FORBIDDEN (9 page)

She laughed. “Are you embarrassed to let me see you put away your wings?”

“Yes,” I said, not wanting to tell her how painful and quasi-gross it was. “It’s personal. Now close your eyes.”

I had to chuckle at her as she dove under the comforter. Instead of walking up, I crawled under the end of the comforter at the foot of the bed. She lit her tiny space with the light of her phone. She shone the flash in my eyes, blinding me. “There really are monsters under my bed.”

“Nah, there’s just monsters in your bed, not under it.”

We both laughed as I surfaced beside her and barely hung onto the edge. I didn’t want to get too close. Touching her would be torture. Not because I didn’t want it, it’s just that touching a Call was strictly forbidden. The repercussions would be massive. I had to assume the pain would be beyond belief.

“I have a queen bed. There’s plenty of room for both of your butt cheeks to be on the mattress,” she teased.

“I want to be able to get out if something happens.”

“You mean if something tries to kill me.”

I didn’t answer. It wasn’t a topic I wanted to talk about.

She scooted closer. I could feel her heartbeat. The heat of her body was so close. “If I wanted you across the room, I’d have left you to sit at the window.”

She crossed the threshold before I could argue. Our bodies touched, and a fire filled every part of my body. I hadn’t felt like this before. It wasn’t painful.

It felt
good.

I thought this was supposed to be bad? Why was it forbidden? This was the best feeling that I had felt since before I died. It was probably the best feeling ever in my life, dead or alive.

I sighed under the softness of her body. Her arm draped across my chest and she curled into the crook of my arm. “I don’t really know you, but this feels okay. Is that wrong?”

Yes
, I wanted to say. “No,” is what came out, “It’s not wrong.”

“Do you like it?”

No
is what I should have said. “Yes,” is what came out, “I do.”

She let out a soft breath. “I didn’t think you’d let me do this.”

“I can’t believe I am.”

She laughed lightly. “What can I say, I’m just persistent when I want something.”

There was no way I could allow her to die tomorrow.

* * *

Light streamed through the crack in the blinds of Hannah’s window, casting a thin ray across her body. She was curled up against me while I watched the dust swirl and dance through the light. It was the most peaceful I’d ever been in my memory.

I ran my free hand through her hair, pushing it away from her face. She was amazing. Downstairs her mom was making coffee, and her dad had already left for work. Her little brother was still sleeping in the room next door. Sometimes heightened senses came in handy.

Hannah rolled away from me, leaving both of my arms free to move again. I got out from under the covers and returned to my spot against the window.

How had this happened? I was still trying to wrap my head around how we’d gone from me watching her from afar for the past three years to me being part of her life in basically two days. Sure, it’d started in Rome but I’d been sure to keep her at a distance. For some reason we were drawn to one another.

Across the room she began to stir. I smiled as she squinted her eyes into the stream of light pouring in. “Good morning, Sunshine.”

She grunted and put her head under the comforter. “You’re telling me good morning on the day I’m supposed to die?”

I rolled my eyes, but of course she didn’t see it. “You’re not going to die. You’re with me, remember? Now get out of bed and get ready to meet the day.”

My attempt at happiness in light of what was supposed to happen didn’t bode well with her. When she reemerged from the mountains of covers, her eyes were shining with tears. “What am I supposed to tell my family? Am I supposed to just act like nothing is going to happen?”

It was obvious why humans weren’t supposed to know when they were going to die. They became basket cases. And who could blame them? Most people aren’t exactly thrilled at the thought of snuffing it and knowing precisely when said snuffing was going to take place. “I’m sorry, but you’ve got to. Especially since nothing is exactly what’s going to happen. You’re going to be fine.”

She muttered something about angels being insensitive, which made me laugh. I liked her, even when she was grumpy. Hopefully that wouldn’t wear off after I’d been around her more. I went to her closet and pulled out her favorite jeans and a long-sleeved baseball t-shirt I’d seen her wear numerous times. She laughed when I tossed them on her bed. “What, are you picking out my clothes for my funeral?”

“Just put something on. I’m gonna go make sure everything is on the up and up. Don’t leave for school without me, okay?”

She nodded and hugged her pillow. I slung my legs out of the window and went to push out when she freaked. “What are you doing? You don’t have your wings!”

I cracked up. “I always have my wings, Hannah. I just don’t need them right now.”

“We’re on the second story!”

“Doesn’t matter. I’ll be okay. You can watch if you want.”

“I believe you,” she said as she looked at her alarm clock. “Crap! I’m gonna be late. Angie’s coming to pick me up and –”

It was my turn to freak. “No! You’re not riding with her.”

She dropped the shirt I’d laid out for her. “What? Why?”

“Just don’t, okay? Let me take you to school.”

Her eyes were questioning. “Angie has something to do with me dying.”

“No she doesn’t.”

“Then why would you wig out like you just did? Somehow she’s involved.”

“Look, I can’t discuss it. Just promise me that – ”

“I’m not promising you anything until you tell me what is wrong with riding to school with my best friend.”

We stared each other down. Then an idea struck. I pushed myself out of the window backwards without another word.

Hannah screamed. “LEVI!”

She was hanging out of the window the next instant, searching on the ground for me. I swooped down, pulled her all the way out of the window, and covered her mouth all in one motion. When we were high enough that she wouldn’t be heard and she’d figured out what happened, I let go of her mouth. She punched me. “What the heck was that about?”

“Don’t tell me you don’t like the view.”

She looked down and gasped. I had brought us high enough that she could see the Ohio River valley. “Gorgeous!”

“I know I am,” I said. A cocky grin was firmly in place, even though inside I was anything but.

She laughed and punched me again. When girls punch a guy, that’s a good thing, right?

* * *

With the impromptu flight, Hannah forgot about the minor squabble we’d gotten into. When we got back to her house, I landed on the roof and retrieved my clothes. She leaned against the chimney and looked out over the horizon. “That was a lot of fun. Thanks for taking me and bucking the frequent flyer rules.”

“No problem, I’m already going to be in all kinds of trouble. Someone should get some frequent flyer miles out of the deal. Thought you might like to see the armpit of the United States from a higher altitude.”

She laughed and shook her head. “You know, for being the day I’m supposed to die, I’m actually pretty happy.”

“Oh yeah? You’re probably the only human that would ever say that.”

“Have you guarded many people?”

I didn’t really like to get into my previous Calls. None of them really bothered me to talk about, but it always felt so invasive, telling other Guards how my Calls were. If I couldn’t talk about it to other Guards, why would it be okay to talk to a human about it? It didn’t seem like a very good idea. “A few, but no one famous or anything. Pretty mundane.”

She seemed to catch my mood and swallowed, then nodded. “Mundane. Yeah.”

The silence between us wasn’t awkward, but it definitely wasn’t easy. She broke it off after a minute or so. “I should probably get dressed. I’ve already missed two classes.”

“Don’t go at all. Hang out with me.”

“You’re keeping me from dying, aren’t you?”

I gave her the most tragic look I could muster. “Why can’t I just want to spend time and get to know you? I mean, usually people who share the same bed know one another, right?”

Her sternness broke with a tentative smile. “Alright. We’ll hang, but only because I wouldn’t want to break rules about sharing beds.”

“Great!”

“On one condition.”

I groaned. “What would that be?”

“That Angie is safe with us as well.”

Well, she didn’t ask for the moon and the stars, but she might as well have. There was no way Ethan was going to allow me to take Angie. Now I was gonna have to commit kidnap, fight off fate, and piss off my best friend, all after already breaking the cardinal rule of not fraternizing with our Calls.

Well, if I was going back to hell, I might as well do it in style. “Fine. We’ll get Angie. But consider yourself warned. This isn’t going to be easy or fun, for that matter.”

Hannah nodded. “Not easy, zero fun. Got it.”

I sighed. Impossible and negative amounts of fun were more like it.

ELEVEN

“Leave a note saying you’re staying with Angie or something,” I said while watching Hannah fly around her room like a whirlwind. She was throwing clothes into a backpack.

“Is it okay if I bring my cell phone?”

“No.”

She pouted. “Why not?”

“Believe it or not, there are things such as GPS locators. Just because we’re technically dead doesn’t mean that we don’t stay up on ways to keep tabs on people.”

“You don’t have anything more sophisticated than that?”

I smiled. “We do, but we’re lazy. We’ll let technology do the dirty work if we’re bored and want more of a challenge. What do you want to do with it, anyway? Are you going to update your status to how happy you are that you didn’t die because of your awesome Guard?”

She laughed and stuck her tongue out at me as she tossed the phone on the bed. “No, I’m not, you brat. My parents won’t believe I went anywhere if the phone is still here.”

That was a valid point. “Fine,” I conceded, “But it stays off unless we absolutely need it. Deal?”

The phone was snatched up in an instant and stuffed in her ever-expanding bag. She smiled at me. “Deal.”