I hate running.
The exhaustion, never knowing if I’m being tracked, not having a home base, is almost more than my young heart can tolerate any longer. I don’t want to go back to Missouri. Never again will I be able to set foot in that house or even town again, but to have roots?
That’s something I would love to build for myself. To live somewhere without flimsy walls, to have a yard, a life, friends. I yearn for the normalcy I once knew.
“Hello.” The next customer grins at me, and I recognize him.
I know that face.
Those eyes.
That false demeanor he shows to the world.
Colin Dane. Richard’s brother. A man colder than Richard himself. A man so full of menace, I would often leave when he came over. I couldn’t stand to be anywhere near him.
“What can I get for you?” My voice wobbles, and I hope he doesn’t sense my fear. Colin and I never spent a lot of time together, so I’m hoping the subtle changes to my appearance keep him from recognizing me.
“The special.” His facial expression never changes, but it’s his eyes I watch as I ring him up and tell him where his drink will be ready for him. Recollection doesn’t appear present as he looks down at his phone and steps to the side.
Tears hover on my lids as I wait for the next customer and watch him from my peripheral vision. As soon as he turns away, I bring my hair forward so that even if he thinks he recognizes me, he can’t study my face until he’s certain of who I am.
My body crawls with the need to run. To dart out the front door and never look back. I have to leave, yet I know if I make any sudden moves while he’s still here, he’ll become suspicious. I can’t afford his attention. Not now. Not when I was just thinking about creating my own roots.
“Hey, Thea, are you okay? You look like you’ve seen a ghost,” my coworker Jamie points out.
“Fine,” I murmur, trying hard to peer over at where Colin is sitting. “I got dizzy for a second.” Staring around the store, I look back to Jamie. “Do you mind if I just take a couple minutes to get some water and sit down for a second?”
She tilts her head while studying me before nodding. With a whispered thanks, I nonchalantly grab a plastic cup and head to the break room, hoping not to draw attention to myself. I glance back to see that Colin is now watching me with a curious look on his face.
Oh, god.
He knows.
Chapter 6
Kol
Sitting outside of Thea’s apartment in the dark probably isn’t my most brilliant idea. I should have gone home. I should have visited Ember, asked her more about her disappearing friend. But I couldn’t bring myself to hurt my sister by telling her that Thea had only moved to the shittiest part of town and not somewhere farther away.
Instead, I’ve been camped outside this girl’s apartment building for the last hour. I don’t know how to ask her the questions I need answers to without pushing her further away. This morning, I spooked her when I was asking about her pain. The shadows I see present in her eyes every time she looks at me.
I want to help her, but I don’t know how. The ringing of my phone stops any notions I might have had about going inside, or smarter yet, leaving.
“Daniels.” My tone is clipped.
“Who pissed in your corn flakes?” My big brother Arsen laughs over the line.
“Nobody. What do you want?” Normally, I’d give it back to him, but my worry over a cute blonde keeps me from retorting.
“Damn. Someone’s in a foul mood.”
“Your point?”
“What’s going on, Kol?” Arsen always was the one to get straight to the point.
“You remember Ember’s friend, Thea?” I wouldn’t be surprised if he didn’t. After the recital, Arsen and Marina had their hands full with an abandoned little boy.