My Soul to Keep (The Soul Keeper Series - Young Adult Paranormal Romance) (5 page)

 
“Hey, sorry
about ditching our picnic, I just…

“I know, believe me I know.
It’s okay.”
 
He gives a look of complete
sincerity. I forgot he mentioned his mother had passed. I wonder how she died.
For his sake I hope it wasn’t a fiery car crash. But at least he gets it. I
feel connected to Sam on some level, maybe it’s the dead parents club, or the
fact he is from Texas too.
 
He just seems
like he will make a good friend. I peek back at Elijah feeling sandwiched
between the two, wondering if he noticed the touch.
I am just full of mistakes today.
Sam leans into me and whispers.

“Brennen, I have swim practice all week after school,
but can I take you to dinner on Saturday?” I feel blindsided and I don’t know
what to say.

“I…”

“Well you don’t waste any time do you, Tex?” Elijah
seethes out anything but quiet. I am beyond mortified and flush crimson. Sam
grips his chair ready to buck, clearly restraining himself. His soulful dark
eyes glare at Elijah like he could will the life right out of him. Mr. Sanchez
clears his throat. It all happened so fast and now all eyes are parked on
us.
 
Sam is forced to turn around when
Mr. Sanchez starts speaking. I peek back at Elijah and give him a “What the
hell was that for?” stare. He still looks furious. What would I say to a date
with Sam Montgomery? He is sweet, well-mannered and good looking. I bet he
wouldn’t run off after our first kiss either.
 
Before I decide, I need to see how this whole Elijah disaster is going
to play out and his little stunt
is
making me like him
a little bit less already.

When the bell sounds Sam packs his things in his
back pack.

“Hey is that guy your boyfriend?”

“What? No!” My eyes dart to Elijah, who looks as
serene as a duck on water.

“I’ll see you after school,” Elijah says as he
flashes a drop dead gorgeous smile, winks, and heads out the door. Sam’s jaw
goes slack. What an audacious son of a ….

“Sorry Sam, things are a little complicated right
now.”
 

I crush him with my words. What a crappy day. He
gives a single nod and exits the room. So much has happened today and it’s only
one o’clock.

I can’t seem to shake this mood I am in. I should be
on cloud nine right now. I have been kissed by the hottest guy on the planet
and asked out on a date by the second hottest. Instead I turn both into a
disaster. So much for me being a wall flower.

After school, I search the lot for Elijah and after
an awkward pacing debacle I decide to wait in my vehicle. I drive a small white
V.W convertible Beetle that my grandmother bought me for my birthday last year.
Adele is crooning through my speakers as the students clear out. I’m so nervous
about what to say. What should I ask him first? How about, why does he smell of
hot melted gooey chocolate, because I would love some of
that
body wash? Before I can formulate a plan of attack he opens
the passenger side door, scaring the living daylights out of me.

“Sorry.” He glides in as smooth as the raven haired
god he is.
 
His grace and confidence roll
off of him like a lazy ocean wave. He’s probably never been nervous a day in
his life.

“When you said you knew me, what did you mean?” The
words fly out of my mouth. He gives a wry grin.

“I am your next door neighbor,” he states and eyes
me like I should know this.

“Stop, no you’re not.” I think I would have
remembered seeing him out mowing the grass. I picture him shirtless, wearing only
his jeans on a hot day. Yes, that would burn an image into my brain that would
never be forgotten.

“I live in the white house with the black shutters.”
His gorgeous smile flashes my way. I become acutely aware of my pulse doing the
Samba.

Then again I’ve been living all summer in my own
little foggy world. I doubt I would have noticed if the pope moved in next
door.

“Look, I want to say, I’m sorry we kissed in the
hall. I was really upset and you…well you’re
you
, all gorgeous and you smell so damn good. I know I just met you
today, and it was completely inappropriate, and for the record I do not go
around kissing random guys on school grounds.” The words spewed out of my
mouth, continuing the trend for the day. His smile grows substantially as I
ramble.

“Are you through?” He is laughing at me. I can’t
help but grin and push his shoulder away; it’s like shoving a boulder. He takes
my hand in his, strumming my knuckles with his thumb. The touch awakens
something in me, and my breathing accelerates. I wonder if he feels it too. I
need to be closer to him than the twelve inches that separate us now.

“I’m not sorry I kissed you, it was amazing, and you
are amazing. You don’t even know how perfect you are.” He moves fractionally
closer to me. He smiles and his eyes sparkle in the light like a kaleidoscope.
His smile could charm the pants off an Eskimo. Brilliant white teeth are bookended
by dimples which set his face with a sweet intensity tempered only by his deep
stratospheric blue eyes. So if he thinks I’m so great then what is the problem?

“So what you have a girlfriend then?”
Please say no
.

“No nothing like that.”
Whew!
He wrings his hands. “To tell you the truth Brennen falling
for you would be as easy as breathing.”
Here is where the “but” will come.
“But, I can’t, I have other obligations
in my life right now that are of the utmost importance and you deserve so much
more.”

“Can you not do the whole vague thing right now,
where I ponder for days on end what the meaning of what you just said was, because
I will?”

He stares out into the tree line.
 
The puddle of disappointment I’m standing in
is transforming into a lake of despair set to wash me aside in its wake.
 
Somber is thick in the air, a flavor I eat
for breakfast every morning so this feels only right.

“Okay well it was nice knowing you.”
 
I grip the steering wheel for the strength to
hold back my tears. Elijah puts his hand on the door handle, about to leave and
then turns to me. He sighs.

“I can’t be with you because I am protecting you.”
His eyes plead with me to understand.

“So you think you’re going to break my heart?”
 
My brows peak in frustration.

“No, I would never hurt you. I mean I am actually
protecting you, I am with the CIA.” He reaches into his pocket and pulls out a
leather wallet and shows me a badge. Wow, am I being punked? Where’s the camera
crew? I look around the empty lot.
 
What
in the world could I need an undercover agent for? I take the badge from his
hand and glance at it. It looks real, not that I would know how to spot a
forgery.

“What! Why? What’s going on?”
 
I glance around our surroundings again. My
eyes dart from the tree line then to my rear view mirror, scanning the shadows
of the building before resting back on Elijah’s patient face.

“There is a dangerous group trying to find out what
you may know about your father’s death. They think you may know more about the
mission than you should and they would do anything to get that information.”

“What? But I don’t know anything, I mean my dad
would never tell me anything about his missions, he always said some things you
can’t unsay.”
 

“I believe you and you don’t need to worry. You will
be kept safe.”

“How can you be so sure?”

“Oh let’s just say I am the best at what I do, I
have guarded presidents, kings, a few popes and most importantly you.”

“Have they tried anything yet, you know like to get
me?” This is crazy, how can this be my life? I’m on somebody’s hit list?
Someone wants me dead? A few minutes ago my biggest problem was kissing a boy
and now ultimately my life is in his hands.

“I don’t want you to worry, but yes they have, and
they came nowhere close to being successful.”
 

“Tell me how.”

“It’s better that you don’t know. Like your dad
said, some things you can’t unsay.”

“How does not knowing help me? I need to know the
depths that these people have gone to hurt me, no matter how unsuccessful they
have been.” The terrifying truth begins to seep in. Someone has a contract on
my head. I could be murdered. Elijah stares to the forest again, after a long contemplation
he turns back to me.

“The group that tracked you
here,
knew where you lived but we took out the cell and all of their intel, so for
now you are safe. We threw them off course. I can’t get into the classified
details but you are safe for now,” he says “for now,” like the reprieve won’t
last long and I wonder how many more days I will get on this spinning blue
planet. Fate has already put a price on my head seven years ago and now he’s
coming to collect.
 

“This can't be real.”
 

We both sit and stare at each other for a while. Me
still in shock and he trying to make sure I don’t flip out on the whole bomb he
just dropped on me. What if they succeed and capture me? They will torture me
until I talk, and I am such a
wuss
when it comes to
pain. Grandma, what if they do something to her if they can’t get to me! I
could never forgive myself. Anyone I love could be at risk. I guess it is a
good thing that I only have my grandmother to worry about. I know that place is
kept like Ft. Knox and she has a monitor on her person just in case she manages
to get away from the grounds. Yes Grandma is lo-jacked.

“How long will this last?” I mean surely a couple of
weeks of this they’ll figure I’m not worth saving, this is our government
right? If it doesn’t end soon, I’m toast.

“I’m not sure, however we have always been one step
ahead of them so far.”

“Yeah, but everybody trips once in a while,” I say
while chewing on my nails, filthy nervous habit I know.
 
Elijah takes my hand from my mouth and holds
it. It feels like heaven. He has this ability to calm me with just a touch. I
lay my head on his knee and he tells me everything is going to be okay while he
strokes my hair, it feels so relaxing, I could drift off
 
like this.

***

“Hey, you’re home.” I hear Elijah say as he rubs my
arm. I open my eyes to realize I am in the passenger seat and we are in my
drive way. I can’t believe I was that tired, I didn’t even know he had moved me
or driven off with me. My life is indeed in real danger if I can be drugged by
a simple head massage and pass out for half an hour.

“Thanks for driving me home.” I ooze out of the car,
still foggy from the nap. Elijah walks me to the door.

“Good night.”
 
He whispers gently. I still want him, and knowing that I can’t have him
is wretched.

“Good night Elijah and thank you for keeping me
safe.” He gives a knowing smile and heads toward his house. I wonder if he has
hidden cameras in or around my house. I look in the air ducts and other dark
crevices but don’t find anything. This is beyond crazy.
 

     
My cell
buzzes in my purse and I am reminded of where I said I would be after school.

“Hello?” It is Emily. “Yes, I am so sorry this thing
came up. Can we do it tomorrow? Great okay see you there.” I agree to meet her
at Aunt Beans, a local coffee house, tomorrow after school. I feel bad for
flaking out on her today. It’s official; this day has been hijacked by the suck
fairy. I listen to the whir of the microwave cooking my turkey pot pie and
decide it’s all too much despair for one day. I slip in to my bikini and take a
dive into the ocean just as the sun sinks below the horizon. I surface, taking
in the propensity of the inky blue sea as it bleeds into black.

My house sits high on the hill, lit from within like
some once majestic city now deserted and desolate.
 
Kissing Elijah today stirred something within
me; I don’t want to be alone anymore. I need to let people into my life for
once.

I have never had the luxury of calling someplace
home for very long with my dad being in the military. But Grandma’s house was
always the one place that never changed. The house is enormous and has a
beautiful design. Gray-blue shingles cover the exterior with white trim,
framing the whole thing out. I love the staircase; it looks like a miniature
lighthouse from the outside. I often go out on its captain’s walk and watch the
tide come in from up there. In the rear of the home there is a large covered
porch with a few seating arrangements, one around a fireplace and another in an
outdoor kitchen and bar area. Beyond that there is the red brick courtyard with
a small pool and spa. Off of the breakfast room there is another porch
surrounded by large white columns that shelters a dining area. It’s the sort of
house that would be great for throwing parties and raising a family; neither of
which has ever been done here in either case.