Forgetting

Chapter 28-I'm Way Too Good At Goodbyes

I slammed the book shut. Sweat coated my skin and my heart pounded in my ears.

I was the new host.

Suddenly, the reason why I was feeling so frustrated and angry and sad recently made sense. This secret was what everyone was trying to hide from me, and why all the Protectors around here hated me even more than before.

I shot to my feet and stumbled outside, meeting Krishna and Aidan on the way. They were bickering about some trivial topic, as usual. This time it was about Greek yogurt.

" How could you not tell me?" I shouted, startling them both with my intensity.

Krishna trembled slightly, like she was scared I was going to blast her into smithereens or something. Aidan, on the other hand, crossed his arms and glared right back at me.

" Because we knew you'd react like this," He said.

" So what was your plan? You guys were just never going to tell me?"

He shrugged, irking me even further. I wanted to shave off his eyebrows and burn all his hair. He had injured me and worked for the Queen at one point. That was unacceptable. I lunged toward him, my fist connecting with his nose.

Aidan's head jerked back, but he managed to twist around and grab my arms, pinning them to my sides. I kept kicking him though, and I knew it hurt by the way his face contorted in pain. Krishna's hands were clawing at my back, trying to pull me off, but she wasn't strong enough.

Soon enough, we had an audience in the form of wide-eyed Protectors. Unfortunately, that was also when the more senior warriors decided to show up, Evan and another older woman in the lead.

Strong arms gripped me and pulled me away from Aidan, who was now bruised pretty badly. I fought against the Protector holding me to him, screaming expletives, but nobody paid me attention.

The older woman glanced at Aidan with concern in her dark eyes.

" Go to the emergency room," She said," She got you pretty good with her elbow."

He nodded and took off.

Then the woman turned towards me, and her nose wrinkled.

" Were you planning to kill him?" She asked mildly, but her jaw was set in a hard line.

I looked beyond her at Evan, tall and silent and imposing. I couldn't tell what he was thinking, since he always kept his emotions so carefully guarded. Nevertheless, his very presence calmed me, and I stopped raging and screaming.

" No," I said, surprised by how even my voice sounded," I wanted to beat the crap out of him, but not kill him. That was never my intention."

She raised her eyebrows in surprise, and the crowd around me broke out into soft chatter.

" Get her out of here," She said," And cleaned up, preferably."

She didn't dish out any more orders, but it was somehow understood by everybody that Evan would be the one to take care of me.  He stepped forward and grasped my arms, taking me from the other Protector, before pulling me away from the crowd.

" I still want to thrash him," I said honestly.

" I know, but I'm not letting you anywhere near the emergency room," He replied.

I tried fighting his hold, but he was so, so strong. He dragged me all the way past the woods and over a swamp. The route we took started to look familiar.

" You're taking me to the cliff, aren't you?" I asked, pleasantly surprised.

His looked down at me, his eyes hooded," I thought you'd calm down better over there."