See How She Runs (The Chronicles of Izzy #1)(8)

“Nope, don’t mind walking at all, as long as you don’t burst into tears on me. What gives?”

“I just remembered what today is. Sorry, I am fine, really I am good. Let’s just head over there and I will go look at some giant totem poles and feel better. Deal?” I asked as he picked me up and tossed me over his shoulder.

He called it the duffle bag approach. I called it annoying. I beat on his back trying to get him to drop me. He was laughing as he placed me back on solid ground. He had effectively pulled me right back to today and out of the past. He always knew how to pull me back to the now. Whether I was just distracted or lost in the past.

By the time we made it to the Field, it was almost closing. The guard at the front told us there was only an hour left. So, I headed straight for my favorite exhibit. Kennan hollered he had to use the facilities at me and darted off towards the men’s room. I just waved and headed to my isolated display.

I was shocked to see some of the lights illuminated in the exhibit. Mostly because the museum was almost closed but also because most visitors tended to go to the jewelry or dinosaur exhibits. I walked into the display area and headed to one of my favorite cases. I was lost in my own thoughts imagining what it must be like to revere the earth as the Native American’s did, when a hand tapped my shoulder. I knew that feeling. I felt it just yesterday. A heady mix of fear and anticipation assaulted me, like I was about to plunge down the first hill on a rollercoaster. I turned already knowing who the hand belonged to.

“Hello,” he said in his deep baritone. “I don’t know if you remember me, but we met yesterday. You delivered some stuff to my office.”

I knew full well who he was, but I feigned ignorance and stared blankly. After a moment I responded.

“Oh yeah, you are the guy from the top floor of that huge building." Clearly, this was not the response he was expecting. He scowled for a moment before plastering what was meant to be a convincing smile on his face.

“Well, if that is all that made an impression on you, I will have to try harder for next time. Say, do you have any dinner plans this evening?” he asked, raking his eyes from my head down to my toes.

I mean, I was not dressed to impress here. Besides, I seriously did not appreciate being ogled by mister split personalities. I didn’t even get a chance to form a response before I heard Kennan approach and answer for me.

“She already has dinner plans. Furthermore she has no interest in developing any association with you,” he said with barely contained menace. There was something strange about his voice, something almost foreign. I turned to make sure it was really Kennan. And were those tattoos that I just saw?

“Well, I think we should let the lady decide whether or not she would like to dine with me, don’t you?" Mister fancy pants was nonplussed by my suddenly overbearing roomie. I decided to intervene before they proceeded to pee all over the ancient artifacts.

“I appreciate the offer sir, but I don’t interact socially with clients." I smiled at him with the most genuine, sweet-tea, southern smile I could muster.

“That truly is a shame, my dear." He said it as a threat.

I grabbed Kennan’s hand and jerked him out of the museum before he burnt the whole thing to the ground just to bury the man inside. I didn’t speak to him the entire way back to the house. I was so confused about what had really just happened. I felt like they had been talking a whole different language with subtext I could not even begin to decipher. I was kind of pissed off that Kennan would step in and speak for me as if I did not have the right to choose my own suitors. Not that I would have gone out with Mr. Xander, but I would like the choice. The worst of it was that I felt like I did not know my roommate and best friend at all.





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SIX





When we got to the house, Kennan paid the cab driver and we headed inside. As soon as I came inside he closed and locked the door. He turned to me with a wild look in his eyes and then just let me have it.

“What in the hell do you think you are doing talking to him, Iz? Do you even know who that was? No, you don’t do you? How could you possibly know? You don’t know anything. Listen to me carefully. You need to head upstairs and pack a bag. Fill it with everything you need. We are going away for a little while.” He said it with that strange accent he used back at the museum. It was almost Irish or Scottish but older somehow.

I stood there gaping at him, and then all hell broke loose inside of me. I was tired of feeling like I was not a player in my own life. I felt as if I had steam slowly building inside with no release. Between the dreams, Kennan being all crazy for the past few months, and the events of yesterday and today, I had had enough.

“What in the hell do you mean we are going away for a little while? I am not going anywhere with you. I don’t know what it is you think is going on, or who you think you are to tell me what I can and can’t do. You are sorely mistaken sir. You are not my keeper, nor are you my parent. So just back the hell off."

He quietly walked into the kitchen and came back. He had something in his hand, maybe a towel. He grabbed me so quickly I did not even see him move then pressed the towel over my mouth. As I started to lose consciousness I heard him whisper, “I am so sorry, Iz."

Then it was oblivion.