“There you are. I was worried you were going to be late.”
“When am I ever late?” Kassie glanced at the clock and exhaled as she tied on her apron. Truth be told, she’d been cutting it close this morning, and even she was surprised that she’d managed to make it on time. With so much to think about, she’d been more distracted than usual these past few days.
“Well, it’s a good thing you got here. I need help already. As you can see, the place is packed.” Wasting no time, Hillary gestured toward the dining room, which was bustling with customers waiting to be helped.
“Got it.” Picking up a pad and paper, she made her way out to her usual section and the first table of waiting customers.
Soon, she was deep in the mix, and she didn’t have the time or the energy to worry about anything other than doing her job. There were orders to take and people to serve and messes to clean up. A little before noon, she had a break and took that time to call home to check in on Taylor, like she usually did, before eating a quick lunch. Then it was back to work.
Somehow, though, Cole crept into her thoughts in the brief interludes when the busy pace in the diner slowed down. Kassie wondered what he was doing, if he was really doing okay in those moments when he was alone. He seemed to be better now than when she had first seen him, but could he really have improved so much in such a short time?
At first, he had really seemed broken by what he had been through, so much so that she had wondered if it was possible for a man like him to be fixed. Now, the person that she had first met on that night so long ago was shining through, but perhaps it was all an act, a façade so that she wouldn’t worry about him. He certainly seemed the type who wouldn’t want others to worry when he was hurting.
“Something on your mind?”
“Hm?” Kassie glanced up at Hillary, realizing that she was standing at the counter wiping over the same spot over and over again. “Oh. Nothing.”
“Nothing. Yeah, right. You had this faraway look in your eyes just now.”
“It’s just… a friend I’m worried about. That’s all.”
“Oh?” Hillary looked like she was about to say something else, but then a customer on her side of the room began waving to get her attention, and she was forced to rush off.
Kassie sighed. She was bound to get more questions about that later. Not long ago, she had sworn she wasn’t going to get involved with Cole, and now it seemed that he was getting more and more entangled into her life. And somehow, she didn’t seem to mind as much as she thought she would.
The rest of the day wore on and finally drew to a close. Then, exhausted, she made her final phone call home to let Mrs. Jensen know that she would be there in just a little while. Finally, on weary legs, she made her way out to the car with her keys in her hand.
It was late in the day, but the sun was still out. Kassie would never have felt threatened leaving at this hour, especially with so many people around. The diner wasn’t even closed, and customers were still seated inside. But still, a strange sensation crawled down her back as she stood at the driver’s side door of her car, and she heard footsteps making her way toward her.
“Why, hello there. You work in this little diner here, don’t you?”
She turned slowly. An older man stood there, a friendly smile on his face, but there was something in that smile that made her blood run cold.
“Ah… yes. Is there something I can help you with?” she asked. “I just finished my shift, so maybe you’d be better off asking one of the waitresses still on the clock…?”
“Actually, I think you’re just the girl I want to talk to.” His smile grew wider, exposing a row of white, too-sharp teeth. “You see, there’s a young man I know, and I’m trying to help him. He’s a bit… confused… about what it is that he wants. And I think that you’re the problem, young lady.”
Kassie tightened her grip on her keys, stepping backward into her car and feeling it press against her. Immediately she began running through every option there was for escape, trying to calm herself. I need to think clearly, she told herself. She couldn’t let her fear get to her. She had to remember that here, in public, he couldn’t do anything more than intimidate her.
“Wh-what do you want?” she managed to choke out.
“I just wanted to get a good look at you,” he said, running his eyes up and down her and then making a disgusted noise, as if displeased with what he saw. “Of course, you’re only human, aren’t you? I’m not sure what I expected.”
“Well, you’ve seen me,” said Kassie. “So why don’t you just leave?”
“Hmph. What’s the harm in having a little talk now that we’re face to face? You don’t seem too surprised, so I assume Cole has told you about us. That’s a problem. I don’t like outsiders knowing about us. It’s dangerous.”
“And what do you think is going to happen?” Kassie let out a weak laugh. “Do you think I’m going to tell people what I know? Who would believe me?”
“You’d be surprised.” The man’s smile was gone now, and his eyes had a sharp and menacing look to them. The look he was giving Kassie cut deep, but more than anything, she was overwhelmed by the desire to tell him that she wouldn’t do anything to hurt Cole or to hurt Taylor. After all, she was a shifter, too.
However, the words caught in her throat. She knew that saying anything now would be fruitless, because this man had made up his mind about who she was—what she was. Right now, she was standing there in the face of overwhelming hatred. She could feel it radiating off him.
What could bring a man to feel this way, just because someone was different from him? It was bad enough that this was directed toward her, but just the thought that her daughter was involved in this… She could feel her skin crawling, goosebumps cropping up along her flesh as she stood there facing down this monster.
“Just leave us alone. There’s nothing we can do to hurt you,” she said.
“But your very involvement with our kind has already tainted us. Don’t you see?” He sighed, as if what he was saying so obvious he didn’t know how she didn’t understand. “It’s only for Cole’s sake that I’m meeting you here, like this, first. You care about him do you not?”
“I… I barely know him,” she said.
“You are connected to him. You have a child with him. The amount of time you’ve spent together is irrelevant.” He shook his head. “It’s a pity that there’s a child involved too. I would rather it wasn’t this way, but my hands are tied where she’s concerned. We can’t have our human blood mixing with shifter blood. That isn’t our way.”
“You—”
“But we won’t get into that now. I’ll take my leave. Just know that you’ll be seeing us again. Very soon.” And with that he smiled again, a dark smile that left no uncertainty that she would be seeing him again, and walked away. She waited there by her car until he was well out of sight down the street with no indication of where exactly he had gone. She tried to watch, but it was almost like he completely vanished into mist somehow. Perhaps it was simply that she was so caught up in her own state of panic that she was assigning him even more supernatural qualities than he already had.
At any rate, as soon as she felt comfortable doing so, she jerked the car door open and got inside, slamming it closed and locking it. Then she pulled away and raced home. To her complete and utter relief, Mrs. Jensen was waiting right there by the door when she got inside.
“Is everything all right, Kassie? You’re late. You said you would be right—”
“Where’s Taylor? Did anyone come by?”
“What? What do you mean? No…”
Kassie went straight through the apartment until she found her daughter in her room, resting on top of a blanket, and watching cartoons on a small television set, completely unaware of the traumatic event that she had just been through. It was only then that everything came out of her and she began to break down.
“Shit.” She went back to the kitchen and hunched
over the countertop, clutching it as tightly as she could so as not to fall over. She forced herself to take several deep breaths, feeling like she was about to pass out. Had everything that she had been through really happened? It felt like some sort of waking nightmare.
The thing that struck her more than anything, though, was that everything that Cole had told her was absolutely, unequivocally true. Until that moment, there had been a little seed of lingering doubt. He had mentioned men who were after her and Taylor, men who wanted to hurt them, but still, somehow, she had wanted to believe that it was all some sort of fiction that he had concocted. Now, though, she had no option but to believe it.
And she needed to talk to him, right away. She needed to tell him what had happened so they could both be prepared, so they could both protect Taylor. Nothing else mattered, as far as she was concerned. Hell, they could have her—they could do whatever they wanted with her—so long as they didn’t touch her daughter.
“Are you all right?”
Kassie started. She had almost forgotten that Mrs. Jensen was still there.
“Oh. I… I just had something happen. I’m a little…”
“What’s wrong?” The woman immediately put her hand on her shoulder and guided her over toward the table, helping her down toward a chair. “Let me get you something to drink and we can talk.”
“I’m afraid I can’t really talk about this.” Kassie shuddered. That was the worst part about this wasn’t it? She was facing something this terrible, and she was facing it utterly alone. Not that she was unused to being alone in the face of struggles and trials and tribulations. It had been that way ever since Taylor was born.
Although… that wasn’t entirely true, was it? She had Cole. They were in this together. That was yet another reason to find him and tell him what had just happened.
“If you don’t mind, I think I just need to be alone for a bit,” she said, before the woman started to make too much of a fuss over her.
“Ah. Well, if you’re sure,” said Mrs. Jensen, before she moved to start gathering up her things. “If you do need something though, you know how to reach me.”
Kassie had never faced down enemies, or supernatural threats. But she had been a mother for years now. As she sat there, listening to her daughter in the other room, she came to a decision. Regardless of what it took, she would make sure that nothing happened to Taylor.
Getting up, she dialed the number to Cole’s hotel room. He answered almost immediately, as if he had been waiting on the other end of the line for someone—for her—to call.
“H-hey,” she said, cursing herself for stammering.
“What is it?” he said sharply.
“Is it that obvious?” She sighed. “They found me. Those men that you were talking about. Or, one of them did. He met me in the parking lot of the diner after work today. Gave me some warning.”
“What? Did he—”
“We were in public. He didn’t do anything—couldn’t have done anything. But I think that was the point. He wants to make me—us—scared. What is all this? What—”
“I know,” he said. “I never… I mean.” She heard a sound on the other end of the line, like he had hit something. “All this time, I wondered what type of people other shifters were like. I wanted so much to meet them, to find somewhere I belonged. And this is what I find.”
Kassie felt her heart squeeze in her chest. She wished that Cole were there with her so that she could reach out to him, tell him that he wasn’t alone now. Though she didn’t know how much comfort that would be, how much she could offer him just yet.
“You shouldn’t be alone there,” he said finally after a long moment of silence had passed between them. “Not after what happened. Is it… I mean…” His words seemed to fail him.
With a sigh, Kassie felt herself relenting. If he hadn’t offered already, she would have asked.
“I only have a sofa to offer you, but it’s comfortable.”
“Okay.”
“Do you need me to come…”
“I have a little cash left. I’ll get a cab.”
And with that, they said hasty goodbyes. True to his word, minutes later he was on her doorstep, looking for all of the world as if he were just as terrified by what had happened as she was.
“I’m so sorry,” he said immediately, a haggard look on his face. “Just… You shouldn’t have to deal with this because of me. If I had never come back…”
“Don’t put this on yourself. And just get in here.” Stepping back from the door, she let him inside. He came in, immediately noting the sound of Taylor in the other room, a small smile drifting over his face even if he still looked like he was ready to go out and find the old shifter right then and there.
It only took a minute or two for Taylor to notice that he had arrived though. She toddled into the living room and spotted him, squealing in delight and immediately demanding to be pulled up into his arms. He looked a little confused by the girl’s display of affection but acquiesced to her childish demands and picked her up as he sat down on the sofa, while Kassie looked on.
If things kept going at this rate…
Suddenly, a thought struck her. There was no reason things didn’t have to continue like this. Somehow, in the last few weeks as things had progressed, all her worries and doubts about Cole being a part of her daughter’s life had melted away without her even noticing.
It wasn’t just that she was okay with the idea of Cole being a part of Taylor’s life. She had begun to accept it. A part of her wanted that now. It felt like a small betrayal after everything that she had done, all the promises that she had made to herself from the very beginning that she could go it alone. But that was before.
Now, he was here. He was more than an idea. He was a flesh and blood man, and she could already see that Taylor adored him. The thought of the two of them actually being able to build a relationship… Well, she had never even imagined it could be possible, but here the possibility was presenting itself to her, to all of them, and all someone had to do was take the first step toward making that a reality.
And she had to be the one to do it. She was ready to take that step. Cole had shown again and again that he cared, that he would be there for them when they needed him. He was a good person. She could already see that, and she couldn’t have asked for a better man to be the father of her child. Smiling as she watched him sitting there with Taylor on his lap, she thought of the possibilities that the future might bring.
It was the one bright spot in what had been a horrible day. A terrifying day, in fact. He was that bright spot. Looking at him, it was impossible not to feel a little bit safer, even with what had happened earlier. He inspired a confidence in her that she couldn’t quite understand just yet. It was a strange feeling, when she’d had so little reason to trust anybody in the past few years—anybody but herself.
And just a little while ago she had thought him a broken man, possibly beyond saving. Now, though… Now there was something different about him. She could sense that he was changing, little by little.
Perhaps it was because he had a purpose. Either way, right at this moment she was beyond tired. She didn’t want to think any more. If she kept running things over in her head, she was going to crash—crash hard. It was best to put all these thoughts aside until morning.
“How about I order us some dinner?” she announced. She definitely wasn’t in the mood to cook tonight. And with that, she prepared to settle in for the evening, now with Cole a resident of the household for the time being, something that did make her feel safer, even if it filled her with strange new thoughts.
Chapter 12
When she woke up the next morning, Kassie was almost able to convince herself that everything that had happened the day before had been a dream, but she could already hear movement in the next room. Even though she had miraculously been able to sleep, it seemed that Cole was restless. Getting up, she slipped on her robe and made her way to the living roo
m to find him sitting up on the sofa.
He wasn’t alone. Taylor had already made her way out from her bedroom and was sitting with him, a stuffed bear in her lap.
“Good morning.”
He looked up at her from where he sat and nodded. “Hey. Glad to see you were able to get some rest after everything.”
“I’m just as surprised as you are.” She sighed. “And it looks like you’ve got company.”
“She just made her way out a few minutes ago. I hope it doesn’t bother you.”
“Why would it?” said Kassie. “You’re just being friendly to Cole, right Taylor?”
The little girl smiled cheerfully, oblivious to why the two grownups were so tense. It was a small miracle that she didn’t have anything to worry about and that she hadn’t picked up on the fact that they were so anxious about everything that was happening. Of course, if things kept going the way that they were going, they might not have that luxury. The girl was a perceptive child, and she was bound to figure out that something was wrong before long. Especially if Kassie couldn’t pull herself together.
“I don’t have work today, so we can talk about… this.” She shook her head. “These men. Everything that’s happening.”
“Right,” said Cole, glancing again at Taylor. He too seemed very aware of the fact that he didn’t want to pull the little girl into this mess, even though it was inevitable that she would be. She already was a part of it by virtue of being his flesh and blood. He was shaking his head now, looking extremely distressed. “If I hadn’t come back here…”
“Don’t think that way, Cole,” said Kassie firmly. The last thing she wanted right now was for him to start blaming himself for everything that was going on.
“I can’t help but think that way.”
“There would have been problems eventually. You already said it yourself. She has powers, like you do. They would have appeared sooner or later, and what then? Who knows what sort of trouble may have arisen from that. Having you here, it means… It means she won’t be alone.” And from the way Cole acted about his past, Kassie knew already what being alone with that sort of information, that sort of power, could do to a person.
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