Misery's Way: A Kit Colbana World Story Page 11

  When I turned around to look at him, he was watching me with eyes devoid of emotion.

  After a moment, he took a step closer. “So. Just like that. Ready to go back to pouring drinks for lowlifes already?”

  “Hey, the tips are decent.” Actually, most of the time they sucked and people looked at me like I was the next up on the menu. But it was predictable. It was safe. And…I wasn’t heading back there yet anyway. He didn’t need to know…

  The gleam in his eyes had my spine twitching. “Is that right?”

  I went to dodge around him and he shot out an arm. “Tell me something, Kitty. What did you find when you were digging around online?”

  He leaned in and when I took a breath to steady my nerves, it flooded my head with the scent of him. Whoa…he smelled…whoa. My belly started to twist and to my utter shock, it wasn’t the fear I’d expected. Men usually either freaked me out or just caused a…whatever response. Justin, though, with that wicked grin and the reckless attitude was something else. And now I had the scent of him flooding me. He smelled like magic. He smelled like grass and summer and abruptly, I had an image of him across from me, grinning as he came at me with a sword.

  It wasn’t a frightening image.

  He’d said something about sparring—my head spun with that image and when it stopped spinning, the images shifted, reformed. And now…he was coming at me again, all right. But in a different way. His naked skin to mine. Our breath mingling.

  “You’re going to make me lose track of the job here,” he murmured.

  I blinked and eased back, half-expecting the moment to shatter, sending shards of glass into my flesh. I almost welcomed it. But instead, he reached out, rested a hand on my forearm. That light contact pulled a gasp out of me. It was like grabbing magic out of the air, his skin on mine. It wasn’t painful, but it sent sparks of sensation jolting through me.

  I couldn’t move, could barely breathe as he moved in and dipped his head. The heavy fall of his hair fell around us as he brushed his lips against my cheek. “I knew the second I looked at you that you were going to be trouble. Turns out I’m right,” he whispered against my skin.

  I tensed, terrified.

  “I kinda like trouble. But…”

  He pulled back and my heart slammed, too hard and too fast, against my ribs. “This is the kind of trouble that requires some time, some attention. So we’ll just let it wait a little while. At least until this job is done.”

  Curling my hands into fists, I let my nails cut into my skin, that slight pain focusing me enough so I could come back down to earth. “That’s fine,” I said. Was that my voice? That raspy, erratic tremble? Clearing my throat, I tried again. “That’s just fine. You go finish the job. I did my part.”

  I edged around him.

  “You never did tell me what you found,” he called out behind me.

  “Sure I did. I gave you the information.”

  He chuckled. “Kitty, you’ve got a lot to learn about the world you live in. Here’s your next lesson.”

  I made the mistake of glancing back at him.

  His eyes were gleaming and that wide, taunting smile was firmly in place. His gaze dropped to linger on my mouth for a moment and my heart started to race all over again.

  “You can’t lie to a witch. We see it. But you go on ahead…poke around, see what you can find.” Then he winked. “Tell you what, Kitty-kitty. If you find that runner before I do, I’ll let you try to beat me up. You won’t win, though.”

  I gaped at him. “Who said I wanted to fight you?” Then blood rushed to my face as my own thoughts taunted me.

  “Don’t you?” He rocked back on his heels. “It’s not about fighting, though. It’s called fun. It’s not like you don’t like those weapons you pack around. I know better. I saw the way you were all but drooling over the ones on my wall. Go on. Go see if you can’t pull a thread free and figure out something about this monster we got on the run.”

  He turned back to the large table. “Find him. I dare you.”

  I was half through the door when he said, “Hey. Catch.”

  I barely caught the keys. Staring at them, I scowled.

  “You’ll do better if you have wheels.”

  Find him. I dare you.

  Arrogant peacock.

  I made a face at the dials on the dashboard and tried to remember the lessons Goliath had given me the past summer.

  I knew how to drive. I had driven a car, a few times.

  But this one had a lot more bells and whistles than Goliath’s old van.

  “Works the same way,” I muttered. It had to. It had a key. It had four wheels. It operated on a road.

  I passed the keycard over the ignition area and when it purred to life, I smiled, pleased.

  Okay.

  I managed that much.

  The smile lasted exactly fifteen seconds. My screech of terror took a little longer to fade. I damn near drove the car through the front of Justin’s house.

  Panting, I gripped the wheel and stared at the porch in front of me. I gulped and then looked down at the lettered area. I’d wanted to pull the car around. I’d pressed on the gas.

  Looking up, I saw Justin standing on the porch, arms crossed over his chest.

  Already this wasn’t going well.

  I eyed the letters again. I’d just given it too much gas—no. This was too new. It wasn’t going to operate on gas. Too much of whatever fuel it used. Sleek and shiny as it was, it probably had a duel engine, solar and e. Slowly, I shifted into reverse and lightly touched the pedal. It glided back, nice and easy.

  Much better.

  Although he continued to watch me, I didn’t look at him as I swung the car around and headed off down the lane.

  It would serve him right if I just headed south to TJ’s. She could call him to come get his car—it might or might not be in the same condition it was in now.

  But while the peacock might deserve it, the girls…

  Yeah.

  Okay.

  I pulled up a mental image of the maps I’d studied.

  Then, with Colleen’s voice urging me on, I turned and headed northwest.

  You’re guided by those instincts.

  I hoped Colleen was right.

  There was a little market in the store close to the cemetery. I pulled over. I had to pee, I needed a drink and as I stood at the counter, my eyes fell on the display of flowers near the register.

  I hated flowers.

  Well, not if they were in the ground.

  Cutting them like that was a human thing.

  Of course, I was in a human place of business so it wasn’t surprising I’d see them there. I didn’t understand it. People cut flowers, take them out of their natural habitat and already they are dying. I could even faintly smell that coming death—it wasn’t unpleasant, not yet. But it was a flat scent of…lifelessness. Still, I found myself gazing at the flowers.

  “Would you like to get some of the flowers?”

  Shifting my attention the girl behind the counter, I frowned.

  She started to squirm and I could have kicked myself. I could pass for human. Nothing about me screamed magic or monster but humans and NHs acted in ways that were just…different. She’d asked a question. If I kept looking at her like she was a puzzle, I was going to freak her out. People like me—non-humans—did our best to avoid freaking out her kind.

  “Sure.” I pasted a polite, fake smile on my face and touched one of the bouquets in front. Daisies, bright and cheerful. “This one.”

  A few minutes later, I left the store behind, acutely aware that at least one person in there had been unsettled by my presence. This was why humans irritated me. I wasn’t worth even being noticed by them. Well, sure, I could have killed anybody in there, but I wasn’t the monster under the bed. I was more likely to take off running from anything that looked at me funny.

  It was the rest of my kind that they needed to worry about.

  But if they’d deci
ded they were uncomfortable, all they’d have to do was make one call. I’d never pass as human if somebody knew what to look for. And I wouldn’t even have the protection of the Assembly behind me. It was poor protection, but it was better than the instant death handed out to the unaffiliated NHs found out in the human populace.

  Shoving all of those thoughts aside, I watched the road, waiting for the turn-off.

  There it was.

  Cobb Cemetery.

  I wonder why she was buried here. Had to be a family connection. If there was a family connection, family who wouldn’t argue with her being buried here despite her NH blood, then that would explain it.

  My car wasn’t the only one.

  And when I caught sight of the other car, my skin started to buzz.

  Sliding out, I kept my face blank.

  There was a man, wearing a dull brown jacket, standing roughly near the plot where I needed to go.

  And when I started up the walk, I could see the way he tensed.

  No human would have noticed. It was too far away.

  Not yet…not yet…

  Veering to the side, I stopped at a headstone featuring two joined hearts.

  Beloved mother and father. You are so missed.

  That was nice.

  Crouching down, I put the flowers down. Somebody else had been here recently. I’d picked a good spot. The other flowers were wilted. It seemed the courteous thing to do so I picked them up, watching my man from the corner of my eye.

  He hadn’t moved.

  And he watched me.

  Somebody brushed inside my head.

  I felt it.

  Fighting not to recoil, I focused on the people buried beneath my feet.

  I had no happy memories of my parents. But I had a happy memory of my mother and I latched on to it, the way she tucked me into bed at night, how she sang to me.

  I love you…

  I kept my surface thoughts focused on that, just that.

  And vaguely, that crawling, probing touch eased away.

  Oh. He was going to hurt for that.

  As he started to rise, I straightened my arm and dropped one of my daggers into it.

  He was striding my way now, head bent. Come on…come on…

  I was about ready to do something desperate just to make him look up so I could make sure it was him when the roar of the engine came from off in the distance.

  I shot a look over my shoulder. Instinctively, I whirled back around as he came rushing for me.

  Satisfaction tore through me.

  I wouldn’t find him, huh?

  I let the dagger fly and it buried itself in his gut. He screamed, his doughy white hands going to clutch at his belly as he went to his knees.

  Rising, I let the dead flowers fall from my hands as I moved toward him.

  Wracking my brain for his name, I stood over him. Had Justin give me his name—Oh. Yeah.

  “Larry White?”

  He blinked at me, eyes milky-blue and vague. “Who are you?”

  I shot another quick look over my shoulder as the roar of that motor came to a sudden, screeching halt.

  Justin.

  The son of a bitch.

  Had he followed me?

  Looking back at the bloody mess at my feet, I frowned.

  What did I do now?

  “You kidnapped and raped children,” I told him. “You killed them.”

  He just stared. “They aren’t children. Not really. Better them than…” he started to cough.

  Justin was getting closer.

  I didn’t bother to look this time.

  “Better them than what?” I asked.

  When he didn’t answer, I bent low and snagged the front of his shirt, jerked him up. With my other hand, I twisted the blade and wrenched it. I’d never realized I could do that—I’d had so much pain heaped on me as a child. How could I do it to another?

  But there was a monster in his eyes. Staring out at me.

  “Better than what?” I asked again, letting my disgust shine out of my eyes. I could kill him, I realized. I’d fought before, but it was for my own life. I’d even killed before, but only to save myself. This creature didn’t deserve the life he had.

  “Better little monsters than real…children…” he choked again, blood bubbling out of his lips.

  Letting him go, I spun away and put some distance between us before I stepped over a line. I wasn’t ready to cross it yet.

  Justin stood just a few feet away.

  But for once, there was no smile on his face.

  There was no wicked, wild pleasure, no violent delight on his face.

  He just watched me with sadness.

  “It’s not easier to ignore the monsters, Kit,” he said, his voice soft, heavy with knowledge.

  Then he brushed past me.

  I’d ignored the monsters for so many years. I’d lived with them most of my life, then I’d fled from them, pretended they didn’t matter.

  They did, though. This one had hunted children.

  How could I live with myself if I turned my back on that knowledge?

  Chapter Seven

  Worrying the knife at my side, I stared at my mostly empty room.

  I couldn’t believe I was doing this.

  It was a chance, the biggest I’d ever taken.

  “You’re gonna be fine.”

  Looking over at TJ, I tried to ignore the twisting, pitching nausea. Nothing said confidence, after all, like going to your knees and puking up your guts. “Sure.” I gave her an easy smile and then looked back into my empty room.

  Home. It had been home for so long. My first home, really.

  But not now.

  “Kit?”

  I looked up and met Goliath’s eyes. He stood at the far end of the hall, his massive girth taking almost the entire space. “Hey, big guy.”

  He smiled at me, his watery eyes sad. “Gonna miss you.” Then he sighed and nodded his head down the stairs. “You got somebody waiting for you down in the gym.”

  “In the gym?”

  He nodded and headed back down the steps. They creaked and groaned under his weight. If they ever gave out under him, it wouldn’t surprise me. I just hoped the floor beneath would be strong enough to take the crash.

  Shutting the door, I gave TJ a smile. “I’ll be back in. For a drink. To talk.”

  “Bet your ass. Don’t forget, I got better information than half of those slick-tongued idiots on the Council.” She winked at me and then wheeled her chair around, heading to the elevator put in for her use.

  I didn’t respond, just stood there, waiting another moment. Waiting for the ache to fade, the nerves. The knot in my throat did pass, but I was still nervous as hell.

  I had absolutely no clue what I was doing.

  Was that stopping me?

  Nope.

  But even as it terrified me, it sort of…elated me.

  Because for once, fear wasn’t freezing me. I wasn’t cowering in the room, waiting until it seemed safer, until something made sense. I was taking a step forward.

  That had to be a good thing, right?

  With that thought in mind, I headed down into the gym.

  I knew who it was before I pushed through the door and my skin went tight in a weird way that I didn’t entirely understand.

  Justin stood with his back to me, staring at the wall. It held practice weapons, most of them things I’d picked up or that Goliath had given to me. I needed better tools, but there was a limit to what I could come by here in Wolf Haven.

  I didn’t make any noise, but he turned the second my foot brushed the gym floor.

  “Here to hold up my end of the bargain,” he said.

  “What bargain?” I frowned at him.

  He turned and grabbed one of the staffs from the wall. It was the one made for me, shorter, the right size for my hands. I caught it from mid-air and glared at him. “We’re fighting, right?” He grinned at me as he pulled a staff I hadn’t seen from a spot
on the wall. “I figure this works better. That way you won’t be as inclined to bloody me.”

  I lifted a brow. “I can still bloody you with this.”

  That pretty face of his could use with a busted nose. Might take him down a peg.

  He chuckled. “Bloodthirsty…just the way I like it.”

  Despite myself, I felt my lips twitch. Then I glanced down at the staff. He looked comfortable with his, yes, but that didn’t mean I wanted to do this. It didn’t seem fair.

  “Look, it was a fun offer, but I don’t think so.”

  “Scared?” He leaned against his, those long-fingered, graceful hands wrapped around the staff as he smiled at me.

  Oh. He did not just say that.

  “Fine.” I shrugged out of my jacket, watched as he did the same. “How do we determine the winner?”

  “How did you usually do it where you trained?”

  I swallowed and looked away. “Trust me, you don’t want to go by those rules.” Whoever wasn’t a broken, bloody mess was the winner.

  Something dark flashed through his eyes, but it was there, then gone, so fast. “How about whoever gets the first three blows in?”

  That seemed fair enough.

  Well, it did until I had him on the ground within five seconds.

  His eyes were still glazed as I peered down at him. “Are you okay?”

  He blinked to clear his eyes before looking at me. I saw his muscles tense. Instinct and training took over. I flowed out of the way as he rolled to his feet and came at me again. He was fast. I felt the air pass by me on the next blow, but it missed. It left an opening and I drove the butt of my staff into his ribs.

  “Son of a—”

  He bit it back, grimaced. “Two points to you.”

  His face settled into a set mask and I had to focus then. It had been a long time since I’d done this. Lessons, though, the kind that had been drilled into me, weren’t easily forgotten. I took one blow. In the back of my mind, I heard a taunting voice.

  Oh, look…you dropped your guard…

  Part of me tried to tense, brace against a blow that had already been dealt. Memories crept in at the worst times.