Not protected, p.26
Not Protected, page 26
"That's not true," I argued. "Several hours away from Paradise is a gas station once manned by a teenage boy named Trent, and I had been attacked there a month before I met you. That group had already been ransacking many other cities of Montana before they ran into me. They've been hunting the borders before you stepped foot in this town, Darkwood."
"But now they know exactly where you are. They have my number, they can--"
He pulled out his phone and threw it on the ground. The screen cracked and several shards shattered around the floor of the elevator. Alec stomped onto the little device, wreaking further destruction. "Now I have to buy you a new one," I sighed, grabbing at his arm.
"Maria," he whispered, and I was surprised to hear how unstable he sounded. "You don't understand-you're the only reason I'm here. I'm the reason why you hurt. You risked so much to help me, and all I've done is been a burden and a liability. You probably don't even want me around."
Disbelief coursed through me as he finished his sentence. "Alec," I started, letting go of his arm, "you don't actually think that, do you?"
"Why in the gods' names wouldn't I?" he half-laughed. "Flynn didn't want me around. Now I've gone and ruined everything, it wouldn't make sense for your family to let me hang around." "You're not running out on me," I snapped, the force in my words causing him to finally look at me. "I didn't save you so that you could mope, Darkwood. I know that being around you is risky and I know that you haven't been able to give us much inside information, but I don't care. You're not a liability. You're not a hazard. You're my friend, Alec. We're in this fight together. Do I have to quote
"Do you know how fucking guilty I felt when I saw you on the ground? Do you know how much I would hate myself if I became the reason you're not here one day?"
"We are nobles, Stacyander. Once upon a time, we took back a kingdom together. Our favorite choice is to fight, not run. Don't you dare walk out on me. I need you in this fight."
I held an arm out to him, a fire burning inside me that I hoped he could feel.
Alec's fingers gripped my forearm and I smiled. "Let's burn them down, Banks," he promised. "I'll help make sure this kingdom stays your's."
Nothing good ever comes out of a science class
* * * "You should tell Agent Harlin to stop walking by our house so much," I called out to Elijah while peeking out the window. "People are going to start asking why he only walks up and down this street." Elijah appeared behind me and looked out the window as well, watching Harlin pause in front of our house and pretend to speak into his phone. He caught our glances before turning away and stalking off. I wouldn't even give him five minutes before his next stop at our house.
"Tch," Elijah scoffed. "Amateurs." With that, he returned into the kitchen, where Alec was currently doing dishes. As punishment for letting me get in trouble, Alec had been doing dishes for the past two weeks. I was in charge of dinner every night, since Elijah figured that being thrown into a car and being cooped up in the house was enough retribution.
Right before I was about to head down the hall, a knock on the door was heard. Despite the fact that I was literally five feet away from the door, Elijah and Alec collided with each other as they raced down the corridor, knocking each other into the wall as they stopped at the entrance.
Boys.
The knock belonged to Michael, much to our surprise. Alec let go of the recently-bought cane he grabbed after Elijah swung open the door to reveal my bodyguard.
"Morning," I greeted. "I didn't realize you'd been released." The sky thundered, and a flash of white appeared amongst the coal-colored clouds. Elijah moved me aside and ushered Michael into the house. His complexion was much less pale and the shadows under his eyes had faded considerably.
"I thought I'd surprise you. Also, I didn't trust Darkwood to deliver you to school on a storm day. He'd probably lose you in the rain or something." Michael grinned as he dodged Alec's blow. "Just because you're injured doesn't mean I won't hit you, Cross," Alec threatened. "Besides, we've been followed by agents for the past two weeks. Even if I did lose your precious princess, she'd have to through those guys."
"I don't know," Elijah muttered. "She managed to escape a Dragon member once." The sky gave another grumble, the noise trembling through the walls of the house. All of us made our way into the kitchen. Alec slid me a cup of coffee before he returned to his dishes. Elijah placed his empty plate by the sink and was then doused with a good amount of soap water.
"How are you feeling?" Michael asked as he took the seat besides me. Then, just as the volume of Elijah and Alec's bickering crescendoed, Michael leaned in lowered his voice. "You didn't visit me after the first week, what's going on?"
It was hard to visit Michael. One, because the fresh surplus of agents my father had hired to be stationed around Egypt made it practically impossible for me to go anywhere. I wasn't allowed at the coffee shop anymore. I couldn't even walk out to the mailbox without seeing seven different agents stare me down.
Two, the fact that I had to fight Sophia to make it into the hospital began to exhaust me. Nothing says fun and enjoyable more than arguing with Sophia Missers while having agents breathe down your neck, ticking down the time you had left before you were forced to go back to the house.
"I wanted to visit," I said, offering him an apologetic. "It's just been hard for me to get out of the house. And I mean impossibly difficult."
Michael nodded. "Harry told me how on guard everyone's been. I'm sor--" Before Michael could finish his sentence, the doorbell rang again, prompting Elijah and Alec's routine of grabbing the closest weapon. They inched towards the door, with Alec clutching a soapy butcher knife while Elijah held up a broom. Michael took a protective stance in front of me, but I just sighed in exasperation.
Judging from the lilting accent in the voice greeting Elijah, the overwhelming politeness in the tone, I knew it was Vincent. After a few minutes passed, the Blackewell boy strode through the front door, carrying a dark blue canteen in his hand. His blond curls were dampened by the drizzle outside and his red thermal was spotted with rain drops, creating dark splotches all over his arms and chest. "I didn't know you'd be here, Michael," Vincent grinned, extending a hand when he came into the kitchen. It took Michael a long minute, but he finally accepted Vincent's greeting before seating himself back down, facing away from Vincent. His expression was a thousand times more moody than it had been earlier.
"I could say the same to you," I said. "I told you I was feeling better. There's no need to try and poison me with your tea anymore." Vincent put on a pout as he set the canteen down in front of me. "My tea is not that bad, Maria," he countered. That was a blatant lie. That kid couldn't brew a bag of ordinary green tea if his life depended on it. "But I'm here because I'm spending time with Elijah today."
I raised a brow at my cousin, who simply shrugged in response. "The poor kid hasn't had anyone give him a tour of Paradise," Elijah said. "So, even though I'm not his betrothed, I figured now would be the safest time since the amount of agents here should be enough to prevent his mother from chewing my ear off."
I ignored Elijah's jab. Michael turned to face me. "You're sick?" he asked. Alec walked by and grabbed my cup of coffee, taking a swig of its content before his face puckered. "That's way too much cream," he complained, wrinkling his nose. "She wasn't sick. It's just been Migraine Town here for the past two weeks. Trust me, you're lucky you weren't here. She was annoying."
"Why didn't you tell me?" Michael frowned, and his hand almost brushed against my cheek but my fingers caught his wrist before he came too close. "Yes, let me tell the injured patient lying in a hospital about an hour away about my headaches, that makes so much sense," I snorted. My eyes darted towards the clock on the microwave. "By the way, we're going to be late if we don't leave now."
Alec let out a bewildered laugh. 'You sound like you actually want to go to the academy." "Oh, for the love of the gods', just leave," Elijah groaned, jabbing his finger in the direction of the door. "And tell Harlin to get the hell off of my lawn." Elijah shooed us out of his hose, locking up the front door after we were all on his lawn. Michael's car was Mariaed by Elijah's. Down at the end of the street, I could see the figure of one of the many agents stationed around the neighborhood casually jogging their dog. In the rain. Because that was sensible.
Elijah and Vincent got into Elijah's car first. My cousin rolled down the window and gave a lazy salute before sliding on his glasses--even though there was no sun. Vincent waved at us all, smiling like a child and blushing when I waved back.
Once they drove off, Alec made a noise at the back of his throat as Michael unlocked his car. "He's always blushing," Alec noted. "Not at all husband-material." I rolled my eyes as I took the passenger seat. The engine rolled to life and Alec leaned forward from the back to crank up the radio.
"Tall, dark, and handsome with witty remarks to everything in order to mask his tragic past. Black hair, mesmerizing jade--"
"I'm not marrying you."
"But I'm perfect husband material!"
"Maria, if you're marrying him, I'll have to pray for the future of the kingdom," Michael chimed in. Alec flashed him a scowl, but that quickly turned into a malicious smile as the station began playing Katy Perry. Alec then leaned into his seat and began to sing along. Horrendously. Needless to say, it was an unpleasant ride. Not only did Alec sing off-key, the boys entered a competition of "Who Sang It Worst?"
When Michael finally Mariaed his car in the school Mariaing lot, I practically fell out of the car as soon as the engine cut off.
"Hey, Stacy!" someone shouted from across the lot. I turned and saw a group of students heading through the field entrance. They waved at me. "Tell Michael we said hi!" The rainfall began to thicken as Michael and Alec grabbed their bags from within the car, so I threw the hood of my jacket up and headed towards the courtyard entrance. Once the wind picked up, the three of us made a mad dash for the interior of the academy. By the time we stopped in the Main Hall, water dripped off our clothes and formed large stains on the crimson rug we stood on.
Alec pulled off his jacket and while he was in the middle of tugging off the academy sweater, his untucked dress shirt was dragged off, revealing a rain-soaked chest. Someone wolf-whistled from down the hall and the girls walking past giggled.
"Hot damn," Harry snickered as he approached our group. Minnie and Josh were right by them, laughing as they watched Alec hurriedly pull his shirt back on.
"Don't you know that staring is rude?" Alec said in a joking manner towards Minnie. She only rolled her eyes and gave him a quick once-over before her lips twisted into a smirk. "If only there was something to stare at," she quipped. Outrage bloomed on Alec's features, but before he or Minnie could launch into a battle of wits, Michael tapped my shoulder and pulled me away from the group.
"You're not trying to lure me to my death, are you? I asked as the two of us headed down the hall. "I'm not particularly interested in watching you change."
I held Michael's bag as he pulled off his coat and sweater. The entire duration of the walk was filled with conspicuous gawking from girls and catcalls from Michael's fellow classmates. He only grinned cheekily when someone commented on his see-through dress shirt.
"I'm starting to think you're enjoying this," I said as we arrived in front of the gym doors. "Contrary to your belief, I don't enjoy attention," he replied, his voice growing faint as he headed into the boys locker room, I leaned against the wall, listening as a locker door opened.
"I have many years of visual evidence to fight that statement," I argued. Suddenly, I realized a small little detail I had overlooked. "Where's Sophia? Does she know you were released?"
That's why I felt so calm. There was no one here to threaten to rip my throat out for walking with Michael.
Oh, peace, how I've missed you. "She doesn't know I'm here." Michael strode out of the locker room. He had changed into black sweats and a dark blue long-sleeve shirt with the emblem of the academy printed in white right on his heart. His hair now stuck up in several directions, probably due to a quick towel dry.
He had a look of slight guilt as he took his material back from me. "I wanted to pick you up. She would've come with if she had known and I know you guys aren't on the best of terms right now." "When are we ever on good terms?" I murmured. Michael offered me an apologetic smile. "I'm just holding onto the hope that you guys will find a way past your differences. I know you, Pa-Stacy," he corrected hastily. "I know you're good at extending a hand to people." I didn't respond to Michael for the rest of the walk. The journey to our first period of today was made in an awkward silence. The class was normally on the third floor. Professor Thorne, our lovely astrophysics professor, had an issue with rainy days. Over the month and a half of having him as my professor, I, and many others students, realized that whenever the sky turned dark and cried, our professor preferred the seventh floor and operated little elementary labs.
Rumor has it that Thorne only held classes in the seventh floor lab because Crying Christopher, one of the academy's ghosts, had died on a rainy day in that lab. If no one taught there on rainy days, Christopher would begin to haunt other floors.
Of course the lab wasn't actually haunted, and the more logical rumor was that something tragic happened on a rainy day once upon a time, causing Thorne to lose his enthusiasm for the storms every time the rain fell.
If you do hear any stories about a Crying Christopher, though, just know that I did
Michael cleared his throat once we stopped in front of the lab room. "I have to go down to my mother's office," he said. "Don't do anything rash while I'm gone.
"You act like I'm going to blow the lab up," I scoffed, pushing the door open. Michael left with a grin on his face, even though three years ago, he had been the one yelling at me for the destruction of academy property before we launched into a beaker fight. The both of us had walked away from that battle with physical scars and a month-long detention.
In the class, Zen was seated by the windows, his attention invested on his phone. He didn't look up as I slid into the seat next to him. The rain pelted the windows and left long streaks on the glass. We were the only two in the room, but judging from the hands on the clock by the window, it wouldn't be long before the room would be filled.
"Did you know there's a rumor this lab is haunted?" Zen said, not taking his eyes off his phone. "I see you don't believe them since you're here all by yourself."
Zen looked up and stuck his tongue out at me. See, Zen put on a brave show. Kidnappings, high-speed chases, potential criminal records--none of that terrified him. Shove the boy in a dark room or tell him a ghost story (I've done both) and you'll have him shaking like a leaf in a hurricane.
"I know you spread those rumors. You told me on the phone once," he frowned. "And you promised me you wouldn't bring that up in public."
"What's up with all these blatant lies? I am a mature young adult, I would never spread those kinds of rumors." Just then, the bell rang, its chime filling the emptiness of the lab and within a few seconds, the doors flew open and a myriad of students streamed in. Several of them waved at me with way too much enthusiasm for eight 'o'clock in the morning.
At the end of the crowd was our rain-soaked professor, looking more miserable than ever. He had a coffee cup in his hand, which he tossed into the trash before taking off his coat and collapsing into his seat.
"Morning," he greeted dully. "No notes today. It's a lab day." The process was so familiar to us that no one had their binders ready. An atmosphere of casualty had settled in the room. My peers, normally sitting straight with pencils and pens prepared in their hands, eyes focused to the front, were lounging in their chairs, giggling and whispering while Thorne took role.
"I figured with all this rain, we'll have a relaxed class--" Thorne began.
"Does Stacy get to blow up the class?" some kid in the front joked, causing the whole class to laugh behind their hands as they recalled the many times an experiment didn't go too well with me. Thorne's expression darkened (if that was even possible) as he glanced over at Zen and me. "We're setting ice on fire. I figured that'd be pretty easy. But thank you, Thomas, for reminding me about assigning partners."
This prompted a unanimous groan from the class, and someone cursed at Thomas. Thorne sent us all a glare before picking up his neon blue clipboard (decorated with constellations all over the surface) and began pairing off students.
"Misser and Beversh."
Where's an assassin when you really need one?
"I will not work with her!" Sophia protested right off the bat, sounding absolutely repulsed. Well, she wasn't the only one.
"I'm going to second that," I piped up, and she shot me a dirty look, as though it was a crime for me to speak around her.
"Why, what's wrong with the two of you together?" Thorne asked, raising a brow, his eyes darting between the two of us. "She'll just screw everything up!" "I refuse to work with someone who's going to bring down my grade," Sophia continued. "Oh, please." Sophia curled her lips. "It's not like you have a reputation for intelligence."
"Unless the both of you would like detention, as well as a meeting with the headmistress, I would recommend that you both quiet down immediately," Thorne intervened. "It's a fifteen minute lab, you can tolerate each other for that long, can't you?"
"But--" Sophia pushed.
"Would you like to take this up in the office?" Thorne narrowed his eyes. "Talking back to professors without a firm cause is frowned upon here in the academy." Sophia shut her mouth and leaned back in her seat. Taking that as a sign of defeat, Thorne cleared his throat and continued pairing off students. When the last pair was announced, everyone got up from their seats and scrambled around the room. Zen stood up and patted my shoulder, giving me an extremely apologetic smile before joining Thomas over on the other side of the room.
Sophia appeared after a few minutes, a scowl on her face as she dropped her notebook on the table. "I'm going to get the supplies," she declared. "I'd like to get this over with as soon as possible." Sophia returned with a plate containing safety glasses, a beaker of ice cubes, tongs, a pink-handled lighter, and rubbing alcohol. I hated this lab. The room always smelled disgusting after everyone finished pouring their alcohol over the ice to set it on fire.
