Angel Star (14 page)

Groaning, I swung my legs over the side of the bed. Why couldn’t I have hit my head hard enough to make me absent until graduation? Only the thought of seeing Garreth finally got me moving and out of bed to face the day.

I showered and dressed and applied my own newly acquired makeup. Mom had had a field day when my little experiment proved to be more than a two-day fling.

Back in my room, I stood beside my window, refraining from pulling the curtain aside like I had done out of habit for so long. My ears told me the street below was vacant, that if I peeked out I wouldn’t see the white car waiting below. Eventually, habit won out and I shamefully parted the sheer fabric, and just as I expected, there was no white car.

“Breakfast in five minutes!” my mom shouted from the kitchen below.

So, in the extra time I had before leaving for the bus stop, I pulled up the file I had saved on my computer. A glowing octagram appeared on the screen and I sat completely immobile, studying the double squares. Garreth had already explained that this star was Hadrian’s mark, but deep inside I knew I had seen it somewhere else before. The power of
déjà vu
hit hard and I found myself profoundly irritated. Maybe I saw it in a past math class? Frustrated, I closed the file and completely shut down the system. I grabbed my backpack and slung it over my shoulder.

The itching on my palm had resurfaced with a vengeance and I opened my hand to examine it.

Gross.

An unpleasant raised line appeared on the surface of my skin and I scratched at it with my stubby nails, careful not to split open the ugly welt now forming. Obviously, I had been exposed to some sort of poison oak or sumac during my trek through the woods the other night. I thought quickly of the contents of our medicine cabinet. Surely it contained some sort of cream that would erase yet another reminder of my last night with Claire. As I turned to head into the bathroom, I stopped dead in my tracks.

A familiar hum had come from my window.

Claire.

The ache in my heart spoke her name but I shook my head, knowing there would be no white car waiting at the curb. Yet, the sound of the engine was so familiar. I heard a door open and close.

I turned around and crossed the length of my room to the window. My wishful thinking was never practical and my heart was pounding wildly out of rhythm, but I couldn’t stop myself from checking. My eyes widened, expecting to see white. That was what I most desperately wanted. What I didn’t expect, however, was to see how beautiful gunmetal gray could appear in the bouncing light of a morning sun. I practically ran out of my room to the top of the stairs, the first aid forgotten.

I tiptoed down the steps and stood in the doorway of the kitchen, watching in silent disbelief. It was one thing to see his car parked outside, but it was something else entirely to see my own personal angel sitting in my kitchen, chatting with my mother as she refilled her coffee mug.

“Hi, honey. It seems you don’t need to introduce me to your friend after all. Garreth thought you could use a ride to school since word’s gotten out that you loathe the bus so much.”

My eyes drifted toward the only light in the kitchen worth looking at, as comfortable as anything in the chair that was usually mine. He smiled that particular smile that I knew was only meant for me.

Calm washed over the room and I knew he was responsible for it. I knew he was timing his heart with mine, using it to calm me. For that reason alone I had never felt closer to him. Who else’s heart would beat in time with mine? Who else would breathe when I did? Or, better yet, breathe for me?

“A ride would be nice, thanks. Is that okay, Mom? That Garreth takes me to school?” My voice sounded pleading. I hoped she wouldn’t notice.

“Absolutely. In fact I’m glad you came over, Garreth. I told Teagan I wanted to thank you for the ride you gave her the other night. It means a lot to me that you were there for her. She’s very special to me. She’s all I have.”

“You’re very welcome, and you’re right, she
is
special.”

I was taking a sip of orange juice just as those words slipped from his mouth, and I gulped to keep from choking on it.

“Well, we should be going now. I am so glad you two met.” I grabbed my backpack, a piece of toast, and Garreth’s arm as I dragged him to the door.

“So nice to meet you, Garreth,” Mom called out behind us as I raced ahead of him to the Jeep parked at the curb.

We drove in silence at first but then I couldn’t hold back any longer.

“You could have warned me, you know.”

“Sorry, I thought I would surprise you. But, if you feel that strongly about it, I think I can catch up to your bus. It’s 4E, right?”

I smiled at his joke then I looked at him and lost my train of thought. The sun was shining through the windshield, bringing out the tints in his sandy hair. He was looking straight ahead, concentrating on the road. I let my eyes travel from his perfect profile, down the smooth skin of his neck where the breathtaking incense was strongest, down his arm to the loosely rolled cuff at his wrist, and then out to his strong but delicate hand.

“What are you doing?” he laughed.

“I’m memorizing you.” My voice caught in my throat.

He was with me. Here. Now. Yet, as hard as I tried, I couldn’t shake the plunging feeling that overwhelmed me at the end of each day, bringing closer the day I dreaded.

“You don’t need to memorize me.”

“Of course I do. You’ll be leaving soon.”

“I’m not leaving
you
. You just won’t be able to see me as you do right now.” A look of remorse spread quickly across his face. “Maybe this wasn’t such a good idea, my coming here.”

I jumped on his words. “How can you mean that?”

“I’ve been very selfish coming to you like this. I broke a cardinal rule.”

“Which is?” Exasperation seethed within me.

“Putting my own wants first, before your protection. I’ve endangered you, Teagan. I wanted to know you so much that I placed what should be secret and sacred behind all that. Knowing about Hadrian places you in a danger greater than ever.”

“But wouldn’t he have found me anyway? The bloodline?”

He continued staring straight ahead, even though we had already arrived at school and were parked in the spot Garreth had claimed for himself these last few days.

“Yes, he would have found you, regardless. I just can’t help feeling responsible, like I’ve brought him closer…sooner than what may have transpired. As you grow stronger, Hadrian is becoming more aggressive.”

I could only hope that Hadrian never confronted us. I couldn’t imagine Garreth becoming part of a powerless legion of fellow Guardians, forced to watch helplessly as their charges were manipulated. I was picking at my nails, what was left of them, when he took my hand.

“It would have been safer to guide you in my natural form. I can’t stop protecting you, Teagan. It’s who I am. But my feelings for you have only sped up the inevitable. You are Hadrian’s greatest enemy right now.
You
have the power to destroy him.”

I leaned into his chest. My eyes closed, for a second, and then the bell echoed over the parking lot.

H
alf of the day managed to go by before I couldn’t stand it any longer. I couldn’t take walking the halls, staring down at my shoes or straight ahead, avoiding the invisible question marks tattooed across everyone’s faces. I had just about thrown a fit when the guidance counselor called me out of class for the third time to “monitor” me. Only one good thing had come of it all: Garreth had appointed himself to be my emotional chaperone.

“This is ridiculous.” I hugged my books tighter to my chest, like a shield.

“They’re in shock, Teagan. A part of their little world has just drastically changed and they’re looking for an answer.”

“And they think I have it?”

“They don’t know what to think.”

“Well, I’m no different from them. I don’t know what to think either.”

We walked slowly, in silence, past the orange lockers to the bench under a large glass window at the far end of the hall. I had a free period coming up next and I wasn’t quite sure how I wanted to spend it. I kept myself focused on the window instead of the people we were passing, until I was filled with sudden rage. It came on so quickly that it nearly stopped my breath. Then I realized why.

“Are you okay?”

Garreth’s perfectly sculptured face twisted awkwardly with concern. His serene blue eyes followed my line of vision and then he understood.

He touched my arm gently, as though holding me back. “That might not be such a good idea, Teagan.”

“Oh, it’s a very good idea.”

As if they had a mind of their own, my feet pulled the rest of my body in the direction of an open locker and firmly planted themselves in front of a very irritated Ryan. Apparently, my fear of him from the other night was completely gone.

“Teagan.”

He regarded me icily, as Kid Rock seeped from his earbuds. I noticed the circles under his eyes as he tried to shrug me off. A voice I didn’t recognize snarled out of my throat, causing me to jump when I realized it was my own. “How could you?”

Ryan stared at me blankly then turned back to face the inside of his locker. Smugness I could handle, but ignoring me was the wrong move.

“I had nothing to do with it,” he said cold-heartedly. Deception rolled off of him in waves, pretending to be worn down with grief.

“Liar.”

“What is that supposed to mean?”

“You know what it means. I saw how you changed, how you acted. Just tell me what Brynn has to do with this and I’ll piece together the rest.”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about, Teagan. I’m just as hurt as you are. I loved Claire.”

“You are so full of it,” I spat. A small semicircle of kids had started to gather behind us but that didn’t stop me from lashing out at him. “Why weren’t you at her memorial service last night?”

Ryan shook his head. “I don’t handle funerals very well.”

“Her
funeral
is tomorrow,” I shot back.

I knew what I was about to do was an act of desperation. I grabbed Ryan’s hand, prying his cool fingers open, looking for some sort of proof that he was being manipulated by Hadrian. Of course, there was no octagram, no mark of a dark angel. Ryan was like me. Human. Although how he appeared to me at the rave made that questionable.

“What the hell, Teagan?” Ryan yanked his arm, pulling his hand away from my grasp. “You
are
a freak.”

He stared at me, his eyes darkening at what I had just done, with what I was accusing him of, then his face was covered in shadow as Garreth stood behind me. In that very practiced, very controlled voice, the same I had heard that fateful night in the woods, he began his take on what had happened that night at the rave.

“Brynn was trying to dance with me at the rave, and Claire got a little pissed off. It was crazy. You know, we were having a good time. The music was loud. The place was wild. By the time I turned around Claire was outta there.”

“Where did she go?” I heard the chatter of the kids behind me, wondering what we were talking about.

“She was headed up the back steps to the roof. Some other kids were following her, thinking it was a cool idea—especially since it was off limits. By the time I reached her, she was standing right on the edge.
Right on the edge.
Freaked me out. I mean, I’ve seen some crazy shit, but Claire balancing on the edge of a four-story building? I never expected that to make my list.”

Ryan got a dark look in his eyes as he stared out across the hallway, lost in the memory of that night. Then he looked me straight in the eye.

“There’s a lot I don’t remember about that night. But I won’t forget what I saw. No one would forget that.”

For a second, I began to doubt the boy I had seen in the woods.

“What did you see, Ryan?” I prompted him.

“Claire was just standing there. Her arms were outstretched at her sides. Her back was facing us. She was so still. I remember taking a step closer to her. I wanted to grab her arm and pull her away from the edge but this kid stopped me. And then, it was like she was levitating—right there in front of everyone. Like someone had lifted her up, holding her out for the world to see. It was…it was like she was flying. And then she went over the side.”

I couldn’t speak. I stared silently at Ryan, hearing his words echo in my head, even though he wasn’t saying them anymore. In my mind I could picture her. I could see Claire as if I was witnessing the entire thing…no, as if I
were
Claire. The Claire from my dream.

Then I felt the warmth of Garreth’s hand on my arm.

“Is everything okay?” he asked.

I snapped out of it and instantly felt a confrontation brewing. Reality was crushing the dream I wanted to see again in my head.

“Hey, back off!” Ryan slammed his locker shut and the hall fell silent again. “Anyway, what does it matter? No one will ever know why she jumped.”

I felt my skin freeze inch by inch with tiny stabs of ice that worked their way down my neck and arms. I jumped as Ryan’s arm shoved sharply into Garreth’s shoulder as he pushed his way past us. Without another word he disappeared down the hall to his next class. My feet had rooted themselves to the floor in front of his locker and I felt as though I was sinking right through the tiles into the bowels of the school.

“Teagan?”

The voice of my angel brought me back. Someone was whispering.

“Come on, I’m taking you home.”

I felt myself moving, being led forward by a magical pull I had no control over. Garreth led me down the hall, through the strange, silent cloud that still hovered overhead, past the confused faces of those who had witnessed the showdown between Ryan and me. Past everything. And, if I had eyes in the back of my head I would have seen Brynn Hanson cast a hateful stare in my direction.

We were just outside the main office when I felt my knees go weak and Garreth had to catch me. He opened the door but I pushed it back, closing it against the smell of ink and paper. I could tell he was worried.