The Crimson Hunt

by Smith, Victoria H.

  Hearing my name wrapped within the tone of that voice of his caused the pit of my stomach to swirl. My words caught in my throat.

  “You—” I said, and swallowed hard, “remembered my name.”

  He nodded, his lips tipped up to the side. “You did tell it to me.”

  I guessed I technically did when I babbled like a fool over my peanut butter brownie. Maybe I should have given him a little more credit.

  He released the baby and she stood. Without any wobbling, she ran off into the woods.

  Nothing but the rustle of the trees could be heard as we stared at each other. Wanting to break the awkward moment, I stood and he rose with me. Another thing he had going for him was that height. He towered over me. I’d never stood this close to him before. His proximity made my insides toss, and that sickened me. Baby deer savior or not, he’d still been a jerk to me. But I did owe him one thing.

  “Thanks for your help.” And with that, I turned and walked away.

  “Thank you for asking.”

  I stopped and closed my eyes, inhaling. I had to ignore this more pleasant change of his attitude. I resumed my pace.

  “Ariel?”

  I was no longer going to take the high road. I turned around. “What’s your deal?”

  His brows scrunched together. “What do you mean?”

  He was obviously denser than I thought, if he forgot how he’d treated me. I crossed my arms, staring him down. “You have been a complete and utter ass to me every time we’ve come in contact with each other.”

  His lips tightened, and his gaze drifted away. He scanned the ground, his eyes shifting before he looked up. “I am sorry. That was quite rude of me. I fear I am rather awkward around new people. I shamelessly blame this for my behavior.”

  Okay. That was really cute. He sounded like a little boy who accidentally used his mom’s lipstick as a crayon. How could I even be mad at that? Not knowing what to say, I said the only thing that made sense in response. “That’s okay. And your apology is accepted.”

  He exhaled deeply, and his expression brightened. “Thank you, Ariel.”

  I raked my hand through my hair. Gosh, he was so cute. “So what’s your name, anyway?”

  He smiled that amazing smile again. “I am Luca. Luca Grinaldi.”

  My eyebrows shot up by the structured way in which he stated his name. And with his previous statements, he really did speak formally, now that I thought about it. “You are Luca? Do you always speak so formally?”

  He glanced away for a moment, his eyebrows knit. When his gaze returned, his look was casual. “I guess I do, most days.” He laughed gently, his laughter as thought-provoking as his voice.

  I giggled in response. Good Lord, he had me giggling like a schoolgirl. Trying to get back some dignity, I changed the subject. “So what did you do to that deer? One touch from you, and she pretty much sprouted wings and flew off.”

  His mouth parted. “I did not do anything. I am just good with animals.”

  Hmm …. That got me thinking. “You’re good with animals, huh? Can you help me with something?”

  He stepped forward. “Of course.”

  Why did my heart just go aflutter? “I’m bird watching for our class. I didn’t do so well on the last exam.”

  He nodded, staring into my eyes intently.

  My goodness, those eyes of his … I tried to continue speaking without sounding like a love drunk puppy. “So for extra credit, I have to locate birds we’ve discussed in lecture. I found one, but I think it was only by sheer luck. Do you think you can help? I could probably get it done quicker.”

  It seemed like I only blinked when in two quick strides he was close to me. My heart leaped as I stared at the chest in front of me. I gazed up to his eyes, and he grabbed my hand. “You must go into the trees.”

  The trees?!

  Without another word, my feet moved with his, my hand grateful for the return of that tingle. He led me to a nearby tree and stopped at the roots.

  “Do you mind?” He held his hands out in front of him.

  Not knowing what he wanted to do with his hands, but not really caring as long as they somehow made it onto any part of my body, I nodded.

  He picked me up by my waist in such a quick motion that I was barely aware of my body being lifted to the branch above. He sat me down. After I straddled the limb and was secure, he grabbed the same branch. Hopping up, he whipped his leg around the limb, then straddled it.

  Goodnight, that was hot. I really needed to go to some Parkour tournaments.

  He scooted in close to me from behind. I shifted my focus forward, so he wouldn’t see the rapid rise and fall of my chest.

  “What about that one?” His cool voice whispered in my ear.

  I attempted to concentrate on something else, the environment—my assignment—but saw just as many birds in front of me as I did on the ground … minus one, which meant zero. Not that I could notice anything with how close he was.

  “Which one?” I asked, breathy.

  His hand slid to my left upper arm, lifting it into the air.

  Ohhh … more touching.

  He straightened out my arm and steadied it in front of me. He slid his hand delicately along my skin until he reached my elbow, and continued to be precise as he worked his way toward my hand. When the alignment was accurate enough for him, he formed my fingers into a point to match his.

  For the life of me, I couldn’t remember what we were doing just a minute ago.

  “Do you see it?” His warm breath teased my ear.

  I shivered from the sensation, lulling from the euphoria it induced.

  I quickly sat upright. I had to snap back into reality, or he was going to think I was completely crazy. How long had we been in this position? At least a full minute? I had to focus.

  Bird. Bird. Luca’s hand is on me. Bird. Bird. Oh wait. There was a bird out there. The creature was small and the color of my hair. Its wings displayed deep red tones at the top near its shoulders, and the red faded into a soft cream color.

  The bird didn’t look like anything particularly newsworthy. The animal was actually kind of hideous.

  “The crow?” I asked, and to my disappointment, he released my arm. The sensation still remained, though. The tingles reminded me that my body was wide-awake and doing its job—torturing me.

  He laughed gently.

  I shifted around to see him. Hearing his amusement, I hoped he thought my lack of knowledge was cute. Honestly, he could laugh at me as much as he wanted, as long as he didn’t stop with that awesome laugh of his.

  “It is not a crow,” he said.

  I still didn’t understand the significance. I watched him point in the distance.

  “Do you see the one next to it? The brown one?”

  I fought his entrancing words and looked for brown feathers. I spotted it and frowned—yet another ugly bird. I shrugged. “You lost me.”

  He brought his gaze back to me from the bird couple. “They are the same.”

  I shrugged again. With their newly developed fatigue, my shoulders took the brunt of my ignorance. Maybe I should stay awake in class more.

  “They are the same, but they look dissimilar. Agelaius Phoeniceus.”

  I gave another shoulder raise, but this time, I rounded it off with a confused arched eyebrow.

  “I suppose they are more commonly known as the Red-winged Blackbird. One is male, and the other is female. They both have different physical features, but they are mated.”

  “Of course,” I said like I knew what he was talking about. “Still looks like a crow to me.”

  When he flashed that rockin’ smile of his again, I couldn’t help but think that me being cute was what might be crossing his mind. Then again, maybe he thought I was a dumbass. Either way, he smiled, which was good enough for me.

  Beeping from my watch brought me back down from cloud nine. I frowned, realizing I had a previous engagement. It had gotten late, and I was cutting in
to serious painting time.

  Seeing my actions, he checked his watch, too. I guessed he had some place to be, as well.

  Against everything in me, I forced myself to prepare to leave.

  “Well, ‘I am Luca,’ I guess I’ll see you around.” I couldn’t help but smile bashfully. I think I really did want to see him around again.

  He watched me, giving one last gorgeous smile. “Yes, of course.”

  I brought my leg over the branch, then shimmied to leap down, but stopped when he moved. He leaped to the ground with just as much finesse as before, then held out his hands with an approving look.

  My cheeks warmed and I nodded. He stepped forward and I leaned out toward him. His hands held firmly, but gently, to my waist again. He set me slowly toward the ground, our eyes focused on the other the entire time.

  That stirring feeling took over my stomach again, and I quickly shifted my gaze from his. I gathered my belongings, then whipped my bag over my shoulder.

  I gave him a nod, which he returned, and made my way down the leaf-coated path toward my car. I didn’t turn around again, but I could still feel them. The power of those eyes held to me every step I made until I walked out of sight.

  Chapter Six

  “So let me get this straight. He jumped into a hole.” Piper sat with her elbow propped on the table, palm to her chin.

  I ran my finger along the brim of my teacup and nodded.

  “And saved a deer for you?”

  Her version was a bit simplified with the way Luca performed his dashing rescue, but she got the gist of the event. I nodded again.

  She dropped her hand from her chin, staring spacey-eyed into the air. “That’s so fucking cute.”

  I laughed, covering my hand over my mouth.

  Her eyes focused on mine. “No, seriously, A. That’s fucking hot.”

  She was definitely right about that, but I shrugged it off like the act was no big deal. “Yeah, I guess it was. But it was still kind of creepy. I mean, I assumed he was running, but no one ever goes to that park. Especially not at five in the morning on a weekend,” I said, hearing the background noise of our usual coffee hot spot. I swear, we spent more of our lives here than at home. Damn those delightful breakfast pastries.

  “You were there, though. And maybe he just wanted someplace quiet to run.” She sat upright and pulled her chair over to mine with a screech. She leaned into me. “What did he smell like?” The hunger in her voice was like a rabid animal waiting to stick its sharp teeth into a large piece of meat.

  I pulled back, rolling my eyes. I refused to answer such a nosy question. Didn’t she ever have anything else on the brain? She acted like such a guy sometimes with that libido of hers driving her speech. He really did smell good though: cool … clear … like a fresh spring rain …. Oh jeez, I needed to stop with this.

  “What?” she questioned, looking insulted by my lack of vocal activity. “I need deets, girl!”

  I continued my story with Piper hanging on my every word. When I finished, she let out a sigh and sat back in her chair. She looked satisfied, like she just finished a Thanksgiving feast. Then her content expression melted into a frown. “I swear, it’s wasted on you.”

  I punched her on her arm, leaving a much-deserved red mark on her skin.

  “Hey, what was that for?” She rubbed at the blotch.

  “What’s that supposed to mean, Piper? I’m not even interested in the guy, or have you forgotten what an ass he’s been to me?” Now, I was lying to myself. I really didn’t want to be into him, though. There was something really strange about a person who treated a girl like a social leper one minute, then jumped at the chance to help said girl with her Zoology assignment the next. I know he said he was awkward when meeting new people. For that, I forgave his rude behavior, but still. It just seemed so peculiar.

  “Well, it didn’t sound like you weren’t interested from the way you described ‘his sensual touch on your fair skin,’” she joked.

  It took all I had in me not to take another swing at her. “I so did not describe it like that. You’re being overdramatic.” I shook my head at her and sat back with my cup. Taking a sip of my tea, I gazed at the clock on the wall behind the barista station. “Shit!”

  “What’s up?” asked Piper.

  I bent down and swung my messenger bag over my shoulder. The bag knocked my teacup across the table. The tips of my fingers briefly touched the handle before the cup tipped over. “Dammit!”

  “Hey, what’s the rush?” Piper dabbed at my mess with a bunch of napkins.

  “I completely forgot about my deadline. I need to get back home.”

  Piper chuckled. “Aka Ariel secludes herself like a painting fiend and ignores her friends.” She threw the damp napkins in a pile on the table. “A, you’re absolutely obsessed. You need to relax. Instead of you painting, I could call a couple of guys over for some lunch. We could have a good time.” She wiggled her eyebrows, nudging my arm with her elbow.

  I scoffed. “I don’t have time for that, Piper.”

  “Fine, but you better be at the quad later today for our Frisbee golf game. I’m not making up another excuse to the others to cover your flaking.”

  Shit. I forgot about that. I wanted to ditch, but she was right. I had been flaking a lot. “I’ll be there.” I turned to leave.

  She grabbed my forearm, stalling me. “Wait a sec …. What’s going on over there?”

  I followed her gaze to the feature wall in the back of the coffee house. There was a crowd of students gathered around the paintings and sculptures.

  I shrugged and Piper led us over to the wall of spectators. As we made our way through the crowd, I was surprised by how easy our journey was to get to the wall. I looked up to see the object of their attention; my work stared back at me.

  “You didn’t tell me Demitasse featured one of your paintings, A,” said Piper with a hurt look on her face.

  “I didn’t ….” I couldn’t even wrap my head around this. How did my painting get here? The work was definitely mine all right, but there was something different about it. I couldn’t put my finger on it, but the paints actually looked like they jumped off the canvas.

  Wow. I needed to go into a deep, dark depression more often.

  A gentleman in a sandy-brown blazer and frameless spectacles approached me with a gleeful look on his face. “Are you the artist?”

  I guessed I was the artist. The work had my name on it. And I vaguely remembered painting it a couple of days ago when I was up into the wee hours of the night. But after I took it to class the next day, I never gave it another thought. “Y-Yes,” I finally said.

  His face brightened even more. “I had to come see this magnificent work for myself. Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Henry Shufflebeam.” He shook my hand.

  Judging by the Rolex on his wrist, this guy was probably some kind of bigwig. I wondered what he wanted with me.

  “My gallery is hosting a gala featuring young, talented artists like yourself. We’d like to feature your entire collection.”

  My eyes widened. Feature my collection? It took everything in me not to kiss him on his graying, bearded cheek. Okay, I had to be calm, collected. I didn’t want to blow my chance by acting unprofessional. I straightened my stance. “Where do I sign up?”

  I caught a glimpse of Lila Nix over the shoulder of Henry Shufflebeam. Her jaw clenched in my direction and she whipped around. She stormed out the door of Demitasse in her clacking shoes and out of sight.

  *

  “I still can’t believe Lika Dicks’ face at Demitasse.” Piper laughed, stretching her legs out into the sun.

  My laughter joined hers. “I know! She looked so pissed, I thought her hair extensions were going to turn white.”

  “I still can’t believe you didn’t tell me about it, though.” She scrunched her nose, the bright sunlight glistening off her diamond stud nose piercing.

  I groaned, leaning up from the grass. “How many
times do I have to tell you that I didn’t tell you because I didn’t know?” I swatted at a mosquito on my arm and dropped my pencil. Saying I had sweet blood was an understatement.

  Piper pulled down her white, bug-eyed sunglasses, displaying a skeptical gaze.

  God, what was it going to take to convince her? I didn’t know who submitted my work, but I was going to find out who did. True, what happened was an awesome turn of luck, but it was very peculiar, as well. I searched the sky, as if the answers would present themselves in the clouds. But, no, all I saw was millions of mosquitos.

  “Hey, ladies.” Blaine dropped his red book bag by our feet. He unzipped his black and teal plaid hoodie, revealing a black t-shirt with a chicken riding a motorcycle on the front of it.

  Ah, yes. I’m sure Piper is thrilled right now.

  He sat between us and draped his arms around our shoulders. “Ya’ll ready for a rousing game of golf?”

  His reference, of course, was to Frisbee disc golf not regular golf. The game was a lot like regular golf, except the object was to send a Frisbee into a basket on a pole, rather than sinking a ball in a hole.

  Blaine removed his arm from my shoulder and reached into his pocket. “Piper, I found this on the way up. I, uh, thought of you when I saw it.” He presented her with a pink cherry blossom. They were very common on the trees of the quad.

  Piper wiggled her shoulder from his grasp. “Blaine, I told you about keeping your body parts away from me, and I mean all of them.” She ignored the gift and gave him a look of sheer annoyance. “Anyway, the others aren’t even here yet.” She stood up and gazed across the quad, pretending to look for the others.

  A look of disappointment appeared on Blaine’s face. He tossed the pretty bloom into the shade.

  I gave him a sympathetic smile. His technique was a bit off, but he was trying. Piper just wasn’t a wooing type of girl.

  After seeing my look, he sighed and lay back on the grass. His gaze automatically found Piper after a few seconds.