Traveller (18 page)

For a second, I imagined Leo gloriously naked, his golden eyes filled with desire. Then I imagined myself naked, too. I stopped dead in my tracks and almost dropped my backpack.

“Ew, ew, ew. Dirty thoughts, dirty thoughts.”

“I hate to interrupt you. It looks like an interesting conversation you’re having with yourself.”

Lucinda smiled at me, and Poppy stood right next to her. I grabbed them both into a huge hug.

“Oh, girls. If you could only know where my mind just was…”

“Tell us,” said Lucinda, “over lunch.”

We went to our favorite café, but the cold and wind prevented us from sitting outside. The cozy interior was dark and warm, with wooden walls and a low ceiling. We slid into a booth with leather seats. I ordered a beef pie, which Lucinda and Poppy both looked at longingly. They ordered salads.

“It really isn’t fair you can eat like a longshoreman and look like a Barbie doll, you know.” Poppy picked at her salad and gave me a dirty look.

“Sorry, Pops.” I tried to give her a bite of my lunch, but she shook her head.

“No, thanks. I love salad,” she said with such a completely false smile plastered on her face I had to giggle. She looked maniacal. “So, what have you been up to?”

I had to be discreet. That meant no mention of Moktars, Travellers, or any of the other weirdness.

“I have some news,” I said, and took another bite of beef pie.

Poppy’s eyes lit up. “You slept with Michael.”

I shook my head, almost choking. I grabbed my glass of water and swallowed some down.

Lucinda took a stab at it. “You slept with Michael and Leo. Together. Ménage à trois. I love it.”

A good thing my mouth was covered with my napkin otherwise water would have spurted all over the table. Lucinda and Poppy knew all about the very handsome and sexy Leo, but it was kind of funny Lucinda mentioned him only minutes after I’d pictured him naked. Now she’d added Michael to the mix inside my head, and I pictured that, too.

“Oh, my goody gumdrops.”

Lucinda rolled her eyes and then looked at Poppy. “She’s still a virgin.”

“How do you know that?” I asked.

“Only virgins can use that phrase. It’s illegal otherwise.” Lucinda went back to eating her salad.

“Don’t you want to hear my news?” I asked with a frown.

“Of course we do, darling,” said Poppy.

I cleared my throat. “I found my grandparents.”

“How?” asked Lucinda.

I pretended to be really interested in something on my plate. “Michael helped me.”

“I’m so happy for you, Em,” said Poppy. “What are they like?”

“I love them already.” I gushed about them for a few minutes, and then thought about my mother and how she’d died. I swallowed hard, and changed the subject. “How is Nigel?”

Poppy’s face lit up. “He’s spectacular. He told his parents he loved me, and either they’d respect that and treat me well, or he’d have nothing more to do with them. They are being quite bearable to me now.”

“I’m so glad.” I reached out and grabbed her hand. Then I looked at Lucinda. “And Antarctica?”

Lucinda’s cheeks actually turned pink. “Sven asked me to come with him on his research mission in the spring.”

“You’re going to live on the tundra?” I stared at her in shock.

She bit her lip. “For a few weeks. I’ve already talked to my professors. They gave their permission. And you’ll be back in Kentucky anyway. I’ll be lonely.”

My eyes filled with tears. “I’ll miss you, roomie.”

Lucinda looked a bit teary, too. “Which is why we have to make really spectacular plans for Friday.”

I looked at them in confusion. “What are you talking about?”

“Your birthday, silly.” Poppy pretended to pop me on the head. “You’re finally turning twenty-one.”

I had to think fast. “I’ll plan the whole thing, okay? Nigel and Sven can come, too.”

I needed to clear this with Michael and Matthew and probably the whole gypsy council. They would never let me go out at night. I had to hope they would let my friends come in somehow.

“That’s fine,” said Lucinda. “Our only real plan is to get you completely wasted since you are finally legal to drink in Kentucky.”

“And since you are incredibly funny and southern when you drink,” Poppy chimed in.

“Thank you, ladies. Friday will be interesting.”

I went to my afternoon class, but barely paid attention while trying to come up with a solution for my birthday. My friends had been very forgiving regarding the time I’d been spending with Michael, but they would not understand missing my birthday. I almost groaned out loud. The last thing I wanted to do was add to Michael’s problems. He already had enough on his plate.

Since Michael had learned the news about his mother’s death and his new half sibling, I sensed anger simmering inside him, bubbling just below the surface. I saw it in the tightness in his jaw and in the coldly calculating look in his eyes. He wanted to stop Melo from hunting me, but he wanted revenge for his mother, too. I almost pitied the first Moktar who might cross his path.

“Hello, beautiful.” Leo interrupted my thoughts, making me nearly jump out of my shoes. I hadn’t even heard him approach.

The wind had picked up, and my hair blew around my face. I pushed it out of the way, glad I’d had the good sense to throw on a coat this morning.

“Hi, Leo. Where are you off to?”

Leo leaned in and wiggled his eyebrows suggestively. “Where would you like me to take you?”

I backed away a step. He made me uncomfortable. I would have thought he was drunk, but he didn’t smell like alcohol. I glanced around. Enough people milled about I didn’t think I was in any danger, but I felt oddly on edge.

“What’s the matter, Emerson? You don’t want to play with me today?”

He stuck out his lower lip in a pout. He wore a tight black t-shirt and no coat, and yet I could almost feel the heat radiating from his body. I had on four layers of clothing and still shivered.

I gave him a playful little shove to make him back off, but the look on his face wasn’t playful at all. It was dark.

“Where’s Brooke?” I asked and began walking back to my apartment as quickly as possible. Something felt very off. Leo seemed hyper, like he was high or using steroids or something. He also looked even more muscular than usual.

“Who cares?” He tried to put his arm around my shoulders, and I shrugged him off. He made a noise deep in his throat that sounded like a growl.

“You asked her out.”

Only a block left until I reached my apartment, and I hoped Michael would be waiting outside. Leo was beginning to scare me, but I chatted with him as I walked in an effort to buy time.

I turned the corner, and exhaled a sigh of relief. I couldn’t see Michael, but I saw the steps to my apartment. Running would get me there in about ten seconds. I felt around in my backpack for my keys and pulled them out. Leo grabbed my arm, gripping it so hard it hurt.

“Ow.” I tried to yank it away, but he wouldn’t let me. He pushed me into a dark, narrow alley, slamming me against a brick wall next to some trash bins. No one on the main street could see me now. “What are you doing, Leo?”

He was furious, positively seething with rage. His eyes looked bloodshot and glassy, and his face had turned an angry shade of red.

“Why are you playing games with me?” he asked, his voice a low hiss. He tried to pull me deeper into the alley and away from my apartment, but I dug my heels in.

“Leo, stop it. You’re my friend.”

He didn’t answer. He twisted my arm until I screamed in pain. I swung my backpack with my free arm, hitting him on the side of his head. It wasn’t enough to get him to let go of my arm, but it made him stop wringing it like a wet sponge.

“I don’t want to be your
friend
.”

He was so mad he spit. I wondered how I ever could have thought he was handsome. He looked like a monster now.

I started kicking him and pushing him with all my might, but he stopped me with one hand to my throat, my head pushed against the wall. He began to squeeze so hard I started seeing black spots float in front of my eyes.

For once, I was grateful for the English weather. A big fat raindrop fell on his face, distracting him. He looked up, loosening his grip on my throat just enough for me to take a deep breath. At that moment, I dealt the deathblow, kicking him as hard as I possibly could right in the crotch.

Sun Tzu had taught me even the strongest opponent has a weak spot. In the case of muscle-bound Leo, his weak spot was right between his legs. He released me immediately, his hands protectively covering his injured area, and he fell over like a tree in the forest.
Timber
.

He moaned in pain, but he’d be up again soon. I let out a yelp when he tried to grab my foot, and sprinted as fast as I could back to my apartment. Rain fell in earnest now, soaking through my clothes. Michael walked toward me, coming down the street from the opposite direction. When he looked up and saw my face he broke into a run.

“What happened?”

I started to babble, pointing back to the alley, but when Michael got there Leo had already gone. I looked around in a panic, sure he would jump out at any minute and attack me again. Michael took the keys out of my hand and pulled me into my flat.

I stared at the keys. “I could have used my keys. Why didn’t I use the keys? I could have stuck one in his eye. I know that. I know that.”

Michael stroked my hair and whispered in my ear, trying to calm me. As soon as I’d settled down, he pulled back to look at my face. His expression grew hostile when he saw my neck.

“What happened?”

I touched my neck gingerly and winced as I swallowed. “He tried to kill me. He really wanted to kill me.”

I’d practiced martial arts for many years. I’d beaten up people, and been beaten up, on almost a weekly basis. This was something very different.

“Who?”

“Leo. He’s a guy. I know him. He likes Brooke.” My eyes flew open wide. “I need to call Brooke. She can’t go out with him. He is crazy. He’s on drugs or something.”

Michael shushed me. “How do you know him?”

I told him about Leo, but didn’t add the part about flirting with him on occasion. The fact I’d even talked to him was enough to put a flash of jealousy in Michael’s eyes.

“Are there any other men I should know about?”

I didn’t know if he was serious or not. I shook my head and opened my mouth to speak, but nothing came out. Instead, my body began to shake so hard my teeth chattered. I was wet and cold and scared.

Michael pulled me into a hug. “I’m sorry,” he murmured against my hair. “It’s not your fault. I was being a prize idiot.”

“You’re good at that.” I barely managed to get the words out, but Michael laughed.

“I want to find Leo and kill him with my bare hands.”

He was serious. “Can we go home now, Michael? I want to go home.”

I picked up my backpack, and then realized the zipper was open. I sank to the floor, frantically searching through it.

“It’s gone.” My heart began to race, and I couldn’t disguise the note of panic in my voice.

“What’s gone?” Michael stood very still, the way he got when he was worried, but he had no idea how bad this situation had actually become.

I covered my face with my hands. “My journal. It must have fallen out when I hit him with my backpack.”

Michael looked visibly relieved. “I’ll get you another journal.”

I shook my head. “You don’t understand. I wrote down everything in my journal. I wrote about you, the Moktar, and even about the Travellers.”

Michael’s face paled. “You put our secrets in a book?”

My stomach clenched. “I didn’t realize it could be dangerous. I’ve always kept a journal, but nothing interesting has ever happened to me before.”

I saw a war being waged on Michael’s face. He was furious, but as soon as his eyes went to the marks on my neck, they softened.

“I doubt Leo is a danger to us, but we need to retrace your steps and make sure it isn’t lying on the street somewhere. If someone finds it, they’ll probably think it’s a made up story.”

I nodded, even though I had a very bad feeling about this. It sickened me to think Leo probably had it in his hands right now. Maybe my fears were unfounded, but one thing seemed very obvious to me; Michael was wrong about Leo. He was dangerous.

Chapter Twenty

You can’t get this wad of toothpaste back in the tube.

~Grandma Sugar

We left as soon as I changed into dry clothing. My stockings were torn, so I tossed them into the trash. I pulled on heavy tights, a black skirt, and a warm sweater. My coat still felt damp, so I wore a jacket instead.

The storm had already passed, but the sky remained cloudy and gray. After checking the alley and retracing my steps, we gave up. Leo had the journal. Michael harbored some doubts, but I was sure of it. We just needed to deal with it.

“What should we tell the council?”

We walked toward the compound, hand in hand. His eyes scanned the street, making sure it was safe.

“Nothing,” he said.

“Are you sure?”

His face was hard when he looked at me. “No, but I don’t want to make things worse. We’re already in enough trouble. It seems to follow you around everywhere you go. The little stunt you pulled today, running off by yourself, just made things worse.”

I winced. “I’m sorry.”

“I know,” he said, his face softening. “You have so much to learn. It’s not your fault.”

The rain had stopped, and the sun bravely tried to peek out through the clouds, so the street was more crowded, but people parted and made way whenever Michael approached. A man walked out of a shop and stepped right in front of us. All Michael had to do was narrow his eyes and the man scurried away. It wasn’t a gypsy trick, and it wasn’t just his size and obvious strength. Michael had an aura about him that made normal humans a bit nervous. He walked like a predator, head forward, graceful and silent. King of the jungle. He looked dangerous because he was dangerous, and that made me very happy. I needed dangerous right now.

When we reached the secret door, he noticed my gaze on him. He raised one dark eyebrow at me, and my cheeks burned.