Authors: Asha King
Loading up on all of that seemed to take forever even if she was only in the thrift shop for ten minutes. From there she headed to the discount store for a pack of underwear, and then grocery store where she stocked up on more breakfast foods, soups, and finally energy drinks.
Weighed down with bags, she wasn’t looking forward to the walk home, but she kept her head down and started in that direction anyway. Hot sun beat down on her, warming her black hair which swung in a ponytail against her back.
A prickle of warning ran down her spine and she shifted uneasily. Much like the afternoon the day before, when she came home in the rain, something unsettling crept up on her, that foreboding sense of
something coming
.
Her mother would’ve brushed it all aside, but given the shapeshifting tiger in her living room, Addie couldn’t do that anymore.
I wish you were here, Granmama
.
A blue Chevy rolled up next to her then, crunching gravel on the shoulder of the road. Robbie leaned across the passenger seat as the window rolled down and offered her a lopsided grin. “Ride?”
She glanced down only briefly at the bags she carried and then smiled gratefully in return. “That would be wonderful.”
After tying her bags closed and strapping them in the back, she climbed in the truck and buckled up, and soon the vehicle was rumbling back down the long road.
Despite the sun being out all morning, the grass on either side of the road was damp and muddy. While a blue sky hung over them, Addie couldn’t shake the feeling there was another storm on its way.
Her stomach twisted as they rode back for her house; she was only vaguely aware of Robbie’s idle small talk. Would Erik even be there when she returned? He seemed too weak to leave, yes, but he might not stay. Not now that he was conscious and mending.
And if I get home and find him gone? Do I believe I’m crazy
then?
She didn’t want to contemplate it.
“Addie?” Robbie prompted.
She visible started and glanced at him quickly. He faced the road but flicked his eyes in her direction and she realized he must’ve asked her something.
“I’m sorry, I missed that. Didn’t sleep well.”
He smiled gently. “No problem. There’s a new blues band playing at the Haven’s Bridge tonight. I thought you might want to go?”
Haven’s Bridge was the one respectable pub in town: clean, run by good people, usually with good music on weekend evenings. It sat on the western corner of Havelock, right next to the rickety wooden bridge leading out of town.
She should go out, she knew. Be normal. Have fun, maybe relax a little. But what other people considered “relaxing” was something that made her uncomfortable—she spent the whole time feeling weirdly separate from everyone else.
“I don’t know about tonight,” she said after pretending to give it some consideration.
I’d rather stay home and take care of the strange tiger-man sleeping in my living room, oh God, I am nuts
. “I didn’t sleep much with the storm last night.”
She braced and studied Robbie but though there was the flicker of disappointment in his expression, he didn’t get angry about it. “Understandable. Maybe next week?”
“Sure.”
He pulled into her driveway and Addie fished her house keys from her pocket. “You’ll tell me...”
She paused and met his eyes.
Seriousness crossed his expression, pulling his brows down tight over his eyes, his head tilted forward. “...if everything’s okay? If you need anything?”
Her stomach gave another twist. Did he know...something?
Addie pushed back at the weird feelings and instead flashed a smile. “Absolutely. Thanks again for the ride.”
Before he could respond, she slipped out of the truck and immediately went for her bags in the back. Though she offered a quick wave, discomfort followed her up to the house. Fine hairs rose on the back of her neck and she tried to suppress a shudder, but she knew she wouldn’t feel right again until she was locked up safely in her home again.
Chapter Seven
Erik sensed Adelaide’s return before the front door opened. The air around the house tensed and rippled, swelling and then warming as she entered.
He sat once more by the fireplace, this time wrapped in a towel. No fire burned this time and the house was warming as the summer day wore on, but he felt the most comfortable in that spot. He’d slept on the floor long enough over the years that the fluffy couch seemed foreign; he didn’t think he could sleep there if he tried.
He did lean against the side of the couch, his head tipped back. The stillness seemed to ease the throb in his head and the sting in his side. His eyes opened and he glanced up, alert, as Addie entered the house. Even though he knew it was her before she entered, life had taught him to always be on high alert.
Erik rarely knew what was coming but he was used to it being bad.
Addie carted in several bags, a fresh beading of sweat on her brow. Her eyes found his immediately, cautiousness in them as if she hadn’t expected him to be there still. A small smile touched her lips and his heart gave a sudden, heavy thump.
“How are you feeling?” she asked as she set down the bags and locked the door behind her.
Outside, tires crunched on gravel. Erik’s eyes shot to the big bay window where filmy curtains impaired his view of the driveway. A large shape pulled out—a truck, by the looks of it. Someone had given her a ride home.
Addie huffed and leaned down to pick up the bags. He felt badly that she was carting everything around herself but even as he started to sit up, sharp pain rushed through him and his head spun.
“Erik?” she prompted.
He blinked, clearing his head as he met her eyes. “Okay.”
She didn’t believe him but she said nothing. First she brought two plastic bags over to him and set them at his side, then knelt just inches away. Her warm brown eyes held his for a moment, then shifting down his torso, bringing fresh heat to his skin. Her small hand moved over his side, checking the bandaged wound.
“I think I should change the dressing.”
“Maybe with more of whatever you put on it last night.”
Her hand froze for a moment and then pulled back.
“It seemed to help,” he clarified. He smelled the herbs on his skin still and knew she’d done something, but couldn’t place what.
Her eyes skirted his and she returned her attention to the bags she’d brought him. “There are some clothes in here. Maybe get some pants on while I put the groceries away and get...something to help.”
He watched her curiously as she swiftly rose and slipped away.
Something didn’t add up. For now, he’d wait and observe until he could figure out how to broach the subject.
If you’re even here that long
. He brushed those thoughts aside, though.
Erik rifled through the bag, finding track pants and T-shirts, a pair of jeans, and new packs of boxer-briefs. Nudity didn’t particularly bother him—he never had clothes for long—but part of his brain remembered being around humanity years earlier and the expectations there. He glanced in the direction of the kitchen where Addie bustled about, then focused on easing his achy body into clothing. Boxer-briefs and track pants, the latter a little looser than they would’ve been had he eaten more recently or not been on the run for so long.
Addie returned a few minutes later carrying a bowl of water and first aid supplies along with a hardwood mortar, the dark contents inside it smelling of herbs and spices. She knelt at his left side and he shifted forward to give her access to the wound.
“Thank you,” he said as he turned and moved his arm so she could peel back the medical tape from his skin. He wasn’t used to kindness and had to better remember his manners. “For the clothes and the help.”
“You can thank me by explaining some things.” She didn’t look at him, focusing instead on her work.
He held his breath as she pulled the gauze completely off and ran her fingertips lightly over the wound.
“Like how
this
happened.”
A makeshift spear-tip, thrust in his direction; he’d missed it, too focused on fighting off the shaman’s shadowy creatures that lunged and tore at him. The shaman himself had the spear and Erik had turned too late to miss it entirely—it slashed a few inches before sinking into his skin.
The crowd had cheered, assuming a killing blow would end him next. But adrenaline pushed him on and he leapt on the shaman, tearing claws across the man’s throat.
But Erik had been weakened, dumped in a cell below the arena. Left to die if he didn’t recover.
“Erik?” she pushed.
He glanced at Addie as she leaned close, carefully cleaning then drying the wound. Inadvertently he scanned her body, his purely male reaction to her presence something almost foreign to him—it had been a long, long time since he’d been this close to a woman without her holding a knife to his throat. Addie’s eyes lifted, slightly canted like a cat’s with long lashes fanning out.
She stole his breath for a moment, her scent and warmth enveloping him. Perhaps he died in the storm and went to heaven.
If I believed in such a place
.
“How’d it happen?” she asked again.
“Had a disagreement with someone,” he said.
A wry smile curved her lips and she went back to studying the wound. She reached for the mortar and though he glimpsed the substance within it, he couldn’t identify it.
“Are you often in disagreements with people?” she asked.
“You could say that.”
The stuff she’d mixed up in the mortar was warm on his skin, pleasantly heating the wound the way the bath had the rest of him. Tingles rushed through his veins, radiating from the wound.
Perhaps he could venture questions of his own. “How’d you learn how to make that?”
Her movements paused just briefly, a hitch before she continued putting the homemade poultice on his wound. “Old family recipe.”
Who the hell is her family?
He was about to ask when someone rapped on the door.
Erik tensed, alert and wary. He hadn’t heard anyone approach—he’d been so caught up in watching her, his usual defense must’ve dropped.
Addie froze and glanced at the door as he did. Clearly she wasn’t expecting anyone either.
“Be careful,” he warned in a low voice as she rose.
She said nothing, just rounded the couch and walked up to the door. She let out a breath of relief after she peered out the window, unlocked the door, and slipped outside before he could see who waited out there.
****
Addie swiftly closed the door at her back and hopefully she’d sufficiently blocked Lori from seeing anything inside. Her neighbor continued smiling pleasantly, this time without her yellow parka but in a casual sleeveless tee and cropped pants.
“Just checking in after the storm,” Lori said brightly.
“Everything’s fine.” Addie’s hand remained on the doorknob at her back, hoping to show she hadn’t quite committed to standing out there for a lengthy conversation. The humidity of the outside weighed on her lungs.
“Now.” Lori cocked her head to the side, permed sandy curls shaking at her shoulders. “Was that Robbie Milford’s truck I just saw passing?”
Damn small town.
“He gave me a ride home.”
“Two days in a row.” Lori clucked her tongue.
I hate small towns
. “Just to give me a hand with some things.”
“Oh, he’s a sweet boy but...but I wonder, sometimes.”
Nervousness prickled down her back, raising goose bumps on her skin. “About?”
“You’re a sweet girl.” Her neighbor patted her forearm. “I worry about you here, all on your own. Just...be careful with that one.”
What the hell?
Before Addie could respond, Lori’s gaze trailed to her hand hanging loosely at her side. Addie followed her stare and realized her fingers were covered in the herb concoction that she’d been using on Erik.
“Potting,” she said swiftly. “Just out on the porch, potting some cuttings.”
“You should do that more in spring,” Lori said.
“I ran a little behind this year. Thanks for checking in, Lori.” Addie twisted the doorknob at her back. “It’s appreciated.”
“Well, it’s what your grandmother would’ve wanted. Such a kind lady.”
Addie kept up the smile even as it threatened to falter. “I know she was.”
“A shame what happened. But you’re a good girl, Adelaide—she’d be proud of you.”
“Thanks again. Have a good day.” She slipped inside swiftly, locking the door behind her.
Lori only remained on the porch for a moment before turning and heading down the driveway; Addie watched from the window by the door, easing out a breath the farther Lori got.
She appreciated that her neighbors cared but she’d had more people in her driveway in the past twenty-four hours than the past week.
With a sigh, Addie turned back to the living room. Erik hadn’t left the spot on the floor between the couch and the fireplace, though he’d moved into a crouch. His head was tipped down, dark hair falling over his wary eyes.
For a moment, the tiger in him seemed to shimmer in the air—she could almost see it.
Addie held her breath.
Erik relaxed, shoulders falling. He let out a heavy sigh and eased back to sit.
“Just my neighbor,” Addie said, and she had to wonder precisely how much he heard. Did animal senses extend that far, picking up on Lori’s talk about Robbie and her grandmother?
“I shouldn’t stay here.” He looked down, hiding his face from her.
“Someone’s after you,” she said as she started swiftly across the floor. The hardwood creaked beneath her steps, punctuating the silence.
Erik started to rise in response, got about halfway, and then thumped onto the floor again with a groan.
Addie rushed, dropped to her knees, and sighed. “You’re not going far so you might as well just tell me. Am I in danger of something with you here?”
He seemed to debate this, leaning forward and moving his arm so she could patch up his side again as she lifted the gauze. “I think you’re safe,” he said softly at last.