Page 43 of Treasured Secrets
I looked up, trying not to blurt out anything stupid. I was controlling my breathing so that I didn't sound overly excited. "How did you swing that?"
"Your grandmother actually asked me to. She called me just a little while ago. She said she feels like you're safer with me there. I have to say that it made me feel pretty good. The fact I saved your life won me some brownie points. She trusts me a little more than she does McKee, since he lost his grip on you in the woods. The fact I can blow things up probably has something to do with it, too." He snickered smugly. "She wants me to stay with you as much as possible."
I was kind of embarrassed by that. That made me feel like he was obligated to be with me. I didn't want that to be the reason he was staying with me.
"Sorry. I didn't know about that."
"Hey, it's a tough job, but someone's gotta do it," he joked.
"You don't have to. I can get McKee to do it." I bit back my smile when his smug grin faded into a scowl.
"I think I have it under control." Then he jumped to his feet and grabbed me up. I was being carried bridal style before I even realized it as we made our way over to the wall of open windows.
I looked down at the large drop. "What are you doing?" I asked shakily.
He grinned at me and raised his eyebrows. "The meeting should be over now. It's time for the fun stuff."
I didn't realize what time it was. We had been talking for at least forty-five minutes.
He stepped up on the window ledge. "You might want to hold on tight. And no, that's not a line."
He winked and jumped out of the window. A gargled squeal slipped through my tightened lips. I was holding so tight that my knuckles turned white.
He landed on his feet with me still delicately placed in his arms, barely even letting me feel jostled. I didn't want him to let me go, but he did.
I looked around and spoke with a bit of guilt. "Sorry we missed the meeting. I didn't realize it had even started."
He looked at me and touched my chin, leaning over to kiss the top of my head. "I missed the meeting on purpose. It was nice having you all to myself. The meetings are always the same anyway. Desmond will fill me in if there was anything new. I just wanted you to watch them duel. That's the fun part."
My eyes widened with a bit of surprise. I wasn't sure how to respond to that, or if I even heard him correctly. "Duel? That sounds dangerous."
He laughed. "Not really. It's not like the wild west - take ten paces and shoot, or anything. Desmond is pretty good, but dad usually always ends up on the top of the podium. They set up a string of obstacles and they have to change all the way through it to get to the end. It's sort of a changer's version of the Olympics. We have a lot of newbies tonight, so it should be pretty interesting."
I shrugged slightly. "Why?"
"Because they have a hard time swapping from one animal to the next as effortlessly as the older ones."
There was an oversized tree trunk that Desmond picked up and moved out of the way. Two birds flew high in the air, holding hoops. Then there was a giant wall of broken down trees. I still didn't understand what was going on.
"Certain obstacles require different creatures. You'll be disqualified if you use an unapproved animal for certain obstacles. For instance, if there's a climbing obstacle, you can't use a bird to simply fly over it," Tallis said, continuing to explain some of the rules.
I nodded softly, distracted by all the action going on.
Desmond lined up with another guy, both of them standing behind a white line painted on the ground. Their shirts were off, but they were both wearing shorts... thankfully. A gunshot rang out, startling me a little.
They jumped off their platforms and burst into monkeys. Their shorts fell to the ground, abandoned and forgotten, as they went to scale the wall in front of them. When they got to the top, they jumped and landed on their feet as fierce cheetahs.
They were in a mad sprint toward two trees. Desmond turned into an elephant and the other guy turned into a grizzly bear. Desmond knocked his tree over first and changed to a bird to fly in a predetermined pattern through the hoops.
The other guy followed him as soon as his tree fell. Desmond dropped to the ground as a fox before he ran through a tiny burrow in the ground. After a few seconds, he emerged from the other side. He dove into a pond, shifting into a fish before he slapped the water.
He jumped out from the other side, turning into a panther, and within a breath, he was crossing the finish line. The other guy was at least fifteen seconds behind him.
I noticed Ash watching him with absolute tunnel vision. I hadn't even noticed my family before that moment.
She saw me looking at her and waved at me. I waved back and her eyes quickly cut back to Desmond. She would've probably liked the little show I got earlier from Desmond.
I shivered slightly as the embarrassing moment popped into my mind. My nose turned up.
