Providence (20 page)

A knock resounded on my window and I jumped. Claire’s flawless face was on the other side.

She rolled her eyes. “Oh, stop. Something came up. I’m here to let you in.”

I stared at her for a moment, dumbfounded. Her explanation didn’t make sense, but the knowledge that he had sent her to let me in the loft extinguished half of my fears.

“Is he okay?” I asked, following her down the alley.

“Uh…yeah. You worry too much,” she said, her annoyed expression obvious even in the dark.

She led me up the iron stairs of the entry way, and then opened the door to let me inside. I ran up the stairs to the loft and collapsed into the bed. An overwhelming feeling of relief tore through me, and I did my best to weep quietly to avoid further ridicule from Claire.

I dried my eyes as I heard her light footsteps climb the stairs and stop beside the bed.

“Wow,” she deadpanned, chomping on a wad of gum too big for her petite mouth. “Why don’t you take a shower?” she asked.

I ignored her.

Claire sighed and sat down on Jared’s side of the bed.

I froze for a moment, bracing for an obnoxious comment from her. She sat quietly.

I shot a confused glance her way. “W…What are you doing?” I asked, sniffing.

“I’m supposed to sit with you,” she said, sounding bored.

“Sit with me? Why?”

“I just am. Go take a shower, will you? You’re a mess.”

I sniffed again and ambled to the shower, too baffled to argue. Claire never missed an opportunity to make me feel like an idiot, but surely she could understand my tears. I hurried through my nightly routine, anxious that every noise outside the bathroom was Jared returning home.

When I finished, Claire was downstairs. I slipped on one of Jared’s t-shirts. It was a poor substitute, but it would have to do until he came home. With impeccable timing, she returned as I slipped under the covers.

She looked away from me, suddenly uncomfortable. “That’s Jared’s favorite shirt.”

I looked down and noticed the dead giveaway: It was ratty and worn. The dark grey heather cotton was thin, and I smiled as I made out the faded words across the front; it was from a Red Hot Chili Peppers concert four years ago. I looked up at Claire who showed signs of a slight grin.

“My dad took him to that concert,” she mused, sitting on the bed beside me.

“You look like him,” I said. Gabe had light blonde hair as well, and Claire had inherited his ice blue eyes.

Those eyes instantly glazed over with anger. “Don’t talk about him. You…,” she stopped herself, “just go to sleep, Nina.”

Falling asleep with Claire sitting over me like a prison guard wasn’t likely, so I turned my back to her, focusing on Jared. I wondered what it was that he was doing, and wondered why he hadn’t called. I opened my mouth to ask Claire, but given her mood I thought better of it.

The clock switched from P.M. to A.M. as the numbers changed to midnight. Jared still hadn’t called, and I was almost worried enough to ask Claire to call him. At that moment, Claire stood up and walked over to the railing. The outside door slammed, footsteps echoed up the iron steps, and then the front door opened and closed quietly. Claire’s eyes followed the footsteps up the stairs until Jared came into view.

The sight of him shocked me. His face was smudged with dirt and blood, along with his shirt, jacket and jeans. His knuckles were swollen and bloody. I noticed that on a few of them the hide had ripped away and hung by just a few centimeters of skin.

“Jared?” I said, ripping the covers off to run to him.

“I’m okay,” he said, holding me away. “I’m dirty. Let me jump in the shower.”

Without a word, Claire retreated downstairs.

I paced the room, chewing on my nails until he reappeared. He was dressed and clean shaven, the only remnants of his earlier disheveled appearance was his already healing knuckles.

“What happened?” I asked in firm tone.

“I’m sorry I wasn’t there. Something came up,” he said, eyeing my bandage free hand.

“Obviously,” I said, crossing my arms. “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine. Dawson stopped by The Rock to pay you a visit. I had to act quickly.” He walked by me to pull the first aid kit from under the bed.

“Mr. Dawson?” I asked, shocked.

“He was armed, and he also had…,” Jared’s jaw tensed, “he had paraphernalia.”

“What kind of paraphernalia?” I said, sitting on the bed.

“The kind you use to tie someone up and torture them. He was planning on getting that package tonight.”

I swallowed loudly. If Jared hadn’t been there to protect me, I didn’t want to think where I would be.

He didn’t look up when he spoke, “He won’t bother you again.”

“You….”

I watched as he worked silently, dabbing antibiotic ointment across my hand. The cut was now the beginning of a bright pink scar, the infection had dissipated days ago.

After a long pause Jared answered me. “I didn’t kill him. Not that I didn’t have to exercise restraint. He gave up information, but not nearly enough. I let my emotions get in the way,” he sighed and shook his head, “he was never conscious long enough to tell me everything I needed.”

“You tortured him,” I said, watching Jared fasten the last piece of tape on the flawlessly wrapped gauze. I braced for his answer; the Jared I knew couldn’t be capable of the horror that I imagined.

“I wanted to snap his spine and throw him in the Narragansett to drown, Nina. He’s lucky he ended up with his life.”

His job was to protect me by any means necessary; I just hadn’t stopped to think what that would be. “What did you find out?”

“We’ll discuss it tomorrow. You need to rest,” he whispered. He placed me gingerly on the bed, kissing the palm of my bandaged hand.

When he tried to pull away, I squeezed his fingers with mine. “I was worried. I drove here prepared to beg you back.”

He laughed once. “In what alternate universe would you ever have to beg me back?”

“I’ve had to rip out two microphones and nearly freeze to death in the pouring rain to get you back before. Driving to your apartment and knocking on your door isn’t the most extreme measure I’ve taken.”

Jared’s expression was pained. “I noticed your car out front. I’m sorry I had to leave without an explanation. I didn’t have a choice.”

“It was better than the alternative,” I said, my grin fading as I considered the possibilities.

Jared touched the side of my face, and then left me to walk toward the stairs. I sat up to protest, but Jared paused. “I’ll be right back,” he assured me.

Relaxing against the bed, I listened to his footsteps jog down the steps, silence when he reached the couch, and in the next moment climb the stairs again.

He sat beside me and held a small red box in the palm of his hand. “Don’t get too excited. It’s nothing major.”

I smiled and took the box from his hands, pulling on the small silver loop on the top. I looked at him, raising my eyebrows in surprise.

“It’s to make up for tonight. So? What do you think?”

Hanging from the lid was a shiny silver key.

“To the loft,” he explained. “Next time something comes up, you won’t have to wait outside in the cold.”

“When did you have time to do this?” I asked, still processing the shiny object spinning around from a thin red ribbon.

Jared shrugged. “I had it made a few days ago. I’ve been meaning to give it to you, but you haven’t needed it until now.”

“You’re giving me a key?” My eyebrows lifted in disbelief.

Jared nodded and then his brows pulled together. “I promised you I would never leave you. I meant it. If something like this happens again, come here. Wait for me.” He touched his hand gently to my cheek. “I’ll earn your trust back.”

“I trust you,” I said, mimicking his expression.

Jared leaned over and pressed his lips to mine. “And I trust you. Nice work in your room today.”

I cringed. “You heard that, did you?”

Jared chuckled. “All of it. I think it’s going to take me by surprise every time I hear you say my name in perfunctory conversation. It’s a good thing Ryan….”

“It’s a good thing Ryan what?” I asked, leaning over to bring his eyes to mine.

“It’s a good thing I have patience,” Jared said, looking everywhere but my eyes.

“You have a lot of patience, but that’s not what you were going to say.”

Jared’s eyes bounced from me to the floor to other things in the room, uncomfortable with where the conversation was headed. “It has to do with what I told you we would discuss later.”

“Claire’s training has to do with Ryan?”

Jared sighed. “You’re not going to wait now, are you?”

I shook my head slowly, not sure what to expect. The two names seemed to be on different sides of the universe.

Jared leaned his head down, looking at me from under his eyebrows. “The night at the pub, when you first met Claire, Ryan put his hands on me.” I nodded and Jared continued, “When she grabbed his hand, she felt something. She felt his pain.” Jared patiently waited for me to comprehend.

“Ryan is Claire’s Taleh?” I whispered, knowing she could hear me, anyway. I couldn’t believe it, and at the same time I felt excited, like I’d just heard a juicy bit of gossip. “But, when we were mugged...,” Claire was talented, even among her kind. She wouldn’t have let Ryan be hurt in that way.

“That’s why the situation went farther than I normally allow. Claire had them targeted. It would have just taken a second to take them out, but when Ryan jumped in, Claire couldn’t get a clear shot. She couldn’t risk it. That’s when I decided to intercede.” Jared’s eyes began to cloud over. The worst was coming.

“Why didn’t you want to tell me?”

Jared leaned over and kissed me. It was urgent and deep, the way he kissed me before I left him to speak with my mother; as if he were kissing me goodbye forever.

He reluctantly pulled away to look at me. “It was for purely selfish reasons. I wanted to wait so you and I could…so you could get to know me better.”

“You lost me.”

“Remember when I was explaining the Taleh, you mentioned how convenient it was that Gabe protected Jack, and I protected you?”

I nodded. “Yes, you said that angel groups tend to stay in families or those that are connected somehow.” Now that he’d brought it to my attention, it made more sense. “Claire is Ryan’s protector because he’s a friend?”

Jared sighed and shifted nervously beside me. “Claire being Ryan’s protector means he is supposed to be in your life. Permanently.”

I smiled and shook my head. “So what are you saying? That Ryan’s going to be family somehow?” Jared waited and my eyes widened in disbelief. “You think I’m supposed to marry him? Oh, c’mon! That’s ridiculous!”

“That would be the only explanation,” Jared said, his expression grave.

“You’re not serious. There’s no way for you to know that. It could be any number of things.”

“I thought that if you didn’t get to know me first, then you’d want to be with him. He is supposed to be your husband one of these days. I would understand why, armed with that knowledge, you might feel differently. And he’s a good friend to you. And he’s…persistent,” Jared said, his face twisting into an annoyed expression.

I held his face in my hands and looked directly into his eyes. “Quit it. I’m in love with you, Jared. There is no me without you.”

He watched me for a moment. “I’m sorry I kept it from you.”

“You don’t have a single thing to worry about. I promise,” I said.

Jared switched off the lamp and crawled over to his side, pulling me to him.

“I missed you,” I said, settling into his arms. “It’s going to be hard to go back to the way it was when my hand heals. I could probably start staying at Andrews this weekend.”

“You don’t have to leave,” Jared whispered in the dim light.

I buried my head into his chest. I had never wanted anything more, but Ryan’s words about moving too fast came to the forefront of my mind.

“I would love that…someday,” I said, hoping to preserve his feelings.

“Someday,” he repeated, sighing. “I understand. It’s too fast.”

“Maybe just a little,” I smiled, kissing his chest.

The next morning, I woke up in Jared’s arms. He was awake, patiently holding me against him. My smile faded when I realized it would be our last morning together for awhile.

“What is it?” Jared asked, sensing my disappointment.

I sucked in a deep, disheartening breath. “It’s Friday,” I breathed. “I’m going back to Andrews tonight.”

“You have a key. You can use it whenever you’d like.”

“That’s right,” I said, looking up at him with a smile. “That’s comforting.”

Jared brushed my bangs from my face. “I’m going to miss seeing you like this in the morning…especially in my shirt. It would have had a whole new significance had I known that one day you would be lying in my arms with it on. An interesting choice, I might add. That’s my favorite one.”