Allegiant
Authors: Sara Mack
Tags: #romance, #coming of age, #paranormal, #ghost, #college, #michigan
Allegiant
By Sara Mack
Allegiant (Book 2 in The Guardian
Trilogy)
Sara Mack
Smashwords Edition
Copyright 2013 Sara Mack
Cover art by Breena Slayton & S.M.
Koz
Edited by Abbie Gale Lemmon
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of this author.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters,
places, brands, media, and incidents are either the product of the
author’s imagination or used fictitiously. The author acknowledges
the trademarked status and trademark owners of various products
listed in this work of fiction, which have been used without
permission. The publication/use of these trademarks is not
authorized, associated with, or sponsored by the trademark
owners.
Dedicated to
A. J.
Thank you for remaining
allegiant to me.
I love you.
Table of Contents
The connection between us is indescribable.
Limitless. It is as if an invisible elastic band stretches between
us, and I’m powerless to ignore its pull. The band holds a soft
electric hum that sits in the back of my mind, reminding me of its
presence and my duty. Reminding me of her. Reminding me of what
I’ve lost.
There are moments when I feel gentle tugs on
the band. Instinctively, I know which are more important than
others. Only once, since becoming her Guardian, have I felt an
overwhelmingly strong pull, but I could sense she wasn’t in danger
and focused all of my energy on resisting the urge to go to her.
She asked me to stay away, and I trust her. I still need time. Time
to convince my mind and my heart that I can no longer love her.
I curse Garrett under my breath. Where did
he go? His guidance is needed now, more so than ever. My feelings
for her have yet to diminish. How much more time do I have before
The Allegiant step in? Before they realize my poor Guardianship and
take my memories and love for her by force? They have the power to
eliminate her from my life, for eternity.
I feel a gentle tug on the band again and
close my eyes tightly. I have to stop loving her. I have no other
choice.
1
~ Emma
There is only so much time you can spend
alone before you start to go mad. Now, I understand why they put
prisoners in solitary confinement. Solitude gives you plenty of
time to dwell on things. The past. The present. The future. What
you’ve done; what you didn’t do. What you would change if you
could. My list of regrets grows daily. This afternoon I’ve added
the following:
I should have kept myself surrounded by my
family and pushed back my move to school.
I should have controlled my shocked reaction
to my new neighbor telling me his name is Garrett, because he
hasn’t talked to me since.
And, I should have apologized to Dane before
I left, regardless of his hatred towards me.
I close my eyes to erase the memory of
Dane’s anger. It’s useless. His expression haunts me. I try harder
and his face morphs, changing into James. I feel the familiar
squeeze around my heart whenever I think of them, and tears start
to well behind my eyes.
I miss James more than I can comprehend.
Before his death we were inseparable. After his accident, he chose
to become a Guardian instead of passing on, in order to stay in my
life. He would visit me and stay throughout the night. His mentor,
Garrett, eventually pulled him away to be trained, so that one day
he could be assigned a Ward of his own. James’ absence led me to
lean on a friend more than I should have. Dane took my mind off the
sadness of losing James, stood up for me when I couldn’t stand up
for myself, and played a huge part in saving me from someone from
my past. I was in denial about his feelings for me, and I was
allowing him to get too close. James could see this, and it didn’t
make him happy.
When it came to me, Garrett knew how
tortured James was by his limitations. He could see how my
relationship with Dane was affecting James and determined the
possibility of my releasing James when I die was fading. When my
own Guardian was released from their duty, Garrett decided it would
be best for James if he were assigned to me. As his Ward, I would
be connected to him forever. But, unfortunately, there are rules,
and Guardians are forbidden to love their Wards. It clouds their
judgment too much, interferes with their purpose. So while James
will be bound to me for my lifetime, he is no longer allowed to
love me.
It’s been a month since I’ve seen him, and
my mind reels, wondering what he’s going through. James said he
would be punished, his memories of us erased, if he could not learn
to control his feelings. I told him to stay away, for as long as it
takes to stop loving me, but our separation is haunting. Not a
minute goes by that I don’t think about him. Or last summer. Or my
mistakes.
I shake my head to clear it. I need a
distraction. I roll over and pick up my phone to call my best
friend Shel. I have to be careful, space out my calls to her, and
monitor what I say. She would be the first person to recognize that
I wasn’t doing well on my own, being as she knows me better than
anyone else. What I wouldn’t give for her to drop everything and
come stay with me like she did this past summer, after James died.
But she’s at school too, in Ann Arbor, and she’s dating Matt now.
I’m sure he is there visiting her every chance he gets.
Shel picks up on the third ring. “Hey!”
“
Hey. What are you
doing?”
“
Watching Matt rub my
feet.”
Speak of the devil. “Oh, okay. I’ll let you
go.”
“
No, you don’t have
to.”
“
Shel, I’m not going to
talk to you while Matt rubs your feet. It’s weird. Just call me
later.”
She laughs. “Will do. Oh, wait a sec.” I
hear her adjust the phone as she talks to Matt, their voices
slightly muffled. She returns to me. “Good news! Matt’s able to
come with me to visit you for your birthday.”
I’m grateful that she can’t
see me rolling my eyes. Not that I don’t want visitors; I do. But I
was looking forward to having a girls-only birthday celebration.
You know, a gallon of ice cream and a movie or two. The last thing
I want to watch is Matt and Shel make goo-goo eyes at each other.
“That’s
great
,” I
say, trying to put some genuine enthusiasm into my response. It
still sounds forced.
“
Emmmmma….” she draws out
my name, sensing my irritation.
“
Call me back when you’re
free,” I say, ignoring her whine and hanging up. I roll on to my
back and stare at the ceiling. Now what? I play with my phone,
scrolling through the pictures I have saved. Most are of James
before his accident. A few are of Shel. And then there’s the last
one. I stare at the picture of Dane that I snapped after we
finished playing mini golf a few weeks ago, when he volunteered to
help heal my heart. Little did I know that, merely days later, I
would be hurting his.
I sigh and toss my phone aside. Things
really suck right now.
On August
30
th
,
the buzzer from the front door sounds in my apartment. I rush to
answer. “Hello?”
“
Happy birthday to you!
Happy birthday to you! Happy birthday dear Emma! Happy birthday to
you!”
Only Shel would sing into an intercom. “I’ll
be right there,” I laugh.
I leave my apartment and head down the short
hallway to the main entrance of my building. It’s actually an old
house that’s been converted into four apartments for students at
Western Michigan University. James and I had planned to live here
together during our last year of school, but, well, you know.
I throw open the door, anxious to see my
friends. “Hi!”
Shel steps forward and tosses her arms
around me. “Happy birthday!”
“
We’ve already established
that,” I say into her shoulder. “Where’s Matt?”
“
He’s coming. He’s getting
your gift out of the car.”
A moment later, I see Matt turn the corner
of the sidewalk carrying a large box. It’s perfectly square and
colorfully wrapped. “Hey Emma!”
“
Hey,” I smile as he
approaches us. I hold the door open for him as Shel and I enter the
hallway. They follow me to my apartment.
“
This is cute,” Shel says,
glancing around my place as we enter. “Very nice. Better than my
digs, that’s for sure.”
“
I can’t complain,” I say
as I close the door behind Matt. Looking at the box in his hands I
ask, “Why did you guys bring me a present? You didn’t need to do
that.”
“
It’s your birthday,” Matt
says. “Presents are mandatory.” He walks over and sets the box down
on my small coffee table. “You should probably open it sooner
rather than later.”
“
What’s the rush?” I ask,
just as the box moves on its own. I eye the two of them
suspiciously. “What’s in there?”
“
See for yourself,” Shel
says with a self-satisfied grin.
I approach the box cautiously. “It isn’t
going to jump out at me, is it?”
Matt smiles. “Maybe. Maybe not.”
I shoot him a questioning look. “Let me
re-phrase. It’s not going to bite me, is it?”
He shrugs.
I see the lid is wrapped separately from the
rest of the box as I tentatively place my hands on either side. The
box moves again as I grab the lid and jump back, much to Shel and
Matt’s amusement. As soon as the cover is off, two little ears
appear at the top of the box followed by two tiny white paws. A
fuzzy gray head peeks over the edge, and my heart dissolves
instantly. It’s a kitten. I let out an “awwww” as I step forward to
scoop him out of the box. “Where’d you find him?”
“
Her,” Matt corrects me.
“She was the last of a litter brought into my dad’s clinic about a
week ago.” He smiles and reaches out to scratch behind her ears.
“She’s three months old and very friendly. I made sure all of her
shots were up to date.”
“
We thought you could use a
friend out here,” Shel says as she steps forward, offering me the
plastic bag I noticed her carrying. “Here are some supplies for the
little booger.”
I laugh. “Little booger?”
“
She’s been tromping all
over my stuff for the last few days. I’ve been babysitting until we
came out here.”