Somehow I managed to end up at Central Park. It was a long way, especially for my already tired muscles but I kept walking and that’s where I ended up. I knew if I stopped, what I just saw would fully sink in. Somehow I’d managed to wreck everything I had scrapped together since I got here. I’d brought my nightmares to my reality thinking it would make everything better but instead it just made everything more…unbearable.
I felt worse and I didn’t think that was possible at all.
My phone started ringing in my pocket and I assumed it was Gregori. I owed him an apology. He’d trusted me not to go and do something like this but I did. And worst of all, I’d dragged his men into it. I was messing in other people’s lives again and it wasn’t right of me.
I grabbed my phone out of my pocket, fully planning on groveling but the name on the caller ID didn’t match the person I owed the begging and apologizing to.
Luke.
I answered it and before I could even say hello he spoke.
“Keep going straight. You’ll see a willow tree 25 yards up.”
He hung up the phone as did I. The gem of the fake class ring glinted at me, reminding me that the Guild could track my movements when I was outside the building. I didn’t really care. If this would get me kicked out then that was fine. If it would keep my self-destructiveness from affecting those around me, it was for the best. I didn’t want to be there anyways. All I needed to do was apologize to Gregori and that would be the end of it.
I saw the willow and the figure sitting underneath. The sun was almost down and I was thankful he picked a spot that had light nearby. Luke looked up at me as I sat down next to him but he turned back to look out at the water. We sat there together for a while, neither of us really saying anything.
“I thought you’d go back there.”
“You followed me.”
“I was already there.” He turned to look at me. “I was waiting for you. I knew you’d show up there before I left the city.”
“How could you possibly know I would go there? And then come here afterwards?”
The corner of his mouth turned up. “I know you, Georgiana. I’ve been your Guardian for years, a life time it seems like. I think I know your habits pretty well by now.”
“Were,” I whispered. “You were my Guardian.”
He reached over and took my hand. “Am. I am and will always be your Guardian. Nothing will ever change that. Not even me being reassigned.”
I squeezed his hand and looked at him. “I think I’m going crazy.”
“What do you mean?”
Tears slipped down my face. “Some things have happened…and now, now I’m hallucinating.”
“Georgiana…”
“I see him like he’s really there. It’s not like he just stands there, he talks to me, he acts like he used to. I’m crazy, right?”
“You’re talking about Aidan.” I nodded. “When did it start?”
“Today.” He sighed. “Luke, I don’t…”
“It’s just your mind trying to help you cope. It’s normal, it happens.”
“I don’t want to see him anymore. I thought it was gone and buried but…”
“You’ve lost them, both of them, within a short span of time. It’s normal that you would see one or the other. Maybe both. It’ll go away eventually.”
“Luke…”
“Why did you go back to that building? To that room? Closure. Understanding. Seeing Aidan is the same thing just manifesting in a different way.”
I shook my head. “I don’t think you understand. The things he says…”
“You could always call the real him, talk to him. Maybe that’s what you seeing him means.”
“That’s what he said.” I looked down at my hands. “But I’m not going to do that.”
“I know but it’s a suggestion. You’ve talked to Michael, it would only be sensible if you wanted to talk to him too.”
“I can’t do that to him.”
“It might make you feel better.”
“But it’s not always about me. This…me calling him…it would be wrong. And everything was said the last time we talked. There’s nothing else to say. It would be redundant.”
“Text him then.”
“Luke…”
“I’ve talked to your brother. Apparently he’s still in touch with Aidan. He asks about you, every time they’re on the phone.”
“That doesn’t mean he wants to talk to me.”
“He asked for your number. Sebastis called me this morning and asked me to talk to you about it.”
“Why didn’t he just call me?”
“Because he wasn’t sure you’d like the fact that he talks to the boy. He remembers what happened the last time they talked to him without telling you first.”
“I don’t think I can do that, talk to him I mean.”
“Like I said. It might make you feel better.”
I sighed and plugged in Aidan’s familiar number, sending him a text.
Me: G. Vertigo.
It was uncanny how fast he texted me back.
Aidan: I want to see you.
I sighed and looked at Luke. “This is where it gets me.”
“He knows the rules. He can’t see you.”
Me: Not possible. You know that.
Aidan: I don’t care. I want to see you. Please.
“I think he’s drunk. This was a bad idea.”
“Talk to him, Georgiana.”
Me: I just want to talk to you. Don’t be difficult.
Aidan: I want to talk to you too but in person.
“Ana. You can’t. You know that.”
I looked to my right, where he stood with his hands in his pockets.
“He’s not me. It will only hurt more if you see him again. Not to mention what the Angel might do.”
Aidan: Come to Mark’s club. He’s DJing.
Me: This was a mistake. I’m sorry.
“Don’t answer that,” Aidan said.
My phone rang softly, the Jerrod Niemann song ringing through the park.
“Are you going to answer it?” Luke asked.
I continued to stare at Aidan, the phantom version of him at least. “I can’t.” I hit the ignore button. Aidan nodded, looking sadder than I’d ever seen.
“I thought you wanted to talk to him.”
“I do but I’m not going to.” I looked at Luke. “It will only hurt more.”
The phone binged with a text.
Aidan: Answer the phone, Ana.
Me: I can’t. I’m sorry. You understand.
Aidan: Please, Ana. I’m dying here.
“This was a bad idea.” I looked at Luke. “I can’t talk to him.”
The phone started to ring again and Luke held out his hand. “I’ll take care of it.”
I handed it to him and he answered.
“Hello, boy.”
“Luke. Where is she?”
“She doesn’t want to talk to you.”
“But I want to talk to her.”
“That’s not how this works.”
“Then why did she text me?”
Luke cocked his head to the side. “She’s having a hard time…adjusting.”
“What do you mean?”
“Look, if she changes her mind, she’ll call you.”
“You can’t protect her forever, Luke. I know you want to but that’s not your job anymore. Eventually, you’ll leave the city and she’ll be alone. I can help her just put her on the phone.”
“I have a question and I want you to answer it truthfully. Understand?”
“Ohkay.”
“Why do you want to talk to her? She said everything was said on the beach.”
“I just…I miss her, ok? So please, put her on the phone.”
“How can you miss someone you’re not emotionally connected to?” When his question went unanswered, Luke continued, not even looking at me for my reaction. “How about everyone sticks to the original agreement? Everyone stays away from everyone else. Michael stays out of her head and dreams, you stay on your side of the city, and Georgiana stays locked up in the tallest tower where no one can reach her. Alright?”
“That’s not…fair.”
“Not my rules, boy. Should’ve thought about that before you made the pact.”
“Michael talked me into it. He said…”
“That she’d be better off with both of you gone, I know. I’ve heard the whole song and dance. The only problem is you can’t do take backs. This is the real world now, the grown-up world. The decisions you make now are permanent. There’s no changing them when you suddenly change your mind.”
“Luke, let me talk to her.”
“She can hear you just fine.”
Luke sounded completely frustrated. I stared at my manifestation and he looked completely tortured.
“Ana, please talk to me. Please.”
“Does he remember?” I whispered so just Luke could hear me.
Luke repeated the question and the other end went silent.
“That’s not fair,” Aidan whispered back. “You know that’s not fair.”
The manifested Aidan shook his head and looked at his feet. I think we were all hoping for the best but expected the worst.
“Hang up,” I said. “Tell him goodbye for me and hang up. Tell him I’ll…just hang up.”
Luke repeated the message, sounding as calm as he could and hung up the phone before Aidan could say anything.
“I know it hurts now,” Aidan whispered, “but it’ll get better. I promise. And he’ll remember. You have to hold on to that.”
“Will you stay?”
“I’ll stay as long as you need me,” Aidan said. “I promised you forever, remember?”
Luke looked at me. “I can’t stay in New York after the end of the week, you know that.”
I nodded. I wasn’t talking to him but I could at least acknowledge what he said.
“But you’ll come back, like we planned?”
“Of course. If I could skip out on this assignment I would, you know that.”
“But you can’t. I know. You’re an Immortal and it’s what you do.”
“I’m more than an Immortal, Gee.”
“Please. You don’t die. No one knows how to kill you therefore not many try. I go out the freaking door and I have death threats.” I sighed. “You don’t know what it’s like to wonder who to trust.”
“Trust your gut. You have instincts about people, follow them. Don’t forget that you’re Tiberius Vertigo’s daughter. You take crap from no one.”