do it . . .
“He knew my last name,” I said suddenly, thinking of the creep.
“What?”
“Cain. He knew I worked for you at the shelter, said something about ‘just like her’ and um . . . scents from around the world or something? Like I was an exotic perfume?”
A strange rumbling came from Aaron’s throat. He bared his teeth before slamming a fist against the wheel. “Dammit,” he muttered.
“What is it?”
“You are very special, Lina. Do you remember before you left? When I sort of . . . threw myself on you at your house and shut you in my car?”
“No, that was just so easy to forget,” I snarked.
He rolled his eyes. “So, the Iew Keftey have a very distinct scent to a Shifter nose, as we do to them. And uh, the night I brought you home, when you opened the car door . . .”
I cringed. “You smelled them?”
“Sometimes they send the fastest members of the pack into our territory. Scouts—or we call them spies. I waited until you were inside to go looking, and I caught one about the time I heard you near the woods. But if Cain knew so much . . . shit, there must’ve been another.” Aaron shivered, his arms suddenly in goose bumps. “They make terrible sounds when they’re killed. I’ve never heard anything more haunting.”
“Sounds.” There it was again, the memory of that terrible cry, the feeling of knowing something suffered torture in the woods that night.
The pieces were coming together. Everything from the last two weeks that I couldn’t explain or didn’t understand started to make sense. An odd kind of sense, yes, but still. I sunk in my seat. Staring out the window, I thought about how cats had great eyesight, many with better eyesight than humans. That explained the goodbye to my glasses. And the leopard spot thing was pretty self-explanatory. Cain couldn’t have known all those little facts about my life without help, or without stalking me.
This Shifter thing was getting harder to deny.
Aaron stretched in his seat as we came to a stoplight. I admired his freckles as he flexed his arms. I watched his eyes flick back and forth between me and the light. My heart did this weird flutter thing.
“Aaron?”
“Hmm?”
“Thank you. For saving my life . . . And, um, I’m sorry I treated you the way I did. You just scared me.”
He blinked at me then reached across the dash slowly, like he was waiting for me to jerk away. When I didn’t, he gave my hand a gentle squeeze. “I’m sorry I scared you. This is kind of a scary thing for someone who’s been raised human. But I promise you, Lina: I’m not out to hurt you. You are safe with me.”
I nodded. “You’re off my list.”
“Really?”
“Yeah. But you’re back on probation.”
He shook his head, trying not to laugh. “Alright, fine.”
• • •
My eyes flickered open. I stared at my bedroom ceiling, the familiar smell of peach perfume in the air. Lurching over, I discovered a pillow under my head, a blue quilt covering my legs. I was in my own bed.
Huh ? I scratched my head and a sharp pain went through my skull. Wincing, I felt around. A small area on the left side of my forehead seemed to be swelling. I was afraid to look in the mirror. Had I smacked the headboard in my sleep again?
My duffel bag sat beside the door. Harry was sleeping on it, a big white lump denting the middle. I reached out to grab my phone off my nightstand only to realize it wasn’t there. The painted shoe on the wall, the one with the clock in it, had its hands pointing towards five’ o’clock.
I was home from the resort? Already?
“Oh, God.” My stomach twisted as today’s events returned, clear and sharp as ever. Cain mutating in the woods. Aaron saving my life. Shifters . . . had I imagined that part on the drive home?
I don’t think so .
Getting out of bed, I went downstairs. The driveway was empty, Mom not home yet. I was about to enter the kitchen when I noticed the house phone.
“He knew my last name,” I said suddenly, thinking of the creep.
“What?”
“Cain. He knew I worked for you at the shelter, said something about ‘just like her’ and um . . . scents from around the world or something? Like I was an exotic perfume?”
A strange rumbling came from Aaron’s throat. He bared his teeth before slamming a fist against the wheel. “Dammit,” he muttered.
“What is it?”
“You are very special, Lina. Do you remember before you left? When I sort of . . . threw myself on you at your house and shut you in my car?”
“No, that was just so easy to forget,” I snarked.
He rolled his eyes. “So, the Iew Keftey have a very distinct scent to a Shifter nose, as we do to them. And uh, the night I brought you home, when you opened the car door . . .”
I cringed. “You smelled them?”
“Sometimes they send the fastest members of the pack into our territory. Scouts—or we call them spies. I waited until you were inside to go looking, and I caught one about the time I heard you near the woods. But if Cain knew so much . . . shit, there must’ve been another.” Aaron shivered, his arms suddenly in goose bumps. “They make terrible sounds when they’re killed. I’ve never heard anything more haunting.”
“Sounds.” There it was again, the memory of that terrible cry, the feeling of knowing something suffered torture in the woods that night.
The pieces were coming together. Everything from the last two weeks that I couldn’t explain or didn’t understand started to make sense. An odd kind of sense, yes, but still. I sunk in my seat. Staring out the window, I thought about how cats had great eyesight, many with better eyesight than humans. That explained the goodbye to my glasses. And the leopard spot thing was pretty self-explanatory. Cain couldn’t have known all those little facts about my life without help, or without stalking me.
This Shifter thing was getting harder to deny.
Aaron stretched in his seat as we came to a stoplight. I admired his freckles as he flexed his arms. I watched his eyes flick back and forth between me and the light. My heart did this weird flutter thing.
“Aaron?”
“Hmm?”
“Thank you. For saving my life . . . And, um, I’m sorry I treated you the way I did. You just scared me.”
He blinked at me then reached across the dash slowly, like he was waiting for me to jerk away. When I didn’t, he gave my hand a gentle squeeze. “I’m sorry I scared you. This is kind of a scary thing for someone who’s been raised human. But I promise you, Lina: I’m not out to hurt you. You are safe with me.”
I nodded. “You’re off my list.”
“Really?”
“Yeah. But you’re back on probation.”
He shook his head, trying not to laugh. “Alright, fine.”
• • •
My eyes flickered open. I stared at my bedroom ceiling, the familiar smell of peach perfume in the air. Lurching over, I discovered a pillow under my head, a blue quilt covering my legs. I was in my own bed.
Huh ? I scratched my head and a sharp pain went through my skull. Wincing, I felt around. A small area on the left side of my forehead seemed to be swelling. I was afraid to look in the mirror. Had I smacked the headboard in my sleep again?
My duffel bag sat beside the door. Harry was sleeping on it, a big white lump denting the middle. I reached out to grab my phone off my nightstand only to realize it wasn’t there. The painted shoe on the wall, the one with the clock in it, had its hands pointing towards five’ o’clock.
I was home from the resort? Already?
“Oh, God.” My stomach twisted as today’s events returned, clear and sharp as ever. Cain mutating in the woods. Aaron saving my life. Shifters . . . had I imagined that part on the drive home?
I don’t think so .
Getting out of bed, I went downstairs. The driveway was empty, Mom not home yet. I was about to enter the kitchen when I noticed the house phone.
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