Seraphim: Chapter IV

The line to Bella Notte was outrageous, at least a hundred hopefuls waiting to get inside. But Nathan just nodded to the guys at the door and they opened the doors for us to enter. I looked at him in surprise, but he just shrugged with a mischevious smile.
Thewaitress showed us to our table, smiling a little too flirtateously at Nathan. But, as always, he wasn't paying any attention. "Drinks?" she asked.
"Two waters," Nathan answered. A strict part of the elite fighters' diet: no fluid but water, with the exception of chocolate milk after running. The waitress nodded and, with a last glance at Nathan, walked off. "So," Nathan smiled cheerily. "How were your classes today?"
"About as good as classes can get." I answered dryly. I felt his hand on my knee beneath the table, trail along my leg to the hem of my short dress. "Were you at the forge?"
Nathan nodded and began to talk, but my eyes slid past his face to a table near the back wall. Three men and a womanwere there, eating silently without looking at each other. I observed the other tables in the restuarant--all couples. Bella Notte wasn't exactly a place for group outings. One of the men looked up and caught my eye.
And smiled.
I quickly looked away, back to the safety of Nathan's face. Why was I so on edge? I blamed it on one too many of Chad's paranoia lessons and tried to smile.
Nonetheless, I found myself waiting for dinner to end. I wanted to badly to enjoy it, but between Nathan's hand trailing my leg and the creepy quartet in the corner, I couldn't focus. We finished eating, and I waited impatiently by the door as Nathan paid at the front. Then--
"Excuse me, Miss?" I turned, tensing instinctively. My blood rushed as I saw the man who had smiled at me.
I backed up, but there was only wall behind me. Get it together. I scolded myself, and smiled politely. "Sir?"
The man's eyes swept down the length of my dress, and I suddenly regretted my outfit choice, my face burning. "Can I help you?" Iasked forcefully.
"Yes," His eyes jerked back to my face. "I was actually wondering if we could speak outside for a moment."
I glanced outside and saw creepy's two buddies standing on the sidewalk, and that familiar red flag shot up in my mind. "I'm actually here with someone," I answered.
"Oh, it will only take a moment." He smiled disarmingly. He looked at least thirty, a homburg over his bald head and a long black jacket despite the weather.
"I really can't." I looked over at Nathan at the front desk, and managed to catch his eye as he glanced over his shoulder. He cocked his head when he saw me standing there with creepy, then frowned and abruptly straightened upon seeing the look on my face. He said something to the person behind the desk and quickly strode over to me.
"Don't be like that," the man's voice was suddenly forceful and he grabbed my arm. "It will only take a moment."
I twisted my arm and jerked so it slid from the man's grip just as Nathan appeared beside us. "What do you think you're doing?" he asked, lazy, cheerful demeanor gone. He moved between me andthe man, who's intense expression was wiped away in an instant.
"We were only talking," he said, but I felt Nathan's body tense.
"Didn't look like that to me," Nathan said darkly, reaching back to push me toward the door. "Keep your hands to yourself."
Nathan at my back, we walked out of the restaurant. His arm was tight around my waist, protective, his muscles taut. "What did he say to you?" he demanded.
"I-" I stopped suddenly as I saw the woman who had been with the trio coming toward us. "Nathan, we need to-"
"Hello there, handsome," she said, sliding between Nathan and I like I wasn't there. I stumbled back, but more out of surprise. The woman was tall, all legs and cleavage, with red hair tumbling to her waist. Her black dress barely covered anything on her willowy body, which was unnervingly close to Nathan's. "Need a date?" She flashed him a smile, putting a hand to his cheek.
My mouth dropped in horror, and Nathan recoiled. "No!" he exclaimed. Fury flickered over the woman's face, but it was immediately replaced with seduction. She stared at Nathan a moment more, eyes sliding over me like she couldn't see me, then shrugged nonchalantly.
"Suit yourself," she said, then pranced over to another young couple. I watched as she did the same thing, sliding between the man and his girlfriend like the girl didn't exist. She spoke to him for a moment, then, to my amazement, the two walked off down the sidewalk, leaving the girlfriend behind with a shocked and angry expression.
Nathan was bewildered, and I didn't know what to say. "What is going on here?" he breathed.
I shook my head. "I think we should just get back." I said, and he nodded in agreement. I found myself pulling him to my side, as if afraid another harpie would show up and try to pull him away. His strong arms were around me as well, and I felt a little safer. But then I saw the trio again.
"Nathan, wait, let's go this way." I said, pulling his arm.
He frowned and followed my gaze, eyes narrowing when he saw the man who had grabbed me. "Right. Let's go."
We walked quickly, taking a long detour to get back to his car. But when we came to the lot we had parked in--
"Where's my car?" Nathan sounded more surprised than angry, spinning around.
My heart pounded faster, and I quickly moved back to his side."Let's just get out of here."
He looked at me, saw the fear in my eyes, and let out a deep breath, smoothing my hair. "All right. We'll take a cab."
I leaned into him as we walked. I didn't know why I was so scared, but I couldn't get back to the dorms fast enough. We caught a cab, and sat in silence the whole back to the academy campus. All throughout dinner Nathan's touch had been flirtateous, now it was protective, holding me against his chest in the backseat of the cab as if trying to ward off whatever was scaring me.
The cab let us out in front of the girls' dorm building, and Nathan paid him. I turned to walk to the building, and stopped cold.
"Nathan!" I called to him, and he hurried to me.
"What is-" He stopped as I pointed, and blanched. Sitting on the fountain was the woman who had tried to get Nathan to go with her, and then gone off with another man. She was leaning back on her hands, long legs crossed.
Something caught my eye, and I looked in time to see another sliver of black disappear into the trees, despite the darkness of night. He stepped back into Nathan. "I don't want to be here," I said quietly.
Nathan put his arm around me. "Do you want to go to Jackson's room?" he asked, and I turned to look at him.
"No," I said, and he looked down at me. He nodded understandingly, and led me away, across the courtyard to the guys' dorms. I slept in Jackson's room sometimes, if Harper was gone, but in my current state, he would know something was wrong and I would never hear the end of it.
Only a handful of people were still out, and I heard whispers behind us as the two of us walked to the dorms. But I was past caring.
We climbed the endless stairs to Nathan's room, which, since he had already graduated, he didn't have to share. I knew Jackson's room was just down the hall, and glanced furtively toward the door as I walked into Nathan's room. I shivered, and Nathan fished out a pair of pajama pants and long-sleeved shirt for me.
I slipped into the bathroom to change, and when I came out, Nathan sitting in his window sill, shirtless, having changed into a pair of black sweatpants.
"I need to call Harper," I said, opening my clutch to pull out my phone. I quickly dialed Harper's number and prayed for her to pick up.
"Hey, there, princess, late night, huh?" Harper answered cheerily, and I breathed a sigh of relief. "Almost one in the morning now. Jackson's going to pitch a fit."
"Are you in the dorm?" I asked quickly.
"Yeah, just been waiting for you." she said, "You should hurry before Aggie starts doing her rounds."
Agatha, the girls' dorms keeper. I'd forgotten about her. Luck was on my side tonight."She already was," I said, "I couldn't get into the dorm, so I'm going to crash with Jackson tonight."
"Oh, all right. Smart move. Aggie would light you on fire if she caught you now." Harper laughed. "Well, I'll see you tomorrow, then."
"Yeah. Tomorrow. Don't leave the dorm, all right?" I said.
Harper laughed. "Oh, yes, ma'am. Bye, Jade."
The phone clicked off, and I set it down on Nathan's desk.
"Is she all right?" he asked quietly, coming up behind me.
"Yeah," I breathed. "She sounded fine." I turned and buried my face in his neck, his arms going around me.
"We're fine." he murmured into my hair. "I'll file a police report on the car tomorrow, and tell Chad about our little friends. But for now," He pulled me to his bed, laying back and pulling me onto his chest. "go to sleep. Tonight was all a bad dream."
He pulled the blankets over us, and I closed my eyes, the warmth of his chest against my cheek and the past events making my eyes closed.

Tonight was all a bad dream.
I only wish it had been.