Gravity (4 page)

bathroom. Guest rooms were upstairs, and if you took the secret lift in the bathroom to the lower

level, you’d only find a few rooms, including a study with a foldout bed.

She bolted from the table and followed behind him—her arms swinging along with her hips.

“Wait a minute. Wait just a minute. Give me my bag; I’m not staying here. I have

appointments that—”

“Can wait,” he insisted.

I heard the bickering all the way to the bathroom and then it quieted. What a turn of events, I

thought.

Once Page resolved to the fact that she wasn’t leaving the house, I talked with her briefly and

showed her how the elevator lift operated. She had work to do, so I headed back upstairs. I found

Justus in the kitchen drinking a tall glass of water with a wedge of lemon.

“Did Novis talk to you?”

“Yes,” he replied, taking a short sip of his water. “I’ve raised the security level and the monitors

in the living room will remain on at all times.”

Max strutted in and circled around his ankles with a meow. Justus set down his glass and

stared at my panther boy, who started licking his wet boots.

“Ghuardian, I’d like to go outside before the snow melts.”

He chuckled and rubbed his hands up and down his face. “Let me guess, you want to play in

the snow?”

I scrunched my mouth. “I grew up in hell and we rarely saw winter.”

“Tell you what—I’ll escort you outside once it dies down.”

“Gracias,” I said, bowing to him.

Maybe this kind of thing got old for those who grew up in it, but I wanted to enjoy the thrill of

throwing a few snowballs at his head.

I made my way downstairs and offered Page a set of silk pajamas. They were a make-up gift

from Sunny after the embarrassing lingerie she bought for my birthday, which I returned. It was

Sunny’s way of giving me the middle finger because they were purple with giant orchids. We had

an extra toothbrush and razor lying around, which I set aside for Page. She was upset that Justus

wouldn’t allow her to try to make it out of there in that beat-up Toyota of hers.

I grabbed an extra pillow from the closet, a soft green throw, and a pair of blue slippers. Justus

ambled down the hall on his way to bed.

I peered in the guest room. “Page, I got you…”

Page was fast asleep. We hadn’t turned down the bed yet, and it looked like as soon as she sat

down and curled up, exhaustion consumed her. I draped the throw across her legs, setting the

pillow on the floor in case she woke up with a stiff neck.

Justus loomed in the doorway.

“She’s asleep,” I whispered. “Let’s go to bed.”

***

The next morning, the house felt uncomfortably warm. Justus usually kept the thermostat at

level Siberia, so I wasn’t about to complain. The electric bill was doubtfully his motive because as a

Thermal, he had the ability to regulate his body temperature. He never took my complaints

seriously, only telling me about when he was a child, he once slept outside without any shoes

during a blizzard.

Sweet cocoa warmed my tongue, but what a shame there were no marshmallows left. Justus

strode into the kitchen, sweating like a bull in his black workout pants and tank top. His chest and

shoulders were ruddy, a telltale sign he’d been working out harder than usual.

“Who won? You or the punching bag?” I warmed my fingers around the cup, my mood ring

tapping on the edge.

He lifted a tall bottle of water from inside the fridge, gulping down several swallows between

pants.

“You should take a day off from that, you know.”

“Just because you’ve been slacking in your training doesn’t give me permission. I’m disciplined,

Silver. You should try it.”

I nearly spilled my drink when Page appeared in the doorway. I wasn’t used to someone else

being in the house besides Justus.

“I’d love an explanation of how I ended up in the bedroom at the end of the hall.” She brushed

a swath of messy hair away from her face.

My eyes landed on Justus, who was avoiding eye contact. There were two bedrooms on that

floor, and she sure didn’t sleep in my room last night.

Justus wiped the sweat from his brow with his forearm and crossed one foot over the other as

he leaned against the counter. “Are you hungry? We should eat,” he asked and declared, all at

once.

I blew on the froth of my cocoa and slurped down another delicious sip.

“No,” she said, massaging her wrist. “I’ll pick up a bite at McDonald’s on the way home.”

We followed her into the living room and I plopped down on the long sofa, covering up with a

red blanket. Max’s tail stuck out from beneath one of the leather chairs, sweeping left and right.

“You’re not going anywhere,” Justus informed her. “The snow tapered off last night, but the

roads are treacherous.” He pointed at the monitors. “They rarely send the city trucks this far out to

clear them.”

“Look, I really appreciate your hospitality and putting me up for the night, but snow is snow.

Frozen flakes of water are not going to keep me from getting back to my job.”

Justus laughed boldly and chugged a mouthful of water. “You’re mortal. If that object you call

a car slides off the road, you could freeze to death.”

“Not if you carry her, Ghuardian. She won’t have to worry about freezing.”

I gave a wide, toothy grin and immediately felt like running when he cut me a glare so sharp

that it could have split atoms. He was used to the banter, but I crossed the line when I did it in

front of company. Maybe the jaw-clenching tipped me off.

I leapt up and Max flew out from beneath the chair and skidded between Justus’s legs. I

snorted, watching Justus lift his knee and turn to watch him go.

“Ghuardian, I’m going to get dressed and head outside.”

I dashed to my room—as much as one can dash going down secret lifts—and bundled up in a

pair of jeans, a heavy white sweater, and knee-high black boots. Not the kind made for snow, but

for coolness. When Justus had stockpiled my wardrobe, practical items for winter weren’t

considered. I lacked a decent pair of waterproof gloves and thermal anything. I grabbed my coat

and tucked a black knit hat over my head.

When I made it back upstairs, Justus was stretched out on the sofa, already showered and

watching the monitors on the wall. I glared at his snow boots, nylon pants, and thin shirt with long

sleeves and a hood.

“Is that going to be warm enough for you?”

He cocked his head at my inane question. Justus the Thermal could go outside naked and

enjoy a lovely glass of frozen margarita while sitting on a glacier.

Page came up from behind and looped her long white scarf around her neck. “I’ll go with you,

Silver. I want to see what all the fuss is about.”

Justus lowered the security to allow us out of the house; stealth meant no one in and no one

out. Once we got topside to his oversized garage that housed only a few cars, the door lifted and I

ran into the snow. It crunched beneath my feet and I wasn’t thinking about lifting my knees, so I

tumbled facedown. Even with a face full of snow, I could barely contain my laughter.

“Holy shit, Page. Where’s your car?” I yelled out, looking at a giant snowball.

“I guess that mound over there.” She hiked through the snow in her flat sneakers and knocked

off a chunk from the hood. It was buried in snowdrift. “Hey, can someone get me a broom or

something?”

I heard the insistent crunching of heavy boots trudging through snow as Justus plowed his way

to her side.

“Hey, Justus!” I yelled. “Why don’t you just lay down on the car? That should—”

A snowball hit me in the face. Beneath his stoic expression was a hint of a smile. I wasn’t

supposed to address him by his given name while under his Ghuardianship, so that was my

warning.

“Oh, it’s on,” I declared.

I retaliated with a few snowballs and he ducked, but the last one clipped the back of his head

and Page let out a high-pitched, melodic laugh. When Justus turned his head, all I saw were

teeth. The man was actually smiling—with his teeth! It wasn’t the fake smirk or the wide grin he

gave the women at the bar. I hated to dwell on such a thing, but Justus concealed his emotions

and I rarely got a glimpse of the real guy beneath all the layers of Armani and cologne. He looked

five years younger.

Justus began breaking up the snow and clearing it off the roof of her car. Page used her bare

hands to clean the windshield, and snow covered her arms. Mine were already red and swollen

from the biting air, so I cupped them together and warmed my fingers with a heated breath. The

snow wasn’t as deep in the woods, and branches hung low with the heavy weight of winter.

I scooped up a handful and tasted it.

“Avoid the yellow snow,” Justus said without a hint of humor in his voice, which made it

funnier.

I lost my balance and fell backward. As miserably cold as I was lying in a pit of snow, I took a

moment to admire the silent clouds drifting overhead. My life had turned so serious that I needed

to cut loose and laugh.

“Ghuardian,” I panted, blowing out a white, frosty breath as I approached the car. “Do you

want me to start digging out the driveway?”

I glanced at a yellow triangle hanging on the back windshield that read: Genius on Board.

Page had a sense of humor. Especially given that most geniuses wouldn’t be caught dead

driving that beat-up car.

He lifted his blue eyes toward the winding path. “No, allow me to take care of that. We should

move inside and change into dry clothes. I’ll work on the path later.” Justus lifted his face to the

sky, squinting at the billowy clouds. “I think we’ll be okay,” he murmured to himself, as if he could

read something in the sky. Sometimes I got a glimpse of the man who had lived many lives, in

different eras. How surreal to think of all the changes in history that Justus had witnessed in his

lifetime.

Once inside, we stomped around in the outside hall to knock off the snow from our shoes so we

wouldn’t track it into the house. I collapsed in the entrance hallway, lying on my back.

“I’m exhausted.” I unzipped my ruined boots. “Sorry to report that these are going into the

trash.”

“Here, let me help you.” Page crouched beside my feet and gripped the heel, giving it a tug. I

slipped out of my coat and shivered.

“Page, look at your hands,” I said, noticing how swollen and red they were.

“It’s fine.”

Justus closed the door and towered over her. “Let me see your hands.”

When she didn’t obey, he crouched down and clasped his strong hands around hers.

A moment passed and her doe eyes lifted to his. “Is that heat coming from you? Silver made a

few remarks, but I’ve never actually met a Thermal. That’s really an amazing gift.”

Justus wasn’t very good at containing an emotion called pride. It showed in the subtle way that

he straightened his back and his eyes glittered.

She pulled away. “It stings… maybe too much heat.”

At the break in contact, Justus stood up, grabbed the pile of wet clothes, and left the room.

“You have free rein over my closet, Page. I’ll throw your clothes in the dryer, but we’re pretty

close to the same size if you want to borrow mine.”

She tugged at my other boot and I peeled off my socks. “You’re very kind, Silver. Don’t ever

lose that quality with age. Even some of the Learners that I meet have an air of superiority about

them, as if they are the chosen ones.” She unlaced her shoes and threw her wet socks beside

mine.

“Probably because they were chosen.” Her eyes latched on to mine in surprise. “My Creator

made me against my will. I choose my life now, but I wasn’t a chosen one.” I emphasized my

words by using my fingers to make quotation marks in the air. “That’s why I’m like one of those

wild stallions—always running off and kicking my heels. At least, that’s what Justus tells me. This is

my life now, but you have to admit we have some pretty ridiculous rules.”

“And Justus took you in? It just seems so…”

“Unlike him? I know. I thought he was a prick when I met him too.”

She smothered a laugh and pulled off her scarf.

“He’s an honorable man who wants to do the right thing,” I said. “You get used to his

personality after a while and eventually learn to love the grumpiness that is Justus.”

Page stood up, pulling off her coat. “If you say so. I’m going to switch out of these jeans before

they adhere to my legs.”

“Do you ever go out?” I asked out of curiosity. “For fun.”

“Umm, on occasion. Why?”

“Just wondering if you’d like to do a girls’ night out with me and Sunny. I’d love to have some

of those again. Being surrounded by all this testosterone just isn’t good chicken soup for the soul.”

Page pressed her lips together and gave a short smile. For a bookworm who wore reading

glasses and avoided makeup, Page shined in her own lovely way. Her light brown hair had an edgy

cut that tapered off around her neck and a long swoop of bangs parted on the side. It was a