"You'll wait right there," he said. "Liam, you better move it on out of here. The cops are on their way. I'll take care of everything."
He did know Liam? He obviously knew about his little secret too since he just witnessed what I had, and didn't seem remotely freaked. Liam nodded and looped his arm around the small of my back. I felt numb as he escorted me back to the car.
He opened the door and helped me inside. I didn't look at him when he sat down behind the wheel. I couldn't. I heard him turn the key, bringing the mustang to life, and we tore out of the small parking lot.
We drove in silence, neither of us braving words for several miles. The trees passed the window at a blinding rate, and I realized the speedometer had hit sixty.
"Liam, the speed limit is forty."
"I know," he said, his gaze fixed on the road. The car slowed a few notches.
"Liam?" I didn't turn in his direction, but from my peripheral line of vision, I saw him stiffen. White rose from his knuckles as he clenched the steering wheel.
"Yes?" he asked.
He sounded in pain and then reality dawned on me.
"Oh, my God, Liam, you're shot!"
The front of his shirt was pasted with blood. I quickly unfastened my seat belt and leaned over.
"What are you doing?" he asked. He wrapped his arm down around his mid-section, and shrank away from me, closer to the door.
"Let me see your wound." I tried to slip my fingers under where he held his sticky torn shirt, but he pushed my hand away.
"No," he said. "Get back in your seat, Charlotte."
"Stop the car." I reached over and grabbed the wheel.
"What are you doing? You're going to get yourself killed." He dropped the arm holding his midsection and wrestled my fingers off the wheel. We swerved and I heard the tires hit the gravel on the side of road. I gave up and gripped my seat. He steadied the wheel as we bumped back onto the road. "Are you okay?"
"Am I okay?" I asked. "You need to be in a hospital, Liam. You were just shot in the stomach. You shouldn't even be driving. Frankly, I don't even know how you're sitting there."
"I'm fine," he said. He didn't look at me.
"Don't give me that. Look at your shirt. There's blood everywhere." My voice cracked. This was too much. I lunged for the lower edge, and pulled it up before he could stop me.
"What are you doing?" He tugged it down and his chest heaved.
I stared in shock. There wasn't anything there.
"I...I don't understand," I said. "You were shot. I saw it. There's blood."
"I told you I was fine."
"I don't understand."
"It's the shifting," he said. "I don't really get it either to be honest with you, but it started after I became human for the first time. I think it has something to do with the body being able to reform itself into the different shapes. I heal very quickly."
I didn't know what to say. My mind raced to catch up with reality but couldn't find it. "Are you saying you can't die?" I asked, bewildered.
He shook his head. "No, I can die. You cut off my head, it won't come back." He smirked and I glared at him. Nothing about this was amusing.
"Not funny," I said.
"I'm glad you care," he said with a small grin.
I frowned. How he twisted this back to some kind of flirty banter was beyond me. We could have been killed. He almost ripped that man's throat out!
He seemed to pick up on my mood and focused on the road. "I shouldn't be telling you all of this," he said.
"What do you mean?"
"It's dangerous."
"Dangerous?" I asked. "Did you forget that I just had a gun to my head? I was almost killed ten minutes ago."
"Of course I haven't forgotten that," Liam said. "You don't know what that did to me."
"What?" I asked.
"I almost lost you, Charlotte." His voice broke. "I was going to kill that man." He started to tremble and his face twisted in a way that looked like shear agony.
"Liam," I said. I reached out and threaded my fingers with his.
"There are worst ways to die, Charlotte," he said, squeezing my hand. "The more you know about me, the more I chance others knowing about you." He winced as if what he said, told too much. "You already said you're being followed."
"That's probably all in my mind, Liam."
"What if it's not?"
"It is," I said, surprising myself at the confirmation of my tone.
Liam glared at me and the car swerved. "I don't want to lose you."
"Then why does it feel like you're breaking up with me?"
"We're together?" he asked. A small smirk tickled the corner of his lip and I groaned.
Liam leaned over and kissed me. "I love you, Charlotte," he whispered, then pulled back. His gaze fixated out the windshield.
I stared at his profile in shock. "Liam, I..."
"Don't say anything," he said, interrupting me. "Please, not now. Just don't."
"But..." I tried to protest, when he pulled to a screeching halt in my driveway. My dad's car sat in front of the large green two car garage. The incident had kept us out later than I thought. I fiddled with my pocket and pulled out the watch head. Past nine.
"Are you going to be okay?" Liam asked.
"What should I tell my Dad?"
Liam shrugged. "Just tell him you were studying late with your blonde friend. There's no need to let him know about the other stuff. He'll just worry. Besides, the fewer questions, the better."
I nodded, Liam's words bringing reality back. How were they getting out of this? Wouldn't there be a police investigation? What if the gunman tells everyone about Liam?
"Lou, the gas attendant, is taking care of everything" he said, reading my thoughts. "You don't need to worry. He's a friend of mine, remember? He's gotten us out of tight spots before."
"Does he know what you are?"
"Yes."
I was confused. "But you said it was dangerous."
"It is," Liam said tightly. "But it's different with Lou."
"Why?" I asked.
"Because he's human."
Chapter 10
"Of course he's human, Liam. What are you implying?" My stomach twisted. "Are you saying I'm not?"
The expression on Liam's face told me more than I wanted to know. "You're crazy, Liam. Seriously, that is not funny. I'm not a...werewolf," I said, barely getting the word out. "I'm human and always have been, so just...stop that."
Liam didn't say anything nor did he look in my direction. His gaze remained fixated on my house through the windshield. It made me uneasy and I swallowed hard.
"Yeah, joking," Liam said in a very unconvincing tone.
"What are you looking at?" I asked.
"Your dad. He's been watching us the entire time. He's in the upstairs window to the left with a pair of binoculars." Liam pointed.
"Oh, my god. This is so embarrassing. I'm going to kill him. I'm so dead."
Liam chuckled, shaking his head at my conflicting words. "Should I go say something?"
"Your shirt," I said, reminding him of the nice dried blood stain across the front. "Might not be best."
"Right, the shirt," he said, giving an apologetic shrug.
"It's okay. Trust me, confronting my dad is nothing compared to what we just went through."
He didn't look convinced, but he'd have to deal. I started to get out, when he leaned over, placing his hand on my cheek. "I can't," I said, knowing that look. He wanted to kiss me. "My dad." My gaze lifted to the bathroom window. It tore at me. He just said he loved me and I couldn't give him a good night kiss, not even a 'thank you for saving my life,' kiss.
I wanted to.
Looking at him sitting there like that, drove me crazy.
He threaded his fingers through mine and I felt his warm breath on my neck. I started to protest, when he rested his head against my shoulder. "I really do love you, Charlotte." He said.