Fate Fixed (13 page)

dismissed her, Torin could hear Lexie pausing as she

decided what she should do. He

found her compassion endearing. Her mother was

obviously very important to her.

He wondered what happened to her biological father and if he was stil a part of her life. He knew from Braden’s experience that growing up without your father around was difficult. Torin knew he was fortunate to have his father as a central part of his life. Although Endel ion inspired him to be creative and to care for the ones he loved, Donovan taught him how to be a man.

As he listened in, he heard Lexie’s gentle footfal s as she descended the stairs. He smiled at the thought of her

softness.

She was everything he wasn’t.

Before she reached the bottom of the stairs, Torin heard a swift movement from the downstairs as a younger boy

emerged from the house. With the same light blonde hair as his brothers, he must have only been fifteen or sixteen years old. Like the other three males, he was heavily

muscled for his age and had the same intense smel .
Dead
fish?

Torin observed the younger male walk towards the

perimeter of the woods. After removing his shirt, he tipped his head back and sniffed the air. Torin wondered what aroma had the younger Serov intrigued. As soon as the

idea crossed his mind, the boy turned and stared straight at him.

Alarmed, Torin could feel his own powerful senses kick in.

Reacting to instincts, his muscles flexed and he crouched in anticipation of attack. In the darkness, Torin could see the teens penetrating steel gray eyes as he remained stil

without moving.

Torin knew that a normal human would not have been able to locate him with just a sense of smel , nor be able to see clearly in the darkness the way he and the elders could.

With al of his strength, Torin pushed off the side of the house and glided into the tree line. With growing speed, he put distance between himself and Lexie’s home. He didn’t want to trigger a confrontation with the boy by sticking around and holding his ground unless he had to.

Torin knew that there was something going on with the

males in that family and he wondered if Lexie knew just what that was. One thing was for sure, he needed to warn his family there were humans roaming the woods at night.

Lexie stumbled through her first few classes after a tense drive in with Maxim behind the wheel. He was snappish and Alik was withdrawn. The three of them seemed fixed in the same dysfunctional routine each morning.

Her sleep the night before had been fitful once she settled down enough to drift off. She had no clue what happened to her lock, but noticed the one in the bathroom was missing also. With her mother’s peculiar behavior, it was possible Ruby removed them. Lexie noticed her laptop no longer

had internet service either. It seemed al of her privileges were disappearing one at a time without prior notification or cause.

As she sat in study hal , she tried to focus on her calculus problems while listening to her new friends joke back and forth about Officer Barry. The work in front of her was a blur.

Her

mind kept wandering to Torin. Alik had said that Torin was responsible for someone’s death, but the same could be said for her. If everyone in Erris learned that she had been driving the car when her dad got kil ed, would they snub her? She wasn’t sure if it was the same kind of situation with Torin, but after giving it a great deal of thought, she decided to learn the truth before making rash judgments.

She wished she could talk to Liz, but with her phone taken away and no internet, she would have to settle with snail mail.

As she glanced around the room, she noted the easy

camaraderie her peers shared with one another. A sudden wave of homesickness fil ed her. She yearned for her old school and Liz. She missed her life and the way it was before her mom married Dragos and everything changed.

Mainly, she missed her Dad and the way he was so gentle and kind.

For the first time in her life, she felt like she didn’t have a place in her family. Her mother and sister seemed further away than ever. Hot tears trickled down her cheeks – she never thought she could be surrounded by people but feel so alone.

Discretely as possible, Lexie excused herself from the library in order to get ahold of misery. She didn’t want to come across as a basket case. She was usual y strong and carefree but the last week had been a rol ercoaster of emotions. Leaving

home and making a place among her new stepfamily was

difficult. The only positive thing going for her was meeting her new friends and finding Torin. Just thinking of him
helped her smile a little.

At the end of the corridor, she slipped into the girl’s bathroom so she could freshen up. As she rounded the

corner by the row of sinks, Lexie spotted someone sitting on the floor with her head down. The platinum hair was unmistakable.

Lexie considered slipping back out until she heard

Courtney’s whimpering snivel. As much as Lexie couldn’t stand the sarcasm that emanated from the girl, Alik’s friend looked like a complete disaster. She froze, not sure if Courtney would want comforting.

With reluctance, she stepped further into the damp room that smel ed like nicotine and generic toilet bowl cleanser.

Courtney’s head darted up, and Lexie could see that she wasn’t the only one whose makeup ran. Her face was red and blotchy, mascara smeared across both eyes.

“Wel , isn’t this perfect,” Courtney mumbled. With a wad of toilet paper, she blotted her eyes. “I suppose you are going to run and tel that bitch Theo and your little Bible thumper friend Brooke that you found me in here crying like this…”

“No –” Lexie went to the sink and checked her own facial situation. Good thing for waterproof makeup. After a pause, “Is everything okay? Do you need me to get anyone for

you?”

“Other than your brother so you I can kick him in his junk?”

she whined through hiccups. “When we are around

everyone, he acts cool and aloof, but when I get him alone – he has his paws al over me. Tel ing me how much he wants me...”

She ran the back of her hand across her snotty nose.

Lexie surmised she was talking about Maxim, although cool and aloof weren’t two adjectives she would use to describe him – maybe social y awkward and intimidating as hel .

“So, I final y gave him what he wanted – snuck him into the music room where the band keeps their instruments. I

thought it would be romantic, you know?”

Romantic is one word for it. Trashy is another.
Lexie chastised herself, a part of her felt sorry for Courtney’s naive play for attention.

“Wel , he wasn’t romantic at al , he was rough and when he was done doing his thing, the bastard spit on me.” Courtney picked herself up off the floor. “I’ve been texting him al day and he’s ignoring me.”

She eyed Lexie speculatively. “What is it about you?

Everyone around here talks about you like you’re God’s gift to

Erris. Even your brothers have a walking boner for you…

and now Torin does too.”

Courtney’s words stung. Lexie fixed her hands on her hips and gave the girl a level stare. “I’m sorry Maxim treated you like that – he was a total loser. Maybe next time you won’t rush into anything with some guy you don’t even know.”

Anger made the tone of her voice climb. “Another thing, I like Torin and as far as I heard, the two of you were never a thing so don’t take your disappointment out on me.”

Courtney glared back at her in disgust. “Try Alik smart one.”

“Whatever,” Lexie turned her back. She wasn’t going to waste any more time with these head games. “I doubt he would even touch, but if he did, I’m sure he didn’t mean to hurt you. I suggest you get over yourself.” She heaved the heavy door open and escaped into the hal way just as the bel rang. As it swung closed, she could hear Courtney’s piercing scream.

The rest of the school day blew by without another

confrontation. Theo and Julie invited Lexie to hang out, but
she made up an excuse that she promised El a she would help her fix up her room after school. She wanted time to herself so she could write Liz and get some rest.

The afternoon was pleasantly cooler than it had been the days before, with the heat wave final y breaking. The

balcony

outside of her room’s window was the perfect haven for chil ing after a long day. After stacking her throw pil ows into a little makeshift bed, she put in her ear buds and found her favorite playlist to zone out with.

Enjoying the warmth that spread over her legs and arms, Lexie let the sunbathe her skin. She couldn’t understand why she al owed people like Courtney to have the power to irritate her. The chick needed some serious help.

Of al members of her step family to make accusations

about, Alik was the one person she trusted in. She even enjoyed the time they had to talk each evening when the two of them cleaned up the kitchen after the others left the table. Despite his clingy behavior when they were out with friends, she found him funny and quirky.

For Courtney to suggest that he would hurt her in any way was upsetting. He was the nice brother. Now if it were Maxim, she wouldn’t be as shocked because he didn’t

seem to like Courtney much either, but that was just the way he was. He didn’t like anyone.

From her vantage spot, she observed Alik heading up the trail behind the house, the one from her dream. She knew if she hustled, she could catch up with him before he made it too far.

Other than after dinner, the two of them never had much time

alone to talk. When he was around the others, he was quiet and distant
. He should know what that sleaze is saying.

She pul ed on her blue Chuck Taylor’s and headed out of the house. She hadn’t explored much of the trail since she discovered it in the backyard, but it felt familiar under her feet.

The smel of the foliage and pine needles on the path were al the same. As she headed into the deep cedars, she

passed the old stonewal she had spotted days before.

Further in the trail sloped up and the large rock from her dream sat ahead where the bend in the trail always was.

She couldn’t resist the temptation to run like she did in her dreams. The image of Torin waiting for her prompted her to pick up speed. As she flew around the corner, she stopped dead in her tracks.

dead in her tracks.

The area where Torin always awaited her was different.

She recognized the sweeping branches and the

underbrush, but the shady clearing held a smal metal shed, only large enough to stand in. Her heart worked to slow down from running and she just stood looking at the

misplaced structure in awe. It only made sense that it wouldn’t be exactly like her dream, but she was confused. A dawning realization occurred to her that if the dream were exactly true, more than Torin would be waiting for her, death would be too.

As if in slow motion, she walked to the shed and pressed against the hot door.

The door swung open and her stepfather stared down at

her. “What are you doing here?” His tone was clipped as he gave her a hard look. Blocking her view of the interior, his outsized body fil ed the doorway, as he ducked his head to exit.

“I was looking for Alik. I thought I saw him enter the forest from my window.” Her cheeks inflamed, she felt guilty but wasn’t quite sure why.

Dragos cocked his head, the lines of his face relaxed into a grin. “Oh, if that’s al – Listen, for now I don’t want you and your sister up here. There are some creatures in the forest that could hurt you both and I don’t know what we would do if that happened.”

For an odd moment, Lexie thought her stepfather’s usual steel grey eyes looked almost yel ow. Her eyes widened as she peered closer.
A trick of the lighting is all.
“Right, I heard about the possible rabies.” She lowered her head and studied the ground, she felt awkward about finding him out here. She had thought he was working in Bangor for the day.

“I mean it. I don’t want you up here unless I say so.” His expression hardened before peering back into the dim

shed.

“Alik, please be kind enough to escort your sister back to the house.”

Lexie was startled to see Alik emerge from the doorway.

His face was pale and he was missing his usual smile.

What

were they doing in the dark shed – it didn’t even have windows?

She recal ed El a’s comment about the war games or whatever it was.
Maybe I don’t want to know.

Alik didn’t say anything to his father, just nudged her elbow and led her back in the direction of the house. Lexie

glanced over her shoulder only to see Dragos go back into the shed, shutting the door behind him.

Swal owing the lump in her throat, she stammered to find the right words after interrupting whatever he was involved in with his father. “I’m sorry for fol owing you Alik – I just wanted to talk is al .”

He met her gaze and the serious expression on his face seemed to melt until he was able to produce the usual

crooked grin that she was so fond of. “Hey, don’t sweat it…I wasn’t having a blast anyway. Dad was giving me grief for stepping out of place.” He gave her elbow a light squeeze.

“You out of place?” she was in disbelief. “You’re like a parent’s wet dream – you never do anything wrong.” She couldn’t help but chuckle.

“Yeah wel , even I get a little too big for my britches around here,” he laughed. “So, what’s on your mind anyway?”

Lexie looked into his warm sea green eyes. She felt like a jerk mentioning it now, but they were already halfway back to the house. She spotted the old stone wal and climbed up
it to

have a seat. “I know that learning to live with me cannot be the easiest thing and al , but I like having you for my brother and I want you to know that I wil look out for you, like you have for me.”