Page 93 of It's You
“You do?”
“I gave it to her, Jack. She lost it. In college.”
“She didn’t lose it. I took it.” He may as well come clean. “And I returned it last week when I left flowers for her on your porch swing.”
“You came into our house?”
“I put the necklace in her jewelry box and left.”
“Jesus, Jack. That’s trespassing. And pretty creepy.”
“I’m sorry. I don’t have a good excuse. I couldn’t give it to her, and I’d waited a long time to return it.”
There was a long pause on the other end, and Jack worried Willow had hung up.
“Willow?”
“You know, I…I want to believe you.”
“Then, please,believe me. We kissed when we were kids, the summer before my eighteenth birthday. It bound us together. Her to me and me to her. It shouldn’t have happened. It should have been impossible, but it happened. And yes, I have to shift when the moon is full. For three nights. But I don’t hunt. I lock myself away. I wouldn’t hurt her. I wouldn’t hurt any of her kind.”
“Where do you lock yourself?”
“Under my garage,” he answered. “You want to see it? You can go there and see it.”
“How do I get in?” Willow asked.
“Garage code is DARCY on the alphanumeric keypad. Back of the garage. You’ll see a metal door and another keypad. That one is ROUG78. You’ll be able to see the control room, and if you flick the cameras on, you’ll be able to see the vault. I’m sorry, but you can’t go in. The only way to get into the vault is a combined retinal and fingerprint scan, so you’ll have to take my word for it. But there’s no escaping, believe me. Once you’re in, you’re in until the door unbolts automatically, which, for me, is generally seventy-two hours. Go see it.”
“This is some crazy shit, Jack.”
“It sounds crazy, but it’s true. Your tribe’s legend is my pack’s history. Is that really so unbelievable, Willow?”
There was a long pause as he waited for her to answer. He heard her sigh.
“What a life you dragged my friend into. Wanting you for decades, she finally gets you, and surprise! You’re a werewolf.”
He heard the very slight tone of humor in her voice, and it made his muscles relax. He spoke calmly. “Not a werewolf. A Roux-ga-roux. Full-blooded, not turned. And I had no idea that kiss would be binding. I never would have?—”
“I can’t believe I’m having this conversation.”
“You believe me, Willow?”
“Sort of. MyNohkomsaid…” She paused. “It doesn’t matter. I’m going to check out your…vault. Hey. How’d you get Amory to build something so creepy for you?”
Jack smiled. “I told him it was a wine cellar.”
“Figures. Amory loves his wine.”
“From what I hear, Amory loves his Willow.” He blurted out the words without thinking, then cringed, recognizing the likelihood that he’d offended her, overstepping the very fragile limits of their relationship.
She paused again, and he heard the sharpness in her voice when she finally spoke. “We’re not that good of friends yet, Jack. I’ll be in touch.”
She hung up. The call was done, and he hadn’t had the chance to ask about Darcy again. His longing for her surged up inside of him. He had to connect with her.
He looked in the rearview mirror, but the road was quiet. No one coming or going. He locked the car doors, closed his eyes, and put his head back against the headrest.
Then he pulled her inside.
