Free Wilder: The Guardian Series by G.K. DeRosa

years of my life. I never would have survived losing
my dad without you. What we have is so special to me, and I never want to lose
you as my best friend.”
    “You’ll never lose me Cel. I’ll always be here for you, I
promise,” he said and pulled her close to him.
    Celeste felt tears welling up and her throat began to
tighten. She pulled away quickly and excused herself to make a run to the
ladies room.
     
    Celeste dabbed at her eyes in the mirror, and reapplied some
lip-gloss. As much as she tried to deny it, it seemed that Natalie had been
right.
    Does Brian really have
feelings for me?
    She shrugged off the thought, pulled herself together, and
headed back to the dance. As she walked through the quiet hallway, she heard
footsteps behind her. She turned around quickly, and found herself face to face
with Patrick.
    “Oh geez, you scared me,” she said. “What are you doing
here?”
    “Sorry about that. I’ve been wanting to talk to you all
night, but I didn’t want to get beaten up by your boyfriend,” said Patrick
caustically. The bright smile from the other night was gone, replaced instead
by dark circles under his bloodshot eyes that stood out in contrast to his pale
ivory skin.
    Patrick lurking in the shadows waiting for her to come out of
the bathroom just didn’t seem right to her. She tried to remain calm, and keep
the conversation casual hoping that she could make her way back to a more
public area.
    “So what did you want to talk to me about?” asked Celeste.
    “It was actually something I wanted to show you. It’s in my
car -- let’s go,” he said as he reached forcefully for her arm.
    “No, I don’t think so,” Celeste said equally forcefully as
she wriggled away from his grasp. “I have to get back to Nico. He must be
wondering where I went.”
    “It’s about your father’s death, Celeste. You may want to
reconsider.”
    Celeste’s heart froze at the mention of her father. “How do
you know my dad?” she asked and the calmness in her voice had disappeared.
      “I guess you’ll
never know unless you come with me.”
    Visions of Roman warning her about Patrick danced through her
head, but if he knew something about her father, she had to find out what it
was. Against her better judgment, she followed Patrick out to his car. She kept
hoping to pass someone on the way, but the parking lot was deserted. She could
hear the echoing of Roman’s desperate voice warning her to go back, but she
trudged on determinedly.
    “I guess meeting you at Ralph’s the other night wasn’t a
coincidence?”
    “Not exactly,” Patrick confirmed.
    “You came looking for me?” asked Celeste desperate to put the
pieces together.
    “You could say that.”
    Celeste looked around nervously, but there was no one in
sight. “Do you know Roman and Nico? Is that why you were all acting so weird?”
    “Not personally, but I know of them.”
    “What does that mean?” she asked, walking more slowly and
trying to stall.
    “There are things you don’t know about them. But more
importantly there are things about your father that you need to know, Celeste,”
he said as he walked up to the trunk of his car and opened it.
    Faster than she thought humanly possible, he picked her up
and forced her into the trunk. Celeste screamed and kicked frantically when she
realized what was happening. Suddenly everything began to move very slowly. She
stretched out her arms, pushing against the trunk door as hard as she could.
She struggled to get her legs under her as Patrick reached up to close the lid
down on her. Before it slammed down, Roman appeared out of nowhere.
    “Roman!” she screamed.
    Patrick spun around and met with Roman’s stone cold fist and
crumpled to the ground. Celeste was petrified with fear, completely numb. She
stared in shock at Patrick’s limp body stretched out on the black top. Roman
reached in and scooped her out of the trunk, cradling her tenderly.
    “You’re all right. Everything is