Sun Kissed (The Guardian Angel Series Book 2) (4 page)

She forced a fake smile, turned her back to
me, and began strolling in the direction of our dorm. I dropped onto the grass
in defeat, my head on my knees. It was as hard for me to say as it was for her
to hear.

Pieces of my dream kept floating into my
head as the sun bore down on me.

“What’s up?”

I didn’t have to lift my head to know it
was Hunter, but I did anyway out of courtesy.

“Just catching some sun and checking out
what the school has to offer,” I said playfully and forcing a smile.

“Look no further, the best is standing
right in front of you.”

Beads of sweat rolled down his bare chest
and I laughed. At least I could count on Hunter’s upbeat attitude to pull me
out of a slump.

“Hunter, training now. Girls later,” Aaron
called.

Aaron was the guy who was in charge of training
the gods, just like Eli was in charge of the guardians. Aaron was tall and
built like a truck. I’ve never heard him speak, only shout orders. Perhaps he
wouldn’t be as scary if he didn’t have a long thin scar running down the left
side of his face from his eyebrow to his jaw line. Apparently it was caused by
a vampire fang, but no one actually knows the real story. They’re too afraid to
ask.

Hunter winked at me and jogged back to his
training partner. I didn’t want to be here, Mila was the one who brought me,
and yet I’m the only one sitting here looking like a pervert. I rose to my
feet; I needed to talk to Mila. I didn’t want to play the one-sided card
anymore. I was sick of treating her like she was the only one with wrong urges.
I wouldn’t go into details, but she had to know how I feel about Eli.

I brushed the grass off my behind and
started walking up the small slope and back into the main part of the school.

“Great,” I groaned under my breath as Eli
and a few other guardian angels paced towards me.

“Ruby? You’re not supposed to be down here.”

“Mila —” I began, forcing my eyes from his
tight black tank top to his eyes. I gave up; I didn’t have the energy to explain
anything. “I know.”

“You seem to have a hard time following the
rules,” a leggy, blonde female guardian angel beside Eli said.

“Unintentionally.”

“We’ll meet you on the field Eli.” They
trotted off, leaving Eli and I standing opposite each other on the slope.

“Did you come to see Hunter?” Eli’s eyes
burnt fiercely into mine.

I don’t think I’ve ever seen Eli jealous
before. He had no reason to be, he was the one I wanted.

“No, I didn’t know anyone was going to be
on the field. I just came to relax …”

He rolled his eyes, of course he didn’t
believe me. “It’s only natural for a girl to want to spend time with her —” He
swallowed hard. “Boyfriend.”

Boyfriend? “What? Hunter isn’t my — Did he
tell you I was his girlfriend?”

“Ruby, it’s okay. It’s good for you to date
someone who is a god. Although I wish it was someone better for you than
Hunter.”

“Hunter isn’t my boyfriend.”

“Just don’t put all your trust in him.”

Eli brushed passed me and left me staring
into the space where he was standing only seconds before.

“Eli,” I called after him, my eyes meeting
his face again. What do I say now? I want to tell him that even though he’s
here in the school, I still miss him and that I want to feel his warm skin and
breathe in his scent. “I’m glad you’re back even though it doesn’t seem like I
do.” Close enough.

I forced myself to turn away from him. I
began heading in the direction of the girls’ dorms, pushing myself to put one
foot in front of the other. Eli’s words repeated in my mind, ‘Don’t put all
your trust into him.’ Was there something I didn’t know? Was Eli jealous?
Perhaps he meant in terms of a boyfriend/girlfriend relationship. Even I wasn’t
stupid there, it was clear by Hunter’s ‘up-himself’ attitude that he has (for
lack of a better term) ‘been around.’ Not that any of it really matters. Hunter
and I weren’t dating. We were just friends, not boyfriend and girlfriend.

The dorm was quiet, which I expected. Mila
was pretty upset by what I said to her. I didn’t want to hurt her. I didn’t
want her to think her obvious infatuation with Gabriel was wrong, because it wasn’t.

“Mila?” I called, closing the door behind
me.

The bathroom door opened slowly and a red-eyed
Mila stepped out. “You’re right.”

I covered the distance between us and
pulled her into a hug. “I’m sorry …”

She pulled away from the hug and crossed
over to her bed. “I should stop spending time with him.”

“Mila, I haven’t been totally honest with you.
I keep giving you these speeches about how wrong it is to like someone who
isn’t like us, but it isn’t wrong.”

“It’s more complicated than that. I love
him, Ruby.” She sniffled.

“Oh.”

It was all I could manage to squeeze up my
throat. I knew Mila was into Gabriel but I didn’t know the full extent of it.

“… and he loves me, too.”

I threw myself down on the bed.

“Shit … Mila.”

Her saddened puppy eyes glanced at me
before hiding behind a piece of tissue again.

“Okay … you two need to keep things on the
low until I can figure something out.”

“Ha! Please, we’re doomed to marry someone
we don’t want to, a god. Don’t waste your time trying to fight the system. Many
have tried and failed. At least you have Hunter, your problems are solved.” She
sobbed, sitting next to me.

I scrunched my face at the sting of her
words. My problems weren’t solved. They were magnified by tenfold.

“Eli.” Immediately I regretted the word the
second it fell from my lips.

“Eli what?”

“I, he, we —”

“Oh my god.” She gasped. “You have feelings
for Eli De Luca?”

“Stop.” I spoke in a hushed tone as I
pushed the palm of my hand against her mouth.

“Does he know?” She giggled, slipping out
from underneath my hand.

Should I tell her more? What if it gets
out? I can’t be the reason he’s sent back to wherever they took him last time.
Telling Mila everything was a risk my heart couldn’t bear to take.

“No. He has no idea.”

Mila’s expression filled with
disappointment. I rose from her bed and moved to mine.

“I’m going to nap, but when I wake up, we
should really discuss things about you and Gabriel.”

Mila nodded before getting comfortable on
her own bed, I guess she wanted a nap as well.

I forgot all about this morning’s drama and
sleep overtook me rapidly; my brain was entering repair mode, along with my
liver and kidneys. When I woke up, I needed to speak to the one man I trust,
one who can give me advice on how to help Mila, and maybe it could end up
helping us both.

Secrets

“Ruby wake up. We’re late for lunch.”

“Hmm?”

“We overslept. C’mon, before Uncle sends
half the school’s guardians down here to get me. You know he’s looking for
excuses to get me back in the house.”

I climbed out of bed and headed for the
door. I didn’t want to go back to being alone in a room. Since I’ve been
sharing a room with Mila, I haven’t had a single panic attack and my depression
has yet to make a return.

“You aren’t going to fix your hair?”

I didn’t need to look in a mirror, I could
tell by her face that it must have looked wild. I pulled the black band that
was holding my long hair up and unleashed the beast. My hair was glossy and
long, like the hair you see on those shampoo ads. Lucky me! I was hoping that I
looked like I was trying to ‘style messy.’

“Not bad.” Mila chuckled. “If I have my
hair tied up and I pull it out I have to re-brush it. My hair is so thin it
tangles easily.”

It was hard for me to picture Mila with
tangled hair, it always seemed so perfect, even more perfect than my ‘shampoo
ad’ hair.

Just as we reached the steps of the dining
hall, we were stopped by a group of guardian angels. Mila shot me a ‘told you
so’ look.

“Miss Aleksandrov. Your uncle wants to
speak with you, immediately.”

I couldn’t help but admire the way guardian
angels work, they were so quick and professional. Guardians on duty wore an
all-black army looking get up, whilst off-duty guardians wore anything they
wanted. Guardians were always so stern and serious; it was unusual to see them
laid-back.

“Miss Moore. We suggest you go and be seen
before anyone suspects you are up to something again.” The man’s deep voice was
intimidating and the tone he used annoyed me slightly.

Most guardians still resented me, I don’t
know how much longer it will last, but for now, what I did was still fresh in
their minds. I nodded and entered the hall. The usual lively chatter circled
the room and I spotted Eli almost immediately, and saw him exhale in relief as
I entered. I suppose everyone would be relieved I’m still drifting around Sage
Sanctum. After all, it did mean I’m not out being killed or causing people to
be killed.

I sat down with a garden salad at the end
of a table. It was nice to eat alone for a change, and since my headache no
longer dominated my brain, I was able to think properly.

“Can I sit down?” Rylan asked.

There went my quiet meal and thinking time.

“Fine,” I said, putting a juicy cherry
tomato into my mouth.

“So Raina —”

“Rylan, please tell me you didn’t come here
to chat about Raina. I neither care for her, or your love life.”

“No, it involves Eli —”

“Everything does, apparently.”

“… and Hunter.”

Immediately my mind snapped to attention. I
fought hard to come across as indifferent. If this was what Eli was talking
about earlier, when he said I shouldn’t trust Hunter, then I needed to soak up
every word.

“Well done. Now I’m curious.” I sighed.

A bitter expression crossed Rylan’s face.
He didn’t like that Hunter’s name made me want to listen.

“I overheard Raina telling her group of
airheaded followers that she talked Hunter into filing a statement against Eli
to the higher power.”

“Wait. What?”

“She said that Hunter was worried there was
something going on between you and Mr De Luca, and she convinced him to get Eli
out of the picture. Hunter then filed an inappropriate relations statement.
That’s not all. Mr Aleksandrov had taken the fall for Tay’s death, but Hunter
thought he’d do double the damage by reporting foul play between the two
guardians.”

“Wh- why are you telling me this?”

“Because De Luca is — was your guardian …
regardless of the short period of time he served you, there would still be some
kind of bond between you and he saved your life, many times. As for Hunter, I
just don’t like him.”

“How do I know Raina didn’t put you up to
this? Or maybe you’re just trying to get me to back out of going to dinner with
Hunter tonight.”

“I — You’re going to dinner with him? Ruby,
this guy is not to be trusted; he’s sabotaging people you care about. He’s
ruining their lives because if they’re around, it means he can’t have you. You’re
falling right where he wants you.”

Rylan stood up and left me at the table
with too many questions. He crossed the hall and joined Raina. She shot me a
glance, but it was different than her old glances. It was guilty, like she felt
sorry for me. The appetite I had when I came into the dining room had
diminished. In its place was disgust and disbelief.

“You excited for dinner?” Hunter sang as he
slid in next to me.

My eyes met Eli’s, but as quickly as they
met, he turned back to the conversation he was having with a fellow guardian
angel.

“Yeah … I, uh, I’m not feeling well. I’m
going to get some water.”

I slid off my seat and went over to water
cooler to fill up a cup.

“I’m back! Uncle was worried, but I told
him we were napping and he’s fine now,” Mila cheered happily.

I guzzled my glass of water.

“Can we eat? I’m starving.”

Mila grabbed a garden salad from the
serving table and we walked over to where I was sitting. Hunter was still there.

“Are you two excited for dinner?”

Hunter’s toothpick went to the corner of
his mouth as he smiled.

“Very,” I lied, forcing a fake smile.

“See you at six.” He winked at me and left.

Nausea radiated throughout my stomach. I
wanted to find out the truth, but I couldn’t be certain. What if this was all
part of Raina’s plan? What if she wanted me to sabotage my relationship with
Hunter? And Rylan had his own motives, he obviously saw Hunter as a threat. Thinking
it out thoroughly made it seem even more ridiculous, but I couldn’t shake Eli’s
words from earlier out of my head: ‘don’t put all your trust into him.’ Does
Eli know? Surely he would have done something about it or at least told me?