Claire ate as slowly as she could, forcing herself not to check the time. When she’d meticulously rinsed her dish and put it in the dishwasher, making sure it faced the right direction, she finally glanced over at the clock. Her heart sank when she saw the numbers. How could it only be ten forty-five? Matthew wasn’t due to pick her up until eight! If she couldn’t find something to distract herself from the tension that knotted her shoulder blades together like wings, she’d be crazy long before he got to the door. She headed for the living room, hoping she could find something mind-numbing on television.
After forcing herself to sit through two bad movies and one infomercial, Claire trudged upstairs to her room and looked around. She picked up her phone and called Emily. Maybe there’d been more drama with the country boy that they could dissect, or mouse encounters Emily could tell her about. Any distraction would be a good distraction.
“I was just about to call you!” Emily started talking without even saying hello.
“Oh, yeah?” Claire shoved aside a pile of clothes and flopped into her armchair.
“I mean, can you believe it? It’s totally amazing news, right? I haven’t been able to get a hold of Mom and Dad yet, but I’m demanding they come get me as soon as humanly possible.”
Claire’s mouth opened, but no words came out. Of course Emily would get to come home, now that everyone thought the werewolf situation was over. With everything else that was going on, Claire hadn’t really thought about it.
“That’s—that’s great, Em.”
“Well, don’t break a nail celebrating, or anything,” Emily huffed.
Claire closed her eyes. “Sorry, Em—it’s fantastic news, really!” She forced herself to sound enthusiastic. It is fantastic news. Or at least, it should be. So why am I not excited? If she was being completely honest, Claire sort of wished that Emily would stay at her aunt and uncle’s—at least until Claire had things with her mother sorted out.
How can I feel that way about my best friend?
“So, are you packing yet?” she asked.
“Everything but my toothbrush,” Emily announced proudly. “And I gave Dan the ‘thanks for the memories’ speech already too.”
“Wow. How’d he take it?”
“Ugh. Let’s just say there were lots of tears involved, and none of them were mine. Anyway, I’m going to call Mom again and see if she’s out of her meeting yet. I’ll let you know as soon as anything’s definite, okay?”
“Can’t wait,” said Claire, willing Emily to believe her. “Good luck with your mom.”
“Won’t need it,” Emily reassured her, “but thanks anyway. Talk to you soon!”
Claire hung up and stared down at the phone in her hand. Having Emily around would only make things more complicated than they already were. She was starting to see what her mom meant when she said it was too hard to be friends with a human.
Disgusted with herself, Claire crawled into the shower, hoping it would make her feel less slimy.
The hot water ran out before she could calm down completely. Claire dried off, tossed on a shirt, and ran a comb through her hair. She sighed, wishing that this was just a regular date. If she were normal, she’d be wondering if she should wear a prettier bra, or if her jeans were too tight around the thighs. Instead, all she could think about was finding out how to get to her mother. Claire threw her hairbrush down onto the vanity. It was so unfair. He’s a really great guy, and I’m planning to use him in the worst way possible. Fabulous. I’m sure ordinary human girls are always trying to get secret information from their boyfriends. Yeah, I bet that happens all the freaking time.
Claire scraped her opinion of herself off the floor and slicked on some lip gloss. She stuck some silver hoops in her ears. The irony brought a tiny smile to her lips. Whichever werewolf had convinced the humans that silver would kill them, all those centuries ago, had created an awesome cover.
Claire looked over at the clock glowing on her nightstand. Six o’clock on the dot. Claire stared at herself in the mirror, trying to conjure up the excited, crush-stricken girl she had been two and a half months ago. The eyes that stared back were too anxious, too calculating. I’m only doing what I have to do to save my mother. It’s not like I’m going to hurt him. Come on, Claire, try harder. She forced her lips into a smile, but no matter how hard she tried, her eyes gave her away. They were too much wolf, and not enough human.
Chapter Seventeen
CLAIRE STOOD IN the foyer, one hand on the door, hoping Lisbeth wouldn’t look too closely at the boy behind the wheel of the car.
“Okay, here’s the deal. I want you to have a great time, but do not make me regret the fact that I’m allowing you out of the house. And if you’re not home by ten … well … Just be home by ten.” Lisbeth put her hands on her hips, trying to look stern.
Claire resisted the urge to roll her eyes. She can’t even think of something to threaten me with.
“Don’t worry, Lisbeth, I’ll be back in plenty of time.”
Claire rushed out the door, practically slamming it shut behind her. She looked over at Matthew as she climbed into the car next to him. The sun caught in his hair, and when he turned and smiled at her, it stirred up the same fluttery feeling in her belly that it always had. Claire could smell the excitement and nervousness pouring out of his skin. Underneath it was the scent of his desire, sweet as a peach.