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"Rafe's always off with Astrid?" Vivian asked.
"Yeah. At her place. Helping her 'recuperate.' He thinks the sun shines out of her ass. I don't get it."
Willem shook his head. "I don't blame him for staying there, though. His dad's being weirder than ever."
They sat in silence for a while as the night darkened around them.
"We used to have fun, Viv, didn't we?" Willem said finally. "Now I wonder who's looking out for me
besides me. Those older ones, all they do is talk. And Gabriel, who's he? Is he gonna make us do stupid
shit like Finn does, just to show he's boss? You know what? I think you're the only person I trust. You're
cool. You never let us talk you into doing stupid shit." Willem fell silent again.
Oh, yeah. I'm so cool,Vivian thought.
"You know who did that killing, Viv?" Willem said suddenly.
Vivian's stomach turned over.
"Nobody knows," he continued. "That weirds me out. One of us killing, and nobody knowing who.
Killing used to be something we did together."
A faint breeze picked up and heat lightning patch-worked the sky. Willem sighed.
Vivian gently punched him in the ribs. "Get out of here. Tell Finn where to stick it. Stand up for yourself,
asshole."
He grinned sheepishly. "Maybe I will."
"Well, go do it now," she said. "I need to be alone."
"Okay, okay." Willem got to his feet. He hesitated. "But you stand up for yourself, too, okay?"
"Yeah, sure."
Vivian walked down Lincoln Avenue toward the park. She was going to stop moping and stand up for
herself, like Willem had said. There was a free concert this evening: six local bands hoping to draw new
fans into the college bars up the road. The Amoeba would certainly be there, and Aiden with them. She'd
been making life too easy for him; it was time to make him look at her and remember how beautiful she
was; then maybe he'd realize what a fool he'd been for rejecting her.
She had brushed her tawny hair until it shone, and summer highlights made it shimmer with silver fire. Her
cropped shirt revealed her flat, taut belly above her low-slung skirt. Her flesh was smooth, soft, and
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golden.
A sign on a telephone pole caught her eye; it was the third one she'd passed. This time she stopped to
read and discovered a message from the police, warning the public to avoid any large dogs they saw
running loose. She snorted with amusement. She suddenly felt better than she had for days.
Vivian was walking under the raspberry sherbet froth of a crepe myrtle when she heard the growl of a
motorcycle approaching. She expected it to scream past and was surprised when it slowed to a
grumbling presence beside her. She glanced over to see Gabriel's black Harley pacing her. Gabriel's
expression was dark and brooding and a streak of fear ripped through her. Then he grinned and cut the
engine.
She stopped when his bike stopped, as if unable to control her movements.
He looked her up and down, the admiration clear on his face. "All alone, baby? I find that hard to
believe."
"Then don't," she said. Why had he come to ruin her good mood?
He ignored her terse rudeness. "Rumor has it your boyfriend broke up with you."
"Does everyone know my business?" she snapped.
"What puzzles me," he continued, "is why?"
"That's nothing to do with you," she said, and began to walk again. Inside she quivered.What was he
getting at?
Gabriel pushed his bike along beside her. "I mean, look at you. He must be out of his mind. Where
would someone like him find another like you?"
Vivian walked faster.
Gabriel matched her pace.
"You'd have to work hard to put off a horny young guy like that."
Vivian turned on him, furious. "Go to hell!"
His eyes mocked her. "Was it something you said, perhaps?"
Vivian didn't know whether to scream or hit him. She was damned if he would see her cry. Even if he
deserved an explanation, which he didn't, she could never tell him the truth. If he knew she was capable
of betraying what she was to an outsider, then he might believe she was capable of other betrayals.
"Vivian." His eyes lost the mockery they had held a moment before. "If you ever want to talk, you may
be surprised at what a good listener I can be." The dark purr of his voice was almost soothing. "If you're
in a muddle, I'm good at untying knots," he said. "And if something comes up that ..." He thought for a
moment as if choosing his words. "That even you can't handle, I've got muscle to spare. No questions
asked. Okay?"
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She had never thought of him as kind, but for a moment she wanted to fling herself into his arms and tell
him everything. The moment passed. That would be stupid. Right now he thought her a lovesick girl, that
was all, and perhaps he was only taking advantage of her grief.
"Thanks for your concern," she said, and wished she could sound gentler.
"Want a ride?" he asked. "Going to the concert, right?"
She thought a second. "Yeah," she said as a sort of apology. Anyhow, it would do Aiden good if he saw
her arrive with a suitor the other girls obviously found desirable.
As she threw a leg over the bike, she noticed the duffel strapped on the back. "Going somewhere?"
"Coming back," he answered. "I went to Pennsylvania. There's a pack up there. I wanted to find out if
they'd had any rogue wolves there recently -- a renegade out for human blood who might have run this
way."
"Any luck?" She didn't expect him to say yes.
"Nah. I'm going down to Charleston tomorrow, to see what they have to say." He kicked the bike's
engine into life. "If they hadn't scrubbed down that parking lot I might not have had to go through this," he
yelled over the engine. "Maybe I could have picked up a scent."
Vivian silently thanked Tooley for his cleanliness. But what if that hadn't been her spoor in Tooley's
parking lot? Life would have been miserable, but less complicated.Ah, but what if it had been? Vivian
looked at Gabriel's powerful shoulders and shivered.
Gabriel pulled away from the curb, and Vivian steadied herself by lightly holding his waist above the
dusty leather jacket he'd knotted around his hips. There was no softness to his midsection. If he had been
any other male, she would have run her hands up his muscled back and explored the hardness of him; she
would have pressed herself close and teased him. But this was Gabriel. He didn't behave like other
males.
She didn't know how to act with him. A nervous thought skittered through her mind: If she made him her
lover would he protect her? Or would he kill her just the same if she was the rogue?I'm crazy, she
thought, warding off the idea.
At the park he jumped the curb, and she clutched him despite herself and heard him laugh over the roar
of the engine. He cruised down a tarmac path, ignoring the shouts of an elderly man in green work pants,
and brought her right into the audience. The crowd parted like the Red Sea. Some people laughed and
cheered, others feigned disinterest. If she wanted attention, she had it, but she didn't care. There was only
one person she was interested in.
She scanned the crowd. There, close to the makeshift stage, she spotted Quince and Bingo. They had
turned like the others to find the source of the noise. Quince raised his arm to wave to her, then lowered [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]