Providence

“So they warned you about us, didn’t they?”

“Yeah…so?” he sniffed.

“So, when they warned you about Jared and I, and they sent twelve of you to take on two of us, and you al came in here, guns blazing, knowing most of you wouldn’t make it out…,” she raised one eyebrow before getting to her point, “…did they warn you about Bex?”

Crenshaw’s head darted around to each side of him, unclear what Claire meant, but he looked terrified.

A smal hand slowly rose into the air. “Nice to meet you, Crenshaw. I’m Bex.”

In the same second Bex’s body blurred in movement, and Crenshaw’s dark form bent unnatural y as he cried out. I heard bones snap as the intruder’s gun fel to the floor. In the next moment, Bex stood over his assailant. In one swift jerk, Bex pul ed Crenshaw’s neck and a loud crack pierced the room.

Lil ian exhaled as Bex stood over Crenshaw’s broken body. Claire walked over to her slightly tal er, younger brother and hugged him.

“I underestimated you,” Claire said, smiling at the overgrown boy in her arms.

“And you said I wouldn’t be able to act scared enough,” he taunted.

“I admit it. I was total y wrong. There for a second I thought you were going to cry like a little girl. He didn’t see you coming for a second,” she said, pressing her fist against his jaw.

Bex playful y punched her in the arm and she ruffled his hair.

“Are you okay, Nina?” Bex asked, turning to me with a concerned expression.

I could only lift the corners of my mouth for a second, grateful when Claire motioned for him to fol ow her downstairs. I recoiled as I watched Bex step over Harry Crenshaw’s body like he was a piece of furniture.

Jared came through the door moments later, and after surveying the scene, walked straight to me.

“You okay, sweetheart?” he asked, pul ing me tightly into his arms.

I nodded. “Where were you?”

“I had to take care of a few things downstairs. Are you sure you’re okay?” he asked again, holding my cheeks in his hands and scanning my face.

I nodded again, and then my knees buckled. Jared lifted me into his arms and carried me downstairs through the darkness.

“Should I get the lights?” Lil ian asked.

“Not yet,” Jared answered.

I heard Claire trot down the stairs and rummage through a cabinet in the bathroom. With a smal flashlight in her mouth, she turned to look at her back in the mirror as she flattened a pink Hel o Kitty band-aid against a deep cut on her shoulder.

Jared took me outside into the night air. “Take a few slow, deep breaths. You’l feel better soon.”

I felt a blanket surround me as Lil ian kissed my forehead. “I’m so sorry, Baby. We’l try again another night.”

I couldn’t reply. She acted as if she’d burned the pot roast, not that a group of men had broken into her home and assaulted her family to kidnap one of her guests.

“I need to take Nina home. Claire and Bex can clean up. Cal me if there is a problem,” Jared said.

Lil ian nodded and kissed her son.

“I am so sorry,” I choked, the guilt crushing me.

Jared’s mother cupped my cheek in her palm and stared at me with deep sympathy. “This is not your fault, Nina. It’s no one’s fault. It is what it is.”

She shrugged with a smal smile and I tried to return her expression, but I was afraid if I let the numbness escape me for even a moment, I would break down in front of everyone.

Once in the SUV, I asked Jared to take me to Andrews.

“Why?” he asked, genuinely surprised.

“I just want to go home,” I said, looking out the window.

Jared traced my fingers with his. “I’d feel better if you stayed with me tonight.”

“I think I…I just want to sleep in my bed,” I said, stumbling over my words. I had made the decision before I got in the car.

“If that’s what you want.” He sighed in resignation, and then turned down a road that led to Brown.

Jared slowly pul ed beside the curb and switched off the ignition. Without a word, I pul ed on the handle to let myself out.

“Nina?” Jared cal ed as he caught up with me. “I don’t think this is a good idea, you’re not in any condition to be alone.”

“Beth is there,” I said as I continued walking.

He stopped me just as I reached for the door. “You don’t want to be around me tonight, do you?”

I didn’t want to say it. I begged myself not to, but I had to say the words. The tears threatened to fal but I forced them back. “I can’t do this, Jared.”

He shifted uncomfortably from one foot to the other, shoving his hands in his pockets. “You can’t do what?”

“We have to go back to the way things used to be,” I said, trying to keep my voice from breaking.

I could see the clouds forming in his eyes. “What are you talking about?” he asked warily.

“I….” My lips pressed together, afraid to speak words that would be physical y painful to say, “I don’t think we should be together. I don’t see how it can work.”

Jared was instantly angry. “Don’t do this. You think what happened at Lil ian’s tonight is your fault.” He gripped my shoulders. “It’s not your fault, Nina.”

“They came to your mother’s house, Jared. For me. If I wasn’t there they wouldn’t have come. Quit saying it’s not my fault. It is.”

Jared’s eyes narrowed. “How do you think this is going to help, exactly? This isn’t the first time someone has been in our home. It’s not the first time Lil ian has been in danger. She was married to Jack Grey’s guardian angel, Nina. It sort of comes with the territory.” He relaxed a bit and pul ed me to him. “We can take care of ourselves, okay?”

I pul ed away from him, surprised at his casual demeanor. “You brought me to meet your family and you expect me not to care what happens to them?”

Jared grabbed my hands and sighed in frustration. I could see that he was desperate for me to see reason. “Nothing happened to them. I realize you were scared, but it was completely under control. You don’t think Bex has seen worse?”

“In his home? In his room? Your eleven year old brother broke a man’s neck in his bedroom, Jared. That’s not normal….”

“We’re not normal!” He took a deep breath to keep his voice calm. “Bex just got home from training with the Marines, Nina. You’re not saving him by doing this. It’s who we are. What do you think you’l accomplish by pushing me away?” He shook his head and looked at me as if I’d lost my mind.

But I was resolved.

“It’s going to keep them focused on me and out of your mother’s house.”

Jared’s eyes darkened and a grave expression shadowed his face. “So we won’t go back there. If that’s what you want, we’l stay away from her house.” Jared reached for me, but I moved away.

I shook my head. “They already know who you are. They know where your mother lives. They know about Bex, now. The damage is done, Jared.”

“You’re being unreasonable. This doesn’t make any sense,” he said in a strangled tone.

I looked to the sidewalk. “Don’t make this harder—,”