Tracking the Bear (Blue Ridge Bears Book 1)(12)

That’s over, I thought sarcastically. Even if he had hidden the truth in a misguided attempt to protect me, it was still wrong. Relationships, even the tentative friendship I thought we’d been trying to forge, were built on trust. How could I have anything with Chance if he lied to me?

So where did that leave me? We were hours away from home and I wasn’t about to turn around and give up. I’d have to put up with him for a few more days. I groaned into my makeshift pillow. If that was the case, I’d need to make nice and apologize.

I snatched up the key card from the pillow and the keys from the cup holder where he’d left them. I shoved both into my pockets and opened the door. I yelped when I stepped out of the car. The rain ran icy fingers down my body and almost immediately soaked through my jeans and flimsy white tank top. I pelted toward the front entrance, water sloshing into my shoes as I stepped into the giant puddle forming in the middle of the parking lot.

I slipped and fell to the ground, the card slipping from my grasp and landing a foot behind me. Hot stinging pain flared in the palms of my hands and one side of my face. I cursed, and tried to get my feet under me once more, but my bad leg seemed to have gone numb from cold. I pulled at it desperately. I was getting soaked, and even if I did crawl back to the car, I was going to catch something at this rate.

I crawled into a sitting position, determined to drag it along behind me if I had to. If I could at least get into the lobby, someone would help me to the room. It would be embarrassing, but at least I’d be warm. I looked back, trying to find the card, hoping it hadn’t been washed into the storm drain.

I froze, rooted to the spot when I finally located it. There were two hands sticking from the puddle. One of them grasped my leg in cold, rippling fingers. The other held the key card. As I watched a head emerged as well, and eyes the same color as the muddy water fixed on me.

“L-let me go,” I stammered.

“Do not be frightened,” the woman said. Her voice echoed weirdly, as if she were speaking from the bottom of a well. “I bring blessings from Freyr.”

“Thanks,” I said shakily. “But do you think Freyr could send his blessings in a slightly less creepy way?”

The shoulders and torso of the woman emerged from the puddle. I whipped my head around. Cars passed on the highway, and the lamplights were still shining, so why was I the only one who was seeing her?

“You must stop him,” she whispered, letting go of my leg. She leaned her insubstantial body over mine. My teeth chattered violently, and numbness was beginning to steal over the rest of my body.

“Stop who?” I muttered, trying to crawl out from beneath her. I didn’t care if I got the card back, I’d request a new one. Or I’d bang on the door until Chance let me in. I didn’t care at this point. I just wanted to be out of the cold, and more importantly, out of this weird water ghost’s grasp.

“Your mate,” she said, pushing her face close to mine. Water dripped from the tip of her nose and the locks of green hair that brushed my cheek.

“I don’t have a mate,” I said, confused. I hadn’t dated in years. I hadn’t seen the point after high school. The only person I’d recently considered was inside the hotel room, and he sure as hell wasn’t my anything now.

“You do,” she crooned, stroking an icy finger over my lips. “You must stop him, before it is too late. Your brother still has a part to play. He will stop a great evil. He cannot fulfill his destiny if he is dead. Save him, Lady Elmsong.”

“Fine, fine.” I nearly shouted over a clap of thunder. “I’ll do it, just get off of me before I freeze to death!”

“Your oath to Freyr is sworn,” she intoned, and as I stared as she sank back into the puddle, as if she’d never been there. The only evidence that she’d ever existed was the white key card that bobbed on the surface of the enormous puddle. I snatched it from the water before it could drift away.

I ran for the door, ignoring the pain that was seeping back into my bad leg. I needed to get inside before something else strange and impossible accosted me. It took me longer than it should have to realize that I was trying to push open a pull door. When I finally entered the lobby, the only person still there was a bored looking desk clerk. She glanced up from filing her nails and gave me a contemptuous glance.

I flushed and tried to walk past her with as much dignity as I could. Sure, I was covered in mud, my hair was limp and stringy, my shirt was see through and my nipples were putting on a show for whomever cared to look, but I was still a customer, damn it.

Room 112 was in the corridor to my right. I rubbed vigorously at my arms, trying to get rid of the goosebumps that had risen when I’d stepped into the even cooler hotel lobby. I needed a shower pronto. I had to try a few times to get the door open, because I kept pulling the card out too quickly in my haste.

I resisted the urge to flick the lights on. I didn’t want to wake Chance and get the smug ‘I told-you-so’ look. I was willing to bury the hatchet, as long as he didn’t brag. I dug my phone from my purse and used the light from the screen to make my way to the bathroom.

I opened the door and stepped inside, letting out a sigh of relief. It was warm. A moment later, I realized exactly why it was warm. Steam hung in the air, fogging the mirror. The lighting had been dimmed, but not turned down completely, so I could make out the lazy sprawl of limbs in the tub before he sat up.