Chapter 33
We stayed in the restaurant a full forty-five minutes before it closed for the evening.
Head swimming, I took a reluctant Three back to the woods skirting the parking lot.
There we waited, out of sight, for Todd’s arrival.
It was the only place we could hide in relative safety as the cluster of restaurants cleared out, and we lost our witness advantage.
But the more time passed, the more uneasy Three became. She paced. She hummed. She jumped at every little noise, every engine revving.
To her, the world had suddenly become very loud.
And I couldn’t say there wasn’t some small part of me that was happy Three was getting a taste of her own medicine.
But any contentment was replaced by the all-too-common unease that sunk into the core of my being.
Night was cold, my clothes too rough. The muscles in my neck were sore and cramped.
It hurt to look at the light, but I fixed my eyes on the illuminated pavement through the leaves, watching for signs of my miserable best friend’s arrival.
Dots danced like sprites in the periphery.
At some point, Three had curled into a ball, rubbing warmth into her limbs. “It’s so cold.”
Though I didn’t recall sitting, I too found myself on the ground, an arm outstretched. “Come here, Three.”
Taking her under my wing, she snuggled into my side. Usually, this would bring some sort of shared warmth, but everywhere she touched made my skin crawl. As cold and clammy as a dead fish, she absorbed any heat I offered and replaced it with ice.
She nuzzled deeper, content. “You’re so toasty.”
And here all I wanted to do was pry her corpse-like claws off me. But I could be patient. I would be patient. This was the home stretch. Todd would be here soon.
Soon. Soon. Soon…
He would be here soon.
Soon.
Fixing my gaze in one place for too long caused my vision to swim. Everything started to melt and stretch like a Salvador Dalí painting, until I was certain I was dreaming.
Time moved fast, and not at all.
Until, I saw it. The inconspicuous sedan in pickup truck territory.
Ignoring Three’s protests, I got to my clogged feet, standing watch, waiting for the car to park. I needed to make sure it was—
And I was running. Three was shouting, but I didn’t care. I didn’t care about the heaviness in my legs, or that I was wading through tar. Todd was here, Todd was—
He rounded the car, all muscle, and tattoos, and grey sweatpants, the halogen lights behind him like a fucking halo.
“Delilah.”
He was here.
Eyes burning, blurring, I moved as fast as my bright orange feet could carry me. I couldn’t get to him fast enough.
I pushed myself harder, faster, until I crashed into his chest and his arms came around me in a wall of protective steel.
It didn’t matter that everything hurt, I pressed into the long hard lines of his usually warm body until I was engulfed in cedar and pine.
It was him. He was here. I could feel him. Feel the weight, and form, and beautiful beautiful fury of him.
And he held me, pulled me close, and didn’t let go.
For the first time, in a long time, I felt safe.
Protected.
Lighter.
Tempests of unnamed emotion churned as I clung to Todd, burrowing my face into the fabric of his shirt. Hands clawing, clutching at fistfuls of material to grab as much of my sturdy, dependable, rock as I could possibly manage.
If I looked like a fool I didn’t care. I’d made it through hell and back, and I’d cling to the good as long as I could get it.
Words would come later.
For now, we needed this. Us. To take hold and not let go.
Time expanded and contracted, in strange wobbling waves, but eventually, I spoke into his shoulder. “You came.” I started to shake. “You’re here.”
Dark familiar eyes found mine. Heat pooled in my frigid soul, as he lowered his brow until we stood forehead to forehead. Brow to scarred brow.
I blinked, and suddenly, we were on the ground, our positions reversed. Todd crouched in front of me, the car door against my back burning through my clothes like cold lightning.
Concern marring his dark features, I cupped Todd’s cheek, in part to make sure he was real. To feel the rasp of his skin beneath my fingers, to feel his solid form.
“Delilah.” He took hold of the hand I laid on his stubbled face, and signed with the other, “You’re burning up.”
I was concocting a witty comeback when I saw it.
The crown of gently tousled raven-black waves.
“Oh my god.” My hand slid from his cheek to the side of his head, wrapping my fingers in the silken locks. “You’ve grown out your hair…”
Time jumped again. Both of my hands were fisted in his mane; he probably should have stopped me.
“It’s soooo soft.”
“You’ve got a fever. You need medical attention.”
Time warped, and I was in the back of Todd’s car. He was reaching for the seatbelt behind me. The instinct to hide my passenger was still alive and well as I grabbed a hold of Todd’s wrists.
“I’m fine, I’ll do it.”
As he grunted, the sides of his face shifted. Black hair blurred and morphed. Sharp, angry features softened—
“You’re… pretty.” The worrisome words were out of my mouth before I could catch them. The Todd I knew didn’t have hair. He wasn’t pretty, he was frighteningly handsome. Todd—wait, had he signed the words? Or had he spoken them? Aloud?
Shivers wracked my body. Everything hurt, the roots of my hair hurt, as the world began to melt, Todd’s skin turning to putty beneath my fingers.
No, no, no…
Something was wrong.
Three had tried to warn me. Oh my god, Three, Three wasn’t here. She was still out there.
Behind Todd’s melting shoulder, I managed to spy a splash of hot pink within the tree line. Just one splash of color before my world went completely and utterly black.