Keepers: A Timeless Novella (11 page)

Tension was thick in the
air as we approached them. Jake and Connor stared at Andrew as if
waiting for him to do something crazy, like turn water into wine or
deliver prophetic messages from the Gods. So far, Andrew had yet to
do anything biblical around me, unless you counted glowing or
flying or using magic. Andrew, on the other hand, eyed my brother
and best friend with trepidation, though he stood so still it was
as if a steel rod had formed in his spine. I couldn’t help but
laugh at them for being so ridiculous.

I introduced Andrew to Jake
and Connor; both of them remained apprehensive, making sure to
stand several feet away from the angel.

“
Don’t worry,” I said to
them, patting Andrew’s stiff shoulder. “He doesn’t
bite.”

“
Gabby might argue that,”
Jenna mumbled under her breath.

“
Gah! Don’t say stuff like
that.” I rubbed at my eyes, trying to erase the mental
image.

Andrew’s rigid stance
relaxed, and his lips tilted up into a smile. He had no problems
picturing biting Gabby
. I will not picture
them having sex
.
I
will not picture them having sex
. Crap, I
was picturing them doing the fun dance. Andrew smirked at
me.

“
Don’t say a single word,”
I warned, pointing at him sternly. He laughed.

Jenna rolled her eyes,
shook her head, and led us to the back desk where a woman greeted
us. Her nametag read Sheila. Jenna turned to us, a sly smile
letting me know she was up to no good. This prompted an exchange of
questioning glances between us men, who were obviously not in the
loop.

After signing in for our
appointment, Jenna seized me by the arm and dragged me toward
Sheila. “This is the groom, Joseph,” Jenna introduced. “Make sure
his tux looks super special.” Jenna winked at her, which had to be
some kind of girl code I couldn’t understand.

“
Trust me,” Sheila said,
voice low and sultry. “It will be unforgettable.”

They laughed, and I clearly
didn’t get the joke. I was then shoved into a dressing room and
told to put on the tuxedo. On the other side of the door, I heard
my groomsmen being put through the same torture. I owed them. I at
least got something out of this; what did they get?

I unzipped the bag my
tuxedo was in, praying it wouldn’t be powder blue with ruffles or
something equally outrageous. I breathed a sigh of relief when I
was greeted with black pants and a black jacket. I undressed and
began to piece together this overly complicated tuxedo, pants
first. When I removed the jacket to get to the shirt and vest, I
froze. The vest was hot pink. Not peach or coral or bubble gum
pink. No, it was hot pink. She had to be kidding me, right? Jenna
wouldn’t seriously make me wear this, would she?

Buttoning the white dress
shirt, I eyed the vest, hoping there was something severely wrong
with my vision and I was seeing the color wrong. Perhaps it was a
trick of the light? Or maybe it was inside out? I pinched the vest
between my fingers as if it were poisonous and flipped it inside
out, which was also hot pink. Swallowing thickly, I let myself come
to terms with the fact that this was the color Jenna had
chosen.

As I slipped the vest onto
my shoulders, my eyes landed on a matching hot pink bowtie.
Okay. Take a deep breath, Joseph. Calm
down
. I’d deal with hot pink if that was
the color Jenna wanted, but I’d put my foot down at bowties,
especially hot pink bowties. I left
that
dangling on the hanger as I
pulled on the black jacket. When I glanced in the mirror, I didn’t
look half bad, if you closed one eye and crossed the
other.

Sighing, I opened the door
and stepped out. Jenna clasped her hands together and held them up
so they covered her mouth. And then her eyes watered. I tried my
best to put on a smile and act like this was the best looking tux
I’d ever seen, let alone had worn.

“
Well?” I asked, eyebrows
raised. I crossed my fingers behind my back, hoping she’d change
her mind about the color choice.

Before Jenna had a chance
to answer, the other groomsmen stepped out of their stalls. My
brother and best friend glared at me, their eyes conveying exactly
how much I owed them for this particular form of torture. Andrew,
however, walked out calm and secure in his tuxedo. To be honest, he
didn’t look half bad, though I think that was because he wasn’t
scowling like the rest of us. Or attempting not to scowl, as it
were.

“
What do you think?” Jenna
asked gleefully. She was grinning, but her eyes were still
watering.

I was honestly afraid to
answer—she already seemed emotional over seeing all of us like
this, and the last thing I wanted was to upset her.

“
It’s perfect, sweetie,
except . . .” I trailed off, watching her smile melt.

“
Except?” she prodded,
looking more upset and distraught by the second.

I quickly reached inside
the dressing room for the bowtie and held it out to her. “I need
help putting this on,” I explained. “Then it’ll be perfect.” What
could I say? There was no way I’d make Jenna cry over something as
silly as the color of my bowtie. I’d suffer—but only for
her.

“
Whipped,” Jake muttered
under his breath too low for Jenna to hear. He called it: I was
whipped, no question about that.

A moment passed as I held
my breath, hoping I hadn’t hurt Jenna’s feelings. Her grin returned
as she snatched the bowtie and helped me tie it. She spun me around
and looked me up and down.

“
You’re all so handsome. I
want to get a picture of everyone,” she demanded, backing up and
gesturing for us to scoot together. She pulled out her cell phone
and held it up. “Smile!”

Andrew was probably the
only one who was convincing. The click of the fake shutter snapping
a picture sounded on Jenna’s phone. She tapped on the device for a
few seconds afterward before she put it away. She bit her lip, and
her eyes watered again. Why was she so emotional? Had seeing us in
tuxedos really made her go all weepy? I hadn’t pegged Jenna for the
type, to be honest.

Andrew was the first to
start laughing, and he gave a nod to Jenna as if acknowledging
something unspoken. Eyebrows furrowed, I glanced back and forth
between them, trying to figure out what was so funny. What was the
joke? What had I missed? When Andrew didn’t stop laughing, Jenna
burst into insane giggles, holding her stomach and wiping tears
from her eyes.

What the hell? I was so
confused.

Jenna reached behind the
counter and retrieved a hanger with a hunter green vest on it. She
held it out to me, laughing so hard she could barely
talk.

“
I can’t believe you fell
for that!” Jenna choked out. “Truly.” She was red in the face now,
still going at it. “Like I’d make you wear hot pink. Give me some
credit, babe.”

It took a second for her
words to sink in, but then I exhaled, relieved. “Thank God!” I
exclaimed. “I didn’t know how to tell you that there wasn’t a
snowball’s chance in hell I would be wearing that bowtie at our
wedding. No way. That sucker would have gotten lost.”

“
Or would have accidently
fallen into my garbage disposal,” Connor offered.

“
Or flushed down the
toilet,” Jake added.

They weren’t as amused as
the rest of us, but they were definitely pleased to know hot pink
would not be part of their tuxedo color scheme.

My phone
pinged
, and I pulled it
from my pocket. The message was from Gabby, and it said: “Sexy!”
That was followed by the photo Jenna had taken of us in our pink
vests.

Great. I’d never live this
down. And no wonder Andrew got the joke before we had; Gabby was
probably chuckling it up wherever she was.

“
You’re lucky I want to tie
the knot with you more than anything on this planet,” I said to
Jenna.

“
Tie the knot means he
wants to marry her,” Andrew whisper-explained to Jake and Connor,
proud of himself for understanding our lingo.

Jenna giggled at that, but
the sound was abruptly cut off when I yanked her against my body
and kissed her without any restraint. She wrapped her arms around
me and didn’t hold back. Oh, yeah. There was no way I was letting
this one go.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Thanks always to my team of
awesomeness: Lisa, Bri, and Cesya for edits, proofreading, and plot
revisions with this little side project; Scott, for your marketing
expertise; Jennifer, for all the hard work you put into Revolution
Publishing; and, most importantly, THE FANS! Without my readers, I
would be nowhere. I’m forever thankful for your loyalty and
love.

I also want to thank my
family, especially J.D. Ramsey and the Cameron family out in Hawaii
for helping me finish this novella.

Gabriella’s journey
continues in . . .

FALLEN LEGION

The full force of the
Empyrean Guard leaves Gabriella trembling where she stands. She had
it all wrong; they’re stronger than she ever imagined. Even with
the Fallen at her back, she lacks the proper training and knowledge
to win the inevitable Angelic War. In the Timeless Oblivion,
Gabriella seeks the advice of the one person who’s never failed her
and comes back with more than she bargained for. Now Gabriella must
do the unthinkable: break the most important law the Celestial Gods
decreed thousands of years ago to protect the angels. Now that
she’s crossed the line, will she find a way to save the angels? Or
has she doomed them all?

Fall 2012

REVOLUTION PUBLISHING,
INC.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Laura Kreitzer lives in the
middle of nowhere in western Kentucky where she is constantly
writing. She has a fiancé and two wrinkly dogs. Whenever she has
the opportunity to travel, she does. Read extras, outtakes,
interviews, and more at Laura’s website.

http://laurakreitzer.com