Roar (Witches & Warlocks Book 3) (9 page)

“Just walk out?” Noah’s clearly a little flabbergasted.

“Ya. Just walk out. All three of us together. If what Zoe says is true, our whole cloak and dagger deal is a waste of time. Either those three vamps know who we are or they don’t. If they do know, that’s no guarantee they’ll attack. Especially not here in front of all these people. If they don’t know, we’ll just walk out and head home, no skin off our backs. Just gotta stay alert.”

I gotta hand it to the guy. There’s a brutal simplicity there. I look to Noah, try to get an idea of what he’s thinking. He shrugs and shakes his head. Luke yanks open the door and we leave the bathroom.

As we walk through Pulse, Luke cutting through the crowd with a surgeon’s precision while Noah and I follow behind, I keep my eyes open. Maile catches my attention and waves, nods her approval of Noah. I guess she thinks I got the guy I was hoping to get. She has no clue on how many levels that’s true.

We’re close to the door when I feel a set of silvery pinpricks dancing across my back and shoulders. Just one. It settles right on the back of my head and doesn’t move until the door closes behind us, blocking me from view.

********

It’s weird, nothing’s really changed, but it feels like everything’s changed. I want to hole up in the house with the blinds closed. Ward the house with all the magic I can get my hands on and then hide in my closet with my blankets over my head.

Can’t do that, though. Can’t draw attention to ourselves. Gotta show up to work. Gotta go out for groceries. Gotta keep living life like we were living it before. Just gotta be a little more vigilant than, that’s all.

At least that’s what I told myself last night, as I staggered through the door, fighting exhaustion from fear, and drink, and all the magic. This morning? I’ve snoozed my alarm three times already and now that I’m actually awake, I don’t want to crawl out from under my covers. It reminds me of being little, afraid to let my foot dangle off my bed because whatever was hiding underneath was sure to get me. Except this time, there really is a monster. And she’s not under my bed. She could be anywhere.

And that’s decidedly worse.

I finally do it, though. Get out of bed. My head hates me for it and my legs are all trembly. My stomach turns at the thought of breakfast and there are huge dark circles under my eyes standing out against my pallid skin when I check myself in the mirror. I trace the dark spots with my finger and consider using foundation to hide it all. I’ll be honest, I think trying to fake it with makeup would only make me look all the more frightening. I wash my face, brush my teeth. Swipe on some mascara and run a brush through my hair.

At least my hair still looks halfway decent, thanks to the lingering effect of the spell I used last night.

Noah’s in the kitchen when I stumble out, dressed for work in my typical black pants and black shirt. The only change is that I’ve got Barnabe’s amulet on. This time it’s all leather thong and chunky silver, the perfect accessory to my outfit once again. I smell bacon and eggs and my mouth waters while my stomach lurches.

“Afternoon,” I mutter as I sweep around him and pour myself a cup of coffee. Coffee I don’t know if I’ll be able to drink.

Noah reaches up for the sugar and hands it to me while I grab the cream from the fridge. “You feeling OK?” he asks, studying my face.

“Not really. Used a lot of magic last night.” I’m trying so hard to pour the damn cream into the damn cup, but my hands are shaking too much. I’m just gonna spill everywhere.

“Here.” Noah takes the cream from me and sets it down. Puts his hands on my shoulders and leads me to the table. “Have a seat. Rest. I got this.” He finishes making my coffee and brings it to me with a smile before turning back to his cooking.

“Luke here?”

Noah shakes his head. “He left early this morning. Didn’t say where he’s going.”

To be honest, I don’t care where he is, it just feels good to have him
not here
. I take a sip of my coffee and wait to decide if my stomach is going to tolerate it. It’s so tempting to give myself another little magical boost, just to help get through the day. I’ve got to go to work and I’ve got another personal training session with Albert tonight. It’s gonna be rough, feeling this bad. And just a little pop of magic could make it all go away…

No.

Nope.

No way.

Not even gonna go there. If I even let myself consider it, it might get too tempting for me to ignore. Like a junky trying not to shoot up when the heroine’s right there beside him.

Noah plops a plate of eggs and bacon and toast in front of me. “You’re not gonna want to, but you need to eat. I assume you’re going to work, and then after work, to the gym. You’re not leaving this house until you have some food in you.”

I can’t help but smile. For many reasons. One, Noah just makes me smile. Two, it feels good to be taken care of. And three, if feels good that he’s the one taking care of me. There’s not an ounce of fight left in me anywhere, so I just accept the breakfast with as much grace as I can muster. Noah pulls more eggs and bacon out of the fridge and pops some more bread in the toaster. Hums a little as he cooks. It takes me a more than a couple minutes to realize that I’m eating the breakfast he cooked for himself.

I stare at his back, his broad shoulders slouching over his work, his jeans slung low on his hips, and a slow smile stretches across my face. He’s so good. So good in general, but so good for me, too. I can’t wait to get through all this subterfuge, all this trained assassin bullshit so I can focus on our happily ever after.

I wait while he eats. The food really does help me feel better. I’m not nearly as queasy as I was when I first got out of bed and I’m filled with this warm, glowy, melty feeling that’s warming me from the inside out. I think it might be love. And respect. Noah walks me to work, linking my arm in his. I’m not feeling very talkative, and he respects that. Fills the gaps with quiet stories or simply falls quiet himself. Nothing feels forced and everything feels perfect and I’m afraid it’s all just gonna blow away again.

Work is slow. Krystal and Melissa are here, all hopped up on too much coffee, entertaining themselves by experimenting with new drink concoctions. It’s so slow, in fact, that they suggest I go put my head down in the break room and take a nap. See if I can’t do something about the dark circles under my eyes. Normally, I wouldn’t feel OK doing something like that, but today? Today I take them right up on their offer and feel a hundred times more normal when they wake me up towards the end of my shift.

“Now that’s the life,” says Melissa, pretending to be all judgy. “Sleep on the job while your friends take up all the slack.”

Krystal nods and purses her lips. “I sure wouldn’t complain.”

I yawn and stretch and thank them over and over and over. Melissa brushes the gratitude off and tells me it was no big deal, but the look in her eyes tells me it was more of a deal than she’s letting on. She may not have been quite as OK with it if Krystal hadn’t made her evening as fun as she did.

Krystal grabs my arm and pulls me back while Melissa heads out of the break room. “You OK? You’ve been looking a little rough lately.”

“Ya, I know. I’m good though. Really.”

Krystal doesn’t look convinced. She searches my face and swallows. “Because if you’re having a problem, you know, a
substance
problem? I might be able to help. I’ve been clean two years now.” She offers me a weak smile, a smile without barriers, a smile that says I’m looking right at the real Krystal, no walls up at all. “You kind of remind me a little of me, back when I was using.”

It takes me a minute, but I catch on. Krystal’s talking about a twelve-step program. She thinks I’m on drugs. “Oh, no.” I smile. “I’m just burning the candle at both ends is all. Thank you for your concern. Like really,
thank you.
A lot.” I realize that sounds a lot like what an addict would say when confronted and I shrug and my voice just kind of trails off.

I try not to make it awkward as I make myself a coffee real quick and head out the door, but it sure feels awkward to me. I’m either going to have to do a better job of being OK at work, or I’m gonna have to find a new job and that just sucks. But none of that matters now because I’m gonna have to pull my wits together ‘cause I’m heading straight into the wolf den.

Chapter Eleven

Xavier looks up when I push through the double doors. “Hey! Lil’ witch!” I try not flinch. Must only be wolves here tonight or he wouldn’t have called me out like that. I think. “Wassup witchu?” It takes me a little too long to figure out he asked me
what’s up with you.

I shrug and rub my neck. “Tired.” He slides the sign in sheet across the desk and I scrawl my name in the appropriate box. “This is gonna suck.”

He chuckles. “You’ll feel better after you work out.”

“Is that your word for ‘more tired’? Better?” I roll my eyes. “Must be nice to have a supernatural affliction that gives you an over-abundance of energy.”

Xavier’s expression darkens. “Sure, if you don’t mind having every bone in your body break once a month. And waking up naked and bloody in some strange place after a night of eating who knows what. That’s another perk.”

Oh, shit. Talk about sticking my foot in my mouth. “I wasn’t thinking…”

Xavier holds up a hand and smiles. “No worries, we’re good lil’ witch.”

I scurry back to the locker room, returning a few waves to the regulars. As far as I can tell, there really aren’t any humans here today. Just me and the wolves.

I change my clothes and start to take off the necklace Barnabe gave me. But you know what? If it offers me protection, maybe I’d be smart to keep it on. Considering I’m deep in enemy territory and all that. I drape the thing around my neck and see it’s morphed again, leather chain becoming one of those metal beaded chains on dog tags.

“Hey.”

The voice comes from behind me and I about jump out of my skin. I spin and find a girl about my age. Slender. Toned. Gorgeous in a wild sort of way. She laughs and it’s rich and warm and inviting. “Sorry. Used to wolves. Didn’t mean to sneak up on you. You witches can’t hear for shit.”

My mind races. I’d love to fire off something witty, but all I can think of is something about not having my bones break once a month. It’s probably best if I keep that one in my head. I say the next thing I can think of. “I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be sorry. I scared you. That’s my bad, not yours.” She leans against the wall and I start to wonder what she’s after. “So, we’ve all been wondering. Why are you here?”

Well, hell. Here it is, then. The wolves have figured out I’m not just here to work out. They’ve sent this chick in to get some information from me and they’re all waiting outside to kill me. Or take me to Albert. Who’ll take me to Lucy. Who’ll kill me.

Geez, Zoe. Paranoid much? Let’s not jump the gun, here. Maybe this girl’s genuinely trying to start a conversation.

I should probably answer her question. You know, instead of just staring at her. “I got tired of not being strong,” I say and try not to cringe at how dumb it sounds.

“Alright,” she says, nodding her head a little. “So you’re here to get cut?”

Huh? What’s she talking about?

I must look as confused as I feel because she laughs again. “Why are you here? What are your goals? Like, why did you join a gym?”

“Ohhh.” I can’t help it. I totally let a little nervous laugh escape despite myself. “I just want to get in shape. Take control of my health. Lose some flab…? I don’t really have a goal, I guess.”

She gives me a look. Sizes me up. “You gotta name?”

“Zoe.”

“OK, Zoe. Here’s the deal. I’ve been watching ‘cause I’m nosy as all hell. Albert’s heart is in the right place, but he’s training you like a man. Don’t get me wrong, there’s nothing wrong with weight training. But you don’t look like the pick it up and put it down kind of girl.”

I’m confused again. “Pick it up and put it down?”

“Weights, Zoe.” Another laugh. “Do you like all the weights he’s got you doing?”

“Not really,” I say and it feels so good to admit it out loud. “But I’ve not been doing it that long. I just thought I’d like it better when I’m stronger.”

“How about you let me show you how I train? You’ll still have to do some strength stuff, but I bet you’ll feel better when you leave.”

That kinda sounds fantastic. I always feel awful when I leave the gym and haven’t understood why. I thought exercise was supposed to improve your mood. Endorphins and all that. I’d love a change in my workout, especially if I finally get all that increased energy everyone’s always talking about.

Except, you know, the whole reason I came here was to try to build a rapport with Albert so I might get more info on Lucy. Except now, Lucy knows what I’ve been doing and so maybe Albert does, too and maybe I’m not safe with him at all.

You know what? It’s been a long day. If this girl —wolf? How should I think of her? — has a workout that’ll leave me feeling better, I’d be a fool not to take her up on the offer. “You had me at ‘feel better once I leave.’ You think you can talk Albert into it?”

“Oh, girl. I just gotta wag my tail a little.” She smiles devilishly and gives her ass a little shake before she heads out of the locker room.

“Hey,” I say, and wait for her to turn back. “You gotta name?”

“Name’s Allison,” she says and disappears around the corner.

********

Allison was right. I feel
so
much better as I head back to the locker room to change my clothes. I’m drenched in sweat and my body’s a little trembly, but I’ve got more energy than I’ve had in days. I wonder how long it’ll last? Will I crash? Is this borrowed energy like the little dark magic jolts I gave myself yesterday?

I’d love to work out like this more often, but if I’m spending my gym time with Allison instead of Albert, that’ll keep me from building up a friendship with Albert. He came by to check on me once today, nodding at Allison’s no nonsense energy as she barked orders that somehow felt encouraging. Albert joked about feeling weird over on the wussy side of the gym and I wanted to slap him, but that’s about as far as our conversation went. Not exactly going to make us the best of friends. But, I didn’t get any weird feelings from him and Barnabe’s necklace just kept clinging to my sweaty neck and chest, no warning signs or funny feelings. Maybe Albert’s not as deeply in cahoots with Lucy as I thought he was.