Page 57 of Mimic
I shook my head, chuckling at her, and started my car. I heard Archie’s bike rumble behind us as he started it up and followed us out of the parking lot.
The scent of freshly ground coffee swirled around me the moment I walked into The Coffee Shop. I inhaled deeply and closed my eyes.
“Oh my God, you’re like me. I knew we were kindred spirits!”
“What?” I laughed, and Kytten bounced on her toes.
“Kindred spirits.” When I stared at her blankly, she continued, “Someone you share an instant connection with. Someone who feels like family the moment you meet them.”
“You think we’re kindred spirits?” My voice was rough as it tried to claw its way over the lump in my throat.
“I told you. Sisters.” Kytten wrapped her arms around my waist, right there in the store. Not a single fuck given to who might be watching us, judging us.
I didn’t have any siblings, at least none that I knew of. I’d always wanted a sister.
We ordered our coffees and sat at a table by the window. We talked about superficial things. Kytten told me about growing up with Val, and how the Nyght Nymphs had been a huge part of who she was today.
I talked about Alice and Jenny as though we were friends who grew up together, making up stories as if we actually did the things we talked about doing in those quiet mornings and dark evenings.
I had become a master at telling a tale. Making it just silly enough, or just scary enough, or even just boring enough, that people would believe it without asking too many questions.
Kytten received a text and gulped the rest of her drink, telling me it was time to get back. Only I didn’t want to go back. I wanted to go to my own apartment, watch my own television, and live my own life.
“Okay,” I relented. “Let me use the restroom, and I’ll meet you outside.” I didn’t wait for her to respond. I needed a few moments to build up my resolve.
My hand slapped onto the door to push it open when an arm grabbed me and swung me around.
I didn’t think; I just reacted. Instinct kicked in, or maybe it was a sense of self-preservation. Either way, my fist shot out and hit the man’s face. I recognized him right away as the guy who clocked me at the studio.
His hand let go of my arm and went to his nose. Before he could get his bearings, I swung around and lifted my foot, making contact with the side of his head.
He hit the floor, his eyes closed. He didn’t move as I waited for him to stand. I guess Tiffany was right. I was a natural.
Kytten rushed down the hall, followed by Archie.
“What the fuck?”
“It’s the guy who hit me at the shop.” My hands were shaking from the adrenaline rush. Audrey, the shop owner, came around the corner and froze.
“Oh shit. Let me grab some zip ties.” She disappeared, and I looked at Kytten.
“That wouldn’t have been my first instinct,” I confessed.
“No, your first instinct was better,” Archie said, nodding at the unconscious man on the floor. He took the zip ties from Audrey and secured his hands behind his back.
“I have to call this in.”
“Damn, there goes our freedom,” Kytten said.
I slumped against the wall and slid down onto my ass. I held my head in my hands. There was no question now about why he was here.
My father knew where I was.
Chapter Twenty-One
Mimic
“What have you found, Nav?”
