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“You’re nervous,” he said.
“Mm-hm.”
“You’re nervous a lot,” he pointed out.
“Yep. Anxiety. All my life.”
“I see. Are you nervous she’ll say yes or no?”
I paused. “Both.”
He nodded once, as if that made perfect sense.
“What’s a badge?” I asked. “Your father said mine was unusual.”
Kaidan pointed to the red starburst on his chest. “Yours is not a solid color like everyone else’s. It’s amber, like the color of beer, but it has a swirl of white through it.”
“Great,” I whispered, renewing my nail chewing. I couldn’t believe I had one of those things, too. And of course mine would have to be weird. I couldn’t see it in the mirror; much like aura colors, the badges didn’t reflect.
Patti came back out after ten minutes and sat across from us in the recliner.
“Would you prefer to speak in private again?” Kaidan asked.
“That’d probably be best.” Patti motioned him toward the balcony. “Do you mind?”
“Not at all.” He stood up and let himself out the sliding glass door onto the balcony. Our eyes met and I gave him another don’t listen glare. He grinned noncommittally and turned away.
I gave my attention to Patti.
“I’m not going to lie, honey,” she began. “I’m scared to death to let you go. You haven’t made the best decisions lately. I’ve sheltered you and protected you, and it’s made you naive in so many ways—not just about demons, but humans, too. There are people who will take advantage of your sweet nature. I trust you, but you’re going to be faced with a lot of hard choices. It’s essential you make the right decisions. With all that being said, I don’t think Kaidan is going to be one who tries to take advantage of you. I’m going to leave this up to you, Anna. If you’re not comfortable, then I don’t want you to go. We can go together in a couple months. It’s your decision.”
She sat in the wooden rocker from my infant days, and held her palms against her cheeks, watching me, encircled in a light gray aura of nervousness.
My decision. I felt woozy. Being stuck in a car with Kaidan for days, being overnight with him—it was what I wanted least and most in this world. I couldn’t help but think there was something decent inside him, just waiting to come out. Patti must have seen it, too.
I was intrigued. We could get to know each other. If nothing else, it was a way to see my father and Sister Ruth, sooner rather than later.
So that was it. I’d made a decision. I stood and knocked on the glass door, waving Kaidan in.
We sat back down on the couch across from Patti.
“I’m leaving it up to Anna,” she explained.
As if he doesn’t know. All eyes were on me.
“I’ll go,” I told them.
Patti turned on Kaidan then with a mother’s ferocity.
“I know I’m just a human woman, but so help me, if anything happens to her while she’s with you—”
“I assure you she’ll be in good hands.”
“Mm-hm, that’s part of what I’m worried about.” She pointed at his hands. “Hands off, mister.”
His eyes widened, and so did mine.
“Patti!” I said.
She crossed her arms, fierce and serious. We both shrank back a fraction.
“Bring her back to me safely, with her virtue intact.”
I closed my eyes. Someone kill me now.
“Yes, ma’am,” Kaidan responded.
I couldn’t speak or move because of my hot-faced embarrassment.
“And thank you for doing this,” Patti added.
She came forward, sat down next to Kaidan, and hugged him. She liked him! He hesitated for a second before wrapping his own arms around her in return. It was one of the strangest sights I’d ever witnessed—an embrace between two people who didn’t seem to belong in the same universe, as far as I was concerned. When Patti pulled away, her face was calm.
“So we’ll leave in the morning then, yes?” Kaidan raised a lazy eyebrow at me and I shivered, breaking into a cold sweat as I nodded my agreement.
What had I done?
CHAPTER TEN
SENSE OF TOUCH
And so it came to be that at six o’clock the next morning I was flying down I-20 west in the passenger seat of Kaidan Rowe’s massive SUV, headed toward California. If we drove all day for three days straight, we could make it in time for this Saturday’s visiting hours at the prison.
I hadn’t slept well. Patti had been restless all night, giving me the distinct feeling she wanted to call off the whole thing. And then Kaidan showed up, calming her with the reassurance that he didn’t have horns and a tail.
I shifted away from the side mirror so I couldn’t see the bags under my eyes. I thought about trying to sleep, but I didn’t know if I’d be able to relax enough.
Instead I thought of Jay and our conversation last night. He’d been both excited and worried at the thought of Kaidan and me going on a cross-country trip together. He went back and forth, caught between his starstruck admiration for the drummer of Lascivious and his loyalty to me as a friend. I had to shush Jay when he began singing, “Anna and Kaidan sitting in a tree.”
“What are you smiling about?” Kaidan asked.
“Um, just thinking about when I talked to Jay last night.”
“Your boyfriend?”