Page 62 of Treasured Secrets
I walked outside to find out what was going on. I wasn't really in the mood to deal with company, but I needed something, anything to take my mind off of Tallis.
I stumbled outside, thanks to the threshold of the doorway sticking up too far. Gear walked up to take my hand, and pulled me toward the new member.
"This clumsy girl is my youngest sister, Aria."
How dare he act like nothing was wrong. I'd just found out he and Aster had been lying to me all these years. I didn't even know which memories were real or fake. It was painful.
"I'm Jared Hunter," the guy said in his velvety Irish accent.
Jared smiled at me as he reached out his hand to shake mine. His hair was very dark, and his eyes glistened with green and blue. He had a tall and muscular build, but not bulky muscle. Even though he was eye candy, I barely paid him attention.
Then Gear spoke again in an excited gush. "Jared is one of the members of the light militia. He's going to be crashing here for a couple of days, or more. He's waiting on a few others to meet up with information. Jared and I go way back.”
I rolled my eyes, thinking of how Jaslene had told me of Gear's real age. My voice was weak and strained when I tried to respond.
"Where's he going to be staying? And what's the light militia?"
Before Gear could answer my questions, Olivia called for him. "Gear, I need you to come help me set up a room for Jared please."
Gear jogged off and Jared chuckled quietly. The subtly of Jared's accent was charming. His pretty eyes were disarming, but all I could think about was the jerk who ran off directly after I confessed my love.
"I never would've thought Gear to be the housebroken type," he said through his chuckles.
I could barely force a smirk. I'd always thought of Gear as being very mature, but it appeared I didn't know very much about him at all. I'm sure he was immature when he was actually younger.
"I guess you must know him a little better."
I crossed my arms in front of my chest in a slightly pouting manner. Jared touched my chin and pulled it up so that my eyes meet his. "It's always tough learning about who you are. You just need to make sure you don't waste your mortal time worrying about your immortal future. The real world can wait. I wish someone had told me that."
I'd known him for a second and he was already giving me advice. I wanted to scream at him, tell him he didn't know a thing about me or what I was going through. I didn't though. Possibly because I was going numb.
Under my breath, I grumbled, "I know. I just have a lot of other things on my mind. Gear's true age really doesn't bother me... I'm just overwhelmed by all the lies that I used to think were truths."
He nodded, letting my words fully resonate. "I understand that. It took me a long time to adjust. Surprisingly enough, though, all of this will soon make more sense to you than the mortal stuff."
I let out a slight laugh which felt oddly cathartic. "Right now, I don't think the immortal or the mortal stuff makes a whole lot of sense."
"That's because you're stuck in the middle. Falling in love with an immortal didn't help things, I'm sure. That's the sort of thing that only complicates your emotions."
I could feel my face burning red. Was I wearing a flashing sign that screamed heartbreak?
"How do you know about that?"
He looked as though he was unsure about whether or not he should say anymore. I stared expectantly, silently taking a stand to make him answer me.
"Gear told me. He was telling me about all of the new information - and the new people hanging around - and it just... kind of... came up. It wasn't like he was blabbing about your private life or anything."
I rolled my eyes, puffing somewhat childishly. "I'm sure he's relieved it didn't work out. He hasn't exactly been too thrilled about my closeness with Tallis."
Jared just chuckled slightly, angering me a little. "No. He was very candid in his disapproval of someone being alone with his little sister so much. I've been friends with him for a long time and I still got the whole 'don't touch my baby sister' speech."
I just shook my head, embarrassed and agitated at the same time. "That's just great."
He laughed a little harder this time. "I've always been a bit of a rebel, though. I very rarely follow the rules without bending them a tad." Then he winked at me.
I could feel myself blushing. As cute as he was - and as smooth as he was - I couldn't let myself be interested. It felt wrong. My heart belonged to Tallis, and even though he was done with me, I was still in love with him. It almost felt like I would be cheating if I acknowledged Jared's flirty tone.
We walked back to the house quietly until we got to the porch. Then I blurted out the question I had asked Gear before Olivia had summoned him.
