Naturally, some kind of powers were hidden inside me. That’s what landed me in that basement. I just hadn’t seen evidence of my gifts before. There wasn’t enough time to process that piece of information.
“There’s something that should help you, back in my car.” He winced when I hesitated. “God, I have candy in my van, follow me,” he murmured. “It’s not a trick, we have warding shields."
That sounded helpful. I followed him.
Temple explained as we walked back to his car. "Usually these are for field work, if the situation requires stealth or we need to fly under the magical radar. They don’t last long and anyone advanced enough with a well-put together counter will shatter the shield. The coven don’t seem that disciplined, so this will definitely slow them down.”
He gave me… a band-aid. That made sense, something that didn’t stand out or draw attention. Guess I still expected more. I removed it from the sticky film and put it on the back of my hand. The flesh-colored bandage turned neon blue.
“The color fades as the time on the shield runs out,” he explained. “This should protect you for the day. We can assign you a more dedicated protection duty, but this group doesn’t strike me as having much follow through. They’ll probably get bored if they can’t find you or someone else will piss them off. Being out of the way at rehab should be enough.”
“No,” I said.
“What?”
“If I’m safe now, then I can go.” No need to go back to rehab.
His reasoning made sense. Go back and accept the protection of the DSA. Keep a low profile and hide out. But even the weakness of my own body hadn’t stopped me before. The strength of these assholes wouldn’t stop me either. I started down this road for a reason and I wouldn’t ever quit, not until I reached my destination.
Temple seemed stunned, then a crease appeared between his eyebrows. “You aren’t safe, you’retemporarilyshielded. His exasperation came through loud and clear. “All this does is cancel out their effort to track you. But they already have a place to start. If you stay here—”
“I won’t,” I promised. “I’ll stay out of sight and watch out for myself. Thank you for telling me, I agree I needed to know. Now I do. And if I stopped them once—”
“You don’t even know how or what you did.”
“But I did it,” I insisted with a wild grin, not about to back down. “So I can protect myself.”
“That doesn’t mean you have to do it all on your own,” he said simply, making me forget everything else. “Come back to rehab with me.”
“I-I can’t. I don’t want to be there,” I said. Off guard and not expecting how his plea would hit me, all I had to offer was the truth. “I don’t belong there… I’ve spent far too long in places that aren’t my home.”
"Oh." He deflated. Temple had an answer for so many things but there was no logic for that, no way to talk someone out of a feeling.
"So do you get it now?" I asked.
"No." The response came immediately.
"Are you going to respect it?" I asked.
Our gazes locked for a moment. Temple looked away first. “This is really what you’ve decided, John? You can’t stay with us longer?”
I nodded.
His head dipped low, hair spilling over onto his forehead. He sighed. “You’re sure.”
“Yes,” I said.
“Okay.”
Temple swallowed, looking a bit pale, and backed away. Going the short distance to the car, his steps were heavy. He really sold it, opening his door, getting in, buckling his seatbelt…turning the key in the ignition…I stepped up and rapped on his window.
He raised an eyebrow and rolled it down. “Yes?”
"Are you really—” He just kept staring at me and I glared back at him. “No, I’m not having this discussion with you like this. Get out of the car."
Temple stayed in the driver’s seat. "I thought you wanted me to leave."
"I do."
