Shoulders shifting in a sigh, he twisted to reach his wallet in a back pocket, pulling out a fifty and shoving it into her hand. She raised a thin eyebrow and made another tally mark in the air. An unusual smile was on her as she stretched to drop it into the cookie jar atop the fridge.
'Typical,' Kisten said, his eyes dramatically sad. 'Try to do something nice for a person, cheer her up, and what do I get? Abused and robbed.'
Ivy took three long steps to come up behind him. Curling an arm across his chest, she leaned close and whispered in his torn ear, 'Poor baby.' They looked good together, her silky sultriness and his confident masculinity.
He didn't react at all as her fingers slipped between the buttons of his shirt. 'You would have enjoyed yourself,' he said to me.
Feeling as if I'd passed some test, I pushed the butter off the spoon and licked my finger clean. 'How would you know?'
'Because you enjoyed yourself just now,' he answered. 'You forgot all about that shallow, self-centered human who doesn't know a good thing when she bites him on his—' He looked at Ivy. 'Where did you say she bit him, Ivy love?'
'His wrist.' Ivy straightened and turned her back on me to retrieve her coffee.
'Who doesn't know a good thing when she bites him on his…wrist,' Kisten finished.
My face was burning. 'That's the last time I tell you anything!' I exclaimed to Ivy. And it wasn't as if I had drawn blood. Good God!
'Admit it,' Kisten said. 'You enjoyed talking with me, pitting your will against mine. It would have been fun,' he said as he looked at me through his bangs. 'You look like you could use some fun. Cooped up in this church for God knows how long. When was the last time you got dressed up? Felt pretty? Felt desirable?'
I stood very still, feeling my breath move in and out of me, balanced. My thoughts went to Nick leaving to go out of town without telling me, our cuddling and closeness that had ended with a shocking abruptness. It had been so long. I missed his touch making me feel wanted, stirring my passions and bringing me alive. I wanted that feeling back—even if it was a lie. Just for a night, so I wouldn't forget how it felt until I found it again.
'No biting,' I said, thinking I was making a mistake.
Ivy jerked her head up, her face expressionless.
Kisten didn't seem surprised. A heady understanding was in his gaze. 'No shirking,' he said softly, his eyes alive and glinting. I was like glass to him.
'Sixty-dollar maximum,' I countered.
Kisten stood, taking his coat from the back of the chair. 'I'll pick you up at one A.M., night after tomorrow. Wear something nice.'
'No playing on my scar,' I said breathlessly, unable to find enough air for some reason. What in hell was I doing?
With a predatory grace, he shrugged into his coat. He hesitated, thinking. 'Not one breath on it,' he agreed. His thoughtful expression shifted to sly anticipation as he stood in the archway to the hall and held out his hand to Ivy.
Motions stiff, Ivy pulled the fifty back out of the cookie jar and gave it to him. He stood and waited, and she took another and slapped it into his hand.
'Thanks, Ivy love,' he said. 'Now I have enough for my date and a haircut, too.' He met my eyes, holding them until I couldn't breathe. 'See you later, Rachel.'
The sound of his dress shoes seemed loud in the darkening church. I heard him say something to Jenks followed by the faint boom of the front door closing.
Ivy wasn't pleased. 'That was a stupid thing to do,' she said.
'I know.' I wouldn't look at her, mixing the sugar and butter with a rough quickness.
'Then why did you do it?'
I kept stirring. 'Maybe because unlike you, I like being touched,' I said wearily. 'Maybe because I miss Nick. Maybe because he's been gone the last three months and I've been too stupid to notice. Back off, Ivy. I'm not your shadow.'
'No,' she agreed, less angry than I expected. 'I'm your roommate, and Kist is more dangerous than he lets on. I've seen him do this before. He wants to hunt you. Hunt you slow.'
I stilled my motions and looked at her. 'Slower than you?' I questioned bitterly.
She stared at me. 'I'm not hunting you,' she said, sounding hurt. 'You won't let me.'
Letting go of the spoon, I put my hands to either side of the bowl and bowed my head over it. We were the pair. One too afraid to feel anything lest she lose control of her iron-clad hold on her emotions, and the other so hungry to feel anything that she'd risk her free will for one night of fun. How I had kept from being a vampire's flunky this long was a miracle.
'He's waiting for you,' I said as I heard Kisten's car revving through the insulated walls of the church. 'Go satiate yourself. I don't like it when you don't.'
Ivy swung into motion. Not saying a word, she stiffly walked out, boots thumping on the hardwood floor. The sound of the church's door shutting was quiet. Slowly the ticking of the clock above the sink became obvious. Taking a slow breath, I pulled my head up, wondering how in hell I had become her keeper.
Eight
The rhythmic thumps of my running feet jolting up my spine were a pleasant distraction from my thoughts of Nick. It was bright, the sun glittering off the piles of snow to make me squint through my new sunglasses. I had left my old pair in Takata's limo, and the new ones didn't fit as well. This was the second day in a row that I had gotten up at an ungodly ten in the morning to come out and run, and by the Turn, I was going to run this time. Jogging after midnight wasn't as fun—too many weirdos. Besides, I had a date tonight with Kisten.
The thought zinged through me, and my pace increased. Each puffed breath was timed with my steps to make a hypnotic tempo luring me into a runner's high. I picked up the pace even more, reveling in it. An old witch couple was ahead of me doing a fast walk/run as I passed the bear exhibit. They were watching with a hungry interest. The bears, not the witches. I think that's why management let us runners in. We gave the large predators something to watch besides kids in strollers and tired parents.
Actually, our collective group of runners had taken it upon ourselves to adopt the Indochina tiger exhibit with just that in mind. The funds for their upkeep and health care came entirely from our special-pass fees. They ate very well.
'Track!' I exclaimed breathily in time with my steps, and the two witches slid aside, making a spot for me. 'Thanks,' I said as I passed them, catching their heavy redwood scent in the crisp, painfully dry air.
The sound of their companionable conversation quickly retreated. I spared a confused, angry thought for Nick. I didn't need him to run; I could run by myself. He hadn't run with me much lately anyway, not since I got my car and didn't need to bum a ride from him.
Yeah, right, I thought, my jaw clenching. It wasn't the car. It was something else. Something he wouldn't tell me about. Something that 'frankly wasn't my business.'
'Track!' I heard faintly from someone not far behind.
It was low and controlled. Whoever it was, they were keeping up with me with no trouble. All my warning flags went up. Let's see if you can run, I thought, taking a deep breath.
Different muscles eased into play like gears shifting as I pushed into a faster pace, my heart pounding and the cold air slicing in and out of me. I was already going at a good clip, my natural pace somewhere between a long distance run and a sprint. It had made me a favorite in the eight hundred meter in high school and had stood me in good stead when I worked for the I.S. and needed to run down the occasional tag. Now, my calves protested at the increased speed and my lungs began to burn. As I passed the rhinos and cut a left, I vowed to get out here more; I was going soft.
No one was ahead of me. Even the keepers were absent. I listened, hearing his pace increase to match mine. I snuck a quick look back as I made a sharp left.
