Андреа Кремер - Nightshade

“No, I didn’t think so.” I heard the smile in his voice and felt a grin tug at my own mouth.

Shay kept his hands shoved in his jeans pockets as we walked.

“You know.” He cleared his throat. “Grizzlies are supposed to be extinct in Colorado.”

I kept my eyes on the sidewalk, pulling my jacket tightly around me. Nothing is the way it is supposed to be up on that mountain. The world’s natural laws don’t apply.

“I like to hike. Pretty good at it, actually,” Shay continued. “And I read about the terrain when I moved here. Mountain lions maybe, but no grizzlies.”

I shrugged. “Maybe they’re coming back. Conservation movements are making significant headway these days.”

“No, I don’t think so. Wannabe Greenpeace guy here, remember? I can tell you think I’m an idiot, but I’m not. I’m pretty competent when it comes to backpacking. There should not have been a grizzly where I was hiking.” He paused and then plunged on. “Or werewolves.”

I bit my tongue and quickly swallowed down blood. “Is that what you think I am?” He’s only interested because he thinks I’m some kind of freak.

Disappointment gnawed at me.

“Let me see: super-strong girl who can turn into a wolf and hangs out with a bunch of other kids who act like a pack of animals at our school and are pretty damn scary. Do I have the definition wrong?”

“It depends on what you think werewolves are.” I glanced at him.

He ran a hand through his already-mussed hair. “I think you should tell me. The rules of the world I’m used to don’t seem to apply here. Lately it seems like I can’t be sure of anything.”

He stopped abruptly and I turned to face him. My breath caught in my throat when I saw the desperation in his face.

“Except that I should be dead.” He shivered. “But I’m not. Because of you.”

He took a step closer, his gaze moving over my face, searching. “I want to know who you are.”

I could smell his fear but was intrigued by the other, more-alluring scents beneath it. Clover, rain, sun-warmed fields. I leaned toward him, taking in the shape of his lips, the light in his pale green eyes. He wasn’t looking at me like I was a freak. His eyes were full of fear and wanting. I wondered what he could see in my eyes.

And I’m beginning to think what really matters is who you are.

Unable to resist, I reached out, curling my fingers around a tendril of hair that fell in his eyes. He took my hand, turning it over in his, tracing my palm as if

I might not be real.

“You’re so much like a normal girl.” His eyes moved over my face and shoulders. He tried to hide his quick glance at my corset.

Man, this thing really does work.

I thought about new places his hands might wander but instead drew my lips back in a warning snarl, shaking free of his grasp.

He looked startled for a moment. “See, you have fangs when you’re angry. You’re a werewolf for sure.”

When he rubbed his eyes, I noticed how deeply shadowed they were. “Or else I’m going crazy.”

Sympathy tugged at my chest. I want you to know me, Shay. To really know me.

“You’re not crazy.” I kept my voice low.

“So you are a werewolf,” he whispered.

“I’m a Guardian.” I glanced around the street, worrying that we might be overheard.

“What’s a Guardian?”

I spoke in a hurried whisper. “I need to know if you’ve said anything to your uncle or any of his friends, like Efron, about what happened on the mountain.”

Shay shook his head. “Like I said, I thought I might be crazy. I didn’t want to say anything about it. Things have been too weird ever since I moved here.”

He shoved his hands back in his pockets. “And I was trespassing on that hike. I had my own reasons for being up there, and I didn’t need my uncle to know about it.”

Relief spilled through my body. “All right, Shay. I’ll make you a deal.” I hesitated another moment, knowing I shouldn’t tell him anything. That I should leave him alone on the street right now.

But I didn’t want to. I wanted something that was just mine.

A thrill coursed through me when I whispered, “If you swear that you won’t speak to Bosque or anyone else, and I mean anyone—school, home, online

Dark Horse fan group, whoever—about what I tell you, I’ll let you know why things seem so weird in Vail.”

He nodded with a little too much enthusiasm and I wondered if I was about to make the biggest mistake of my life.

“Let’s get to the café and I’ll start explaining after you buy me an espresso.”

I was about to return his smile when I saw them. Two men across the street, a few yards behind us. They leaned against a building taking nervous, short drags off their cigarettes. I frowned. Though the pair chatted casually, I was certain that a moment ago, they’d been watching us.

“Come on.”

I crossed the street onto the next block. Shay fell in step, oblivious to my sudden wariness. I glanced over my shoulder. The men trailed behind us. I sniffed the air, but the pair of strangers walked downwind of me, making it impossible for me to know if they were human . . . or something else. I flexed my fingers as I worked through a map of the area around Eden in my mind’s eye.

I tilted my head and listened; it was easy to pick up their gruff whispers.

“We can’t be sure without getting a look at his neck.”

“You gonna ask him to roll back his collar to give you a peek?” the second man said. “He fits the description and he just came out of the warlock’s club.

Let’s grab him and ask questions later.”

“He’s not alone.”

“Are you afraid of a girl? Probably some tart our golden boy pulled off the dance floor. Just knock her down, snatch the kid, and we’re out of here.”

With a languid stretch I draped my arm around Shay and curled him toward me. A curious, flirtatious smile appeared on his lips. He glanced at my bursting cleavage again. A sudden low ache made me stumble, sending hot blood up my neck to scorch my cheeks. Then one of the men uttered a low, lewd sound, bringing me back to the street. I shook my head and dug warning nails into Shay’s shoulder, trying as much to focus myself as distract him.

“There’s trouble. Those guys are following us.”

I took care not to say “you.” It was still unclear to me what this boy did and did not know about his connection to our world.

“What?” Shay pulled his eyes off my curves and began to turn his head.

“No!” I hissed. “Keep walking. Look straight ahead.”

When I pulled him tight against my body, his heart fluttered. So did mine; my eyes found his lips, tracing their shape.

Stop it. Stop it. Stop it. My blood was boiling.

I murmured in his ear: “When we get to the end of the block, I want you to run. Get back to the club. Tell the bouncer there’s a problem out here. He’ll send help.”

“I’m not leaving you alone,” he protested.

“Yes, you are.” I smiled at him, letting my sharp canines catch the glow of the streetlamp. “I can handle myself but not if I’m watching out for you at the same time.”

“I have a cell; shouldn’t I call 911?” he asked.

“Absolutely not,” I said.

“I won’t leave unless you promise me something,” he said. It took all my will not to nip his shoulder like I would a misbehaving pup. Why isn’t he afraid of me?

“What?” My heart was pounding, both from the heat of his closeness and the possibility of an attack.

“Meet me tomorrow morning,” he said. “On the mountain. You know where.”

“That’s not a good—”

“Meet me.” He cut me off. “Promise or I stay.”

We were almost to the corner. “Not tomorrow! Sunday morning. I’ll be there.”