by Sara Mack
“Guys.” Garrett steps between them. “Enough. I’m handy, but not that handy.”
What? I give Garrett a questioning look.
“Living with these two is like living with Jekyll and Hyde. I’ve already patched two holes in the wall from flying fists. I still have one to go.”
“Are you kidding?” I look around the room. I see no broken drywall here.
“Living room.” Garrett glances over his shoulder.
My expression twists. Fighting? Seriously? “How old are you?” I snap.
All three of them look at me.
“You’re throwing punches?” I ask incredulously. “Why? What’s worth that?”
Silence.
I meet each of their stares. James looks justified. Dane’s hard expression softens. Garrett looks apologetic. I want to yell at them for their ludicrous behavior, at James and Dane for acting like children, and at Garrett for putting up with it. “You…how…so stupid!” I’m unable to form a sentence. I stand, frustrated, and head for the door.
“You’re leaving?” James asks.
“What do you think?”
Dane brushes past Garrett and to my side.
“Where are you going?” I ask.
“With you,” he says, confused. “It’s my night.”
“I thought I got to have more space.”
“Yeah, but…” Dane looks at me like I’ve lost it. “I got you out of 24 hour supervision. Not the regular stuff.”
“I want out of the regular stuff.” I put my hands on my hips. Suddenly, I feel like a mother punishing her kids. “You’re going to act immature? So can I.”
“Em, come on.” James steps beside Dane. “It was one fight.”
“Two,” Garrett coughs.
“You’re not helping,” James mutters.
I eye my two exes. “This is because of me, right?”
More silence.
I assess the three men before me. Garrett’s place is getting trashed because of me; James and Dane hate each other because of me. I realize they will never be friends, but can’t they at least act civil? My eyes flash. “I will not be responsible for you hurting one another. If you can’t get along for Garrett’s sake or mine, I’m taking myself out of the picture.”
“What does that mean?” Dane moves toward me.
“It means Garrett will be staying at my place.” I glance at him and he looks surprised. “If that’s okay.”
“Um…sure,” Garrett mumbles.
“Emma…what?” James looks confused.
“He doesn’t need to put up with your crap and neither do I. I’m sure he’d like some peace.”
James gives Dane a sidelong glance. “Em, we’re not going to be friends.”
Dane nods. “What do you expect us to do? Hold hands and sing kum-ba-yah?”
I shoot them a sardonic look. “No. I expect you to act like reasonable adults.”
“So, what are you saying? We’re grounded?”
I think it over. Some distance between us is probably long overdue. “Yeah, basically. From me, for a few days.”
“You’re being impossible.” Dane crosses his arms. “What’s the point?”
“The point,” I stare at them, “is that I want you both in my life. If you want that too, you’ll learn to get along without violence. I understand you don’t like each other; I’m not saying you have to. But figure out a way to tolerate one another. Because if one of you gets hurt or removes the other from my life,” I pause, “I’ll remove myself from yours.”
“That was kind of harsh, don’t you think?”
“Not at all,” I say defensively. “I’d be wrecked if one of them got hurt because of me. They need to know where I stand.”
“Fair enough,” Garrett concedes. “You do know they won’t kill each other, right?”
“Yes,” I sigh. Maybe that last part of my speech was a little over dramatic. “I wouldn’t put it past them to sabotage one another, though. Dane used you against James.”
Garrett raises his brow. “Did you really want one of us with you 24/7? He saved you from James’ idea.”
True. “What did he tell you?” I ask suspiciously.
Garrett tries to hide his smile, but fails. “He told me what happened.”
“Which was?”
“He removed the bracelet.”
Surely he didn’t tell him everything. “It was an accident,” I explain.
Garrett winks at me. “If you say so.”
My face flushes crimson. “He told you?” That’s just great! I press my palm against my forehead.
“Don’t worry.” He rubs my knee. “It wasn’t a play by play.”
Thank God. I peek at him. “I suppose you think I’m a terrible person?”
His forehead creases. “Why would I think that?”
I drop my hand. “Duh.”
“You’re trying to sort out your feelings and rediscover them,” he says. “You have to test the water. How else will you know?”
I give him a surprised look. “Really? If you were trying to reconnect with a girl you loved would you be willing to share?”
He chews his bottom lip. “I’m not sure. Your situation isn’t…normal.”
“You’ve got that right.” My shoulders sag. “I’ve only kissed Dane, honest.”
He chuckles. “You don’t have to defend yourself to me.”
We fall silent and after a few seconds, Garrett offers his hand. I take it. His touch is reassuring in that I know he wants nothing more from me. He’s a friend.
“They both love you,” he says seriously. “I don’t envy the choices any of you have to make. And for that I’m sorry.”
I meet his eyes. “You didn’t do anything. The James and Dane situation is my mess.”
“You’re wrong.” He takes an unsteady breath. “It’s my fault.”
“How so?”
“If I hadn’t listened to Lucas, hadn’t listened to Jack…if I’d backed out of trying to be human like I was this close to doing,” he holds his thumb and forefinger slightly apart, “none of this would have happened. James and I would still be Guardians and this disaster would never have affected you.”
“I doubt that.” I shake my head. “The minute James made the choice I was involved.”
“Yes, but only in an ordinary way.”
I smile, trying to make him feel better. “Nothing about Guardians is ordinary.”
“I just…I want you to know that I’m sorry. For involving you and letting you down. You were my first human friend in over sixty years and I screwed it up.”
My face twists. “Were? Aren’t we still friends?”
“I hope so.” He gives me half a smile. “We weren’t before you lost your memory. You were furious; you kicked me out.”
I did? “You know, maybe losing my Guardian memories isn’t such a bad thing.”
He gives me a questioning look.
“It’s a fresh start,” I realize. “I don’t want to remember fighting with you. Or James. Or Dane.”
He squeezes my hand. “But wouldn’t it be easier if you could recall your past with them?”
“I used to think so.” I grimace. “But after what happened today I’m not so sure.”
“Why?”
“It hurt.” I remove my hand from his and rub my temple. “Really bad. I don’t think I want to go through that again.”
Garrett wears a sympathetic expression. “If you want to learn more I can help.” He taps the bracelet. “If you take this off I can take away the pain.”
“You can? How?”
“Like this.” He stands. He places his hands on either side of my head and a blast of cool air travels from my head through my toes leaving my body humming in its wake. “What was that?” I ask wide-eyed.
“You used to call it reiki,” he says.
“You’ve done this to me before?”
“On occasion.” He smiles.
My body tingles. I blink as my vision appears better; I
can see the tiniest detail from across the room. I lift my hand and flex my fingers. They feel stronger somehow; I can sense every bone and ligament. I pause and take stock of the rest of my body. Every muscle feels energized; I want to leap off the couch. I can hear my blood rush through my veins with every exchange of breath. What is this? I’m so in tune with myself I want to look in the mirror to see if I’m glowing. “Was it always this way?” I ask in awe.
“Why? How do you feel?”
“Amazing.” I stand. “Strong. Like I could crush concrete with my bare hands.”
He scrutinizes me. “It relieved physical pain before. Rid you of nightmares. The method brings peace in whatever form necessary.”
“So, I needed strength right now? And better vision?” I pause and tilt my head. I swear I can hear LB scratching in the next room. “And better hearing?”
“Hold on.” Garrett raises his hand to silence me. His expression turns anxious. “Look at me and concentrate.”
“Why?”
“Just do it.”
I focus on his face. What am I supposed to concentrate on? He has nice eyes. They’re almost completely changed now with just a hint of aqua blue. His brown hair looks recently cut; did I notice before how it curls a little on top? His nose is straight, his lips look kissable…wait! Did I just think that? Why? I immediately redirect my thoughts. He’s average height; he’s wearing a long-sleeved tee and distressed jeans...
“You want to kiss me.”
I hear his voice loud and clear, but his mouth doesn’t move. I try to keep a shocked expression off my face, but fail. No! That’s not true!
“What did you hear?” he asks.
“Nothing.” I look away. How embarrassing is this?
His eyes light up. “You heard my thoughts.”
“M-maybe,” I stutter.
“Emma,” he smiles. “I was shouting. I had to say something you’d react to; I know you don’t want me.”
I let out my trapped breath, exasperated. “Couldn’t you just have said hello?”
He laughs. “I wanted to have some fun.”
“You’re in an awfully good mood,” I notice. “What happened to apologetic Garrett?”
“Don’t you see what this means?” He reaches out and grasps the tops of my arms. What feels like an electrostatic spark zaps between us and I jump. He steps back, still smiling. “With training you can defend yourself.”
“Would you tell me what’s going on?” I’m starting to panic. I still feel strong and could quite possibly crush him if wanted to.
“You’re one of them. I’m sure of it now.”
“One of who?”
“The Larvatus.”
My mouth drops open. “You’re wrong.”
He gets close to me again. “You can read minds. I’m not wrong.”
What the shit is this? I’ve never been able to do that before! “Why now? It’s probably just a freak reaction to your reiki.”
“Maybe so.” He pauses to think. “Or….”
“Or what?”
“It opened your mind to what you really are.”
Chapter 8
This new found strength is driving me mad.
I execute another perfect handstand which is something I could never do before. I hold my body straight as an arrow and then slowly fall into a front walk over. I back up, get my bearings, and do it again. And again.
Garrett looks toward the ceiling for reprieve. “Please stop.”
“I can’t,” I complain and start to pace. It’s been two days since his “reiki” awakened this insanity inside my body. I could barely sit still during classes today; thank God I only have two weeks left. “I need to burn some energy.”
“Go back to the gym,” he suggests.
I consider it. The day after my awakening – that’s what we’re calling it – I almost went stir crazy. After getting precious little sleep due to my hyper-awareness, I went on a cleaning rampage in my apartment. My improved eyesight lent itself to finding every speck of dust and dirt. Garrett was impressed for awhile, but when I couldn’t stop moving he suggested I use the gym privileges included in my tuition. Western has a recreation center full of fitness equipment that I never had the urge to try. We spent hours there; I worked muscles I didn’t know I had. We also discovered I could bench press 300 pounds, roughly three times my body weight, which impressed us both.
That was yesterday. Today, all I’ve managed to do is go to class, fidget in my seat, and experiment with gymnastics in my living room. Going to the rec center is a good idea; if anything it will keep me away from my grounded neighbors. I can’t complain; Garrett says his place is in one piece and I haven’t seen or heard from them in a day and a half. But, last night, when I couldn’t sleep again, I let my mind wander to my recovered memories of James and Dane. I compared them with my new ones and realized I miss their company, overbearing as it is. I had half a mind to spring them this morning, but I still want to prove my point. I settled on releasing them tomorrow for good behavior before I finally dozed off.
“Let’s go.” I nudge Garrett’s legs with my foot. They fly off the table where he had them propped, and he catches himself against the couch.
“Hey! Don’t break me.”
I roll my eyes. “Wuss.”
He rights himself and rubs his calf, then stands. “I don’t know how much I can do today. My muscles ache more than I expected.”
I poke his belly. “That’s because you’re turning into a soft human.”
He smiles. “I know.”
“Let me change and we’ll go. You can spot me.”
He nods.
We spend four hours at the gym. I rotate through all the equipment and even lap the indoor track. I’ve never been able to run with any kind of stamina before and the feeling is exhilarating. Overnight, my body has turned into a finely-tuned machine; a machine that craves activity. As we walk back to my apartment – there’s no way I’m driving with this much energy to burn – I notice the edge is taken off my need to move, but it’s not completely gone. How will I keep this up? Will the urge ever wane?
“I’m starving,” I tell Garrett. “Let’s get some food.”
“The lasagna I made wasn’t enough?” he asks, surprised. “I’ve never seen you eat so much.”
Yeah. I kind of ate a lot before I started with the handstands. My stomach growls. “I must have burned through it. Let’s get ice cream.”
“Ice cream?” He frowns. “It’s December.”
“So?”
“You want something cold?”
My eyes light up. “Yes. With hot fudge.”
We stop at a small market near our apartments. “Do you want vanilla or chocolate or what?” I ask with my head stuck in the freezer. I’m feeling a Neapolitan concoction myself.
“Whatever you’re having is fine,” Garrett says holding the freezer door open for me. Under his arm he holds two cans of whip cream and the biggest jar of hot fudge I could find. We were out of luck when it came to the maraschino cherries, but I did spy some mixed nuts when we came in that I might have to buy.
I grab a carton of each flavor and back out of the freezer. “This should work.”
He eyes get big. “Three gallons? Are we having a party?”
“Did I hear party?” a perky voice asks from behind.
I turn to find Samantha with her head tilted and a fake smile plastered on her face. I offer her a smile in return. She looks as if she’s agitated and trying to hide it. Hmmm. I concentrate on her eyes. Garrett and I discovered I can only hear thoughts when I consciously try. Her voice slams into my brain.
“She said they weren’t dating!”
Time to fix this scenario. “Hey! It’s good to see you again.”
“Sure.” Her eyes dart to Garrett and she turns flirty. “How’ve you been? I haven’t seen you in ages!”
“I can’t complain,” Garrett says.
“I told Garrett you were looking for him.” I glance over my sho
ulder. “Didn’t I tell you she was looking for you?”
His eyes lock on mine for an instant and I concentrate again. His voice sounds in my mind. “Thanks a lot!”
I give him a tiny shrug.
“Er…yes,” he says to Samantha. “Emma mentioned she ran into you the other day.”
She redirects her attention to me. “Speaking of, where’s Dane?” “Does he know about her other boyfriend?” her smug thoughts echo in my head.
Wow. Really? Can’t Garrett and I hang out without assumptions? “He’s back at the apartment. We invited Garrett over for dessert.”
“How nice.” Her eyes light up. “Can I come too?” she thinks.
That sounds like a bad idea. Her annoying behavior may cause me to pummel her face, not to mention I would have to release Dane early from his “grounding.” If I know her the way I think I do she’ll find a way to invite herself. Garrett’s going to hate me for this, but…
“Do you have plans tonight?” I ask.
She beams and then looks at Garrett from beneath her lashes. “No.”
“Perfect!” I fake enthusiasm. “Weren’t you saying you wanted to know Garrett better? Why don’t you two hang out at your place? I’ll split half this ice cream with you.”
Her smile turns shy as she addresses Garrett. “What do you say?”
I can feel his eyes drilling into the back of my head. I risk a glance and he growls at me silently. “You are in so much trouble.”
I know he won’t be rude to Samantha; it’s not in his genes. He hesitates. “Uh–sure.”
“Great!” I say. “Let me go buy this.” I turn to Garrett. “Give me those.” I hold out my tower of cartons so he can balance the whip cream and hot fudge on top.
“No; I’ll help you,” he insists. “We’ll be right back,” he says to our neighbor.
I lead the way to the register.
“What are you doing?” Garrett whispers. “What am I supposed to do with her? And who’s going to watch you?”
“I’ll be fine. Super strength, remember?”
He gives me a condescending look.
“Besides, you’ll be upstairs,” I place my items on the counter, “and you could use some time for yourself. When’s the last time you went on a date?”
