Midnight Runes (The Bestowed Ones) (23 page)

“That’s because I was trying to protect you!”

“
You
weren’t
there
when I need protecting!”

“Protecting you by keeping you out of it! Protecting myself from being in a situation where I’d have to choose sides!”

“What are you talking about?”

He took a calming breath and looked at me with sorrowful eyes. “You have no idea what we’re involved in. I wanted to keep it that way. I tried to cut you out of my life so they wouldn’t be able to use you against me or make you choose a new direction for your life.”

“I’m sorry I’m such a liability,” I snapped. I knew it was unfair, but I didn’t care.

“Don’t think it was easy for me to walk away from you. I hated making that decision, and I hated myself for what I chose. The only reason I did it was to guarantee your safety. And where did it get me?” He bitterly laughed. “It was all for nothing. The only thing I can do now is try to protect you from what little I can. I’m willing to pay those consequences though, because I truly love you.”

“I’ll be okay between the both of you,” I reassured him.

“Don’t you see how he’s manipulated you? He weaseled into your life, and you just let him in.”

“What are you saying? That I’m too stupid to know when I’m being used? That I can’t tell the difference from someone who’s being genuine and someone who’s not? That’s really offensive, Trevor.”

“You’re missing the big picture here. He doesn’t do anything because he likes you. He does it because it’s an order.” He snapped his mouth shut like he said too much.

And it was. It was just too much.

I looked into his eyes. He believed what he said.

I felt like I had been punched in the stomach. That couldn’t that be true, could it?

An order implicated direction from someone else. That it wasn’t just chance he showed up here. It meant a greater purpose.

Maybe Trevor’s admission wouldn’t have impacted me so much if I didn’t have feelings for both of them.

“An order from whom, Mr. Know-It-All?”

He just shook his head. I hated that he looked at me like I was a child who didn’t want to listen to reason. Remorse was the icing on the cake.

“You and Landon act like you’re better than everyone. He’s the only one who’s ever showed me anything, and he’s still holding out. All you’ve done is shut me out and given me warnings. I hate all of you high-handed boys!”

“I thought you were safer when you didn’t know, but I was wrong. I wanted to protect you from people like Landon.”

“I don’t know who you are anymore.”

His shoulders slumped. “Please believe I only want the best for you.”

“Thanks for being brutally honest with me. Please go away.”

I was mad at Trevor. I was mad at Landon. And I had no idea how to resolve anything with either of them. I didn’t know who to trust. I didn’t know if anyone was trustworthy. I put my face in my hands in an effort to find some privacy and buy some time to think.

Was he just making this stuff up to hurt me? It was pretty effective. And how would he know Landon’s motivations for being around me, anyway?

He cleared his throat, and I restrained myself from snapping at him. Instead I asked, “Didn’t you say everything you wanted to say? What other revelations do you want to share?”

I waited a beat then peeked through my hands and gasped. Landon was standing by the table. “Where did you come from?”

“I have to get you out of here. They’re coming for Trevor.” To Trevor he said, “There’s your warning. Don’t say I never did anything for you.”

“You can’t take her anywhere,” Trevor said.

“Watch me. It’s your fault it’s playing out like this. Keith will recognize her if he sees you with her again, and that will make everything worse. They might even take her, too. You shouldn’t be around her without taking the right precautions.”

“I do the best I can with my limited knowledge. Why don’t you share your infinite resources?”

Landon scoffed. “Right. Like that’s going to happen.”

“Will you two shut up a minute?” I had to get them to take the focus off themselves and answer my questions.

“I’ll shut him up,” Trevor said, but then they were both gone in a blink of an eye, and just as fast Landon was back.

Confusion crossed my face.

He shrugged. “You wanted Trevor to leave. I expedited the process.”

“You can’t just take him away!”

“Sure I can. I am high-handed, after all.” He flashed a fake smile.

“Where is Trevor?” I asked.

“About three hours away.”

“How long are you going to leave him there?”

“TBD. Listen, you can’t be around him anymore. Maybe once he perfects his skills, but he puts you at too much risk.”

“You both put me at risk.”

“He’s an amateur. And it’s only recently someone’s been good enough to attempt to monitor me.”

“What’s the real reason you’re here? And not here as in sitting across from me, or here as in existing on the planet. Here as in going to my school, working your way into my circle of friends. We both know you had a motive your first day of school, so it’s not a big surprise I’m asking you.”

“Trevor’s going to have a lot to answer for. He’ll be in major trouble for this, by the way.”

“I want to hear you say it.”

He ran his hand through his hair. “I can’t start this now.”

I’d never been so furious at myself or someone else in my life. I wanted to scream until my throat was raw. I wanted to break something. A lot of somethings. I suspected he was up to no good but stupidly thought I could figure it out without getting hurt in the process.

“Then I’ll start so I can be finished. How about your transfer here? That’s a nice place to start. It isn’t random that you’re going to my school, is it?” I accused. I meant to stop there, but my emotions were an unstoppable force. “It must have been so horrible to be forced to be around me. I’m so sorry that you had to save me time and again. I must look like a helpless damsel in distress. Ever vulnerable,” I said with an inferior shrug. Then his other comment registered. “And don’t even think of hurting him,” I threatened.

“The consequences of his actions are mostly out of my control.”

“I’m not kidding.” I couldn’t even fathom life without Trevor.

“I can’t promise anything with regards to him.”

“Oh, sure, but you can for other things?” I asked sarcastically. “What happened to that talk we were supposed to have?” I was tired of waiting. I was tired of being the one in the dark. “We’re done until you tell me.”

“I can’t be as reckless as Trevor. Which brings us back to we have to go.”

“Trevor isn’t here anymore, so I don’t think we have the same urgency. Talk.”

It was his turn to glare at me, and in that moment we measured each other. He knew I wasn’t going to reconsider. “It’s not random I’m at your school. It’s not a coincidence we have classes together.” His voice was so controlled. Tight. Strained. “You were…an assignment of sorts. I had an obligation to watch over you—and protect you, if necessary, for as long as it required. It was supposed to be an easy job to prevent others from finding you. I started doing it because I had to, then it was no longer obligation keeping me around. If you want me to apologize for saving you, that’s something I won’t do.”

I waited until it was clear he wasn’t going to add any other confessions. “And just how long did you plan to keep your motive from me?”

“As long as I was restricted to.”

“You were going to fess up? Please.”

“I was,” he said. He actually had the nerve to look insulted. “There’s not good timing for that sort of thing, and everything’s still a mess.”

“How did you think that revelation was going to go?”

“Different than this.”

He was distracting me from asking about the real reason behind all of this.

“Why were you assigned to me and who did the assigning?” Then another thought came. “How long have you been around?”

“Pick. One.”

I wanted answers to every question. But in this moment, one was more important than the other, and it had the potential to expose more information. “Why?”

“Your family has a history of belonging to the Bestowed Ones. It’s a group that…possesses…certain skills. These abilities were bestowed to our ancestors and are passed down to each generation. As with any society, they make their own rules, and there are trade-offs to belonging. Where you’re concerned, it ended with your great-great-grandfather on your father’s side. Same with Trevor.” He met my eyes. “Recently, however, we discovered that new generations of the old lines are being pulled into the group. These newcomers did not seek us out on their own. Someone is approaching them and pulling them in.”

“
That’s
what happened to Trevor? He was pulled in against his will? To you?” I felt a powerful chill go through me. “To me too?”

“It’s what happened to Trevor. I’m a different classification. My family’s been in it since the beginning. The group has changed over the years, and the way it’s run now is that we pretty much work for whoever’s in charge of the local group. He or she calls the shots. I was sent here to investigate and monitor the extent of the breach…and prevent it from happening again.”

“How can you tell me this now when earlier you insinuated you were limited to what you could say?”

“It’s been a busy few hours. Plus…look around.” Everyone around us was frozen in place. My eyes landed on the couple across from us in mid-laugh, a waitress delivering a tray, and a man at the counter reaching for his wallet. They were captured in the essence of the moment.

“Trevor paused time when your disagreement escalated. He provided an opportunity, so I took it. Speaking of which, I’ll bring him back but we have to leave.” I crossed my arms. “Unless you’d rather stay and make a mockery of my efforts thus far.”

I looked toward the ceiling. “You can disappear me too.”

“Some other time. Your car’s out front and we can’t leave it here. How would you get to school tomorrow?” he teased.

He blinked out of existence and came back with Trevor. Not having a car wasn’t an issue. He could get me anywhere in three seconds.

“Just wait until I have something over you,” Trevor said under his breath. He was livid.

“Keep dreaming,” Landon said to him, and the look he gave me said it was time to go.

I scooted to the edge of the booth and looked back to Trevor. “How do you do this?” I asked and glanced around.

“We’re freaks of nature, what can I say?” he answered bitterly. His features softened a bit and he shrugged. “I just think it and it happens. Used to be I could only freeze one object, but it’s grown. Whenever someone asks, ‘Where has the time gone?’ the answer is: I took it. And now I return it.” Life around us began again.

L
andon and I went to my car. I put the key in the ignition but didn’t start it. I needed a minute. I was…it was hard to find a word to describe all that I felt. Thoughts about Trevor, Landon, myself, our secret family histories, and our ancestors’ choices swirled together. Each new thought joined the rest, until I was just a swirling mass of emotions.

“They’re quick,” Landon said. I looked up and followed his gaze. Trevor stepped out of the restaurant, searched the lot, and headed toward a blacked-out SUV. He opened a back door and disappeared inside. The vehicle backed out of its space and melted into traffic.

“Is he in trouble?” I asked softly. I couldn’t do anything about it, but I had to know.

“Minor. He completes orders in his own time. Which is leisurely.”

“That’s what they get for forcing people into this who don’t want to be. Besides, we can’t all get to places just by thinking them.”

He laughed under his breath. “It’s not so much forced upon us. It’s an offer that’s hard to refuse. Money, access to power. If refused, the memory of the offer is erased. There are implied threats to yourself, your family. Usually the money and cool abilities are enough of a decision-maker.”

A lump appeared in my throat. “It’s inevitable for me?” It was a question I didn’t want to think, let alone vocalize. Maybe all this heartbreak and secrecy was pointless in the end.

“That’s not a question I can answer. You’re in a unique situation because you’re aware of it before anything official happens.”

That felt like a yes that reinforced Cassandra’s message. Why would she encourage me to grow into my ability if there wasn’t a purpose behind it? I wouldn’t cry about this. Maybe it was grim acceptance holding me together.

“Would they really have taken me with them?”

“Without a doubt. And they’d be extra upset with Trevor for lying about knowing you.”

He slipped his hand into mine. I let his comfort wash over me. I spent the next few minutes in quiet reflection. I didn’t know what this meant for me, or the effect it would have on my life or for the future I thought I’d get to choose.

“I’d like you to take me somewhere like you did Trevor. Only not leave me there.”

We stared at each other in a charged silence. His eyes were bright with emotion. I wondered how long he’d been around to hear Trevor and me before materializing. There was a chance he heard my confession. I couldn’t ask.

“I did when you were drowning in the river.”

I blinked, realizing this was the first time he’d volunteered an important piece of information. It was straightforward, too. I didn’t have to read between the lines.

“
That’s
how you got me out?”

He nodded. “That’s how I found you, got us out of the water, and to a place they could find us.”

Emotion swelled within me. The car’s confining space multiplied everything I felt for him. It was nearly too much. I couldn’t believe the change in direction of the day. I had just planned to catch up with Trevor over coffee. Now I knew some of what I’d been searching for—and more than what I’d bargained for. I let go of his hand and started the car. I drove us to my house without thinking too much about it. His quietness was the opposite of comfort.

“Why are we being weird about this? It shouldn’t be weird,” I said.

“I’m picking up the weirdness from you.”