Charade (17 page)

“Wait!” I stumbled after him.

He turned back.

“You’ll come back, won’t you?” Now that I knew who he was to me, I wanted time with him. I wanted to know him better than I did.

He smiled. “Yeah.”

I took a hesitant step forward and watched him mentally debate something until he opened his arms. I hugged him hard, my arms wrapping around his torso as I buried my face in his shirt. All the feelings that confused me clicked into place and settled with certainty inside me. Cole closed his arms around me and rested his chin on the top of my head.

Kimber chose that moment to drive up.

Cole swore beneath his breath and pulled away. I spent a moment hoping that maybe she hadn’t seen. Then I looked up and quit fooling myself and braced for the fireworks. Her aura was on fire with red. Jealousy and anger. There was hurt mixed in there too and I regretted that.

“I guess I know why neither one of you are answering your cells,” she said stepping out of her red Bug and slamming the door.

“Kimber,” I began, but she cut me off.

“Save it, Heven. I don’t want to hear your excuses.”

Sam came out the back door followed by Logan.

“Do you know that she’s cheating on you right under your nose?” Kimber asked Sam.

“Kimber,” Cole said. “No one’s cheating on anyone.”

Kimber snorted. “You are such a liar.”

“Kimber, we can explain what you just saw,” I hurried to say, but Cole put a hand on my arm and squeezed. I glanced over at him and his aura. He didn’t want her to know about his father-my father-
our
father.

“Go ahead. Explain.” Kimber spat.

“I can’t,” I whispered.

Kimber gave a humorless laugh. “Of course you can’t. There’s no excuse for you.”

“Please believe that I wouldn’t hurt you like that.” I went down the steps to stand in front of her. “Cole and I are just friends.”

“I wanted to believe that too, but the evidence is too hard to ignore,” she muttered.

“What?” I asked, confused.

“Don’t see him anymore,” she said, lifting her chin to stare into my eyes.

“What?”

“I mean it, Heven. If you really are my best friend, then I don’t want you to hang out with Cole anymore.”

Was she really asking me to choose?

“Kimmie, quit being dramatic. Heven told you we’re just friends,” Cole said, coming to stand at my side.

“Don’t Kimmie me,” she snapped. Then she turned back to me. “Well?”

I fished around for some kind of excuse. “We can’t all just avoid each other. We’re going to Italy together next week.”

“Don’t go.” She shrugged.

I didn’t have a choice. The Treasure Map had to be returned and this was our only opportunity to do it. “I finally got my mom to agree. She already paid. Sam and I have plans.”

“How you have managed to get two guys to trip all over themselves for you I will never understand,” she muttered.

Her words hurt.

“That’s enough.” Cole growled.

I shook my head. Defending me wouldn’t buy him any points with her.

“Tell your mom you changed your mind about Italy. Stay away from Cole,” Kimber repeated.

“I can’t do that,” I said, standing my ground.

Kimber’s eyes widened in disbelief for a fraction of a second before narrowing, her hands fisted at her sides. She was used to getting her way, used to me caving. I wouldn’t this time. There was too much at stake.

“You’re making a mistake,” she hissed, turning back to her car.

“Kimber, wait. Can’t we talk?”

“I knew this would happen eventually. I’ve always known what kind of person you are. It’s why I befriended you in the first place. Keep your friends close but your enemies closer and all. I thought maybe your accident had changed you, but it was an illusion. You used those scars on your face to your advantage, and when you got what you wanted, you got rid of them.”

Shock vibrated through me. She believed what she was saying. Her aura vibrated with truth and anger. How had I thought we had been best friends all these years? How had I never realized that she never really liked me, only liked the popularity I brought her?

“Leave. Now.” Sam growled from behind me.

“Whatever.” She tossed out her window before speeding away.

My shoulders slumped when she was gone from sight. I expected fireworks from Kimber, but not casualties. I wasn’t sure that our friendship would survive this.

I wasn’t sure I wanted it to.

Chapter Nine

Heven

That night as the stars twinkled in the sky and the cool Maine air drifted through the window, I drifted off to sleep all too easily. Unfortunately, peaceful sleep was elusive.

I dreamt of dark, choking water and red beady eyes. My lungs burned as I struggled to breathe while I panicked as I searched the darkness for Sam. The only thing I could find was the demon, slowly dragging me into the depths of the lake.

Where is it…

I knew I was dreaming; I tried to wake myself up. But, like the demon, the dream dragged me further under.

Show me where you keep it…

The demon beckoned me to reveal where I kept the Treasure Map. I forced my mind to stay in the present with the burning pain in my lungs and the knowledge I was drowning, the pain and fear was preferable to telling the demon anything. Even if it was only a dream, I refused to give him the upper hand.

I swear I felt myself die in the dream. The life drained right out of me.

Suddenly, the lake was gone and so were the greedy hands of the demon. The icy water was replaced by a golden sun and a sprawling meadow of wild flowers in shades of amethyst and yellow. I spun in a circle, the flower petals tickling my ankles and the sun’s rays kissing my skin. But then I noticed that no birds sang and the breeze did not blow. It was as if everything was still, not really real, but a façade.

A man appeared at the other side of the meadow. He was wide and tall and he was dressed impeccably. Even though I couldn’t see his face, I knew that he was the biggest façade of all. He held out his hand to me and I knew exactly what he wanted.

“You can’t have it!” I screamed.

Around me the flowers wilted and died; their brilliant colors turning a putrid brown. The sky, once a clear blue turned stormy and dark. Wind whipped around me and threatened to lift me off the ground.

You cannot resist me forever, little one.

Pain splintered my head and I sagged to the ground. My eyes sprang open and I wanted to weep with relief. I was awake and everything was fine. I rolled toward Sam, reaching for him, craving his comfort.

He wasn’t in bed.

Alarm filled me and I pushed myself into a sitting position, fighting the pressure in the back of my skull. “Sam?”

I heard a sound across the room and peered through the darkness. Sam was there, wedged in a small space between the wall and the dresser. I tripped, trying to get free of the covers and stumbled across the room, falling to my knees on the floor beside him.

“Get back,” he said roughly, pushing himself even farther into the corner.

“What’s wrong?” The sight of him trying to get away from me was worse than the choking depths of the lake.

His head snapped up and he stared at me with pure glittering gold eyes.

I gasped and fell backward onto my bottom. I scrambled back up scooting as close as possible and reached out a hand.

“No,” he protested weakly as I closed my fingers around his wrist.

His skin was burning up as I tugged him away from the wall. I used my other hand to push the hair off his forehead. He took a deep breath and his body shook with effort.

“Please get back, Hev.” His voice was strained.

I released his wrist and scooted back so that there was a little more than an arm’s distance between us. I sat there, watching him as his breathing evened out and the tremors shaking his body slowed.

Finally, he looked up at me, his eyes no longer gold, but the warm honey color they usually were.

“Come back to bed,” I whispered, holding out my hand. Suddenly, his hand shot out and grabbed mine, yanking me so that I practically fell into him. My face was mere inches from him as his eyes bore into mine. My heart beat rapidly, threatening to come right out of my chest. His eyes were intense, like he’d never seen me before. Something inside me whispered that maybe I should be afraid.

But I could never be afraid of Sam.

“What happened?” he whispered. His voice was raspier than usual.

“I should ask you the same thing,” I said, twisting my hand from his grip.

He frowned and let go. “I didn’t mean to be so rough,”

I nodded.

“I tried to wake you.”

“I was having a nightmare.”

He stood, reaching out a hand to help me and I slid my fingers back into his. Once I was on my feet, he released me, moving across the room.

“Why were you in the corner like that?”

He stopped by the window to glance out into the dark. “You were sleeping, but I was restless. I was afraid of waking you, so I got up to surf the net.”

Next to me the laptop was still open on my desk.

“You began tossing and turning. You cried out and I tried to wake you, but it was useless. I couldn’t get you to wake up. I just… snapped.”

“Your eyes were gold.”

His face drew into a frown like he was trying to work out a puzzle. “It’s like someone flipped a switch inside me and all of the sudden I was fighting the urge to shift. Right there in the bed with you.” Clearly, the idea horrified him.

“Sam, you wouldn’t have hurt me.”

He didn’t say anything, like he wasn’t convinced.

“I was dreaming of what happened at the lake this morning, drowning. I was afraid,” I said and his back stiffened. “Maybe my fear was so strong it bled to you and triggered your protective instincts.”

“Maybe.” He allowed. “I wanted to jump out the window, but I was afraid to leave you alone.”

“You’ve shifted in the same room with me before,” I said, thinking back to when he first told me he was a hellhound. He hadn’t so much as told me, but
showed
me instead. “And you didn’t hurt me then, shifting around me now wouldn’t be any different.”

“I wasn’t in a bed with you, Hev. I am usually in control when I shift. I bring it on myself. This was different. One minute I was fine, and the next, my body was shifting, trying to fight some threat it was sensing. Except the only other person in the room with me was you.” He looked up and his eyes were bleak.

So instead of jumping out the window, he got as far away from me as he could to not only protect me from outside dangers, but from himself. I couldn’t stand the distance between us anymore and moved across the room to stand next to him. “You thought you were going to attack me?”

“No!” he denied adamantly, but then doubt crept over his face. “I don’t know what to think.”

“You’re exhausted. You need to get some sleep.”

He glanced warily at the bed. I sighed. “Nothing else is going to happen tonight.”

He still seemed wary of touching me, so I went to the bed and climbed in, pulling the covers around me, trying to ignore the pain in my head. The back of my skull was squeezing my brain and now the front part of my head was hurting… it was like both parts of my brain were warring with each other.

I watched as Sam stood, debating on whether or not he trusted himself enough to get in the bed. A few moments later and with a heavy sigh, the mattress dipped beneath his weight. A smile played on my lips.

“I knew you couldn’t resist me.”

Sam grinned. “Yes, well, it was either the bed or the floor, and the floor is pretty hard.”

I hit him with a pillow.

He choked back a laugh and grabbed the pillow and stuffed in under his head as he stretched out on the bed.

“You’re a bed hog,” I grumped.

“And you like it,” he said, his voice practically a purr. He rolled onto his stomach and turned his face away. A deep sigh lifted his back.

He still had yet to touch me and it was beginning to drive me mad. There was no way I was going to let him start thinking that the hellhound in him was about to attack every time we touched.

I reached out a hand and ran my fingers over his back. The muscles beneath my hand bunched, but he didn’t say anything. We laid there in the silence as I rubbed slow circles over his back. Eventually, he relaxed into a soundless sleep.

I knew that I wouldn’t sleep the rest of this night, but it didn’t matter. For once, I could give a little bit back to the boy I loved more than myself. Tonight, Sam would finally get some peace and I would watch over him as he slept to make sure that no one tried to take it from him.

Sam

Gemma was already in the orchard when I arrived. She was leaning against a tree, a large bag at her feet. She gave off the impression of relaxation, but I had a feeling that she never relaxed. She was always on guard and the way she presented herself, the way she allowed people to perceive her was all very calculated. It wasn’t that I didn’t trust her – actually I did – I just thought that she was a woman who had seen a lot in her years and it hardened her. She seemed to have a wall built around her that hid the real her from everyone else. I would like to say that perhaps we could be friends, but I really didn’t know if she would let anyone that close.

I thought back to when I first met her. The day she sold me Hev’s bracelet. I hadn’t perceived any of those things then. Maybe because I hadn’t been looking, maybe because she was hiding more of herself that day than she was now, or maybe it was because I was getting better at reading people.

Yeah, it was that last one. I’m just getting better. I smiled to myself, putting a little swagger in my step.

“Feeling pretty confident?” Gemma asked, her lips lifting as she pushed away from the tree.

“Maybe.”

Before I could even blink, she was ramming into me, her fist catching me just beneath the ribs, stunning me and sending me into the ground with a sickening thud. Breath whooshed from my lungs as I stared up at the blue cloudless sky.