Page 25 of Hunt Me
To the same place where I was choked. To where Arhe flipped my entire world upside down.
Walking to the side door, I glance behind me to make sure no one’s watching, and then I stick my head out into the alley, and my breath catches in my chest.
There’s a man leaning against a damp wall, a hood pulled over his head, mist curling around his boots. But I know it’s not the asshole following me. It’s Arhe. I can feel his presence like somehow our souls are connected. I feel like I would recognize him with my CIs off and in the pitch-black, by simple touch and scent alone.
I must make some kind of noise because his head lifts. And while I can’t see all of his face, the light catches on his full lips set in the smallest smirk, the tip of his nose, and it glints off his eyes, which are locked on mine.
He pushes off the wall, his toes digging into the pavement before his feet go flat, and I hold my breath, watching as he stalks toward me. He’s a predator who has chosen his prey.
But this time, I can’t just let him have me.
He left me vulnerable and exposed, and I need him to know that I’m not some weak, pathetic creature who will roll over for anyone who wants it. No. It doesn’t matter that he got me apology flowers. It doesn’t matter that he’s here. It doesn’t matter that he saved my life.
Tonight, he will also know he has to work hard to keep me.
I push the door open a little wider, and he stops before it, like a vampire waiting for an invitation.
‘Come,’ I sign with a flick of my finger and wrist.
He pulls his hood off, and I reach down and grab onto his hand. It’s cold from standing outside and so strong. The edges of his fingers are calloused, but the rest of his palm is soft as it presses against mine.
I bask in his touch for only a second before dragging him behind a large folding partition and toward a supply closet that holds cleaning supplies. We can have a private conversation here, far away from the keen Deaf eyes of my friends, and from memories of unwanted hands around my neck.
‘Not here,’ I tell him.
He bites his lip and looks at me with an expression that reminds me that he’s more than he seems. He’s dangerous and probably doesn’t like being bossed around. But after a short forever, he leans in, nods, then grazes his lips over my jaw.
‘Show me where,’ he signs between us.
I point behind us at the door. ‘We can be alone in there.’ It’s not ideal, but it’s something.
His eyes move up and down the door, then left to right, and then he meets my gaze and gives a firm nod. ‘This is good,’ he signs. ‘I want you all to myself.’
7
DENVER
Arhe reachespast me to open the closet door, and he gently pushes me inside, waiting for me to reach up and pull the dangling cord for the light. It bathes the small space in a soft yellow glow, and after closing the door behind him, he steps directly under the lamp.
It gives him an almost ethereal glow—like a halo shining behind his head, though I know he’s anything but heaven-sent. Our eyes are locked, and I feel his soft, puffing breath across my cheeks, and I can smell that he’s just had a fresh mint.
Was that for me? I’m too afraid to ask.
He leans in closer, and his hands curl into fists at his sides, almost like he’s stopping himself from touching. And god, I know the feeling. I can see the jagged shape of the scar he has on his face. It extends from the end of his eyebrow down to his lips. I want to reach out and trace it, but I don’t.
‘Face. Scar.’ My finger drags down my face to show the placement of it. ‘Happen?’
His head cocks, and he lifts two fingers. ‘Knife.’
My eyes widen, but he doesn’t elaborate.
‘You want to expand on that?’ He blinks at me, and I sigh. ‘Okay, well, fine. Not Deaf-friendly, but whatever.’
His head cocks slightly. ‘Why not Deaf-friendly?’
I cock an eyebrow at him, but he just continues to stare at me. ‘You need to explain what happened. Details,’ my fingers and wrists snap. ‘Need. Details.’
He cocks his head once more, examining me, and then wets his lips. ‘Secret.’ He clenches his fist in front of his mouth, and I stare at him.
