My clothes, my face, and my hands were gory. I looked like I had been finger painting with vital fluids. I had to clean up, but the darkened path led away from the creek. If I turned back, I’d expose myself to the light from the main road. Out of the question. I’d have to get back home without anyone seeing me.
Deeper in the darkness, away from the main road, was another intersecting trail. That one however led only a short way to a residential sidewalk and ended. I glanced over my shoulder to the headlights on the busy street. I had no choice but to take the quiet residential streets.
My legs moved with Jez’s speed as I hopped fences, ducked in between houses and slunk through the dark alleys. I stopped twice more to vomit. By the time that I arrived at home, I was dizzy and nauseous.
I didn’t even consider going inside. If Kylarai saw me like this, she might just kick my ass herself. I worried that I was losing my mind. I had to ask myself if what had just happened was real. It already felt like a faded dream.
Unfortunately, the moment I entered the garage and looked at myself in the Charger’s side mirror, it became painfully real. My wolf eyes glowed with an eerie light in the dimly lit garage. Thankfully, they were my wolf eyes and not Arys’s dizzying blue orbs.
The bright red smear across my mouth had turned brownish red around the edges. My blonde hair was chunky with red and pink tissues. I swore softly, but I wanted to pitch a damn fit.
I blamed Arys for all of this. He had to have known the risks far better than I did. Damn him for adding to my already screwed up existence.
Careful not to touch Kylarai’s white Escalade, I went to the small sink near the workbench. For the first time, I was glad that the man who had built the place had thought of it. I stripped off my bloodstained sweater. My t-shirt beneath was unblemished. With a sigh of relief, I ran the water until it was warm and cleansed every spot from my hands and face. I wasn’t happy about rinsing my hair with no shampoo or conditioner, and it really sucked that my precious toothbrush was in the house. But, if I went in, Ky would try to stop me from going back out, and I wasn’t risking that.
Something was drawing me to Lucy’s Lounge. Whether it was my inherent need to throttle Arys with my bare hands or something else entirely, I wasn’t sure.
After stashing my bloody sweater in a gap behind the stairs, I studied my black jeans. The few splatters were barely noticeable on the dark denim. They would do for tonight and would join my hoodie in the burn barrel tomorrow.
I got in the Charger and backed out of the garage. I hoped that Ky wouldn’t hear the mechanics of the garage door. I’d just have to explain later.
* * * *
Arys was nowhere to be seen, but I felt him as strongly as if I were standing right next to him. A strange sensation told me that he sensed me, too. I cast my gaze around frantically for him. Something didn’t feel right, like someone was out of place.
I felt Shaz’s eyes on me, and I turned to give him a wink and a smile. I couldn’t read anything in his expression, which gave me pause. I would have approached him if the pressing line of patrons hadn’t stood in my way. He didn’t look exceptionally distraught or beckon me over, so it couldn’t be that bad.
When I didn’t immediately spot Arys downstairs, I began to ascend the wide staircase. A rush of coolness stirred the hot bar air behind me. I turned to face him, suddenly on the offensive.
“You son of a bitch!” I cursed Arys from where I stood on the third step looking down at him.
His midnight eyes widened as he took in my blood-scented jeans and damp hair, now drying in dread-like chunks of blonde and gold.
“You killed a human.” It was a comment, not a question. The Goth rock music boomed all around us. His words reached only me. “What have you been up to, Alexa?”
“Why don’t you tell me? You’re the one skilled in cold blooded murder.” I glared at him. I tried so hard to blame him, even as I tasted the blood that lingered on the back of my tongue. He fixed me with a hard stare and, though my temper faltered, I refused to back down.
“What in the hell are you on?” Arys grabbed my forearm and jerked me down the stairs. He pulled me against him and forced me to crane my neck. He looked into my eyes. “I never forced you into anything, and you know it. Did I blame you when I slaughtered Mrs. Olson’s dog?”
I raised an eyebrow at him and made a face that indicated how stupid I thought his statement was. After a moment, he relented.
Arys admitted, “Ok, I did blame you. But now, I blame us. But seriously, we have more important issues at hand.”
“What the hell can be more important than the fact that I just tore a man apart? Literally! He’s probably been found by now.”
“When you say you tore him apart, you mean…”
“I said literally, didn’t I? I mean just what I said. I left the f**ker in pieces, ok?” His eyes sparkled with gruesome curiosity, which disgusted me enough that I had to fight back another wave of nausea.