Shifter Magick (4 page)

But it would be dangerous for her. Even listening to her f
ather unearthed
long buried emotions within her. The tears were the first clue she watched for. If they came she had to set the phone down and get herself together.
She was glad her mother’s things were making him happy.

Kera looked out the two story window and watched the students below. It seemed everyone was smiling or laughing in a group. The weekend was here and the mood was light. The weather was cool but rain free. The moon was layered in clouds making it look colder than it was outside. All the girls still wore skirts and low cut shirts. They dressed provocative in order to attract attention from the boys. Kera didn’t think that was the best way to go about getting a date. She knew none of them wanted to hear her opinion, she didn’t even know them. “I don’t need fake friends.” She whispered to herself.

When she turned
back to her homework she caught
movement out of the corner of her eye.

Startled, she almost dumped papers and a book onto the floor. She slammed her hands down on top of them to steady
them and
her heart jumped into her throat.

Maddox rounded a column of books and smiled right at her. “Hi.” He greeted her
and raised his hand in a friendly wave.

Kera was too shocked to move so she just smiled back and hoped it wasn’t unnatural. When she finally remembered to breathe his scent invaded her lungs and she realized he must have been in the library for a while. She just ignored the scent because she was always thinking about it anyway.

Maddox sat down in a chair beside her and started twirling a pen through his fingers.

Kera watched until he stopped, then she looked up and her stomach fluttered with a million butterflies. “What?”

“I
think I
know you from somewhere.” Maddox
murmured
. His voice was soothing and deep. He spoke softly but didn’t mumble. Kera decided she liked his voice.

Swallowing a lump in her throat, Kera answered him. “We have a class together.” Hopefully he didn’t think she was crazy for staring at him. Maybe she could say she thought she recognized him but it turned out she was mistaken. She groaned inwardly and decided she wouldn’t like lying to him.

Her answer didn’t squelch his curious expression. He looked down at his pen and wat
ched it spin for a moment. “
I remember.” He dismissed her answer. “Is that it?”

Kera nodded. “I just moved here from Texas.”

She blushed when he turned his attention back to her. His ice blue eyes were locked onto hers. “Have you visited before?”

“No.”

“Hmmm.”
He murmured.

Kera watched him think and was grateful he had the pen for his distraction. It gave her the chance to learn his face. He was perfectly made. Dark eyelashes and full lips. A strong jaw and broad
shoulders. He was probably in his early twenties but it was obvious he took very good care of his body. He was tall and she found she liked that about him too. “You
’
r
e
Maddox right?”

When he looked back at her, her breath caught. “Yes.” He flashed a quick smile. “You?”

“Kera Conway.”

He frowned at her name and Kera wondered if it was because he didn’t recognize it. Was he disappointed? Her stomach fluttered. She found that she didn’t like the idea of him leaving even though he was probably about to leave now that he knew she wasn’t the one he was looking for. He sat up more straight in his chair and turned serious. “So you know Nick and Andrew?” His tone wasn’t as smooth now. Crisp and business like.

“Not really.”
Kera felt like cool water was poured over her. She was having a hard time handling these jumps in emotions. First she was hot. Now she was cold. Flustered and then hopeful, sad and embarrassed. If she kept this up any longer she would need to get out of there but she stayed
to test her limits. “Are you related to Nick?”

“He’s my cousin.”
She was surprised to hear Maddox’s heart rate double
.

Kera felt hers kick into overdrive also. She looked at him but didn’t find any sign that he was distressed. He glanced at her then back to his pen. He tapped it against his leg slowly and Kera found it calming. She wanted to laugh when the pounding in her ears matched the rhythm of his pen. She didn’t know what just happened. It was like he had an adrenaline rush and she decided to follow along. His pen trick came in handy but now Kera was on edge.

That could have been a disaster.

“I saw you talking to them after class last Monday.”Maddox continued.

“They wanted to quiz me on why I didn’t go to their party the night before.” She explained.

His brow’s furrowed.
“You didn’t go?”

Was he surprised? “No.” She studied him for a moment, perplexed by the tone he used.

Maddox smiled but didn’t elaborate.

“What? My not going to their party makes you happy?”

“They are probably having another one tonight. I’m sure you haven’t missed much.” He looked at his watch. “If you leave now you could make it.”

Again with the ice. Kera felt the disappointment all the way to her toes.
Did Andrew arrange this meeting? She could see it now, Andrew telling Nick to call his hot cousin and have him convince Kera to come to the party. He couldn’t do it himself but he was persistent enough to recruit just about anyone.
“That’s why you’re here?”
She gathered her things and began stuffing them into her bag unceremoniously. “Th
ey sent you to invite me too.” S
he accused.
Andrew
probably didn’t have a clue that she was obsessed with Maddox and his plan was doomed from the start.

“Why didn’t you go?” Maddox was saying.

Kera ignored him and stood up. “Look, it was nice to meet you but maybe you could just spread the word so I don’t have to repeat myself,” she glanced at him but stayed strong, “I’m not interested in going to some random house with a bunch of people I don’t know.”

Maddox stood alongside her. “I didn’t mean to upset you.” His apology seemed sincere. His heart rate speed up and so did hers. She had to get out of there now. Before she could get around him, Maddox got her attention. Kera looked down to see his hand touching hers. “I wasn’t going to invite you to any party.”

It took a moment to sink in, then another for her to believe him. Her hand tingled where he touched her and lingered even after he stopped. His skin felt hotter than normal and it warmed her all the way to her shoulder. His eyes regarded her curiously and she was captivated by them. Hypnotized. “Then what?” she asked.

Maddox stood like a statue in front of her
, blocking her way. “I guess you caught my eye the other day.” He blinked, breaking the connection between them. His eyes seemed to darken.

Kera’s jaw dropped slightly as she took a sharp breath. “I didn’t mean to stare.” She wished she could leave but her legs were lead weigh
ts. She was about a foot shorter
than him and couldn’t figure out where to look. She couldn’t meet his eyes with the embarrassment she harbored but if she looked straight ahead she would be staring at his chest. She was intrigued by the outlines of muscle beneath his shirt and that wasn’t helping the situation.

Maddox sat down. “Were you planning on spending the weekend in the library?”

Kera watched him twirl his pen again. She shook her head and smiled. Her heart was calm and he hadn’t
chastised
her for staring. Maybe she should stay a bit longer. “I don’t know.” She answered him then sat back in her chair with her bag on her lap.

“We could get coffee.”

“I don’t know.” Kera repeated quietly. Was he asking her out? She watched his pen and let it calm her now raging nerves. If she was anyone else, she would have said yes but she was a possibly crazy freak with weird abilities and weirder possibilities. Kera felt the gravity of her situation and the heavy grief it brought. She would never be able to have a relationship. Not with Maddox, not with anyone.

“Do you always do that?” Maddox asked her.

“What?”

Maddox narrowed his eyes at her curiously, like he was trying to see through her to what she was thinking. “Do you spend all of your time alone?”

Kera was surprised he could tell. She must have a sign around her neck saying socially awkward, spends
too much
time alone.
“I guess so.” But wasn’t he the one Rebecca said was unobtainable. He did the same thing too.

“Any particular reason why?”

“Does it really matter?” Kera flinched when she realized that now she was just being rude.

Maddox didn’t seem to be fazed by her. In fact he looked more intrigued. He took his time on what seemed to be an internal debate before he spoke. “If you don’t like coffee we could get something else.”

Kera was instan
tly flattered. He wanted to hang
out with her. Not because he thought he knew her or because someone asked him to, because he wanted to. She caught his eye. She felt greedy all of the sudden. This could be a bad idea but her mind couldn’t supply how. It was just coffee. “
Okay
. Coffee is great.” She agreed.

“Great.” Maddox stood up and held a hand out to her.

Kera looked at it and realized he wanted to help her up. With a gulp she reached out. A zing of warmth caught her off guard. “Sorry.” Kera said quickly, thinking she shocked him. She reached back and grasped his hand.

The moment froze. Time stood still as their hands touched. A warm flood of sensation traveled from his fingers to her hand and then through her body. Maddox pulled her up effortlessly and looked over her curiously before letting go of her hand.

Kera wanted to ask if he felt it too but she didn’t have the guts. Maybe he was regretting his invite to coffee. She couldn’t imagine how she looked from his point of view. Did her expression reveal
the chaos that was going on inside of her? She contemplated this as she followed him out of the library. Once outside Maddox placed his hand on the small of her back to guide her in the right direction.

Kera blushed red hot and found his car right beside them.

“A work in progress.” Maddox explained the half finished state of his sports car. “I spend most of my time rebuilding it.”

“What is it?” Kera asked. She hoped she didn’t offend him if it was a classic or maybe something she was supposed to recognize.

“It’s a 67 Mustang GT 500.” He said dismissively. “A couple of years ago it was in mint condition but the owner destroyed it in an almost fatal accident.”

Kera shivered at the mention of a car accident. She pushed the thought out of her head and smiled when he opened the door for her. She was surprised
that
guys still did that.

Maddox even shut the door for her when she was settled inside.

T
he inside of the car wasn’t any better than the outside. If the accident happened years ago, how come the car was still so unfinished? She didn’t know much about cars so maybe it took forever for
someone to build a car alone. Or maybe he didn’t have that much free time.

Maddox got in the driver’s seat and started the engine.

Kera laughed.

“What?” Maddox ask
ed
, returning her smile.

“I didn’t expect the engine to sound so smooth. Is that what you spend most of your time on?”

Something about his eyes changed. He was hiding something she couldn’t pick out. “That was the first thing I fixed.” He said.

Kera nodded. “
So how is the original owner?” S
he asked wondering how bad the accident was to make the car look like this, years later.

The car edged out of the parking lot. “I’m fine.” He said and flashed
a
bashful smile. “Don’t worry, I’m a much better driver since.”

Kera noticed her heart thumped with anxiety. She wasn’t afraid of car accidents, it was the memories of them that terrified her. She looked out the window and noticed the glass reflected back into the car. She watched Maddox driving in silence. He looked relaxed but his heart beat fast too. She considered herself crazy for agreeing to this. She just met him and here she was in the car with him.

He could take
her anywhere he wanted.

Kera smiled at the thought. She wasn’t worried about being overpowered by someone because she was really strong. After her mother’s accident and the life altering dreams and memories of how she found her mother afterword, Kera tried to explain to the therapist about the changes in her body. She could see better, hear better and her strength was unexplainable. Even if she left out the memory of seeing her hands turn into hairy claws, she knew she was different. But Dr. Clark said she created the idea of strength because she felt powerless.
He would
n’t
accept
it when she told him
her changes happened before the accident.