Hidden (Hidden Series Book One) (29 page)

He’d won. Pulled me in. “You
are
important. You
are
loved,” I said. I let him take my breath
away, making me forget I had a care in the world. I tangled my
fingers in his hair. He growled, picked me up, and pressed me
against the door.

Just as I reached my legs around his waist
again, Sophia cleared her throat.

“Sophia!” I said. “We … um…” Nate put me
down and stepped in front of me, like he was protecting me from
her.

“I’m sorry. It’s my fault, Sophia. I
promise,” Nate said. She groaned and pinched the bridge of her
nose. “I broke the rules. I’m sorry. Should I pack?”

“Go to your room, Nathan. Yes, you should
pack, because everyone is leaving. But right now, I need to speak
with Christine alone,” she said, in a voice I’d never expect from
her. She sounded terrified.

Nate left with his head down. It was silent
in the room for a moment until Sophia sighed again.

“I’m sorry,” I said. “We got carried
away.”

“You can’t date a shifter, dear,” she
whispered. “He’s a nice boy, but not for you.”

“I love him,” I said.

She chuckled without humor. “Love him? Even
better. You are going to get me killed. That’s how I die. Not the
war. Not bribing hunters. It’s going to be you.”

“I would never hurt you, Sophia.”

“I know, love.
You
wouldn’t.” Her
phone chirped in her pocket, and she jumped. She looked as spastic
as I did at school. “I know,” she said to the caller. “I
understand. I’m handling it. Goodbye.” She straightened her dress
with her trembling hands. “Come sit, sweetheart.” We sat on the
sofa, and she grabbed both of my hands. “Did he see you?” she
asked, her voice shaking.

“No. I stayed up here.”

She sighed and closed her eyes. “I’ll handle
it. Don’t worry. She won’t turn you in. If Remi is with a hunter
who purges now, she won’t be going anywhere near the actual agents.
Everything is fine. But … just to be sure, I’m going to take you to
your other home in California.”

“Is everyone going?” She shook her head and
kissed my hand.

“This is all my fault. I shouldn’t have
brought them here. I’m sorry, sweetheart, but they can’t go with
you.”

“No! I want them to come. All of them.
Especially Nate.”

Her phone went off again. She jumped again,
more rattled than before. She listened for a moment, her face
twisted in pain. “Vaughn. Her name is Remi Vaughn. Human. She
wasn’t before. She is now.” Sophia’s free hand balled into a fist.
“I didn’t know until a few minutes ago!” She huffed into the phone.
“Christine told me.”

Sophia’s husband or whoever that was must
have been very upset. Her eyes watered as she listened. She closed
the phone without speaking again. Maybe the caller had hung up on
her.

“I have to go, sweetheart. I’ll come back
later.” She snapped and grabbed my hands again. “I put a suitcase
in your closet, but I’ll pack for you when I come back. We can
discuss Nathan then.”

A tear fell from her sparkling eye just
before she vanished. At least she saw how horrible this was. I ran
down to Nate’s room and walked through the open door. Paul and Emma
were watching him pack.

“Paul says we’re headed to Texas. We’re
going to stay at Sophia’s house for a while,” Nate said. “She said
you were going to California, right?”

“Yeah.” I sat on his bed and folded a pair
of jeans for him “Do you … want to go to Texas?” I asked.

“Nope. I want to go with you, but I heard
Sophia. I heard her say you can’t date me. She doesn’t think I’m
good enough for you.”

Before I could disagree, Paul smacked his
lips and Emma sighed loudly.

“She would never think a witch is better
than a shifter. I’m sure she doesn’t have anything against you.
It’s not in her nature,” Paul said. “I’m not saying this because
she’s my grandmother, but she’s an angel. She didn’t come out of
hiding when the world embraced magic, so she was one of the few of
our kind with a job for like a decade. Our house stayed packed with
all sorts of creatures needing her help. Some were shifters just
like you.”

“It’s true,” Emma said. “She wouldn’t act
that way with you. She only ever wants to help. She even got my
parents out of jail. Not a cage, like a real prison. I can’t
imagine how much that cost, and she’s never asked for a penny. And
she’s spent thousands on me alone, just from this year. She would
never be rude to you, Nathan. She’s just weird about Christine.
Very protective.”

Nate sat next to me and covered his face. “I
know! And she walked in while I was all over her prized possession.
I’m lucky she’s even letting me go to Texas.”

“I’m not her prized possession,” I said.

They all grunted. Paul nodded sarcastically.
“Sure, you’re not. She
only
threatens her own flesh and
blood for you. Risks getting captured for you. Acts like a
completely different person for you. And Nate just told us this is
your house! Now, it’s even stranger. Nana’s TVs at home don’t even
have color! And since your parents died years ago, I know she had
to get all these flat screens for you.”

I hadn’t thought about that. Why would there
be flat screens here if my parents died when I was a baby? And they
were here before I came. Or at least by the time she gave me the
tour. And everything was clean, not much dust other than in
Catherine’s studio. And wasn’t there a big storm and flood here a
few years ago? This house didn’t look like it had gone through a
hurricane and been vacant until now.

“Thanks for letting us stay here,” Emma
said. “We really didn’t know until Nate just blurted it out.”

“I can’t believe you didn’t mention it,”
Paul said. “If this were my house, you guys would know it every
day. Every time you sat on something, I’d say
you’re
welcome
.”

Emma smacked his shoulder. “And I’m sorry
about Remi, Chris. I feel responsible. He could have seen you. She
told me she had a new boyfriend the other day, a wizard she wanted
me to meet. I didn’t think she’d bring him here.”

That was the last thing I heard any of them
say. They didn’t know what Remi was. They didn’t know about her
friend. They didn’t know just how much danger they’d just been in.
And me too. Liam could be the kind of hunter who would want to
breed me. Maybe he even knew Julian.

I shivered.

I assumed Paul and Emma left to pack, I
hadn’t heard them say. My boyfriend stuffed the clothes on his bed
in a little duffle bag. He walked out of the room and came back
with a toothbrush and deodorant.

The selfish part of me wanted to cry about
him leaving, Paul and Emma too. I knew he’d hold me and treat me
like the victim I wasn’t.

“We’ll have the phone, babe. Or I’ll catch a
bus to California. Or … would you use magic to come see me?”

I couldn’t look at him and lie flat out, so
I said, “No.”

“Okay. I understand.” His shoulders fell,
and I reached for his face.

“You think you’re not important enough for
me to use magic, don’t you?” He nodded.

This would be where I would clam up. I’d be
silent and deceitful for his love. His smile. But that could have
gotten everyone in the house hurt today. If I hadn’t called Sophia,
and finally said
something
, they could be in cages and I
could be wherever breeding happened.

“You are important enough, Nate. You’re the
most important person to ever have lived to me. When I say I can’t
use magic, I mean that literally.”

“I understand. We’ll work it out,” he said,
tempting me to let it go. I reached up to kiss him. His response
was immediate. Sweet and soft. Possibly the last.

“I love you,” I said. “And that’s really
amazing because I didn’t even think that would be possible for me.
In a really short time, you’ve changed my life. Made me smile and
laugh. But-”

He groaned and touched a tear I hadn’t felt.
“Let me guess. I’m a nice boy, but just not for you.”

“No, listen.”

“I know Sophia is great. They didn’t have to
praise her. She saved my life already. And yours too. So I
understand if you want to listen to her.”

“No, Nate. I’m not breaking up with you, but
once I tell you something, you may want to break up with
me
.” I stared at his flawless face, my heart pounding, tears
streaming. “I’ve been trying to tell you something. Not very hard,
but I’ve wanted to say something important. I’ve been really
dishonest about who I am. I’ve been selfish because I didn’t want
to lose you. I didn’t want to go back to not having anyone. And
today, I could’ve gotten you hurt. All of us.”

“I don’t understand, babe. What’s
wrong?”

I looked away, trembling. “I can’t use magic
to come see you … because I don’t have it. I thought I was a witch,
but a few days ago, right before you walked in and saw me bleeding,
I found out I’m not. I’m … human. More than that, I’m one of the
things you think are disgusting. Psychic. Like my mother was.”

We sat there, tensed, for a lifetime.

“Are you joking?” he whispered.

“I wish.” Another torturous pause. “I’m not
like the copies you talked about. My parents loved each other. And
I
do
get very angry, but I am always trying not to be.
Always, Nate. I swear. And my mother didn’t pass me her powers in
the way you’d think. I read it in her diary. I could go get it. You
could read it with me.” He still didn’t say anything. “Breeding is
different than you think. The whole copy thing, it’s so different,
Nate. And I understand if you’re upset. I should have told you the
minute I found out. I’m sorry. I love you.”

I desperately needed to hear him say it
back. I needed him to be my glue, to fix everything like he’d done
every day since we played fetch.

“No, you don’t,” Nate whispered. He stood
from the bed and moved painfully slow and painfully far away. “You
can’t. Copies don’t love. They don’t feel anything but hate.” He
leaned against the wall with his head hanging low. “The first time
I saw you, I thought it was eerie how perfect you were. Like
someone took exactly what I’d find attractive and delivered her to
me, or me to her. Then made her smell like perfection. Act like it
too.” He chuckled and looked up at me. “There is no God controlling
this. It’s you. And I think you’re perfect because you are. The
wolf told me they drown copies if they don’t come out right. They
have to be
absolutely
perfect, or their masters hold them
under water until they die.”

I ran to him when I saw the tears.

“It’s not like that. I don’t have a master.
My parents made me,” I said, quoting Sophia.

“I just should’ve known something like this
wouldn’t happen to me. Of course I don’t have a girlfriend. Why
would I? Did you make me think I was in love with you? Is that why
we were moving so fast? A mind trick?”

“No!” I cried. At least I didn’t think it
was.

“Jesus, what is your master planning for us?
Is Sophia helping you? Or are you going to hurt her too?”

“It’s not like that. I just found out.” I
wrapped my arms around him, clutching his t-shirt. “You have to
believe me. I’m the same person I was a minute ago.”

“Stop touching me,” he said, pushing me
away. “You have us in your home, pretending like we’re guests.
Letting me sleep in your bed. That’s really gross. Really twisted!”
He gasped and rubbed his neck. “My head! I’m getting my head cut
off, aren’t I?” I couldn’t move. This was way worse than I imagined
it would be. His beautiful green eyes were burning with more than
disgust. With hate and hurt and fear.

“Nate, no. Please listen to me. I love you,
and I would never hurt you.”

“You can stop with the act now, Christine or
Leah or whoever you are.” Leah? I was her again? I was nothing
again?

He snatched his bag and ran out of the room.
“Get out of here!” he yelled. “She’s a copy. Go!”

I ran into the hall, toward the commotion
he’d caused by yelling. He blew past me and ran out of the front
door. I ran down the stairs, no hope of catching him, but still
running, because I needed him, because I couldn’t let us end like
this. He’d left the door open, and I raced to it. At the threshold,
a frozen arm hooked around my stomach. I almost screamed at
Catherine, but this chill was different. This ghost was
different.

I fell to my knees in the doorway, acting
like my mother way too late. The door closed in front of me slowly,
nudged by my father. It felt like it meant,
don’t be silly and
run after him, you still can’t leave the house
.

I had to stay hidden and alone. Like I was
meant to be.

Emma and Paul never came out. The eerie
quiet of the house told me they were gone too.

Being tortured by high school girls was not
death. This was. Having everything snatched away in a moment.
Having Nathan look at me like he hated me. Being told not to touch
him.

I stretched out on the floor, crumbling. It
felt like Raymond stretched out too.

“Go back to your wife,” I whispered. “The
lady who killed herself because of you. I’m fine here alone. And
I’ll be this way for the rest of my life.”

But he didn’t leave. He stayed down there
with me, just far enough away that my teeth didn’t chatter.

Nate thought I wanted to hurt him, that all
of this was my trap. I’d immediately turned evil in his mind. I’d
never be held again. Kissed either. I wished it had never happened.
Then I wouldn’t know what I was missing out on.

I ran out of tears after a while. I was just
coughing and calling for my ex-boyfriend who couldn’t hear me.

“Emma called,” Sophia whispered. Raymond
left at the sound of her voice. I didn’t have enough energy to
stand or move at all. “She’s worried about you. Are you okay,
love?” I didn’t answer. Wasn’t that obvious? “How long have you
known that you’re human?”