Bride frowned as she caught a glimpse of his palm and the strange markings there. Markings that hadn't been there last night or she would have seen them.
Her heart stopped beating.
Reaching out, she pulled his hand into hers and stared at it.
Vane cursed inwardly as he realized he had forgotten to mask his marking when he flashed into her storeroom. Part of him wanted to jerk his hand free, the other part couldn't move as she compared their palms.
"You burned me?"
"No," he said, offended that she would think such a thing.
She was panicking. He could smell her fear.
"I didn't hurt you, Bride, I swear."
She didn't believe him. "Get out!"
Oh, this was bad. He didn't know how to convince her. She got up and grabbed her broom from the corner.
"Out!" she shouted, brandishing it at him.
"Bride!"
She wouldn't listen. "Get out or I'll I'll call the police!"
Vane bit back a curse. This wasn't going the way he needed it to. But maybe it was going the way it should.
At least he couldn't be tempted by a woman who hated him and thought him insane.
Dodging out the door, he stood there while he heard her lock it tight.
"Bride," he said, staring at her through the glass. "Please let me in."
She closed the blinds on him.
Vane leaned his head against the cool glass and let the war inside him shred his control. The animal part of him wanted her, regardless of reason.
The human part knew it would be better to let her go.
Unfortunately, when the two halves of him warred like this, more times than not, the animal won.
That was usually for the best.
This time it wouldn't be. Sighing, he looked around to make sure he was alone and flashed to wolf form. He just hoped Fury didn't come back as a wolf and blow his cover.
Bride might accept one wolf at her door, but two that was pushing it.
Bride stood in the center of her room, clutching her broom. She was shaking in terror. She thought about calling her parents, but didn't want to scare them. They lived far enough out that by the time they got here she might be dead.
She thought about calling the police, but what would she tell them? That a good-looking guy was eating with her, making her all hot and bothered, and then he flashed his hand at her and she freaked?
It wasn't like Vane had done anything wrong. The police couldn't arrest him unless he did something to hurt her.
Tabitha.
She swallowed at the thought of calling her friend. If there was one thing Tabitha knew, it was self-defense, and the woman was armed to the teeth.
Bride ran to her cell phone and quickly dialed Tabitha's store. Luckily she was in.
"Tabby," she said, scanning the windows around her to see if Vane was trying to break in. "Please come over. I think my new boyfriend is going to kill me. Really kill me, as in hide-my-body-in-the-woods dead."
"What?"
"I'll explain when you get here. I'm scared, Tab. Really, really scared."
"Okay. Stay on the phone with me while I head over. Hey, Maria," Tabitha called to her store manager. "Take over the shop for a while. I have an emergency.
Call the cell if you need me."
Bride sighed, only partially relieved. Tabitha's store on Bourbon Street was just a few blocks over from her house. It wouldn't take Tabitha more than ten or fifteen minutes to get here on foot.
"Is he still there?" Tabitha asked.
"I don't know. I threw him out and locked the door and I'm having these horrible flashbacks from bad movies where the demon people break through the windows to grab me."
"He's not a zombie, is he?"
She rolled her eyes at Tabitha's suggestion. For most people that would be an attempt at humor. Tabitha was serious. "Hardly."
"Is your wolf with you?"
"No," Bride said, her chest tight. "He went out and I haven't let him back in yet. Oh God, you don't think he'd hurt my wolf? Do you?"
"Don't worry. I'm sure the wolf can handle itself."
Bride could tell by Tabitha's breathlessness that her friend was running now. God love her. Tabitha was the best in a crisis. Everyone should have a friend like her. There was nothing Tabitha wouldn't do for a friend or her family.
"You still there?" Tabitha asked.
"Yes."
Bride chatted with her the whole time about nothing while she checked outside to see if Vane was still there.
He wasn't.
After a few minutes, she heard her wolf growling outside the door.
"Shh," Tabitha said over the phone. "It's just me, boy."
"You here already?"
"Yeah," she said. "Hang up and open the door."
Bride did. To her relief, it was just the wolf and Tabitha outside.
"It looks clear," Tabitha said as the wolf ran into the apartment. "He must have left."
Bride took a deep breath in relief, but she still locked the door tight. "I've never been more terrified, Tabby. It was awful."
Tabitha scanned the apartment. "What happened?" she asked as she opened doors and looked out windows.
"I don't know. We were having a late lunch and everything was great until I saw this" She held her palm up for Tabitha to see the strange tattoo mark on her palm. "He had one identical to it on his palm."