Page 20 of Kaine

I close my eyes, but all I can see is the glint from the knife in my nightmare. I flip them open again, fast. “What am I supposed to be remembering?

Xavier squints, focusing his eyes hard on me and I can almost feel him rifling around in the back of my brain. I wonder what kind of a lawyer he is, because if I were a hostile witness, I’d probably crumble on the stand under his questioning.

He finally looks away and I guess he’s content with the fact that I truly do seem to have suffered some sort of short term amnesia. But that doesn’t help me. What the fuck happened and where the hell am I?

“Please,” my voice comes out with a tremble and I suddenly feel more vulnerable than I have since the mugging. “Tell me what’s going on, Xavier.”

He sits down next to me on the bed, and smiles gently, “A crazy fan mob was waiting outside your office; they pushed in around you, and you fainted and nearly hit your head on the ground.”

My hand instinctively comes up to feel for a bump, but there’s nothing.

"He got to you just in time, just as you were falling. He saved you."

And in the silence, I could hear the unspoken word, “again.” He'd saved me again.

"But... what were they even doing there?" I ask him, not yet ready to ask the question I was really wondering about, “what was he doing there...”

"Ah, Miss Sinclair...”

"Ew. Stop it, Xavier. We’re probably, like, the same age. Jade. Please."

He smiles and tilts his head. Now he looks like an insanely good-looking puppy dog. "Jade—you're not as naive as that surely. A heroine looking for her savior? Even wearied New Yorkers can't resist a story like that."

The fuzziness in my head starts to clear, and I can remember the feeling of air being sucked out of my world as the mob closed in around me. I shiver a little at the memory.

"And..." And him?

"K? I don't know why he was there. But he was. Lucky he was, too! They were going to make minced meat of you. Crazed women are the worst!" Xavier shudders a little and stands up, reaching for a switch on the wall.

The room is suddenly illuminated and I can finally see where I am. It’s a large but cozy guest room. The decor is minimal, not sterile but bright and tasteful. And for the first time I notice the bed I'm in. Firm and covered in soft, luscious linens. I already feel comfortable in this place. This... wait, where am I?

"So, he saved me, again. And brought me here?"

"Yup." Xavier reaches for a chair and I notice my bag and jacket are hanging over it.

As I’m slowly feeling more alert, I’m growing frustrated at Xavier’s reticence. "Man of many words, are you?"

He laughs and I can't help but like him.

"When you're used to charging by the letter, you learn to value each word."

"At the rate we're going, I'll be able to pay you from the change in my couch!"

He laughs again and join him, the interaction making this weird day feel not so weird.

"Fine.” He gives in and winks at me before continuing, “You're at K's apartment. But, now you're up, I'm to make sure you're okay and take you home."

The laughter empties from my lungs.

"He's not here?"

"No, he left once I got here to watch over you."

"And when's he coming back?"

"I don't know."

"Well. I'm not leaving until he does." I cross my arms and lean back against the bedhead.