Page 68 of Bound By Fire
The apartment goes quiet around me, and I close my eyes, asleep in no time.
I am so deeply asleep that when a noise wakes me, for a second, I don’t know where I am.
My eyes snap open in the dark.
My heart is racing, and I’m not sure why. It’s Ridge. He’s made me paranoid.
I lie still and listen.
I hear nothing for a few seconds, and then there’s a definite scratching sound. It’s slow and drawn out. I think it’s coming from the living room.
I freeze.
A creak follows it. Then another scratch. Then stillness.
Shit! Shit! Shit!
I sit up. The clock on the nightstand reads 2:47.
My mouth has gone dry.
I tell myself not to panic, but it’s too late because I’m panicking.
Crap!
There is the sound of another scratch.
It isn’t normal. Someone is here. I think they might be on my balcony and trying to break in.
Surely not!
Come on!
I slide out from under the sheet as quietly as I can and ease my feet onto the rug. Then I move to the bedroom door in bare feet and stop with my hand on the frame. I can see down the short hallway from here. Just the edge of the living room. The lamp is off. Everything is in shades of gray and black. The drapes over the sliding door are part open, the way I left them, the slats of moonlight cutting across the floor.
There is a shape on my balcony. It looks like someone is crouching down by my balcony sliding door.
The next scratch is louder.
The person has something in their hands, and they are definitely trying to get the slider open.
Oh god.
Oh god, oh god, oh god.
I take a step back.
What should I do?
What if they get in?
I move to the kitchen on the balls of my feet, pull the drawer open as quietly as I can, and curl my fingers around the handle of the biggest knife there.
My hand is unsteady.
I look back across the living room.
The shape on the balcony has gone still. He’s seen me, or sensed me, or noticed the change in the dark.
