Guardians Of The Zodiac

Chapter 26

The question lingered in the air as it weighed us down. I knew he didn't want a real answer and I knew I didn't want to give him one. For someone who had no experience Ryder was one of the best Handlers I ever had, but to move forward something needed to change. I didn't want him to change but I also wasn't sure how to change myself.

"Tara, I need to talk to you," Elliot's voice was trying to fight through my racing thoughts but I refused to look away from Ryder. "Wait, what are you still doing over here anyway? It's almost midnight."

I didn't know how much time had passed while the three of us just stood there and everyone else had started freely around the Hall, making their way around us. All I did know was that I was afraid that if I walked away from that spot on the dance floor then I was going to lose someone really important to me.

"Tara, didn't you hear Elliot?" Hazel suddenly appeared beside us along with Naudia and Cooper.

"It's rude to ignore someone when they're addressing you," Naudia voiced.

"Plus Iris was saying something about midnight signaling all the cake we can eat. Where is she anyway? No way would she miss cake," Cooper added.

"Hey, Tara. Is everything..." Elliot went to reach out for me but I shifted away, avoiding his touch.

"Seriously, what's going on over here? Don't you know everyone's waiting for you?" Naudia snapped.

"Everyone can wait," I snapped back which she did not appreciate.

"Excuse me? Who do you think you-" Her voice rose but I continued to ignore her as Cooper held her back.

"I think we can all use a little air," Hazel tried to suggest.

"No time. Tara has to go play Guardian," Ryder muttered, finally averting his eyes.

I knew he was just trying to get me to walk away, to finish off the night by pissing me off. It was working.

Before I lost it all together I forced myself to spin on my heels and storm away from the group because it was the only logical thing I could think of doing at the time. How dare he speak to me that way? He had always been an arrogant jerk but this was next level.

I wasn't even sure where I was trying to escape to but I just needed to get away from everyone. The Guardian Ball was a mistake.

"Tara? Are you okay?" I heard Dillon ask but I was so heated he sounded so far away. "Did the Sprites tell you what we found?"

He was keeping up with my speed so I had no choice but to hear what he had to say. I could have told him to get lost but something about his urgency caught my attention and brought me out of my anger and frustration.

"No, I actually haven't seen them for a bit. What did you find?" I asked reluctantly.

"Well they recruited me and Bells to help find Amore but whenever we got closer to connecting with her essence it would suddenly vanish."

"Vanish? What do you mean? And who told them to go look for Amore on their own? All I wanted was for them to get a sense for Amore. I didn't want them to go off on a scavenger hunt."

"Well, Anya asked them to. Apparently she hadn't seen Amore in a while and asked the Sprites to look for her because she was worried. And that's exactly what I'm saying. It was as if every time we got close a magic barrier would be activated and..."

I didn't need to hear anymore. Without another thought my heels clacked against the marble as I took off into the West Wing with Dillon right on my tail, calling after me.

"Tara, slow down for a second and tell me what's going on!" he pleaded.

"Growing up in the Estate as Guardians meant we didn't get much privacy. So we created a safe space with a magic barrier that depleted magic essence..."