In His Keeping (Slow Burn #2)(9)

Gavin’s expression and tone were wry as he imagined the years ahead. “I think, my darling, that you and I are in for quite an adventure in raising our daughter.”

FOUR

TWENTY-TWO YEARS LATER . . .

ARIAL Rochester sighed as she walked through the gate of the private academy where she taught English, a hint of sadness that always accompanied the end of the school year tugging at her.

But she shrugged off the momentary melancholy because soon she would be with her parents, and she’d spend the summer with them wherever her father chose to surprise her mother with this year.

She smiled as her thoughts drifted to her parents. So in love even after so many years of marriage. Her father was fiercely protective of her mother and in turn her mother and father were fiercely protective of her.

With good reason.

Never tell. Never let anyone know. Never use your powers.

It was a mantra her father had instilled in her since she was old enough to remember. She had grown up very sheltered, protected and extremely isolated. With good reason.

Her parents had done as much as they could to give her some sense of normalcy, but it wasn’t possible because Ari wasn’t normal. She was a freak of nature. Something from a cheesy sci-fi movie. People like her didn’t exist. Except . . . she did. And there was no logical explanation as to why.

Her father was the epitome of logical. He had a brilliant, analytical mind, and even he seemed baffled over Ari’s abilities. His greatest fear had been . . . discovery. That somehow Ari would be found out and taken away from her parents or exposed to danger from people seeking to harness her powers and use them for God only knew what. And so they’d hired tutors to homeschool her. She went nowhere without a security team.

But now, as an adult, graduated with honors from a small, private college, she’d stepped outside of the protective bubble created by her father so many years earlier.

He didn’t like it. Neither did her mother. But they understood, thank God. All her father had asked was for her to never give anyone reason to believe she was any different from any other young woman in the world.

It was a promise she had no problem giving because normalcy was exactly what she wanted—craved. She didn’t want to be “that freak.” Her parents had raised her in constant fear of discovery, at least until she was old enough to understand not to ever use her powers and expose herself to the rest of the world. Only then had they relaxed somewhat and no longer lived in constant terror of Ari mistakenly revealing all that she could do.

Her parents had made great sacrifices for her. Their entire lives had revolved around her protection. It was a fact Ari regretted with all her heart. That, because of her, none of them had been able to lead normal lives.

She dug into her purse for her keys as she walked briskly down the sidewalk of the busy street the school was on. The large brick building was surrounded by a wrought-iron fence with a gate that closed promptly after school started and opened just minutes before school let out. The teachers’ parking lot was a half a block down from the gate and she was the last teacher to leave, judging by the vacant parking area.

Just as she was about to exit the sidewalk and cross the lot where her car was parked, she was shoved roughly to the ground, the pavement scraping her knees and palms as she planted her hands down to break her fall.

Shock splintered up her spine as she tried to comprehend what the hell had just happened!

“You f*cking bitch! You think you’re going to get away with failing me? If it weren’t for you, I’d be going to college in the fall. Do you have any idea what my parents are going to do when they see my final grades?”

She recognized the voice as one of her students. Derek Cambridge. He came from a wealthy family and had a sense of entitlement a mile wide. He was arrogant and egotistical, but she would have never dreamed he would attack her for the grade he’d earned in her class.

She’d gone out of her way in an attempt to help him. She hadn’t wanted to fail him, but he resisted her efforts at every turn, assuming in his arrogance that she would pass him regardless of his efforts—or lack thereof. Perhaps he thought his parents’ wealth and social standing would allow him to glide through school and life.

When she looked up, her blood froze, because he was not alone. Two boys she assumed were his friends were with him and looked every bit as pissed as Derek. Were they crazy? Attacking a woman in broad daylight on a busy street in front of a school?

She glanced desperately around, looking for any source of help.

A kick to her side propelled her over onto her back, her purse now underneath her back as she gasped for breath.

What she saw when she looked up and met the furious gaze of Derek Cambridge chilled her to the bone.

This wasn’t merely him roughing her up and blowing off some steam and rage. She saw death in his eyes. Her death. And his friends made no move to intervene on her behalf. They both wore smirks as if they firmly believed she was getting precisely what she deserved.

A flash of metal glinted in the sunlight. A knife.

Derek held it tightly in his fist, the blade pointed downward and she knew—she knew—he was going to kill her right there.

Though her powers had long lain dormant, though she had made a practice of suppressing them at all costs, they came roaring back, self-preservation overtaking all else.

It was instinctual. She didn’t even have to force herself to concentrate. A cascade of stones suddenly pelted her attacker, sending him reeling backward, one hand covering his face protectively while the other hand still gripped the knife.