Knight Shift (14 page)

Before she could respond verbally, he pointed to her seatbelt and said, “Buckle up.” He waited until she was safely tucked in before pulling onto the road.

She knew he wasn’t much for small talk so she tried to sit silently while they drove down the road, but her nervousness forced her to talk. She said, “I hope I didn’t interrupt any special plans you had tonight.”

“I was heading off to watch the world that comes to life once the sun goes down.”

She replied, “I don’t sleep well so I’m a bit of a night owl too. I do some of my best painting and design work after dark. The quiet helps me think. It’s like I live two separate lives—one under the sun and the other via the light of the moon.” Without thinking she said, “If you’re ever in the neighborhood after two in the morning, stop by. I guarantee I’ll be up.” She regretted her words the second they left her mouth. She didn’t know what she would do if he actually showed up at her door.

He gave her a rare smile and said, “Maybe I’ll take you up on that someday.” For the rest of the trip, Penny bit her lip to prevent her mouth from saying anything else. As they pulled into her drive, she realized that Ice found his way to her home without her giving him any directions. “
His tracking skills are astounding
,” she said to herself.

Once Ice parked in front of the cabin, he opened Penny’s door and held out his hand to help her out. She accepted and was shocked by his gallantry.

Sam tossed Penny’s keys to Ice and said, “We’ll leave you two now and get back to our hunt. But if you need my services again, please call.” Sam pinched Susi on the backside, making her jump. He then gave her a growl and said, “Run. I’ll give you a head start before coming after you.”

“You’re being very playful tonight, but I’m game for a little chase. What are you going to do once you catch me?”

After whispering something in her ear that made her face light up with a smile, she said, “Hint…I’m going south.” She disappeared into the dark filling the woods with her giggles. Sam waited for only a moment before he disappeared in hot pursuit.

Ice walked Penny to her door and, after he unlocked it, he stepped in and flipped on the lights. After breathing in the air to make sure no unwelcomed scent was in wait, he motioned her in and said, “Try to stay out of trouble.”

As Penny walked past her rescuer, on instinct, she started to lean toward him to give him a hug, but the moment her arm touched his cold body, she realized what she was doing and jumped back.

It took every bit of his control to not pull her into his arms so that he could feel the heat her body projected. Seeing her face flushed, he reached out. He pretended he was brushing off some dirt she had on her face but, in reality, that was his excuse for touching her cheek to feel the warmth. After he dropped his hand, he said with his emotions again tightly locked up, “Call me if you need me.”

She numbly gave him a nod and then watched him get back into his car. As he drove off, she touched her cheek, still feeling the lingering chill. She said to herself, “I guess the ending to my day wasn’t so bad after all.”

The light from the morning was starting to crest the horizon so she headed to bed.

*~*~*~*

The next night when she sensed Casper’s arrival, she excitedly told him every step of the roadside rescue. She said, “I know that Ice is a killer, but I have to tell you, there’s something about him that makes my heart skip a beat.” After she described in vivid detail what his large arms looked like as they flexed while he worked on the tire, she chuckled and said, “When he touched my cheek with his cool fingers, my knees actually went weak. All I could think about was what those fingers would feel like touching other less exposed spots.” She trembled at the thought. “And check this out.” She picked up her phone and, after navigating through her contacts list, she held up the phone to the shadow and said, “He added himself to my phone and it’s under his real name. I have no idea what that means, but it makes me feel special. I don’t know if I’ll ever have enough nerve to call him or use his real name but, for some reason, I feel safer having this little part of him with me.” After giggling like a teenager, she announced, “Sorry Casper, but I fear I’ve developed a serious crush on the bad boy.”

At first Ice tried to laugh off the idea that a Human was attracted to him. He even wondered if this was some kind of joke, but even the twins weren’t up to this level of a ruse. Penny’s words seemed so sincere and she lacked any of the body reactions someone makes when they’re lying.

He couldn’t stop smiling at the ridiculous notion of him and Penny together as a couple.

After a few minutes of contemplating the possibilities, he sighed, knowing that her infatuation would be short lived. She missed her family and was lonely. Although she spent much of her free time with the twins, they didn’t seem to have any romantic feelings toward each other. The three behaved like brothers and sister. That left her no time to find a Human to date. He also knew that if she did meet a man, he would never be able to return to the cabin again. If he saw Penny in bed with anyone, he would kill him.

While the object of his visual obsession settled in to watch a romantic comedy with her Casper pillow tucked in her arms, Ice stared intently at her. He indulged for a moment in a daydream and let his mind imagine they were the couple in the movie. He wondered what it would feel like to have her in his arms, warmed by the heat of their bodies pressed together.

It was late afternoon when the twins arrived at Gone Wild. When they couldn’t find their target in the store, they approached a worker they had met previously several times. Tadd asked, “Where’s Penny?”

Although still intimidated by their presence, she knew that her boss was friends with the Hamilton twins and it would be okay to tell them what little she knew. She replied nervously, “She took the night off. A couple of good looking men came into the store and she left with them.”

Tadd asked, “Who were they?”

The worker cowed at his projected intensity and replied, “I don’t know, but she seemed pretty excited. As they were leaving, I overheard her mention something about taking them to The Tap Room.”

As the twins left the store, Taylor said, “Penny didn’t mention anything about expecting visitors. Who do you think is invading our turf?”

Tadd replied, “I don’t know, but I don’t like it.” Ignoring everyone’s warnings about going into Human bars, he added, “I think I feel a thirst coming on. How about you?”

“I do believe that a few pitchers of beer would quench my thirst quite nicely.”

Back at home as the twins readied for their evening out, Ice walked into their room. Seeing what they were doing, he asked, “Going out with Penny tonight?”

Tadd said, “Yes,” while his twin at the same time, said “No.”

Ice raised his eyebrows and gave them a look that told them not to lie to him.

Taylor grimaced and said, “Penny left work early with a few men and we were going to check out who they were to make sure that she’s safe. I don’t want her taken in by some overly interested Changelings.”

Tadd added, “We think they’re heading to The Tap Room and we’re trying to pick out clothes that would make us blend in more easily with Humans.”

Ice knew that there wasn’t anything the twins could do to make them blend in anywhere. He announced, “I’m coming along to make sure you keep out of trouble.” Although what he said was the truth, he also was uncomfortable about Penny being out on a possible date—even with a Human man. He analyzed the new feelings growing inside him. They reminded him of the feeling Penny described to Casper when she told him about seeing him and Chloe together. He was learning the feeling of jealousy.

Later, when the Changelings entered the bar, they quickly spotted Penny sitting at a table laughing. The tension that had been building up in Ice instantly relaxed when he recognized the faces that he had seen on Penny’s computer screen many times before. He kept his knowledge to himself and headed to the bar to buy a round of drinks.

Ignoring Ice’s departure, Taylor said to Tadd, “Twins? She went out with twins? If she had wanted a double dose, you and I would have been happy to offer ourselves.”

“I hear you, Bro.” With a wicked smile on his face, he added, “Why don’t we go introduce ourselves?”

Taylor motioned his twin forward and said, “Lead the way.”

Once the twins were about to reach Penny’s table, she looked up, gave them a big grin, and enthusiastically waved them over. When they were standing next to the table, she said, “I’m glad you two stopped here tonight.” She knew them well enough to know that they had most likely followed her. Any other night she would have yelled at them, but tonight she was in too good of a mood. Instead of reprimanding them, she stood and announced, “I would like you to meet my older brothers, Morgan and Max.”

With a shocked but relieved expression, Tadd asked, “These two are your twin brothers?”

Penny’s visitors stood and held out their hands. Max did the introductions. “I’m Max and that ugly chap on the other side of my sister is Morgan. You must be Taylor and Tadd. It’s nice to meet some of the friends Penny has told us about.”

The twins gave Penny a questioning stare and she shook her head slightly to inform them that she hadn’t told them everything. She then said out loud, “I told them only the good stuff.”

After they shook hands, Taylor said, “I’m Taylor—the handsome one of my duo. Tadd is the younger and the less attractive brother.”

Tadd punched his brother hard in the shoulder. As Taylor rubbed it, Tadd said, “Younger? By four minutes. And I’m much better looking than you. Mom didn’t get it right the first time and did better on her second try.”

Morgan let out a loud “Ha,” in approval and said, “Same here. Saved the best for last.”

Morgan and Tadd grabbed each other’s arms at the elbows, pulled, and slammed their chests together. Although they both grunted at the impact, they both laughed.

Penny shook her head and said exasperated, “Brothers.” After everyone was seated she added, “I was at work today and suddenly there they were with their two ugly mugs staring back at me.”

Max explained, “We’re attending some training for work a couple hours away and got a few extra days on our own. We rented a car and thought we would surprise our little Penny.”

Morgan added, “We needed to make sure our baby sister was taking care of herself.” He took a moment to examine the new arrivals and chuckled. “Only you, Penny, would find another pair of identical twins to latch onto. Other than their red hair to our black, it’s like looking in a mirror. Are you trying to replace us?”

With pure affection in her voice, she leaned onto her brother’s shoulder and said honestly, “No one could ever replace the two of you.”

Taylor smiled at the exchange, liking the look of pure happiness on his friend’s face. To get the attention back on him, he ran his fingers through his red strands and said, “Haven’t you heard? Red is the new black.”

Tadd followed his move and added, “Taylor and Tadd…together we’re TnT and fire hot! Ladies are like moths to our flame.”

Morgan swore he actually felt a brush of heat across his chest. He countered with, “But the ladies don’t want to get burned. We’re Morgan and Max and are M&M …smooth, sweet, and melt in your mouth good.” They pulled back their shirts to show matching M&M candy character tattoos on their chests.

Tadd laughed and said, “Nice tats, Bro!” He looked at his twin and said, “Let’s show them ours.”

Before Penny could stop them, the twins jumped up and dropped the back of their pants enough to show off their matching flames on their backsides.

Although Max and Morgan laughed until their sides hurt, Penny hid her face in her arms.

As a pretty woman walked by the table, Morgan leaned toward Taylor and said, “Now sit back and watch the ladies melt—no flames required.” Penny’s brothers turned and gave the passing woman a dazzling smile that made her misstep, obviously taken by the matching set of grins. Her boyfriend put his arm around her waist territorially, making it perfectly clear that she was taken. As she walked away, both sets of twins laughed.

Taylor gave Max a high five and announced, “Nicely done!”

Penny rolled her eyes. “Lord, you really are mirror images in conceit and obnoxiousness. But in terms of looks, all four of you look night and day different.”

Max asked, “Ahhh, I’m to assume that these identicals can’t fool you either?”

Tadd asked with a perplexed expression, “How in the world does she do that? My adopted parents can’t even tell us apart and they have a nose for detection.”

Max replied, “I don’t know, but she’s been able to tell us apart since birth. When we were younger, we used to try to play tricks on our family, friends, and in school. If she was mad at us, she called our bluff.”

Penny defended herself by declaring, “Only when you deserved it! You two used to pick on me pretty bad.”

Max shrugged, knowing she was right. “You’re just fun to play with, but we did it out of love, Sis.” Turning to TnT, he added, “But don’t get her mad at you. She’s lethal.”

Tadd laughed and said, “We already know that. “ He proceeded to tell the story of the day they met Penny and how she pinned Taylor to the floor.

Max beamed at his sister.

Their conversation was interrupted when Ice joined the table carrying two pitchers of beer. Penny was startled by his presence and, as Ice set down the pitchers of beer, she fumbled with what words to say. When her mind and mouth reconnected properly, she said, “This is Jax.” Knowing that no one called him by his real name, she quickly corrected herself, “Sorry, he goes by Ice.”

Although everyone had given him a wide berth on the way to the table because of his looks, Morgan and Max both stood and held out their hands to him. Ice was surprised to see smiles on their faces and no sign of fear.

Max took Ice’s hand in his and gave him a firm shake. “I’m Max and this is Morgan. I’m glad you stopped in.” Although Max could see how Ice’s physical build would make anyone pause, he liked the feeling of strength he projected. The word ‘protector’ instantly popped into his mind. He continued his thought, “Penny has mentioned you. I want to thank you for coming to her rescue when she had the flat tire. That old rust bucket she drives needs to go away.”

Penny yelled, “Hey, I love that car!”

Ignoring his sister, Max continued, “She has a knack for getting herself into situations so I hope you all keep an eye on our little Penny.”

Penny defended herself by saying, “I’m not a little girl anymore.”

Morgan added, “She does have a tendency to take too many risks. It’s like she hunts for danger wherever she goes and could use someone to keep her in line.”

Before Ice could respond, Tadd said, “We’ve been keeping a close eye on her.”

Max nodded his approval and said, “Good. Keep doing it.”

Penny mumbled under her breath, “I can take care of myself.”

As the boys talked, Ice sat quietly, opposite from Penny. Max had an uncanny ability to read people and caught several glances Ice directed toward his sister. At first his protective instincts flared but then, as he examined the quiet exchange, he caught Penny returning Ice’s glances with some of her own. Although he knew they weren’t a couple because she would have told him, he couldn’t help notice an unspoken interest. He decided to play on what was lingering below the surface and announced, “Penny Blanchard and Jax…that’s PB&J. Peanut Butter is nothing without its Jelly.”

While Penny apologized to Ice for her brother, everyone else raised their glass and toasted to PB&J.

All of a sudden Taylor jumped to his feet and exclaimed, “That’s it!”

Max asked, “That’s what?”

“I’ve been trying to find just the right nickname for Penny since I met her and now I’ve got it.” After a pause for dramatic effect, he said, “She’s our little Peanut.”

Penny yelled, “Heck no!” Her protests went ignored when everyone enthusiastically endorsed the selection and toasted to Peanut.

Once the laughing died down, Penny leaned over to her brothers and said, “You both are in so much trouble right now. Wait until I get you back to the cabin.”

“Whatever you say, Peanut,” Max said and bopped her on the nose.

Morgan ignored his sister’s angry glares and said, “We secretly made arrangements with Peanut’s boss so that she can take a few days off. We’re going camping up in the woods. We live east of the Allegheny Mountains so we spend a lot of time hiking. While we’re here, we thought we would give your Cascades a try. Do all of you want to join us?”

Although Penny wanted to continue to argue over her new nickname, when the twins instantly accepted her brother’s offer, her focus shifted and concern washed over her face.

Seeing her expression, Tadd said, “Don’t worry, Peanut. We’ll behave. We promise.” Tadd then turned to Ice and gave him a look of pleading, silently asking for his permission to spend a few days in the woods with Humans.

Ice hadn’t seen the twins so excited in a very long time. When he saw Penny looking anxiously at him for direction, he decided to give in. He gave her a nod and Penny asked, “Are you going to join us as well?” She yelled at herself as soon as she spoke the words. Instead of warning him away, she sounded more like she was pleading for him to come.

Ice replied, holding back a snicker, “Thanks for the offer, but I have a few things to do.”

Morgan added, “We’ll leave a copy of our trip plans in Peanut’s mailbox so that you’ll know where to find us, just in case you want to stop in to check on how things are going.” He looked over at his sister and winked, making her curse under her breath and look away.

Ice nodded, but with his hunting abilities, he knew he could find them blindfolded.

After everyone finished another round of beer, they decided to call it a night. They planned to meet at dawn at Penny’s cabin.