“I see. Is there a history of psychological problems in your family?” Charlie’s tone softened with his acceptance of a possible medical explanation for Keane’s fantastical story.
They think I’m crazy.
He supposed that was better than having them think he was a liar.
“Dad,” Holly started, “Keane’s not cr—”
“It’s okay, Holly.” He held up a hand to stop her. “Maybe they’re right.”
She chewed on her bottom lip for a moment, and he wanted to step through her parents to get to her. She nodded once, and he assumed she’d come to the same conclusion he had. Her parents could think he’d lost his marbles if it got Charlie to stop being so upset.
Charlie turned around to face Holly. “Tell me he’s never hurt you. He’s not dangerous, is he?”
Holly looked past her father at Keane. Her green-gold eyes were so warm as she held his gaze. And his heart.
“Keane has never hurt me, Dad. I mean, look at him. I’d think a dangerous guy wouldn’t bleed so easy.”
Amusement sparked in her eyes, and the tension level in her parents plummeted. One dig at Keane, and the tone in the kitchen had changed. Gods, Holly was pure magick.
“That’s true,” Charlie said. “Still think the kid needs to go to the hospital.”
“I’m fine, sir,” Keane said.
“See, we’re all fine.” Holly slipped an arm around each of her parents and herded them toward the living room. “Why don’t you and Mother go for breakfast at that little place you like on the way back to the beach house? Then you can spend the rest of the day lazing on the beach, catching up on the sleep you lost tonight helping us out.”
“What about you, Holly Berry?” Mona grabbed Holly’s hand. “You haven’t slept either.”
“I’m going to call in and get a substitute for today. Don’t worry.” Holly patted her mother’s hand before releasing it.
Holly masterfully got her parents on their way. They were even laughing by the time they got out to the front steps. When she returned inside, however, she slumped against the door and silent tears rolled down her cheeks. In a four long strides, Keane was beside her.
“I’m sorry, Holly.” He gathered her in his arms and escorted her to the couch. “I never wanted you to have to tell them about me.”
“I’ve
only
wanted to tell them about you,” she said between sobs.
“Why?” Keane backed away so he could see her face.
“Because I love you, you idiot.” Holly pushed at his chest, but he caught her hand before she could remove it.
“You what?” He wanted her to say it again, so he could be sure he’d heard her correctly.
“I love you.” She slid her hand up to his cheek. “When I saw you on the lawn last night, saw your blood, I thought…” She shook her head as her finger traced the edge of his ear. “Listen, I know you want me to do something important so you can be on your way, but when you go, I’m not going to like it.”
“I don’t want to go, Holly. I want to stay right here with you.” He plunged his fingers into the softness of her hair and wanted to say he loved her too. He wanted those words to come out of his mouth, because it was what he felt. Felt it so deep in his soul, assuming his soul still existed.
“I can’t have what I want though,” is what came out instead.
Holly closed her eyes, more tears streaming down her soft cheeks. He leaned in to kiss her, but she pulled away and stood.
“None of us can have what we want, I guess.” She gave him a sad smile. “I’m going to call in to work, then get some sleep.”
She didn’t wait for him to respond. Instead, she disappeared into her bedroom. Alone on the couch, Keane struggled to swallow around the lump in his throat. The pain in his shoulder and on his face were nothing compared to the ache in his heart.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Holly slept almost all the way to Wednesday morning. She got up twice to use the bathroom and eat something small. Not that she had much of an appetite. She’d been awakened a third time by a phone call from Officer McDonahue saying Hendrick had not been caught. Just wonderful. It was as if the nightmares she’d been having had turned real.
She had checked on Keane, too, who had been sprawled out on the couch instead of in his bedroom. He’d appeared to be sleeping both times, which she knew he wasn’t. He didn’t sleep. He also didn’t get the crap beat out of him, but his face suggested otherwise.
She’d stood over him the second time for at least five minutes. He hadn’t moved, hadn’t given any indication that he knew she was there. He truly looked asleep. Had getting beat up caused his body to need sleep? What was happening to him?
And why, dammit, did you say you loved him?
Looking at the alarm clock by her bed now, she grumbled over it being time to get up for work. Two days out would never do. Always hard to get back on track after missing a day.
She silently got ready and choked down a quick breakfast. She stopped by the couch again before leaving, but Keane still appeared to be in a coma-level sleep. That thought made her reach down and touch his cheek. His eyes instantly opened.
“Hey,” he said.
“Morning.” She jammed her hand into the pocket of her jacket to keep it from lingering on his skin a little longer. “You looked like you were sleeping.”
“I think…” He sat up. “I think I was.” His brows knitted together as he looked up at her.
“Do you feel better?” He certainly looked better. The bruising had faded around his nose, his eye had cleared up, and the slices on his lip and his cheek were significantly mended only after a day’s time. Further proof he wasn’t a human. She couldn’t love him.
“Yeah, I do feel better. Nothing hurts.”
That makes one of us
. “Good. I have to go to work. Got Open House tonight. Won’t be home until 7:30.”
At this information, Keane stood. “Did the police get Hendrick?”
“No,” she said. “I talked to Officer McDonahue yesterday. He managed to slip out of their grasp.”
“He’s full of surprises.” Keane kneeled on the couch and rested his elbows on the back of it so he was just below eye-level with Holly. A few inches and she could press her lips to his forehead. Why did she want to do that so badly?
“What time is Open House over?” he said. “I’ll come meet you. I don’t want you alone after dark.”
“I won’t be alone,” she said. “Officer McDonahue said he’d post guards at the school for the night. Assured me he’d be there personally.”
“And he and his team are doing such fabulous work catching Hendrick.” Keane gripped the back of the couch, his knuckles turning whiter than they usually were and that jaw muscle was in the locked position.
“You didn’t fare much better against him, Keane.” She hadn’t meant it as a dig, but it sounded like one. “Hendrick is full of surprises like you said.”
“Why isn’t the school cancelling Open House in light of recent events?” he asked.
“The school department wanted to send a positive message to families that the community is still what it used to be. That their children are safe with us and in the neighborhood. If we cancel, Hendrick wins.”
Keane nodded. “Makes sense, I guess.” He let out a slow breath and looked up at her. “Look, about what you said last night. About loving me. Although I want it too, I don’t know how we could make a relationship between us work, Holly.”
She quickly held up a hand. “Nonsense, right? I know. Stupid. I got swept up in all the emotion of you getting hurt and my parents and everything. My apologies. As soon as I do something important, you’ll be off to kill demons and keep someone else alive. We can’t be together. Shouldn’t be together. I get it.”
The words came out in a rapid-fire stream. Always happened to her when she was telling enormous lies. She wanted them to be together. She did love him. So much. Too much and the thought of him leaving her had her wanting to hide in the house so she’d never do something important. Keane would never be released from her if she didn’t achieve something.
Why don’t you chain him up in the basement, psycho lady?
She shook her head.
“I’ve got to go or I’m going to be late.” She gave his hand a quick pat and bolted out the door. She nearly tripped down the front porch steps on her way to the car. As she sat behind the steering wheel, she collected the last scraps of her sane self. She started the car and turned the radio up to an obscene volume hoping it would do more than wake her up. She hoped the music would return a fraction of the normal life she had once been living.
After ten minutes of driving and three alternative rock bands assaulted Holly’s eardrums, Apple Hill Elementary School came into view. The rustic school looked wrong with police cars parked in the semi-circular driveway in front of it. Officers patrolled the perimeter, and she tried to shake off the chill invading her body as she pulled into the rear parking lot.
Officer McDonahue met her at the back door. “Hello, Holly,” he said as he held open the door.
“Morning, Jensen.” She took a good look at him. He, like Luke, was an attractive, well-mannered gentleman. Why couldn’t she pick one of them to love? One of the normal humans? It’d be so simple. She wouldn’t ever find herself trying to explain the abra cadaver to her parents if she could choose a regular man.
But she didn’t want a regular man. Keane had put a curse on her, dammit. That’s what he’d done. He’d made it impossible for her to want anyone else. He was a demon hunter, yet something honest, warm, and tender lurked inside him. Something protective. Something that called to her.
“Are you okay?” McDonahue walked beside her down the hallway to the school’s main office.
“Huh? Oh, yeah. Fine.” She cleared her throat. “I’m fine. Just worried about Hendrick like everyone else.”
“How’s your friend?”
Holly froze in front of the office. “What?”
“Your friend. The one that was with you at the bar. The one who mysteriously disappeared while I was talking with you. The one who, according to one of my officers, refused medical attention after encountering Hendrick in an alley.” McDonahue slipped his hands into the pockets of his gray uniform pants and watched her face.
“He’s fine.” What more could she say?
“You’re not telling me something, Miss Brimmer.” He nodded to another officer headed into the office. “Is Mr. Malson your boyfriend?”
“I don’t know what Mr. Malson is, Officer McDonahue.”
“Well, when you figure it out, let me know.” He turned on his heel and strode out the front doors of the school where she could see him checking in with the other officers.
“Batting a thousand today, Brimmer.” She exhaled a long breath.
At lunchtime, Leora grabbed Holly and pulled her into the faculty bathroom near the teacher’s room.
“What is going on?” Leora said.
“I’m not sure anymore.” She shrugged.
“McDonahue asked me a million questions about your boyfriend this morning. What boyfriend?”
Good grief.
“There’s no boyfriend, Leora. How did things go with Keith?” Changing the subject was a good plan.
“Forget Keith. Keith sucks.” Leora dismissed the topic with a wave of her hand. “Who’s this guy McDonahue is so concerned about? This Malson character?”
“No one, Leora. He’s no one. Or I’m no one to him. I don’t know.” Holly opened the bathroom door and went to the teacher’s room. She grabbed her lunch and headed back up to her room. It was a complete mess after having a substitute in there.
According her students, the sub had been “the coolest person alive,” which told Holly that the sub had been younger than her and new. Students always loved the new ones. They were like shiny toys, all sparkly fresh from the package and naïve as hell. Holly had spent the better part of the first three periods puzzling through which of her plans the sub had actually chosen to follow. She wanted to get back on track for the last three periods and tidy up for Open House. She also wanted to call her house and make sure Keane was okay.
Stupid. You’re not going to do that. Of course he’s okay.
The rest of the afternoon passed in slow motion, but finally dismissal time came. Holly spent the next hour organizing her room to accept parental visits. She put out student work samples and some math games for families to try. She brought her first day PowerPoint presentation up on the computer and large TV screen in her room so it would run as parents and students streamed through the classroom. On a table by the homework board, Holly arranged packets of informational articles on ways parents could help students have a successful fifth grade year.
She stood by her desk and surveyed all that was her domain for one hundred eighty days a year. It looked as if she knew what she was doing. Not one indication in this classroom that her world was a complete disaster zone.
After a quick bite at a nearby sandwich shop, she opted to go back to school instead of stopping home before Open House. She hadn’t worked out what she’d say to Keane yet, but something had to be said. She couldn’t let that “I love you” just keep hanging out there between them. She had to take it back and lock it away for good.
Open House took her mind off Keane—some of it anyway—as she greeted and chatted with parents, current students, and former ones. She always liked when students came back to visit her. They were living, breathing examples that what she did in her classroom year after year meant something to someone. Apparently it didn’t mean something big enough to change the world, to set Keane free of her, but she liked to think she was making some small difference in these kids’ lives.
After she’d walked the last parents to her door and gave a “see you tomorrow” to their son, Holly buzzed around the classroom putting away the materials she’d displayed. As she was inside the storage closet at the back of her room, the squeak of a student chair echoed in the quiet.
“Hello?” She hoped this parent would be quick. Open House officially ended five minutes ago, but there were always parents who lingered. “I’ll be right out.”
After sliding the tub of math materials onto a shelf, she flicked off the closet light. Before she could exit the closet, hands came around her neck, and her scream was choked before it sounded. She was dragged out of the closet as her mind tried to remember even one of the moves Keane had shown her. Not at any of the right angles to execute a proper evasive maneuver, she gave in to an old standby—claw like a wildcat. She dug her nails into the hands pressing on her throat.