Darkest Journey (Krewe of Hunters #20)(27)

The bat would have to do.

“Clara, I’ll call you back tomorrow. But do me a favor. Do talk to Alexi. And I’ll talk to you again in the morning.”

“You sure you’re okay?”

Charlie gripped her bat. “I’m fine,” she said.

She hung up, then turned on the television, thinking that outside noises wouldn’t bother her if she couldn’t hear them, or at least had something to distract her.

But just as she clicked the remote, she thought she heard scurrying outside.

A possum or a squirrel, maybe even a rat, she told herself.

And still, though she didn’t know why, she felt her heart thumping far too quickly. Some innate sense warned her of danger.

She almost jumped sky-high when she heard the next noise.

Someone was out there. Someone was walking around her house, looking in the windows.

Watching her.

*

It was growing late. Ethan suddenly found himself reaching for his phone. He had to know that Charlie was all right.

He hesitated, then told himself not to be ridiculous. He had every right to call her. She was the reason he was there.

He found himself thinking about the last time they had seen each other.

After that night in the graveyard, they’d been drawn to each other. She’d been in awe of him, and he’d been as ridiculously attracted to her as only a teenage boy could be. She was too young, and he’d known it, but she was still...Charlie. Lithe and graceful, with her deep blue eyes and long chestnut hair. She had the most captivating laugh, and she’d had a way of looking at him that...

Friends...it had been great to be friends.

But he’d known that in everyone’s eyes—even, if he was honest, his own—she was simply too young. And when she’d come to New Orleans on a school trip and broken away to visit him, when she’d been alone with him in his dorm room, he’d already known how she felt about him.

He should have been prepared.

He hadn’t been.

He’d come back to his room after dropping off a book to a friend, and there she’d been. Exquisite and tempting as any Eve, her perfect body bared for him alone as she’d stretched out on his bed, her hair falling over her breasts, her smile as sensual as that of the most seasoned lover.

He’d nearly headed straight to her. Older, better men might have done exactly that.

But he’d been raised to do the right thing.

He didn’t think he’d ever wanted any woman more—or ever would—but giving in to the attraction, no matter what she thought she wanted, would have been just plain wrong.

As torn as he was, though, his voice had come out too harshly.

“Get dressed, Charlie. Get dressed now,” he’d told her.

Then he’d left the room.

When he’d gone back to talk, she was already dressed and on her way out. When he’d touched her arm to stop her, desperate to explain, she’d shouted, “Don’t touch me, Ethan Delaney. Don’t you dare touch me!”

“Charlie, let me explain,” he’d all but begged.

But she was already gone. He’d left her messages. A score of them. She’d finally left him one in return. “Stop worrying. We’ll always be friends.”

He’d tried to call again, but she hadn’t answered.

That was when he’d realized she was embarrassed, and the only way she could be his friend was not to see him at all.

She had seen him, though. He’d gone to her mother’s funeral. She’d been polite but distant. And, given her deep emotional pain at the sudden loss, he’d provided her the distance she’d needed.

And for the life of him, he’d never understood how every time he’d had any relationship since then—easy and casual, or deeper, with the potential to go somewhere—things just never worked out. Because no one would ever compare to the girl he’d walked away from.

And now, well...

Now she’d only called him because she needed his expertise.

Because he was the only law-enforcement professional who knew she not only talked to the dead, she could also see them.

He looked at the phone in his hand. And he dialed her number.

To his surprise, she answered.

“Ethan?”

“Yes. I was just checking that you were okay.”

“I’m fine,” she said, sounding a little breathless.

“Really?” he asked.

She laughed softly—the laugh that had always seemed to wrap right around his heart.

“Honestly, I’m fine. The authorities have cleared us to film on the field by the cemetery tomorrow, so I have an early call.”

“Okay, great. I, uh, just wanted to make sure.”

“Thank you.”

“You’re alone there, right? I mean, sorry if I sound like I’m intruding, but it’s my job. Your dad is staying on the Journey, right?”

“Yes, he’s on the Journey. I’m locked in. I’m fine.”

“Okay, then. Well, I’ll talk to you later.”

“Sure.”

“Night.”

He was about to hit the “end call” button when she spoke again.

“Ethan?”

“Yes?”

“I’m not fine. I’m scared. I don’t know what’s going on, but I keep thinking someone is outside. I keep hearing things.”