Keeping Me (Spy Chronicles Book 2)(36)

“It’s more than that,” Dad says. “You’re strong. I don’t know what all you have faced in your life, but I know it wasn’t good. I know you haven’t come even close to telling me everything that those people did to you.”

“I don’t want you to feel guilty. It wasn’t your fault,” I say.

“But it was my fault. I should’ve come after you sooner. And for that, I am sorry.”

“Don’t be sorry,” I say. “Look, you have been an amazing dad. And I am so glad that you finally found me. But those things they did, and the things I went through, that is what made me the person I am today. So, don’t have any regrets, because I don’t.”

“No regrets,” he says, but I can hear the regret in his voice. “I wish you could’ve had a normal Spy School experience, though. It’s actually fun being there. I made a lot of friends when I lived in the dorms. And we worked hard and trained harder, but we also had a blast.”

“I’m having fun here. In New Zealand,” I say.

“I know you are. But you should know, Gage and Brett have to leave soon,” Dad says. “They’re really important assets to Spy School and I need them somewhere else.”

“What about Sebastian?” I ask.

“Sebastian stays with you. Always,” he says.

“I’m not keeping him from anything important?”

“Serenity, there is nothing in the world more important than you. Besides, I don’t think that boy would leave your side for anything.”

His words relieve me, because I don’t want Bass to go anywhere.

“You seem to be feeling better since you’ve been training,” Dad says. “You have more energy. And you look healthier.”

“I do have a lot more energy,” I say. “I’ve gained almost fifteen pounds since I was released from the hospital, though I don’t feel like I’m any bigger.”

“You’re gaining muscles.”

“I can run almost three miles now. I feel like I’m slow when it comes to the physical side of things. But I’m trying.”

“You’re not slow,” Dad says. “Most of the kids at Spy School have spent their entire lives training. You haven’t. You’re starting fresh. Don’t ever feel like you’re not good enough, Serenity. Trust me, you are. One day soon, you’re going to be better than anybody else.”

“I’ll never be better than Sebastian,” I say.

“We’ll see.”

I love that my dad believes in me.

Having a real family is far better than I ever imagined or dreamed.





Tuesday, October 3





Frustrating.





I love the rain. I’m not sure what it is about it that I like so much. Maybe it’s the smell. There is nothing like it. Or maybe it’s the color of the sky.

Where I’m from, it rains every day at 4 p.m. on the dot. At least in the summer. I’m talking downpour with thunder and lightning. And while I don’t have good memories from Florida, the one thing I loved there was the weather. Sunny every day. But also rainy every day. Rarely ever too cold. And I miss that.

It’s cold in New Zealand. I was always under the impression that it was hot here, kind of like Florida, but that’s not the case. It’s a cool spring day here. Yet, I still go outside because I like the feel of the rain.

Everybody is asleep in the house. It’s five o’clock in the morning. The sound of the rain woke me up and I wanted to come outside.

I look up, watching the rain come down. The sight almost makes me dizzy, but I’m mesmerized by the pattern the rain makes as it falls.

“What are you doing?”

I spin around when I hear the voice behind me.

“You scared me,” I say, when I see Sebastian standing in the doorway. He doesn’t step out because he’s not crazy. It’s raining. And cold.

“Come inside. You’ll get sick,” he says.

“The cold won’t make you sick,” I say. Because it won't. It could cause hypothermia or frostbite, but it's not nearly cold enough for either of those, and I don't plan on being out here that long anyway. I just need this.

“Don’t make me come get you.”

I laugh. “I’d like to see you try.”

“You think you can stop me?”

I shake my head, because I know that I can’t take him, in a fight. He proves that every single day when we are training. If he really wanted to, he could drag me back inside and I would be powerless to stop him.

He takes a step down, out into the rain. “Why are you really out here?”

“Because I like the rain,” I tell him.

“You’re barefoot, and you’re standing in a puddle,” Sebastian says.

“Come on. Haven’t you ever wanted to play in the rain?”

“Maybe when I was two.”

I stick my tongue out at him. “Well, you’re lame then.”

“Real mature,” Sebastian says, taking a step closer to me. He’s soaked now, too. “Come inside.”

I just shake my head, my wet hair sticks to the side of my face and arms. “I don’t want to come inside, yet.”