Sex Symbol (16 page)

Her eyes teared up again. “Thanks, Lucy.”

I hugged her again and when I pulled back the emotion in her eyes was so raw that I had to look away.

“It’s been a long time since someone really cared about me. Someone I could trust.” Justina tipped my chin up to look at her again. “You really would shank a motherfucker for me, wouldn’t you?”

We both laughed. The return of her usual coarse language was comforting. It meant she was going to be all right.

“Of course I would.”

While I started catching up on my laundry, Justina told me about everything that had been going on down at the shop. Things really did sound fine like she’d said before. I was relieved that I hadn’t been needed while I was unconscious for two days.

“So, what all happened with Eramus?”

She was on her second glass of whiskey and seemed to be feeling better the more she talked. Her cheeks were flushed from the alcohol and her hair had started to frizz thanks to the weather. I had no doubt that my red mop looked similar by now.

“I didn’t leave anything out, Stina.” My smile revealed the truth and she kept staring at me until I said, “Except this amazing kiss.”

The way she squealed made me feel like I was thirteen again and at a slumber party.

“It was incredible. No one’s ever kissed me like that before.”

She raised a brow. “Did he have a new technique or something?”

“No.” I stared off into space, trying to find the words. “It had nothing to do with what he did. It was more about what he made me feel.” I hesitated to reveal how strongly his kiss had affected me. But after what she’d just shared it felt right that I could admit the truth to her. “It felt like someone had finally found me. Like going home. That probably sounds—”

“Beautiful,” she said, cutting me off.

I wasn’t sure what else to say, so I picked up a stack of clothes and carried them upstairs to fold. Justina followed and it wasn’t until we were in my bedroom that I realized I’d left my sketch pad on the bed.

She sat down and immediately started looking for anything new. I often showed her my sketches, so she flipped past the ones she’d already seen.

“Anything new?” she asked.

I tried to act casual. “Just some stuff from a few of my dreams.”

I knew the moment she found Eramus. It was apparent by the look on her face. I stood beside her and looked down at my sketch. He was so lifelike. It really was some of my best work.

“That’s a pretty sweet dream.”

“Or a beautiful nightmare,” I said softly. “Either way, I’m not sure I want to wake up.”

“Huh? What are you talking about?”

For a second I forgot that Justina didn’t know his secret. I hurried back to the pile of clothes I’d been folding.

“I just mean his job. He told me a little about it, sounded really rough.”

“Oh. Does Ozzy know him or something? Didn’t he say he had a famous name or was it a familiar name? I can’t remember.”

She continued to flip through my sketch book and I tried to act like the question didn’t bother me. But I was dying to know exactly how it was that Ozzy recognized his name. Especially considering what Eramus used to do—and what he had become. How the hell would Ozzy know anything about a monster hunter and his grandfather?

“Lucy? Are you listening to me?”

“Um, yeah.”

“So, besides the obvious, what did he tell you that was so bad?”

I had to say something to account for my reaction. To her knowledge there was nothing about Eramus that even hinted at being a nightmare. So I told her something that was true and that I knew she wouldn’t bring up in front of him.

“His grandfather had to kill his girlfriend years ago.”

She almost choked on her whiskey. “What the fuck?”

“She was living with Eramus at the time. Somehow she got exposed to a werewolf.”

Justina’s eyes grew wide. “She was turned, you mean? Holy shit. And his grandfather killed her? That’s pretty harsh.”

“It wasn’t like that. They tried to cover up that she’d been turned. But she got out of control one night and attacked his grandfather. Eramus said he didn’t have a choice.”

She sighed and took another swig of whiskey. “I can relate to that.”

“It happened fifteen years ago. His grandfather retired after that night.”

“That’s some pretty harsh shit. No wonder he has trouble sleeping.”

Her understanding was a relief. Of course, I knew the other reason that Eramus had cited for his insomnia and that I kept to myself.

We were both quiet for several minutes while I put the clothes up and Justina finished her drink.

“Whatever it is he’s running from…maybe you should just let him hide.”

“What makes you think I wouldn’t?”

She shook her head and then stopped as if the motion made her dizzy.

“I didn’t mean it that way. It’s just obvious to me that Eramus is hiding. I ran too. I left a lot of bad things behind. Things that I hope don’t find me here. I think he’s trying to do the same thing. And now we’ve both found you. You’ve been a friend when I really needed one.” She laughed softly. “I’m not trying to say that I know what he needs. There’s obviously something between you two. Chemistry, let’s call it. Maybe you should just see where that leads and not worry about the past. All that matters is that he’s here now. And unless I’m mistaken, you need him too.”

Tears stung my eyes. Her words were more than drunken rambling. She’d been thinking about this for a while. I could tell by how deliberate her words were. Maybe she’d even rehearsed it a time or two. Either way, the fact that she brought up the subject at all was deeply touching. It meant that she could read me like a book. And it meant that she cared about me just as much as I cared about her.

I’d always wanted a sister. But, my parents didn’t get along well enough to stay in the same room much less have another child. Guess I’m lucky to be here at all.

*

Justina ended up staying the rest of the day. By the time I started dinner that evening, I knew she didn’t want to go home.

“I know you like to sleep in your own bed, but you can stay here tonight if you want to.”

I took some pasta from the cabinet as I spoke. Justina had continued to drink off and on all day and was by now beyond helping me to cook. I pulled out a chair for her and she plopped down with a grateful smile.

“Thanks. I don’t want to impose though.”

I smiled. “You’re not. But are you really more afraid of Nick than a werewolf?”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, the other night you went home after what happened to your neighbor’s dog. I don’t mind you staying, I just wondered why this bothered you so much worse. I’d think a werewolf was worse than an ex-boyfriend.”

She shook her head and pushed her glass away. “You haven’t met Nick. He’s fucking terrible. And he always gets my birthday wrong. My birthday is the twenty-second.”

“I know, that’s next Tuesday.”

While I listened to her talk I took some shrimp and other fresh ingredients out of the fridge. I was dicing tomatoes when I realized what she was trying to tell me.

“Wait a minute. When do you usually get a card?”

Justina looked terrified. “On the eighteenth. That’s tomorrow.”

I poured some olive oil into a pan and turned up the heat. My mind was made up before I finished turning the knob.

“We’ll check it together.”

She nodded as if my decision helped to give her strength. “Thanks. That makes me feel better.”

“You know what’d make me feel better? Some food. I’m starving.”

Justina laughed, probably as grateful as I was for the change in subject.

I was dicing some bell peppers when we heard a knock at the door. I was halfway expecting Ozzy to drop by. He usually did at least twice a week. Besides, I wanted to ask him how he knew Eramus.

But when I opened the door, a stranger awaited me. He was tall, but not as tall as Eramus, maybe six foot one. He had black hair, blue eyes and a scar that ran down the right side of his face. It didn’t disfigure him, despite how large the scar was. It was more the look on his face that made him frightening.

By the time I recognized Nick, it was too late to slam the door in his face.

He was everything Justina had said and then some. I had no trouble believing his cruelty. As strange as it may sound, all I had to do was look into his eyes. You know how they say that the eyes are the windows to the soul? Well, Nick’s eyes were the coldest, most unemotional I’d ever seen. The only thing visible in his expression or his stance was pure malice.

My voice was surprisingly steady as I looked up at him and asked, “Can I help you?”

“You don’t know me,” he said, oozing false charm, “but my name is Nick.”

He held out his hand and I just looked at it. Taking my insult in stride he continued.

“Is Justina here?”

My heart skipped. How the hell would he know that? Maybe she wouldn’t come to the door. Just maybe I could talk him into leaving.

“I’m sorry, who?”

“Cut the shit,” he said, flashing fangs. “I know she’s here.”

Fangs?! How the fuck did Nick get fangs?!

“I don’t know who you’re talking about.”

He leaned forward, stopping just short of pushing the door further open. His eyes started to glow and I recognized them. A chill ran through me that had nothing to do with the cold outside. What the hell was I going to do?

“You were here the other night, watching me.”

“That’s right.” His grin made me feel dirty. “Nice tattoo.”

He’d seen me with Ozzy! Holy shit, Nick was a werewolf! My first instinct was to scream for Eramus. But if Nick’s reflexes were as fast as his, he could break my neck before I got out a squeak. I thought about trying to argue the point further and say that Justina wasn’t there. But I looked past his shoulder and saw her truck right in the middle of the yard. There was no way around it. He knew she was here.

“If you let me pass, I promise not to mess up your house,” he said, still smiling that evil smile. “This doesn’t concern you. All I want is her.”

He leaned even closer, propping against the door frame and nudging the door in toward me. I refused to back up. My heart was beating so fast I felt dizzy, but I’d be damned if I gave her up to this lunatic. Maybe she’d already heard his voice and run out the back. And maybe Eramus would see her running and get here in time to stop Nick from tearing my throat out.

“I know she’s here. Took her neighbor a while to squeal, but she told me. Even gave me directions to your house.”

It took everything in me to stand my ground, but I did. I opened the door wide, took a step toward Nick and said, “Go fuck yourself.”

He grabbed the front of my sweater so fast I didn’t even see him move. The next thing I knew I was two feet in the air and he was shaking me like a rag doll.

“Tell me where she is, you little bitch!”

“Put her down!”

Nick turned around, but he didn’t let me go. Eramus was standing in my front yard. Even the fact that I knew him couldn’t take away from his fearsome appearance. He was the scariest thing I’d ever seen.

His eyes burned like amber lamps in the darkness and his fangs were clearly visible as he snarled at Nick. I heard a crackling sound, like logs on a fire. When I realized the sound was coming from him I took a closer look. The bones of his hands broke and reformed before my eyes, shaping themselves into enormous claws. Every horror movie I’d ever watched ran through my mind in a perverse set of flashbacks.

A low growl rumbled from Eramus’ throat and made the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end.

“I said put-her-down.”

Nick dropped me onto the porch and I rolled to the side, scooting back toward the open door.

“This is none of your business,” Nick snarled. “This is personal.”

Eramus took another step forward as the rain grew harder once more. It poured down and over his body, outlining his every curve in the faint moonlight. I had never feared someone and wanted them so badly at the same time. He reached one nightmarish hand forward and motioned for Nick to step off the porch.

Justina crouched down behind me and helped me to stand.

“I flagged him down out the kitchen window,” she whispered. “I’m so sorry, Lucy. I didn’t know what else to do.”

“No,” Eramus said, his deep voice rumbling over the porch. “When you put your hands on Lucy, you made it my business.”

Nick laughed, a cold humorless sound that was closer to a bark.

“So, she’s yours now? Well, that’s not what I hear. Rumor has it she’s been marked.”

Marked? What the hell was he talking about? No one had marked me. What did that even mean?

From her sharp intake of breath I guessed that Justina had finally noticed how Eramus looked. His partial transformation must have been unnerving to say the least, especially when she didn’t know he was a werewolf. I was terrified and I had known.

“Jesus Christ,” she gasped. “Did you know about this?”

“Yes.” My voice was hoarse, probably from where Nick had been choking me with my sweater.

“You wait right there,” Nick said.

He pointed to Justina, but he never took his eyes off Eramus.

“I’ll be right back.”

“We’ll see about that,” Eramus growled.

The change in his voice was almost as shocking as his hands. It was still recognizable as Eramus, but obviously changed. It was deeper, more guttural—and the scariest thing I’d heard outside of special effects.

Nick stepped into the yard and tore off his shirt, revealing a powerfully muscled body. Eramus followed suit and my heart started beating even harder, which I didn’t think was possible. How could he look so good and so bad at the same time?

Rain cascaded over his shoulders and down his body. The hair that washed forward, almost obscuring his face, had grown at least five inches. Other than his hands and glowing eyes, Eramus could have been the incarnation of one of my sexiest dreams.

He grabbed Nick by the throat. The rain that had been dislodged from his body hung in the air like a fine mist. I could hear Nick strangling. My eyes grew wide as he lifted him off the ground just as Nick had done to me. Only Eramus had him by the throat and I had no doubt he could have killed him on the spot.