Guardian of Secrets (Library Jumpers, #2)

by Brenda Drake

  I plopped down on the futon in Faith’s room. Afton examined the painted walls while I just stared off, thinking about that quick moment Arik had returned to me. It was an even quicker moment before he was gone again.

  Afton faced me. “This is beautiful. She really is talented.”

  “She is.” I finally found my voice.

  “You okay?”

  “Yeah, I think it’s about time to let go of my hopes of Arik returning to me.” I cleared my throat to hide the fact that my voice was getting croaky with emotions.

  “Healing takes time,” she said, sitting beside me, “and forgetting takes even longer.”

  “I’m so happy you’re here.”

  “Good thing, since you’re stuck with me.” She patted my knee. “Come on, where’s that warrior spirit of yours? Suck it up, put on a brave face, and let’s enjoy this night.”

  I heaved a sigh. “All right. How much more painful can it get?”

  She bumped my shoulder with hers. “That’s the spirit.”

  We made our way back to the party, gobbled down some yummy food, drank some pretend champagne, and laughed with Demos until our sides ached. I surprised Afton, and myself, and danced with her, Jaran, and Cole for hours. I didn’t even notice when Arik, Emily, and her uncle left the party.

  I hugged Jaran close as we slow-danced together, my feet aching in the heels.

  “Why don’t you just kick them off already?” he said.

  “Good idea.” I pulled off my shoes, threw them to the side, and wrapped my arms back around him. “Are you happy, Jaran?”

  “Happier than I’ve been in years.” He kissed my head. “Thank you, friend, for giving me the courage to be me and to bring Cole.”

  “Ah, you always had it. You just needed a little shove.”

  He twirled me around the floor, and I got lost in his happiness. I was ready. Ready to live my life.

  Arik-free.

  Chapter Eighteen

  Bottles clinking and sounds of someone riffling through drawers woke me. I lifted my tired eyelids. Deidre was hunched over her dresser, searching for something. Afton sat up on her elbows.

  “What’s going on?” I asked in a hoarse sleepy voice.

  “It’s the last day to shop before Christmas,” Deidre said. “I still have too many presents to buy.”

  I hadn’t even started shopping, which now made me panic, but my body was too tired to react. We had stayed up late dancing.

  “Who are you going with?” I rubbed my eyes. “If you wait, we’ll go with you.”

  “I have a date.” She paused and spun around. “Shit. I wasn’t supposed to say anything.”

  I pushed up into a sitting position and glanced at my phone. “Nick never gets up this early.”

  “It’s not with Nick.”

  “Okay. Hold on. I’m confused.” I slipped my toes into my slippers. “If you aren’t going with Nick, and you have a date, who is it? And what happened to Nick?”

  “I ended it. He blew up again after the party. I can’t take his mood swings.” She tugged a purple-and-gray scarf out of the drawer.

  “Why didn’t you guys say anything?”

  She wrapped the scarf around her neck. “We didn’t want to ruin the holidays.”

  “Who broke up with who?”

  “It wasn’t working. His moods. Our differences. He’s fine with it.” She looked over at Afton. “I think there was always someone else for him.”

  Afton glanced down, breaking eye contact with Deidre.

  “Anyway, there are no hard feelings between Nick and me. We’re better as friends.” She lifted her purse from the desk chair. “Okay, well, maybe we’ll see you at the mall?”

  When she was gone, I gave Afton a curious look.

  “Guess I should shower,” she said, her lips twitching as she tried not to smile. “We do have a lot of shopping to do.”

  While she was showering, I texted Nick and told him to meet us at the mall. A little matchmaking between friends was in order.

  The two of them had horrible timing. Nick was smitten with her the first day she walked into ninth grade English. She thought he was a sarcastic show-off. Then the three of us settled into an easy friendship. Secretly, or rather not so secretly to everyone around him, Nick had a huge crush on her. He gave up when he met Deidre. That’s when Afton realized her feelings for him were more than friendly. Between all their verbal sparring, Afton had fallen hard for Nick. With Deidre out of the picture, this was their chance to be together.

  Christmas music played over the loud speakers. The mall was crowded with last minute shoppers. I snuck glances around the store while Afton tried on lipstick at the makeup counter. As the minutes turned into an hour, I worried Nick hadn’t gotten my text to meet us and wasn’t coming.

  “Who are you looking for?” She dabbed a glob of red onto her lip with a Q-tip.

  I flinched, knocking over some lotion bottles gathered on the counter. Fumbling to stand them back up, I avoided her stare. “Huh?”

  “Are you looking for Arik? I wish you’d forget about him already.”

  “I have. I was—”

  “Hey, fancy meeting you two here,” Nick said, and leaned against the counter.

  Fancy? That wasn’t at all moronic.

  Afton dropped the Q-tip. “Shit, Nick. Why are you always startling us like that?”

  Nick grinned at her reaction. “I like that color on you.”

  I decided I should leave them alone. Nothing crushes a budding romance more than a third wheel. “I have to get my shopping done. Nick, can you help Afton pick a color? I’m terrible at it anyway.”

  “Why certainly.” He leaned closer to her. “I forgot to mention last night, but I really like that haircut on you.”

  “Really? I was so afraid it wouldn’t work with my face.” She fluffed the back with her fingers.

  I made my exit, going from one shop to another, picking up items for everyone on my Christmas list. A figurine fairy for Faith, a few sweaters for Pop, a tweed messenger cap for Deidre, a bracelet for Afton, and some rose-scented lotion for Miss Bagley. I exited the shop and merged into the crowd. Nick and Afton sat on a bench between two planters. I weaved between shoppers to get to them.

  Afton watched my approach. “Did you get your shopping done?”

  “No, I have a few more presents to buy. Did you get your list done?

  She smiled at Nick. “No. We got lost in conversation.”

  Nick pushed himself up from the bench. “Well, I have to get to work. My mom gave me another chance. I can’t be late or she’ll lose it. And it should be a busy night. I’ll see you guys tomorrow.”

  Afton watched Nick’s departure with a smile on her face. He had a little hop in his step. It was nice to see him happy for a change.

  I tucked my arm around hers and dragged her toward the sporting goods store. “I want details.”

  “Why are we going there?” She wrinkled her nose at the sign.

  “I have to get a little something for the Sentinels. I’m thinking either spandex shorts or water bottles.”

  ...

  The left side of my bed felt like it was tilting and I would fall off. I scooted back, trying to find a level spot.

  “Are you going to wake up?” Faith sounded less than patient sitting on the edge of my bed. “It’s Christmas morning, and I’m still awake.”

  I groaned and rolled over to face the wall. “Just another hour.”

  She stood and pulled on my arm. “Come on, get up. Everyone’s downstairs. It’s so fun. We’re all in pajamas. Nana made cinnamon rolls.”

  “Why didn’t you mention those before?” I slipped out of bed.

  Faith was dressed in all green, with pointy-toed shoes, and white fluff on her cuffs and collar.

  “What are you wearing?”

  “I’m Santa’s elf.” She even wore a pointy green hat. “What’s this?” She picked up my slip of paper with Ruth Ann Proctor’s name scribbled on it.


  “Oh, that’s mine, it’s something for Nana. I must’ve dropped it.” I shrugged into my robe and wiggled my toes into my slippers. Did the name even matter now? So what if Emily was a witch? She hadn’t spelled Arik into falling for her. He fell on his own. I should do what Carrig was always telling us to do in practice: put on my big girl panties and just deal with it already.

  She handed me the paper. “Guess what I made?”

  I shoved it into my robe’s pocket. “I’m not sure I want to know. It’s nothing I have to wear is it?”

  “No, but that would’ve been a great idea. I’ll have to remember it for next year.” I wasn’t sure if she was teasing or not, and it made me uneasy. “I made reindeer pancakes,” she said.

  “Sounds awesome. You sure do like this whole Christmas thing,” I said, pounding down the stairs after her.

  “It’s the best holiday. I wish it were Christmas every day.”

  Nana, Afton, Pop, and Miss Bagley sat on the sofas and chairs surrounding the Christmas tree. Deidre was absent. She’d gotten up early to spend Christmas morning with Carrig and Sinead. I had sent my presents for the occupants of the McCabe Boarding School with her because I didn’t want to see Arik. I was getting used to the idea that we were over, and I didn’t want to open any healing wounds.

  I dropped onto the vacant chair, and Faith sat in front of the tree. Flames crackled in the fireplace—a perfect Norman Rockwell scene.

  “Now that we’re all here, we can open presents.” Faith picked up the nearest present and read the tag before passing it to Afton.

  One by one, the presents were opened. My loot was piling up. I’d gotten a Doctor Who T-shirt from Faith, a black sweater from Afton, a stack of books from Nana, and a laptop from Pop. My other laptop met an untimely demise when Conemar’s men destroyed our apartment in Boston.

  “This is the last one.” Faith stretched an impressively wrapped box, the size of a boots shoebox, out to me.

  The package was heavy. I flipped the tag over. Kayla. “It’s from Miss Bagley.”

  “Please call me Kayla.” Her smile was bright, reaching all the way to her eyes. Pop’s arm rested on the back of the sofa behind her. As they’d settled into their relationship, there was this easy comfort vibe coming from them. “I think we’re close enough to go by first names, don’t you?”

  “Okay.” I removed the bow and tore the wrapping away from the box. Inside was an early edition of The Secret Garden. My favorite edition. “How…how did you know?”

  “I saw you in the library with it several times.”

  “You saw me?” Whenever Nick and I had a break from looking for the Chiavi in the reference books at the library, I’d find The Secret Garden.

  It reminded me of when I first ran into Arik at the Boston Athenaeum Library. I’d been carrying that book and literally ran into him, dropping it. He had picked it up for me and quoted a verse from it. Each time I read that line, it gave me hope that Arik would come back to me. Just when I thought I was over him, something would remind me of what we had together. But not this time.

  This time I actually felt done. There wasn’t that hollow feeling I’d get when something would trigger a memory of us.

  Kayla rested her hand on Pop’s knee. “I hope you like it.”

  “Oh my gosh, yes. It’s perfect. Thank you.”

  “I’m glad,” she said.

  Miss Bagley had been tough on Nick and me lately, but her thoughtfulness about my present made up for it. Being undercover, she most likely had to put walls around her feelings, but when she was with Pop, she showed a softer side.

  “Shall we eat?” Faith jumped to her feet.

  With the presents gone from under the tree, Baron and Cleo snuggled on the tree skirt together. The house was drafty. I shoved my hands in the pockets of my robe to warm them. My fingers touched the paper inside one.

  Stopping Nana before she went into the dining room, I slipped the folded paper into her hand. “I forgot to give you the name on the gravestone. I don’t think it matters now since there wasn’t any mark or tattoo on Arik. But I’m still curious to know if Emily’s related to the woman on that stone.”

  “I’m curious, as well.” She stuffed the slip into her bra.

  “Um…” I wasn’t sure how to react to the whole bra-stuffing thing.

  When it was obvious I wasn’t going to say anything, she added, “I don’t have my logins here, so I’ll have to go online when I get home.”

  “Great, thank you,” I said, trying not to look at her chest. “Have I ever told you you’re the best grandmother ever?”

  She patted my cheek. “You don’t need to tell me, dear, actions speak louder than words. The honor is mine entirely.”

  I shuffled over to the tall bay window, my slippers scraping against the floorboards, and stared through the strings of Christmas lights Faith had nailed to the window frame. Emily’s house was just down the way from ours. The old house stood large and stately. The windows were dark, and the only decoration was an enormous wreath with a red satin bow on the wide front door.

  Was it just Emily and her uncle in the house this morning? A part of me felt sorry for her losing her parents and not having them for the holidays. The longing to have a Christmas with my mother still ached. I’d been so young when she died, and I couldn’t recall a memory of her sitting around a tree and opening gifts with me.

  A silver sedan eased over the slick driveway to our house. As it neared, I almost didn’t recognize the driver’s thin, sullen face. Mrs. Wilson?

  “Afton, your mother made it,” I called, my eyes stuck on the frail Latina woman as she held tight to a shopping bag and carefully stepped across the snow. Afton was a beautiful mixture of her mother and her father.

  Afton bolted out the front door, not giving her mother the chance to climb the porch before hugging her. Afton towered over her petite mother. She got her height from her father. Just past them, I spotted Arik trekking up the drive, a poorly wrapped gift in his hands.

  I stepped out on the porch.

  “Happy Christmas,” he said, climbing a few steps then stopping.

  Afton and her mother returned the greeting and went inside the house, leaving us alone.

  I leaned against the post, shivering in my robe and pajamas. “Merry Christmas.”

  “Thank you for the water bottle,” Arik said.

  “You’re welcome. It’s BPA-free.”

  “Is that a good thing?”

  “Yeah, it is.” Even this early in the morning, he was dazzling. “You on your way to Emily’s?”

  “I am.” He glanced over his shoulder at her house. “I wanted to stop and give you this beforehand.” He held up the package wrapped in gold.

  “It’s a book?”Holy shit. Don’t tell me he got me a copy of The Secret Garden, too. Wait. If he did, that has to mean something, right? That he still cares. I wanted to rip the package from his hands, but I took a deep breath and composed myself.

  His eyebrows pinched together, eyeing the present. “How did you know?”

  “The shape.”

  “Oh, right.”

  Our fingers touched as I took the present from him. I wasn’t sure my shiver was because of him or the fact I was freezing. It was almost zero degrees outside, after all.

  “Open it.” He had a giddy smile on his face. Obviously, he was proud of whatever book he’d gotten me.

  I unwrapped it to find a monogrammed leather-bound journal. The initials GMB were embossed in gold on the front. The cover seemed fragile from age as I flipped it over and carefully thumbed through pages of handwritten text.

  I gave him a questioning look. “A journal?” My body went numb. I was stupid to think he would give me a copy of the book that had brought us together.

  “It’s Gian’s journal. I discovered it at an estate sale in Asile. That time when we escorted Pia and Reya before…”

  Before you broke up with me.

  He cleared his throat. “Before they attacked the W
izard Council.”

  “Oh.” He meant that, not us. “They’re selling his stuff?”

  “No. This wasn’t his estate sale. It was someone else’s. Many items of Gian’s were sold after he had died. Your great-grandfather’s things are worth a considerable amount of money. This journal was mixed in with other books. The man overseeing the sale didn’t realize what he had.”

  My eyes blurred. He bought it while we were still together. When he was with Carrig in Asile, he was thinking of me. It was bittersweet, and the thought tasted rancid in my mouth. That was the thing about regret; it never fully went away. But it became easier to endure with each passing day.

  Concern crossed his face. “You don’t like it.”

  “I love it. Thank you.”

  “I should be on my way.” He turned to go.

  “Hey, Arik,” I said, stopping him half way down the steps.

  He glanced up at me. “Yes?”

  “I’m glad we can be friends.” And I truly was happy about that.

  He smiled, his dimples pressing into his cheeks. “As am I.”

  The door opened and shut behind me, but I didn’t turn to see who it was. My eyes followed Arik’s descent. He slipped a little on an icy spot on Emily’s driveway, recovering effortlessly and looking incredibly athletic doing it.

  “You okay?” Afton said from behind me.

  “I believe so.”

  She stepped up to my side. “I’m glad to hear that.”

  I pulled my attention away from Arik and turned for the door. “Come on. We have our traditional movie to watch.”

  And I needed to drown my sorrows in an oversize mug of hot chocolate with multi-colored marshmallows.

  Chapter Nineteen

  My feet fell asleep underneath me. I had been curled up on the window seat in the living room for hours, reading Gian’s journal. There were only three days left of winter vacation, and I just wanted to hibernate. After spending New Year’s Day with Nick and me, Afton and her mother returned to Boston. I would’ve given anything to go back with them. At least I had Nana for one more day.