Page 92 of Tracing Holland

Oh shit, the shadow isn’t Tess.My heart just about crashes into my ribs.

I start screaming, wailing, and lashing out with a riot of emotions, but none manage to escape my head as I stare at the approaching figure in horror.I fear I’ll be sick, but that would be too merciful of an end to this nightmare.

“Hey, stranger,” she purrs, slinking up to us.She casts Holland a quick look, but I don’t dare to do the same.I can’t breathe.“You’re a difficult man to track down.I figured you’d wait for me.”She’s expecting a response, they both are, I’m sure, and my brain scrambles for words as my pulse thrashes against my veins.This isn’t happening.There’s no way I’m awake, or alive, or…

“Luke?Hello?”She waves her hand in front of my face which would have been rude even if she wasn’t the biggest mistake of my life.

“What are you doing here, Laurel?”

I wanted it to be belted, growled with the fire of the hell-beast chomping at my entrails, but instead it trickles out as an embarrassing drool from my numb lips.I wonder if my face is as contorted as my soul.Hers is… oh god, her demon face that has haunted me for a year and a half is now my present.

She looks surprised, then hurt.“Didn’t you get my text?”

My eyes widen.“That was you?”

“Ouch.Wow.Lost my number, I guess?”

“Luke, what is going on?Why is Laurel Karns here?”Holland asks.It’s more whimper than anger, which only makes the accusation so much worse.I turn my horrified gaze on her but can’t begin to handle the pain in her eyes when my own heart is spiraling into panic.

“I never kept your number…” I bark, focusing back on my first problem.“You need to leave.”There’s the fire.Thank god!

“Excuse me?”

I’m probably more shocked that she’s shocked.“Seriously, I don’t know why you’re here or why you contacted me but…”

“Um, you’re the one who contacted me, babe,” she shoots back, whipping out her phone.

“What?”

Hey, girl.Remember Luke?He asked me to see if you wanted to hook up when we play New York next week.

My brain shuts off.Gone.I no longer see color, hear sound.

“No…No way!”I roar, and take a step toward the building.Holland grabs my arm, and I hate that my instinctive response is to turn my fury on her.One look in her eyes, however, and the inferno simmers into something more manageable.I’ve never been tempered before.Never.But here we are.Inexplicably under control.

“Luke, what is going on?”Holland asks, searching my eyes.She should be screaming at me.Why isn’t she screaming?

“Yeah, Luke, what is going on?”Laurel echoes.“I’ve been waiting for you forever!You finally reach out and then I can’t even get past security after the show to say hello?I had to slip them just to find you now!”

“Waiting for me?”I scoff, returning to the horror show.“What the hell were you waiting for?”I know I’m gutting her but I don’t care.I need to go gut someone else right now.This is on him.

“I’m so confused!Luke, talk to me!Did you not tell Wes you wanted to see me?”

“Wes?What does Wes have to do with this?”

I hear Holland’s horrified question, but there are too many horrifying interrogations going on at the moment.

I stay focused on Laurel, incredulous.“Of course I didn’t tell him that!That was the worst night of my life.The biggest mistake of my life!I can’t even think about that night without getting sick, so, no, Laurel, I did not want to ‘hook up when we played New York!’”

Tears spring to her eyes as she absorbs my callous outburst but there are no politics left in me, no civility.The void is saturated with something else now, dripping with revulsion transformed into rage.

Laurel shakes her head.“No!Wes wouldn’t do that to me.”

“He didn’t,” I spit.“He’s doing it to me.”

“What?”

I force air into my lungs.I need this woman to remove herself from my life, preferably without a method that lands me in jail.