polished side as if it were the upper thigh of a woman.

I kicked a rock, dreading the inevitable goodbye. Thoughts plagued my mind.
Will I see him again? Will he forget about me? Am I completely crazy for deciding to live with a stranger?

A throat cleared from the car. “Let’s go, Learner.” Adam’s arm slipped around my waist and Justus gave him a puzzled look. I took a moment to collect my thoughts and turned around.

A leaf dropped from one of the taller trees and twirled between us. “Just call me sometime and don’t—“

Adam’s lips pressed against mine unexpectedly. He gathered my hair in a tight fist and held me close. The kiss was slow, lingering, and bittersweet. I was intoxicated by the passion behind it, every slow sweep of the tongue weakening my knees a little more. It wasn’t until I peeked through my lashes that I saw he wasn’t into the kiss as much as I was. Those sultry brown eyes were venomous and locked on something behind me.

A horn blasted, breaking the kiss. Adam grumbled as I curved my neck around to see Justus laughing in the car. His eyes were low and there was a lot of head shaking.

“That wasn’t for me was it?” I narrowed my eyes at him when he finally severed his gaze. That kiss—which could have single-handedly changed my mind in leaving—was nothing more than territorial pissing.

“Don’t ever kiss me again if you don’t mean it.”

He took my wrist and rolled down the sleeves one at a time. “Remember what I said Z, call me if you need me. He so much as talks down to you and I’ll come. You don’t have any warm clothes so I packed some extra money in your bag. I want you to buy a jacket and take care of yourself, you hear?”

I nodded and quickly turned away before I had second thoughts.

The bucket seats were tall and I looked around at the fancy interior. Justus slid a clip into the dash which started the ignition. The car roared like a caged lion and he was about to let it out.

“Your friend is forward with his overzealous invitations.”

“He’s confused,” I grumbled.

“That isn’t confusion, it’s desperation.”

The car rolled back and some warm air drifted through the vents.

“So, where are we going?”

“Sorry peaches, no specifics, but it will be a long journey. In fact…” he said dangling a long strip of fabric, “At some point I will need to blindfold you.”

While his eyes were serious with direction, I caught a slight curve of his mouth. “And that will be an order.”

“Exactly how long is this drive, Mr. I Carry A Blindfold In My Car For Emergencies?”

“Twenty Six hours, roughly.”

“What?!”

“Human time. In Mage time I can shave that in half.”

“Mage time—that translates to…you were too cheap to buy plane tickets?”

He laughed. “We don’t work magic, Learner, not like that. But we do have a talent for disabling police radar. And my car can go very fast.” To emphasize his point he slammed the gas pedal down and my head was introduced to the headrest.

By late afternoon, we arrived at a modest sized gas station. I took a quick break and ran inside for a cherry slushee.

When I returned, he had gassed up the car and bought a bag of junk food. “Resources,” he said.
Everything a girl needed to gain five pounds
.

“You do realize that I eat real food, right?” I glanced at the trail mix, beef jerky and potato chips.

“I did not think you would have an appetite after this morning. Are you hungry? We can stop if you want to eat.”

After a half hour of his erratic driving that morning, we had to pull over while I got sick on the side of the road.

“I’m not that hungry, but we can pull over if you want.”

“Not necessary.”

I cleared my throat and looked at him. “You aren’t hungry?”

“No, I am hungry.”