Pawn (Nightmares Trilogy #1) (41 page)

Once I was positive that she was
asleep, I found the stationery Elizabeth had given me the previous
Christmas and began writing letters to all of my friends and my
mother. I would mail my friends’ to them before we left town. Mom’s
I would leave on the kitchen counter. To Devon and my mother, I
told the truth. Whether Mom believed or not, I at least wanted to
her to know that I hadn’t run away for nothing. Elizabeth and Mandy
got a very watered-down version of the truth. I told them both that
I was following my dad’s research trail in the hopes that it would
lead me to him. I left out the part about being targeted by
underworld gods and marked for death.

At 5:00 a.m. Sunday morning I left my
house. I arrived at the diner thirty minutes early to find Kannon’s
Jeep already there. He took my bag of clothes and the stack of
Dad’s books and research that I’d brought along and tucked them in
the back seat alongside his own belongings. I patted the Bug’s hood
and told it goodbye, leaving the keys on the front seat for when
the police found and returned it to my mother.

“So where are we going exactly?” I
asked Kannon once we were winding our way through the back roads of
Westwood in the direction of Pennsylvania.

“Traverse City, Michigan,” he told
me.

“How far?” I wanted to know, since I’d
never heard of Traverse City, Michigan. Not that I knew much about
Michigan in general, except Detroit was there.

“Thirteen hours maybe? We can stop at
a hotel if need be, break up the trip.”

A horrible thought occurred to me.
“Um, Kannon? I don’t have any money. I mean, I have like twenty
bucks in my wallet and a credit card for emergencies…”

“No credit cards,” he said. “And don’t
worry about the money. I cleaned out my trust fund earlier this
week as a precaution. We should be good for a while.”

We discussed the possibility that my
father had actually succeeded in finding a way into the underworld.
I knew the seven cities where he believed the gates were located.
Now we just needed to figure out which one he’d used.

Somewhere along the Pennsylvania
turnpike, I noticed just how dark the circles underneath Kannon’s
eyes actually were. I insisted that he pull over and let me drive
so he could sleep. He pulled the Jeep into a rest area ten miles
later and we switched seats. I gave him the dream catcher and this
time he didn’t argue. Since I was pretty tired myself, I ran into
Starbucks for a pick-me-up. When I returned to the car, Kannon was
fast asleep in the passenger seat.

Kannon had programmed Betsy
Klinefelter’s address into the GPS, so I didn’t pay attention to
street signs or landmarks or anything, I just drove. The radio kept
me company and I kept my off-key belting to a minimum so I wouldn’t
disturb my sleeping passenger. Every time I glanced at the clock, I
thought about what my friends were doing. At noon, I wondered if
Mom had found and read my note. At three, I wondered if Devon and
Elizabeth were asking each other if the other had heard from me. At
six-thirty, I imagined that Mr. Wentworth and his team of private
investigators were officially working my case.

I felt worst about leaving Mom. With
my father still missing and all of her living family in California,
she was all alone in Westwood. Maybe Mr. Wentworth would help her
through this, I thought. They had rekindled their friendship in
light of Dad’s disappearance after all. Most of all, I hoped that
when she read my letter, she would understand.

“Why did you let me sleep so long?”
Kannon demanded at eight o’clock.

The sun had set and the only light by
which to see was that of oncoming traffic on the two-lane highway I
was driving down. Still, I could tell Kannon’s chestnut waves were
flattened on the right side of his head from where he had it
resting against the window. His tee shirt was rumpled and his eyes
still heavy with sleep, but he looked adorable.

“You obviously needed to,” I pointed
out.

“Yeah, but you have been driving for
like eight hours by yourself.”

“I’m fine,” I told him. “The radio and
your GPS have helped me get by.”

“Pull over. I’ll drive the rest of the
way.”

“Why don’t we stop for the night?” I
suggested. “I’m getting tired and hungry, and you probably need to
eat too.”

“Where are we now?” Kannon wanted to
know. “We can’t have more than like an hour or two
left.”

“We don’t,” I said reluctantly. “But
do you really think we should show up at her house in the middle of
the night? She doesn’t even know we’re coming.”

“You’re right,” Kannon agreed
grudgingly. “Let’s stop, rest and eat. Tomorrow, though, we leave
at the crack of dawn.”

“You’re the boss,” I said, flashing
him a smile.

I pulled off Interstate 75 North just
outside of Bay City, Michigan and into the first hotel parking lot
I found. Kannon went inside the main entrance to rent a room, while
I stretched my legs and grabbed our bags.

“Front desk guy said there are a
couple of restaurants up the street a little ways and one inside
the hotel. They also have room service. If you don’t mind, I’d
rather just order something to the room,” Kannon said when he
trotted back to the car ten minutes later. “Oh, speaking of rooms,
I only got one. Is that okay? It has two beds,” he quickly
added.

“It’s fine,” I assured him. Of course
it was fine. I mean, after running away from home and being hunted
by underworld assassins, how big a deal was having a slumber party
with your maybe boyfriend? So what if it would be the first time
I’d ever slept in the same room with a guy? I was eighteen now;
adults did things like this, right?

Kannon grabbed our bags from where I’d
set them next to the Jeep and led the way to the hotel room. As
promised, it had two beds. It also had a decent-size bathroom and a
flat screen. Kannon showered while I ordered dinner from the
enormous room service menu.

When Kannon emerged from the bathroom,
he wore only a pair of jeans with plaid boxers peeking over the
waistband and my dream catcher. His hair was still wet, and both
that and the necklace’s prism caught and held all the light in the
room. I knew that he had a good body from all the hugging and
cuddling we’d done, but wasn’t prepared for how defined his chest
and stomach would be. I swallowed the ridiculous urge to say
something stupid like, “Milk sure does a body good” or “Where’s the
gun show?” It was definitely not the time for my lame jokes, no
matter how much I usually laughed at them.

Kannon walked confidently to
his bag and tugged a shirt free, like he was used to having a girl
ogle his half-naked body. He probably was, I realized. After all,
he’d probably done
something
with Jamieson to precipitate her asking him to the
prom. Not to mention the fact that guys who looked like Kannon
weren’t usually virgins.

I couldn’t help but be disappointed
when he pulled a white tee shirt over his head and flopped down on
the free bed.

“What did you order for dinner?” he
asked.

“Burgers and fries,” I admitted. The
menu had been overwhelming and I panicked, ordering the first thing
I saw that was at all appealing.

“Sounds good to me,” he
said.

Dinner arrived while we were
watching
NCIS
reruns and taking bets on whether Betsy Klinefelter was likely
to slam the door in our faces. I had the odds at three to one she
would. By the time we finished eating, I was so tired my eyes
wouldn’t stay open. I dragged myself to the bathroom and changed
into a pair of flowered pajama bottoms and a pink top, brushed my
teeth, and washed my face.

When I was finished, Kannon did the
same, except for the flowered pajamas. He wore St. Paul’s lacrosse
sweatpants and nothing else. Instead of climbing back into his own
bed, he laid down next to me in mine. As much as I enjoyed staring
at Kannon sans shirt, having him so close to me sans shirt made me
nervous. He’d made a point to say the room had two beds, leading me
to believe he’d correctly assumed that I would be nervous sharing
one with him. In my head, Devon’s voice was telling me to man up
and stop being such a prude.

My hands were clasped in my lap and
rested on top of the sheets covering my legs. Kannon ran one
fingertip across the back of my hand and up my arm to my shoulder
then traced my collarbone before cupping my cheek in his palm. The
rush of conflicting sensations – heat from the electricity burning
between us, the chills of anticipation – made me feel
feverish.

“Thank you for coming with me,” Kannon
said, resting his head on my shoulder and gazing up at
me.

My throat was so tight it was a chore
to swallow, let alone talk, so I just nodded. Kannon tilted his
head up farther, his hair smooth as silk on my shoulder, and kissed
my cheek lightly. Then, he rolled off the bed and onto his feet. He
unhooked the clasp of the necklace and bent down, swept my hair to
one side, and fastened the chain around my throat. On his way up,
Kannon kissed the crown of my head. In three strides he was back in
his own bed and turning out the lamp between us.

“Good night, Endora. Sleep well,” he
said.

I just sat there,
dumbfounded.
Was he serious? A kiss on the
forehead? That was how he said goodnight to his maybe girlfriend on
their first night alone together?
I reached
over and switched the light back on.

Kannon was lying on his back, hands
folded behind his head staring at the ceiling. “Yes?” he asked
without looking at me.

I opened my mouth, though I had no
idea what to say. Had I really been about to ask him why he didn’t
try and make a move? Instead, I asked an even more embarrassing
question.

“Kannon, are you my boyfriend?” I
reached for the light switch before he could see the tomato my
cheeks were starting to resemble. Kannon beat me to the lamp and
pulled it out of my reach.

“Don’t you think our relationship is a
little beyond boyfriend/girlfriend, Endora?” he asked
pragmatically.

I had no answer for that. So, instead
of saying anything meaningful, I just said, “Oh, okay. Goodnight,”
and tried stretching for the lamp again.

“Are you wondering why I didn’t try
and rip your clothes off just now?” Kannon asked, sounding
amused.

The flames of Tartarus cannot be worse
than the ones burning my face this very instant, I thought, and
closed my eyes like that would somehow make it all go
away.

“You were shaking. You clearly aren’t
ready. That is okay. I just don’t want to rush you or make you feel
uncomfortable,” Kannon continued.

I sat in silence, pondering the
ramifications of this.

“Endora Lee, do you want to have sex
with me?” Kannon asked with mock seriousness.

“No,” I said too quickly. “I
mean, I do maybe one day. Not today…tonight…now. Not right
now.”
Stop rambling, Eel.

“Then for tonight I will stay over
here. If you would like to join me, the covers are always open. The
decision is yours.” Kannon was trying hard not to sound like he was
making fun of me and I appreciated the effort, but felt stupid all
the same.

Kannon turned off the light and
repositioned it halfway between us on the night table. I closed my
eyes and tried to fall asleep. Half an hour later, I was still
awake and had a strong suspicion Kannon was too. In the car he
hadn’t snored or anything, but his heavy breathing had been audible
over the radio. The hotel room was completely silent.

“Kannon?” I whispered into the
darkness, just in case he was actually sleeping.

“Yes?” he replied
immediately.

I smiled. “Say I do come over there
and get in bed with you… can I keep my clothes on?”

“You’re the boss.”

I threw the sheets on my bed back and
hurried over to Kannon’s bed before I lost my nerve. He held the
covers up so I could climb in and then wrapped his arms around me.
I curled up with my back against his bare chest, my head on the
same pillow as his. Kannon kissed my shoulder, then my neck, and
finally the corner of my mouth.

“’
Night, Eel,” he
whispered.

“’
Night, Kannon,” I said and
finally fell asleep.

Chapter
Twenty-Seven

Betsy Klinefelter lived in the middle
of nowhere. The address Kannon had typed in the GPS the day before
wasn’t so much an address as latitude and longitude coordinates.
Since we had no idea how the meeting with Betsy would go, Kannon
paid for a second night at the hotel and we left most of our
belongings in the room. I was reluctant to let my father’s research
out of my sight, so it was safely stowed in the back seat of the
Jeep.

We reached Betsy’s house a little
after 9 a.m. An old but well-maintained pickup truck was parked out
front, which gave me hope she was actually home. I’d been a little
worried on the drive that we would be forced to camp outside her
place until she got back from work or something.

“Ready?” Kannon asked after he’d
turned off the Jeep.