It took a moment for my mind to connect with my body, and I shoved the book behind my back "What are you doing here?" I asked, wincing at how stupid that sounded.
The corner of his mouth lifted into a grin. "I should be asking you that," he said. "You're breaking and entering. Perhaps I should call the cops." He reached into his back pocket, pulling out his cell phone.
"No, no," I said, taking a step towards him. He seemed pleased by my newfound hysteria, and put the phone away.
"Why are you here?" he asked, again. His focus flicked to Ty, and then back at me. Hands in his pockets, he pushed himself up off the door jam, moving towards me. The muscles of his shoulders flexed taut under his thin t-shirt and he rolled them, tilting his head to the side.
"She's friends with Liam," Ty said.
Inside I winced with horror. Liam didn't want people to know I knew about him. He said it was dangerous. My chest felt constricted. His face looked like stone.
"What's with the book?" he asked.
"It...it's nothing," I said. My fingers clutched the leather so hard I could feel the painful pinch of my nails biting into its flesh.
He took another step towards me. "Then what's behind your back?"
I contemplated denying the fact that I held it there, but it seemed pointless. "Just something for a homework assignment that Liam was helping me with." I prayed I didn't look as sickly as I felt.
"I wasn't aware Liam went to school," he said. A coy smile lifted to his mouth.
"Oh, he doesn't. It was for me. I go to school. He just said I could borrow it." I needed to shut up. Seriously. A pin could have dropped and I would have screamed. Where was Ty?
"Can I see it?" he asked.
"No." I swallowed hard.
"Why not?"
My heart pounded in my ears. "Because it's not yours."
He stalked towards me then, but stopped short. His intense blue eyes widened and his jaw went slack. His nostrils expanded, and he inhaled, tilting his head. The familiarity of the ritual did not escape me - werewolf. I needed my body to respond. Run, my mind screamed, but I couldn't move.
"It's you," he said with a disbelieving nod. He reached out to touch my hair, but I shrank back.
"I don't know what you mean," I said. "I don't know you."
"How did Liam find you?" he asked, ignoring me.
"Liam didn't find me. I was in the woods and he ran...into me."
"Mhm," he said with all knowing grin. "Interesting."
"It's not what you think," I said.
"Sure it isn't."
Who did this guy think he was? Did he know his words twisted and stirred subconscious fears I had about Liam and my past? He didn't know me; impossible. But then why did it seem he wanted to make me doubt myself? What did he know?
His blue gaze penetrated my skin as he started to walk around me. I tried to remain stone, and not shake. My nails bit into the book.
"I need to go," I said.
"Of course." He looked mocked hurt, as though the idea of him keeping me there, absurd. He stopped circling, his hands still in his pockets, and cocked his head to the other side. "I'm not holding you and your friend here. I merely wanted to make sure that you weren't here unbeknownst to Liam."
"Well, we're not, so bye." Ty said. The voice sounded so foreign, it took me a moment to recognize it.
The stranger turned, regarding her for the first time. A small smile etched across his face, but he focused back on me. "Why are you here with her?" he asked.
"She's my friend?" I didn't know what he wanted me to say.
"You're friends with Liam and her?"
"Yes," I said, the point of this lost on me. "Why?"
"Does Liam know?"
"Does Liam know what?"
He rolled his eyes with a groan. "That you're friends with her?"
"What's wrong with Ty?"
He took a step towards me. His body loomed over mine so that I had to press back against the desk. It felt like I couldn't breathe and I turned my head away. "You know what I'm talking about," he whispered, his breath on my ear. "It's dangerous to mingle outside..." He paused, to my relief, standing back a bit. "You still haven't changed," he said with a slow nod. He seemed rather amused. "This is interesting. How Liam found you is beyond me. You aren't his you know."
The corners of my mouth fell. "I don't know what you're talking about."
He leaned forward and the hairs on the back of my neck rose. "I think you do," he whispered, flicking his gaze over to Ty.
"We're leaving," I said. I had enough. I didn't like this guy and I wanted to go home. Pushing myself past him, I grabbed Ty's hand. "No wonder Liam never mentioned you living here," I said as I headed for the door. I heard him chuckle.
"Who ever said I lived here?"
Chapter 13
I spun around, but he had gone. The absence of his presence made the goose bumps on the back of my neck fade, but I felt cold. How did he get out? The window by the desk sat open and I could hear the faint babbling of birds outside. Walking over, I peered across the front lawn. I didn't see a sign of him anywhere.
"Where'd he go?" Ty asked.
"I don't know." I said. "I don't see him anywhere." I didn't like this. "Let's get of here."
I didn't need to ask twice. We sped out of the study, down the front hallway, and swung the main door wide. Several sparrows flapped and chirped as they startled off into the air, but that didn't give us pause. My hands landed on the CRV with a flush of relief. My fingers couldn't work fast enough as I fiddled with the door handle.
"Hurry, Charlotte," Ty said from the passenger side, jumping and fidgeting. "I locked mine."
"What?" I asked. The door budged open and I slipped inside. Leaning over, I popped hers ajar. "Who do you thinks going to steal this thing out here?"
Ty slipped into the warn seat. "Who'd have thought we'd be running from red haired dudes?"
"Good point."
Gunning the engine, we took off down the small overgrown path that Liam and his friends called a road. Once the shrubbery faded into the main single lane highway heading back towards civilization, I sighed. "What was that?" I asked.
"Did you get the book?" Ty asked.
"Yeah, here." I handed it to her. "I can't even think about that right now. My head is spinning."
"Yeah, whose idea was that anyway?"
I glared at her. "Amusing, Ty."
"Okay, so it was kind of a bad idea."
"Kind of?"
Ty shrugged, flopping back into her seat. "At least we got the book."
"Yeah," I said. I really didn't want to think about this anymore, not now. My head hurt. I also realized we left Liam's front door open. The idea of him knowing we broke into his house, made me feel like the worst person in the world. I wanted to get home.
Ty had drifted into a strange quietness by the time I turned onto my long hilly driveway, but as soon as the house came into view, she gasped. Sitting in front of my garage sat a beautiful black Ford Mustang.
"Wow, nice car," Ty said.
I parked and shut off the engine, afraid to look.
"Is that Liam talking to your dad?" Ty asked. "What's he doing here?"
"I don't know," I said, the words barely passing my lips.
Dad looked up from his conversation with a grin, and waved at me to come over. Liam turned from Dad and his gaze met mine. Panic gripped my chest. Did he know we broke into his house? No, there was no way he would, unless that guy called him. It seemed unlikely considering the time frame involved. Both Liam and Dad smiled at us. I needed to relax.
"Hide the book," I said, forcing a wave back to them as I hopped down from the car. I swallowed hard.
"Liam?" I asked as I approached him. "What are you doing here?"
He flashed one of his ridiculous grins and for a moment I almost forgot what I had been doing. Flustered, I forced myself to focus. Despite saving my life and saying he loved me; some serious details had been omitted from the picture. If he hadn't murdered those people, then he knew who did. The words of the crazy guy at Liam's house haunted me too. Had Liam been looking for me? What if he had been the one following me all along?