Breaking Out (10 page)

I moved back into the shadows when the same
van drove past. I could have taken the next step and blended both
of us, but the more I used my magic, the more likely it was that
I'd be found by someone I’d prefer not to run into. Maybe I’d even
be forced to go home. I winced thinking about what training
sessions with Sasha and Liam would be like after I'd put my mom
through the ringer. I'd be black and blue from head to foot, if I
were lucky.

The girl in my arms moaned, so I whispered,
"Shh. It's okay now." Without thinking, I leaned closer to her hair
and took in a deep breath of her scent. She smelled amazing. Maybe
a little too amazing.

I really needed to get a life.

IVY

CHAPTER ELEVEN

Ow. Crap.
Ow.
My - head -
hurt
. I tried to move, but something was
weird. I couldn't feel my right hand! Ohmygod—I couldn't feel my
hand. Why couldn't I feel...?

I moved in a panic and regretted it
instantly, my head throbbing and pounding in double-time.
Ow
. Would someone please tell the hydraulic drill operator
to find another site to excavate? Painful pins and needles
step-danced inside my right arm and hand, relieving at least some
of my anxiety. What a dope. I must have been lying on top of it,
cutting off the circulation.

So what had happened to me? I had vague
memories of being dragged into a van and then hit on the head.
Nothin' after that. Did those werewolves still have me somewhere?
Trembling, I thought about opening my eyes. I should do it, I
really should, but I was afraid of what or who I'd see.

"You're safe. We brought you home."

That was a man's voice, but it didn't sound
like a thug. It was kind of deep and soothing. Of course I didn't
generally have dealings with thugs. Maybe he was the
good
thug and the
bad
thug would be coming back to torture me in
a few minutes.

“You can open your eyes. I won’t come any
closer, I promise.”

Huh. Like I’m gonna believe this guy. I
sniffed the air. He smelled familiar.

“I know you want to look,” he chuckled.
“Don’t be a wuss.” He had the freakin’ nerve to tease me when I was
down and out. He might be the bad thug after all.

Feeling like I’d taken enough abuse, I
peeked, sighing with relief. I was in my own apartment in my own
bed, only there was a tall guy sitting on a chair in the corner
watching me and smiling. And he was really...really...

Holy hells, it was
him
. I think I
stopped breathing for a couple of heartbeats while I digested this
info, but I couldn’t waste time. After all my months of training, I
snapped into gear without thought. Time to get with the program. A
part of me felt disappointed about losing the chance at working
with Mr. A, but the rest of me was in the zone.

Step one:
If you come into contact with
the target, assure that your spelled shields are in place and still
strong.
Check. Everything was good in that area, even with the
head bump.

Step two:
Scan the target for aggressive
behavior.
Hmm...checking him out was definitely not a hardship.
Someone had changed his scent to leopard, darkened his hair and
eyes and maybe tweaked his nose. They’d even messed with his
aura.

Lucky for me, with the spells my guardian had
delivered I could see through his disguise. Like all fae he had a
vibrant golden aura, but because his blood was mixed, the gold was
ringed with the green of a healer and streaked with the orange of a
demon.

I shivered. This was huge.

Thanks to my guardian, Tellek, a guy I hoped
never to see again, my aura was glowing with humanity. It was
really important that the target didn’t know what I was, at least
not until D-Day.

Meeting his curious gaze, I attempted to
smile but he didn’t smile back. Nope he just kept staring at me
like… My eyebrows popped to attention. I wasn't naked was I? I
peeked down. Whew, I was still dressed in my soggy jeans and tee
shirt, although my jacket, sneakers and socks were gone.

"How do you feel, Ivy?" he asked.

I squinted at him, trying very hard not to
move the rest of my body. "My head hurts. How do you know my name?"
Figures he’d go through my stuff, the sneak.

"We had to look in your bag to get your
address. I saw your driver's license."

"Are you one of the guys who grabbed me?" If
I let on that I recognized him, then I was done.

"No, but we saw it happen. You're safe,
now."

He kept saying that, but it didn’t make it
true. "Did you get me away from those men?"

He hesitated for a moment. "No. You managed
to crawl out the window and we found you wandering on the street.
You have a bad bump above your forehead, but otherwise I think
you're okay."

I looked down at my hands. Why was he lying?
To hide that he'd saved me? He might think I'll ask him for
details. "Umm, hmm. Well, thanks...uh, for bringing me home. What's
your name?"

HIs eyes widened slightly. "Charles
Crawford."

"Thanks
,
Charles
.
I guess you
can leave now." I moved a tiny bit on the bed, trying to scoot over
to the edge, but it hurt so much it made my eyes water.

"We're going to stay to make sure you're
okay. My friend, Jay, went to buy some food. Your fridge is
empty."

I looked away, embarrassed. "Yeah, I didn't
have time to go shopping."

"You had three slices of bread, a container
of oatmeal, a carrot, an egg and half a bottle of soda."

"I'm on a diet."

"It wasn't diet soda."

"It was a gift."

"Someone went all out, huh?"

I pouted, sick of the third degree. "My
friend is broke."

He smiled and shook his head, scanning my
way-too-skinny body as if his cheetah was thinking of a way to
fatten me up before preparing me for dinner. "We're cooking. As
soon as you've eaten and you're feeling better, we'll leave."

"That's real nice, but I'm okay."

"Yeah? Why don't you try standing up?" His
amused look was pissing me off.

I sat up fast, ready to spit in his face. "I
told you—
ow.
Oh shit, I think I'm gonna throw up." And I
wasn't kidding.

"You'll be fine in an hour or so." He grabbed
my hand, and before I could pull it away, the pain and nausea
disappeared and so did the world.

CHARLIE

CHAPTER TWELVE

She was
sleeping again and all I wanted to do was sit here and watch her do
it. She was beautiful, even in her rain-drenched, post-kidnapped
condition. Her hair was a dark chocolate brown and her large
expressive eyes were hazel with some light green flecks that
sparkled under the light. Her skin was darker than mine,
unbelievably soft. The name on her license, Ivy Lake, had thrown
me, because I was guessing she had some Native American or maybe
Hispanic blood in her background.

Wherever her ancestors had come from, man did
it ever work.

While we'd been talking, she'd gotten annoyed
and scrunched her lips into a kind of crooked pouty frown. I
wondered what she'd look like when she laughed.

I'd snuck her a little healing energy,
completely ignoring the last promise I'd made to myself to avoid
using magic unless absolutely necessary. Well, at least healing
energy wasn't
traceable
magic, and I couldn't watch her
suffer. She seemed to have a mild concussion, so I’d decided I
wasn't going anywhere until she was well enough to get up and walk
around without having any symptoms.

Twenty minutes later I heard the front door
open. "Hey, it's just me." Jay had been a good sport about taking
Samson with him and picking up some groceries. We figured this was
a good opportunity for us to eat a home-cooked meal. I was pretty
hungry and Jay, well, he was always hungry.

I joined him in the kitchen as he unloaded
the bags. He'd gotten steaks, potatoes, asparagus and fresh bread,
along with some other basics for the house like soup, eggs, milk,
cereal, fruit and salad ingredients. Jay was an awesome cook and
I'd learned pretty fast that if I followed his orders we’d end up
with a great meal.

He pulled out a colander and handed me the
potatoes and asparagus to wash. Then he tossed me a can of soda.
"How's the hot patient?"

"You think she's hot?" Maybe he was
interested in her.

"She's too skinny, but other than that she's
totally hot."

"I think she’s beautiful."

He laughed, digging around in the cabinets
for some spices to add to the steak. "Beautiful, huh? You can't go
falling for the first unconscious human girl you rescue. You need
to build up some experience as a hero so you're ready when the
right one needs saving."

“I don’t plan on saving too many,” I
mumbled.

"Dream on. Did she wake up?"

"Yeah."

"And?"

"Her head hurt so I gave her some healing
energy and she conked out again."

He grinned as he seasoned the steaks. "Sounds
like the perfect start to a really
meaningful
relationship.”
He looked under the sink. “I wonder if she has charcoal. I saw a
grill out back.”

"Who are you two bozos?”

Neither of us had heard her come down the
stairs, which was practically impossible with our bloodlines. She
was sitting on the second from the bottom step wearing a dark red
robe and grey sweatpants, elbows on knees, her chin resting on one
fist. Her hair was in a towel, so she must have taken a quick
shower.

Not missing a beat, Jay said, "Bozo One needs
to know where you keep the charcoal, 'cause I want to use your
grill."

"In the cabinet by the back door."

I abandoned my asparagus and walked closer.
"Even if you think you’re feeling better, you should still be
resting.”

She pouted again. It was perfect. "I’m fine.
Thanks for whatever you did. My head feels great."

"I didn't do anything." She looked skeptical.
"But you should've slept longer. You really need to rest." Oh god,
I was starting to repeat myself, a sure sign that I was heading
into deep dork territory.

"If you have a concussion you're not supposed
to sleep."

"Two hours at a time is okay, but you only
slept for a few…"

"Yeah, I get it. I'll sleep later. After you
guys leave." She stood and walked into the kitchen.

She seemed steady on her feet. "We're making
dinner..."

"After dinner." She narrowed her eyes as she
looked around at the mess. "And after you clean up the
kitchen."

"Um, sure. We'll clean up."

"And then leave." She’d lowered her body into
a kitchen chair and crossed her legs.

“Would you like some tea or coffee?”

“I only have instant coffee. It’s crap. And I
only drink tea when I have a cold.”

“Jay bought real live ground coffee.”

“No coffee pot.”

“He bought that too. He’s kind of a coffee
nut.”

She smiled ear to ear. “I would kill for a
mug of real live coffee.”

“I can do that.” I rinsed out the new pot,
adding in the maximum number of scoops of coffee and water and
pushed the button. Simple.

“Thanks.”

“You haven’t tasted it yet.”

“It’ll be better than that.” She pointed to
the jar of instant store brand coffee.

“Definitely better.” When the coffee was
finished I poured three mugs. My mug said. “Mornings Suck.” We
enjoyed a few sips. I asked, “Those guys who took you might know
where you live. Maybe we should stick around."

"I can handle the wol… I can handle
them."

My hand froze in mid air, the mug throwing
off steam. She knew the males who took her were wolves, which meant
she was either not completely human, or she was in on the
kidnapping. "I saw how well you took care of them."

"They surprised me. That won't happen again."
Her fist was clenched, her brow wrinkled.

"'Cause you'll never fall asleep, right
Ivy?"

"Look, why do you care, anyway?" She twisted
her body away from mine, holding her mug with both hands as if it
were some kind of shield and not just coffee.

Instead of answering, I asked, "Why were they
after you?"

"Beats me.” Her human-looking aura wavered
again.

“Was this some kind of set up?”

“You think I wanted to get hurt? You’re
nuts.” That was the truth. We stared at each other, frustrated with
all the non-answers on both sides.

The screen door opened and swung closed
again. Jay could feel the tension between Ivy and me. "Bozo Two!
You've neglected your duties. Do you want dinner or not? I'm out
there slaving over a hot grill and you're in here flirting with
the..."

I threw a potato at him, but he caught it
easily, wrapping it in foil. Ivy giggled in Jay’s direction and he
smiled back. Now who was flirting?

She was pretty and clever, but she was lying.
I needed a lot more info about this girl, and I wasn’t leaving
until I got it.

IVY

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

The steak
was so good. I usually ate salad or sandwiches or frozen dinners,
when I had the money to buy food, so this was a-freakin’-mazing.
The guys were shoveling food down their throats like they hadn’t
eaten in a while either, but you’d never know that by looking at
them.

They were tall and strong in an athletic kind
of way. Jay was the talkative one, always cracking jokes and
drawing my attention, usually so Charlie could give me suspicious
looks when he didn’t think I was looking. Jay was very good
looking, with thick light brown hair, light blue eyes and a
mischievous grin. He was cuter than his friend, and a whole lot
easier to talk to, but it was obvious that Charlie was the leader
of the duo—the one with the magic. The target.

I’d kept a close eye on both of them, making
sure they didn’t have a chance to talk privately. Charlie was
smart. I could see the wheels turning as he watched me. He knew
there was something off, and I had the feeling he was going to keep
digging. Too bad for him my aura was perfect. He’ll never guess and
I’ll never tell.