"Well?"
"Yes. I did."
Well, that wasn"t what I was expecting. I pushed my chair out from under myself and stood up slowly, my arms trembling. Rage boiled inside my heart, and I clenched my hands into tight fists at my side, nails digging into my skin. Hunter rose from his chair and took a step towards me. I could feel my blood pounding in my ears.
"But I didn"t send it. I withdrew it. Ruby, I wouldn"t do anything to hurt you, I couldn"t." He stroked my arm and I recoiled away from him.
"You must have, he was sent away! I lost my guardian angel, someone who has saved my life numerous times, all because of your jealousy. He was right - I shouldn"t have trusted you." I pushed past Hunter and stormed out the front door. I didn"t go to the car; there was no way I was going to breathe the same air as that snake.
I thundered off down the footpath. My heels made fast clicks as they echoed through the quite town center.
"Ruby, wait! Please, I didn"t do it."
I kept walking ignoring his plea, his lie.
"Take the car," I heard Eli order Hunter.
"I"m not leaving her."
"There"s a SS garage two blocks east, get a guardian to take you back to Sage."
I didn"t turn around to see if he did what he was told.
"Ruby, stop," Eli called after me.
I slowed, giving him time to catch up. I leaned against the inner wall of an alleyway.
"What happened?" he asked, coming to a stop in front of me.
"I get the feeling you already know."
"You found out ..."
"Why didn"t you tell me?"
"I planned to tell you about Hunter. I was so mad at him, but when I saw you again ... I just couldn"t bring myself to break your heart."
I scoffed. Hunter couldn"t break my heart. He never had a piece of my heart to begin with.
"It doesn"t matter, it"s over now. I"m back."
It was over and Eli was back, but I didn"t feel as forgiving about this as he was. As far as I was concerned, Hunter was dead to me.
The small alleyway forced Eli and I to be close to each other. The atmosphere between us changed, charging with a voltaic, exciting antic.i.p.ation. His scent alone was enough to jumble my train of thought. I dropped my eyes to my hands and fiddled with my fingers. I hate feeling nervous.
"When you were gone ... Did you miss me?" I uttered, taking the conversation in a completely different direction. I didn"t mean to say it, it just came out. Still, it was a question that had been eating at me since Eli"s return. His long index finger slid smoothly across my chin, tilting my face to look up at him.
"Immensely."
My breathing altered as my heart raced. His words unleashed b.u.t.terflies in my stomach. He tucked a long, dark lock of hair behind my ear. In movies, the hair tucking is so cliche and you cringe, because it looks cheesy, but when it happens in real life, it"s perfect. We stared into each other"s eyes l.u.s.tfully as he put his hand on my waist, pulling me closer.
Is this really happening?
His smell was intoxicating. His crisp ocean breeze cologne mixed with clean sweat filled my nostrils and I inhaled, appreciating it.
"I missed you," I whispered.
The corners of his mouth twitched as he bit his bottom lip in an attempt to hide his smile. My knees grew weak and he noticed. A small laugh escaped him and he slowly bent toward me, his lips grazing mine softly, like he was testing my boundaries. With him, I didn"t have any.
"Are you sure?" I asked him.
Eli had a habit of immediately regretting our kiss when it was over, so I gave him an opportunity to get out of this one before it happened.
His hand met the side of my cheek, urging my lips harder against his. An electrical feeling rolled over my skin as his hands traced the contour of my body. I pulled away ever so slightly to breathe, trying not to show just how vulnerable I was.
My gaze moved from his eyes to his lips and once more his mouth was against mine. Instinctually, I wrapped my hands around his neck and entwined my fingers in his short hair. Each intake of breath was another reminder of what was really happening, his cologne, the way his hands entangled in my hair, the press of his lips against mine in an urgent pace.
I knew this was wrong, but I couldn"t bring myself to stop. My thoughts didn"t last as I was consumed in our forbidden pa.s.sion.
The kiss slowed and then came to a stop, much to my disappointment.
"We should go," he said, our foreheads resting against each other"s.
I nodded.
As we stepped out from the alleyway, I dared to peek at him. His face had a.s.sumed its usual serious expression but his eyes were different. His eyes reflected the joy he felt deep down, something I"d never seen before. My face reflected my own joy, the grin that was spread across it was impossible to hide.
"The long road between the school and the town is unprotected by charms; it"s too dangerous to walk at night. We"re going to have to walk the two blocks to the SS garage and get a car."
"Oh G.o.d, in these heels?"
Eli laughed and I swooned at the sound. "At least they aren"t as tall as your other ones, but if they"re that uncomfortable, I can carry you."
I pictured Eli"s strong arms wrapped around me, my face close to his. I would take him up on his offer, but only to feel him touch me again, not because I couldn"t physically walk.
"Nah, I"ll tough it out."
We began walking east. There weren"t many other people on the streets. There was the occasional old lady walking her dog and a drunken guy who wolf whistled at me, after that, nothing.
"Ruby, I -"
"Is this the part where you tell me the kiss was a mistake and that it won"t happen again?" I interrupted.
"What? No. What we did was wrong, yes, but I refuse to regret something that has made me the happiest I"ve been in a long time, even if it is against our laws. The thing is, we can never be together ..."
"I"m sure we can figure something out."
"There are no loop holes for us; being your guardian angel is the closest I"ll be able to get. That"s the next best thing."
"You become my guardian angel and then what? That makes matters more complicated. Let"s just be together. Who cares if you get banished? I"ll come with you. We can be together amongst the humans."
Eli"s face grew dark, his eyes became speculative and his mouth straightened into an impa.s.sive line.
"No, you"d still have your magic and I"d have nothing. I wouldn"t be able to protect you." He took my hand in his and I ignored the current pulsing up my arm.
"And what about my father?" he continued. "Or my grandfather, or my great-grandfather? They were all great angels. I couldn"t bring shame to my family by breaking faith and running away with the one thing I have sworn to protect."
I sighed. Living in this world was complicated. The higher power was very particular in his rules and was known for doing everything he could to enforce them. A G.o.ddess can only marry a G.o.d or no one at all. If a guardian angel and a G.o.d/G.o.ddess have intimate relations and/or fall in love, he banishes the angel to live amongst the humans, binding their strength and speed with magic, rendering them weak. Most guardian angels seek out vampires and become immortal to get a sense of power again. Eli dropped my hand as we walked side by side up Calamdale Street. I a.s.sumed this was the street the garage was on.
We reached the garage before I had a chance to think up another idea that involved us running away together without the consequences. d.a.m.n, two blocks wasn"t very far at all.
My happiness was sucked out and replaced with the anger I"d felt earlier as I saw Hunter leaning against the gate, smoking.
"I"ll go inside and get the car. Talk to him."
"I have nothing to say," I grunted.
Eli entered the gate, leaving Hunter and me alone. The bright white skate shoe that Hunter was wearing stomped out the cigarette as he threw it on the ground. Slowly he stepped towards me, scuffing his shoes against the rocks.
"You left this," he said, handing my clutch to me.
"Thanks."
I really was thankful he brought it back; Mila would have killed me if I lost it. As I was getting dressed for dinner, Mila went on and on about how hard it was for her to find it, blah, blah, blah.
I felt sick just talking to him. I s.n.a.t.c.hed my bag from his hands and started to walk past him.
"Ruby, I know how you"re feeling -"
"You know how I"m feeling? Ha!" I interrupted, turning to face him; the car Eli had got to take us back to the school pulled up behind me. "For months, I felt depressed and alone. The one person who didn"t judge me when I was a vampire, who saved my life countless times, who knew everything about me -" I paused to take a breath.
I didn"t want to cry. I dropped my eyes down to the gravel beneath my feet and scuffed my heels against the small rocks. "My guardian angel was gone, and you may or may not be the reason why. It destroyed me, and I couldn"t say anything to anyone in fear of malicious rumours, or worse, Eli"s death. You know nothing of how I"m feeling; you"re selfish, you"re a liar, and you"re cruel. I want nothing to do with you." My voice was shaky and tears threatened my eyes.
"Just hear me out, please?" he begged.
"You have ten seconds and then I"m getting in the car."
"Raina was in my ear about you and Eli and I got jealous. I shouldn"t have. I"m sorry. I was blinded by my selfishness, but I didn"t send that report. You have to believe me."
Hunter"s expression was desperate and pained. I wanted to believe him. Hunter was the only light I had when I was surrounded by the darkness of Eli"s disappearance, even if it had only been for a few weeks. My heart wanted to believe him but my brain wanted to castigate him, the evidence was too d.a.m.ning. Tears spilt over the brim of my eyes and rolled gently down my face.
"I"m sorry, I don"t." I climbed into the back seat of the car. Eli shot me a sympathetic glance through the rear-view as I wiped tears from my eyes. Hunter got into the front seat and didn"t spare a glance in my direction, thankfully.
After getting clearance from the guardian angel at the gate, the car rolled into the car park. Before it came to a complete stop, Hunter was already out of the car and heading towards the student campus. The tears I"d shed at the garage were now dried up, leaving only trails of slightly smeared mascara.
"Was it really that bad for you?" His eyes watched me through the rear view mirror.
"Hmm?"
"When I left... was it really that bad?"
I opened the car door and paused, thinking about my life three months ago, a month ago, last week. Not having Eli around was horrible. I had no one to vent to, no one to make me smile a genuine smile, or give me b.u.t.terflies.
"Bad? No ... it was horrible. Not knowing if you were alive or dead was the worst part."
Eli climbed out of the driver"s seat and came around to my door, his face filled with sorrow and regret.
"I"m sorry; I didn"t mean to put you through that."
"It wasn"t your fault. As far as I know, it was Hunter"s or Raina"s fault, and they"ll pay for it."
"Ruby, I"m back, I"m here with you." The back of his hand softly stroked my cheek. "Getting back at them will accomplish nothing. There"s no need for revenge."
"Would you do it for me? If someone hurt me, would you want revenge?"
"No, because I wouldn"t give them a chance to hurt you."
"But if they did?"
"If they did?" He paused in thought. "I wouldn"t stop until I had hurt them ten times the amount they had hurt you."
Eli extended his hand to me and I took it, sliding out of the car. He didn"t step back and it forced our bodies to press together. I gasped involuntarily; it felt like I had touched an exposed wire as tingles shot through my body. I glanced up at his face, his gaze was intense. All the forbidden, unfamiliar feelings I had earlier in the alleyway were trying to resurface. I swallowed hard in hopes the feelings would go down with the saliva.
Nope.
"This is dangerous," I whispered.
"I know." He still didn"t move. We stood, adoring each other in extremely close proximity.
"I want to kiss you again," he growled seductively.
"Then ... do it."
Eli didn"t bother glancing around to see if anyone was coming or watching; instead he took my hands, caressing them with his thumb. I tilted my mouth towards his and he leaned forward, pressing his lips against mine. This time, the kiss was different, it wasn"t animalistic or hungry. It was tender and blissfully slow.
I pulled away from his lips and tried to gather my thoughts. As his hard body rested against mine, it made thinking impossible. If I could be anywhere in the world, it would be in Eli"s arms. I don"t care if we were someplace expensive and exotic or right here in the school. Being with him was all I needed.
"I- I should go."
"I"ll walk you."
Once again we walked side by side, his face stern and mine ... I don"t know. I should be happy and I was, but I couldn"t shake this feeling of guilt deep down.
Mrs Gaines, the newest recruit to the lobby monitors, sat dipping chocolate biscuits into her tea.
"Guardian De Luca here to take Miss Moore back to her room," Eli said as he approached her desk.
"Sign here and here." Eli signed the sheet. "Good. You have five minutes to be in and out."