Page 85 of Guarded
Missed you so fucking much.
Counting the minutes.
I smiled through my tears as I typed my final reply.
TM, Noah
Me too, Jem.
Chapter 22
Jeremiah
It was funny—I used to believe time was a concept meant mainly for humans. It was difficult to worry about the passage of it when you were immortal and spent all your days doing the same thing.
Now though, I felt every minute I spent away from Noah. Every second.
The distance between us felt amplified with each day of silence that passed. It grew until the bond turned from ache to agony. What was worse was the knowledge that Noah was hiding something from me. Something that was causing him stress. From what Nox had implied, it wasn’t anything good either.
Whatever it was, I wanted to hear it from Noah. He’d shown me the respect of hearing me out before, and I was going to do the same for him. The most important thing was that he was safe.
Physically, at least.
Nerves plagued me as I laid out the final touches for our picnic. Darius had taken me to this fancy shop called John Lewis yesterday to pick out a blanket and a hamper. I mightnot have been topside for long, but I’d been here long enough to know how fucking overpriced everything in there was.
But Darius had insisted it would impress Noah. Knowing he’d been through a rough couple of weeks, I wanted to do that now more than ever. I wanted him to see the hamper and know I’d packed it carefully with him in mind. To spot the bottle of red wine Nox had told me was his favourite. For him to smile at the cheesy rose petals I’d scattered over the blanket, maybe even roll his eyes at the chocolate covered strawberries Darius had warned me might be too much.
They wouldn’t be. Noah and I loved a bit of cheese in our…well, whatever this was.
I didn’t trust either of our libidos not to distract us now we’d been apart—especially after our last date—and there was too much we needed to talk about before we were intimate again. I wanted to know what had been bothering Noah. Why he was so stressed about seeing his old unit.
Why he’d parted ways with them in the first place.
Being outside and in public meant we’d behave ourselves. In theory. So long as we didn’t think too much about how convenient compulsion nets were in places like this.
Richmond Park had been quiet when I’d arrived an hour ago. Now though, the paths were thronged with humans. Dog walkers, bike riders, parents chasing toddlers—they created a cacophony of noise so loud it was almost like being downstairs. Not quite, though. There were shouts instead of screams. Joy instead of pain. Sunshine instead of flames. A gentle breeze instead of millennia-old stale air.
The thing the two places had in common though, aside from the noise, was the sin. It wasn’t as potent as in Hell,but it was there all the same. My powers were humming in delight, recharged with every sinful thought filling the air.
None of it was enough to distract me. Especially as the time for our meeting drew near.
Then passed completely.
I waited an hour.
Two.
By hour three, the sun was high in the sky. I glanced at my phone for the millionth time. At the messages I’d sent Noah.
At the lack of replies.
I’ve been stood up.
Bitterness warred with fear as I hastily packed away the supplies. There was none of the care I’d shown when setting it up. The wine was shoved into the hamper, undoubtedly squashing the baguettes I’d prepared. I tossed the blanket in the air, not bothering to watch as the rose petals were caught by the breeze.
Screwing it up, I shoved it under my arm and lifted the hamper. Part of me was tempted to just leave it there, but I was trying to be better.
Ironically, for Noah.
