Beautifully Unnatural: A Young Adult Paranormal Boxed Set (64 page)

I swallowed. “Going somewhere?”

His stared down at his hands. “To find you.”

My heart skipped a beat. “What for?”

He stood, but I could see him wincing in pain. “There’s something I need to tell you.”

My insides tore when I saw his face. Across his left cheek was a long gash and black stitches, his surrounding skin black and blue. That had to be from when Bishop hit him with the gun. I swallowed. “You don’t have to tell me again. I get it now.”

He took a step toward me.

The lump in my throat got bigger. “You were right. I distracted you from the case and this was the result.” I gestured around his hospital room. “You probably hate me and I deserve that. I was stupid and careless and—”

“I knew who you were before this case started,” he said.

My mouth hung open. “Um, what?”

“You’re okay, right?” He stepped toward me and brushed my bangs out of my eyes. “They told me you were fine. That they hadn’t hurt you.”

“No, they didn’t hurt me.” Not physically at least. My forehead, however, was still tingling from where Trip had touched it. “You were saying?”

“Oh, man. It’s harder to get out than I thought.” His green eyes filled with emotion as he took a breath. “I moved in with Sam in August and transferred to Sac Valley High before the school year started. I noticed you the first day of school, sitting in the cafeteria, listening to your friend ramble on about something.”

Would it sound lame to make him clarify what “noticed” meant? I was having trouble believing my ears.

“When I was washing Sam’s car that day at the station, I had my earphones in and didn’t hear you guys come up. That’s when I threw my sponge and drenched you.” He inhaled audibly. “I was so embarrassed that I didn’t say anything to you, let alone apologize. Some first impression, huh?”

An image of him with his shirt off popped into mind. “I’ve had worse.”

He looked like he wasn’t sure how to take that. “I broke into Sam’s computer that night to find out what you were doing with him. Not because of the case. Because of you.”

My cheeks flushed. “That’s when you found out I was a freak.”

“That’s when I found a reason to come up and talk to you at school.” He reached for my right hand and traced my palm. “And you’re not a freak. You’re special.”

My heart fluttered. “Last night you said you only cared about the case.”

“The truth?” His green eyes pierced mine. “After what I saw in the coffee shop, you were obviously mad at your boyfriend.” He released my hand. “I’m nobody’s rebound.”

My mouth dropped open. “You mean Joel? He was never my boyfriend. How could you think I’d use you for a rebound?”

“You’re not exactly an open book, Kylie.” He lifted my hand again. “It’s not like I can read
your
mind.”

It was quiet and I felt the unspoken question. He wanted to know what I was thinking. Okay, so I wasn’t that open. And maybe I could see how my kiss in the parking lot could’ve looked like a rebound. “I’m here, aren’t I?”

His forehead wrinkled.

Too vague. But how could I begin to explain what I was feeling? I looked up at his beautiful, battered face. “You’d be stupid to want to be with me.”

Well, he’d asked.

“There are scary people out there who want to kidnap me. They want me to read some guy’s mind. Some guy who killed a woman who was probably a relative of mine. There is another man in jail right now who wants to stab me to death. If I ever actually get some sleep, I’ll have nightmares for life. I can’t even do therapy to help because my fears are true. He wants me dead. I saw it.”

His green eyes stared into mine.

I took that as a sign that he wanted more. “I have an infinity birthmark that appears to run in the family and I have no idea what that means. Oh, and my mom had the power of telekinesis which means she was just as big a freak as I am. I’m also guessing it’s likely I’ll pass the freak genes on to my kids as well. Apparently when one family member dies, the next generation inherits whatever she could do.”

“Kylie—”

“Did I mention that I’m adopted? Yeah, just found that one out. My mom ran away with my dad when she was pregnant. They kept me a secret from her family and basically went into hiding. My real dad, Devin, pointed a gun at me several hours ago. To say my life is screwed up is putting it mildly. And we haven’t even talked about my mental telepathy. If I wanted into your private thoughts, all I’d have to do is hold your hand.”

The corner of his mouth turned up. “You don’t like secrets anyway.”

“That’s true. But you couldn’t keep any even if you wanted to.” I dropped my head in my hands. Some guys I couldn’t talk to, but with Trip I couldn’t seem to shut up. “You asked what I was thinking.”

“One more question.” He gently lifted my hands away until my face was exposed. “Do you want me to kiss you? Tell me what you’re thinking, honestly.”

My breath left my lungs and I felt dizzy. “I’m thinking . . . yes.”

He leaned toward me.

Just before our lips met, I straightened and stared into those gorgeous green eyes. “This won’t work.”

His brows came together. “Why’s that?”

I looked at his black stitches and gently touched his skin below them. “Those guys will come after me again. It’s not safe. You should stay away from me.”

“Try to make me.”

I stepped back and threw my arms out. “Do you want to get shot and killed? Is that what you want?”

He slipped his hands on either side of my face, his fingers brushing my jaw line, his green eyes serious. “Things happen in life that we can’t control. Life can end at any minute. I learned that from what happened to my mom. It doesn’t mean we stop trying to do the right thing.”

I shook my head. “I don’t want you in danger because of me.”

“There’s nothing you can do to stop me from working on that case. Neither can Sam. I may not be a cop yet, but I helped them get Miller and we’ll get the others.”

Unable to stay back a moment longer, my fingers splayed across his chest. “Don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

“Fair enough.”

At the same moment our lips met, my fingers closed around his and buzzing coursed up my arms. Colors exploded in my mind. First white, then pink, fading back and forth between the two. The warmth of his mouth on mine melted with the swirling colors in my head and I wrapped my arm around his neck.

As we kissed, I thought about Trip, and the person he was. He’d put my crush on Edmond Dantés to shame. He was something Edmond wasn’t. He was real.

And it didn’t hurt that he was okay with the whole mind reading thing.

****

6:45 a.m.

Dear Mom,

I’ve fallen for someone. He nearly died because of me. Guess I’m not what you’d call an ideal girlfriend. My life is way too out of control for that kind of relationship, but he’s stubborn. Way more than I am and that’s saying something.

Dad’s not my biological father but then I guess you already knew that. I don’t know when Devin will show up again, if I can keep up my 4.0 without using my new powers as a study guide, or if I should forgive my best friend.

I thought trust was black and white, truth or lie, but now I’m not sure. Tonight, Trip said I’m not an open book and I realized I have secrets of my own. Thoughts I don’t say, powers I won’t reveal and logically this means I keep secrets myself.

But, don’t we all have something we’re just not willing to share? Some part of ourselves too fragile and sacred to expose? Life’s hard. Much harder than I realized but I’m going to keep trying to do the right thing.

Part of me wanted to let Aunt Colleen be my mother. To let myself pretend you’re still here with me. Because super genes, secrets, and all the rest don’t change how I feel. I miss you, Mom. But, I can’t deny what’s true.

You’re gone, but your love is with me. I am, undeniably, the mind reader. What that means, I’m still trying to figure out.

Love you always,

Kylie

THE END

Acknowledgments

There’s a saying that writers should focus on the book of their heart. Well, I did, and this is it. So thanks, wonderful reader, for buying
Shaken
. I really hope you enjoy Kylie’s story.

As always, when creating an entire novel, there are people who helped me get from beginning to end. First, I’d like to thank Melissa Ramirez and Kathia Zolfaghari for sharing countless bagels and mochas while chatting about
The Mind Reader
. They loved Kylie’s story from the start and cheered me on as I wrote the first draft. A special thanks to Kathia for suggesting that Trip ‘touch it.’ Priceless suggestion. Seriously.

Big hugs to my writing buddies Virna DePaul, Veronica Blade, Eileen Rendahl, Rochelle French, Cyndi Faria, Marlo Berliner, and Danica Winters for encouragement and support in all my writing. And to Bev Rosenbaum who sparked the idea for Trip.

I’m forever grateful to the Romance Writers of America (
www.rwa.org
)—an incredible writing organization with fantastic craft workshops and such supportive writers. Big shout outs to the following chapters: YA RWA (say it like a pirate!), Montana RWA, and the Black Diamond RWA. You all rock.

Thanks to Christa Shedd for loaning me some cop lingo. Rachel Justice for keeping me company at the coffee shop while I wrote the first draft of
Shaken
and for Upland, Indiana (will make sense once you’ve read the book!). Karen Scofield who reads my books on her phone. Ellen Price who is the best sissy ever and who read this book a year before it was published. Ann Rego for constantly prodding me to
get that book done
. Love you, Mom!

Hugs and kisses to my awesome critique partner, Veronica Blade, for invaluable feedback, advice, and many laughs along the way. Massive appreciation to my fabulous critique partner, Virna DePaul, who is my rock through each and every writing crisis (yes, there are many) and through the celebrations as well.

Most of all I’d like to thank my husband, Mike Hatler, for endless enthusiasm and support with my writing. And for reading your first teen novel,
Shaken
—you’re the best! While this is the book of my heart, you are the journey of my heart. Always and forever.

Also by Susan Hatler:

See Me

Amy Love, a high school junior, plays a Ouija board with friends one night and unintentionally connects with someone whose, well, not visible to the naked eye. When her body’s taken over and her soul is stuck watching helplessly—she’s terrified. When the zombie guzzles bologna that she will have to work off at the gym—she’s angry. And, when her zombied bod pulls up a news article on her laptop about a boy named JJ Miller who was recently in a car crash—she’s . . . intrigued.

When the zombie chooses another host, Amy learns that the zombie is actually teen JJ Miller, the famous son of Maisy Meow comic creator Jonathan Jacob Miller Sr. JJ tells Amy he doesn’t know whether he’s dead or alive, only that when he’s not in a body, she is the only one who seems to know he exists.

Amy decides to help JJ discover what happened to him and, when they can’t find his body, they try to find a substitute—preferably one that isn’t occupied. On the journey, JJ leads Amy into all kinds of danger. To her surprise, he also leads her heart to somewhere unexpected. She’s always heard of love at first sight, not love at first fright, but how can Amy be falling for a boy she’s never even seen?

About the author
: