Guardians (Seers Trilogy) by Heather Frost Read Free Book Online

and rolled his eyes. “Toni . . . I don’t know what to do with him.”
    “Let’s face it—you’ve spent like twenty-five years trying to civilize him. I don’t think it’s going to work.”
    He winced a little. “Are you ruined for life?”
    “Maybe. It really wasn’t that bad.”
    “You’re blushing,” he stated.
    The flush deepened. “I guess living with only sisters has made me more innocent than some.”
    “I love you exactly the way you are, Kate. And as for Toni—”
    “I think I properly dealt with him. I hope.”
    “Didn’t we have the stair rule?” he asked suddenly.
    “I’m glad someone remembers that, other than me. He claimed ignorance.”
    “He would.”
    The first of our classmates began meandering in, so our conversation died. He went back to sending me very distracting looks, and I tried to glance over the reading assignment we were going to be quizzed on today.
    When Aaron stepped into the room, he called out a quick hello to both of us before settling into his desk across the prearranged circle from us. My old boyfriend was happy today. His aura was bursting with yellow. I hadn’t bothered to ask him about his increased happiness, even though his aura had been getting steadily brighter over the past week. Now, however, didn’t seem like the appropriate time to question him. It could wait. Instead, I watched him surreptitiously over the next couple minutes, waiting for feelings of regret or even a hint of nostalgia to come.
    He’d been my first boyfriend, one of my best friends for so long. I’d had so many good times with him; sometimes I wondered how my heart had let go of him so quickly. Sometimes I wondered why I hadn’t doubted my decision to break up with him. Aaron was just so perfect; so natural. Our life together would have been predictable and pleasant.
    Patrick, on the other hand, was a big unknown. Our relationship would never be normal. While loving him was as easy as breathing, nothing was easy about our complicated future. Demons aside, we had plenty of other problematic roadblocks to fairy-tale happiness. One of them being the fact that Patrick would live forever, and when I died I would go directly to heaven. We would be separated forever at that point.
    Of course, my more logical side argued that I was still getting to know Patrick. We’d known each other less than six months. Should I really be worrying about these sort of long distance things? Then again, was my possible death really that far away? If I continued opposing the Demon Lord, I could be dead by Christmas, easy.
    In the end, it was always my heart that tried to still these inner dilemmas. It didn’t matter what conclusions I reached on a logical level, because I knew Patrick loved me, and he’d always be there for me—no matter what.
    I was still stealing glances at Aaron, but no twinges of regret came. They didn’t come because there was nothing to regret. There was only love. Love for a chapter of my life now gone and a remaining love that would fill me for the rest of my life.
    ***
    Patrick held my hand while we walked to the cafeteria for lunch. Moving through the busy halls, he reminded me of the question I’d posed before first hour—our plans for the weekend.
    I shrugged a little. “Honestly, I don’t really care. But . . .”
    “Yes?” he pressed.
    “I was sort of hoping we could do something without the whole twenty-four-hour guard.”
    Immediately, his face grew concerned. “I don’t know if that’s such a good idea.”
    “Patrick, I think I’m going a little crazy under all this protection. I mean, I’d be with you, right? I just want to go somewhere without an invisible bodyguard, that’s all. It’s not like I’m proposing we go to Vegas or anything.”
    He didn’t seem to appreciate my attempt to make light of the situation. “Kate, I know we’ve been a little overbearing, but it’s for your own safety. No Seer has ever escaped the Demon Lord.”
    I sighed