I’d done it enough those nights after waiting for my parents to go to bed. Heart pounding, I’d scramble out my bedroom window. Racing to Kai, my body desperate to be close to him again, even though I’d just seen him at school. It was a first-love kind of giddy. And for the whole year we’d been together I’d waited for it to dissipate, to get past the famous “honeymoon phase” everyone talked about. But it was the opposite. The more I was with him, the more I needed to be with him.
I climbed up to the second-story window that used to be mine. The last time I’d done this was that awful night two years ago. The night Kai got arrested. The night we lost my mother...
I shook my head to chase away the memories and pushed at the window. The lock didn’t catch all the way because the wood was too warped. I shimmied it open easily and crawled through. But I hadn’t expected to land on something soft. Or to hear a muffled grunt of surprise as I landed. There was a bed under the window where my desk used to be. And a hand came up to pull the comforter down, exposing dark hair first, then a pale forehead. Brown eyes blinked up at me in surprise and then recognition.
“Anna?”
That voice. It was so familiar. But it couldn’t be. It was impossible. My world twisted along with my heart when I looked into the familiar face of my first love and first heartbreak.
The last time I saw Kai, he was asking me to leave town with him. And I’d turned him down, because I was punishing myself, and maybe him, too.
I never really imagined how I’d react if I ever saw Kai again. Probably because it hurt too much to think about.
Now, at the very sight of him, my heart strained against my chest, like a magnet finding another. A yearning for something I knew I could never have. No, worse. Something I was once offered freely and rejected because I was too scared to grab ahold.
I scrambled back, almost falling off the bed, but Kai’s hand shot out lightning fast and held me in place.
“What are you doing here?” I blurted out.
Kai let me go and climbed off the bed. His hair was mussed and my fingers ached to comb through it, to settle the messy strands. But I knew that wouldn’t be welcome now.
“I just moved here.”
“Do your mom and stepdad know you’re here?”
His face scrunched up at the mention of his stepdad. And I didn’t blame him; the guy had made Kai’s life a living hell.
I could still see Kai’s resolute face two years ago.He kicked me out. I’m leaving. Come with me.
“No, it was kind of sudden when I decided to move here with my... uncle.” Kai’s voice broke through my memories.
“To my old house?” I asked before I realized he must be referring to James when he saiduncle. Did Kai know hisuncle was a vampire? I shook my head; that was a stupid question, of course he knew. But then...
Kai had moved away to lean against his desk. Like he wanted to put distance between us. Somehow the thought of that stung. But I knew I deserved it. Why would he want to be close to a girl who’d practically shoved him away?
Still, I couldn’t stop looking at him, noticing the small differences. Was he taller? Maybe by an inch or two. Or was it just that my imagination had built him up to be so big that now he looked as giant as Goliath? His skin looked smoother, like it was made of mother-of-pearl instead of flesh. Were his eyes darker?
“I never knew you had an uncle,” I said slowly.
“I didn’t know either until a year ago,” he said, shrugging as he picked up a pencil from his desk and studied it like he’d rather look anywhere but at me.
“Did you know he was buying this house?” I asked.
Kai shrugged again and didn’t answer.
“What are you doing back in town?” I stepped toward him. He didn’t tense so much as go completely still. I could barely even see him breathing. But he still refused to meet my gaze.
“What are you doing sneaking in here?” he asked instead of answering my questions.
I shrugged, turning to a bookcase as nervous jitters overtook me. I couldn’t very well say,Well, I came to capture or kill your uncle for a bounty.
Boxes of books still sat out, but some were stackedhaphazardly on the shelves. I pretended to study the spines. “I forgot something. I didn’t think anyone was home, so I wanted to grab it without bothering anyone.”
“Liar.” The word was whispered practically into my ear and I spun around in surprise.
He leaned closer until his lips filled my vision.
I silently cursed myself for letting down my guard. Kai could always read me so well. Of course he knew I was lying. He was the only person who’d ever cared enough to look closely at me. And now his dark eyes were sharp and observant on my face.
