Page 68 of Run From Me

I went to speak and was cut off as a shirt slid over my head.

“Cover yourself up, Sparky. And then tell us what the fuck happened. Why were you there? You answered the door, didn’t you?”

It wasn’t really a question from Xander. Those words had disappointment dripping all through them.

“I thought it was you, fuckstick. And you’ll excuse me for going with a guy with a knife. It was over Ripple. They wanted to know where he was. The only thing I did right today was checking in with a dead guy because I wasn’t born yesterday. I should be questioning why I haven’t once freaked out that he is dead, but we can talk about that later.”

I was staring at Rylee the whole time, too afraid to see the disappointment on Xander’s face, except when I turned to look at him, he was smiling.

“Aww. Sparky has a little demon in her, doesn’t she? He deserved what he got.”

I looked down at his leg where the knife wound had yet to heal.

“He did. He stabbed you and that pissed me off,” I said. I was damn happy that fucker was gone.

Xander grabbed me and pulled me back into his body, the T-shirt inches longer than my dress. At least I didn’t feel exposed now. Not physically anyway.

“I knew you cared, Sparky.”

I wanted the Xander who looked at me like there was a hell of lot more going on than just a casual sarcastic romp back, but here we were. His sarcasm was cute, but right now? I wanted something so much more.

“Okay, well. Guess it’s time to go back to my place.”

Cas tossed Xander and Zeid their phones, and Xander ignored my request for a few more seconds while the garage door scratched open again and a few more bikes pulled in and cut their engines.

“You won’t be going back tonight.”

All joking had completely disappeared from Xander’s voice as he showed me the camera view from my apartment. It showed at least two Vipers standing there.

I covered my mouth, trying to force back the fear, the anger, the need to scream.

“My life, it was fine. It was fine, and then you killed Ripple. Now they’re breathing down my neck. They know I know. They know I was with you near the hospital too. Did you know that?”

He spun me around.

“Your life sucked, sweetheart, so don’t give me that shit. Ripple might be what gives me an excuse to challenge the Vipers after too many years of a truce. A truce they don’t seem to respect anyway and they know it.”

I was breathing. I was trying to anyway. A rock sat in my stomach.

“Maybe we start some training with you tomorrow. Rylee, you got a sparring partner your own size for once.”

Rylee smiled at me, and that rock was still heavy but something else seemed to try and push it aside. Hope. That dangerous little thing I’d tried to find several times in my life and it was always the feeling that ended with me crashing and burning. I learned so long ago to just stop. Stop hoping, but Xander? His not so flowery words made me want to believe there was something else in this world than pain.

I glanced down at the screen he hadn’t closed.

“And clothes?”

He leaned down while holding me tighter as he whispered in my ear.

“I plan on getting you naked the second I can; no clothes required, princess.”

A shiver independent of the cold had goosebumps all over my skin as the ideas flooded my mind and memories resurfaced.

I took a deep breath and tried again. Tried what exactly? Tried to fight my way back to an apartment I didn’t trust anymore? Back to a life I didn’t want?

“What about my cat?”

I could practically hear the roll of Xander’s eyes.

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