by A. M. Mahler
“You’re weaker,” I said softly. “I can feel it. I wish you hadn’t done that.”
“I wouldn’t be able to sleep with all your squirming for a comfortable position.” She said.
A smile tugged at the sides of my lips. “Nice try. I can’t allow you to put yourself in danger for me.”
She sighed heavily. “Jagger, we have to be real here. In theory, you cannot protect me if you’re all banged up. What if you had to fight? Like, physically fight? How were you going to do that with all those injuries? In order to protect me, you have to be in top form. You may not like hearing that, but that’s just the reality of our situation.”
I stroked my hand down her hair. It was smooth and soft. I knew she was strong. She was not defenseless and definitely not a doormat. She may be shy, but she wouldn’t take anyone’s crap. I’d done everything I could to bolster her confidence growing up, and now she was my Supergirl. When we were better, I planned on starting to teach her martial arts. Someday if my dead body was laying at her feet, I wanted to know she could continue the fight.
However, she was weak now. The dark circles under her eyes, her pale skin—she was delicate like silk over shards of glass.
“Olivia,” I said, and waited until her eyes met mine. “I love you.” Her eyes widened before starting to water. More tears were about to come. More cracks to my heart. “I’m in love with you. I know you know. It’s impossible for you not to, but I needed to say the words out loud. I needed you to hear them. And I need you to know, and understand with absolute certainty, that there is absolutely nothing I would not do for you. Do you understand me? I will take someone’s life if it means saving yours. I’ll do it without hesitation or remorse.”
“Jagger,” she replied. “I love you, too. I have been in love with you since I was five years old. You are who I have always dreamed of. I need you to also understand that there is nothing I will not do for you. I will also kill to save you—even if the life I end up taking is my own. You need to understand that. And since we’re both stubborn, we need to find some kind of balance for these life-saving vows.”
Her words stopped my heart. Couldn’t she see I needed her to live? There was no existence for me without her. A tear escaped my eye and she brushed it away with her thumb before gently pressing her lips to mine. I didn’t think I was mature enough for a love like this. It was a desperate kind of love, like Romeo and Juliet, except they only knew each other for like fifteen minutes and arguably probably would not have lasted as a couple if they had lived because Romeo was a horn dog. So maybe Romeo and Juliet was a bad analogy.
The kiss deepened, and my hand slid over her hip, pulling her closer. She gasped as her stomach came in contact with the bulge in my jeans and we both froze.
“Pay no attention to that.” I said quickly against her lips. “It has a brain of its own, and it doesn’t always have the best ideas. I promise I don’t want to do anything more than this. I’ll never want anything you aren’t ready for.”
“I shouldn’t have acted like a such a prude.” She had a pretty blush to her cheeks. “I know that happens.”
“Okay. Let’s just stop talking about it.” I said desperately. Mortification, thy name was Jagger. “This is the first time I’ve been in a bed with a girl. I just want to enjoy being with you. Him getting into the game is far down the road. He’s not even on the roster yet.”
My humiliation diminished slightly when she laughed out loud. There was the spark in her eyes and the smile that made her face light up. I drew her into my chest, and as she curled into me, she was careful of my ribs. Laying with her like this was relaxing. I felt her drifting off to sleep. I continued to stroke her hair until my own eyes grew heavy and I couldn’t keep them open anymore.
OLIVIA WAS STILL sleeping when I woke up. We were still in the same position as when we fell asleep. I’d never woke up with a girl in my arms before and it was nice. Gently, I extricated my limbs from hers. I had to take a piss, but when I was done, I was coming right back here. It had only been just about a week since I discovered her identity, and I had not been able to touch her nearly enough.
She didn’t stir as I eased myself off the bed with a small reminder from my ribs that I still needed to proceed with caution. I picked up my phone to check the time, but since that felt like looking directly at the sun with my eyes dilated, I put it back on Livvy’s nightstand with the screen facing down. The soft light from her clock was much easier on my eyes. I wasn’t surprised to see that I’d slept for three hours. Twilight was beginning to set in, and I was starving.
As I started to walk out of the room in search of the bathroom, something on Olivia’s desk caught my eye. It was a smaller canvas, maybe eleven inches by fourteen. The painting was done in acrylics. It was a couple with their foreheads tipped together and a sea of sunflowers behind them. The image was striking. The colors were bold, and the love between the couple jumped right out of the painting and hit me in the chest. These two were everything to each other. Were they her parents?
I drew in a sharp breath when I looked closer. It was us. I don’t know when she’d painted it, but I knew there was no picture like this that she could have worked off of. This was created entirely from her mind. I was in awe of her talent. Moved beyond words, I could only stare. I sat down on the bed and just looked. Together we were breathtaking.
And so young.
Should I be concerned that two people who barely reached the age of legal adults could feel something like this? Could a love like ours endure? I knew just by looking at what Olivia had created on the canvas that she believed in our love—our connection. I vowed right there, in the softening light of the room with Livvy sleeping next to me on the bed, that I would make sure that it did. There was nothing I would not do to defend and protect that which Olivia held most precious—us.
Since I really didn’t know how I was going to go about that, I needed to speak with Jeremiah.
Before leaving the room, I bent over Olivia and pressed a kiss to her forehead and whispered, “I will not fail you.”
After using the bathroom, I wandered down the hall and found Jeremiah in the kitchen area. The living room, dining area, and kitchen were all one big open space. Skylights let in natural light during the day. Wide-planked, hardwood floors groaned under foot as I slowly shuffled across the room before taking a seat at the breakfast bar. Jeremiah was making burgers, and they smelled incredible.
“Heard you up.” He said, tapping his forehead. “Figured you’d be starving. You couldn’t have eaten at the hospital.”
“You’re right on both counts.” I said. “Should we wake Livvy?”
He arched a brow at the use of my nickname for her, but said nothing. “Let her sleep. I’ll make her something when she wakes up. This time was different for her. Healing people, well, she’s always felt a little physically uncomfortable afterwards, but she’s never felt actual pain before. She’s never been this wiped out either.”
“She was touching me.” I said, grateful for the plate Jeremiah slid over to me. “Could that have been why? She’s never done that before—not to me.”
“Could be.” Jeremiah said.
“Why did you plant her name in my head?” I asked. “And how do you do that?”
“I’ll teach you that, as well as how to break the link with her instead of completely severing it. I will teach you how to find other minds. To protect her, you’ll need to be able to hear more than just one person. But all of that will come after your concussion is fully healed.” He leaned back against the counter and crossed his arms over his chest. I attacked my burger with gusto. “As for why now?” He shrugged a shoulder. “I’m old, Jagger. They want her. They’ll want you both.”
“But who is they?” I asked. “Olivia has been terrified of this mysterious they all her life.”
“There are many organizations after people like us. Scientists, who are merely curious as to how our minds work, governments—both foreign and domestic, te
rrorist cells, law enforcement. There’s a colony in Maine where dozens of people like us are living together. They’re self-sufficient and well-armed. No one truly believes telepaths exist. Maybe they’re afraid of having their private thoughts invaded or they’re just generally skeptical people. But we’re being drawn out now and people are disappearing. You’re graduating high school this year, going to college or striking out on your own. You two will be exposed. I can go wherever Olivia decides to go to college, but I won’t always be around.”
“She’s thinking about online school.” I said.
“It’s a good idea.” He nodded. “Something for you to consider, as well. You’ll both need an education, and you’ll need skills to support yourselves. I’ve made some preparations, but my resources are limited.”
He was preparing us for something, but he wasn’t ready to tell us what. Maybe he didn’t want to scare us. Or he wanted me to learn more before he told us anything further. I’d practiced martial arts as often as I could to stay sharp. I was trained in the use of weapons, and I owned some—which was another reason my father didn’t mess with me anymore. Except everything I used was for hand to hand fighting. Nothing would be as effective as a gun.
After I devoured the burger, I moved on to the tater tots. I freaking loved tater tots. My stupid father didn’t consider them to be real food though and refused to allow them to be served in our house. My sister loved mac and cheese. We weren’t allowed to have that either. Anything that brought us any kind of happiness was forbidden. Preston DeWinter was a monster.
“They’re safe.” Jeremiah said suddenly. Furrowing my brow, I looked up at him. “Your mother and sister.” He said. “I’ve been keeping Preston at migraine level since your mother arrived home without you. He’s in too much pain to hurt them. Of course, she has to wait on him like he’s a baby. Still it’s better than the alternative. I’m watching them.”
My mother has always had to wait on my father like he was lord of the manor. He saw that as her only real job. In exchange, she got to live a privileged life. A life which was not even close to leisurely or fulfilling. She was constantly planning events for him—dinners with the firm’s partners, charity golf outings, casino nights at the country club. She created society for him, and she hated it. I wished she would take my sister and leave him, but I knew that would never happen. He controlled the money, and she didn’t have any skills or work experience.
I dipped the last tater tot in ketchup and popped it in my mouth just as Olivia woke up. I slid off the stool and made my way back to her room as quickly as my battered ribs and unsettled head would allow.
She had switched on the bedside lamp and a soft glow spread through the room. I cautiously crawled onto the bed next to her. Color had returned to her skin. She looked tired now but not completely exhausted. I linked my fingers with hers and scanned her mind, while studying her face.
“Are you still feeling any pain?”
“No.” She shook her head gently. “I’m tired, but I feel stronger. Hungry.”
“Your grandfather is making food.” I pushed her hair back behind her ear. “Do you want to come out and eat? I can bring it in here if you want. He made tater tots, and I might eat the whole bag.”
Slowly, she sat up and propped herself back on her hand. “I’ll come out. I have to get up to pee anyway.”
I pushed myself off the bed and held out my hand to help her up. She didn’t need help standing, but I did it anyway since I liked doing it. She stopped at the bathroom and I made my way back out to Jeremiah. I didn’t need to tell him she was awake. It was strange being in a house where nobody had to actually speak. At the same time, I felt like I was exactly where I belonged.
Olivia
A week after the accident and Jagger was spending his time after school with my grandfather training. After a few days of fatigue, I was finally back to normal. I had healed the rest of Jagger’s concussion with no adverse effects. Every day we went directly to my house after school, and he stayed until right before he had to be home for dinner. Since he still had the broken ribs—though significantly better—he was out for the rest of baseball season. He said he was more than fine with that, and I couldn’t sense that he was lying. He wanted to spend as much time as he could with my grandfather and learn everything he needed to know.
Preston got worse. His days-long migraine made him more-rotten than ever before. He seemed to sense that Jagger was planning on high-tailing it out of town—or at the very least, Preston’s house—and kept constant tabs on Jagger. Every night at the table, Preston asked when Jagger was going to bring me to dinner and every time, Jagger would make up an excuse on why I couldn’t come over. Neither one of us understood his interest in me, but Jagger was determined to keep me from having to converse with the man.
Jagger tried to link to his family’s minds, but his father was impossible for all of us. He had more success with his mother and sister. His sister, who was a year younger than him, constantly thought of running away. Jagger was already making plans to help her do so when he left. That would leave their mother alone to face their father’s wrath, but we all knew she wouldn’t leave. She loved her husband and knew that if she left, she would have no resources to survive. This often made Jagger sad, but there was nothing he could do.
My grandfather was somehow able to help Jagger liquidate his trust fund. How they pulled that off, I don’t entirely know. Although I’m fairly certain there was mental manipulation involved with the trustee and the bank. After that, Jagger declared my grandfather a Jedi Master, and really, he was hardly wrong. The funds were set up under another name that Jagger had a bank card for and corresponding identification. I didn’t even know my grandfather knew people that could do that. The money could not be traced back to Jagger either. I hoped that was true. If all went well, we would be able to live off that money for a long time. It meant not having to work odd jobs. Not that I didn’t want to be a functioning and contributing member of society, but the day would come when I would no longer have the protection of Jeremiah, and Jagger and I would be on our own. Until we knew how safe we could make ourselves, we would probably have to lay low somewhere.
People at school got used to seeing us together. Brett continued to sit with us at lunch, him and Stacey made moon eyes at each other. Megan remained at a loss as to what to make of it all. Stacey and Brett were going to the prom together. Jagger continued to badger me to go with him, but I wouldn’t budge. Though he argued that prom was a rite of passage, I wasn’t interested. School was exhausting enough. I had no interest in a room full of four hundred vapid minds and loud music.
While Jeremiah and Jagger continued to work together outside, I searched the house for anything I could find on my parents. Of course, I had photos in my room from the time of my birth up until they died, but I didn’t have any kind of paperwork. I had a birth certificate and social security card for myself, but no medical records and nothing of my parents. Did they have assets when they died? Where were they married?
The other thing I found strange was amongst the photographs I had, there weren’t any of my grandfather and myself until after my parents died. No pictures of him with me as a baby either. Did he keep them? Perhaps he was the one taking the pictures of me with my family. My grandfather had a safe in his office. I assumed all the information on my parents was kept in there for security reasons, including our former identities. I had never seen the inside of the safe, so I wasn’t entirely sure what was in there. I didn’t even know the combination in case of an emergency. Whatever was in there was apparently on a need-to-know basis only.
Each night, after Jagger’s family went to bed, he snuck out of the house and came to mine. The first night he climbed through my window. As he was leaving one morning to go back home, my grandfather was waiting for him outside. He looked at Jagger, shook his head, and told him to use the door like a civilized person. Jeremiah obviously recognized our need to be together as much as possible. We slept bett
er together. It was as if we recharged each other overnight.
With Jagger around, I was less nervous about what was to come, especially since he was getting better every day with focusing his mind. He was even able to put thoughts in other people’s heads now. I would like to say that I frowned upon him practicing in school, but the better he got, the safer we would stay. Besides they were harmless thoughts about inane things—someone suddenly getting thirsty and needing a drink; someone else worrying a little less about a test; bolstering an insecure girl’s opinion about how she looked that day; helping a nervous guy get up the courage to ask a girl out—just little boosts people needed to get through their day.
Graduation was staring us down. We still had no concrete college plans. Although unspoken we would both register online once things were settled and we were someplace safe. After four weeks of training and being nearly constantly together, Jagger and I had packed go-bags and kept them in my bedroom. We each had a duffel bag of clothing, essential mementos we wanted to keep with us—and we were extremely selective in what we picked, as it had to fit into our duffel bags. We also had a bag of basic survival needs—flashlights, candles, fire starters, bug repellent, canteens, a first aid kit, assorted camping gear. I had no idea what would happen if we needed to run, and so I tried to prepare for any eventuality.
Though it turned out, when the time came, it was nothing we could have predicted.
Jagger
After a month, the hype surrounding us calmed down. My friends mostly kept their opinions to themselves. The girls, well, they didn’t understand “my little infatuation” at all. They just thought that Olivia must put out, which of course, made her a whore. And then they wondered in the next thought if they had offered me sex if they would be on my arm. The female mind was a fascinating, weird, and downright terrifying place. I tried to stay out of it at all costs. Olivia didn’t think like these girls. She wasn’t bothered with their own trivial concerns—with how her hair looked, whether she looked attractive to the boys, whether she looked too attractive to the boys, what kind of clothes were trending.
