Page 10 of Shield and Savior

Drew frowns at the suggestion. “I think it should be the other way around. Mom should be Nessie, and I can be Champ.”

“Whatever you say.”

I sip my coffee, but it’s room temperature. I pop it into the microwave for twenty seconds and check the time. “Go get your stuff. We need to be at the school in twenty minutes. Finish your drink and brush your teeth.”

Lance makes a face. “Don’t mix those two up because otherwise it will be a rough morning.”

Drew side-eyes Lance. I don’t blame him. I mean, sure the bodyguardseemssweet and considerate, and looks like a Greek god, but still, it’s easy to be fooled.

A few minutes later, we’re out the door. Drew pauses at the SUV. “Woah,” he whispers. I used to drive a beat-up Geo Metro, and the heat would only come on if you sat in the passenger seat at a 45-degree angle. It’s a weird clash between who I was during my exile and who I’m supposed to be.

When I ran away, I left the money and power. My mom’s family was broke, and I was another mouth to feed. I worked until my contractions were seven minutes apart, took two weeks off, and went back to the job. I scraped every penny out of a dime. Secondhand stores and the charity of neighbors are what saved us.

But now I’m home, and the excess and wealth makes me uneasy. A bodyguard, a nice car, private school, I don’t want to get used to this. Who knows how long I’ll be here.

Temporary.

All of this is temporary.

Lance opens the door for us. I take a split second to smell his aftershave before motioning to his crisp white shirt and his dark blue blazer. “I thought I asked for business casual.”

He takes off his jacket and hangs it in the back seat behind him. “Um, this is a fancy school, and I wanna make a good impression for you. Besides, a lot of the guys in the industry work there, so I’ve got to keep up appearances. Don’t worry, it’s only for this meeting.”

As he starts the car and drives off, I realize I don’t know how I feel about this. I asked one thing from him, and he couldn’t do it.

He checks the mirrors constantly along the drive. I used to do this years ago, back when I first moved out. Around when I was on guard and convinced either my ex or my dad would show up and take away the life I built. But over time, I got out of the habit. I was too busy making sure Drew didn’t throw his toys around the car, or that he was still breathing.

Even as a baby, he never moved around when he slept, and I had a fear that I would peer over at his crib one morning, and he would be cold. My brain ran through thousands of scenarios about what would take him away from me.

Long neurotic story short, I never checked for real dangers when my brain was paranoid enough with irrational ones. Once, I even came up with scenarios where Bigfoot kidnapped Drew. Not sure why Bigfoot would take my baby, but I had a plan for if he did. Bonus, I would have evidence of Bigfoot, and I could cash in and possibly pay for Drew’s college.

Goddammit, I am insane.

“Nervous?” Lance asks.

“That Bigfoot will steal my baby?”

“What?”

“What?” Fuck, I said that out loud, didn’t I?

“Mom does that all the time. You’ll get used to it, or you won’t,” Drew calls from the back seat, looking out the window.

Lance exhales out of his nose. Not quite a laugh or a huff, but something else.

ChapterSix

Izzy

I am in my little head until the GPS says, “You have arrived at your destination.” I cringe. I passed this place so many times as a kid. The grounds are massive, and the school is like something you’d see at Harvard, an old stone building of grandeur. So yeah, a far cry from what Drew is used to.

Lance opens the back door and grabs his jacket before walking around and opening the door for both of us. He pulls it on over his broad shoulders and tugs on his jacket sleeves, adjusting it.

Drew watches him and pulls at his uniform sleeves, but they bounce right back to where they were to begin with. He hitches his blue backpack—also the school issue—on his shoulder and eyes up the place.

Black SUVs like ours park in the drop-off line. A woman with a tight ponytail and bright red lipstick, wearing a suit more expensive than anything I own, greets each kid. She watches us as she says good morning to a little girl who bounces out of the back seat of the car in front of us. Four men flank the little girl, who smiles and gives a violently big wave to the teacher.

One of the little girl’s bodyguards pauses for a second. “Lance?”

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