by Kate Harre
‘That’s okay. We’ll find out soon enough anyway.’
As much as she would like to have stayed wrapped in his strong arms, Annie pulled away and got off the bed. ‘We need to go and find her.’
‘Oh hell no!’ He flicked on the bedside light. She blinked rapidly, trying to adjust to the sudden burst of light. When she did, she discovered Alex scowling at her. ‘There is a killer shape-shifter out there and we’ve got no idea who he is. There is no way in this lifetime I’m letting you out of this house until it’s daylight and even then I don’t want you anywhere near the forest.’
‘But Alex, we know where she is. We can’t just leave her out there.’
‘Do you have so little regard for your life?’ he demanded in outrage. ‘Because I happen to like you alive! Besides, I’m sure the police will be tracking her phone – they’ll find her, Princess. You don’t need to do anything this time.’
As though it was divine providence, the wail of sirens intruded on the silence of the night. Annie crossed to the window and pulled the curtain aside. Blue and red lights were flashing beyond the wall of Alex’s property, enough that she knew both the police and ambulance services were there. At least she knew the emergency operator had taken the call seriously, even though they were all too late. Vehicle doors slammed and then she saw torch lights bobbing up the trail and disappearing into the trees.
With a heavy sigh, she let the curtain drop back into place and crawled back into bed. ‘I always feel so helpless,’ she admitted to Alex, turning to face him. He was sitting cross-legged in the middle of the bed, with his elbows resting on his knees, solemnly studying her. She allowed herself to surreptitiously admire his beautiful body. His build was lean but every inch of him was packed with muscle. Chelsea would so approve – he was absolutely gorgeous! She swallowed hard and was glad he didn’t seem to notice how much she was enjoying the view.
‘I know. It sucks that you have to live with this, but it’s the Sherriff’s job to take care of it from here. It’s not your fault this girl died.’
Annie bit her lip and nodded, knowing he was right.
‘You should try and get some sleep,’ he said gently, tucking a stray strand of hair behind her ear in a curiously comforting gesture.
‘Do you think I woke Maria?’
He grinned. ‘Maria sleeps like the dead. A plane could crash on the front lawn and she’d sleep right through it.’
Uncrossing his legs, he moved to get off the bed. Before she could even think about it, Annie’s hand shot out and grasped his wrist.
‘Will you stay… please?’ She looked at him with pleading eyes. ‘I find it really hard to go back to sleep after one of those dreams.’
Alex hesitated, his reluctance screaming from every pore of his body. She understood. Lying beside each other their faces would be close and he didn’t want her anywhere near his scars. She hoped one day she could convince him they really didn’t bother her. Cursing under his breath, he turned the light off, wrenched the covers back and slid into the bed… as close to the edge as possible.
‘Your mother would have a heart attack if she could see us now,’ he muttered.
‘She wouldn’t have a leg to stand on. At our age she and Dad were doing far more than simply sharing a bed!’
The silence simmered. She’d inadvertently put a whole host of forbidden ideas into her head… and possibly his. Alex cleared his throat. ‘That’s not the point. I promised her I’d protect you and that wasn’t supposed to be from me.’
‘Are you planning on jumping me?’ she asked hopefully.
‘No! Of course not!’ The genuine shock in his voice did nothing for Annie’s ego. Was it really such a foreign idea?
‘You mean you haven’t even thought about it?’
‘No!’
‘Well then it’s really not a problem, is it?’ It hurt that he didn’t look at her that way, hadn’t even thought about her as a girl he might like to kiss. There she’d been, starting to develop feelings for him and he hadn’t even considered her in that light. She started to roll away, but then changed her mind – she didn’t want him knowing he’d hurt her. That would only make things awkward between them and if all he was prepared to offer was friendship, well that would have to be enough for her, because she couldn’t bear the thought of not having him in her life.
She lay there, staring at the ceiling, barely moving, barely breathing, trying to will herself to sleep. Alex was just as still on the other side of the bed. So she jumped when he suddenly spoke.
‘I won’t let myself think about. The moment this happened to me…’ She felt the sheet move and knew he was gesturing at his face. ‘…that kind of intimacy was taken from me too.’
‘Why?’
‘Because no one in their right mind would want to get up close and personal with the mess that is my face. There’s no point yearning for the impossible, so I don’t even bother contemplating it,’ he said matter-of-factly.
‘It doesn’t have to be that way,’ she whispered achingly, wishing he would let her close enough to prove it to him.
‘Yes, it does.’ His voice was flat, final. ‘Please, Annie, just go to sleep.’
‘Okay.’ She knew if she pushed any further, he’d be out of the bed and back to his own in a microsecond. Her eyes had adjusted to the darkness and she turned her head on the pillow to look at him. He was lying on his back, stiff as a board, his arms straight by his sides on top of the covers. He was staying there for her sake, because she needed him, but his barriers were back up again. Tentatively, scared she’d drive him away, she reached over and curled her hand around his. He jerked, as if he was going to pull away, then he threaded his fingers through hers and released his breath in a hissing sigh.
Annie smiled and closed her eyes. It was enough for now.
*
Alex woke boiling hot. Before he even opened his eyes, he knew why. At some point in the night, in his unconscious state, he had instinctively reached for Annie and they were now spooning. He was wrapped around her like a vine, so close their bodies were sealed from knee to shoulder. His chin was buried in her hair, which smelt like fresh apples, and one arm was clamped around her waist, keeping her welded to him. It felt good… so good he could lie there forever.
With a grimace of self-disgust, he slowly eased away, careful not to wake her. She shifted restlessly, as if she felt the loss of his touch, but continued sleeping. He pulled himself up against the headboard and watched her, indulging himself while she couldn’t catch him. She looked so peaceful lying on her side, one hand tucked under her cheek, the other dangling over the edge of the bed.
He’d woken during the night to the sound of her whimpering and knew she’d been dreaming about what had happened in the forest. Their hands had fallen apart as they’d slept and he’d reached for hers again in a helpless gesture of comfort. As soon as he’d touched her, the whimpers had stopped and she’d slept peacefully. He’d never been needed by anyone before and he liked knowing his presence soothed her, but somehow he had to keep a physical barrier between them.
Last night, when she’d been so distressed, he’d acted on instinct and gathered her into his arms, forgetting about his face. Holding her had felt so right. But even though she didn’t seem to notice or care, it grossed him out that she’d been so close to his hideous scars. Their friendship would work… as long as he could keep his hands to himself.
He wished he’d met her before all this had happened. Maybe under her influence he would have been a better person. Surely for her, he would have changed – she would have made him want to, because anything would have been better than losing her. Or maybe he would have dragged her down with him, he thought bitterly, and ruined her life as well as his.
He frowned. What was the point of thinking of “might have beens”? They hadn’t met earlier and he was grateful she hadn’t known him at his worst. Sure, she could never be his girlfriend now. He had absolutely nothing of worth to offer her in the rela
tionship stakes. But at least he had her as a friend. And it was good that she needed him, because he sure as hell needed her… much more than she realised. Getting through each day had become almost more than he could bear, but now he lived for the moment when she’d arrive on his doorstep with her ready smile and boundless optimism. She gave him purpose and for that alone, he’d be forever grateful.
He leaned his head back against the headboard, facing the reality he’d been avoiding – somehow he was going to have to figure out how to live without her. In a few short months she’d be off to college somewhere, gone from his life. They’d email, talk on the phone, but it wouldn’t be the same. He’d be left alone in this huge house that already felt hollow and empty when she wasn’t in it. And he’d be back to being lonely again.
Closing his thoughts off from that depressing angle, he slid off the bed and headed for his room to shower and dress. He’d make her breakfast, he decided. It had been a stressful night and she deserved a little pampering. He also had to figure out a way to keep her out of the forest.
*
Karen was mortified when she discovered Annie had seen another murder while she’d been out of town socialising, making sales and catching up with her New York friends. Annie had filled her in on all the details, including the new piece of knowledge that their killer was a shape-shifter, and Karen was now slumped at the kitchen table, her head in her hands.
‘It’s not your fault, Mum,’ Annie said gently. ‘I had Alex and he was really great.’
Alex, who had accompanied her home in the early dusk with his hood low over his face, shifted awkwardly beside her. He’d insisted it was too dangerous for her to drive home alone, even though it was only a couple of blocks. She would have protested, but knowing that the shape shifter could be absolutely anybody in town was seriously freaking him out. He didn’t like the thought of her heading off while he was stuck, helpless to do anything, in his house. So she’d docilely agreed and then had to bite her lip to keep from laughing while his head swung from side to side, frantically surveying every inch of their surroundings in the gathering dark. He was pretty cute when he was being protective.
‘There’s no question now. We’re going to have to move,’ Karen stated decisively.
Alex stiffened, his face clenching.
‘What? Why?’ Annie almost shouted.
‘This town is clearly not safe and it’s no longer an animal we’re worrying about. It’s a man, who can turn himself into a killer beast!’
‘Mum, New York was full of murderers and we lived there for years. This is just one person.’
Karen glared incredulously at her daughter. ‘And you’re much closer to this person. In New York you were just one amongst millions. Here, you’re mere metres away from the forest where two girls have now died. And on top of that, there’s an extremely high likelihood that you’re sitting in a classroom with the murderer.’ She thrust her index finger in Annie’s direction. ‘I’m not running the risk that you’ll be next!’
‘She has a point, Annie,’ Alex told her quietly, proud that he didn’t let his despair show in his voice.
Annie ignored his unwelcome comment and focussed on Karen. ‘I don’t want to leave. I can’t leave!’
Karen’s gaze flickered over to the boy standing so rigidly by her daughter’s side. His ruined face was blank of all expression, but she could see his struggle not to betray how much her words had shattered his world. She knew he was trying to think of Annie’s safety and not his own desire for her to stay. If the circumstances hadn’t been so dire she would have smiled – Alex would protect Annie with the last breath in his body, even if it hurt him unbearably in the process. And she knew he was the reason why Annie was so reluctant to leave. She bit her lip in a gesture uncannily like her daughter’s. She didn’t want to be the one to pull them apart when they were only beginning to find each other. But nor did she want to risk her daughter’s life. How would she ever forgive herself if Annie died when she could have prevented it?
‘I’ll call your father and see what he thinks,’ she conceded reluctantly. Pushing back from the table, she left the room.
Annie groaned and dropped down into the seat her mother had vacated. ‘This is a disaster. Dad’s totally going to back her.’
‘Maybe it’s the best thing,’ Alex suggested. Pulling out another chair from the table, he slowly sank into it. His eyes were guarded as they roamed over her distressed face.
‘I don’t think so,’ Annie responded hotly. ‘Both of the murdered girls have been cheerleaders. I’m not a cheerleader and I don’t move in those circles. The murderer also has no idea that I’ve seen him at work. I’m simply another face in the crowd, probably not even on his radar.’
‘And what if you are?’ He looked at her intently, the lines between his eyebrows expressing his worry.
‘I’ll be careful, Alex,’ she reassured him. ‘I won’t go into the forest on my own. There’ll be too many people at school for anything to happen there and the rest of the time I’m pretty much always at your house anyway. When would a murderer have an opportunity to pick me off?’
Alex’s tense façade cracked into a reluctant smile. ‘Do you think you can convince your Dad of that?’
‘You’ll have the chance tomorrow,’ Karen commented from the kitchen doorway. ‘Jake will be flying into Charlotte tomorrow – we’ll pick him up after we’re done shopping. He’ll text me his arrival time once he’s booked a landing spot.’
Among his many talents, Jake liked to fly himself wherever he could and owned a private jet so he didn’t need to be restricted by commercial airline schedules.
‘You mean I’m still in need of a Prom dress?’ Annie asked sarcastically.
Karen ignored that. ‘I should warn you… he’s back to the idea of a secluded island in the Mediterranean.’
‘Great! I’ll get to die of boredom instead of by wolf attack.’
Alex snorted and tried to choke back a laugh at Karen’s look of reproof. ‘Don’t encourage her. At least you’ll be able to visit her on a secluded island.’
Alex’s eyes widened in surprise at that easy acceptance of his place in Annie’s life. Then he gestured at his face. ‘I can’t fly commercial looking like this.’
‘I’m sure if Annie sweet talks her father he’ll arrange a private plane for you.’
‘He’ll totally owe me for consigning me to social ignominy at the tender age of eighteen!’ Annie muttered waspishly.
Karen sighed, a frazzled look crossing her face. She didn’t cope well when her usually composed daughter became petulant and moody. But then she winked at Alex. ‘This is why I tried to prevent her from reading so much – she says the weirdest things sometimes. I encouraged her towards art instead.’
Despite the glare coming from Annie’s direction, Alex couldn’t hold back a grin. It gave him a kick to see mother and daughter sparing, knowing that they loved each other too much to really fight. ‘Is she any good?’
‘I can draw a mean stick figure,’ Annie commented dryly.
‘So did you inherit your Dad’s talents instead?’
‘Nope.’
‘That’s not true,’ Karen interjected. ‘You play the piano very well.’
Annie shrugged. ‘I’m okay at it, but I don’t get lost in the music like Dad does when he picks up an instrument. I’m one of those people who is mediocre at a lot of things, with no bright shining talent in any particular area.’
‘You might not be good at art or have a passion for music, but you’ve got plenty of other much more valuable talents,’ Alex said softly. He thought of her tenacity in seeking justice for Danielle, a girl she hadn’t even known. He thought of how gentle she’d been with him, sensitive to his fear and distrust. And how she’d burrowed her way into his life without him even being aware of it. He’d never known someone with such a big heart.
How he was going to cope without her, he didn’t know.
Chapter 11
‘I�
��ve got a surprise for you,’ Annie informed Chelsea cheerfully when they picked her up. ‘But I’m not going to tell you what it is until after we’ve shopped.’
‘Why would you do that to me?’ Chelsea wailed, throwing her arms in the air dramatically.
‘Because we need to concentrate on finding perfect dresses and I don’t want you to be distracted.’
They hit the mall in Charlotte and went straight to the biggest department store, where all the Prom dresses were helpfully sorted into colours. Annie headed immediately for the red section.
‘Really?’ Chelsea asked. Both her and Karen had the same expression of bemused surprise on their faces.
‘Look, I know I’m generally conservative in my clothing choices, but this is my one and only Senior Prom. Maybe I want to look special,’ she explained defensively. No way was she going to admit Alex was the catalyst to her breaking the conservative mould. However, from the knowing look on Karen’s face, Annie figured she’d worked it out anyway.
‘About time!’ Chelsea announced in satisfaction. ‘I’m thinking of pink or purple, or maybe both, so I’ll be over in that section. Yell when you narrow down your choices and we’ll go into the change rooms together.’
Annie nodded and quickly got to work, eliminating everything with sequins and all the reds that were either orangey or pinky. There was one dress that caught her eye immediately, but she grabbed a couple of other potentials so she could make a proper comparison and indicated to Chelsea she was ready to try them on. Karen followed them into the change rooms and settled herself on an ottoman in the central mirrored area. ‘I’m ready to be dazzled, girls. Strut your stuff!’
And strut their stuff they did. Chelsea twirled in front of the mirrors in a feathered, twenties style pink and purple number, while Annie modelled a halter neck, fitted dress slashed to mid-thigh. Karen wolf-whistled, but Annie knew it wasn’t the one. Chelsea’s next choice was a surprise; it was a demure princess style gown with a full skirt in a pale pink. It looked almost bridal and neither Karen nor Annie could stop their jaws from dropping at how elegant Chelsea looked.
