“Fine,” Cam finally said.“But as soon as the meeting is over, we’re returning.”
Link closed his eyes and leaned back against the headrest.“Just get us home.”
Chapter 9
Rabid And Mangy.
“With every paranormal book I’ve read, you’d think I’d be prepared for meeting a shifter.I mean, I’d already toyed with the idea they were real, right?Yet, when I was slapped upside the head with the reality of it, my mind couldn’t grasp it.It’s like the rational side of us just can’t grasp something so irrational.If it doesn’t make sense, our minds want to naturally dismiss it.Of course, fear probably has something to do with it as well.After all, if something we’re naturally afraid of doesn’t exist, then we can’t really be afraid of it.I know.It makes no sense, and yet, you’re currently nodding your head in agreement.Welcome to the club.”~Lola
Lola’s breathing grew shallow as her lungs tightened and her heartbeat pounded out the rhythm toI’ll Be Watching You.Yes, she knew the old stalker anthem because Maddie had a thing for 80’s music.The song had been running through her head since the first time she felt watched.She still hadn’t managed to get a look at whoever her stalker was, but she’d felt his stare on her the entire time she was in the coffee shop.The longer she sat there, the more pissed off she became.
She wanted to go home, but she was too scared to get up and move.Okay, so part of her really hoped she’d see him.She wanted to know who it was.But the day just wore on as she drank cup after cup of coffee.She finally made herself get up to pee, because it was either that, or pee on herself.She wasn’t quite ready to let fear make a complete ass out of her.She trekked her short legs back to her chair and continued to bounce her gaze around the room, out the window, and back again.Looking for anyone who stood too still, or stayed in the same spot for too long.Nothing.At some point, she’d literally drifted off to sleep.Who can sleep with that much caffeine in them?Apparently I can.When she’d woken up, the sun had set and it was dark outside.
Now here she was, walking home like a fool.She hadn’t called or texted either of her friends because she was going to get an earful.Her parents would probably just think she was working a double.Idiot,she admonished herself.Why didn’t I walk home while it was still daylight?Because of Cam and Tag.At least, they were half the reason.
The hairs on the back of her neck rose and goosebumps popped up on her arms.She took a deep breath and blew it out.She was done with this.She sat all damn day in a coffee shop like a scared rabbit.It was time to stop walking and face the person who wouldn’t leave her alone.Also, her curiosity was completely unhealthy and it would most definitely be the death of her.Gotta die sometime,she thought as she stopped in her tracks and slowly turned around.She walked home from the NNP every single day and up until the past few weeks it had never felt unsafe.Usually she had Maddie or Katy with her, or both of them, but sometimes she was by herself.NNP was only a few blocks away from home, but it was further from the coffee shop.Currently, it felt like miles, though that was hardly the case.
She slipped her backpack from her arms and reached into the side pocket that was supposed to be for a water bottle.But she used it for Tazmina, Taz for short.And yes, she’d named her taser.It seemed appropriate that it might very well save her from being abducted, and something that useful deserved a name.Lola blew out a breath causing her cheeks to puff out as her eyes wandered around the street.
“I know you’re following me,” Lola said, trying to sound bold but falling short because her voice cracked like a boy going through puberty.She cleared her throat and tried again.“You might as well show yourself.I’m not going to move until you do.”Okay, so that was thedumbestthreat she could have made.It was like screaming, ‘Here I am!Take me, I’m yours!’and not in a sexy way that a girl might say to a guy she had a crush on.“Dammit all to hades and back again,” she muttered under her breath.She debated on whether she should stick to her non-threat, because seriously, itwasn’ta threat, or if she should just tuck tail like a chicken and run.Something told her that she wouldn’t be able to outrun her pursuer.It made her feel like prey, and Lola was not okay with feeling like a scared rabbit.Hence being pissed off for hiding in the coffee shop.Even if deep, deep down she actually did feel like one, but was too proud to admit it.“Pride comes before the fall, Lola,” she said as she continued to scan her surroundings for any movement.“Also, standing in the dark talking to a stalker comes before losing organs, or taking a trip to some secluded barn with a meat hook hanging from the ceiling, and all sorts of torture devices laid out on a wobbly, old table.”
“Why do you do that?”a deep voice rumbled, sending shivers down her spine.The voice couldn’t be more than fifteen-feet away.Which was crazy because she couldn’t see anyone and there wasn’t anywhere for someone to hide that close to her.
It was too late to turn tail, especially since she knew how close he was.Why, oh why, did she have to be so damn curious, even to the point of stupidity.Because that’s what it was to be curious about a person who’d been following her for weeks.Weeks, Lola,she mentally kicked her own ass.What the hell are you thinking?
“You have challenged me, but you won’t answer my question,” the man said in a taunting voice.
A tiny bit of her fear was snuffed out by her annoyance at being mocked.Not that he was wrong.Lolahadchallenged him to step out of the shadows and finally face her.Taz suddenly felt very inadequate as a weapon.Just his voice alone intimidated her.
“Why do I do what?”she finally asked.Perhaps, if she made him see her as a person, and not as the object of his fascination, or his prey, he would be less inclined to abduct her.Isn’t that what you were supposed to do when faced with a kidnapper?Lola was pretty sure she’d seen that somewhere on one of those crime documentaries Katy made her watch on occasion.“Okay, it’s not really smart to think aboutanyof those shows.Especially considering your current predicament.”
“You talk out loud, even though there’s no one to listen to you.You do it all the time.”
Lola narrowed her eyes as she still tried to find him, though all she had were the street lights to help her out.“Which you only know because you’ve been following me.”
“Yes,” he said simply.
“That’s all I get?”Lola frowned.“Yes?No explanation?”
“You’ve yet to answer my question,” he pointed out.
“Quid pro quo, huh?”She folded her arms across her chest, Taz still gripped tightly in one of them.“Fine.”Maddie and Katy were going to slap her into next week for doing this.If she survived the encounter, that is.“I talk to myself when I’m nervous, or stressed, or annoyed, or excited, or –”
“Basically any reason,” he interrupted.Rude.
Lola bit her bottom lip and then said.“What can I say?I’m a great listener.”Dropping her arms as she attempted to prepare herself to use her taser if he attacked her.“I answered you.Now, it’s your turn.Show yourself and tell me why you’ve been following me.”She waited for his reaction to her demand.Lola’s fear ratcheted up a notch when the air around her thickened.The scurrying sound of cats, stray dogs and rats were oddly absent.Considering New York was never quiet or still, it was the eeriest thing she’d ever experienced.Other than being followed for weeks, that is.
“Look up,” his voice said, now even closer.
Lola’s head slowly tilted back, and she gasped.A form, a very large form, crouching on the edge of the escape ladder on the apartment building she’d been walking past.He was two stories above her and looked as if he might fall off at any moment.“So not only is he creepy, he’s also crazy,” she said softly.Then added, “Those two things are pretty much always a pair.”
Lola screeched as the crazy man pushed from the ladder falling to the ground, but instead of going splat, he landed on his feet with freakish ease and grace.His feet didn’t even make noise when they hit the ground.“I’m hallucinating,” she said as she took a step back.“That’s the only explanation.Some pissed off coffee employee drugged my coffee because I sat there too long and I am hallucinating.”She glanced around to see if anyone else had seen him, but the few people scattered on the sidewalks didn’t pay them any attention.
He tilted his head to the side in a completely non-human way.It reminded Lola of the way her cat sometimes looked at her when she spoke to him.Though she knew Dog couldn’t understand her, it often felt like he tried to.
“You know you’re not,” the man said as he pushed up from the crouched stance he’d landed in.His body kept rising until she had to tilt her head back to look up at him.He had to be at least six and a half feet or taller.Considering Lola was barely five-foot-one, many people were taller than her, but this dude towered above her.“You’ve been noticing things about my kind for a while now.Does that mean you’ve been drugged all this time?”
“Yep,” she answered without thought.“Maybe I’ve been eating moldy cheese and it’s causing the symptoms.It’s totally possible.”
