The Zeuorian Awakening (17 page)

Everett took her hand in his. “Every time we were together, he,” Everett motioned toward Tyler, “had been watching you in the distance. Even when I left your house Saturday night, I saw him parked around the corner watching you.”

She turned toward Tyler. “You were parked outside my house Saturday night? That’s how you knew about my arm? You saw me run outside.”

“I wanted to make sure you got home after you were swept out to sea, but I decided to stick around and wait until your aunt went to sleep to speak to you. Anyway,” Tyler glared at Everett, “He followed you home after Sam’s.”

Lexi jerked her hand from Everett’s. “You followed me home?”

“I didn’t follow you home.” Everett motioned for her to calm down. “I live in the same neighborhood as you and I left a few minutes after you did. I didn’t see any point sticking around after you left.”

“Nice excuse.” Tyler snorted. “So why did you pull over on the side of the road after the accident and watched her in the dark.”

Everett let out his breath in a huff. “Not that it’s any of your business, but I pulled over to catch my breath after almost being creamed by a car. So now it’s your turn to explain why you were sitting on the side of the road watching Lexi and me. Don’t say you were going home, since I know you live the opposite direction on the highway.”

Lexi took several steps back. “You’ve both been following me around all this time?”

“I didn’t follow you.” Tyler moved toward her. “I was going to a party at Neal’s house.”

“Yes, I do remember.” She turned toward Everett. “I also remember how odd it seemed you showed up right after I did when Robert said you weren’t coming to Sam’s.”

“My plans fell through and I decided to spend the night with you.” Everett took her hand in his again and squeezed it. “I know all of this sounds bad, but I’m your friend and I wouldn’t do anything to hurt you. I hope you can believe me.”

“Don’t listen to a word he says.” Tyler tore her hand from Everett’s and turned her toward him. “He’s lying to you. There’s something wrong about him. He’s been following you since the first day of school. I even saw him following you on the beach while you were running.”

Her heart rate sped up and her hands shook. “You saw him follow me while I ran along the beach. Why were either of you following me on the beach?” Before either of them could answer her, she said, “Give me a second to think.”

She mulled over everything they had said. Only one reason they were both following her. One of them was her Watcher and the other was her Stalker.

Twenty minutes earlier, she could’ve said without hesitation Tyler had been stalking her, but now she didn’t know. Everything pointed to him being her Watcher, even his father had moved to Brookings as part of a promise to her parents to watch after her.

But he couldn’t read her thoughts—or could he? He could’ve been faking it to keep her from figuring out he was her Watcher. He also loved her. The boy from Colorado would feel that strongly about her.

Could Angie be right? Had he made a mistake and let it go too far in his house? After spending two years loving her from afar, he couldn’t control himself when they were together? Then again, he could be lying about his father asking him to watch her as a way to cover up that he had been stalking her for two years.

She looked at Everett. He had all the same classes as her. He had gone out of his way to protect her more than once and even comforted her a few times after she’d made something bad happen. He wanted to attend MIT next summer. He had a thing for Mountain Dew and dated a girl who forgot him the same summer she had dated the boy from Colorado.

Beyond that, she didn’t know anything about him, but there was something that felt right about him. He was good, trustworthy and caring—qualities that attracted her to him and qualities her Watcher shared.

She gave him a longing look, hoping and praying he was her Watcher, but he could be hiding his real identity—her Stalker. She backed away from both of them.

“Relax. I’m not going to let him hurt you.” Tyler reached out for her arm as if she were a scared animal. “Why don’t you come over here and we can talk about who’s really stalking you.”

“I’d rather go somewhere alone to think this through,” she said, moving toward the school entrance.

“No. Not until you hear all the facts.” Tyler grabbed her wrist.

“Get away from me,” she screamed at the top of her lungs and sprinted inside the school.

She ducked into the first room and locked the door. Squeaking of rubber on tile sent a cold chill down her spine. Her mouth went dry as the sound of footsteps came closer to the door. The doorknob jiggled and she sat perfectly still.

A few seconds passed before they walked away and she let out her breath in a gust. Now she could get out of there. She cracked open the door and scanned the empty hall. No one appeared to be around.

Perfect.

She tiptoed out of the room. After she turned the corner, she ran down the hall and back to her Chevelle. She sucked in her breath and held it when a deep baritone voice spoke behind her. “You really should pay more attention to those horror movies.” Her entire body tensed. “You would’ve known never to go back to your car, since it’s always the first place the killer will go.”

Lexi spun around and faced Everett. No, it can’t be him. He can’t be her Stalker.

Everett laughed and leaned against the car door. “You should see the look on your face right now.”

Her eyes narrowed and all her fear morphed into pure rage. She cocked her arm back and punched him in the shoulder. “That wasn’t funny.”

“Wow, you pack a mean punch for your tiny size.” He rubbed his shoulder. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to scare you, but it was a really dumb move.”

“Thanks. I’ll remember not to do it the next time I’m running from my Stalker.” She huffed. “So, are you going to explain to me how you know Tyler has been stalking me?”

“Yeah, I will.” He glanced at the school door. “But first we should leave before Tyler figures out where you disappeared to.”

He opened her passenger door and slid inside. “Are you going to stand out there all day?”

“No, I’m coming.”

She had no other choice. It was her best option for confirming he could be her Watcher. She climbed into the driver seat, turned the key in the ignition and sped out of the parking lot.

She traveled the side streets at ninety-five miles an hour until turning onto a dirt road. All the while she debated how to confront Everett about being her Watcher. But a nagging thought kept interrupting her internal debate. What if Tyler was her Watcher and chased her into the school to protect her?

She better double check one more time Tyler had been stalking her and not protecting her. “So, are you going to tell me about Tyler stalking me?” she said to Everett, shouting over the loud engine.

“Uh.” Everett gripped the door handle. “Yeah, after you slow down.”

“Chicken,” she said, releasing her foot from the gas.

“I’m not chicken.” He sunk into the bucket seat. “I like to live past eighteen if you don’t mind.”

“Likely story.” She rolled her eyes. “Now can you tell me about Tyler stalking me?”

He shifted in his seat and faced her. “I noticed Tyler following you on the first day of school. I didn’t think anything of it until I walked out of our calculus class at the end of the day and saw him standing in the corner of the hall watching you leave the room.”

She had a hard time believing Tyler, the most popular boy at school, had followed her like an obsessed psycho. But apparently he did. She couldn’t help wondering what else he did behind her back. “Did he do anything other than follow me?”

“A lot.” Everett sat up in his seat. “Don’t be fooled by the charming exterior he puts on. Tyler is an entirely different person when you turn your back on him. He’s mean and manipulative. He started the rumor I had been stalking you.”

So Tyler had been stalking her and that meant—she glanced over at Everett—Everett had to be her Watcher.

She listened to his mind and just as she expected, she heard nothing. For that matter, she couldn’t remember ever having heard his thoughts. He had to be blocking her. Only her Watcher would know he needed to keep her from listening to his thoughts. He definitely had to be him.

She raised her phone and stared at the picture of the boy and then at Everett. He did resemble him and—

“Watch out.” Everett grabbed the steering wheel and they barely missed a pine tree.

She slammed on the brakes and the car skidded to a stop on the side of the road. “You’re him? You’re the boy I met in Colorado and have been watching me since my birthday?”

Everett gently wrapped his hand around her phone and slid it out from her fingers. He traced his thumb over the picture and said, “Yes, I’m him, but we shouldn’t be talking alone like this. If anyone sees us, we’re dead.”

“Why did you come with me then?”

“I only came along so I can make sure you didn’t think Tyler was your Watcher and get into another situation where he made you cause another incident.”

“I wouldn’t have ever considered him my Watcher if you told me truth about yourself the first day we met in the hall.”

“I wanted to tell you, but when you couldn’t remember me. I thought you would freak out after Tyler made you believe a psycho tried to carry you away. I couldn’t risk the half-breed seeing you run from me. He would’ve known right away you were the one.”

“You couldn’t have found another way to tell me?”

“It was never safe.” He shifted in his seat. “Someone was always close by and could hear us talking. I couldn’t tell you telepathically either or risk the half-breed hearing.”

“What about when you were over my house?”

He sighed. “I was going to, but my father called. I had to go.”

“But now it’s safe for you to tell me in my car. I don’t believe you. I think if it hadn’t been for Tyler saying you were my Stalker, you would’ve waited until I figured it out on my own you were the boy. That’s why you left the photo on my bed and didn’t bother to leave me a note or wait around to talk to me.”

The corner of his mouth twitched as he struggled to keep from grinning. “Yeah, I did.” He took her hand in his. ”I couldn’t help it. I felt like a part of me died after I realized you forgot the summer we spent together. But when you saw the photo of us and remembered me, I had to see if you could figure out if I was the boy you dated.”

She felt a dull ache in her chest. “But I only remember a few brief moments.”

“I know. You could’ve remembered anything that had happened during the summer, but you remembered me and,” he winked at her, “the mole on my butt and, of course, my awesome kiss.”

Her face warmed. “It-it was a good kiss.”

“I can do better,” he muttered and bent over the stick shift to show her.

Her breath caught as his face moved closer to hers. She couldn’t believe it—Everett was her Watcher. She hoped all day he could be him and now that she knew he was, she could barely contain herself and wanted to take him into her arms and . . .

“Uh, wait a second.” She pressed her hand to his shoulder and kept him from moving closer. “I think you need to answer a few questions before we do anything else, like can you control my mind?” She remembered how the man had made her mother kill herself.

“You don’t have to be afraid.” He removed her hand from his shoulder and kissed it. “I can’t touch your mind. None of my kind can now you’ve gone through your transformation or rather what we call the ‘awakening’. We only have a fraction of your abilities, depending on what generation we are. I’m third generation. I have two abilities: mental telepathy and a form of mind control, or more like altering memories, where I can think up anything and push it into others’ minds.”

“And your father, what powers does he have?”

“He’s second generation and has the same abilities as me, plus premonitions.”

“Hmm, premonitions.” She relaxed in her bucket seat. “Are they like mine?”

“No, what you get are more emotional, gut feelings, whereas he receives visions or precognition. He can conjure them up on demand, but most of the time he waits until the visions comes to him, since they’re stronger and more vivid.”

“So, is he watching our future now?”

“Not really.” He stared out the passenger window. “He watches our people to determine what they’re planning to do and if they know about you, but he can’t see your future. Actually, no one can. That’s why no one has been able to track you down all these years.” He paused when several birds on the road flew into the sky. He rolled down the window and listened for a minute before turning toward her. “I know you have more questions to ask me, but we should go.”

“You think the half-breed following you maybe close?”

“No. He left town. I made him believe you were somewhere else with a little video editing and YouTube.” He shot her a devious look. “But I’d feel better if we discussed this in private where no one could overhear us. And one other thing,” he turned the key in the ignition and started the engine, “don’t drive like a maniac this time. I like to avoid having a heart attack.”

Lexi stood outside a chipped off-white door along the side of the house across from hers. She must’ve stared at the old run-down house more than ten times a day, but not once did she suspect someone lived there, least of all Everett. But apparently he’d somehow bought it and moved in after her birthday.

She lifted her hand to knock, when the door flew open and Everett yanked her inside. “Ouch.” She rubbed her aching arm. “Why were you so rough?”

“Tyler just parked in front of your house.” Everett motioned toward the living room. “And I didn’t want him seeing you over here.”

Tyler again. She sighed. When would he get the hint and realize she didn’t want anything to do with him?

She walked through the kitchen into the living room and peeked out the window. Just as she suspected, Tyler had parked his Hummer next to the sidewalk where she couldn’t sneak past him. Clearly, she wouldn’t be going home any time soon.