Guardian (26 page)

Surprise!” Krissy screamed, jumping from behind the drapes and landing on the bed.

“What?” Nikki sat up, rubbing the sleep from her eyes.

“Krissy? How—how’d you get here?”

“I snuck in with your breakfast.”

Nikki had arrived on Casey Key late the night before, and Damon sent her directly to bed. Exhausted, she hadn’t argued. Waking in a sundrenched room infused with the scent of coffee, warm blueberry muffins, and saltwater boosted her dismal outlook somewhat. A petite woman dressed in a black-andwhite uniform had knocked gently a few minutes ago, deposited breakfast in the nook, and pulled the gigantic shade open. But the best friend springing up and down like Tigger Junior on the corner of the bed must be … a mirage? Nikki stared at the door, the curtain where Krissy’d been hiding, and then at her friend.

“Don’t look so befuddled. We’re going to have so much fun!” Krissy bounced, screamed, clapped, hugged her, and bounced some more.

Did she just say befuddled? Nikki reached to hug her again, since she’d missed the first one. Krissy felt real enough. And no self-respecting figment of one’s imagination would use a word like befuddled. Yes, this must be her best friend. “What are you doing here?”

“Mr. Vessler didn’t want you to be here alone, and he’ll be gone for a couple of days. So, ta-da! Best-friend weekend. Yay! I’ve been here for three days.”

“What?”

Krissy’s eyes rounded. “Yeah, I know, right? Crazy. Mr. Vessler actually owns the company my mom works for. Isn’t that bizarre? But I mean, not that weird, right? Seeing as he owns half the world.”

Nikki rubbed her eyes again as if continuing to do so would clear things.

Krissy cocked her head. “Four days ago, he shows up at my house and says he wants to bring you and me here, and my parents are like, ‘Sorry, no way are we sending our daughter, blah, blah, blah.’” Krissy hopped up and went to the breakfast tray, grabbed a strawberry from the selection of fruit, and popped it into her mouth. Talking between chews, she continued. “Within less than an hour, he’d arranged for my mom to have a few days off, and my dad is working on a real-estate deal for him. My dad is brokering the very property Mr. Vessler wants to purchase.” She pumped her fist. “Oh, yeah, Dad will be the listing and selling agent for the half-million dollar property, so that doubles his commission. Do I look tan?” She did a pirouette.

“You look gorgeous,” Nikki responded, but her heart thudded. Everything—abso-stinkin-lutely every little thing—worked out the way Damon orchestrated. The realization burned like a chili pepper, though she didn’t know why. After all, this entire trip and everything that went into it was for her. At the same time, she knew the exact reason Damon’s dealings rankled her.

If he couldn’t have something, he’d just manipulate things, people, and circumstances to his liking. He was a puppet master and the rest of the world his wooden dolls. Except her. He treated her like a queen. Even called her my lady. Well, Nikki knew Krissy’s parents, and they’d never send her off with some strange guy, no matter how handsome, how charming, how irresistible, or how rich. She found a trace of comfort in that fact.

Nikki shrugged out of the covers and met her friend at the silver breakfast tray. She needed to sit Krissy Doll’s folks down and have a chat with them. Find out what they thought of Damon, what they really thought. “Can your mom and dad meet us up here for breakfast? We can sit out on my balcony.” 

“Uh, that would be difficult, because they’re on a plane right now headed home.”

A slow molasses drip of alarm released into Nikki’s body. Krissy tipped out her bottom lip. “Don’t be sad, Nikki.

You’re gonna love the beach house. This is the kind of place we’ve always dreamed about.”

Was it? Nikki no longer remembered her dreams. She’d become more of a nightmare kind of girl lately.

Krissy was chatting on like one of those chipmunk characters that were supposed to be adorable, but who just gave Nikki a headache. “Remember when I had that ridiculous crush on Joe Jonas and you— Well, you really didn’t ever crush on anybody except maybe Josh Nolens, but we’d talk about awesome houses in the Hills and throwing parties for celebrities.”

“Those fantasies were all yours, Krissy. Not mine.” And it irritated her that Krissy had suggested she’d sat around fantasizing about rock stars and living in California. She wanted to tell her to shut up. Just shut up. But that would hardly be a proper greeting. Warranted, maybe, but hardly proper.

As the one-sided conversation rambled on, Nikki just couldn’t wrap her mind around the fact that Krissy’s parents left. “Why didn’t your mom and dad stay?” She took Krissy by the wrist just as her friend turned to pour coffee. She repeated a little louder, “Krissy, why didn’t your parents stay?” She shook her arm.

“Ouch,” Krissy yelled as hot coffee splashed onto both their hands.

“I— I’m sorry.” Nikki sank her free hand into a goblet of ice water and grabbed a handful of cubes from the bottom. She pressed them to her friend’s burn.

“The coffee got you too,” Krissy said, pointing to the dark droplets on Nikki’s other hand.

“Your hand’s going to blister.” Nikki moved the ice to a spot where bright-red skin began to pucker on Krissy’s wrist.

“Not yours.”

Nikki angled her hand. Where the coffee had splashed, there was nothing. Not even a tinge of discoloration. She didn’t even remember feeling the hot liquid hit her skin.

Krissy shrugged. “No surprise. I’ve been in the sun for three days, so my skin is probably a little sensitive. And as far as my parents, Mr. Vessler thought it would make you sad because your parents are—”

“Dead,” Nikki finished for her. “Because they were murdered.”

Krissy’s eyes widened. “So, well, he thought I should stay and they should go. His assistant Betty is here with us as an adult chaperone and there’s the, um, staff.” Her smile returned in full force. “He’s like the most amazing godfather.”

“So it would seem,” Nikki mumbled and split her alarm between Krissy’s parents and her over-the-top godfather. A voice in her head whispered that cages came in all shapes and sizes.

The dark ocean churned beneath her balcony.

She and Krissy had spent the day catching up, since Nikki’d refused to see her in Missouri—a fact that mortified her now, but she reasoned she’d had to work through her parent’s belongings. There’d only been time and energy for them, no one else. Except Damon. Strangely, Krissy hadn’t complained or asked why; she just hugged Nikki over and over and told her she missed her. Now the two of them sat before the setting sun watching the waves cascade and roll onto the shore.

When he appeared, Nikki’s breath caught. Without meaning to, she seized the railing and leaned toward where he stood like a Greek god highlighted against the glistening sea. Perhaps even Titus, emerging from the water to claim his bride. Fifty yards below, she felt his eyes on her. Mace looked so much like a wounded angel, her soul cried.

Restraining her emotions, Nikki turned to her friend. “What’s he doing here?” She released her grip on the rail and took a few cautious steps back, crashing into the balcony door.

“I don’t know, Nikki.” Krissy said. “But I think it means Mace loves you.”

“What do you know about it?” Nikki spat, and was instantly troubled by her response. “I’m sorry. I don’t know why I said that.” Nikki searched her best friend’s face for the unforgiving stare she was sure to find.

Instead, a wide smile enlivened her features. “It’s okay, Nikki.”

Come to me, Nikki.

The sound of his voice, though barely a whisper, crashed through all those barbed wire fences she’d been constructing. Bombarded with memories of him, her chest ached from the weight. Images danced through her mind like embers from a campfire, but each landed and burned. And that, that right there, was the problem. Burning holes in an already compromised nucleus, while she was courting more punctures to a damaged core. How stupid could she be? There was only a portion of her heart left. Did she really intend to ice-pick the rest into oblivion?

She started to turn toward her room.

No. Come to me. He must have sensed her intention. Of course he did.

He took a step toward her. Don’t run away, Nikki. You’re too strong to run.

Krissy grabbed her shoulders. “What’s wrong with you?”

Nikki’s eyes pleaded with her friend. How could she explain? With no ally, with no one to share her pain, her resolve started to crumble. If she hadn’t left him at Viennesse, maybe things would be okay now. But Mace had been the one to walk away, not her. Maybe not physically, though hadn’t he done just that when they argued in his room at the castle? She loved him. It barely mattered. “I can’t be with him. Not the way my heart tells me to.”

“But he cares for you. You need him right now, Nik.”

The hard box that kept Nikki’s fragmented heart safe began to shut. “It’s easy for people to talk about right now when they have a future.”

Krissy’s innocent eyes clouded.

“You have a family, Krissy. People to love you. You have a future!” she screamed.

“Mr. Vessler is going to give you a great future. He told my mom and dad he’ll see that you go to the best college. Have every opportunity. Work in whatever field you want.”

At what cost? The certainty of more pain confronted her. Crossing her arms, she squeezed, hanging onto what warmth remained inside her body. Hanging on to her strength.

“Nikki, Mace loves you.”

Everyone who loves me dies. She choked on the thought. It took her by surprise and, unguarded, slid into her being. She had to make Krissy understand. Nikki couldn’t divulge the truth, so she opted for practicality. “But his family moves, Krissy. One day soon, they’ll leave. And he’ll have to go. One more thing I love will be stolen from me. How many losses can I survive? One more?” She dragged Krissy inside. “I can’t take the chance.” She threw one last look out the balcony’s glass door, where Mace still stood waiting. “It would destroy both of us.” Eyes still on his face—she could see it incredibly clearly, even from the distance—she locked the patio door.

I won’t give up filtered to her through the glass.

Later, while she lay in bed, the voice returned. I’m still here. She shoved the pillow onto her face and pressed. But the battle was over before it began. She’d go to him. She had to. Once she’d known he’d arrived, he’d consumed her thoughts.

And that realization only added to her confusion.

Rising from bed, she pulled a chenille robe around her body. Though dressed in sweats and a T-shirt, the robe offered an extra layer of cover. Cover she needed right now. She swung the doors open and stepped onto her private balcony overlooking the sparkling water.

The breeze tugged her hair, gently at first, then intensifying as she stepped out.

He wasn’t at the water’s edge. She panicked until she heard the rustle of feathers beside her. Nikki turned slowly, facing Mace just as he tucked his wings behind him. He’d touched down near the banister and waited.

She read no emotion on his face, which was good. For a moment, she just needed to take him in. No smiles, no frowns, no greetings. They understood each other that way. His face was smooth and the moon played in his eyes, sending sparks toward her. The muscle in his jaw tightened and his throat made a sound that was neither a cough nor a swallow but somehow both. Then she saw it—the tear in the corner of one of those beautiful cerulean eyes.

And it undid her. Nikki’s emotions surged to meet his.

Relief, sorrow, joy all crashed together. When he opened his arms, the feelings collided in a desperate release of all the tension and fear she’d harbored. She tumbled into his waiting embrace.

He kissed her hair, her cheeks, her jaw. His hands roamed across her back as if making sure she wasn’t a figment of his imagination. Had his mind orchestrated this moment? Played it over and over so many times he couldn’t trust if it was really happening or if it was just another of a thousand fantasies? He pressed against her as if his forward momentum alone held the power to keep her forever. 

Step by step, he backed her to the balcony wall. Once there, he whispered, “Nikki,” capturing her face. He paled as he searched her. She knew of the dark circles that hung beneath her eyes, making even her irises appear darker. And then he was confessing, words pouring forth in a rush of desperation. “I’m so sorry for what I put you through. I never should have talked to you like I did.” Hands cradled her jaw. “You’ve been through so much, and I added to it with my stupid jealousy. I have a fallen nature, Nikki. One I’d like to forget, but it prods me sometimes, pushes me. Can you ever forgive me?”