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Damn it! What is his problem? She doesn't understand why he would creep up on her and watch her only to vanish when shenotices him and yet has no desire to tell her anything useful. If he wanted to keep a secret, that’s a funny way to do it.
Elara clutches her fists tight at her sides. She wants to hate him. She should hate him, but her anger instantly deflates back into listless curiosity as the wind blows her hair back. Despite everything, she can't bring herself to feel that way.
If she’s going to be honest with herself, she’s just lost and wishing for him to finally stop watching her and start talking.
Elara reaches the back porch, then silently slips down the stairs. She moves through the backyard her mother transformed, skirting the purple flower with the power to hurt her, and quickly makes her way to the front of the house. She reaches the oak tree across the road, not surprised to find no one here. The waning moon casts dark shadows beneath is as she stops and narrows her eyes.
Denzel was impressed when she was able to track him the following day with just the scent from his smelly handkerchief.
Kade doesn’t stand a chance. His scent, slightly spiced, a little wild, is one she’ll never forget.
Elara closes her eyes and draws in a deep breath. She smells the oak tree, the earth beneath her feet, the wood of the fence several yards away, the beef stroganoff in someone’s kitchen. And beneath it all, something faint. Something undeniable.
Something she breathes in deeply, enjoying the sensation of making it a part of her.
Moving forward on instinct, Elara follows the scent. She passes the oak tree, wrinkles her nose at the scent of trash from beyond an adjacent fence, then arches her brows when she realizes someone’s cooking chocolate cake. Yet . It’s a gossamer thread she doesn’t plan on letting go.
She reaches the small playground tucked among some suburban houses, then stops beside a sprawling pine. Its scent is strongly resinous, practically sticking to her nostrils, yet greenand earthy. And still not powerful enough to cover the scent she’s tracking.
“I know you’re there,” she says quietly.
Kade drops down from above, landing with barely a sound. He straightens and glares at her and she wonders if he knows how devastating he looks in the barely-there light.
He looks dark.
And dangerous.
And like just the thing she wants to take on.
24
Kade
“Seems like Denzel taught you something useful after all,” Kade growls as he spins around, intending on walking away. With his back still to her, he rubs the scars on his chest beneath his shirt and zips up his jacket just in case they start to glow again. Everything has been so out of place since he smelled Coraline in the middle of the woods. His doubt about Guy’s role in his life makes him question everything he’s ever known.
All he knew when he left the compound tonight was that he needed to see Elara, and now here she is. Still brimming with questions, questions he’s been told not to answer. Except an insidious thought creeps in.
If Guy won't tell me the whole truth, why should I listen to him and lie to Elara?
“Denzel is the only one willing to teach me anything!” Elara snaps back, storming up to him and grabbing his elbow to turn him and face her.
Kade lets her turn him, but he doesn’t give her room. He presses into her personal space and makes her back upnervously, not letting her get too far. He grips her elbows with both hands, as she holds onto his forearms and swallows.
“You want to talk, Elara? You want the truth?” He knows his eyes must be raging because she flinches away from looking at him. “You’ve got me now! I’m here, I’m talking!”
“Was it you?” her voice is small, her eyes downcast.
He can feel her body tremble in his grasp and it makes the hairs on his arms stand up.
“Was it you who attacked me at the falls, Kade?” she straightens her shoulders and faces him head-on, her chin tilted up bravely.
“What if it was me, Elara? What would you do?” Terror that she’ll run from him screaming, or that she’ll hate him, makes him stiffen and brace himself for her fury.
“I would ask why. I would ask why you were following me even before that night. Ask why it seems you intended to change me, as why you ran away and shifted and came back for me after you hurt me yourself.” Instead of pulling away, Elara closes the distance even more. Her eyes are glued on his, her breath ragged and hitching with every word. “I need to know why, Kade.”
“I can’t—” he starts, snaking his hands up to her shoulders and pulling her imperceptibly closer.
“Can’t what, Kade? What can’t you do? I’m not going to be afraid. I’m not going to be angry! I just want answers. I just want to know why you did this to me!” Her eyes are beginning to tear up, and when a single drop slides down her cheek, Kade’s eyes flash back to her.
