Flee (The Aurora Lockette Series, Book 1)

Copyright © 2012
Miranda
Kavi

Published by:

Midnight Blackbird LLC publishing at
Smashwords

This novel is a work of fiction. Any and all
names, characters, places and events are the product of the
author’s imagination or are used in fictitious manner. Any
resemblance to persons (alive or dead), organizations, businesses
or actual events is entirely coincidental.

All rights reserved by author. It is unlawful
to copy and/or reproduce this novel in any way without the express
written consent from the author. The author is a litigation-happy,
super-ninja attorney that gets angry when people steal her
book.

(Print Edition)

ISBN-13: 978-1480266827

ISBN-10: 1480266825

I can fly. It’s not as cool as it sounds.
Actually, it really sucks.

“Are you sure you can handle this?” my mom
asked.

“I’m a grown up now. Right?”

“Right.” She didn’t look convinced. She
leaned forward to give me a peck on the cheek. “I’m so proud of
you. Who would have ever thought my little girl would go to law
school?”

“All right, all right.” I tossed my purse
into the front seat of my battered old car. “I should go.”

Her green eyes followed me as I got in. I
rolled down the window. She hovered nearby, arms crossed over her
chest. She still wore her light blue scrubs from the night shift.
Her hair, a pretty light blond unlike my chestnut brown, was pulled
into a ponytail.

“Okay. Off I go.” I turned the key in the
ignition.

She leaned in my open window, her face
serious again. “Don’t let your guard down. I’m still not sure about
this.”

“Mom, I’ll be okay. I can’t stay in Wichita
my whole life. We talked about this.” I kept the gear in neutral,
but tapped the gas to rev the engine. “I need to go.”

She studied the back seat of my car, filled
with boxes and bags. “Are you sure you can see out the back window?
Is your cell phone charged? If you can’t make the drive all in one
day, just pull over.”

“Mom, please. I do need to go. Today would be
best.”

“Fine, kiddo. Love you.” Her smile was weak,
but it was there. She pressed several twenties into my hand.
“Bye!”

I saluted her and then drove away.

***

Exactly forty-eight hours later, I stood in
a small crowd of strangers. Many fingered the collars of starched
dress shirts and fidgeted with ties in the humidity and Texas heat.
It was the first day of law school. Orientation leaders had divided
us into small groups to tour the campus, get our schedules, and
pick up books.

“I feel like I’m back in high school, but
we’re the nerdy, overdressed freshman,” I whispered to Bree, a
friendly girl who I’d been chatting with all day. She was built
similar to me – short and petite. Her hair was platinum blond and
short and her eyes were a bright blue.

She leaned closer to me to answer. “Agreed.
Have you noticed all the 2L’s and 3L’s here are in shorts and flip
flops? They probably told us to dress up so we would look like
complete morons and they could have a cheap laugh.”

“2L?”

“Yeah. We’re 1L’s, first year law students. A
2L is a second year law student, a 3L is a third year law
student.”

“How did you even know that? It’s the first
day and I’m already out of the loop.” I used the campus map to fan
my face.

She snickered. “You’re not out of the loop. I
read it on some message board.”

We followed our guide out of the bookstore.
He paused to point out some of the other buildings on the campus.
The white stone chapel dominated this end of the campus. It had a
statue of the Virgin Mary in front of it, surrounded by what was
probably a very pretty courtyard. Right now, vans, cameras, and
trailers were piled inside the perimeter. Large silver screens
leaned against the side of the building.

“Are they filming something there?” I asked
Bree.

“Huh. Looks like it.” She raised her voice.
“Um, excuse me, tour guide person?”

He pivoted to face her. “For the fourth time,
my name is Joseph. See?” He pointed to his nametag.

“Okay, Joseph. I have a question. Are they
filming something here?”

“Yes. It’s the movie adaptation of
Blue
Leaf
. They’re filming at the University and some of the old
missions around town.”

“Are there any famous people here?” a very
sweaty guy in a suit asked.

Joseph shrugged. “Supposedly, but I haven’t
seen any.”

“Like who?” I asked.

“Try Mira Tavana, Savannah Gessner, Troy
Archili and Gavyn Dhaval on for size.” I turned to the speaker. She
was tall, tan, and carrying a handbag worth at least four times as
much as my car. “You haven’t heard? Everyone is talking about
it.”

“No. Just got here today. Right?” Bree turned
her back on the girl. I smiled at her, but followed Bree as she
walked away.

We walked in the heat to the part of campus
housing the law school structures.

“Have you noticed anything odd about this
place?” Bree asked as we climbed the stairs of the main law school
building.

“Well, besides the awesome taco stands, a
bunch of spoiled twenty-two-year-olds who drive luxury cars, and
the unbearable heat?”

“Something far more sinister. There are no
hot guys. None. Absolutely none.”

I laughed so loud people stared at us. “Maybe
it will get better when school starts for real and all the other
students are here.” I pulled the rubber band off my wrist and used
it to tie my long hair up off my neck.

“I freakin’ hope so.”

We walked into the large and wonderfully air
conditioned building that held the majority of the classrooms for
the law school. Long folding tables lined the wall of the lobby,
manned with 2L’s and 3L’s handing out schedules. I got into the
“A-L” line so I could get my schedule.

Bree found me leaned against the cool stone
wall reviewing my classes.

“Okay. So there are eight sections. Which one
are you?” She stood on her tiptoes to peek at my schedule. She’s
one of the few people in the world shorter than me.

“Er...blue, I think.”

“Sweet! Me too. Our schedules will be
identical.”

“Cool. I guess I’ll see you tomorrow.” I
shouldered my way too heavy backpack. She was nice, but I wasn’t
the type to have close friends. As my mom always said, it’s easy to
keep a secret when you don’t have anyone to share it with.

I walked out the glass double doors, relieved
to be alone again. The hot weather hurt my lungs. It was like
walking in an oven. The oven turned into an incinerator once I got
in my car.

I jacked the AC as high up as it could go. It
moved the air around in the car, but it wasn’t cool yet. I used the
back of my hand to wipe a layer of sweat off my forehead.
“Yucky.”

My car offered a squeal of protest as I
pulled out of the parking lot. The side streets surrounding the
campus were crowded with early evening traffic.

I rolled to a stop at the first stoplight. I
heard the sickening crunch before I felt the impact.

“Crap.” I glanced in my rearview mirror at
the dark blue car now attached to the back of mine. I did a quick
self-check. Nothing was hurt or bleeding. I tried to get out of my
car, but my door was stuck closed. I pounded on it with my shoulder
until it popped open.

I tumbled out, and ran smack into a solid,
warm body. “Oof.”

“Are you all right? Should I call an
emergency vehicle?” His voice was soft, but with a heavy British
accent. He wrapped a strong hand around my arm and pulled me off
the ground.

“Emergency vehicle?” I echoed. I dragged my
eyes up to his face. He was wearing sunglasses. Wild black hair
escaped in tendrils from the dark gray knit cap pulled down over
his ears. He was lean, muscular, and dreamy. His t-shirt strained
around his broad shoulders.

He smiled, and it was perfect. “Or,
ambulance, whatever you call it here. Are you okay?”

“Yeah, I am. Do you require emergency
vehicular assistance?” As I tried to flirt, I remembered I was
covered in sweat and wearing an unflattering pair of slacks and
suit jacket. My nametag with the law school’s logo clung to my
lapel.

His smile got wider, but he dropped his hand
away from my arm. “Not today. I’m fine, Miss,”—he moved closer to
read my name tag—“Lockette?”

I met his eyes again. My train of thought
evaporated. “Um, yes. What happened?” I shielded my eyes from the
fading sun to examine the wreckage.

“My driver said the brakes failed and we
slammed right into you. I will see to it personally you are
compensated accordingly. I am very sorry.”

“You have a driver?” I said.

A burly man wearing a cap approached us.
“Miss, I’m the driver of that vehicle.” He pointed at the dark blue
car. “Are you okay? Should we exchange insurance info? I’ve already
called the police.”

“Sure.” I retrieved the insurance info out of
the glove box. A nice traffic jam was forming behind us, one car at
a time squeezing past the wreckage. To my dismay, several of the
cars contained fellow law students who had plenty of time to take
in my wrecked piece-of-crap car and my sweaty, distraught
appearance.

I leaned against the door and closed my eyes.
My legs and arms were shaking. I needed to concentrate to keep it
from happening. I counted back from twenty, picturing each number
as it passed through my concentration. The calm came, slowly at
first, but then I felt normal. My feet remained firmly planted on
earth’s surface.

“Miss? The insurance?” The driver was
standing in front of me. “Are you okay?”

I straightened my posture. “I am. Thank you.
Here you go.” I gave him a copy of my insurance card. He plopped it
down on the trunk of my car and began copying over the information
to a notebook.

My car emergency lights were flashing and it
was starting to get dark. I sat on the curb and kicked off my heels
while we waited for the police. I closed my eyes and tried to find
my happy place, which right now was anywhere but here.

It occurred to me it might look weird for me
to sit shoeless on a street curb with my eyes closed, so I opened
them. The handsome British guy had one sneakered foot on the curb,
just a few feet away from me. He had removed his hat and
sunglasses, revealing light brown eyes and matching caramel colored
skin. He was ridiculously handsome. And rich, judging by the luxury
car now entangled with my economy ride and the fact he had a
driver.

He looked vaguely familiar. I racked my
brain, trying to place him.
Oh, my God.
Shock rippled
through me when I realized who he was: Gavyn Dhaval. The lead actor
of
Blue Leaf
Gavyn Dhaval.

He was watching me. His eyes met mine and he
smiled. I smiled back, a little embarrassed I was caught
staring.

My smile must have been an invitation,
because he closed the space between us. “Why don’t we go inside,
Ms. Lockette? I’m sure he’ll come get us when the police officers
get here.” He gestured at the small Mexican restaurant halfway down
the block.

“It’s Aurora, and yes, let’s go inside. I’m
hot.” I flushed at the double meaning of the words, but managed to
retrieve my handbag from the ground, put on my shoes in relative
short order and follow him into the restaurant. The air
conditioning was nothing short of heaven.

The food was delivered five minutes after we
ordered. I stared at my plate in silence. My stomach was sour and
food didn’t seem like a good idea anymore. I took the opportunity
to remove my suit jacket, straighten my blouse, and use some
napkins to dab my sweat soaked face.

“So, Aurora. What do you do?”

“I’m a law student.”

“Law student? Hmmm.” His beautiful smile came
back full force. “Aren’t you going to ask me what I’m doing
here?”

I took a bite of my food while I gathered my
thoughts. “I was getting there. What’s your name?”

“Gavyn.”

“And what do you do, Mr. Gavyn?”

He leaned back in his chair and chuckled
softly. “You’re funny. Where are you from?”

My thoughts scattered. He was way too good
looking. “I’m not really from anywhere, but right now I live here,”
I answered after a too-long pause for such a simple question.

“What do you mean you’re not really from
anywhere?”

“Well, I move around a lot. I don’t have a
place I would call home, well, except maybe for Kansas. I lived
there for ten years. What about you? Where are you from?”

“London. Born and raised, but my father is
from India.” He scooted his chair closer. “Pardon my staring, but
you have the most unusual eyes. Gray, like a dark storm cloud. Very
beautiful.”