Chapter 13 #2
Something cool and sharp pressed against my throat, pinching the skin. My blood turned cold, my fight or flight response flipping on.
“Don’t fucking move or I’ll slit your fucking throat.” I would know that voice anywhere. Blaire.
My heart sank. Maybe she did remember after all. “Blaire. Let’s talk about this.”
“You think I won’t? You don’t scare me,” she scoffed. “That’s the funny thing about men. They always underestimate me, until they’re bleeding out at my feet.”
Her memories were coming back. I wasn’t sure if I was grateful or disappointed.
“No, I believe you. I’m just saying let’s talk about it before you do.” I slipped my hands up, ready to disarm her if the moment presented itself. She had to be on the fucking tips of her toes to reach my neck with the knife.
“What is there to talk about? You really thought you got away with it and I wouldn’t come back for you?” She grabbed my shoulder, pulling me around. “Look at me. Keep your hands where I can see them. I’m going to give you a chance to confess your sins before I kill you.”
I spun in place, her knife following my neck as I turned. It scraped the skin, and a bead of blood trickled down my shirt collar. I couldn’t bring myself to meet her eyes.
“I said, look at me,” she snapped.
It was then I realized how truly fucked up I was because there was something so fucking sexy about Blaire taking control, pressing a knife to my neck, demanding things, even if she wanted to kill me. My gaze rose from the floor, meeting her eyes. I almost collapsed in relief.
It wasn’t Blaire. Well, it was. But she wasn’t there. Her eyes were distant, seeing something that wasn’t there. It wasn’t me she wanted to kill. I still had time.
“Blaire,” I soothed. “Blaire, baby, I think you’re sleepwalking again.”
She glared, the endearment slipping off my tongue ignored, and pressed the blade harder against me. “How stupid do you think I am? You kill him, and leave me for dead, and think I’m going to fall for your sweet talk? You’re dirtier than I ever thought.”
What? “I promise you, I’ve done some fucked up shit, but I’ve never left you for dead.
You’ve got me mixed up with someone else.
If you want to take out some of your anger on me, I’m fine with that, but I’m not sure we need to go as far as killing.
” If I could move an inch closer, I could get the knife out of her hands, but I wasn’t sure I could do it without breaking her wrist. My best bet was talking her out of it, somehow. She seemed pretty set on killing me.
Blaire curled her lip. “Don’t play me for a fool, Lukas. Just own up to it, and you can die a free man.”
Lukas. That was my out. “Blaire, my name isn’t Lukas. Listen to me. Listen closely. My name is Winder. Winder, remember? You slept in my bed last night. You were mad I left. I told you the story of how I got my name.”
“Wi…Winder?” Something clicked behind her eyes, and the pressure on the knife lifted slightly. “How do I know you’re telling the truth?”
I smiled. “You don’t. Remember? Don’t trust anything with a tongue that can lie. That being said, I’ve made a really stupid decision getting this snake tattooed on my body if my name isn’t Winder.”
“Winder.” The fogginess left her gaze. Her wide eyes snapped to the weapon she held at my throat. “Oh my God,” she cried, dropping the knife with a clatter. She jumped away from it like it was contagious, like she hadn’t just been threatening my life a moment earlier.
“Hey. Hey.” I reached out for her, but she pulled away from me, curling into herself. “It’s okay. You were sleepwalking.”
Blaire shook her head violently. “It’s not okay. It’s not fucking okay, Winder. I would’ve killed you, do you realize that? I would’ve killed you, and you would’ve just been another one of my nightmares.”
“But you didn’t.” I smirked, cocking my head. “Besides, you’ve got to try harder than that if you really want to kill me.”
She fell to the floor, a protective shell against the hurt. I knew the move. “You should go.”
I knelt in front of her. I wanted to get to the bottom of this as much as she did. I went to rest my hands on her knees, then pulled my hands back. She wasn’t ready for the contact.
“Why are you still here?” she murmured, the words nearly lost against her kneecaps.
“I kind of like having you around. Keeps things interesting.” When her death glare shot up at me, I held up my hands. “I’m kidding.”
Blaire smashed her head against her knees, so at odds with the powerful woman who had been in front of me moments earlier. “You should run from me. I’m obviously a liability. Can’t leave me alone for a minute.”
I sat down next to her, mimicking her pose. “You’re not a liability, Blaire. There’s something going on that we have to figure out. Like it or not, I’m probably your best chance for that.”
She paused. “I’m sorry. It’s not you. I’m grateful for your help, really.
I just…” She trailed off, resting her chin.
“I don’t understand. I don’t get why this is happening.
And I don’t get why you’re helping me. Your life would be a lot easier if you just dumped me off on someone else, or left me to figure my shit out on my own. ”
This was my chance. I could tell her the truth now, the words burning my tongue, the secrets I had kept buried inside for far too long. I could exorcize my demons right now.
All I had to do was say the words.
But honesty wasn’t the perfect gift we made it out to be.
It was broken and battered, and would cut you clean given half the chance.
I could tell her the truth, and release myself from the chains weighing me down, but would I break her by doing so?
Possibly. And I needed her whole to figure this out.
She could break after, when she was safe, and I could sleep again without being haunted by dreams of her.
I smiled, giving her a small shrug, the words sour in my mouth. “Our fates are entwined. Haven’t you figured that out by now?”
Somehow, that had been the right thing to say.
Her body relaxed immediately, sagging to the ground.
Her shoulder brushed against mine, and I tried to pretend I couldn’t feel every inch of her body against mine.
I so badly wanted to take her into my arms, to scare away the things that clouded her mind, making her shake at night while she slept, only a few feet away from me.
But I couldn’t do that. Touching her was a toxin, an acid that would slowly eat away at me until there was nothing left but her hand on my sorry bones.
“Sometimes, I wonder… if in a different life, one less complicated than this, one where we didn’t meet this way, if we would’ve been friends. I think I would’ve liked that.” Blaire’s voice was a rush of words.
I didn’t respond, even as her words cycled in my mind. I had already said too much, and responding back to her confession was dangerous for us both.
Instead, I got to my feet, offering her my hand. We had work to do. “Come on. I have an idea. You might not like it, but it might get us somewhere in figuring out what’s going on.”
She studied me from under her lashes, but took my hand softly, the same hand that had held a blade as she threatened to kill me. “Do I want to know?”
I tossed the knife into the sink, a problem for another day, and left the kitchen, Blaire trailing behind me as we made our way back to my room.
“There’s a party going on at another house tonight. A house of a friend who might have information on what you’ve been up to at night.”
“You think a party is going to scare me off after the last few days?” Blaire stuck her tongue out, and the immature gesture made me smile.
“No. But I don’t trust the crowd at this party. I’d feel better if…” I winced, afraid of how she would take the next part.
“Spit it out, Winder.”
I knew I was playing with fire.
The unfortunate part was that I never minded being burned.
I ran my tongue over my teeth. “In order for this to work, and for you to stay safe, we’ll have to pretend like we’re together.”