The Oath (7 page)

This has been the best Christmas ever! No, scratch that, this has been a Christmas beyond anything I could have imagined! Sebastian came over to my house today with a Christmas rose just for me! OH MY GOD! He brought me a rose! I didn’t think he’d even call me. I mean it’s been DAYS since school let out and nothing. Then out of the blue he shows up on my doorstep wearing that killer sheepish grin and bearing a present. I mean, come on! Sebastian Caine!

He was wearing those worn out jeans of his, and I could see his blue tee-shirt peeking out above the zipper on his leather jacket. His beautiful eyes were full of warmth and his gorgeous hair looked windswept. Though the wind from the incoming snow storm might have helped, but it doesn’t matter. It made the butterflies in my
stomach launch and go into overdrive. 

I called Susie as soon as he left and she was screaming into the phone. She’s the only one who knows how bad of a crush I’ve had on him since freshman year. I can’t believe he is so sweet! I am still smiling about it. He told me that he tried to find something as beautiful as I was to give me, but even the rose paled in comparison. I nearly fainted on the spot. If it wasn’t for Dad glaring holes into us, I think I might have. Sebastian has a reputation, but he was so nice and so romantic and just so…his smile just makes me melt.

I told Mel all about him and she just raised that eyebrow of hers. I don’t care what she thinks. Sebastian is the hottest guy in school and there is no way I’m not paying attention when he comes around. And let me say it again, he’s so sweet! I can’t believe my luck. I feel like I am literally blessed this Christmas. I have my sister, who is a little weird, but still, she’s my sister and I love her. I have great friends, my family, and now the one guy I always wanted is interested in me. IN ME! Best Christmas ever!

Chapter Eleven

~ Protector ~

I spotted Xavier as soon as I stepped out of the school. He stood by my car, his face pensive and a little sad. I almost turned around and went back inside, but the devil in me wouldn’t hide, even if he was a Hunter sent here to stop me. Danger emanated from him and made me all the more cautious. My dad didn’t raise a fool.

Or maybe he did. Despite the fact that Xavier had the potential to be a lot of trouble for me, I found myself drawn to him. I wanted to run my fingers through his hair, of all things. I had never reacted like this to anyone, and it made me need to find out more. So, me being me, I did what I always did when I got scared. I went on the offensive.

I marched over to my car and gave him my best hell just froze over glare. “What do you want?”

“To save you.”

I frowned, startled. That wasn’t the answer I expected.

“Are you a Witch Hunter?”

He laughed. “No, I am most certainly
not
a Hunter. I’m a Protector.”

“A what?” I scrambled my brain cells trying to force them to remember if I’d ever heard of a Protector before, but I came up with nada.

“A Protector,” he told me solemnly. “I’m
your
Protector, Melinda Rose James.”

“How do you know my full name?”

“Because…hmm, I think you’ll have to go out with me if you want any more answers, my little Rose.”

I rolled my eyes. I thought for a second we might actually be getting somewhere, but no. He just had to go and ruin it, didn’t he?

“Why would I even want to go out with you?”

“Because I’m exceptionally handsome?”

Well, he was, but still. “High opinion of yourself?”

He grinned, and I felt my knees go all weak. I leaned against my car for support. Warp drive, speed five had ignited with that smile, and I wasn’t prepared.

“Very.” He smiled rakishly and then leaned into me. “So will you have dinner with me, Miss James?”

His scent engulfed me, and I wanted to sit and just inhale it. His smelled of books and mahogany and strangely enough, stone. My dad used to tell me that stones didn’t have a scent, but they did, even if it was hard to describe. At least, I could smell it. It’s dark and comforting all at the same time.

“You’re turning out to be very stalkerish, you know.” I opened my car door, forcing him to move. I breathed a little easier when he wasn’t so close.

“So you’ll go out with some strange guy to help him make a girl jealous, but you won’t go out with me?”

How in bloody hell did he know that?

He laughed at my dumbfounded look. “There are so many things I could tell you, Melinda, if you’d just agree to go out with me.”

My hinkey feeling went on high alert with that statement. The Fates knew what he could do to me if he got me alone. Then the hormones in the same breath wondered what he could do to me if he got me alone. I shook my head, confused. The guy knew way too much.

“Why is it so important that you get me alone?”

“So I can ravish you?” he questioned in a completely devilish voice.

How could he go from serious and dangerous to arrogant and teasing in the space of five seconds? If he meant to keep me off balance, he was doing a right and proper job of it.

“No one is ravishing me today.” I got in my car and rolled down the window. “When you decide to be honest with me, we’ll talk.”

He bent down so he was eye level with me. “Trust me, Rose.”

“I don’t know you,” I told him, my heart beating wildly at the predatory look in his eyes.

His lips twitched. “When you decide to trust me, we’ll talk.”

“How can I trust you if I don’t know you?”

“Exactly,” he said, grinning. “You need to get to know me so you
can
trust me. Let me take you to a movie, and we’ll get to know each other.”

I should have known he’d come back round to that. Before I could say anything, someone cleared their throat behind Xavier. He turned his head enough for us to see Brandon standing there. He was frowning at Xavier.

“Mel, you okay? The guy bothering you?”

Xavier gave him a curious look and then stood up. I expected him to smart-mouth him, but to my surprise, he didn’t. “Bothering is putting it mildly,” Xavier said with a laugh. “I am trying to get her to agree to go out with me, but so far no luck.”

“Then maybe you should take a hint and leave her alone.”

That came from Sebastian, and he definitely had an edge to his voice. My eyebrows shot up at the level of testosterone coming off him. His eyes were hard, and I saw a hint of the darkness swirling in them I’d seen in Mandy’s. That boy could hurt someone.

“No, guys, it’s fine,” I told them to try and head off trouble. I wasn’t sure exactly what Xavier could do, and I didn’t want Brandon hurt, at least not until I figured out if I could save him. “Xavier is an ass, but he’s harmless
and
he was just leaving.”

“I’m far from harmless, Rose,” he whispered before jamming his hands in his pockets. “If I thought she really wanted me to leave her alone, I would.  See you around, Rose.”

I watched him walk away, whistling as he went. I had no idea what to make of him, but I would find out exactly what he was and then figure out how to deal with him.

“You okay, James?” Sebastian had taken up Xavier’s spot crouched in front of my window.  “You look like you want to hit him, but you look like you want in his pants too.”

“I definitely want to hit him,” I growled. He was exasperating. But did I want in his pants? Maybe.

Sebastian laughed. “So, you want to meet up after your date? I want all the gory details.”

“That is such a girl thing to say.” I grinned. Despite what I knew about Sebastian, he was easy to like. I could understand why my sister had been infatuated with him.

He grinned right back. “You betcha, babe. Friends kiss and tell.”

I saw Brandon glowering at us out of the corner of my eye. I couldn’t afford to have him mad at me or anyone in their little group right now. “Hey, Bran, thanks for checking on me. It was really sweet, and I appreciate it.”

“No worries, Mel. It’s what friends are for.” He gave me a tentative smile.

“I’m not sure what time I’ll be done with my date, Sebastian.” I turned my attention back to the boy in front of me. “I’ll tell you tomorrow, okay?”

He gave me a pouty look, but Brandon perked up when I didn’t rush to spend time with Sebastian. Guys are so typical and even more predictable. I wanted to roll my eyes, but refrained. I was supposed to be a blonde Barbie sweetheart, not a Goth bitch. I missed the Goth bitch, though.

“Fine, then, make me wait. Always a bridesmaid and never a bride.” He sighed dramatically.

“What?” I laughed. Where did that come from?

“Isn’t that what all the girls say when they don’t get the guy?”

“Man, I think you’ve lost it,” Brandon said, laughing.

Sebastian winked at me, and then I understood. He’d picked up on Brandon’s feelings and was trying to make sure he didn’t feel, well, jealous. I think he was trying to be a good friend.

“What?” He gave us both an injured look and stood up. “I’m in uncharted territory! This is my first
real
attempt at being a girl’s
friend
. I’m doing the best I can.”

I saw some of the tension ease out of Brandon. I think he started to believe that Sebastian wasn’t interested in anything but friendship with me. The boy had a crush on me. If only he really knew what I wanted, he wouldn’t be so eager. That thought sobered me, and I forgot how charming Sebastian could be. I needed to remember what he’d done to Jenny. Letting him charm me would only make what I had to do harder, especially with Brandon. If I couldn’t save him, I’d kill him. I’d regret it, but I wouldn’t let them hurt anyone else.

“See you guys later,” I told them and rolled up my window.

The drive home was short, but my mind kept trying to come around to the fact about how much I was growing to like Sebastian Caine. Not butterflies in your stomach like, but like as in a good buddy to spend time with. He was charming, funny, and even considerate. For Jenny, who adored him to begin with, he’d have bowled her over, and she’d have been helpless to resist him.

The Sebastian from her journal and the Sebastian I’d been talking to seemed like two different people. I was starting to get a little troubled about what I was planning. What if Jenny’s journal hadn’t been an accurate account of what went on? What if she truly had been depressed or delusional?

No. I shook my head violently. I knew my sister. This was all Xavier’s fault. He was making me feel regret and shame for taking another person’s life when they deserved it. They killed Jenny, and now they would pay for it, charming or not. She deserved justice. Even if I gave up a part of my soul to accomplish it.

Chapter Twelve

~ Date Night ~

Jeff waited for me on the porch. I could see the frustration on his face, even from in the car. He looked ready to hurt someone. Uh-oh, wonder what happened? He looked up when he heard me shut the car door. I walked up the steps and quirked an eyebrow at him. I’d learned he hated the cold as much as I did, so why was he sitting out here, freezing to death?

“What’s up?” I asked him, taking a seat beside him on Gran’s porch swing.

“She doesn’t want me to go out with you, but yet she refuses to tell me she feels more for me than just friendship. Why?”

“I’d say because she loves the guy she’s with.” Even though he didn’t want to hear it, and I
did
promise to try to help him out, I had a feeling nothing we did would tear Cassie and her yummy mountain of delicious guy apart.

“But she loves me too.”

He was right about that as well. I saw it when she looked at him, but I don’t think it was enough for her to leave the other guy. Jeff’s big old blue eyes were so full of hurt and anger that it made me want to go upstairs and beat the girl black and blue myself. Jeff was a genuinely nice guy who’d done so much to prove himself to Cassie. He and I had a long talk about it, and I was personally team Jeff. I mean, the boy took a bullet for her and that had to count for something.

“You know what I could really use right now?” I asked to try and distract him.

“Hmm?”

“Ice cream, loads and loads of ice cream.”

He gave me a look that said I was crazy. “Ice cream? It’s freezing already, and you want to eat something to make you colder?”

“Trust me, ice cream helps any situation. It’s a girl thing.” I laughed and then took his hand to drag him to the car. “Don’t try to understand it, just go with it.”

The front door opened and Cassie stuck her head out. “Jeff?”

He turned in her direction. “Yeah?”

“Ethan and I are getting ready to watch a movie. Do you want to join us?”

“Sorry,” I yelled from the driveway. “I got dibs on him for the night.” Before he could say anything else, I shoved him into the passenger side and then hurried to climb in the driver’s door.

“How in the name of the Fates do you fit into this thing?” he grouched as he shifted his legs, trying to find a comfortable position.

“It’s a classic,” I told him defensively. “Don’t complain about Herbie. You’ll hurt his feelings.”

“Herbie?” he choked out between laughs.

“It’s not funny!”

“Oh, yes it is!”

I gave him a good shove on the arm and started the car. Cassie stood on the porch glaring at us. Her golden eyes were spitting fire, but hey, if she didn’t want him, she needed to stop leading him on. Maybe if this didn’t help her realize she might love him more than the other guy, it might at least help Jeff a little.