Fallen (19 page)

“What was?”
I asked,
not
realizing
my gaze was intently focused on him
.

He
stared back, seeming
to
suppress
a smile. “You didn’t notice a thing, did you?” Without waiting for an answer, he said,
“
Is this going to be a
regular
occurrence? Keeping you alive
?”

I
noticed his body was still covering mine, his heat intense
yet
comfortable at the same time. Worried
that
he could see the excitement swelling in me, I frowned at him
.
“
Yo
u may have m
ore luck if you avoided shoving
me to the ground again,”
I replied
,
wryly
.

He released a soft chuckle
,
and I could feel his ribs move with his laugh.
Then, t
o my disappointment, he rolled off
of me
and chivalrously offered
me a hand up.

“
So
…
,
” I said, brushing the grass off
my clothes
. “Are you going to explain why you tackled me
?”

“You won’t like what I have to say,” he warned.

“Do I ever?”

“Good point
…
,
” h
e
conceded
. “
I was saving your life
…
yet
again.”
There it was … his grandiose
arrogance
was
back.

I shook my head
in disbelief. I
t wasn’t possible.
“From what? I’m on the grounds of a private school with security guards a
t
nearly every corner. I couldn’t be safer
…
,
” I paused to
watch
his handsome
mouth pinch
in disapproval of my
defense
. “Do you have a
H
ero
C
omplex?”
I asked, annoyed.

He
laughed whole heartedly
at that question, not offended in the least
. “
I have a feeling you’ll regret saying that.”
He glanced over
my
shoulder
,
and I
turned to find
a group of guys running
toward
us.
“Just be more alert, will you?”

“Of what? You still haven’
t told me why-
”

“I think I’ll let your friends here explain,” he said,
looking
over my shoulder
again
.

When I
follow
ed
his gaze, I
saw
that
the
group of gu
ys sprintin
g in our direction had nearly reached us
. Each of them was
carry
ing a bow in one hand
and an expression of
fear
frozen on their faces.

“Are you alright?” One of them asked.

“
At least he has
…
,
” I said, turning back to Eran
. My voice trailed
off
once
I realized he was no longer there.

Eran disappeared again
…
in the middle of an open field
…
within seconds
of
me looking away.

Embarrassed, I slowly turned back to face the group, noting that many of them exchanged apprehensive looks.
Someone from the front o
f the pack cleared his throat before speaking what was probably on everyone’s mind,
“
I’m not so sure
…
.
”

“I think
…
maybe
…
she should go the ho
spital. Have her head checked,” said a short guy with dark hair – I thought
I remembered him from
my first class.

“Actually, I’m fine
…
,
” I
confirmed,
to
the
sea of disbelieving faces.

However, g
iven that this kept happening between Eran and me, I
began to
wonder if
the hospital
wasn’t such
a bad idea.
“Really, I’
m not hurt.
No need to go to the hospital,
”
I repeated, exasperated.

An older man ran up behind the group
; he was
a bit more overweight and
clearly
out of breath. He w
ore a jersey with his name
, Coach Acer,
embroidered on
his
chest
,
and I recognized him
as one of the coaches I’d seen
talking to
the
school’s athletes
at lunch.

“
Young lady
…
are you
injured
?” he asked between gasps
.
B
ending down
,
he grabbed
his knees
to
support his body weight.

I was going to get very annoyed if that question kept coming up. My response was resolute
,
just to set the record straight. “Absolutely not.”

Still heaving for air, he said,
“That
…
t
hat’s good. Where’s the
…
arrow?”

The group of guys began to spread out, their focus on the ground, scanning the area
surrounding us
.

“Arrow?” I said, though
the words barely escaped my mouth.
Is that what all th
e
ruckus
was about? “What arrow?”

“The one that almost hit you,” muttered one of the guys
,
milling around.

“Oh,” I
faintly
replied
.

One of them bent down and stood up triumph
antly
. “Got it!”

He brought it back to the group, inspecting it along the way. “No blood
…
.
”

“I told you
…
I’m fine.”
I laughed, uncomfortabl
y
.
“You
really
thought that hit me
?”

“
No, w
e saw it hit you,”
corrected
the guy
that was
holding the arrow. “You fell to the ground.”

“I was actually push
….
“ I stopped
, allowing my words to trail off.
I knew
they would never believe that Eran had just been here a
few minutes
ago
or that
he caused my sudden plummet
in
to
the
dirt
.

It dawned on me
,
Eran
had been
right. He once again saved me
.
I didn’t want to
admit
it
,
but if he hadn’t been here
,
and
the arrow
hit
just
the right spot
,
I could
have
easily been
critically
injured.

I laughed,
apprehensively
.
“
You know
…
w
h
oever shot that
arrow should know
he’s
not all that great
with
his
aim.”

The guys
began to
chuckle
,
and someone
mumbled
,
“
Expert
archer
…
y
eah, right
…
.
”

“
Expert
archer?” I repeated, curiously. I’d heard that same term earlier
today.
My
mind filter
ed
back through the
day’s
events
,
b
ut someone else in the group was faster.