tensed, even seemed to hold her breath. But her grandmother, he was certain, held the key—that history would explain things for him.
“My grandmother lived here,” she said at last. “I spent some time with her growing up. She was crazy. Institutionalized. She died there when I was little. When my mother died, I inherited her house and what was left of her things.”
The barebones story, her voice light and casual. But it was enough for him to fill in the details.
“Your grandmother wasn’t crazy and neither are you.”
“Well, you turn into a tiger. You’re not really one to judge.”
He wished he could make her believe, that he could explain, somehow. Explain how much danger she’d be in if someone like Lincoln found her and figured out how she is?
“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
“My grandmother lived here,” she said at last. “I spent some time with her growing up. She was crazy. Institutionalized. She died there when I was little. When my mother died, I inherited her house and what was left of her things.”
The barebones story, her voice light and casual. But it was enough for him to fill in the details.
“Your grandmother wasn’t crazy and neither are you.”
“Well, you turn into a tiger. You’re not really one to judge.”
He wished he could make her believe, that he could explain, somehow. Explain how much danger she’d be in if someone like Lincoln found her and figured out how she is?
“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
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