Chapter 9

9

The immediate clench of fear in my gut at being stranded began to fade slightly the more time passed. Maybe Big Dan had been right about the car. I was stuck miles away from civilization in a broken-down heap.

The next thought was how I’d made a bad mistake in picking the worst car on the lot when I should have settled for something middle of the road for a little more money.

“Come on, baby. I know you can do this.” I spoke softly to the car, cajoling the way one would with a child or a scared animal.

I turned the key in the ignition repeatedly, listening to the slowly fading hum of the starter. This couldn’t be happening.

“You have to be kidding me!”

Fumbling to find the release, I popped the hood and stepped out of the car. The night was silent. Heavy. The weight of the silence bore down on me and I stared out into the darkness creeping closer and closer. I was in the middle of nowhere, rural Massachusetts, tall trees blocking my views of the sky.

“Breathe, Tavi, breathe,” I told myself.

Hands fisting my hair into knots, I tried to follow my own advice and failed miserably, my lungs aching. I was still too far away from the school to walk and I definitely didn’t feel comfortable walking at this hour. Not when I wanted to keep my shifter side a secret—and it left me in a vulnerable position.

I opened the hood although I had no clue what I was doing. Smoke lay in a low blanket over most of the mechanics and I fanned it away on a cough, trying to see.

Not knowing what I was looking for, I couldn’t find the source of the problem and ended up choking on the smoke.

“This is fixable.” I spoke to myself to break up the cloying darkness pressing closer. I couldn’t take the quiet much longer. “No big deal. I’ll call a tow truck and get a lift to the nearest garage. I’ve got money, no problem, I can get the car fixed and maybe catch a ride to the school tomorrow.”

A tentative plan in place felt better than the underlying layer of helplessness I wanted to succumb to. But when I unlocked my phone and checked for bars, my heart sunk. A total dead zone. No wonder the GPS hadn’t been working.

A cold sweat broke out over my skin. I couldn’t even call 911 if I wanted to.

An owl hooted from somewhere in the woods and I nearly jumped out of my skin, diving back into the car. I closed the door behind me, making sure to engage the lock.

Minutes crept by. Only a single car passed me on the road and they didn’t stop. I wasn’t sure whether it made me happy or anxious.

More minutes. Then an hour. And another.

Teeth clenched, I shook out my hands to try and relieve some tension. “It’s okay, it’s okay, it’s okay.” I twisted the key in the ignition again, on the off chance the engine had rested enough to work this time.

Nope, no such luck.

It felt better to have the overhead light on. Then again, with the light, everything outside could see me and I couldn’t see a thing in return. The battery would only last for so long.

“I’m losing my marbles.” I let out a low laugh, letting my head hit the rest behind me. If this was a test, then I was foolish and had failed miserably. I’d wanted so badly to escape my situation I’d backed myself into this corner, the night outside a dark veil snapping with all manner of bad things.

I swallowed hard. Whatever shred of hope I’d been clinging to, whatever foolish optimism about this plan actually working began to shrivel.

This changed nothing, I tried to tell myself, tucking away my fear. I still needed to escape Kendrick. This was nothing but a tiny bump in the road.

Why did I have trouble believing in myself?

A pair of headlights cut through the blackness, slowing when they saw me, although I almost missed them with the overhead light on. I flipped the light off, torn once again between wanting the help and not wanting a stranger to come up and find me in a compromised position.

I didn’t want to let the wolf out. I couldn’t, or else I’d draw any nearby werewolves to me with my scent.

The vehicle ended up pulling over behind the Toyota. I stilled, hoping it was a police car of some sort. And not a serial killer looking for his next victim.

Maybe I’d overestimated my abilities to handle things on my own.

“Hey, are you okay?”

I cracked the window just enough to hear the stranger but not enough for him to stick his arm inside. I didn’t see much beyond a flash of blond hair and tanned skin. It was enough for me to know to keep my guard high. “Not really,” I told the stranger. “The car won’t start and I don’t have any cell service.”

The guy ducked down until we were at eye level. I stared at him for the longest time, willing my jaw to get back in its usual place after it dropped, my heart thudding once, twice. The guy was gorgeous. Had I somehow broken down in an alternate dimension? My luck wasn’t good enough for this kind of thing to happen. Men who looked like him only existed in fairy tales.

My suspicion rose.

He wasn’t conventionally handsome, I realized the more I stared at him, not like the kind of guys who graced magazine covers. His nose was a tiny bit too long and his face too narrow for him to fit into any box. But he had intense green eyes and shiny golden hair, ruffled around his face with the night breeze. My age or thereabouts. Some innate female instinct told me he would be a good kisser, and when he looked at me, that’s all I thought about.

The suspicion rose higher to choke me. A seductive serial killer would be just my luck.

The guy had asked me a question, and I shook my head, not hearing him. “What?”

“I asked where you’re headed,” he repeated.

I kept the window up although it offered little protection if Mr. Gorgeous wanted to punch his way through it. He had the muscle to do it. “I wanted to get to a motel. I think there’s one just down the road but the old girl decided to give out on me. She just won’t start.”

“How long have you been out here?”

Should I tell him the truth? “Long enough,” I answered vaguely.

“Well, let me give you a lift,” the guy offered. He glanced ahead at the dark road leading forward. “I’m headed there anyway. Might as well help a damsel in distress.”

“I’m no man’s damsel.” The in distress part, on the other hand…

I knew better than to get into a random person’s car. If I had to wolf out and eat him, then I could, but it was a last resort for a no-win situation. Even if he was handsome as sin. Even if part of me did draw toward him wanting to be touched.

I trusted my instincts and I didn’t get a bad feeling from him so…good thing? That in itself gave me pause.

“Look, you can wait here for someone else if you want. I doubt you’ll get a better offer than this, and I can promise you you’ll arrive at your motel in the same state I found you.” He held his hands out in front of him to show me his sincerity. “I’m not gong to hurt you. I promise.”

I debated it for approximately four seconds before agreeing. I didn’t want to sit on the side of the road any longer. “Um, sure,” I said. “Thank you. I appreciate the help.”

“Are you moving?” He pointed to the luggage in the back.

I shrugged. “Maybe. Going far enough from home I needed to pack my bags.” Yeah, sorry guy. You might be good-looking but I wasn’t going to tell you everything.

I stepped out of the car and stood next to him. He looked younger up close, his face unlined and putting him much closer to my age—or at least what I could see of his face in the darkness looked young. He stood about eight inches taller, the gap between us enough he had to look down at me.

Then his face broke into a smile. My brain turned to mush.

Hubba hubba.

“You look like you’re school-age,” he said in an echo of my inner sentiment. “Are you taking classes somewhere? An academy, perhaps?”

My head snapped up, chest tightening as alarm bells clanged. There was no way he could possibly know. “What do you mean?”

His eyes didn’t leave my face. “It was an honest question.”

At least he didn’t try to call me any pet names. Score one for the handsome stranger.

His nose, cheeks, and brow were sculpted and sharp, jaw strong and lips plump. The dark green shirt he wore was plain and tight enough to stretch across a broad chest, echoing the color of his eyes. The light gold of his hair reflected the moonlight and through the strands I saw the delicate point of his arched ears.

Oh my.

He didn’t bother to hide them from me. My heart beat so fast I thought I would lose my dinner. “You’re Fae.” Yes, it made sense. No human looked supernaturally beautiful or could draw me to him so easily.

I tried not to consider what this meant. And definitely tried not to look too hard at him.

The gold-haired boy cracked another smile, wider this time. “I wondered when you’d figure it out. You’re Fae, too. I noticed the moment you opened the window, sensing a little zip of magic when I looked at you. Which makes my question about the academy a little easier to handle, right? Makes me seem a little less like a jerk?”

I inched closer to the car, letting the metal of the door cool my suddenly overheated skin. He’d sensed the Fae in me immediately. What did it mean for me? Would he be able to sense the shifter part easily, too? I’d need to be careful going forward. But the motel was close. I could make it through a short ride.

“My name is Tavi,” I supplied, holding out a hand for him to take.

“Michael. But you can call me Mike.” He took my hand in a firm shake that thankfully did not move worlds. Although it held potential. “Let’s get your things out of the car and deliver you to the motel. It’s not safe for you out here.”

I huffed a laugh. “I like to think I can take care of myself.”

His strange green eyes pinned me in place as if he could detect every move I made, every muscle in my body tense and primed to fight. “Of course you can, but it doesn’t mean I can’t offer to help you,” he said with another flash of teeth. “Especially considering I’m heading to the academy, too.”

“You are?” I blinked at him, trying to put two and two together and coming up short. I blamed it on the lack of sleep and too many days of worry.

“It’s my first semester,” Mike stated easily as he gestured for me to follow him. “Please don’t think less of me when I admit I’m a little nervous about it. I’ve never been to a school like this before. It’s going to be a new experience.”

He was heading to the Halflings Academy as well. Which meant he was my…my competition. With spaces limited, a girl had to look out for herself.

“I’m nervous too,” I told him.

“But are you as nervous as I am?”

“Probably more so.” I watched him move to the backseat, lug my suitcase and duffel bag out of the Toyota and drag everything to his own vehicle parked several feet behind. He had more than enough room for both of our stuff.

“Oh, doubtful,” he said with a laugh. I could tell he wanted to put me at ease and appreciated the kindness. I only hoped it wouldn’t turn around to bite me in the ass.

“You don’t seem to have a lot packed,” I commented.

Mike swung around to stare at his own luggage, mouth quirked. “Well, dudes don’t have quite as much as girls. Plus, I travel light. I find it’s easier for me to pick up and leave if I don’t have too many things weighing me down. You know?”

He turned back to me and my cheeks heated even as I let out a tight breath. “It makes sense.” I was in the same boat, yet I’d managed to bring almost double what Mike had.

He finished adding my luggage to his own and slid behind the wheel. I took the passenger seat, noting the spotless interior, the clean dashboard, and the tiny bag of herbs hanging from the rearview mirror. I drew in a breath and caught the scent of lavender and rosemary then clicked my seatbelt into place.

It must be a Fae thing. I had a lot to learn.

“Hey, I’m not going to bite. You don’t have to worry so much.” Mike flashed me a grin with white teeth gleaming in a way that almost suggested otherwise. Or maybe it was just my imagination but my insides prickled, and not in a bad way.

“I appreciate your stopping to help me,” I said as he pulled the car away from the side of the road.

“No problem. Once we get settled in, I can help you call someone to take care of your car, although I don’t think anyone is going to bother it. It’s old enough to dissuade any would-be thief.”

I waved the comment away. “Don’t even worry about it. I’m not. There are other things for me to focus on than your old car.”

Mike had been respectful enough of me and my boundaries to lead me to believe he was a nice person. Still, I had to be careful and watch every step.

“You know, I’m thinking…you don’t need to stay at a motel. The academy will let us in tonight if you want.”

I swallowed. “Tonight?” I thought I’d have enough time to settle myself, to figure things out before getting to the school in the morning.

This put me in a tenuous mental position.

“Yup, no need to stop,” he said with a quick glance in my direction. “Besides, then you won’t have to pay for a taxi to get you there in the morning. We can get there in less than an hour, if you’re ready.”

No. I didn’t feel one bit ready. I forced a grin anyway.

“Okay, fine. Bring it on.”