Page 9 of Guarded
I drop the blanket over her before I palm her face. Her long lashes lay across her cheek. I stand there for a moment longer to watch her chest rise and fall. How did the earth conspire to bring such beautiful things into the world just to break them?
Chapter 4
Ariella
When the car stops, I feel Officer Greyson’s traitorous hands on me again. He pulls me up and out of the vehicle. I can’t see through the thick black material, but I can hear several different voices.
“I was told I’d be compensated for my services,” Greyson says. I listen as the two men exchange money and sigh in relief when I hear the absence of Greyson.
Another hand comes to me. It’s rough but not in the way Greyson’s touch was. I’m surprised to admit that it actually feels comforting.
“You’re going to come with me, and she’s going to stay here.” The first male voice says.
“No. She can’t.” I cry out through the hood, suffocating me.
The firm hand holding my arm pushes me forward as Genesis’s cries fade behind me. I hear the sound of a motorcycle in the distance. She cries louder. Another voice emerges.
“Take her back. Room 376.” The same voice says.
My feet shuffle ahead of me as I’m placed in another vehicle. I cry until I can’t anymore. I lay my head on the door and close my eyes. My throat aches, and my words shake.
“Where are you taking me?” I ask.
Silence falls between us, and I lay there desperate for sleep to take me. A hand runs over my hair. It feels soft and safe. Then I hear a calm voice. It’s dark and laced with something that ignites a shudder through my whole body.
“Home.” He says.
Ariella
You can’t keep ignoring me. Please just let me know if you’re okay.
My hand stills before I send the message. I had sent Genesis a thousand messages since that night we were kidnapped and separated. It was a shitty situation. We were trying to find Lucia, and instead, her stalker decided to emerge from the shadows to intervene and use the situation to get to Genesis. Her stalker, Cassiel, happens to be my very own blood relative. I never knew he existed, and now I want to continue believing he didn’t. Overwhelmed with everything that happened, I couldn’t decide whether Cassiel was good or bad. Some people just are.
Genesis, on the other hand, was my best friend. She had been since our parents introduced us when I was five years old. She was a good person—the best person. Despite living in different states, the distance never weakened our friendship.
I would look forward to our trips to Houston so I could catch her up on everything going on in my life.
She was the only friend I had. I had a tutor for the first few years before convincing my parents to let me attend a private middle school. A sad mistake, considering everyone there had already established friend groups. It didn’t help that I had severeacne and braces. I ate alone and kept to myself, but I enjoyed watching the social interactions.
I look down at the picture I had saved for Gen’s contact. We were twelve years old at the annual family Christmas party at Calavera Hotels. The camera captures our matching plaid outfits and tight embrace. I loved this picture because it was one of the last times I remember Gen happy. After that, things got dark. Her smiles faded.
I’m standing in the kitchen when Nero comes in dressed in an all-black shirt and black jeans. I’m too tired to pretend I hate him.
“Hey.” He says.
“Hey.”
“Did something happen yesterday?” he asks.
No, something happened years ago, and I am still obviously triggered by it. But I don’t say that, and he misinterprets my silence for confusion.
“I noticed you didn’t go to your grandfather’s.”I didn’t.
It was a case of the Saturday saddies, but he wouldn’t understand. Hell, I didn’t even understand it. Sometimes, I just felt sad or unmotivated. I was starting to attribute the whole thing to the amount of time I was spending online. The fact that all my friends lived on my phone was a constant reminder that I had no actual real-life friends I could rely on. Just likes and views.
“I wasn’t feeling well. Female things,” I say.
I learned a long time ago that saying female things gets you out of a lot of conversations most men are unwilling to have. At least, that’s how it was with Adan, Axel, and my father. Nero narrows his eyes but doesn’t pursue the matter further.
