The Seven Devils (YA "New Adult" Romance) (21 page)

My first thought when we arrived is that Josh mistakenly placed us in a hospital. I guess I had expected something thrown together in a basement somewhere, but this was incredibly impressive.

I was standing at the entrance, and running down the length of the room on both sides were cabinets with glass doors, full of who knows what. There were a couple of stainless steel sinks and rows of test tubes and a large microscope. The center of the room was dominated by a large desk where Neil was currently sitting with a laptop, and a full doctor’s office-type exam table. Behind that, amazingly, I could see a gigantic piece of equipment, which I knew from years of watching medical dramas on tv was an MRI machine.

Neil came up and hugged me immediately and then shook Josh’s hand. “Sorry again, man,” he said.

Josh clapped him on the back and grinned. “No hard feelings,” he said, gave me a nod and a smile, and then promptly disappeared.

Neil turned back to me and pulled me in for a long kiss. “God I’ve missed you,” he said.

I held his body against mine. “I missed you too.”

Neil slipped my coat off my shoulders and threw it across his desk. “I know you’re not going to like this, but I really have to insist,” he said, and gestured towards the exam table.

My stomach clenched. “Insist on what?”

“I just have to do some routine checks; make sure you’re doing fine as you said. We don’t even know how Josh’s mode of travel works, and until we do I want to keep us all as safe as possible.”

“But what did your father say? Why is he talking to my brother?”

Neil put his hands on my shoulders. “That can wait. This is more important.”

I went over and sat on the exam table as he asked, but I certainly wasn’t thrilled about it. Neil opened several drawers and pulled out a few instruments and placed them on a cart along with his laptop and then wheeled it over to the exam table where I sat.

He rolled something across my forehead. “97.7 degrees,” he said, and recorded it on his computer.

“What is the capital of Montana?” he asked.

“Umm… Helena.”

He shined a pen light in my eyes and nodded slightly.

“4 to the third power?”

“I hate math,” I groaned, and the corners of his mouth twitched. “Well, 4x4 is 16 and 16x4 is… carry the 2… 64?”

Neil nodded and asked me to roll up my one of my sweater sleeves. He typed a little on his computer and then attached a blood pressure cuff to my arm. He put on a stethoscope and pumped up the cuff to check my blood pressure.

“105 over 68,” he said, removing the cuff a couple of moments later. “Is it usually low?”

I shrugged. “I have no idea. Are we done now?”

Neil nodded and turned back to his laptop. “Let me just enter the rest of this information.”

I rolled my sleeve back down. “The suspense is killing me. What did your father say?”

Neil pulled his desk chair a little closer to me and sat down. “My parents have come up with ways of blocking my abilities, and over the years they’ve gotten very good at it. Remember the day you met my mother? I had no idea she was in the house because she’s so good at cloaking her thoughts. My father is just as good if not better. I really had to push to find out what he knew. Luckily there was a bottle of scotch to help me out.”

“What I finally got out of him is that he met your brother because of Derrick. Derrick and his father invited my father to go skiing this past weekend, and they brought along your brother. Austin talked my father up and told him how interested he is in the television industry. In the end, he and my father ended up in the bar at the ski lodge late that night, alone. Austin then let it slip that his sister was dating me, and my father of course flew off the handle. He told your brother that he had to get me away from you and that I can’t be trusted. Austin pried for more information until finally, drunk and belligerent, my father told him everything.”

My jaw dropped. “Everything?”

Neil nodded. “Think about it. A few weeks ago I stopped Derrick on the way to your house, and he saw what I could do. We haven’t seen him since then. He must have told your brother and used him to get more information from my father. They’re clearly working together and are up to something. They know about us now. About me. I just don’t know what they’re going to do about it, and if they’re never around me I won’t know what they’re thinking or planning!” He pounded his fists on the desk and I jumped.

I slipped down off the table and sat on Neil’s lap. “It doesn’t matter, Neil. No one would believe them if they told anyone, and really what can the two of them do to us? I have you, and you have me. As long as we’re together nothing can stop us.”

The lines on his brow relaxed. “You’re right,” he said. “I’ll stop leaving you alone each night and everything should be covered. I don’t see what they could do to hurt us.”

I nodded slowly as I laced my fingers behind his head and pulled him in for a kiss. “The mad scientist look is pretty sexy,” I said after our lips parted. “What do you do here?”

“Trying to understand what makes me different,” Neil replied. “I’ve done so many tests, and I’ve learned a lot, but I still don’t understand it all. I need more equipment and a real lab,” he said, frustration clear in his voice.

“An MRI machine isn’t enough?” I asked incredulously.

“Not even close.”

I stared at it, hulking in the back of the room. “Where did you get that?”

Neil smiled. “You can buy anything online.”

Chapter 22

We had our first fight, and it wasn’t pretty. I still hadn’t seen or spoken to Hannah since the night she told me she was pregnant. Neil saw her everyday in school and I begged him to tell me what she was thinking.

“I’m not asking you to tell me all of her secrets or anything like that,” I persisted as we walked home through the grey afternoon. “I just want to know how to fix this with her and I don’t know how to do that without knowing what’s going on in her head!”

Neil just shook his head, snowflakes falling from his hair. “I’m sure you two will work it out. Maybe she just needs some time.”

“Maybe she does… or does she for sure?” He didn’t answer. “Neil, she’s important to me. I just want to be there for her. Can’t you at least give me a hint as to what I can do to make her talk to me again?”

He stayed silent.

I was a little pissed. I was just trying to help. I’m sure he uses his mindreading skills to help himself out all the time. Why he wouldn’t he help me in the same way? I sped up a little and put a little distance between us.

When I got to my house I threw open the door and stormed inside. I yanked off my hat and gloves and was unzipping my coat as I entered the kitchen, so I didn’t see the man carrying a box. We collided mid-stride.

I scrambled back, screaming, and swung out at the man. My fist connected with the side of his chest, hard and unyielding. The force of my blow caused my snow-covered shoes to slip on the tile and I ended up falling on my ass as the man cursed and tried not to drop the box.

“What’s going on here?” Neil asked, entering the room behind me. His voice was quiet and firm and helped calm me. He reached down and helped me up, and I moved to stand behind him.

“He’s robbing us,” I said accusingly.

The man shook his head. “I’m not robbing you,” he said, and set the box on the counter. “My name is Chad. I guess we’ve never formally met.”

“You’re the one dating my mom?” I asked, stepping around Neil slightly. I was surprised. My mother had mentioned Chad was younger, but she was at least 10 years older than this guy. He had buzzcut hair and had a wiry look to him. I would guess he was in his early 30s.

Chad nodded, “That’s me. She asked me to come by and pick up some of her things while she picked up a couple extra hours at the factory. Didn’t mean to give you a scare.”

I looked down, embarrassed. I can’t believe I fell on my butt. So much for all that self-defense practice.

“So are you two officially living together then,” Neil asked.

Chad grinned, “Yup. I’m sure you kids don’t mind not having your ol’ ma around, right? Besides, she told me y’all are graduating and moving out in a few months, anyways. Nothing like getting a head start on freedom, am I right?”

I had no idea what he was talking about, so I just nodded. Neil asked if he needed any help and Chad said he didn’t. He took that box out to where his truck was sitting on the street and took off.

I just stood there, going over what he had said.

“He thought I was your brother,” Neil said with a half smile.

“And he thinks I’m a senior too?” I asked.

Neil nodded. “Apparently your mother told him we’re, well, you and the real Austin, are twins and both graduating this year.”

I shook my head. “How was she going to explain it when I DON’T graduate at the end of this year?” Neil just shrugged. I couldn’t believe her. Nothing like starting out a new relationship with lies like that. I’ll bet she didn’t even tell him her real age.

Neil ran his fingers across my cheek. “Are you okay?”

I shook my head and sat at the kitchen table. I gasped as my butt hit the seat. Neil joined me at the table. “You’re going to have quite a bruise down there,” he said and touched my hand. Immediately he took my pain away. It never ceased to amaze me the things he could do.

I stared at his hand for a moment. “I wasn’t ready,” I said, looking back into his eyes. “All of our training and I still failed today.”

Neil shook his head angrily. “Ellen, I failed today.” He pounded a finger against his chest several times. “That was my fault. I let you walk into this house ahead of me and I failed to listen first to hear if anyone was inside. I failed to keep you safe because I let myself get distracted. You, however, ran into a scary situation and you struck out. You attacked him.”

I smirked. “I attacked him? I barely hit him and then immediately fell on my ass. I didn’t even hurt him.”

“You were wearing wet shoes and were too startled to worry about your stance. It could have happened to anyone. The important thing is that you stood your ground instead of running. You were scared, yes, but you didn’t panic.”

It was true that I did better than I would have a few months ago. “I just wanted to do better.”

Neil nodded and took my hand. “I just want you to not have to.”

***

Neil and I continued to work on my self-defense skills, but I was taking more and more time off to practice my French horn. The band’s Christmas concert was only a week away, and while Mr. Hanover didn’t give me a solo, the horn had the melody part in O Holy Night. Whether I liked it or not, everyone’s ear would be trained on me.

To make things worse, Neil and Josh were both going to be there. I wanted to throw up just thinking about it. Josh had offered to come over and help me practice, but I politely declined, quietly mortified by the thought of a professional hearing me play. Neil knew I was nervous and kindly made himself scarce whenever I practiced.

I was practicing in my room one evening when the doorbell rang. It completely startled me; I couldn’t remember the last time anyone came over. I didn’t even know where Austin had been for the last couple of weeks.

I wandered downstairs and opened the door and was shocked to see Hannah standing there. “Oh my God!” I squealed and pulled her into a hug.

When I pulled back I saw that she was quietly crying. I led her inside to the couch. “What’s wrong?”

She shrugged off her coat and pulled a wad of tissues out of her pocket. “I’ve been so mean to you,” she said, wiping her eyes. “I’m so sorry.”

I looked her in the eyes. “You have nothing to be sorry for. I’m just happy to see you again.”

Hannah exhaled deeply and gave me a big hug. “I was so mad at you, but it was just because I was scared. I didn’t plan on getting pregnant for years, and I was just so afraid of what it would mean for all my plans and dreams.”

I nodded. “So what’s going on? I haven’t seen you in almost a month.”

“When I found out I was pregnant, I tried to be so happy about it. I told myself this was all meant to be and that everything would be wonderful. I tried to spin it in such a good light when I told Garret that night, after I had told you. I told him about how wonderful it would be, being married and raising our child. He completely broke down. He told me he had been seeing another girl, this girl named Stacie from his college, and that he really liked her. He didn’t want to be tied down and this wasn’t what he wanted at all. Everything I had just told him was the exact opposite of what he wanted right now.”

I shook my head slightly and squeezed her hand.

“I didn’t know what to do. He said he wasn’t just going to leave me and let me deal with all this alone, but neither of us wanted to start a life together if that’s not what we both truly wanted. I ended up hiding in bed for a couple of days until my parents finally forced it all out of me. They were shocked, of course, and disappointed. My mom called a family meeting with all of us and Garret and his family to discuss options.” Hannah paused and looked away for a moment. “I’m keeping the baby, of that I was sure of from the beginning. Garret is going to be a father to the baby and help out with expenses, but we’ve broken up. For now. We could end up getting back together someday, who knows, but for now, I’m a single mom,” she said, with a slight tremble in her voice.

“Oh God, Hannah,” I said and hugged her again. “I know you’ll pull through this just fine, and you’re going to be such a good mother.”

Hannah nodded and smiled softly. “I sure hope so. Right now, he’s my number one priority.”

I perked up. “He??”

Hannah grinned. “I just found out yesterday. It’s a boy. We’re not sure about names quite yet, but we’re having a son.”

I bounced up and down and hugged her again. “I’m so happy for you.”

“I’m just sorry I kept you at a distance all this time. I just needed some time to get my head on straight, I guess.”

“Don’t even worry about it,” I said. “Now tell me all about pregnancy. Have you been throwing up constantly or what?”

Hannah laughed and we spent all evening gabbing on the couch, making up for lost time.

***

The evening of the Christmas Concert arrived and I was a ball of nerves. School was out already for winter break, but we all reported to school a couple of hours before the concert for a last minute rehearsal. I hit every note perfectly during our practice, and even Mr. Hanover reluctantly told me I did a nice job, but I was still terrified of doing it in front of a crowd.

I was holed up in a private practice room at the back of the band room a few minutes before the concert began, just sitting in the silence and trying to calm myself down when Hannah found me.

“I just wanted to wish you luck!”

“Hannah! You didn’t have to come. I can’t imagine concerts are any fun for you.”

She shrugged slightly. “I can feel the music if you’re loud enough. I just wanted to make sure you had a support section in the audience.”

I nodded and smiled gratefully. “I feel like I need it. I’m afraid I’m going to walk out there and throw up in the bell of my horn,” I said, laughing.

“Not the best mental image,” she giggled.

She was wearing a simple black dress and I could see the hint of a baby belly underneath. It was so adorable I couldn’t help but grin.

Hannah lowered her voice even though we were alone. “There’s a man here to see you. He’s sitting with Neil.”

“Oh, that’s my friend Josh. He’s a famous violinist.”

Hannah raised an eyebrow. “He’s making quite a stir out there. All the girls here are trying to fight over the closest seats to him.”

I laughed. “Sorry girls, he’s taken.”

Hannah laughed and hugged me. “They’ll be crushed. Well, good luck!”

I took a deep breath, held my horn to my chest, and joined the line of performers filing into the auditorium. Ready or not…

***

Once the last note was played and the applause began to die down I finally allowed myself to look at the audience. I had been too nervous to look when I walked in, and once the concert had begun I had completely lost myself in the music. There weren’t as many people in the audience as I had feared. I didn’t see Neil or Josh right away, but Hannah ran up to me.

“My parents are here already to pick me up,” she said, shoving her cellphone in her purse, “so I have to run already. You looked so confident up here! Did everything go well?”

I grinned. “Piece of cake.”

She gave me a high-five and hurried out.

I packed up my sheet music and then felt arms wrap around me from behind. I smiled and let my body melt into Neil’s. He kissed the space just behind my left ear and whispered “You are so amazing,” softly in my ear.

I grinned and turned around to hug him. When I pulled back Josh was there at my side.

“For you, Madame,” he said, and pulled out a bouquet of pink roses from behind his back.