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“It’s an ‘83, but the paint job is new. Do you like it?”
“Yeah, I’ve never seen your truck before. I can’t believe I’d have missed a bright orange truck driving around this small town.”
“Ha!” I kind of snort. “Well, I like to take the back roads whenever possible, and most of the time I ride my dirt bike so I can go into the woods and fish.”
“The bike, I have seen,” she says with a half-hearted teasing smile and then sets her eyes on the road. A silence settles between us, unlike our usual comfortable moments of quietude. My head is overflowing with questions, impulsive thoughts, and a series of platitudes that I want to share with Lorelei, but my mouth doesn’t want to cooperate.
The gravel road beneath us is the only source of sound as we pull up the long driveway home.
“Where is Lorelei?”Madison asks rushing through the door nearly tripping over her own two feet, her eyebrows knit tightly together with concern.
“She is upstairs in the shower, there was quite a bit of dried blood on her.”
“Does she have clothes?” she asks quickly.
“I uh, gave her a pair of my shorts and a t-shirt.” I offer sheepishly.
Madison makes an ‘ew’ face and clicks her tongue, “Right, let me get her something proper to wear then,” and before I can say anything else she is off.
Chase and I exchange looks from where he stands in the doorway, “So what happened?” He asks after Madison’s steps lead her up the stairs.
“Sorry to ruin your romantic weekend away,” I grimace.
“Don’t worry about it,” Chase interjects, “Just tell me what happened to the bar and Lorelei.”
“Pretty much what I already told you on the phone. The grease fire was set by that creep that I told you about the other day. He used it to lure the guys away from their watch post so he could break into the apothecary. The bar’s kitchen is pretty much completely fucked. Insurance will be able to cover it but there’s a lot of work that needs to be done. So, until we can fix it up, ‘Catch of the Day’ is closed.” I say hanging my head, still disappointed in myself despite Lorelei trying to tell me not to feel that way.
“At least it’s not completely burned down.” Chase offers plopping down on the couch next to me with a comical bounce, but I am not in the mood to laugh. “And what about Lorelei?”
“She’s shaken up, understandably, but honestly Chase, she kicked some ass. I mean by the time I got to her, the dude was already down on the ground with two bullet wounds. He was hardly moving but I didn’t have much time to think, I just sort of snapped his spine in two.”
Chase’s eyes bulge out of his head, “What did the police say?”
“It was weird, they didn’t say much, and they didn’t seem to question anything Lorelei told them. Either there is some serious incompetency going on in the police department or the cops that were there are in love with Lorelei, probably the latter.”
“It’s because of the potion I drank,” Lorelei’s voice startles Chase and me. Glad to know I wasn’t the only one who didn’t hear her coming. “I didn’t want them asking too many questions since a certain bear ripped my door off the hinges and then snapped a man in half.”
“Nice thinking!” Chase praises as heat spreads over my cheeks.
Lorelei comes around the couch. She’s wearing one of Madison’s t-shirts, but her chest must be a size or so larger, because the shirt lifts up a bit exposing a sliver of her tummy. I lick my lips as she plops down on my lap.Now is not the time Isaiah,I scold myself noting the moment’s utter lack of sensitivity.
“The police called while I was upstairs,” I wrap my arms around her waist and squeeze her in tightly, “everything is wrapped up at the shop, but I need to board up the hole in the wall where there used to be a door. I am not ready to go back there yet.” She says as she places one of her arms around my shoulders.
“I’ll go and board it up, I can pick up some clothes for you as well and you can stay here as long as you want,” I say making eye contact with Chase who gives me a nod of approval. The tense muscles in my stomach relax, if the Alpha of the pack were to say no, I’d have to listen. It’s just the way it is.
“Did the police say anything else?” Chase asks with a raised eyebrow.
“Yeah, they did,” Lorelei’s voice cracks and I can feel the buzz of the anxiety coursing through her. “The young man’s name was Lucas Brighton. He was supposed to be locked up in a psych ward, but he escaped about 6 months ago and they never located him. The guy killed his mother and grandmother. They said I must have triggered an episode or whatever when he saw me.”
Hot tears fall from Lorelei’s eyes onto my arm, and I squeeze her in again more tightly.
“He didn’t make it. He bled out waiting for the ambulance to arrive. I killed him,” her words are barely audible.
“He was going to kill you,” Madison says as she reenters the room with a cup of hot chocolate with a shot of baileys for Lorelei. “Drink this, it’ll help with the nerves.”
“She’s right,” I add kissing the back of her shoulder through her t-shirt, “It can’t be easy to accept, but you did what was necessary for you to survive. It is clear the man was troubled, who knows who else you spared from a terrible fate at his hands by protecting yourself.”
Lorelei’s heartbeat begins to slow back to a regular rate.
