Tending Their SECRET (13 page)

“No. I don’t think I will. Maybe you weren’t
ready to go back in the field. Maybe I should call Reina.”

She doesn’t answer me. I know I’m being an
asshole, but I still can’t stop myself from saying these things. I
need to blame her, so I don’t feel like I’m to blame. It’s fucked
up and wrong, but she’ll forgive me. She already said she’d ignore
what I said.

I don’t even realize we’ve arrived until
we’re waved through the front gate. Ellie parks the car where
directed and throws the keys to me. She walks in ahead of me, and
doesn’t look back, even when I call her name.

We have to wait for the elevator together,
but she just stands there with her arms crossed and jaw clenched.
“Ellie.”

“Don’t. I told you to stop, and you didn’t.
You went too far.”

“I know. I’m sorry.”

“I’m going to go up there, and stay with you
until I know your mom is okay, and then I’m leaving,” she tells me,
getting on the elevator first.

“What can I say to make you stay?”

“Nothing.”

I bang my head against the
elevator wall, and curse my stupidity. She
should
be leaving me. Not just today,
but forever. She said she wouldn’t, and I believe that. She’s
always been the better one of us, and I hold onto the hope that
she’ll forgive me, even though I’m way past second chances, three
strikes, and nine lives, too.

“Aiden,” Nate says as I exit the elevator.
“You’re just in time. The doctor’s supposed to be out in a couple
of minutes.”

“I’m so glad you’re here.”

“Of course I’m here. We came as soon as we
heard. Matt’s flying in, too.”

“I appreciate it.”

“Hey, El.”

“Not now, Nate,” she tells him, brushing
past us and heading for the restroom.

“What did you do?” he asks, turning back to
me.

“Fucked up. Badly. Just like always.”

“Shit.”

Yeah, that about sums it up. One of the two
women I love is unconscious after an attack—because of me. The
other one is hiding in a bathroom—because of me. I need to make
sure my mom’s okay, and then I need to figure out how to get Ellie
back. I can’t lose either of them. I just can’t.

* * *

Ellie

I found this empty room an hour ago, and so
far no one has kicked me out. The doctor came out and said Heather
had regained consciousness and was asking for Aiden. He went back
to see her, and I went into hiding. I should be leaving, but I
can’t make myself walk out the door.

“Ellie?” Tim says, poking his head
inside.

“Hey, Tim. Is Heather still doing okay?”

“Yes. She’s too tough to let something silly
like a car bomb take her down. Her words, not mine.”

“I’m glad she’s okay.”

“Can I ask you why you’re hiding in
here?”

I promised myself I wouldn’t cry, but I
can’t help it now. Tim’s looking at me like my dad would, like he
really wants to know if I’m okay, and I’m not. I’m so absolutely
not that I don’t cry softly. It’s full out ugly crying from the
get-go.

“He blames me.”

“What? You mean Aiden? He’s just upset.”

I shake my head. “When he first started
saying things, I tried to brush it off. I asked him to stop. He
didn’t. He…he said I was just playing around instead of protecting
Heather. I wasn’t. I was protecting him, fighting for him a few
hundred feet in the air, and then I went home and fell asleep.”

“That bastard did this to you,” he asks,
touching my cheek.

“Yeah. Faith is a little beat up, too. I
couldn’t tell Aiden what happened, so I told him we were sparring,
and it got out of hand.”

“I’m so sorry.”

“Jake and Isa were watching Heather. He
knows they followed her, but I can’t tell him that they’ve been
watching out for all the others as well. So he thinks I’m just
slacking off. ‘Playing around.’”

“When it all comes out, he’ll
understand.”

“No. When it all comes out,
it will be over between us because he will
never
understand.”

“I just wanted to help him.”

“Too bad he doesn’t think he needs it.”

“I’ll do what I can.”

“I know.”

“I came looking for you because Heather
wants to see you.”

“Is Aiden still with her?”

“Yes, but you let me worry about him.”

“I’ll need to take Reina if she’s here. He
said he has a complaint, and I have to take that seriously.”

“She’s here. This should be fun.”

“Loads and loads.”

We walk back out, and I wave Reina over. I
don’t tell her why I’m taking her with me, because everyone else in
the room would go ballistic if they knew the things Aiden said to
me. Even the guys would be pissed. This is between us, and I know
Reina will keep her part of this to herself as well.

“Ellie,” Heather practically yells when she
sees me. “Come give me a hug.”

I smile and do as she asks. “You look like
you’re getting your color back. I was worried about you.”

She waves her hand. “I’m fine. I do want to
know why Reina is here, though. No offense my dear, but I didn’t
ask for you.”

“None taken. I don’t know why I’m here
either.”

“Aiden has a complaint about my performance
on this mission. He said he was going to call you, but since you’re
here now, I thought a face to face meeting would be better.”

“Are you kidding me?” Reina asks.

“I don’t kid about my job. You know
that.”

Reina was already part of the Society when
Helen Wilson recruited me. She knows my parents, since she runs
restaurants and they run bars. I was wrestling with my brothers at
a barbeque, and once I took them all down, she approached me. I
jumped at the chance to make a difference, and other than what
happened recently, I’ve never done anything but be a good agent for
them. I like to have fun, but I never take my job lightly.
Never.

She nods. “Go ahead, Aiden. Tell me what the
problem with Ellie is.”

He looks like he doesn’t want to answer, but
then he meets my eyes, and I practically dare him to do it. To call
me out. “She’s supposed to be here protecting my mom, but instead
she left her unprotected in order to spar with Faith.”

“Is this true, Ellie?”

“No. Jake told me he was going to follow
Heather. I knew she wasn’t unprotected.”

“What? You could’ve told me that,” Aiden
says.

“When could I have told you
that, Aiden? When you were accusing me of letting your mother get
hurt? Or how about when you said I like to be in denial
about
everything
in my life?”

“Oh, Aiden. No,” Heather says to him.

“I already apologized to her. I don’t know
what else to do,” he tells her.

“What did you apologize to me for?”

“For saying what I did. You know that’s what
I meant.”

“I
do
know that you meant it that way,
and that’s the problem, Aiden. You’re sorry for saying it, but
you’re not sorry for believing it, are you?”

“I don’t believe it. I didn’t believe it
when I said it. I just needed to blame someone else, so no one
would blame me.”

“Why do I always have to be that ‘someone
else’ for you?”

“Because you love me enough to forgive me.
No matter what I say, you won’t leave me.”

“That makes me sound pathetic.”

“No. You’re not pathetic. You just see past
my bullshit, and know I don’t mean the stuff I say when I’m freaked
out.”

“It felt like you meant it this time.”

“I didn’t. I don’t. You are not to blame for
any of this. I might actually be, but you’re not. That’s what I
know, and what I believe.”

I go to him and let him hold me tight, but
then I have to speak. He gave me an opening, and I have to take it.
“Why do you think you might be to blame?”

“I should’ve realized that one of those
crazies was going to go after her.”

“With a bomb? How would you know that some
protester would have access to a bomb?”

“I just should’ve.”

“Next time, we’ll both look at things
differently.”

“I love you.”

“I love you, too.”

I look into his eyes, and
see his love, and also more. I see resolve. The same resolve that I
know he’s seeing in
my
eyes. What we have—what we are to each other—is more important
than anything else. We’re going to work this out. We have
to.

Aiden

I haven’t gone out hunting since my mom was
attacked. I can’t, and honestly, I don’t really want to. I guess it
took having someone I love almost get killed because of me to kill
my bloodlust. Or at least tamp it down. It’s been almost two weeks
now, and I haven’t felt the urge.

What I have felt is guilt. Ellie and I are
working our way back to where we were again, but it hasn’t been
easy. She still lets me hold her hand, and even kiss her, but
there’s been no more sleepovers, or really seeing each other
outside of work unless our friends are around. I know she’s hurt,
and scared, and I hate it. I’m hoping I can make us both feel at
least a little bit better today.

It’s our day off, and I’m finally giving her
the date I promised. I didn’t tell her where we’re going, just to
dress casually. She’s waiting outside of her townhome when I get
there, and I hate it. She won’t even let me come in to get her. I
still have my key, but I won’t use it again until I know she wants
me to.

She stands up from the step she was on and
walks to my car. I barely have time to get out and open the door
for her. “Thanks,” she says. It’s all she says, and I realize that
I have more work to do than I initially thought I would.

“You’re welcome. You know I like to get
doors for you.”

There are a few minutes of awkward silence
as I’m driving before she breaks it. “Am I dressed okay?”

“Yeah. You look perfect.”

She does. She has on skinny jeans and a
flowing top that falls off one shoulder; both are perfect for
today. I’m also glad to see the Toms on her feet. We’ll be doing a
little walking, and heels or sandals might not have been as fun for
her.

“Are you going to tell me where we’re
going?”

“No. I will tell you it’s not dinner and a
movie, though.”

“Since it’s nine o’clock in the morning, I
figured dinner was off the table. Literally and figuratively.”

“I was hoping I could keep you entertained
for all three meals today, if that’s okay.”

“Oh. Yeah. I didn’t have anything planned
for later. Faith said she’d stay with your mom today.”

“Ellie.”

“I just needed you to know that.”

“What I need you to know is
that
I
know you’d
never leave my mother unprotected. You didn’t do it the night of
the bomb, and you wouldn’t do it today nor tomorrow. You don’t have
to tell me, because I
know
. I should never have said the
things I did, and I will regret them for the rest of my
life.”

“You don’t need to regret them for that
long. I forgive you. I shouldn’t have brought it up right now. I
want to have a good first date with you, and I’m already screwing
things up.”

“Since we haven’t arrived at our first
destination yet, we can pretend that it hasn’t started yet, and
just go from there.”

She reaches over to place her hand on mine,
and I know we’re headed back in the right direction. We arrive at
our first destination a few minutes later, and she leans forward to
look outside. “Is this a craft market?”

“Kind of. It’s mostly a farmer’s market, but
they have crafts, and clothing, too. It’s called Eastern
Market.”

“Cool. I bet they have great food.”

I laugh because I know she really means it.
She loves to eat, and I love to help her work off those calories.
“They do. I thought we’d start with some buckwheat blueberry
pancakes. A place inside has some amazing ones. We may have to wait
in line, though.”

“I don’t mind waiting for good food.”

“I figured you’d say that.”

We go inside and get in line. It doesn’t
take too long, but there’s only one seat. “We can share,” Ellie
tells me.

I grin as I pull her down onto my lap. I
nuzzle and kiss her neck in between bites, until she finally turns
and kisses me full on. It only lasts for about a minute, but it’s
enough to wake my body up to the possibilities of what might happen
later.

“You’re going to have to walk in front of
me.”

“I know. I feel it. But don’t worry, if the
rest of the date is as good as these pancakes, I might just take
care of it for you later.”

“I can only hope.”

She kisses me again and then stands up.
“Come on. I want to see everything.”

I pull her into the flower shop first, and
pick up the bouquet I’d ordered for her. I asked them for something
non-traditional, and they delivered. It’s got a couple of roses,
but then there are flowers that look like stars, what I think might
be a lily, and just some other cool looking things.

“For you,” I tell her, watching her eyes
well up a little. I’ve never given anyone but my mom flowers, and
those are always just plain roses. I don’t know if Ellie realizes
that, or if she just loves the flowers. I’ll just consider it a win
either way.

“They’re beautiful. Thank you,” she tells
me, clutching them to her chest.

“You’re welcome. This is only the beginning,
Doll. I’m going to spoil you today. No arguments, no complaints.
You see something you want, and it’s yours.”

She sighs, and puts a hand on her hip. “It’s
only our first date, Aiden. What if you spend all this money on me,
and then I don’t live up to your expectations?”

“Not a fucking chance in Hell of that ever
happening.”