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ok?
    Mom's gonna call the police!
    Seriously freaking out here!
    They all go on this way. I slide out the keyboard and quickly respond.
    I'm alive… stuff went down tell u l8r.
    I wait.
    OK. I'll keep mom from calling popo, but u need to hurry.
    Crap . I lay my head on the table. "You can't tell her."
    I look up in surprise. "What?"
    "Lyla, you can't tell her anything unless you want her in danger."
    "How did you kn—"
    He cut me off. "You’re a teen girl with a best friend similar to a guard dog. I knew this would happen."
    "But I have to tell her something, or her mom is going to flip and it will make things worse."
    "OK, but only the basics. I can't take on another charge, especially one that doesn't like me."
    I grin, remembering her protecting me from my future protector. "Speaking of.. Why were you staring at me that day at school?"
    I wasn’t sure at first, and I had this feeling like you were in danger. I was going to tell you after school, but your mom pulled up. I got confirmation when the Terentia informed me I would be your new guardian after your dad passed.
    "But you said you didn't know him."
    "I didn’t. But I did know of him. In our histories, he's everywhere. He was probably the best guardian to date and his passing is a tragedy."
    "What? Did you go to like camp half blood or something?"
    He drops his fry and stares at me. "Seriously, I am full-blooded human, you know. There's no such place as camp half blood. There is an elite society of guardians called Terentia. We train much like a traditional army, but we specialize in the protection of gods, demigods, and the sort."
    "Will you take me there? I want to know about my father. James, the guardian, not my biological father."
    "Someday, but now is not the time. We should go deal with your friend before she makes my life harder."
    He walks up front to pay the cashier, and I sit here stunned. My dad, the accountant, was a hero. Wow.
    "You ready?"
    "Yeah." We head out the door into the crisp night air.

 
     
     
     
     
    Chapter
    12
     
    "What are you going to tell her?" Alec asks as we walk out the door.
    "I’m not sure. I don't want to lie because she can see through it, so I'm going to have to keep it to a minimum. Maybe I'll tell her my biological father is a serial killer."
    He chuckles. "Technically that is not a lie."
    "Yeah, I know, but it still feels like a lie."
    By the car, there is a homeless man screaming into the night. He looks like those men that stand on the side of the road talking about the end of days, complete with a cardboard sign. As we get closer to him, I can hear bits and pieces. Bright…is…saved. It sounds like total gibberish, so we keep walking. The cardboard sign says; 'she will be saved!'
    Just as we pass him, the homeless man grabs my shoulders. "The Bright Fire is the key. The Bright Fire will save her. The Bright Fire is her only hope."
    Alec grabs the homeless man’s hands and bends them both back with a sickening snap. The man howls out in pain and Alec pulls me along to the passenger side of his car.
    "Why did you break that man’s wrists?"
    "He was harassing you and my job is to keep that from happening."
    "He is a crazy old homeless man screaming about a woman who was going to be saved. How big of a threat could he have been?"
    "I'm not willing to take that chance."
    ~~~~
    At Lyla's house, I go to the door, and Alec is right behind me. "Where do you think you’re going?"
    "With you, of course." He looks at me like I’m an imbecile for not knowing the answer.
    I hold up my hand. "Look, this possessive ‘I’m not letting you out of my sight’ attitude is wearing thin. There is no way Lorraine is going to let you in her house, let alone Lyla’s room. You can wait outside. Right here." I point at the stoop for emphasis.
    "OK, but if I see or hear anything I'm coming in guns blazing."
    My eyes widen and he holds up his hands. "Kidding, kidding. I don’t use guns, relax. But do try to hurry because it’s rude