Dare (6 page)

He closed the book. “Yeah, it’s Zac.”

“Zac.” I rolled it off my tongue, almost to the point of purring.

His eyes lit. “What accent is that?”

“Local.” I smiled. “I’m from Sullen’s Grove.”

“I don’t think I’ve heard anything like it.” He shelved the book.

Thank, God. I didn’t think I could get him to stop poking into the legend. I looked up at him.

“This sounds a little crazy, but would you want to get some coffee with me?” I refrained from batting my eyelashes, but I would have tried it to coax him out of the library, away from anything related to the Ghost of the Forest.

“Coffee? Seems a little cliché.”

“How so?” I asked.

“Guy meets girl in the library. Girl asks guy out for coffee. Guy ends up falling head over heels for cool girl.”

I blinked. “I didn’t mean it like that.”

He laughed. “I’m just playing with you. Sure. Let’s get some coffee. My head’s about to explode from all this legend crap anyway. I can’t get a straight answer no matter what resource I use. Maybe I should try the local approach.” He winked.

I gripped my backpack. I didn’t know how this would go. I just needed to find out what he was planning on doing with his newfound knowledge about the Ghost of the Forest.

I texted Vix.

With the history guy. See if you can track down Trev.

Knowing her, it would be a few hours before she woke up. I was lucky I could last this long on adrenaline. I think fifty-two hours was my record.

Our friends were being held captive and half the town was getting ready to set foot in the woods looking for me. Sleep didn’t seem like a luxury I could afford right now.

“Have you lived anywhere other than Sullen’s Grove?” Zac asked. He adjusted a lid on his coffee.

“Born and raised here.”

“Really? And you didn’t want to go to college somewhere else?”

Leaving Sullen’s Grove had never been an option for me even if I wanted to travel or pick up roots. I had a commitment to protect the town, not that Zac needed those details.

“Why would I? I love The Grove,” I answered.

“The Grove.” He chuckled. “Yeah, I guess it’s a pretty good school.”

“Where did you go?”

He straightened his posture. “George Washington. I’m a history buff.”

“I guess that’s fitting. And what exactly does a history buff do?”

“History stuff.”

“That’s so specific.” I batted the conversation back to him.

“Well not many people want to talk about history.” He tipped his cup toward his lips. “Especially not pretty girls.”

I stirred in my seat. “Maybe I’m not like other girls.”

“Maybe.” He scanned my face, and for a second, I thought he knew. I thought he could see right through my flimsy ruse. See into my green eyes and know my identity. But he looked over my shoulder as if we had never locked gazes.

“Quick. Pretend we’re on a real date.” He took my hand and squeezed it.

“What the—?”

A blond girl walked up to our table, tossing a handful of curls over her shoulder. “Hey, boss. Haven’t seen you all morning.” Her foot tapped on the floor.

“Lacey, I didn’t see you. Sorry.” He winked at me. “This is Dare.”

It was an innocent gesture, but it caught me off guard, enough to make me forget what it was I was doing with him.

“Dare?” The girl held out her hand. “Zac hasn’t mentioned you before.”

My hand was warm from where he was holding it. I accepted her handshake. “Funny, he hasn’t mentioned you either.”

That seemed to annoy her.

“I try to keep my personal life private, Lacey.”

“Whatever. I’m just picking up coffee. I’ll see you at the office. You need to get back there anyway. The director is freaking out about the dinner tonight. The caterer doesn’t know if they have enough chicken or something like that.”

“Don’t know what I’m supposed to do about that.” He had focused on my eyes again. He was so good at this that I was starting to think he was interested in me too.

“Just get back to work,” Lacey fumed. “Nice to meet you, Dane.”

“It’s Dare,” I corrected her.

“Yeah.”

She stormed past a customer on her way out of the door.

“So you work with her?” I eyed him. His hand was still clasped to mine.

“She’s my assistant.”

“And what does an assistant do for a history buff?”

He rubbed his thumb over the top of my hand and then withdrew it. “She helps with research. Gets coffee. Sets up meetings.”

“Uh-huh. And how long has she had a thing for you?”

“What? She doesn’t—no, that’s not the—how could you tell?” He stroked the back of his neck.

I looked around the coffee shop. “It was obvious. She wanted to gauge out my eyes with the coffee stirrers, and you were desperate to make her think we were a couple.”

“Ok, I guess it’s pretty transparent.”

“Very.” I smiled over my cup.

“Thanks for going along with it.”

“Sure. No problem.”

“I don’t want her to get the wrong idea. This job is important to me.” He rubbed the side of his jaw. “Hey, what about the banquet?”

“What do you mean?”

“I know it’s kind of last minute and I realize we just met, but I could use a date.”

“Wow, romantic.”

He leaned over the table. “I promise I’m much more romantic than this. But, you’ll have to go out with me to see it in action.”

“Really?”

“Really.” He grinned.

I had to patrol tonight. There was no way around that. I patrolled every night, but it didn’t mean I couldn’t have dinner with a hot guy. Vix did it all the time. Plus, I still didn’t know much about his research. Maybe he would open up a little more over dinner.

“Ok. I’ll go with you.” I reached for my backpack.

“All right. Should be fun. Lots of storytellers and history fanatics.”

“You realize nothing about that sounds remotely romantic.” I stood to leave. I had to track down Trev if Vix was still asleep.

“Oh, it’s black tie. Do you have a dress?”

“I’ll find something. I have a roommate.” Vix and I shared clothes all the time. Her dress collection was far more extensive than mine.

He tapped his phone next to mine. “Here’s my contact info. Can I get yours? And your address?”

I pulled up my info and sent it to his phone.

“I’ll pick you up at six.”

“Sounds good.” I headed toward the door. “Good luck with the research today.” I waved.

I probably let his blue eyes distract me. Or maybe it was his voice. And he smelled like juniper. I shook my head as I walked down the street. Yeah, it was probably all of those things.

Trev was in the corner of the cafeteria eating a warmed up slice of pizza. The staff cut back on the menu options this time of year. I guessed they were trying to unload everything in the freezer before summer semester started.

I squeezed the back of his neck. “Where are they, Trev?” I growled lowly in his ear.

“Shit, Dare. You scared me.” He picked up the pizza as if I hadn’t just threatened to hurt him.

“Good. You should be scared. Tell me where Abi and Tegan are.” I sat next to him.

“Girl, I’m so not talking to you about this.” He reached for his phone, but I grabbed his wrist, twisting it until he dropped the phone on his tray. “You know I’ll scream, right?”

“I don’t care if you scream. You’re a kidnapper,” I hissed.

“I didn’t take them. Don’t get like that with me.”

Trev had a way of exaggerating his words.

“Come on, I need a hint. Something. Don’t let Case drag you into this, Trev.”

He shook his head. I noticed he had added a new tattoo on his wrist since the last time I had seen him. It looked like tribal markings.

“Case will kill me. I am not getting mixed up in your business.”

I slid my chair closer to him. “You’re already mixed up in it. You know as well as I do that you have no interest in marrying one of the Nox girls. So, it’s to your benefit to help us, don’t you think?”

He scrunched his nose. “I’m not supposed to bond with any of you, so it’s nothing for me to worry about. He’s not going to force me to go through with it. He won’t.”

“Until he changes his mind. Is that what you want?”

He shook his head. “No, I guess I don’t.”

I sighed. Finally. Someone else saw what an idiotic tradition this was. Forcing bonding and marriages was pure insanity.

“But, I’m in Case’s tribe. I’m loyal to him, not the Nox. Not to you, Dare, the high and mighty princess.”

I threw my hands in the air. “Why does everyone have to be so stubborn?” I banged the chair against the table as I stood to leave. “And I’m a
queen
.” I thought about grabbing his neck again, extending my claws so he would take our encounter seriously.

“Trev, you can’t believe anything Case says. He’ll tell you whatever he has to to gain your trust. Open your eyes. You are as much a pawn in this as Abi and Tegan are. He’ll do anything to get what he wants. You see that, right?”

I had always liked Trev. He wasn’t like the rest of the Tribe. I always thought he was someone I would have been friends with if we weren’t on opposite sides of a war.

“They’re not in the woods,” he whispered.

“What did you say?” I leaned over his shoulder.

“That’s it. That’s the clue, girlfriend. Now let me eat in peace.”

I was tempted to shove his face in the pizza on his plate, but he had already broken code to help me. It had to be enough. It was barely a clue, but it was more than what we’d had in two days. Trev’s loose lips would work against me too. I had to use the information while it was still fresh.

I dialed Vix, but got her voicemail.

I spoke quickly after the beep. “Hey. We’ve been looking in the wrong place. I’m on my way home. See you soon.” I left the message.

When I got back to the house, Vix wasn’t on the couch. I checked the kitchen and then her bedroom.

“Vix?” I called. “Vix?” My heart raced.

“Yeah. I was in the shower.”

“Thank God,” I breathed.

“What? You thought something happened to me?” She had a toothbrush in her hand.

“We can’t be too careful, I guess.”

“I dare Case to break in her and try to kidnap me. He hasn’t heard my roar.” She walked back to the bathroom.

I followed her. “Yeah, I think there’s a reason he picked Abi and Tegan.”

I didn’t mean to imply they were weak. None of us was, but they were the least trained. The most trusting. I would have preyed on them too if I were trying to infiltrate our clan.

“I got your message. Where are they?” Vix continued to brush her teeth.

“Trev wouldn’t tell me, but he did say they aren’t in the woods.” I leaned against the door jam and watched her pluck at her eyebrows next.

“He could be screwing with us. You realize that?”