Guardian Read Online Free PDF Page B

abundantly clear as he pushed out of my arms with a scowl.
    “Where is Grace?” I asked, looking around wildly, very aware of the security guard who clearly thought I was now wasting his valuable time.
    “She’s in the bathroom,” Colton said, ruffling the hair I had smoothed only seconds before. “There was a big line after the story time ended, so we were waiting inside the bathrooms.”
    Just then Grace came out, and the security guard left, apparently deeming the mystery solved. I was much too relieved to worry about looking stupid for not checking the bathrooms. I clutched both Colton and Grace to me, kneeling on the floor so our heads were at the same level.
    “You just scared years off my life,” I whispered to them, my heartbeat finally slowing a little. “And I don’t have a whole lot to spare. I couldn’t find you guys! Next time, tell me where you’re going!”
    “But you weren’t at the table,” Colton objected. Older than Grace, he saw the unreasonableness in my panic and was trying to call me out on it. I was still too unnerved, from both Austin’s strange attack and the mysterious Rafael, to care. “And Gracie really had to pee!” he continued.
    “Gracie had to use the restroom ,” I corrected, unthinking. “And I don’t care, no excuses. I was so worried about you. I thought something awful had happened. I was scared to death.”
    Grace was sucking her thumb, studying me. “Can we ride in the elevators today, Sissy?” she asked.
    I sighed, giving up on pressing this important lesson into them. After all, they had been only ten feet away from the table the whole time. I supposed that didn’t really put them in the wrong. Finally thinking straight with the relief that finding them brought, I gently pulled Grace’s thumb from her mouth and nodded wearily.
    “Yes, we can take the elevator so you can push the buttons. I need a dictionary.” I had only just realized that in my panic, I’d set the other one down and hadn’t a clue where it was.
    I took both their hands solidly in mine, even though they protested at being treated like babies. But I ignored it. It had been a good scare, one I was not about to repeat ever again in my lifetime. I was going to be a nervous wreck by the time I got over the bundle of nerves I’d acquired with Austin’s attack and following memory loss. We trotted quickly to the elevators, where I settled the button fight that was just as routine in our Saturday as studying; Colton was allowed to press the first one, while Grace got the one inside the elevator.
    Standing there waiting for the elevator to come down to our floor, the hairs on the back of my neck slowly began to rise once more, only stiffer this time. Even the hairs on my arms stood to attention, my whole body covered with chilly goose bumps. I could feel a pair of eyes on me.
    Slowly, I looked up, into the foggy reflection of the stainless steel elevator doors. There was a blurred shape in them, standing behind the three of us. The air in my lungs constricted as I picked out dark clothing, dark hair, and an undeniable masculinity in the overbearing height and broad shoulders.
    I spun around with a gasp, but there was no one standing behind us. The large staircase blocked us from the view of anyone in the lobby, and there was no one nearby, nowhere for anyone to hide. I looked around franticly, and at the loud ding of the elevator, I jumped almost a foot into the air.
    “Lyla?”
    I looked down into Colton and Grace’s curious faces, pressing a hand over my furiously pounding heart.
    “Are you okay?” Colton asked seriously. “You seem funny today.”
    “I’m all right,” I assured him, looking behind us once more. “I just, I just thought that I saw someone. But it was nothing. Come on, we’re about to miss the elevator!”
    I led the way into the small box, hitting the second floor button and furiously jabbing at the Close Door until the doors were firmly shut and we were alone, safe