Unforgiven (Wanderers #3) (35 page)

“Ella, I think that’s a brilliant idea.” I smiled,
feeling a little better than when I first got there. “Do you have
anything specific in mind?”

“I think I might, but I want to do some more
research. Can I get back to you tomorrow?”

“Absolutely. Why don’t you go inside and rest? You
look like you could use it.”

“Thank you,” I said, as I opened the door to my new
room. I waved to Aidan as he took off down the hall. I dragged in
my suitcase and closed the door behind me. I flicked on the light
and took a look around at my new room. Wow! It was twice the size
of my old room. It had a full size couch, recliner, TV, and a king
sized bed. The floors were hardwood with a large circular rug in
the center. There were two full sized closets with a dresser and
night stand. To my right was the bathroom. My own bathroom again! I
sighed, happy, wishing that my temporary stay would be a long
one.

I didn’t bother to unpack anything. I had a feeling I
wouldn’t be staying there long. I spread my arms out wide and fell
face first in the fluffy down comforter. I was in heaven and
positive I wouldn’t have a problem falling asleep in this massive,
cloud like bed.

I kicked off my shoes and crawled into the middle of
the bed, ready to fall into oblivion when there was a knock on my
door. Of course, just my luck. I groaned into the pillow and forced
myself to get out of bed. I made my way over to the door thinking
it was just probably one of the guardians here to warn me they were
going to lock me in. They hadn’t said they were actually going to
do that, but I wouldn’t put it past them.

When I opened the door I took a step back, surprised.
Roman was the last person I expected to be there. “Roman, what are
you doing here?”

“Can we talk?”

I opened the door to let him in. He hesitated a
moment, like he was thinking it over, debating whether or not he
should step inside. He took a reluctant step forward. I closed the
door behind him as he looked around the room. He stuffed his hands
in his pockets clearly indicating he was uncomfortable. “Do you
want to sit down?” I pointed to the couch.

“No. I’ll stand. This won’t take long.”

“Oh,” I said a little disappointed. I stood there
fidgeting with my thumbs and waiting for him to start, but he kept
quiet. I wondered if he was waiting for me to say something.

“Ella,” I looked up. “What’s going to happen
now?”

His question caught me off guard. “I don’t…I don’t
understand?”

“Do you still love me?”

“Of course I do,” I took a step forward and he took
one back.

“Do you still love him?” Despite everything Tristan
had put me through just for him to leave me in the end and leave me
feeling like a hollow shell of nothing, I stilled loved him. My
love for him wasn’t something that was going to go away overnight.
I knew eventually I would be able to move on and my feelings would
fade, but I couldn’t lie to Roman. I’d done enough damage and that
wasn’t fair to him. I bit my bottom lip and nodded. I tried really
hard not to cry.

He didn’t say anything, which scared me. Instead, he
just stood there with a torn expression on his face. I walked over
to him and put my hands on his chest. He flinched from my touch but
didn’t move away. I wasn’t ready to let him go. I gripped his shirt
and looked up into his eyes. I could see the pain in them. The pain
that I caused. “Roman I’m so sorry…I’m so sorry,” I cried.

I knew I was being selfish, but I didn’t care. I
loved him and he needed to know that. I moved my hands up to his
face and tried to pull him closer for a kiss. “Ella, don’t,” he
said, grabbing my wrists. I took a risk and tried again, but he
pushed me back so hard I tripped over my suitcase and fell to the
floor. “Shit…Ella, I didn’t…” He reached out for me then paused. I
just sat there, crying.

“Ella,” his voice was barely above a whisper. He bent
down next to me. “Ella, please stop.” He placed a gentle hand on my
shoulder.

I looked up into his eyes. “Do you still love
me
?” I squeaked.

He scrubs his hands down his face and grunted. Then
he stood up and offered me a hand to help me up. “I think we should
do this another time,” he said, walking away.

“No. Don’t go. Please, I promise I’ll be good. I
won’t…I’ll just sit and listen.” I sat down on the bed. “Just
please talk to me?” I was gripping at straws. I would do anything
to keep him there with me. Even if he didn’t love me anymore I
still needed to be around him. His presence gave me comfort and
that was what I needed the most at the moment.

He had his back to me. His hand was on the doorknob,
not moving. I had a bad feeling that if he walked out now, he would
be walking out of my life for good and I couldn’t let that happen.
I got up off the bed and walked over to him. I softly placed my
hand on his shoulder so I wouldn’t startle him. His body sagged and
I rested my head on his back. I sniffled and he turned around
grabbing my arms. I jerked back in response but he didn’t let
go.

I could feel the heat pulsing through him. He had an
intense look in his eyes and I knew he wanted me as much as I
wanted him. He loosened his grip and I pleaded with my eyes for him
to forgive me. I tried to touch as much of him as I could. I
reached up to try and kiss him again but he turned his head. “Ella,
don’t do this.”

“I know you still love me. I can feel it when I touch
you.”

“Ella, I will never stop loving you, but I can’t be
with you. Not now. Not like this,” he said, slowly drawing my hands
away.

“Stay with me,” I begged.

“Ella…”

“Please, no expectations, I promise. I just don’t
want to be alone. Please don’t leave me.” I felt my lip begin to
quiver and I knew I was going to start crying. Roman took one look
at my face and sighed, giving in. He walked over to the bed with me
and we lay down together. I lay my head on his chest and my arm
across his stomach. I forgot how great it was to lay in his arms,
the way he made me feel and his warmth. I settled in comfortably
next to him and fell asleep in minutes.

When I woke up in the morning I was feeling refreshed
and better about my day until I saw I was alone. My heart dropped
to the floor when I realized Roman wasn’t there anymore. I didn’t
know exactly when he left, but I had a bad feeling it wasn’t too
long after I fell asleep. I guess I should be thankful for the
little time that he gave me.

I got up and got my things to get in the shower only
to be interrupted by a knock on the door. I looked at my clock
wondering who it could be this early in the morning. I opened the
door to find Gabe on the other side. I smacked myself in the head.
“Shit, training. I forgot. I’m sorry.”

“Apparently you’re not the only one. I suggest you
let your partners know I do not tolerate tardiness. I expect to see
all four of you in a half an hour,” Gabe said, turning on his heel
to leave.

I jumped out into the hall. “Wait, four?”

Gabe turned around. “Dean, Cameron, you and Roman,”
he said.

Of course Roman would still be training with Gabe. I
should have known better. I dragged myself back into my room,
skipped the shower, and got dressed. I projected to Dean to get up
all the way across the quad and text Cameron several times.

Cameron’s room was first so I knocked on the door
hoping I wouldn’t wake her roommate. “Ella, is something wrong?”
Sienna asked when she opened the door.

“Oh, Sienna, I’m sorry. I thought this was Cameron’s
room?” I looked around thinking I must have switched up the
numbers.

“It is,” she said.

“How did I not know you guys were roommates?” I said,
scratching my head. “And how do you guys get to room together when
I get stuck with the ice queen?”

“We’re actually not roommates. I’m only staying here
because Cameron asked me. Kylie, Cameron’s roommate,” she looked
over her shoulder and then stepped out in the hall closing the door
behind her. She lowered her voice. “Kylie was one of the people
killed at the dance. She didn’t find out until she got back and saw
all her stuff was gone.”

I suddenly felt like the worst person in the world.
“Oh,” I said. “I didn’t know. Is she okay?”

“Yeah, they weren’t very close, but still.”

“Right, well um, I kind of need Cameron to get up.
She has training.” I almost wished I could let her sleep. She
needed a day off almost as much as I did.

“Are you the one who has been texting her for the
past twenty minutes?” I nodded. “Sorry, I thought it was Austin so
I turned off her phone.”

“I thought everything was okay between them?”

“Everything’s fine,” Cameron groaned, pulling the
door open all the way. “What do you want? It’s like six o’clock in
the morning.”

“It’s time for training,” I said, handing her a
Gatorade. “And I should warn you, Gabe does not like it when you’re
late.”

“Can’t you just tell him I have cramps or something?”
she whined.

“Nope. Now get dressed before he punishes us
all.”

“He already is punishing us. Hey, where are you
going?”

“To wake up Dean,” I called over my shoulder.

“Good luck,” she laughed.

I ran up the next two flights of stairs to Dean’s
room. I knocked lightly on the door while still screaming in his
head to wake up. He didn’t answer and I was just going to walk in
but I didn’t want to startle his roommate. Then I remembered Roman
was his roommate. I sighed trying not to cry again. Then I cussed
myself for wanting to cry. I had never been this pathetic
before.

What was wrong with me?

Have I truly lost myself?

No. I stood up taller. I was Ella McCallister damn it
and I did not let boys or stupid people get me down. I was strong
and I was powerful and I could face anything. I put my hand on the
doorknob to let myself in and then I chickened out.

“Who am I kidding? I can’t do this,” I said, taking a
step back. I placed my hand behind my neck trying to rub away the
tension when I felt a small shock. I pulled my hand away and saw
the bracelet Dad gave me had a faint glow to it. I smiled putting
my foot down. “I can do this.” I barged into Dean’s room. He was
passed out on his bed and thankfully Roman was nowhere to be
found.

I let out a small sigh of relief that Dean was alone
and decent, well, he had boxers on. “Dean,” I said, shaking him.
“Dean, get up!”

“Ella,” he grumbled. “I may not have an ass kicking
power like you but I can still kick your ass so you better have a
good reason for waking me up.”

“It’s time for training.”

“The only way I’m getting out of this bed is if
you’re bleeding from the head which I don’t think you are. Now
leave.”

“Look, no one’s happy about getting up this early,
but the longer you make Gabe wait the worse it will be on all of
us. So get up now or I will continue to scream in your head until
you do.”

“It was so much more peaceful before you had this
power,” he moaned.

“Now you know how it feels. You have five minutes to
get ready. Cameron and I will be waiting for you downstairs.”

After ten minutes had pass I started screaming in
Dean’s head again to hurry up. It was so nice to be able to torture
my brother anytime I wanted.
“I’m coming. Stop yelling,”
he
projected.

“So how bad is this going to be?” Cameron asked.

“Considering he didn’t seem too happy this morning,
I’d say we’re in for a world of hurt.”

When we got to the gym no one was there and I knew
right away we would be running. We set out for the outside track
where Roman was already running laps. Gabe led us through a series
of stretches and then told us to run.

I thought having done this a million times it would
be a piece of cake, but I was wrong. Being away for a few months
and not working with Gabe all the time really left me a bit out of
shape. Cameron had no problem. She used to run track in high school
and apparently ran laps every morning before class. Dean, on the
other hand, was worse than me.

Dean never ran a day in his life. He was winded after
the second lap. Gabe told him if he didn’t pick up the pace he
would just keep adding laps. I laughed at his pathetic attempt
which just ended in me getting more laps. “I wouldn’t laugh. You’re
no better than he is,” Gabe said.

I stopped when I got close enough to him. “Why am I
running anyways? I’ve already done this. Shouldn’t I be working on
something else?”

He stared down at me with his arms crossed. “No. You
are being punished for your little unplanned vacation and from what
I can see you need a refresher course.”

“Shouldn’t you be running with us then? You’re not as
fast as you used to be old man,” I said, regretting it the moment
it came out of my mouth.

His eyes narrowed and he bent down to get in my face.
“I will not tolerate little children with smartass comments. You
can’t handle it than leave,” he said angrily.

“I don’t have a choice,” I snapped. “And I’m not a
child.”

“Then stop acting like one,” he barked. “And you do
have a choice. You don’t want to be here. You’re free to leave
whenever you want. There’s nothing keeping you here. Now if you’ll
excuse me I have other students to attend to.”

I knew what I was about to say was wrong, but I had a
habit of putting my foot in my mouth and I was mad. Not mad at Gabe
in particular, but just everything in general and Gabe was the
first one to light the match. I poked him in the chest. “You work
for me, remember? So I think maybe you should treat me with a
little more respect if you want to keep your job.”

By then everyone had stopped running and was
listening to our argument or should I say my little hissy fit.
Gabe’s jaw tightened and I knew he was holding back. “I think we’re
done for the day,” he said, walking off the field.