The Year of the Great Seventh (41 page)

“Sophie!” Nate shouted at me with tearful eyes. “Please, Sophie say something!” he begged while stroking the side of my head. “Sophie! Can you hear me? Can you open your eyes?”

As if I were preparing to lift a 100-pound weight, I tried with all my energy to do so. And it worked, even if it was only for a split second.

“I need to get you to a hospital.” He rushed through each word.

I could see he was completely soaked from the rain. His hair was stuck to his scalp, and what was left of his clothes was completely wet.

The sky was finally clear. The storm had passed and thousands of stars sparkled in the jet-black sky.

He ripped off what was left of his shirt and placed it under my neck. “Please stay with me! I’m going to get you to a hospital.”

Just the slight movement of lifting my head made each part of my body ache.

“We’re going to get through this, Sophie! I promise.”

Then I saw Preston staring at Nate from under the eaves. I wanted to tell him to watch out, but I couldn’t. Nate must’ve seen it in my eyes, as he suddenly spun around.

“What are you doing?” he shouted, enraged at Preston, who was pointing his gun at him. “Stop it! Don’t you see? You’ve done enough!”

Nate turned back to me, ignoring Preston, and rearranged the shirt he’d placed under my neck.

“She’s supposed to be gone. How did… you…? How did… she?” Preston stuttered.

“Call a dammed ambulance! We’re losing her!” Nate was still on his knees next to me, but I could tell he was watching Preston.

Preston stared at us bewildered, as if he couldn’t believe we were both still alive.

“You’re not going to make it out of here,” Preston threatened. His hand was shaking and his eyes were crazy.

Nate sprang to his feet at once and ran straight for Preston as he pointed the gun at him.

I wanted to scream, but my voice wouldn’t come out.

Nate launched himself on top of Preston, and the two of them fell backward behind one of the pillars. Then I heard the thunder of a gunshot.

It couldn’t finish like this. There had only been one shot. I had to get up. I needed to go help Nate. I managed to crawl onto my side, but that was as far as I made it. I was in too much pain.

Groaning in agony, I realized I shouldn’t have moved. I could tell one of my broken ribs was piercing my lung. I coughed blood on the ground as I tried to breathe.

There was no movement under the eaves. I lay there, frustrated, without being able to do anything. I tried again to get up, but this time I didn’t even manage to roll to my side. The pain was too intense.

Out of nowhere, a gust of wind blew through the garden.

If Preston had killed Nate, I was sure he was going to come after me next, as I was utterly defenseless. But I didn’t care anymore. If Nate was gone, I didn't want to keep on living.

I heard some rumbling behind the pillar. I could see a lifeless hand on the ground. Then I could sense someone standing still behind the pillar. Nate appeared from behind the arch, and he came to me.

He knelt next to me, slid his arms under my neck and legs, and gently lifted me up.

“Is…?” I managed to speak at last.

Nate nodded. “The bullet hit a coffin and ricocheted.”

Nate stared for a moment at the starlit sky as if to thank whoever had decided we were worth saving. The glittering stars reflected in his eyes.

He rushed through the garden, carrying me gently in his arms. When we crossed the eaves to get into the Cloisters, he turned slightly away so I didn’t have to see Preston.

But I caught a glimpse of his lifeless body. He lay on his side, one eye frozen open, its gaze lost in the infinite. The bullet had entered through the other. I was afraid I was going to have that image engraved in my mind until the day I died.

A pool of blood had formed underneath Preston’s head. The bullet had hit the Vault of Iron, carving a round hole next to one of the oak trees of Gienne. The gun lay just beside Preston’s outstretched hand. I could read the manufacturer’s label. It was a Smith & Wesson Spring.

I was confused and didn’t know how to feel. A life had been wasted, but Nate and I had survived. The deepness of his eyes, the warmth of his protecting arms, the perfect features of his face, the electrifying touch of his skin. I was in Nate’s arms. That was all that mattered.

Nate ran through the Cloisters corridors carrying me as if I were the most precious possession in the world. The huge warrior statues witnessed our escape. I must’ve been hallucinating because it seemed that the warriors were bowing to us.

“Beneath the oak tree of Gienne, struck by lightning, the treasure is hidden not far from there. That which for many centuries had been gathered, when found, a man will die, his eye pierced by a spring
.”

CHAPTER XXIII

THE ELEVATOR ZOOMED UP to the hotel penthouse. This was the first time facing my friends after the “taxi accident” in New York, and I wasn’t sure if I was ready yet. Megan had rented a hotel penthouse on Sunset Boulevard to celebrate
Operation Calypso’s
success with us and also to welcome me back to L.A. after my stay at the hospital in New York.

Nate wrapped his arms around me from behind and we stared at our reflection in the elevator mirror.

We both looked different, especially Nate. Since our trip to New York, he seemed older, more mature. His piercing dark eyes held a shadow of guilt.

I felt lightheaded. I was eager to see my friends, but at the same time, I was afraid of their questioning. What if they could tell we’d changed, that that trip to New York had marked a before and after in our lives? What if they didn’t buy the taxi story?

“It’s going to be okay.” Nate hugged me, letting me know he wasn’t ever going to let anything happen to me again. There was nothing else to be afraid of.

He planted a kiss on my cheek as the elevator doors opened on the top floor. He looked as gorgeous as always. He wore a black shirt that enhanced his dark eyes and his olive skin and a pair of black jeans. The Nate touch was a pair of black and gray high-top Nike sneakers.

Music blasted from behind one of the doors at the end of the corridor. Nate stared at me, confused. “I thought you said it was going to be a small gathering.”

“That’s what Megan said.”

I followed him down the hallway. From the other side of the door, I could hear giggling and shouting. For sure, there were more people than I expected in there.

“We don’t have to stay too long.” I already regretted agreeing to come to this party.

Since that night at the Cloisters, I didn’t feel like being with other people. The best remedy to bury that unspeakable night was to spend time alone with Nate.

He rested his hand on the door handle and looked at me. I nodded and he pushed the handle down, clacking the door open.

The suite had high ceilings and large windows facing the terrace. There was an enormous plasma TV by a set of sofas, and three guys I’d never seen before were playing
Guitar Hero
. Most of the people were outside, hanging out on the terrace.

No one there seemed to have noticed our arrival. Nate nodded toward the L-shaped bar, and I spotted Megan sipping from a beer bottle. There was a blond girl in her early twenties next to her who I immediately recognized. She was Sylvia Westfield—a former child actress mostly known now for her wild partying and her many rehab attempts.

Megan saw us and leaving the beer bottle on the bar, she rushed toward me with open arms.

“Sophie!” She embraced me.

“Don’t you ever scare me like that again,” she whispered in my ear as tears welled up in her eyes.

It wasn’t easy to hold my tears as I realized how much I missed her. Megan looked over my shoulder and noticed Nate standing next to me. She gave him a hug, too.

“I’m glad you’re both okay. What exactly happened? How did you not notice that the taxi driver was drunk?” Megan held my hand and squeezed it tight. She seemed to have a hard time believing that I was back and doing just fine. “You should’ve known better,” she said bitterly to Nate. “You almost got Sophie killed.”

Nate brought his gaze down, unable to look Megan in the eye.

I quickly interrupted before she continued down that road. “It was just an accident. I was there, too, and I didn’t realize.” I felt like the worst person on the planet for lying to her face, but she would never believe the truth.

“Your parents must be furious about what happened. When my agent told me about your accident, I almost fainted at the Shanghai premiere.”

“I’m so sorry for putting all of you through this.” Nate fidgeted from foot to foot anxiously.

“Let’s just enjoy the party, shall we?” I nodded toward the terrace where most of the people were gathered.

Megan stroked my hair playfully. “We missed you so much.”

I smiled back at her. “I know. I missed you guys, too.”

Sylvia Westfield strode over. “You must be Sophie and Nate.” She kissed Nate and then me, but was still staring at Nate.

I nodded toward Sylvia, confused. Why was Megan hanging out with her?

She immediately explained. “We’re costarring in a movie. We met today at the screening test.” Then she whispered at me. “We have so much to catch up on.”

“Let’s go out to the terrace. Tyson, Chase, and Emma are waiting for you.” Megan wrapped her arm around mine and we walked over. I could hear Sylvia trying to make a pass at Nate as they walked right behind us. She didn’t seem to care that Nate and I had arrived together.

The terrace was packed with people. The stone railing was adorned with fairy lights, and there were white outdoor sofas in the side areas for seating. A DJ played loud music by the door, making me wonder how the other hotel guests put up with it.

“Sophie!” Tyson, Chase, and Emma shouted at once, and we all tangled into a group hug. Nate was being utterly ignored, but he didn’t seem to mind. He smiled at me with complicity, happy to see how much my friends had missed me.

Tyson slid his arm over my shoulders and pulled me toward him. “You stop doing crazy stuff!”

“Exactly, you hear him? You stop it because you scared the hell out of us!” Chase nudged my side.

The attention was overwhelming.

“You’ve got a scar from the accident.” Emma stroked the right temple of my head.

The scar will remind me of the unspeakable night for the rest of my life.

“Hi, Nate. We’re glad you’re okay, too.” Tyson interrupted, finally acknowledging he’d been standing next to us all this time.

Emma grabbed her phone from her pocket. “Oh no! Jason is downstairs and they won’t let him in. I’m going to go get him. I’ll see you guys in a bit.” And like that, she disappeared through the crowd.

“What the…?” Megan shouted, infuriated and staring down the terrace. “Tyson! Chase! Your friend Richard is throwing ice cubes at people on the lower balcony. We’re going to get kicked out.”

“We’ll be back in a second.” And Tyson and Chase disappeared into the crowd, too.

“Get him out of here.” Megan chased after them, shouting, and like in the old days, here I was, abandoned at a party. But this time I didn’t care; Nate was by my side.

Nate smiled at me. “They always do that, right? And they’re not coming back anytime soon.”

“I got used to it long time ago.” I rolled my eyes at him, and we both burst out laughing.

I looked around and I could recognize a lot of people. A few actors from a popular show on the Disney Channel gathered in one of the seating areas. I also recognized two movie actors. Mark Cole, a teen who had skyrocketed to fame through posting his singing videos on YouTube, was also here. All the girls in the party were trying to talk to him.

Nate and I leaned on the railing for a moment. We watched the people on the lower terrace who were also having a party.

“You don’t want to be here, do you?”

I shook my head slowly, feeling the anxiety already creeping up from within. We hadn’t spoken much about what happened in New York. I hadn’t confessed it to Nate, but since then, I was absolutely terrified of being on my own at night. As soon as I fell asleep and my subconscious ran free, one way or another, my dreams always brought me back to the Cloisters. It made me wonder whether I’d ever be able to close my eyes without being afraid again.

I just wanted to bury that night deep in the back of my memory and never talk about it again. Hopefully the vivid memories would blur away with the years.

Megan was talking to Sylvia and some other guys at the other end of the terrace. They were giggling and doing shots together. I didn’t want to bother Megan so it was best just to sneak out. I would call them in the morning.

I wondered if I wasn’t the only one who’d changed in the last few weeks. Unlike what she always used to say, Megan seemed to be enjoying her newfound fame and celebrity status. Megan was always down to earth and hated anything to do with stardom. But right now, she was soaking up the attention that she and Sylvia were getting.

“Do you want to say bye?” Nate nodded toward the other end of the terrace.