Almost Midnight (23 page)

“It looks boring,” Della said. “Miranda's not boring.”

“She's not boring,” Shawn said.

“No, not crap about my hair. Crap … I'm gonna have to recuse myself from the contest.”

“Why?” Kylie asked.

Miranda hated saying it. “Because … because someone helped me. Someone powerful helped me.” Her gaze shifted to Kylie, a chameleon who could shift into any kind of supernatural. “Oh, gawd, I know you love me, but you shouldn't have done that.”

Kylie bit down on her lip. “I do love you, but I didn't do anything.”

“You … you didn't send me power?”

“No.”

“Now me, on the other hand,” Della said. “If I could have, I'd have sent you a bucket load of power.”

Miranda just sat there. “Then who would have done it?”

“Your mom, maybe?” Kylie offered. “We know how much she wanted you to win.”

“No.” Miranda shook her head. “She's a rule follower. Hates cheaters.”

All of a sudden, Miranda felt Shawn's gaze on her. She looked at him. His Adam's apple bobbed up and down. Guilt was hard to swallow. She stood up. “You?”

When he didn't immediately deny it, she knew she was right. “Why would you do that?”

“I … I didn't…” He paused, then ran a hand through his thick, blond curls.

Miranda looked at Della. “Is he lying?”

Della tilted her head to the side to listen to Shawn's heartbeat with her ultrasensitive vampire hearing. “Do bears shit in the woods?”

Miranda gazed back at Shawn. “Yes. They do!”

He held up his hands. “No, I didn't send you power.”

“Now, he's telling the truth,” Della said, looking puzzled.

“I offered you some calm. That's all.” He raked a hand over his face. “You looked panicked and I just … I didn't even mean to do it. I saw you and it just happened. And it was just a breath of calm.” He inhaled and his oh-so-blue gaze seemed to ask for forgiveness, even when he didn't say the words. “You pulled off the spell … you did that all on your own.”

“Yeah, but…” Miranda stood there befuddled. Shawn knew if he got caught the council would have come down on his ass. Why would his instincts push him to … why did he care if she botched it and made an idiot out of herself? And why did … why did knowing he cared make her lungs accept air a little better? Finally, she spoke. “It's against the rules.”

“So is putting horseshit in front of another contestant's door,” Shawn said, his tone firm and wide shoulders widening. “You took a ten-point deduction to protect someone who didn't deserve protecting. And guess what the deduction is for someone offering calm? Ten. So you're even.”

“I like how this guy thinks,” Della said.

So did Miranda. She liked a lot more than just how he thought, too. As in the tall firm body, blond curls, and blue eyes. He looked like a swimsuit model, who should be photographed on a beach, holding a surfboard at his side.

She could still remember how it felt to be in his arms. Safe. His scent had been … yummy—fresh and kind of like the seashore. But she didn't want to go there. There was another scent she craved. One of a certain shape-shifter. A certain shape-shifter who'd turned his back on her.

“Oh, hell,” Shawn muttered. “Do you know what this means?”

“What?” Miranda asked and Della and Kylie stared at him, too.

“As Burnett said, winning puts your life in more danger. And if what I did really helped you, then … it's partly my fault.” He placed his hands behind his neck and squeezed. “You're right. You need to recuse yourself. I'll tell the council what I did.” He started to walk out.

The idea of him getting into trouble for helping her didn't sit well.

“No.” She caught him. The touch sent another jolt of attraction through her and she pulled her hand away. “I can just say someone did it.”

The look in his eyes brought home the fact that the reason he was doing this was to protect her. And that little insight led her to another one. “If I recuse myself from the contest, someone else will win.”

“Yes,” Shawn said as if confused.

“So by me walking out, it would likely save me, but put someone else's life in danger.”

Shawn frowned. “And if you don't, it's your life that could be in danger. And it would be my fault. If someone else wins, it's not my fault.”

“No, then it would be mine. Because if something happened to someone else, then … I would know it would have been me if I hadn't pulled out.” She shook her head. “I can't do that. I can't just say I don't want to be killed and let it be someone else.”

“Better than you being dead,” Della said and Kylie seemed to agree.

Shawn's frown came on strong. “Exactly—”

“No!” Miranda set a hand on her hip and glared at her best friends. “I know you two. Neither one of you would step aside to save yourself. You're too brave.”

Neither of them could deny it.

“The hell with being brave,” Shawn snapped. “Two girls have already died.”

“Then you three just have to make sure that doesn't happen to me,” Miranda snapped back. “Face it, whoever would take my place wouldn't have you guys to protect her.”

*   *   *

Burnett texted Della and Kylie and asked them to help take the names of everyone in the crowd since some of them were dead set on leaving. That left Miranda and Shawn alone. She didn't know what to say, so she said nothing. She dropped into a chair. Shawn pulled another one over.

She considered grabbing her phone and going back to killing shape-shifters, but the desire to do that had waned. Still, she pulled her phone out of her pocket and feigned interest in the screen. Tension filled the small space and made even breathing uncomfortable. And loud. She could hear him take in air and tried not to make any sound herself when she drew in oxygen.

When her cell rang, thankful for the interruption, she answered it before even checking to see the identity of the caller.

“Hello,” she said.

“Hi, angel.”

His voice, that's all it took and she could feel his arms around her, smell his familiar cologne. “Hi, Daddy.”

“I heard you've been playing with fire again,” he said. “Is that why my buttocks were itching?”

“I didn't do it,” she said, feeling her chest grow heavy even when she heard the tease in his voice.

“I'm joking. Your mom told me you saved the day. I just wanted to call and make sure my little girl's okay.”

“I am,” she said and wondered what her mom had told her dad. Especially since her dad had never been in favor of the competitions.

“I won, Dad,” she said, wanting him to be proud of her, even if she wasn't completely sure she deserved the win.

“You've always been a winner to me,” he said, his tone making it clear that he still didn't approve of the contests. “But I'm proud of you. Gotta go now.”

She hung up, and realized Shawn was studying her. “My dad,” she said.

He nodded and then went back to staring at his own phone. And breathing.

The silence felt awkward. And after about twenty minutes, she couldn't stand it.

“Why did you do it?” she asked. “Why did you help me?”

He didn't glance up. “I told you. You were panicked.”

“I'm sure a few of the other girls were nervous as well.”

“I don't know the other girls.” He continued to stare at his feet.

“You don't know me all that well either.”

He looked up, his blue eyes intense. “Yes, I do.”

She shook her head. “Not really. I was your sister's friend for a few years.”

“You were my sister's friend who had a crush on me.”

She frowned. “How do you know that?”

He smiled, and damn if that smile wasn't a heart stopper. “A guy knows.”

She rolled her eyes. “Fine, but that still doesn't mean you know me. You never gave me the time of day.”

He arched one brow and half smiled. “I knew exactly what you looked like in that lime-green bikini you used to wear when you came to swim with Ellen in our pool. I knew when you laughed, your hazel eyes brightened to a light green. I knew you ate ketchup on your scrambled eggs. I knew you had PE fifth period when I was a senior. I would sometimes walk through the gym just to get a glimpse of you in shorts and a tank top. And then there was our kiss?”

Miranda stared, his words slowly filling her brain. “You … Wait. What…? We never kissed.”

He grinned. “So you really didn't know it was me?”

“I don't know who you kissed, but we never—”

“So you've never kissed anyone when you didn't know who they were? Like on a balcony one night during a full moon?”

“What…?” Holy shit! There had been the New Year's Eve masquerade party she'd gone to when she was fifteen. A guy dressed like Zorro had found her on the balcony seconds before midnight, and when the bell rang, he'd … he'd pulled her into his arms and kissed her like … she'd ever been kissed before.

“You were Zorro?”

“Ah, so you do remember.” A confident smile lit up his face. “That said, if your memory is blurry, I could remind you.” His gaze dropped to her lips.

She shook her head. “But … I mean why … why didn't you tell me who you were? What kind of guy kisses a girl like that and runs?”

He shrugged. “The kind who'd been caught by his dad admiring you sunbathing and got the back of his head slapped because I was sixteen and you were fourteen.” He glanced down for a second and then looked up. “You didn't look fourteen in that bikini.”

“I was fifteen when you kissed me.”

“Yeah, but I was seventeen and about to go away to college. And that didn't feel so right either.”

Angry for reasons she wasn't even sure of, she snagged her phone and started scanning Twitter.

He let the silence linger for only a few minutes. “Why did you call a couple weeks ago to see if I was okay and then not call back when I asked you to?”

“Because I'm confused.” She spoke the truth without realizing that it might require an explanation.

“About what?”

She hesitated and stared down at her phone. It just didn't feel right talking to him about this.

“About Perry?” he asked.

She looked up, shocked that he … “How do you know about him?”

He leaned his chair back on two legs. “I met him a while back when Burnett had used him as a lookout for a case. He seemed like a nice guy.”

“He is,” Miranda said.

He dropped the chair back down on all fours. “I admit I liked him less when I found out that you and he were … an item. But I heard he left, and that he sort of broke it off.”

She glanced back at her phone as if she'd stumbled across something interesting, but in truth it was an avoidance tactic.

“We're just taking a break,” she said, hoping that didn't sound as lame to Shawn as it had to her when Perry had said it.

“I see,” he said.

She looked at him again. Did that mean he understood? Because if he did, would he please explain it to her?

Their gazes met and held.

Or they did until voices started booming on the other side of the door.

 

Chapter Seven

“I said no, Ms. Kane. She'll not be interviewed or photographed until I've checked out the media!” Burnett's baritone voice penetrated the door.

Miranda's heart went out to him. Sure, he was accustomed to dealing with rogues and serial killers, but he'd never dealt with her mom. And she was a whole other animal.

“Why?” her mom asked. “Someone pulled a prank with that fireball. Granted, it was dangerous, but why so much precaution?”

“Because I care about your daughter,” Burnett answered.

“Can I at least see her?” Her mom's high-pitched voice rose.

“I would never keep a mother from her child,” Burnett seethed and slung open the door. It banged against the wall, causing Miranda to jump.

Her mom stormed in, and on her heels was a bright-eyed Burnett, looking ready to kill. Thank goodness Miranda knew his moral ethics prevented him from murder. Then again, this was her mom, who could skew moral ethics with her headstrong personality.

“This man is ruining your victory!” her mom spouted out. “You deserve your five minutes of fame!”

“It's okay,” Miranda said. She didn't need fame—she wasn't even sure she wanted fame, period—but this was what her mom lived for. “I won, that's what matters.” She hugged her mom, hoping to calm her and prevent Burnett from wringing her neck. Arms still wrapped around her mom, she spotted Kylie and Della standing in the doorway.

Kylie smiled with concern. Della looked half pissed. The vamp didn't like Miranda's mom. Not that Della's parents were all that much better.

The clearing of a throat had Miranda dropping her arms from around her mother. “Sorry, Ms. Kane,” Shawn said as he stood from his chair. “I'm about to really upset you.”

Oh, great! Now Shawn wasn't afraid of her mother. Miranda eyed Shawn with warning.
What was he up to?

He met her eyes briefly and then turned to her mother. “You see, your daughter needs to recuse herself from this competition.”

Miranda's jaw dropped open. “We already talked about this.”

“Are you insane?” her mom snapped.

Miranda ignored her mom and stared daggers at the blond warlock.

He wiped his face with a palm then took a step back from her mom. Fear flashed in his eyes. And rightfully so.

Shawn glanced back at Miranda. “Yeah, we talked, and I disagreed with you.”

Miranda dropped a hand on her hip. “You didn't say you disagreed with me.”

“I didn't say I agreed with you either.”