The Guardian (25 page)

“What’s going on?” My voice is
barely a whisper.

Arsen
moves toward me. “That’s a really good question. Why don’t
you
tell
me
?”

I
fold
my arms across my chest, hugging myself tightly. “I asked you first.”

His eyes flash with a sliver of amusement. “I already told you. There was an acc
ident.”

“Did you do this?”

A low laugh, but no answer.

“Why is the restaurant closed?” I ask.

“Freezer trouble.
Refrigerator trouble.
Stove trouble.
You can’t cook much when the food’s spoiled and the grill won’t heat.” He takes another
step forward. I move backward, trying to increase the distance between us. “Now it’s my turn. What are you doing here?”

I swallow hard. “I . . . I came looking for my mom,” I explain. “Where is she?”

“Your mom is fine. She left hours ago. She was meeting w
hat’s his name.”

“Mike.”

“Yeah, that’s him. Why do you need her? I thought you guys weren’t talking.”

“I . . .”

“May I?” he interrupts. “I’m guessing you were at home.
Heard a few random noises.
Got scared?”

A spike of terror rips through my body. My eyes
narrow. “
What
?”

He laughs again.
“Genesis.
Genesis.”
Gazes at me from beneath his lashes.
“I knew you’d come.”

“Who are you?” I ask quietly, steady.

He draws his shoulders up, shrugging. “That depends. Who are
you
?”

I turn, ready to run. In the blink of a
moment,
Arsen
is in front of me, pushing me backward, into the stainless steel counter. “There’s something different about you,” he says. “I mean, at first it was because you’re hot, you know? I wasn’t really looking for someone, but you seemed awfully co
nvenient. And then you turned me down. . . .”

“It was complicated,” I remind him. I clear my throat.

“What a useless articulation,” he replies, rolling his eyes. “That means nothing to me. What I want to know is . . .
how
complicated?”

I press my lips tog
ether tightly, afraid to open them.
To say the wrong thing.

“What were you doing at the beach today?” he asks.

I don’t answer.

He slams his hands against the counter, pinning me between his thick arms, angry face inches from mine. “What were you doing at
the beach today?” He shouts.

“I . . . nothing!
I was
laying
out!” I lean back, as far away from him as I can.

“No,” he replies, looking at the floor, laughing quietly. “You know something. Something you aren’t supposed to know. It’s not a coincidence . .
. what happened today . . . with you there. What do you know and how do you know it?”

“I don’t know anything . . .”

“You do.” His face tightens as he struggles to control his anger.

“I don’t, I swear!”

“You’re lying!” he screams.

“I’m not lying!” I screa
m back. My voice wavers. Tears pool at the corners of my eyes. “I don’t know anything.”

He steps back, taking me in. I crouch down, sliding to the floor. I tuck my knees to my chin and wrap my arms around them, protecting myself.

“It’s a shame. Because we
could be really good together, you know?”
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Stu lets out another low moan.

“We could,”
Arsen
repeats, louder. “We could be good together!” I snap back to attention as he stomps toward me, the echo of
his boots bouncing off walls and the ceiling, filling my ears.
 
“We could be good together!”

I shut my eyes, nodding quickly. “We could be good together,” I confirm, pushing myself as far back into the cabinet as possible.

“Funny. I think so, too.” He glan
ces over at Ernie’s office. “Isn’t that funny?” he calls. I hear male laughter.

“Just do this,” the girl replies.

I force myself to take a breath.

“You have something, Genesis,” he says, moving closer, towering above. “You have something . . . that I want
.” He stops.
Thinking.
“A car accident.
A little kid.
The girl this morning. . . .”

The blood drains from my face.

They know.

I swallow hard, shake my head in denial.

“You were there
every
time. You’re a sounding bell.
A warning.
So . . . what?
You know
what’s going to happen before it happens? You call for reinforcements?” He stops in front of me. “That’s very noble of you. It doesn’t exactly help me, though.” He grabs my arm. In one, swift motion I’m on my feet, staring evil directly in its penetrating
blue eyes.

“You have been thwarting every good plan we’ve had since I met you,” he says through clenched teeth. He moves his hand to my neck, wrapping his fingers around my throat. “It doesn’t matter what it is. You’re always there.
Always getting in the w
ay.
I was hoping we could work around you, but I’m not sure that’s possible.”

I try to shake my head. I can’t move.
 
 

“I want to know . . . where your
friends
are.”

Seth.

“I—I don’t know,” I stammer. He tightens his grip, slowly cutting off my air supply,
strangling me.

“Tell me!”

“I don’t know!” I sob. I shut my eyes, and a tear slides down my cheek. “I don’t know! I don’t know!”

Arsen
lifts me off the ground with one arm. I claw at his wrist with my fingernails, digging into his skin, kicking my legs, se
arching for the floor. I choke as I lose more air.

“Tell them to come!” he demands.

“No!” But the word doesn’t surface.

His face flushes red with fury, the vein throbbing in his neck. He squeezes his hand tighter, crushing my throat.

“Tell them!”

From th
e right, a fist.
Arsen’s
jaw cracks on contact. His grip relaxes and I fall, crashing to the tile floor. A searing pain slices through my knee. I scurry to the corner, crawling on hands and knees, ignoring the sting, trying to distance myself from him.

“W
ell, if it isn’t The Complication,”
Arsen
says, rubbing his cheek, which is already turning a grayish purple color.

Seth moves toward me, eyes searching mine. “Are you okay?” he asks.

I nod my head vigorously.

“I’m so sorry, I promised
I
wouldn’t. . . .”

I
shake my head, unable to speak. I don’t care what he promised. Or what he did. I am only, at that moment, insanely relieved to see him.

He swallows hard. “I won’t leave you again. Not ever.”

Behind him,
Arsen
laughs. “
This is too perfect! Falling in love with a
Guardian
?” His grin is lopsided, amused. “It’s storybook. I actually can’t decide which one of you is more pathetic.”

Seth stands, and turns around to face him.

“You know,
it’s
okay.
Because this makes it more f
un for me.
We’ll have a little
battle,
you can watch her die . . .”

“Get out,” Seth demands.

Arsen
narrows his eyes at Seth. “You think I take my orders from you?” He shoves Seth into the counter. “You’re not even part of this. You’re not the one I want.”

“You’re not getting what you want,” Seth replies.

His eyes flicker. “I
always
get what I want.”

Seth pulls back his arm. In one swift movement, he swings.
Arsen
catches Seth’s fist with his hand, holding him back. “We should talk about this.
Genesis?”

Seth
wrestles free.
 

“Wait a minute. Hear me out,”
Arsen
says. He lifts his palm to Seth, instructing him not to move any closer,
then
turns to me. “This doesn’t have to be hard. We can make it work. Am I bummed that you chose this loser over me?” he asks, wa
tching me, but nodding toward Seth.
“A little.
But we can still be friends, right?’

I refuse to answer. I can’t. It doesn’t matter what I say. Either way, it will be wrong.

“See . . . what I’m thinking is something in the way of a truce,” he goes on. “Gen
esis works for me, you protect her,” he says to Seth. “Do whatever it is the two of you do when no one’s watching, and everyone’s happy.” He shrugs his shoulders, like this is no big deal. “Or . . . we could do this the hard way. I don’t want to kill you,
Genesis. But I will.”

“No he won’t,” Seth tells me.

Arsen
ignores him, kneeling until he’s staring directly into my eyes. They burn into me, hypnotizing. “Help us.”

I shake my head.

“Please don’t make me hurt you,” he goes on, his voice low, smooth. “I do
n’t
want
to. You’re special. Do you know that? You have a gift. Do you even realize what you could do? You could
freaking
rule
this world.” His crystal blue eyes sparkle. My shadow reflects in them, grasping, pulling me in. “You would have all the power. W
e would listen to you. Respect you. You could have whatever you want.
Anything
.
Name it. We’ll get it for you.” His voice lowers.
“Whatever you need.
It’s yours.
Always.
You will be like a Queen.”

I shiver, feeling the weight of his offer bearing down on m
e.

“I can’t help you.” The words come out as a whisper, scratching my throat. It hurts when I speak, when I swallow.

He stands, rising to his full height. “Wrong.”

Seth watches from the other side of the kitchen.

“Who’s it
gonna
be, Genesis?”
Arsen
asks.
“Who’s more important?” He walks over to Stu and kicks him hard in the ribs.

“No!” I shout. My voice cracks. “Don’t hurt him!”

An evil smile plays at
Arsen’s
lips. “That was easy.
Surprising, but easy.”
In a moment he turns, swinging his fist. Seth ducks
, then grabs
Arsen’s
shoulders and knees him in the stomach.

Arsen
doubles over, coughing.

Seth grabs his shirt collar and shoves
Arsen
into the door of the walk-in freezer.
Arsen
slides to the floor, leaving a massive dent in the stainless steel.

I craw
l closer to the office, needing to get to a phone. The girl with the tattoo sleeve meets me in the doorway. She kicks me backward,
then
grabs a fistful of my hair, pulling it by the roots. I scream.

In an instant there are more. Joshua, I recognize. The o
thers, I don’t. But they’re here. They move in teams.
Securing the two guys in the office.
Guarding Stu.
Moving in to help.

The girl pulls again, lifting me to my feet, yanking my head back. In a moment a cool, metal blade slides across my neck.

“Stop,”
she orders.

What surprises me most is not her quiet demand, but that everyone listens.
Obeys.

“Leave,” she commands. The two
Diabols
disappear, leaving the Guardians who held them grasping at nothing.

“Tell yours to leave,” she says, her cinnamon breath bl
owing hot against my cheek.

No one else moves. She jerks my head around; my skull throbs as she pulls my hair tighter. I scream again. She presses the knife further into my neck. I wait for it to pierce my skin. Seth watches, frozen, face ashen.

“Tell the
m to leave!”

I swallow hard. “Y—you should leave.”