My mouth was suddenly parched like it was stuffed with sand, dry and rough, my tongue a withered husk. My heart thudded hard against my ribs, and my body actually shook with each beat. Where was he? What was he trying to do?
“I needed to get you away from him, for your own protection.”
“Are you really trying to play the hero card here? You were a freaking madman. Christ, I’d thought you’d gone crazy, Rick. Wait, I’m sorry, that’s not true. You haven’tgonecrazy—you and your douchebag father have alwaysbeencrazy.”
A trembling breath came through the line. I peered out the window to the parking lot below, scanning for movement in the shadows. The only saving grace was that this hotel only had interior entrance doors, but that didn’t mean Rick couldn’t find some way in if he knew where I was.
“You are my bonded mate, Cameron,” Rick went on, his voice less sympathetic than before. Now he sounded like a tired parent explaining something to an unruly toddler. “I would never hurt you.”
Spinning away from the window, I clenched my jaw and said, “You most certainlyaretrying to hurt me. Or is hiring a feral shifter to bite me considered romance in that fucked-up family of yours?”
“That was a gift! I wanted you to become a shifter so that we could be a happy family together, with no secrets. Do you know how hard it is for Dad to keep this world from my mother? It’s exhausting. I thought once you knew, you’d be happy about it.”
“Happy?” I scoffed. “Happy that something was done to me without my consent? Wow, Rick. Next, you’ll tell me that feeling a stranger up on the subway is a great way to get to know someone.”
“That’s not fair?—”
“And another thing,Rick,” I said, sneering as if I was addressing a pile of dogshit. “I’mnotyour bonded mate, or whatever you call it. This thing between you and me is over. I told you that when we broke up. I meant it then, and I mean it even more now.”
“Don’tsaythat!” Rick shouted into the phone, his voice loud enough that I had to pull the cell away from my ear. “Youaremine. We are meant to be together. This isfate, goddamn it. You’ll see it.” He lowered his voice to a growl. “One way or another. Do you understand me, Cameron?”
“You’ve lost your mind,” I whispered.
“You and I? We are one,” Rick said, his words beginning to tumble out so fast, I almost couldn’t make them out. “Together forever. One body, and one soul. You’ll be mine, and I’ll be yours. You’ll see how good I can make life for you. Cars, houses, vacations.Oh, you said once you always wanted to visit Japan. We’ll go there. We’ll travel the world. I’ll make love to you in Paris. In Rome. In Tahiti, anywhere. And the babies we’ll have? They’ll be beautiful?—”
“What thefuckare you doing?” a gruff voice in the background said, halting Rick’s manic tirade. The voice was distant, as though the person it belonged to was standing a few feet from Rick.
Rick, sounding surprised and maybe a bit scared, said, “When did you get here? I thought I locked that door.”
“Put that fucking phone down, you dumb shit.”
Suddenly, the line went dead. I gaped at my phone. That had been the most surreal call of my life. Rick was even more psychotic than I’d thought. It was terrifying. And who the hell had busted in on him? His father, maybe? If so, it sounded like Daddy Masters hadn’t known Rick was going to call me. It also sounded like Rick wasn’t waiting in the shadows outside the hotel. That did little to calm me, though.
My anxiety and paranoia, already hovering around a simmer at the best of times lately, surged to a full, roiling boil. Despite being in a warm, dry, and clean hotel room, I had the same feeling I’d had when running through the forest. Like something was right behind me, ready to sink its teeth into me if I stopped for a second. No matter what I told myself, I could still picture shadowy figures surrounding the hotel, ready to pounce on me.
Ineededto talk to someone. Someone who understood what was happening. Nate was out of the question. He was on a mission and most likely wouldn’t answer. Mom and Lesley were out since they didn’t know about shifters. With only one option left, I called Ollie.
“Cameron? What’s wrong?” Ollie sounded harried, and I was immediately embarrassed for having bothered him.
“Sorry, Ollie. I got a call from Rick. Nate’s out investigating a lead, and I was freaked out.”
The words sounded even more dumb than they had in my mind. Ollie probably thought I was being a stereotypical panicky woman. But blessedly, he didn’t act condescending or irritated.
“Shit. What did he say?” he asked, keeping his voice low. I could hear other people talking near him through the phone.
“Nothing but a bunch of crazy shit, really. He sounded like he was one or two steps away from the nuthouse.”
“Look, I’m at a scene right now. Work, you know?”
A scene? Ugh. That most likely meant a homicide. I wasn’t sure how Ollie managed to do his job. The mere thought of dealing with so much death and destruction made me sick to my stomach, and he waded hip-deep into it every day. Murdered women, children… it sounded like hell to me, butsomeonehad to do it. Somebody needed to find the killers and bring them to justice.
“It’s fine,” I said. “Seriously. I was a little freaked out after his call. That’s all.”
“No, I get that. But let me see if I can find any trustworthy contacts to be nearby. Text me the address, and I’ll see if I can get anyone to keep you company, or at least hang around outside to make you feel safer. I’ll text you a safe word. That way, if you see someone you don’t know, they can assure you I sent them.”
“Ollie, you don’t have to do that,” I said, more embarrassment washing over me.
“It’s fine. There’s a bunch of folks I know who could do it. I gotta go. Send me that address, though.”
