Halflings (4 page)

Nikki’s head dropped to the table. “Let me guess. You can’t remember what.”

Krissy nodded, ignoring the monotone remark. “What else stands out?”

Cerulean eyes. So filled with color and life, it was as if pure pigment had created them and trapped a beam of sunlight just beneath their depths. Nikki squeezed her eyes shut. “The guy.”

“Oh. Ohhh.” Krissy nodded. “Now we’re getting somewhere. It’s simple. You want someone to rescue you. You want — no, wait, you need a knight in shining armor to come and save you from the dragon.”

What? That was the stupidest thing she’d ever heard. And yet … She rejected the thought.
I don’t need some guy.
From her karate to her artwork, from her choice of clothing to her choice of transportation, she had it all together. She was a girl who knew exactly what she wanted. Except she didn’t.

In fact, she felt like the most conflicted person on the planet. She couldn’t even decide on a career path. Business for becoming a karate instructor and own her own dojo someday, or art school? They both fit like a shrunken sweater: a past favorite, and the other certainly not a choice one could live with forever. It was as if a huge part of Nikki had gone missing long ago and she didn’t know how to find it … or if she’d ever had it to begin with. Could her best friend actually be right? “What? What’s the dragon?”

Krissy threw her hands into the air. “Who knows? It could be anything. Science class, the MCAT, green Jell-O.”

Nikki drew her brows together in a deep frown.

“The dragon is whatever terrifies you. It’s whatever you’re scared of.”

Myself
, Nikki thought.
I’m scared of myself. What I can’t do. What I can do. Why I don’t know who I am.
A rock sat on her chest, making it hard to breathe. She forced a laugh, but there was no humor in it. “I’m pretty sure it’s green Jell-O.”

Krissy pointed at her. “You need a man. That’s all.”

One split second later, two new victims entered the coffee shop. Nikki groaned and grabbed her backpack-style purse. “Let’s go. I don’t want you fixing me up. Besides, there are clothes waiting for us!”

Krissy squealed and clapped her hands together. “Yay! Shopping.”

Nikki hung her new clothes in her closet, her eyes stopping at the black cocktail-style dress Krissy talked her into buying. She ran a hand over the soft, shimmery material. She chewed her lip. It really was a beautiful garment. And she
did
have the art gallery showing in a few days. She should have a grown-up dress, or as Krissy called it, a little black dress destined to be a girl’s best friend. Admittedly, it had been gorgeous when she tried it on, but now, hanging in her closet, it looked ridiculous amongst the jeans, T-shirts, riding boots, and flip-flops.

Shopping was always exhausting on a deep level and her constant apprehension about rabid wolves finding her in the dressing room and chasing her through the mall in her underwear didn’t help.
All day it was like eyes were on me.
It was nearly evening now, and she had to get out, clear her mind. She shoved the black dress to the back of her closet and slammed the door, flying down the stairs in a desperate attempt to outrun
such adult clothing. Sprawled in the family room, she caught a glimpse of yellow fur beneath the coffee table. It whimpered. She dropped to her haunches at the table’s edge and cooed, “Who’s a good dog?”

A massive head plopped onto her thighs. Innocent brown eyes blinked their adoration.

She scratched his head between his ears, and the yellow lab stretched, arching his back, long gawky legs straightening like boards.

Already feeling better, Nikki strolled into the kitchen and snagged a piece of fruit.

“Getting hungry? I’m going to start dinner soon,” Mom said over her shoulder.

“Nah, I’m good. I’m leaving for a while.”

“Where are you going?”

“Just for a ride.”

Her mom frowned. “Alone?”

Nikki cast her eyes heavenward. “Yes, alone, but I’ll be fine. You’d think I’d just gotten the bike a week ago.”

“I just like it better when someone goes with you.”

Must we go through this every time?
“Well, I’ve put in an application to join the Swamp Rider’s Biker Club, but I haven’t heard from them yet.”

Her mom swatted at her with a dish towel. “That’s not funny. Oh, before I forget, we have to be gone Monday night — your father has an auction in St. Louis. We’ll be finishing late, so he’s planning on spending the night and driving home Tuesday morning.” Her mother’s dark brows scrunched inward. “Actually, we could cancel the room and drive home Monday so you’re not alone.”

Nikki groaned. “Mom, I’ll be fine. I’m seventeen. I think I can survive one night without you here.”

“All grown up,” her mother said, and closed the distance to pull Nikki into a tight mom hug. “Speaking of grown-up events, did you find a dress for the gallery?”

Nikki groaned again and sank onto her mom’s shoulder.

“Did I say the wrong thing?”

“No, Mom. Everything’s fine.” But her mom pulled her closer, nearly squeezing the breath from her lungs.

“That’s right, Nikki. Everything
is
fine.” When she drew away, something glistened in her mom’s gaze. Something unsettling.

Nikki smiled and refused the voice that told her life as she knew it was about to end.

She flew down the highway with wind rushing past, enjoying the whine of the Kawasaki Ninja 600’s engine. Her mood lifted with each rev. The nightmare of last evening jettisoned away as she gripped the clutch and relished the feel of her bike beneath her. Or certain-death crotch-rocket, as her mom called it. She still remembered the fights when she’d asked her parents for the motorcycle for her sixteenth birthday — and how her dad had worked around her mom’s no-sixteen-year-old-of-mine ultimatum by presenting the bike a year later. Eight inches of hair flapped below the helmet she’d promised her mother she’d always wear. So far, she’d honored that vow, but warm Saturday afternoons encouraged long drives. She’d often end up in Arkansas where there was no helmet law. The temptation was great.

She stopped for gas and filled the tank. Six bucks. Beside her, a thirty-something-year-old guy filled an SUV. Nikki stifled a
grin as he poured in numerous gallons of gas. Yes, life was good and it was beginning to feel normal again.

The guy shoved the gas pump back into the holder and caught her gaze. It stopped his momentum and he stared straight at her without moving.

Nikki swallowed and gave a nod toward him, but before she could turn away his eyes changed. A shadow closed over his features, then seemed to disappear. The guy blinked a few times and mumbled some angry words, then wiped his hand across an already dirty flannel shirt. But he never took his eyes off her.

She flashed a quick smile and dropped her gaze. When he slammed the hatch to his gas tank, Nikki jumped.

Seeming pleased with her reaction, he watched as she replaced her gas lid.

“I said I’m talking to you,” he growled.

She hung up the pump. “Excuse me?” Looking down at her gas cap, she noticed her hands were trembling. Her teeth clenched.
What’s happening? I never walk around this afraid. Plus, I could take this guy if I had to
. The answer wasn’t long in coming. Last night’s brush with … well, with whatever it was, left her more than a bit uncomfortable. And grungy flannel shirt guy with the SUV wasn’t helping.

“Stupid teenager,” he grumbled.

Nikki donned her helmet, snagged her receipt, then threw a leg over her bike. “I didn’t do anything,” she said in the safety of her full-coverage helmet.

“What?” His face reddened, and he took a step closer. “What did you say?”

Twisting her wrist, she sped out of the parking lot. “Okay, that was weird,” she muttered. The guy had seemed fine when she first pulled up.

Trees and hills disappeared past as she zipped down Farm Road 211. But her nerves were raw so she slowed down. The speedometer read fifty, and she held steady there until she saw the grill of a vehicle inching closer in her small, round rearview mirror.

From a half-mile away she could plainly see the acceleration as the SUV moved closer, faster. She blinked repeatedly, fighting panic — it was the same vehicle from the gas station. Glancing alongside the road, she searched for a place to pull off and hide or turn around, but no decent option presented itself. Hands sweaty, she accelerated again.

The dark SUV closed the distance. She could outrun him — sport bikes were known for their speed. But they were also known for hitting loose gravel and tumbling end over end. Every time she tried to accelerate beyond a safe speed, the rear end shimmied, losing traction.
Road rash? No, thank you.
Nikki held firm at sixty, and didn’t dare push it even though every synapse in her body begged her to let loose. The two vehicles sped down the empty stretch of road, the SUV now mere feet away.

In her mirror she made out his face, still red but now smiling as if enjoying the chase. Nikki willed her mind to concentrate on riding, instead of imagining what Nikki roadkill would look like. More than once she swerved into the empty oncoming lane to keep his front bumper from making contact with her back tire. If the two touched, it would catapult her from the bike like a ragdoll.

Her secret weapon was she knew this road by heart, could probably drive it with her eyes shut. Up ahead, a tight turn waited. Nikki formed a plan.

M
ace snuck from the house for the second time on Saturday. Keeping a safe distance, he’d watched Nikki and her friend meander through stores at the mall with a mammoth battle raging in his gut. Will had given an order — a direct and very specific order — and he was breaking it. It was a huge risk to move among humans while he still looked, smelled, felt, and, as he’d discovered,
tasted
otherworldly. The problem was, he simply couldn’t wait two more days to see Nikki Youngblood again.

He’d messed up on this journey already by letting the girl see him in the forest. It had been a stupid mistake, one that could cause questions later. Guys don’t just appear out of nowhere.
Of course, neither do hell hounds.
None of it would make sense to her. Then again, nothing about this journey made sense to him, either. Especially the way he couldn’t stop himself from scooping the girl into his arms.

Raven had watched with the interest of an alligator waiting
for a victim to pass by. He’d probably intended to tuck away Mace’s mistake and pull it out when it could do the most damage. He couldn’t afford to give Raven such leverage.

Yet here he was on Saturday evening, tailing Nikki Youngblood as if he’d been instructed to do so. Stupid.

And necessary. Something inside told him she needed a constant watchman. Not that his ser vices had been helpful. She’d spent the day shopping, and though he’d managed to stay off her radar, every now and then she’d pause and scan the area around her like she knew he was there. Hiding. Waiting. Watching.

Like he was doing now. He’d nearly turned back and headed home but as he banked, wings spread above the motorcycle and the girl riding it, he’d noticed the SUV. It pulled into the road and gunned the engine, causing Mace’s wing feathers to prickle the way they did when demons were around. He tilted down for a closer inspection of the driver. No demon, just some guy who’d been rude to Nikki at the gas station. Nonetheless, Mace kept his speed up to keep from being seen, moving so fast his molecules disappeared and no human would see him coming. Nothing like having angelic powers on hand when spying on someone.

He hovered above a row of trees. Judging by what was happening on the road, it was a good thing he’d disobeyed Will’s rules.

The girl was being chased by a human, but one under evil control.
Darkness wastes no time.
Well, then he would step up the game as well. Uncle Will wouldn’t approve, and neither would Raven, who despite his experience — or maybe because of it — had the most contempt for their charges.
Will I grow as callous over time? Will these journeys in this realm create shadows
in my heart?
Raven hadn’t always had the darkness that now glimmered in his eyes.