Fall For Me ((The Tate Chronicles #1)) (16 page)

JOSH

Thursday Afternoon

T
raining had been a nightmare. Not only was I out of form, but Mr Bruner grilled me in front of everyone for being late. Ryan knew something was up and had given me sideways glances all session, but he didn’t press the issue. The only thing I really wanted was some sleep.

The atmosphere at lunch was kind of weird. Archer gave us the run down on what happened after I’d left this morning, and we all agreed to keep a better eye on Charlotte.

With so many eyes and ears at Hopetown Valley, it was difficult to talk about what we were going to do. And not being able to bring Ryan and Emma into the loop was hard, but I knew it was for the best, for their safety and ours. I hated not confiding in Ryan when he knew something was wrong. I also hated knowing Grace knew how scared I was. It was just one more thing she had to worry about.

The rest of my classes passed in a blur. When the last bell finally rang I was glad the day was over, but I wasn’t looking forward to the night ahead. The bad guys came out at night, and the ones after Charlotte could strike at any time. The whole situation confused me a little. I would be safe; Grace assured me no angel would harm a human, but Charlotte was now a target from both sides. Things were so messed up, and after not even a week back at school it felt like an eternity since I’d said goodbye to my dad.

The four of us stood at the school gate and went through our plan one more time. It wasn’t much of a plan. Grace and Archer would go home as usual; then Grace would come back for Charlotte and me, simple.

“Fifteen minutes,” Grace said. “Will you be ready?”

“Grace, I’m a guy, I can be ready in two.”

“What about them? Have you said anything?” Grace glanced towards the dorm stairs.

“Who, Ryan?
He’s so preoccupied with Emma he won’t notice I’m gone,” I said.

“And no one cares enough to notice if I’m not here,” Charlotte said. “I don’t see why I have to leave.”

“People won’t notice because you’re so quiet, not because they don’t care, and I just think you’ll be safer with us.” Archer kicked a stone along the ground.

“Let’s do this then. See you in a bit,” I said.

I gave Grace a peck on the cheek and watched her walk to the car with Archer. When I looked at Charlotte I couldn’t help but feel a bond forming between us. We were in this together and it was nice to know we had each other’s backs.

“I guess we just go and wait for Grace to come get us,” I said.

Charlotte nodded, but neither of us moved. It seemed like she had something to say, so I waited. Charlotte was a beautiful girl but I’d never really taken the time to look at her properly, I was always looking at Grace. Charlotte’s eyes were black as coal but deep as the ocean. They were filled with anguish and it made her near perfect face seem tired. When she spoke I knew she was on the verge of tears.

“You have no idea how sorry I am, Josh.”

“Sorry, what for?”

“For getting you into this situation, coming here and tipping the balance in your life.”

“I don’t think you can blame yourself for what’s happened, besides, my life was far from balanced.”

“Sure I can blame myself, Grace fell because of me, protecting me, and now you’re all in danger,” she said.

I couldn’t help thinking,
you’re a vampire, you’re supposed to be stronger than me,
but emotionally I don’t think she was.

“I can’t handle losing someone I care about, again,” she whispered.

Gently, I squeezed her arm for reassurance and told her that everything would work out. I felt sorry for Charlotte, for what she was, but I’d discovered after my mum died that feeling sorry gets you nowhere.

I walked Charlotte to the stairs then headed to my room. When I passed the common room Emma and Ryan were inside. He gave me a nod; he definitely knew something was up, but I appreciated him not asking. Under normal circumstances Ryan knew I’d tell him what was wrong eventually, but these were not normal circumstances.

When I reached my room Grace was sitting cross legged on the bed. “What took you so long?” she asked.

“Sorry, Charlotte and I were talking. She feels terrible about our—situation,” I said, pulling a pair of jeans and a fresh T-shirt from the cupboard. “She thinks it’s all her fault.”

Grace sighed and pulled her knees to her chest. I got changed quickly, not worried about her seeing me in my boxers, although she did raise her eyebrows.
One day,
I thought to myself,
we’d be able to…

“Josh, not now.
Focus.”

“I’m a guy, Grace, and I’m going to think like that, all the time.” I sat down beside her and drew her into my arms. “I find it hard to focus when you’re around.”

“I know
,
it’s just that you have before. I’ve never … and we don’t know … and there’s so much…”

She stopped when I placed my finger gently on her lips. I didn’t need to be able to read her mind to know she was in turmoil, and that the danger we faced was very real. But I didn’t care. As long as I had her nothing else mattered. She fit perfectly in my arms, like a key in a lock. Sometimes I didn’t like that she knew what I was thinking, but at the same time I was glad. She knew exactly how I felt without me saying a word.

Softly, I brushed her lips with mine. Grace pushed into me and parted my mouth with hers. She tasted so sweet. Her warmth wrapped itself around me, and for a moment we were lost in one another. We fell onto the bed and she kissed me harder, drawing me closer. I pulled away a little and stared at her. Grace’s skin glowed softly and I gently stroked her cheek, still unable to believe that she was real.

“You bring out the best in me,” she said, pressing her cheek into my palm and closing her eyes. “I wish we could stay like this, but we need to get Charlotte. Arch is probably worrying; I’ve been away too long.”

After one more kiss I jumped up and pulled her to her feet. “Ok captain, Angel Air is ready for take-off.”

Grace giggled and I hugged her tightly. We grabbed Charlotte on our way to the shed and Grace was right, Archer had started to worry. He was pacing in the clearing when we misted in.

“Where have you been?” he asked, running to us. “What took so long?”

“Chill out, Arch, we’re here now,” Grace said, taking my hand and leading me towards the shed.

The inside of Grace and Archer’s
house
was nothing like I expected. The left wall of the big shed housed a makeshift kitchen with three tables as benches, some plastic tubs underneath them for storage, and an old Kelvinator fridge. There was a tap in the wall with another plastic tub under it for a sink. The kitchen table was an old Formica one—probably from the sixties or seventies—and the four timber chairs around it were mismatched. A gas stove was set up on the bench with a small cupboard sitting next to it. Some chairs lined the rest of that wall, as well as an old church pew with a mirror on it. Three couches sat in the middle of the big space—two lined up next to each other and one angled off to the right. There was also a coffee table on an old carpet square with three more chairs positioned around it—one a big comfy looking arm chair.

The right wall had two big roller doors which were probably in use when the place was actually a farm shed and not a house. Above us was another floor like a loft. It took up half the length of the shed. A metal staircase started behind the couches and lead up to a landing. A couple of metres back from the railing
was
a wall with two doors in it. I couldn’t see any beds on the bottom floor, so the doors must have led to the bedrooms.

“What’s wrong?” I heard Archer ask. I’d been so caught up in taking in the shed I hadn’t noticed what was going on.

“I think I need an invitation,” Charlotte said quietly. “It’s your home
.
Y
ou have to invite me in.”

“Then please come in my beautiful fair maiden.”

Archer bowed deeply and grinned. Grace giggled. Charlotte’s pale complexion took on a pink tinge and she stepped through the door to take his hand.

“Did anyone see you?” Archer asked. “Did Seth…?”

“We won’t be missed; we’re down for study, so no one should check on us. As long as we turn up to class tomorrow, we’ll be fine,” I said.

“That’s not what we’re worried about.” Grace sat on one of the threadbare sofas. “And no, Arch, Seth will show up eventually, but for now I don’t think he knows Josh and Charlotte aren’t at the school.”

“So what do we do?” I asked.

“We wait,” Grace replied, shrugging her shoulders as if to say,
what more can we do?

I didn’t like the idea of waiting; it made me feel like a rat in a maze, not knowing what was around the corner. I started fidgeting.

“Waiting is the best thing we can do,” Grace said. “Let them come to us. We have the advantage.”

“What advantage?” Archer said. “They’re coming at us from both sides.” He was sitting on one of the other couches next to Charlotte. She was quiet as usual. Me, I was still fidgeting.

“Would you stop that, come and sit down.” Grace waved me over and I sat beside her. She leant into me and her closeness was a nice comfort.

“Our advantage is exactly what you just said, Arch. They’re coming at us from both sides. They won’t be able to not fight each other. We know our constants are Angelica, Annie and Seth, and me. None of us can die. If we can somehow use Angelica and Annie…”

“We can knock out the vamps. Charlotte will at least be safe from them,” Archer said. “They want her alive, so we can try and use that against them.”

In theory it sounded like a good plan. In practise it would probably be a different story. We talked for a while and came to the conclusion that, if given the chance, the angels wouldn’t be able to stop themselves from trying to destroy the vamps, and vice versa. Then a small problem we hadn’t considered dawned on me.

“Hey guys, what about me?” I asked. “I can’t fight.”

“Then we’ll teach you,” Grace said.

“What, in ten minutes? The sun is almost down; the vamps might be here soon. And why hasn’t Angelica turned up yet?”

“You’re helping in more ways than you know. Angels of the Light can’t harm a human; you and Arch are safe from them. If anything, they will protect you.”

“I don’t want their protection,” Archer mumbled.

So Archer and I were safe from the good side, but not the bad. And Charlotte was safer with the bad side, but not the good. Grace would be fine either way, which was great to know, but what a mess we were in. I wondered at that point if I said a prayer whether it would be answered.
Please God, protect my fallen angel girlfriend, her brother, and our friend who happens to be a vampire.
I was leaning towards no. I didn’t think it would go down too well.

“Let’s do this then,” I said, jumping up from the couch. “Let my crash course in vamp slaying and fighting angels begin.”

GRACE

Thursday Night

M
y one wish would be to keep Archer and my friends safe. I figured if angels and vampires existed, why not genies? I needed to get one of those.

My biggest concern was Josh, and I couldn’t help feeling a little worried watching Archer try to teach him a few things. It’s not that he was a bad fighter, he just wasn’t a hunter, or an angel, or a vampire. I watched as Archer put Josh on his butt for the fifth time in as many minutes. Josh was starting to get annoyed. This would lead to mistakes, which could get him killed, so it was probably a good time to intervene. I walked quickly across the clearing and spoke to Archer so no one else could hear.

Arch, let up, this isn’t working.

Yeah, but
it’s
fun.
He grinned at me.

Just stop for a minute, I want to try something.

Josh didn’t look impressed. Apart from being utterly embarrassed, he was thinking how useless he was.

“You are not useless,” I said, taking his hand. He didn’t look convinced. “Stand still and close your eyes.”

“What…”

“Please do it, I want to show you something.”

He did as I said and I took his other hand, facing him. I channelled my mind to his and blocked everything else out. This was something I knew I could do but had never actually attempted; I usually kept the mind talking in the family.

Please don’t freak out.

His hands tightened around mine. “You’ve already done plenty to freak me out, and I’m still here.”

You don’t need to talk, just think. Think what you want to say to me.

Have I told you, I love you?

Open your eyes and think it again.

Josh blinked and stared at me.
I love you more than I ever thought possible.

I know.