Page 119 of Possess Me! (I Want You To)

Oh my god.

No.

No, no, no, no.

I stared at Prudence in horror, expecting—I don’t know what. Something not good. I wasn’t sure what his response to being called baby would be. Because he was a contrary creature, he did exactly what I didn’t expect. He dropped down into the seat obediently, and politely nodded at my mom, before turning his flickering blue gaze to mine.

My ass still stung from his palm.

My eyes were probably bugging out of my head but I couldn’t help it.

Helloooo?

Who the hell was this polite, obedient gentleman?

“You’re here early,” Mom said, immediately snatching my attention back from Prudence’s stoic figure. “I didn’t expect you till tomorrow—” She paused, then her eyes widened and narrowed in quick succession as she looked me over.

“Surprise?” I waggled jazz hands at her, my dirty fingers dancing.

Her tennis shoes were brand new.

Lucky.

“What the hell happened to you?” Very real concern flooded her expression as the pleased grin on her face died. The dirt had only distracted her for so long. “Oh, my sweet baby. You look like you took a cheese grater for a ride.”

Funny how I’d thought that exact same thing earlier.

I snorted out a laugh, even though my amusement died pretty quickly in light of her concern. Elizabeth Baker, my mother, was a nice lady. Forty-four years young. Tall. Blonde. With a long nose and freckles all over her face. She had so many, when I’d been a kid I’d taken to counting them, in the hopes of competing against her over who had more.

I had 998.

It was not a battle that I had won.

Luckily, we’d rehearsed our last day in the woods for this exact moment. So rather than panic, I just lied. “Car accident.” I made sure to inject the right amount of fear and sadness into my tone. “Prudence got lucky. He made sure to get me out of there—” I added that last part, because I wanted my mom to see Prudence as the hero he was. Maybe he hadn’t rescued me from a burning car—buuuut he had murdered a guy in cold blood to save me.

Everyone needed to know how great he was.

“A car accident?” Mom screeched, her voice so high-pitched I had to force myself not to cover my ears. “Fuckin’ hell, kid. Why didn’t you call me?”

“My phone was an unfortunate casualty.” We’d rehearsed this too. I pulled the battered thing from my pocket and waved it at her as proof. “Pru is against pretty much all technology—so he doesn’t have one. We walked most of the way here.” This technically wasn’t a lie, either. Prudence had died before cell phones had become a common commodity. Technology—he’d mentioned—was silly, and unnecessary. Privately, I thought he just didn’t want to admit he didn’t know how to use more than half of it.

I…waited.

Hoping she’d buy it.

My injuries didn’t perfectly align with the story—but it was the best and most believable thing we’d been able to come up with on short notice.

The ticking of the clock above the stove marked the passage of time as Paul hauled a pan out of the cupboard and slapped buttered bread onto it. The scent of grilled cheese filled the air and my stomach gurgled, reminding me, despite the excitement, how absolutely starved I was. Glasses clinked as Paul mixed up a twin set of chocolate milk cups, then deposited them in front of Prudence and I on the table.

“Honey—” Mom started, clearly alarmed. Paul made a quiet shushing noise, halting her next round of hysterics.

“Stop harassing, Luca, baby. He needs a first-aid kit, not a shake down.” God bless Paul.

“You’re right.” Mom laughed, though she still looked concerned, and shellshocked. Her expression shifted however as she turned her attention back to Prudence. “Prudence?” She hummed, voice quiet.

He stiffened, and I waited with baited breath to see what would happen next. Had she not believed me after all? Were we fucked? Was she about to ask a shit ton of questions I didn’t have answers for?

Prudence was staring at Mom like a deer in headlights. His expression would’ve been hilarious in any other situation. I so rarely saw him uncertain.

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