Pucker Up (A Damsels of Distress Novel) (25 page)

sight. She'd sworn to never return, yet

there she was.

I must have lost my mind.

“Exactly where in the city is

Ivy’s Prince Charming?” Athena asked

Thane as she drove along the highway,

glancing at the road signs.

Ivy perked up, anxious to hear

the answer. She’d been running down a

list of possible hiding places in her head

since they left that morning. It wasn’t a

long list.

Thane squirmed in his seat and

turned his face to the window before

answering. “I don’t know.”

Everything around her seemed to

fade away and only those three little

words swirled around in her head.

“What?” Surely, she heard him wrong.

“All I know is that he’s

somewhere underground.” He held up

his tattered notebook with all his

research as if daring them to argue with

his facts. She fought the urge to grab it

from his hands and chuck it out the

window. Anger throbbed as a dull ache

in her skull. Couldn’t anything go right

on this trip?

“I hope you don’t mean six feet

underground,” Garren moaned as he

slouched down in his seat.

“I’ll drive you to whatever

cemetery you want, but I don’t dig,”

Athena said.

Ivy chuckled. “Unless you’re

hiding a nice, juicy bone in the garden,

right?” She couldn’t let that pass when

the werewolf set herself up so nicely.

Athena growled and glared at her

in the rearview mirror. “Watch it,

witch.”

“No, no. I don’t think he’s

buried,” Thane said quickly. “My source

mentioned an underground room of some

kind.”

“Like a basement?” She racked

her brain for anything else that sounded

even vaguely similar but nothing came to

mind.

“I figured we could ask around

the local magic community.” Thane

furrowed his brow. “I’m just not sure

how to find others like us.”

“Let me handle that, sweetie,”

Athena said. “I have a gift for sniffing

out our kind.” She looked pointedly at

Ivy in the mirror, as if daring her to

make a joke.

But before she could open her

mouth, Garren elbowed Ivy in the ribs

and shook his head. It was almost

painful letting such an obvious opening

go unanswered but she did, this time.

The

ensuing

silence

was

interrupted by a loud growl, and it

wasn’t from the werewolf.

“I’m ready to eat,” Garren said,

putting his hand over his stomach. It was

early afternoon and they hadn’t eaten

since breakfast. A greasy, fast food

hamburger sounded like the perfect

solution right about then.

“Why don’t we dash through a

drive-through and then check into a

hotel?” Ivy offered. It wouldn’t do to go

parading around the city in the middle of

the day with Eradicators around. They

needed to stay under the radar.

“On a nice day like this?” Athena

said, waving her hand over her head.

“We need to get out and stretch our legs,

do a little sightseeing.”

The pounding in her head

intensified. “This isn’t a vacation. There

are Eradicators all over the city. It’s not

safe.” She looked to Garren for back up

because he was supposed to be on

security detail.

“I think we’ll be all right as long

as we stick together and stay among the

crowds,” he said.

Her fists clenched in her lap. She

forgot Garren was mooning over Athena

and would therefore agree with anything

she said. His judgment was no longer

reliable. She looked to Thane, her last

hope for reason.

He merely shrugged and avoided

eye contact.

Coward.
Her instincts screamed

to lay low until dark and she always

followed her gut. It’s kept her alive so

far. Of course, she wouldn’t be in this

situation if she followed her first hunch

and stayed in Salmagundi in the first

place.

“I don’t like it. It’s too risky.”

Her stomach flip-flopped just thinking

about running into any number of people

she knew in the city. She didn’t even

notice her leg nervously bouncing until

Garren put his hand on her knee. She

immediately froze at the contact.

“What’s your problem?” he

asked as he pulled away.

The secret I’ve been protecting

for over a year is about to explode like

Mount St. Helens and you’ll all hate

me.
“Nothing. I just don’t want to attract

unwanted attention.” Not a lie.

“You’re too paranoid. The

chance that we’ll be seen by an

Eradicator in such a big city is slim. But

if it’ll make you feel better, we’ll only

get lunch and go right to a hotel

afterwards. No site seeing.” Then he

leaned over and whispered, “I won’t let

anything happen to you, Ivy.”

The sincerity in his voice caused

a lump to form in her throat. Her

relationship with Garren was strained

and totally confusing, at best. If she

wanted to get along with him, she’d have

to at least try to trust him. Inhaling

deeply, she took the first step and

nodded.

“Fine.” She hoped she didn’t

regret this.

*****

little deli downtown and then sat at a

sidewalk table out in the bright sunshine.

So much for staying low-key.

She hadn’t realized how much she

missed the tree lined streets full of

blooms. But even the reminiscent

fragrance didn’t ease the tension she felt

at being out in the open. Late April in

California was still cool, so she didn't

look out of place pulling the sweatshirt

hood over her head to cover her brown

curls. A box of hair dye sat at her feet to

be used when they finally rented a room.

Too bad she couldn’t talk the others into

skipping this little outing. At least she

talked them out of eating at one of her

old haunts. That would have been

suicide.

She couldn't help eyeing every

person that strolled past their patio table

for a familiar face. She touched the

sapphire

hidden

under

her

shirt,

wondering if she should use it to hide

them all.

Gawd, I
am
paranoid.

“Ivy, will you stop fidgeting?

What's wrong with you?” Athena asked

from across the table as she sipped her

coffee.

The other three stared at her

expectantly. Time had run out. It was

time to stop hiding from her past and tell

the truth. The worst that could happen

was that they got mad, dumped her butt

and left without her.

They’re going to hate me.
Her

heart already started breaking as she

picked up her hot chocolate and spoke

into the mug.

“I used to live here.”

Garren's brow furrowed. “You

used to live
here
?” He emphasized by

pointing straight down on the black

wrought iron table.

She nodded and swallowed, but

kept her face hidden behind the cup.

“But you left because...?” Garren

asked.

She set the mug down and stayed

silent, hoping they would put the pieces

together themselves.

Thane was the first to connect the

dots. “Eradicators were hunting you,

because you're a witch.”

She nodded and pushed an errant

curl back behind her ear, her hood

falling halfway back. But that was only

part of it. She gathered up the courage to

reveal the actual reason for her swift

departure from this city.

But just as she opened her mouth

to confess, a voice she hoped to never

hear again rang out beside her.

“Well, well, well. Look who

decided to return.”

Chapter 14

“Who’s that?” Thane asked,

motioning with a jut of his chin at the

man standing next to Ivy.

This was the exact situation she

was hoping to avoid. Knowing she

couldn't get out of it, she sucked in a

breath and turned to face him. “Hello,

Kyle.”

He’d changed. His once long,

dark hair was now so short it was

almost shaved. It suited him. The

eyebrow piercing was new, too. A long-

sleeve blue shirt covered his tattoos,

including the tell-tale mark on his wrist.

Her heart beat a little faster, like it

always did whenever he was around.

But his eyes, those green eyes she could

gaze into for hours, didn't have the luster

they once held. Guilt hit her as she

thought

she

might

be

partially

responsible for that.

Kyle stood there, as though

waiting for her to say something more.

When she didn't, he huffed. “That's it?

That's all you have to say to me?”

“Apparently.” She kept her face

as calm as possible in an effort to keep

the anxious trembling at bay. Would he

spill her secret before she had the

chance to explain?

“Unbelievable.” He ran his hand

over his head, a nervous habit that hadn’t

disappeared with his hair. “We've been

searching for you over a year, Ivy.

Where the hell have you been?”

She didn't appreciate his tone

and straightened up in her seat, not

wanting him to think he could intimidate

her. “That's none of your business.”

“None of my—None of my

business?” Kyle's voice grew louder as

he stepped forward. People passing by

rubbernecked at the scene he was

causing. “I think when my girlfriend

disappears right after a particularly

bloody attack that
is
my business.”

She wouldn't allow herself to

move an inch away from his encroaching

form. His anger was justified, but his

words pissed her off. She stood to give

him a piece of her mind, scraping the

wrought iron chair against the cement.

But Garren beat her to it. “I don't

know who the hell you are,” he said as

he got into Kyle’s face. “But you better

back off, before you have to deal with

me.”

Kyle didn't move. They were

like two heavy-weight boxers staring

each other down before the first bell;

trying to intimidate the other by sheer

force of will. The amount of testosterone

wafting off them was enough to choke a

troll.

She nudged her way around

Garren to stand by his side, not wanting

Kyle to think she'd gone soft and needed

protecting. “How dare you. I ceased

being any concern of yours when I

caught you shoving your tongue down my

best friend's throat.”

“Oh, no he didn’t,” Athena

murmured.

Kyle's face reddened as he

clenched his jaw and narrowed his eyes.

“That's why you left, because of one

stupid kiss?”

“Please. That was no one-time

kiss. And no, that's not why I left.” It

was part of it, not that she'd ever admit

that to him.

“So, why did you leave?” Kyle

paused and looked around as if finally

noticing the others. “And why are you

with these Weeds?” His eyes traveled to

each one and stopped on her. After a

moment, they widened in understanding.

“You’re a witch.” It wasn’t an

accusation, but a statement of fact.

She stiffened. Would he attack

and then drag her to Rousseau? Would

he leave in disgust? Would he not care at

all? She wasn’t sure she was ready for

any of those reactions.

“Took you long enough,” she

said in a huff, hands planted on her hips.

All the anger Kyle held onto

seemed melt off him like a snowman in

Death Valley. “What happened that

night, Ivy? All anyone says is that you

killed Leslie and then ran away. Anyone

who sees you is supposed to bring you to

Rousseau for questioning.”

Questioning? Yeah, right.
The

look of concern shining in his eyes