Authors: Asha King
“You’re safe now,” she whispered. “You’ll be safe from now on.”
And that nearly broke him. Because she knew—she’d been there, she knew. She just glimpsed him as a mad animal, tearing through everything in his path for freedom. She didn’t know everything he’d done before, everything he saw.
And hopefully she never would. Lincoln could never be allowed to find her, even if that meant he had to leave.
Chapter Nine
Awaking tangled up with Erik Monday morning was initially comforting until her brain had
totally
woken up, and then it was about ten levels of awkward.
She didn’t have time to dwell, not with it being a work day. She spent the morning running the administration desk at the community center and the afternoon had another bellydancing class to run. It wasn’t much but it kept the bills paid so she didn’t have to dip into her inheritance.
The afternoon wound down, class ended, and soon all the ladies were on their way back home. Addie saw them off and then returned to administration area to log the attendance. Classes were pre-paid but inevitably toward the middle of the course, people stopped showing up and she liked to keep track of everything.
The community center was silent. Fluorescent lights above hummed while she worked. Internally she cursed the fact that she’d left her iPod in her purse, locked in a storage cupboard near the front, but it was just as well. She didn’t need the distraction.
Plenty of distracting thoughts are awaiting me at home.
Her lips twisted in a wry smile at the thought. It wasn’t an altogether
unpleasant
distraction.
Even without looking out the windows, she felt the storm clouds gathering yet again. Little natural light filtered in. The schedule pinned to the board beside the computer showed no one was due in until later that night when the Havelock Martial Arts Club met. She’d ensure everything was straightened up and then head home.
As she logged off of the computer, she heard the front door open around the corner.
Steps shuffled on the floor quietly. There was nothing particularly odd about it but the fine hairs on the back of her neck rose. She slid out of the office chair swiftly, rising to inch around the desk, tense from head to toe.
She hadn’t gotten far when two figures stepped around the corner.
Her eyes went first to the woman: tall and svelte, with pale smooth skin and hair the color of blood that hung straight over her shoulders to just below her breasts. She wore black leather, pants and a motorcycle jacket, but with nothing to show the logo of a biker club. Hard, piercing blue eyes stared at Addie.
The man next to her was forgettable by comparison. Where she was stock-still, shoulders thrown back with confidence, he was fidgeting and wiry like a reed in the wind. Shaggy brow hair was swept back from average brown eyes. But though he might look forgettable, he gave Addie pause. Nearly every inner alarm bell she had was shrilling.
The pair of them completely blocked the doorway and she suspected it was intentional.
Addie tried to smile. “Can I help you with anything?”
“We’re new in town,” Mr. Forgettable said with an equally forgettable smile that seemed forced. “I understand there’s a fighting club here?”
The seemingly innocuous question didn’t ease her worries at all. “A martial arts group, yes. In fact, they meet tonight. Would you like some information about signing up?”
“Yes, I would.”
She avoided his eyes, trying to quell her body’s desire to tremble and focusing instead on finding the brochure and contracts for the martial arts class. She located them tucked beside the desk and retrieved a copy for the man, intentionally not bothering to give him a pen in the hopes that he’d take the information and fill it out elsewhere. She forced out a kind smile as she took two steps from the desk and handed it to him. “Here you go. Bring the form in with a check before one of the meetings and they’ll get you signed up.”
He accepted the papers but didn’t glance at them, simply folded them once and continued holding her eyes. “Thank you. My wife is interested in any new age clubs you might have.”
Addie didn’t glance at the woman, though she felt her unwavering, cold stare boring into her. “New age?”
“Crystals,” the woman’s crisp voice broke in. “Healing. That kind of thing.”
Addie chanced a glance at her, swallowing nervously. “We don’t have anything like that around here.”
The woman continued to stare, as if she rifled through Addie’s brain for the secrets she kept. After a few moments of silence, she seemed satisfied. Both Biker Chick and Mr. Forgettable abruptly turned and left.
Addie let out a heavy breath and leaned against the desk, still tense and waiting. Once she heard the steps fade and the front door open and close again, she bolted forward and peered around the doorway.
The community center’s glass doors revealed the couple exiting into a red sports car in the parking lot. They didn’t dwell, instead pulling out and disappearing down the road in seconds.
While she didn’t catch the license plate, she didn’t think she’d
need
to—that car would definitely stand out in town. She might have to ask around later to find out who the hell they were.
The unsettled feeling that had overcome her when they entered the community center remained. She paused only for a moment to tell herself maybe she was overreacting when her instincts kicked in. If she was this uncomfortable, she had to trust there was a reason.
Immediately she rushed back to the office to get her purse from the lock cupboard, slipped on her running shoes, turned off the lights, and bolted from the building. She locked the door behind her, stuffed the keys in her purse, and ran.
****
Erik paced the living room, his rational mind arguing the gut feeling telling him Adelaide was in trouble.
He felt it, a tug against his breastbone that seemed to jerk him in to the northeast of the house, as if there was a string connecting them. He felt panic rush along that string with an edge of fear but not pain, not worry.
Of course, he’d never felt anything like that in his life and could be wrong, could be crazy.
But nothing seems out of the realm of possibility when it comes to Addie.
He felt at war, in a constant argument with himself. Part of him screamed to go and find her, wherever she was, and ensure everything was fine. But then he hadn’t survived as long as he had by running purely on instinct—he had logic. He’d
know
, somehow, if she was truly in danger, and he couldn’t risk her future safety to follow mere worry now.
It was the only thing that held him back: the sense that she was coming closer to the house, to her sanctuary, and knowing that if he left he would be exposing her to more danger as soon as his presence was sensed. So he paced the length of the hardwood, gaze shooting to the clock on the wall as the seconds ticked by. His side ached with each heavy breath still and his head throbbed the longer he was on his feet, but he didn’t plan to sit until she was either in the house or he passed out waiting.
Steps faintly crunched on the gravel driveway, swift and light.
Erik froze for an instant then spun and headed for the door just as it opened.
Addie crashed inside, breathless, slamming and locking the door at her back. Her hair was in a ponytail that had twisted to the side, black hair curling into tendrils damp with sweat around her brow. She leaned against the door and let her purse thump at her feet.
Erik was at her side in moments, eyes scanning her in a rush for any injuries. “What happened?” He reached for her shoulders, touching her as if to assure himself everything was fine. His fingers dragged along her shoulder, up her neck, cupping her jaw and tilted her head back so her eyes met his. “Addie?”
She studied his eyes and then let out a heavy breath, shoulders deflating, as if whatever she saw in him released some tension in her. He didn’t wait for a response, instead pulling her into his arms instinctually. Despite her strength and iron will he’d seen over the past few days, right in that moment she felt small and vulnerable.
And I swear on everyone I’ve lost, I won’t let harm befall you.
“There were people,” she mumbled against his bare chest, her arms wrapped around his torso. “They didn’t do anything but I thought...I don’t know, maybe I’m crazy. Paranoid.” She twisted and looked up at him.
He breathed in, the world around them going away. That thread connecting them seemed to tighten and warmth spread through him everywhere their bodies made contact. Her lips parted, seeming to beckon him, and he wanted nothing more than to kiss her, taste her, take her.
But he gave himself a mental shake as his brain caught up with his body.
There were people...
“What people?” he asked abruptly.
Addie blinked as if she just came back to herself as well. “What?”
“You said there were people. Who were they?”
She stiffened and reluctantly he let her go so she could step back. “Why?
Should
I be paranoid?”
Yes. Hell, YES
.
“Whoever you’re running from—are they here?” she asked.
He still had no idea how to even broach the subject. She’d already had to accept a whole lot with his presence here, sure, and keeping someone ignorant never solved anything, but...
“Erik?” she prompted.
“What did they look like?”
“No.” She stepped farther from him, abruptly hit the front door, and then skirted around him, back up like a spooked animal cornered by a predator. “I get to ask the questions now.
Tell me
what is going on.”
“I just think you should be careful is all.”
“Why do
I
need to be careful?”
Erik took a deep breath. “Because not everyone is as they seem. And I don’t want you hurt.”
“Is someone after you?”
“Yes,” he relented.
She hadn’t stopped backing up and he restrained himself, avoiding moving forward as she clearly wanted distance between them. “Are they in Havelock? Did you lead them to my town?”
Since he hadn’t left the house upon arriving here, he didn’t
think
Lincoln or his lackeys would have his location narrowed down, but still... “Maybe, but—”
“And am I in danger for keeping you here?”
Yes
. As much as he wanted to reassure her—as much as he wanted to reassure
himself
—he couldn’t entirely say for certain, not unless she started answering questions. “That depends on you.”
Addie halted. “Excuse me?”
“I need you to tell me about your grandmother.”
“I don’t need to tell you a goddamn thing!
I
am not the one keeping secrets—
I
am not the one who shows up on someone’s doorstep half dead begging you not to call the police!”
“No, you’re the one who
saved me
from death, Adelaide. You’re the one who
healed me
.”
She stared at him for a moment, her eyes huge with pink around the edges as if they threatened tears, her chest heaving with angry breaths. Then her lips snapped shut and she turned, thumping down the hall. Her bedroom door slammed before he could follow.
He stood there for a moment, running his hand back through his hair, staring after her.
That...could’ve gone better.
He could leave. That would be an easy solution. But if Lincoln was near? Or someone he employed? If they caught him near the house, it would be too easy to find Addie. Until he found out who she saw and whether or not his enemies were in town, he couldn’t risk it.
For now, he’d wait. And hopefully Addie would talk soon.
Chapter Ten
Adelaide stripped off her sweaty clothes and paused half-naked by the door, debating a shower. She needed it, she felt grungy, but then for all she knew, Erik was hanging outside her door and she still wanted to avoid him.
She was angry. And hurt. In fact, the intensity of how upset she was startled her. She’d felt things she was certain he’d felt, experienced dreams through his eyes, and her heart ached at the mere thought of him. Every fiber of her being trusted him—at least every fiber but those in her
brain
, which objected to the fact he’d been keeping things from her, cryptically talking around her questions. And to bring up her grandmother?
Hell, no
.
For a few minutes she chewed on the possibility of heading to the shower and risking running into him. The way she felt, it would lead to more yelling and she wasn’t certain she wanted to get into it with him.
Instead, she turned to face her room once more. Shower later. For now, she needed information if she wanted a chance in hell of being on even ground with him. His words wouldn’t leave her head and she knew, one way or the other, this somehow went back to her grandmother.
First she shook her hair out of its ponytail and then wound it up in a bun, then hunted down fresh clothes. A ragged T-shirt and oversized track pants were tucked in the very bottom of one of the drawers, and she slipped them on.
Next she went for the closet where a trap door sat in the ceiling with a cord hanging down. She couldn’t reach it on her own and had to drag out a step ladder tucked behind some boxes. She stood on the rickety old thing and tugged at the cord.
The door creaked open and a short ladder slid down. Darkness awaited her above.
A flashlight would’ve been handy but she’d left it in the kitchen and didn’t want to leave her room and deal with
him
at the moment. But she vaguely remembered a light switch up there from years ago when she’d peeked around the house after inheriting it. She just hoped it still worked.
Addie climbed up the dusty ladder, the light from the closet the only thing helping her see. The attic was musty, air stale and smelling funny. She paused with her head poking through the ceiling and glanced around until her eyes settled on a chain above—that had to connect to one of the lights. She pulled herself up the rest of the way and climbed onto grimy, dusty floorboards, then onto her feet.