Page 56 of Guarded By Death

Making them forget the night ever happened.

Thirty-one

How were the fifties?

Iwake to an empty bed, my mind races as I open my eyes to pan the empty room. Pierce was pissed when we got back home. He hadn't said a word to me, and he slept on the other end of the bed.

Last night, our little park fiasco went smoothly after Pierce made them forget what they saw. I dropped Zack at home and Kayla back at the pier. They just thought we had a wonderful night.

I’m not happy with him, either, so the feeling is mutual, but this isn't a normal thing for him. Having a girlfriend, dealing with best friends liking said girlfriend. It's a lot for him to take in and if I'm being honest... I should have talked to Zack a long time ago.

I wipe the sleep from my eyes and calm my fears as Pierce appears next to me, a set of keys dangling in his hands. I tilt my head to the side.

He shrugs. "I wanted something to drive myself." He leans down to kiss me.

Seeing his dimpled smile, I can tell he wants to make up and I'm too excited for him to be less obnoxious. "You got a car!" I squeal.

"Something like that," he mutters as he pulls me out of bed and into his arms. With his face wrapped in my hair he says, "I'm sorry about last night."

Regret in my voice, "I'm sorry too. I promise I'll tell Zack."

He pulls me back to face him. "It's not just Zack, Scar, it's everyone and everything. You have to be more careful. You know better than that."

After a beat of silence, he grabs my hand and begins to lead me out of my bedroom while I'm still in pajamas.

"Wait! Let me get dressed. I want you to take me for a drive." I smile while I throw on a pair of jeans and a t-shirt from the pile of clean clothes that have taken residence on the accent chair in my room. Folding laundry is the least of my concerns lately.

I finish getting ready and try to put everything in the back of my mind, to have anormalday on a typical date with my out of this world boyfriend.

We head out the front door and my jaw drops. An intimidating black motorcycle shimmers underneath the sun, and my breath catches in my throat. "Umm, Pierce..."

"Yes?" he questions, but I hear the humor in his voice.

I shake my head. "That's a death trap." I point towards the bike.

He gives me an amused look. "Sweetheart, I'm a death trap. Literally." I stifle a laugh as he continues, "When would I ever let you get hurt?" he asks, crossing his arms against his broad chest.

"You can't control everything," I remind him.

"Tell me one situation where I couldn't keep you from danger." His eyes narrow as I think of different dangerous scenarios.

"What would you do if we crashed in an airplane?" I ask with a smug expression.

"I would grab you and bring us somewhere safe before it hit the ground." he counters back, and I realize he's right. Even though I want to think of something else to wipe the smug expression from his face, nothing is coming to mind. He's the solution for everything, always.

That makes me wonder why he has never brought us to safety during one of the fights with the demon.

"Why don't you do that when Preta comes after us?" I ask curiously. Knowing his name and speaking it, burns like venom on my tongue.

"It would make no difference." He shrugs. "Unfortunately, he's always too close to us for me to decide to take us to safety. If he had touched either one of us while we were walking through the threshold, he would just come with us and the whole situation would be disorienting."

I ponder that for a moment, it makes sense. Hopefully next time – I shiver knowing that with my luck, this calm state I'm in will be flipped upside down soon – we are far enough away that we can make our escape.

His voice brings me out of my daze. "Just trust me," he says as he hands me a matte black helmet, I'm happy it covers my full head, unlike the ones I see where their face is exposed. I look for his helmet but can't find it.

"You're not wearing one?" I plant my feet on the ground, tapping my shoe against the pavement impatiently.

He straddles the bike, throwing his head back dramatically. "Come on Scar. I don't need one. Please just get on."

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