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I sat ramrod straight in the front passenger seat of Seth’s little car. He had the bass turned up, the thumping from one of the Indie rock bands he liked vibrated the car. I stuck my hands under my legs to keep them from freezing, as the warmth from earlier in the day had diminished into a frigid, sunless breeze and left me shivering.
Shorts might not have been the best idea.
Seth turned the volume down on his car’s dashboard. “We’re going to figure this all out, you know.” He rested his hand on the center console while gripping the steering wheel with the other. I fought the urge to reach out and grab it.
Stop it, Erin.
Friends. No touchy.
You’re just hot and heavy because of this whole supernatural transformation bullshit.
Seth is off limits, you ding dong.
I let out a sigh. “If you say so.”
His hand twitched. “And for all we know, this whole ‘Key’ bullshit is just that. Bullshit. We’ll focus on the connection there and how to find the missing victims and that might lead to more answers.”
“Maybe.” I watched out the window, the outskirts of our small town slowly paced by. It felt like the weight of the world had lumped itself right onto my chest, squishing me from the inside out. The fully-leafed trees flew by, couples laughing ignorant to the reality of the world as they knew it.
There’s so much that they don’t know.
Ignorance is bliss. I get it now.
Seth’s finger lightly brushed against my thigh. I held my breath. He squeezed my knee, reminding me of how my dad would when I was little.
“It’ll all work out, kiddo. Just take a breath.”
My chest tightened further. It’d been almost a decade since he left, and it still left a hole in me. I hoped, even though I lived hundreds of miles away from the home I grew up in, that one day he’d just walk back in my life. That I’d have my dad back.
That’s never going to happen though.
He left me. I was nothing.
I am nothing.
Seth squeezed my knee again, bringing me back to the present. “Hey, Erin?” He rasped.
“Yeah?”
“I don’t know what exactly happened…when you were gone. Whentheytook you. And I’m not going to ask,” he paused, his breath hitching. “But I recognize that look in your eye you’ve had since you came out of it this morning. I promise you, even if Ihave to burn the world to do it, I will end him. He won’t hurt you again.
But if you try…you could die.
He could kill you.
And you’d be gone. The only family I have left.
And it would be my fault.
A tear slid down my cheek, I kept my sight trained on the townscape outside his car window.
“I’ll kill him myself, Erin. He won’t hurt you again. Not under my watch.”
My vision unfocused, as I fought the sob building in my throat. I pulled a hand from underneath me and slid it in Seth’s. He curled his fingers around mine and gave them a squeeze. A promise.
I choked out a whispered thank you and thought back to my dad again.
Then I realized that my mind and hormones had played me. Seth saw me as someone to protect. Like we were blood. The feelings that had surfaced, they were one sided.
