Chapter 8
***JACKSON***
“Abby, it’s me,” Jackson whispered, feeling like he was fighting a wildcat. “Stop fighting, I’m not going to hurt you.”
She instantly relaxed, looked up at him, her eyes full of fear, and threw her arms around him. “I thought you were one of those men,” she said. “What are you doing here?”
“I was taking a walk, and I saw the lights go out,” Jackson said, then realized what she’d said. “Wait, what men?”
“There are a couple of men up on the second floor. I think they have a bomb,” she said. “They were going to put it in the basement, but they didn’t have a flashlight.”
“Shit, I knew something was up,” he said, looking down the hallway toward the stairs that led up to the second floor. “I want you to get out of here. Find one of the security guards and tell him what’s going on. No, better yet, call 911 as soon as you get outside.”
“What are you going to do?” she asked, suddenly afraid for Jackson. “You can’t go after them, there’s two of them. Come outside with me.”
Jackson shook his head. “I have to stop them. It could take a while for help to get here,” he said. “We can’t let them plant that bomb.”
“Jackson, it’s too dangerous,” she said, shaking her head and trying to tug him toward the back door. “What if the bomb goes off and you’re still inside? What if they catch you?”
He grabbed her by the shoulders. “I’ll be fine, I promise,” he said, looking into her eyes. “You’re just going to have to trust me.”
Something flared to life between them as they looked into each other’s eyes, but he didn’t stop to think about what it was; his only thought was to get Abby out of the building as quickly as possible.
“Okay, but promise me that you’ll be careful,” she said, surprising him.
“I’m going to kill you if you get hurt.”
“That’s not going to happen,” he said, then, without even thinking, leaned down and kissed her. “Go get help, and I’ll see if I can slow them down.”
Abby lifted her fingers to her lips, a look of amazement on her face.
Then she stretched up on her toes and kissed him before turning and running down the hallway toward the back door.
He stared after her, distracted for a second by what had just passed between them, but when the door closed with a click behind her, he turned and started for the stairs.
Letting his magic begin to flow, he tested the air, feeling the tingle of power from above him, and knew he was dealing with two of the members of the other fraternity.
Knowing that evened the score he proceeded slowly, not sure what he would do once he found them, but determined to stop them.
He’d just made it to the top of the stairs when the scream of sirens in the distance split the silence of the night, and he scrambled back into the shadows.
A second later, two dark clothes figures came racing down the hallway, one of them carrying something heavy, and he sprang from his hiding place.
“You’re not going anywhere until the police get here,” he said, channeling more of his magic, ready to shift if necessary. “This is going to end tonight.”
The two men hesitated for a second, but he knew it wasn’t going to be that easy, he knew they’d fight their way out if necessary, and braced himself, expecting them to shift.
Instead, the man carrying the dark shape launched it at him, hitting him in the middle of the chest, knocking the wind out of him and flinging him back a couple of feet.
He landed on the floor with a thud, disoriented for a second, but it was just enough time for the two men to flee down the stairs and out the front door.
He was back on his feet and running after them only a few seconds later, but when he burst through the doors, the courtyard in front of the building was empty.
Cursing as he ran down the stairs, he stood at the bottom sniffing the air, hoping to get a trace of their scent, but all he could smell was the forest around the campus.
Abby came running around from the side of the building just as three police cars came to a screaming halt in front of the building, and he was forced to give up on the chase.
“Jackson, are you okay?” Abby asked, running over to him. “I saw those men come running out and I…”
“I’m fine, I almost had them,” he said, pulling her into his arms. “I’m pretty sure I know who they were, though.”
“I heard one of them call the other one Paul,” she said, looking up at him. “Who are they?”
“Kappas,” he ground out between clenched teeth. “I think they were planning to blow up the science building. The bomb is still in there.”
Abby looked up at the building, then buried her face in his chest, a shiver going through her entire body. “You’re not going back in there,” she said, then looked up at him. “I mean it, Jackson, you can’t.”
“Don’t worry, bombs aren’t my thing,” he said, then grinned at her. “I guess you’re not mad at me anymore.”
Abby stared at him for a second, then realized where she was and quickly untangled herself from his arms, leaving them feeling empty. “You said I was weird. I’m not going to forget that any time soon,” she said. “I was just worried about you, that’s all.”
“And that kiss you gave me back in the hallway,” he said, the grin still on his face. “I suppose that was just worry, too.”
“You kissed me first,” she said, a blush rising on her cheeks. “I just…well…never mind, forget about it.”
“Hmmm, I don’t think that’s going to happen,” he said, pulling her back into his arms. “In fact, that’s all I’m thinking about now.”
When he lowered his mouth to hers this time, the world melted away, the swirling lights vanished, and he could only think of the woman in his arms. Abby responded by wrapping her arms around his neck and letting out a little sigh that touched something deep inside him, sending a current of electricity shooting through him.
Surprised by the feeling, the world came rushing back, and he pulled away from her with a groan, trembling as much as she was.
“Are you two okay?” one of the police officers asked, rushing over to them. “We got a call about a bomb. I hope this isn’t a practical joke.”
He sucked in a deep breath, gently letting go of Abby, who was staring up at him, a shocked look on her face. “It’s on the second floor,” he said. “I don’t think it’s armed. It didn’t go off when they threw it at me.”
***Abby***
Abby tried to focus on what was going on around her, but her entire body was still tingling, and her knees felt wobbly.
She’d never been kissed like that before, had never experienced anything so intense, and her brain was having a hard time functioning.
Jackson was talking to the police, recounting what happened inside the building, but all she could think about was kissing him again.
“Ma’am, you haven’t said much,” one of the officers said, walking over to her. “Are you sure that you’re okay?”
Forcing herself to focus on the man, she took a deep breath. “I’m okay,” she said. “I just need a couple of minutes to catch my breath.”
Jackson put his arm around her. “Abby was inside the building when the power went out,” he said. “She heard the men first, and I came along a few minutes later.”
“We’ll need to get your statement too, then,” the officer said. “The bomb squad is on their way. Maybe we should step away from the building for now.”
Jackson guided her over to the parking lot. “Are you sure that you’re okay?” he asked. “You’re shaking.”
She looked up at him. “What was that?” she blurted without thinking. “What just happened between us?”
Jackson looked surprised but didn’t answer her right away. “I shouldn’t have kissed you, I guess,” he finally said. “I wasn’t planning to, then we were safe, and you looked so worried and well…I just…”
She studied him for a second, then shoved him away. “You didn’t answer my question,” she said, putting her hands on her hips. “What did you do to me?”
“Nothing, okay, it was just a kiss,” he said. “Can we just forget about it?”
“Not likely,” she said, narrowing her eyes at him. “Don’t do it again.”
“Oh, I can promise that won’t be a problem,” he shot at her. “Now I’m sorry that I did.”
Just then, a big black police van pulled into the parking lot, followed by an ambulance, and only a second later, they were surrounded by emergency personnel.
One of the EMTs pulled her away from Jackson as he talked to the bomb squad, and she was relieved to put some distance between them.
After giving her a quick once over, she was declared in perfect health, given a blanket, and told to wait until someone was free to talk to her again.
Finding a seat on a low wall, she watched the bomb squad put on their gear, then swarm into the building, and the reality of what had just happened finally began to sink in.
She was trembling when Yvonne came running up, and she’d never been so glad to see her best friend.
The tears that had been gathering at the back of her eyes suddenly spilled over, and before she could stop herself, she was sobbing in Yvonne’s arms.
It took a few minutes for the floodgates to empty out and her tears to dry up, but she finally managed to take a deep, shuttering breath. “I’m sorry, I don’t know why I just lost it,” she said. “I think I got your shirt all wet.”
“There’s nothing to be sorry about,” Yvonne said, giving her a hug. “Are you hurt?”
“No, just a little rattled,” she said, shaking her head. “I got trapped in the building with some men, and they had a bomb; it’s still in there.”
“A bomb?” Yvonne asked, her eyes wide. “No wonder you lost it, I would have, too. How did you get out?”
“Jackson showed up and chased them off,” she said. “He says it was the Kappas.”
Just then, the bomb squad came back out of the building. One of them held up a big black box, and the crowd began to cheer. “This is crazy,” Yvonne said. “Stuff like this happens to other people, not us.”
“Well, it’s happening to us, and we have to do something about it,” she said. “I don’t know about you, but I don’t want to become a victim of this vendetta they have against Dean Proctor. This is our campus and we need to defend it. This shouldn’t have happened, someone should have stopped them.”
“You and Jackson did,” Yvonne reminded her.
“Just barely,” she said. “If I hadn’t forgotten my notes and if Jackson hadn’t been taking a walk…”
“Okay, I get it,” Yvonne said. “What do you have in mind?”
“I don’t know exactly. Maybe student patrols, or we could go out in groups,” she said, feeling better now that she had something to distract her. “I think we should call a meeting Sunday afternoon and see how many people are interested. We can come up with more specifics then.”
“That sounds like a good idea,” Yvonne said, getting to her feet. “Maybe we should get you home now. You need a shower, something hot to eat, and bed, in that order.”
“I’m supposed to hang around until someone has time to talk to me,” she said, sighing. “I don’t know how long that will be.”
“Nonsense,” Yvonne said, looking around at the officers gathered around the bomb. “You’ve been through an ordeal, and they can get your statement tomorrow.”
Before she could stop her, Yvonne headed for one of the uniforms, with a look of determination on her and a wave of gratitude washed over her.
Pulling the blanket closer, she watched Yvonne arguing with the cop, then saw Jackson watching her from across the courtyard.
His face was creased with annoyance as he stared at her and she instantly felt anger building inside her.
Nothing that happened that night was her fault.
She hadn’t brought the bomb into the building; she hadn’t kissed him, except that second time.
But who could blame her? She’d been so shocked, and it had felt so good that she’d acted without thinking.
That would never happen again. Now, she knew just how dangerous it was to let her guard down around him.
She was tired of being on a rollercoaster of emotion when he was near.
She couldn’t take him being nice to her one second and then a jerk the next.
No matter how wonderful that kiss had been, he wasn’t worth it; no man was.
“You’re free to go. You’ll have to go down to the station tomorrow, but at least you can go home now,” Yvonne said, holding out her hand. “Come on, there’s still pizza in the oven and pastries on the table waiting for us. We can still make something out of the night.”