Fallen (22 page)

His eyebrows rose. “You
have
?”

I ignored him. “
I also noticed you don’t go to my school.
So whe
re are you when you’re not
…
here
?”

“Busy, very busy.”

“Saving others?”

“Nope
…
,
” He shook his head back and forth slowly. “You demand too much of my time to allow for that.”

I groaned. “Thanks for the reminder.
”

He moved
,
startling me; but s
eeing
my reaction
he stopped halfway to the bed. “May I?”

“
Yes
…
,
” My heart began
to
pound harder
,
knowing his intention
was
to sit beside me, narrow
ing
the space between us.

When I felt the weight of his body dip down, causing its own indent
ion
in the mattress, I thought my heart was going to
explode
through my ribcage.

I was almost certain its heavy pounding was audible
,
when he
asked
, “You’re sure?”

“Of course…”

The nearest parts of our bodies were inches away
again,
and I could fe
el the heat radiating from him.
Although
, when I
glanced
up, he didn’t
appear flushed at all
. He
was
calm and collected.
“
Look,
I’m not
certain
how to explain this but…I will do anything…anything to keep you safe. It’s not a burden. You’re not taking anything away from me. This is my willful choosing.”

“But why?
I don’t understand.
You barely know me,” I asked, bewildered
by
his
declaration
. “We just met a few
days
ago
,
and I’ve only seen you three times
before tonight
.”

He dipped his head
, displaying
a bemused, secretive grin. There was something he wanted to explain, something to confess
,
but he held back.
Instead, he seemed to choose a different response.
“You are more importan
t than you give yourself credit
for
, Magdalene.”

“How could you possibly believe that? There’s no reason to…
.
”

“You’re important to me.
”

Hearing those words
made my heart flutter and my head snap
up
,
facing
him for the first time since he’d sat down. He was already staring down at me. “I am?” I whispered.

He smiled softly. “
More than you know
.
”

I felt a grin slowly invad
e
my face.

The tension
was quickly growing
between us
. We were
captured
in
each other’s eyes, unable and unwilling to
break away.
I
clasped
my hands
in my lap,
steadily
working them
, trying to expel the strain of having him so close and yet so untouchable.
He
,
too
,
seemed to
be
struggl
ing
.
H
is jaw
was
clenched tight
,
and his breathing
was
short and shallow.

Suddenly, his body s
tiffened
and
he blurted
out
, “
Your questions…Do you have more?
”

I was
startled
by
the
blunt
ending to our intense moment
.
F
eeling
the flush return to my cheeks
,
I wondered if I had just imagined it all.
No
…
I decided
…
I
saw
the unmistakable
craving
in his eyes.

I was confused; why did he
abruptly
end our moment
?
Stumbling
over my response
,
I answered
“
I
…
y
es
…
I do…actually.”

He
seemed to breathe a sigh of relief
,
but I couldn’t be sure
.
“
How did you move so fast when the snake came out of my bag?”

“Would you rather I let the snake attack you?”

“That’s not what I mean
…
.
”

After
quiet
ly
pausing,
he
admitted,
“I
know what you mean.”

“Then
will
you answer me?”

“
Yes
,
but before I do, I’d like you to answer one question for me
.”

“Sure,” I replied, hesitantly
.
Now I felt
the scrutiny that Eran must be feeling.

“What else have you noticed about me?”

I shrugged.
“You’re impenetrable,
you
move extremely fast, and…”
I let my voice trail off
,
survey
ing
everything
I had noticed.

“Yes,” he pressed.

“No one else seems to see you but me.”

He
allowed his gaze to drop
,
but he didn’t answer. So I went on.

“You appear and then vanish like a ghost. You aren’t injured from venomous snake bites. You aren’t killed by wayward, incredibly sharp arrows.
”
Then, I reiterated, “
I am the only one who can see you
…how
is any of th
is
possible?”

“
You
do
pay attention,” he said, sounding
almost
regretful
,
though I
didn’t
understand why
.

“Yes, now will you tell me how you are capable of all that?”

He paused, still looking at me, as he collected his thoughts.
The muscles throughout his body visibly flexed,
tensing
as he prepared his answer.
“
I have certain
…
gifts…that not many others can claim
…gifts
of speed
, healing,
and regeneration
,
to name a few
.
”

He paused, waiting for my reaction.

“
Don’t worry
so much,” I said, teasingly. “
I’m not going to run screaming for the door.”

We
quietly
laughed together for a
brief
moment
.
When
I felt
like
he was comfortable again,
I asked my next question.

“So, w
here did you get these gifts? Did your parents take some sort of special drug?”

“Not exactly. I can’t answer that, as much as I know you’d like me to. Just suffice, Magdalene, to know that without these gifts, you wouldn’
t be here right now
.”

“
I realize that.”

“That’s good. It’ll make my job easier the next time.”

I rolled my eyes.
His assumption that there would be a next time was arguable
,
but
I knew
bring
ing
up that point would be futile.
“
So what are your other gifts? You hinted
that there are more
.
”

“Oh…I can control mechanical things. Your motorcycle
…
for instance
…the
first time you saw me
.
Remember, y
ou were about to collide with me in the middle of the street
and
thought you
were losing
control
, but really,
I
took over
…
turning
it for you before the Mustang could make contact.”