Ignited (31 page)

Nathan was sound asleep when I crawled back into bed with him. As eager as I was to drill Alec for answers, I didn’t want to wake Nathan yet. More than anything, he needed rest, and I wanted to lie beside him. As always, his presence, even in a deep sleep, calmed my jitters.

My hand resting on his chest was all I needed.

I must have fallen asleep, because when I opened my eyes again, sunlight was spilling through the window and Nathan was gone. A quick glance around the room confirmed that he hadn’t gone far. I found him standing at the foot of the bed, with a puzzled expression on his face as he searched for something, trying to be quiet.

Despite the visual sensory overload, my brain was able to process a couple of things in those first few seconds after seeing him.

First, I realized that I had severely underestimated his supernatural ability to heal, because there he was, up and about like nothing had happened, in front of my very eyes. Secondly, I realized that I was seeing just how good he looked cleaned up, fresh from a shower. I mean, he looked really,
really
good. The fact that he was in nothing other than a towel around his waist was almost too much. That was the third thing I noticed, and was what ultimately turned my brain to mush. 

He had no idea I was awake. What a dilemma. I could lay here all day with this view, or I could help him out. I finally, and a little reluctantly, spoke up, “What are you doing?”

He spun around at the sound of my voice and our eyes met. The memory of our kiss washed over me, and sent my stomach into somersaults. He hesitated, and I wondered if something similar had gripped him.

“I’m trying to find my clothes,” he said, resuming his search.

“You’re definitely not going to be able to wear those.” I sat up on the edge of the bed and pointed to the heap of bloody bandages on the floor. “They’re under that mess somewhere and in no condition to wear.”

He looked from the gruesome pile to me. “What am I supposed to wear?”

“We could put a few more towels together and you could do a towel-toga thing.” Somehow, I maintained a serious expression and managed to not turn red.

From his head tilt and narrowed eyes, I gathered that he wasn’t in a joking kind of mood this morning. Regardless, I couldn’t help the grin on my face as I moved my gaze pointedly to the dresser, and the clothes stacked on top that I had pulled out of it earlier. Nathan saw them and approached with a hint of dread etched on his face.

“Alec let you borrow some of his.” I left out the fact that I had practically begged him.

Fortunately, they were close in size. The only problem was Alec’s wardrobe consisted of designer jeans and Abercrombie. Nathan was more of a track pants and t-shirt kind of guy.

He picked up a shirt like he thought it might be covered in cyanide. “I guess I get to be a pretty boy today.”

I smiled. He was going to look good in the clothes, no matter what he thought. I had picked the color just for him. The blue will match his eyes beautifully. “You never know,” I said, standing. “You might end up liking it.”

He gave me a look like he didn’t consider that even a remote possibility.

I paused as I passed by him. “Wow, you weren’t kidding about the healing thing,” I gushed as I examined the scars that were the only proof of the fatal wounds that had been there just hours before. 

“Yeah, I feel fine.” He turned so I could get a better look at the scar on his chest. 

“Good.” I resisted the urge to run my hands over the clean smooth skin in front of me. It took all the willpower I had to lift my eyes to his. “Don’t scare me like that again.”

My voice cracked on the last word. Not wanting him to see the tears welling up in my eyes, I hurried from the room without waiting for a response. Now that I knew he was going to be okay, the reality of how close I had come to losing Nathan was hitting me. Hard.

I made it to the back porch before the onslaught of emotion took out my knees, and I crumbled to the top step. It was a good hard cry and, I had to admit, I felt better letting it all out.

I didn’t remember the moment I knew I had such strong feelings for him. Maybe because it hadn’t been one moment. Maybe I’d been lying to myself all along, and it took him almost dying for me to realize it.

Was that what had happened to him that day by the river? Had I witnessed the moment he realized what I had meant to him—the moment I had become more than the little girl he found it necessary to protect? Had he cared about me
like that
all this time—all these weeks—through all the running and hiding, through all the training?

Through all the arguing?
  

Laying his life on the line for mine suggested plenty. Looking beyond the obvious clashes we have had, I could see the other signs that I had been too blind to see until now. His gentler moments when he showed concern for me, the way he purposefully never touched me unless he had to, the words he always bit back after a moment’s hesitation, and the truth visible in his eyes when they lingered on me a second longer than usual.

It had been there all along.

The screen door squeaked behind me and I wiped at the tears, desperately trying to pull myself together. I wasn’t ready to see him. I wasn’t ready to confront what had almost happened to him or the feelings I knew I had for him—and I was sure he had for me. Not yet. 

It wasn’t him that plopped down beside me. It was Callie.

She had an unnatural way of knowing when I wasn’t okay. Thanks to the red streaks that were probably all over my face, it wouldn’t have taken a genius to notice. Besides, Callie had seen the way I’d acted last night. She could fill in the blanks easily enough. From the look she was giving me, I knew she had.

“I don’t know why I’m crying,” I sobbed, throwing my hands in the air. “He’s fine.”

“You’re crying because he
is
fine, when by all accounts he shouldn’t be,” Callie said softly as she placed an arm around my shoulders. “For that matter, you have a lot of explaining to do. You can start with how in the hell he walked out of that room looking like he hadn’t been all but dead last night. And don’t think you’re going to get away without telling me who he is, either.”

I laughed through the tears. “It’s a long story.”

“Yeah, I kind of got that already.” Callie pulled back so that she could give me a stern look. “How did you not tell me about him? You ran off with him, and I didn’t even know he existed.”

“It wasn’t exactly like that.” I didn’t know where to start with trying to explain Nathan and, well, everything. 

“Alec told me some,” Callie said with a shrug. “I don’t know a lot, but I know you’re involved in some weird stuff.”

‘Weird’ was a bit of an understatement, but a start.

“Alec obviously left out the good juicy stuff.” Callie nodded her head toward the door with a wiggle of her eyebrows. “So, tell me. What’s the story with you and hot stuff?”

I shrugged. “I don’t know.”

“Well, you’re clearly in love with him...”

I stared at Callie, dazed by her words. Sure, I had some feelings and I cared about him, a lot. But in love with him? I’d never stopped to think about it. I didn’t even know what love was supposed to feel like.

“I…I don’t...” I stammered.  

Callie pursed her lips. “No? From the way you were acting, I just assumed.”

“I really care about him,” I murmured.
Did I love him?

“Yeah, no kidding,” Callie said. “Do you know how he feels?”

“No,” I said. “But we kissed last night.”

Callie looked at me dumbfounded. “Yeah, and? Wait, was this the first kiss?”

I couldn’t help the goofy smile on my face as I nodded. 

“Really?” Callie gaped. “I figured you two were a little farther along than that from the way you were acting last night. You even yelled at each other. I mean, if that’s not love...”

“Well, this is me we’re talking about. Not you.”

“True,” Callie mused. “You move at the pace of a snail. What am I going to do with you? That guy is gorgeous. I’d have been all over that a long time ago.”

“Hey! Hands off.”

Callie beamed at me like she’d uncovered some big secret. “It’s not fair though. Him
and
Alec? Those two are polar opposites, and yet equal on the hot-o-meter.”

I grinned knowingly at Callie. One was good, one was evil, and they detested each other; they couldn’t get any more opposite.

A squeak announced the arrival of someone else on the porch. Callie and I turned to find Nathan standing in the doorway. We must have screamed
girl talk
because he looked uncomfortable. I hoped that was why, and not because he’d heard what we had been talking about. His eyes lingered on me a moment before he put on a casual charade, and I knew it was because he could tell I had been crying.

He pointed over his shoulder. “About to have a chat with Alec. I thought you might want to be there.”

I grimaced as I stood. “As a participant or a referee?”

From the look on his face, it was clear he had been thinking along similar lines. We shared knowing glances before his gaze dropped to Callie, who had stepped in front of him.

“I don’t believe we’ve officially met. I’m Callie,” she said and extended her hand to his. With a note of warning that made me groan inwardly, she added, “I’m her best friend.”

I recognized the hint of amusement in his eyes as he gave her hand a shake. “Nathan,” he said.

“I know,” she returned with her usual flair of sass. She leaned into him secretively and lowered her voice. “I think we need to have a talk about your intentions—”

I gave her a shove from behind, steering her into the house. “Okay, Callie. Let’s go find Alec, shall we?”

Purposefully keeping my eyes turned down to avoid Nathan’s, I followed Callie into the house. I was pretty sure I heard a low chuckle from him as I passed, and I decided that
I
was the one who was going to have a word with Callie later.

Alec manned the black leather chair, his hands folded behind his head, his legs stretched out casually in front of him as he waited for us to join him. His eyes followed me to the couch, where I sat beside Callie, taking the seat closest to him. He gave me a weak smile before lifting a cool gaze to Nathan as he strode by.

Nathan took a stance along the wall across from Callie and me. He glanced at me before turning his attention to Alec, all signs of amusement from a moment ago wiped clear. His eyes were as hard as Alec’s on him.

There sure was no love lost between the two of them.

Alec spoke up, addressing all of us. “We have some things to discuss.” He leaned forward in his chair, focusing past me, on Callie. “You’re not going to understand a lot of this, but you can’t repeat anything you hear to anyone.” There was an applied
or else
that drove home the warning.

I gave Callie a sympathetic smile and she nodded. Her face was a little on the pale side.

“I can’t believe you got her involved in the first place,” Nathan said to Alec. “Isn’t that the one thing both sides agree on, to not involve humans?”

Callie grabbed my hand and I gave it a squeeze. I knew she was realizing for the first time that she was surrounded by not-completely-human company. I also doubted Nathan had meant to let that detail slip.

Alec snorted. “She was going to be a bigger pain if I didn’t involve her. Trust me.” From his tone, I could only imagine the hell Callie had put him through when I’d gone missing.

“Yeah, that’s true,” Callie added quietly.

“She was already on their radar. She’s safer hanging with me, believe it or not.” Alec narrowed his eyes at Nathan. “Now, enough about Callie. I want to know where your loyalty is before we go on.”

Nathan stood against the wall, his arms folded over his chest, a smirk on his face as he stared at Alec. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Are you on Team Kris or Team Lillian?”

My breath came in a sharp gasp and I held it, frozen in my seat, as I stared in disbelief at Alec.
What in the hell was he doing?
I wanted to kick him, and would have if it were geometrically possible.

Afraid to see his reaction, I peeked at Nathan out of the corner of my eye. He stared blankly at Alec in that way that he was so good at, that way that made it impossible to guess what he was thinking. The only thing I could deduce was that he was dangerously close to leaping across the coffee table at Alec.

“Your girlfriend?” Alec prompted with a teasing ring. “Seriously, she’s bad ass.”

“You should know. Don’t you work for her?”

“Girlfriend?” Callie whispered to me. I ignored her question.

Alec leaned back in his chair and shrugged casually. “But you know her on a much more personal level.”

I sunk into my seat, wishing for the ability to disappear. This time, Callie’s hand squeezed mine. From the almost comical look of annoyance on Nathan’s face as he purposefully avoided looking at me, he didn’t need to ask how Alec knew.