Runaway Girl - The Secrets of Avelina Chronicles 1

Chapter 6

When Alexander felt a light tap on his shoulder, he knew instantly that whoever had been watching him had some unknown interest in him. On instinct, he reached into the pouch of his grey sweatshirt and pulled out a small knife, grabbed the offender's wrist, spun her around and held it to her throat. When he heard the shocked squeak from the girl he held, he let out a sigh and smiled.

"You should know better than to sneak up on people like that, especially me," he scolded her sweetly, letting her go. He snapped the knife shut and slid it back into his sweatshirt pouch with a smile.

"I'm sorry, Alex," Natalie said, smiling apologetically. She felt ridiculous for thinking that he would be up to something suspicious. He was her boss' bodyguard. He'd been away at some important meeting with a man he knew that morning and she was surprised he was back so quickly.

"I need to speak with Kaitlin. It's important," he replied, never showing his face. In fact, she'd never seen his face once since she'd met him and doubted that she ever would. He seemed to be one of those naturally mysterious people.

"I'll go get her," she promised, about to interrupt the tarot card reading Kaitlin was giving a client, but she emerged from the back room with a smile, nodding to Natalie that it was all right.

"It's okay," Kaitlin whispered. "Go back to work. I've got this." Her customer left the back room quietly and went over to the bookcase to search for a book.

"So, Alex ... is this purely a social call or strictly business?" Kaitlin asked softly once they were alone. Her green eyes sparkled as her bodyguard turned to her with a smile that only she could see.

Natalie was curious as to what other kind of relationship the two might have had at one time.

Alex looked down at his feet and then back at the shop—suspicious of everyone and everything—then took her hand in his. "I need to talk to you ... now," Alex replied. The seriousness of his voice wavered when he glanced back at the doorway, as though cautious of every shadow and movement being made.

But Kaitlin knew how he was. He worried about her a lot—too much for her liking—and he always tended to over react to any random rumor he heard about her. "I have customers," she replied. "I can't just leave them for nothing." She shrugged, trying to be sweet and gentle about it.

Alex smiled, stepping closer to her, then cupped her face with both hands as if he was about to kiss her. And he wouldn't have minded, but that was an entirely different problem. "Kaitlin ..." he said, his voice softer, tenderer than ever before.

Natalie watched them curiously, hoping that he was about to tell what was so urgent, but secrecy was a part of both of their lives. Her attention was brought back to the tattoo on the back of Alex's hands as she watched him with Kaitlin, begging her to listen to him. It was the first time she'd ever seen a tattoo like that and she wondered why he would have it tattooed on his hand. There were also burn marks running from the back of his hand to his palm and she knew that to get a tattoo on such a tender place must have been for an important reason.

"It's really important?" Kaitlin asked sceptically.

"My life depends on you Kaitlin ... and I have a feeling that a lot of lives are going to depend on you throughout the next cycle," Alex explained briefly, unwilling to say more in front of Natalie, who knew nothing of their lives and their real purpose in the world. He knew that Kaitlin would understand that he was talking about the lunar cycle and how important it was that they reach their families—or at least Kaitlin's—before the change of the moon at the end of the month.

Relief washed over Alex as Kaitlin took his hand and smiled, nodding quietly, though with reluctance in her eyes. He knew that the entire reason for her moving to the small, sleepy town that she chose was because it was safe and she wanted to live her own life without her parent's influence bearing down on her. But he wanted to remind her that she had certain responsibilities and obligations to them. They had raised her at home and had given her as much freedom as was safe until she was eighteen. After that, she insisted on the life she now had, unwilling to let it slip past her because of obligations. And as much as Alex wanted her to have that life, undisturbed by him and his reminders of home, he knew that she was a very important part of her parent's lives and the future of their civilization.