Almost Midnight (Shadow Falls: After Dark #3.5)(113)

What was Brandon Hart?





Chapter Nine


She stared at the answer.

Human, mostly human, with were and a smaller percentage of fae.

“You okay?” Brandon asked.

Was her off-focus stare at his pattern confusing him? Did that mean he didn’t know what he was?

Considering he was about 75 percent human, she supposed it was possible. She’d never lived among mixed breeds to know what they knew or didn’t know. But it was true that some kids at the camp hadn’t known when they arrived.

So, she supposed, it was possible that Brandon was completely unaware that he wasn’t all human.

“Are you okay?” he repeated.

“Yes, I … I’m just stunned a little. You … moved really fast.”

“I’ve always been fast on my feet,” he said, still cradling her against him.

She couldn’t remember the last time anyone actually held her. And it appeared he wasn’t even straining to do it.

“Strong, too,” she muttered.

“What?” he asked.

“I said … you can put me down.”

He smiled. “Or not.”

“You’re going to hold me all day?”

“It wouldn’t be a hardship.” His smiled faded. “But I’m not sure it would be wise, huh?” He set her down.

Perhaps, she should have let what he said go, but the words spilled from her lips. “Because I kind of work with you?” she asked.

“Yeah. It might be … awkward.” He ran a hand through his hair. “We should probably think it through, before … jumping into anything.”

She inhaled, unsure what to say. “I guess I should…” she motioned to her car, “get going.”

He nodded. She turned to go.

“Ricka,” he said her name. Or her nickname, and oddly, hearing it didn’t feel so bad this time.

She faced him.

“Are you going to be okay with that teacher?”

She nodded, not really sure, but still so high on his touch that she didn’t want to think about it. “Everything new can feel a little awkward.”

He smiled, but his blue eyes still looked torn. “I know.” He took a step closer and reached up and brushed a few strands of hair off her face. Then he leaned down and his lips touched hers. His scent, like the outdoors, filled her senses. And he tasted like … like pizza, and a little like sweet tea. His tongue slipped so easily into her mouth, and she felt herself lean into him.

Then, way before she was ready, he pulled back. He ran a palm down his face; she ran her tongue over her bottom lip.

He sighed. “Okay, I probably shouldn’t have done that.”

She smiled. “I’m glad you did. I … liked it.”

He exhaled. “Me, too. That’s the problem.”

Grinning, she met his eyes. “Maybe it’s not that big of a problem. Why don’t we talk about it tomorrow? I’ll come over after school. We can paint.”

He nodded. Right then a phone rang inside his house.

“Tomorrow,” he said and reached over and squeezed her hand before running inside for the phone.

*

Still smiling, she got into the car and wished it was already tomorrow. Starting the engine, she pulled out of the drive. She looked at the house as she pulled away. And that’s when she saw her.

Brandon’s sister, Linda, stood at the side of the house, in front of a flower bed, the same one Fredericka had seen her at yesterday when she’d pulled away.

Had his sister seen Brandon kiss her? For that matter, had she been home all day while Fredericka and Brandon painted?

Fredericka waved, worried his sister might not approve of her. The woman waved back. Suddenly, leaving without even speaking seemed rude. She pulled the car over to the side of the street and put the car in park. She got out of the vehicle, prepared to just offer a quick hello and good-bye. But when she stepped up onto the curb and looked up at the side of the house, the woman was gone.

Vanished.

Fredericka stopped and just stood there, a cold breeze sent goose bumps up her back. She started to get back in her car when she heard, or maybe just felt something behind her.

She swung around, but nothing was there.

Nothing but a dead cold that had her catching her breath.

*

“What does a ghost feel like?” Fredericka blurted out when she first walked into Holiday’s office. Fredericka hadn’t been able to shake the eerie feeling she got standing outside Brandon’s house.

Holiday looked up, surprised, as if she hadn’t heard Fredericka walk in. “What happened?”

Fredericka set the keys down on the camp leader’s desk and dropped down into a chair. “I met Brandon Hart’s sister the first day I went to be interviewed. She … was quiet and disappeared and then … it happened again today.”

“Are you talking about this woman?” Holiday slid the Sunday newspaper across her desk.

The picture of a woman, blond, her hair hanging down around her shoulders and a smile on her face, stared up at Fredericka. “Yes, that’s her.” Fredericka read the first line.

Missing Fallen resident feared dead.

She gasped.

Holiday frowned and reached over and put her hand on Fredericka’s, still resting on the paper. “You’ve seen her?”