AllFreeNovel
Share Us
He nodded.
“I, uh, need to probably get home,” I whispered, the air deflated.
Kai pursed his lips before he opened his mouth, only to close it again. “Why don’t I make us some breakfast, and then I cantake you home? No pressure, but it’s always better to travel with a full stomach.”
“You don’t even know where I live. What if it’s far?”
He shrugged. “Could be in the next town over. I don’t care. I want to make sure you are safe.” His gaze hardened, and the stress of each of those final words hung between us.Safe.
I swallowed the lump in my throat, shoving it as far down as it would go.
Would I ever feel safe—truly?
Here I was, talking with the man who’d helped me, and I still felt on edge. I glanced around the room before making my way back to him. I didn’t want to look him in the eyes. It was too intimate. Instead, I studied the harshness of his jawline, the pulsing of the muscles in his neck, and the firmness of his shoulders.
“Got stuff to make pancakes?” I asked.
Kai’s smile widened, showing his teeth. His canines were sharp, but the tooth next to his right one was somewhat crooked. The joy it gave his smile was undeniable. “We definitely do.” He nodded, stretching out his hand.
Chapter 10
Kai
Audry picked at the delicious, stuffed blueberry pancake. I sat in front of her, eager to summon the smile again. I had tried to hide my disappointment from her—I just wanted to hear that laugh again.
Carson had pulled me aside and lectured me on how not everyone gains an appetite right after murder or rape.
“How is it?” I asked as she took a few bites.
“It’s good,” she said, glancing up. She looked past me, her eyes widening as she pointed at the clock. “I need to get going.”
“I’ll drive you home.” I grabbed my car keys, determined to at least drop her off and see her safely home. If she wanted the familiar comforts of her own place, who was I to convince her otherwise?
Audry clenched her fists together at her sides. Her lower lip quivered slightly as her eyes flooded with panic. “But I don’t have time to go home. And I have a few things I need to do. I’m not?—”
“Wherever you need to go, I’ll take you,” I said. “This neighborhood isn’t the best place to walk in.” The words were out of my mouth before I could take them back. I didn’t want her scared, but I also didn’t want her walking past that alleyway.
“Okay.” She nodded. Her chest raised and lowered at a slower pace, and her hands unclenched.
We made our way outside. My jeep was parked on the side of the street where I left it last night. I opened the webbed door for her before getting into the car myself. We left the cookie cutter townhomes for the upper class commerce area of town. I shifted in my seat as we passed stores too high class for my wallet and inched closer and closer to the neutral area of town.
I glanced her way as we drove. Audry stayed silent for the ride, her hand poking out the window as she surfed the waves how I used to do as a child.
My car rolled slowly down the street as I waited for further instruction from Audry.
“It’s just up here.” She pointed around the corner. “You can drop me off at the corner if you want.”
A territorial fear raged in my stomach at the thought. “How’s about the front door of wherever your mystery errand is?”
“Well, it’s not really an apartment, or a house. I have to meet my mom for tea,” she explained, adjusting the scarf around her neck. It hid the violence done to her, along with the smile she planted on her face. But, I saw through it. I noticed the hesitation, the lack of eye contact—she had changed.
Not that I’d had the time to get to know her before. But I could sense the difference. It was an uncomfortableness she had being in her own skin that she didn’t have the night we talked at the bar.
“For tea?” I asked, tilting my head. My breath caught as I saw her there, her hair flowing in the wind of the open Jeep. The dress she’d borrowed from Carson hung right above her knee, the dark flower pattern making her look like Persephone herself—a goddess. I cleared my throat, dismissing the thought.
It didn’t matter if I wanted to get to know her more or not. There was nothing for us, not after the trauma she’d endured. Both our lives were too messy for it.
“My parents are a bit…extra,”she chose her words carefully.
