Catch Me When I Fall (8 page)

Kayla hummed as she chopped vegetables for her salad on the island in her kitchen. Someone knocked on the front door, and she glanced at the clock on her microwave.
I thought I told Renee not to come until seven
. Kayla set the knife down and walked through the immense house to the foyer then opened the door. Matt, her mother’s boyfriend, stood on the other side with a bouquet of flowers in his hands.

“Hi, Kayla. Is your mom home?”

Aww, Mom’s going to love this.
Kayla shook her head with a soft smile. “She’s at work until four, but I’ll let her know you stopped by. Want me to put the flowers in a vase?”

“Okay. Well, can I at least come in and leave a note to go with it?”

Kayla nodded. “Sure.”

Matt smiled and stepped inside the door. Kayla led him through the house to the kitchen and took a vase out of a cupboard. “So, what’s up with the flowers?”

“Oh, you know. Just thought your mom would like them.”

Kayla giggled. “You know her well.” She turned around to hand the vase to him and stopped. The flowers were on the counter, and Matt stood just inches from her. A slow smile rose on his face. Kayla’s heart raced. “Um, if you’ll just let me get to the flowers, I can, you know.”

Matt grabbed her wrist as she tried to push past him. “The flowers can wait. They’re not the real reason I’m here. You are.”

“Let me go.” Kayla stared right into his eyes though the hairs on her arms rose and her palms sweated.

But he didn’t. Instead, he slammed her against the kitchen counter and tried to plant his lips on hers. The vase fell to the floor and shattered.

“No!” she shouted and turned her face. Kayla shoved Matt’s face away from hers.

He growled in annoyance. “Don’t fight me, Kayla. I don’t want to hurt you.”

Matt leaned in to kiss her again, but Kayla slapped him.

“Behave!” He hit her back, punching her in the eye.

Kayla squealed and tried to struggle out of Matt’s hold, but he pushed her harder until the edge of the counter dug into her back to the point of pain.

“Let me go! Help!” she screamed.

“Shut up!” He hit her again.

She didn’t quiet. Instead her screams turned into cries. She squirmed, slapped him and kicked his shins, but all she seemed to do was fuel his desire. His lips found her neck as he held her wrists against the cold marble of the countertops, and he kissed up her chin to her lips.

Then he slid his tongue into her mouth. Kayla bit down, and Matt jumped back with a curse. “You little bitch!” He took one hand off of her to slap her.

She reacted quickly and brought her knee up, hitting him between the legs as hard as she could. His moment of shock was all she needed. Kayla squirmed out of his grasp and ran through her house and up the stairs, knowing her mother’s gun was in the desk drawer in her room. After being home alone all the time, she’d stolen it from her mom’s safe and tucked it away in her bedroom as a safety precaution.

Her paranoia was about to pay off.

With shaky hands, Kayla grabbed the revolver out of her desk. She turned around, her finger on the trigger. Matt entered the room, his face red and his teeth bared. The knife Kayla had been using to cut her vegetables was in his right hand.

Kayla pulled the trigger, her heart racing in her chest. Matt jumped as the bullet flew past his head. Kayla whimpered and pulled the trigger again. The bullet missed.

Four more times she shot at him, and Matt shrunk away each time. But Kayla’s hands were too shaky. The gun had a wicked kick, and she never once hit her target. Her chin trembled as Matt stalked toward her, a fiendish smirk on his face. She grabbed a metal trophy off her desk and held the award like a baseball player at the plate, ready to strike when he neared her. Her palms were clammy and her legs weak. When he was close enough, she swung.

And missed.

Matt’s dagger entered her left side. Kayla dropped the trophy with a scream as blood poured from her body. He grabbed her arms and flung her onto the floor. Kayla sobbed, both at the burning pain in her stomach and the fear coursing through her veins. She held her hands out in front of her, praying she would die before her mother’s boyfriend raped her.

Warm, awkward tingles ran from the tips of her toes into her palms, like her body had been asleep but was now waking up. Matt stood near her feet, unbuckling his belt. Kayla sobbed, begging God for help. Then, without warning, Matt went up in flames.

I ripped my hand out of Tabbi’s and jumped from my chair like I’d sat on something sharp. My shaking hands raked through my hair, and I paced around the room, my heart pounding in my ears. The room blurred. I wanted to drag Matt out of Hell and kill him again. At least he’d gotten what he deserved.

“Daniel?” Tabbi asked.

“Give me a moment.” I took a deep breath and tried to slow my pulse.

“She really did produce those flames, didn’t she? I hadn’t felt it before, but this time, it was like it came from inside her,” Tabbi said.

I nodded. Kayla
had
set fire to her attacker. She was telling Dr. Malcolm the truth.

Something lurched in my chest. Kayla needed to know she wasn’t crazy. Staying away from her now was going to be even more impossible than before.

I never should’ve taken Tabbi’s hand.

amantha was waiting for me when I returned to my flat. She sat on the sofa and, as usual, watched
Judge Judy
. She idolized that woman a little too much sometimes.

“Make yourself at home,” I said.

Her head whipped around at the sound of my voice. “Where have you been?”

I grabbed a Coke out of the fridge before responding. “Visiting Kayla.”

Samantha turned off the TV. “You need to be careful, Daniel. If anyone were to find out you were there alone and outside of her sleeping pattern, they might—”

“No one’s going to find out, Sam. And besides, Kayla doesn’t know I’m there.”

“Fine. I was only trying to help. Giovanni has spies everywhere. Why
are
you so interested in her, anyway?”

I glared at her, already angry with myself for developing unwanted feelings. She didn’t need to judge me, too.

Samantha held her hands up in defeat. “Whatever. Tabbi’s replacement is Hendrik, by the way. Thought I’d warn you.”

I groaned on the inside. Hendrik was a wanker, and he was one of Giovanni’s favorites. The two of them
had
to have been lovers. Giovanni’s preference for men was no secret.

“Thanks for the heads up,” I said.

“Yeah.” Samantha walked to the door to leave. “Oh, it’s your turn to report in to Giovanni. Tomorrow morning, he’ll expect to see you in Rome.”

I let her leave without saying another word.

At exactly nine o’clock, I showed up in Kayla’s room to do my job. Samantha, Seth and Hendrik were already there. Kayla twisted her hair into a ponytail and flipped off the light. I must’ve missed the nurse coming in to give her medicine. She crawled under her bed sheets, lay on her back and closed her eyes.

“I hope you protect me better than you protected your last Weaver,” Hendrik said to me.

I gripped one of the daggers on my belt. “Keep talking and see what happens when my blade misses.”

Samantha glared at me. Seth coughed to hide his chuckle. I fought the smirk that wanted to show, especially when Hendrik’s face turned red.

Before Hendrik could reply, Kayla’s breathing slowed. “Better get to work, mate,” I said, waving Hendrik away.

Hendrik’s face turned a brighter shade of red, then he positioned himself over Kayla’s body.

Above the bed, Hendrik’s dream played. In it, Kayla wore a soft yellow, strapless gown. Her hair was curled over one shoulder, and her smile lit up the room.

Kayla walked down the stairs of her house to a large foyer where a boy in a tuxedo waited for her. He eyed Kayla like she was just another girl he expected to bed before the night was over. An eagerness to smack that arrogant grin off his face jolted through my body, especially when he placed a hand between Kayla’s shoulder blades and led her out the door.

Stop it, Daniel!
She should’ve been able to dream about her junior prom, or wherever the hell she was going. I shouldn’t have cared that she was being led out her front door looking like that with a boy who wasn’t me.

The first Nightmare dropped into Kayla’s room from the ceiling like Tom Cruise in
Mission Impossible.
Its surprise attack caught me off guard for a moment, but I jumped into action and grabbed its foot, pulling the monster as far from the bed as possible. The Nightmare flipped around to attack me, and I dug my blade under its jaw. The beast screeched in pain before collapsing to the floor, its hands grasped around its neck as black blood sprayed from the creature’s throat. I wiped my hand and my blade on my handkerchief and kicked the bastard to the corner of the room for later disposal.

Samantha watched my every move. I was about to tell her to mind her own business when a Nightmare crawled through the wall behind Seth.

“Seth, drop!” I yelled.

He fell to the ground without hesitation, and I threw my dagger between the Nightmare’s eyes.

“Everybody move closer to the bed and face out. They’re getting wiser.”

Samantha and Seth obeyed my instructions. I stood at the foot of the bed with Samantha on my left and Seth on my right. Hendrik was already facing the headboard, so he’d shout if any tried to get in that way.

Two more Nightmares came in a similar fashion as the first, then three more entered through the walls. I grabbed one from the ceiling and threw it into the Nightmare on the far side of the room. Then I grabbed the other beast and threw it into the one directly across from Samantha. They crashed into each other like a bowling ball into a pin.

Knowing Samantha could handle those two and Seth would quickly dispose of his Nightmare, I ran at the two on the far side of the room. I threw my remaining dagger into the back of one of the Nightmare’s heads as it stood. The beast flopped to the ground, and the other—who was missing an ear—hissed a warning at me. But I didn’t back down.

I ducked when the Nightmare swiped at my face with clawed hands, and I jabbed the monster in the stomach. The butt of my hand punched the creature in the nose when it bent over with a groan. The Nightmare’s head tipped backward, and I used that moment to kick its legs out from under it. The beast fell to the floor with a yelp of surprise.