Pulling into the driveway of her best friend’s home, a pang of regret stirs in her gut. She hasn’t been back here since her Grandma’s death. Kat realizes how much she’s missed seeing the house, the stables, and more importantly, the friends who are like family waiting inside. With Grandma gone, walking up to the Moretti’s door is like coming home.
Before Kat can raise her arm to knock, the front door flies open and Bre comes barreling out and football tackles her. Catching her off balance, they both go tumbling backwards and land ass first in the grass. Laughing hysterically, Bre squeals, “You’re really here! I’ve missed you, girl.”
“I’ve missed you too, but did you have to come out the door like a Gator linebacker?” Kat giggles.
They both lay sprawled across the lawn like a couple of nut jobs,when the screen door swings open and a lean, dark-haired man with chiseled features and bright blue eyes comes strolling up to them. With his outstretched hand, he reaches down and pulls Katrina to her feet. Grinning he says, “Great to see you again, Katrina. Did you come all the way from NYC just to roll around in the grass, or would you like to come inside?”
“Oh my gosh, Antonio?”
“I go by Tony now,” he says with a sheepish grin.
“You’ve grown up…and…well, you’re totally hot!”
Turning on the charm and giving her a sly, sexy look, he quips, “So, you think I’m hot huh? Does that mean you’re finally ready to give me a shot?”
“Oh, like you don’t have a million girlfriends lining up to do more than just tell you how hot you are?”
“Okay you two,” Bre chimes in, “stop the flirting or I’m gonna have to grab the hose to cool you both down.”
Grinning like idiots, the three of them link arms and walk inside.
Nothing much has changed since Kat’s last visit to the Moretti household. The place is always welcoming and neat as a pin. The overstuffed furniture is soft and comfortable and gives each room a homey feel. And the smell! As usual, the house smells wonderful. She draws a deep breath into her lungs, it’s obvious that Momma Moretti has been busy all day tending to a rich pot of spaghetti sauce. The tangy smell of tomatoes, garlic, Italian spices, and her secret ingredient, a touch of cinnamon, wafts through the house. Kat’s stomach rumbles at the scent.
“Get in here, Tesorina,” Momma calls out from the kitchen.
Giving Kat a big hug she exclaims, “You’ve been away too long! I’m so happy you’re here. Now come…sit…eat.”
“Sabrina, Antonio, set the table and grab the wine,” Momma orders while placing an extra-large ceramic bowl filled with pasta and meatballs on the table. From out of the oven a tray of fresh, hot, fragrant garlic bread is placed on the table, and from out of the refrigerator, the largest bowl of antipasto salad Kat’s ever seen.
The meal is beyond delicious, and like every meal at the Moretti’s, Kat manages to eat too much.
“God, I’m so full! I’m going to have to work out for a month to work off that spectacular meal.”
“Do not worry about that Bella, you are already too skinny,” Momma says. “So tell us, what’s going on? Why the unplanned visit? How long are you going to stay?”
Trying to avoid the question, Kat stands and begins piling the dirty plates on top of one another. “Let me help with the dishes first.”
“No Bella, leave them and sit. Tell us what’s wrong. Your mother called earlier, looking for you. She said she’s been by your apartment and it appears you’ve left on an unexpected vacation. She wanted to know if we heard from you.”
Clearly embarrassed by her father’s behavior, Katrina tells them what finally brought her to her breaking point and why she left. She conveniently leaves out the part about the weirdness in the cemetery and the dead-on tarot reading that took place the day she left.
“I’ve opened up the house Grandma left me. I will call my mom in a few days and let her know I’m alright. I love her and don’t want her to worry, but I don’t want her to know where I am, as I want to make sure my Dad can’t find me. He will do everything in his power to make me go back to New York, and I don’t want to. I’m ready for a fresh start and to be on my own. I really want to do that here. You guys are more like family to me than my own. Will you help me? Will you please keep my whereabouts to yourselves? I know I’m asking a lot of you. I don’t want you to lie for me, but I’m not ready to face my Dad and deal with his hardball tactics yet.”
Like a chorus, they all chime in at once. “We’re here for you, Kat. Don’t worry, your secret’s safe with us.”
Katrina leaves among a barrage of hugs and kisses. She stops on the way home and picks up groceries, unpacking them before taking Max out for a walk on the beach. For the first time in a long time, she feels like she can breathe. Sitting down in the sand, they watch the sunset.
Chapter Nine
Turning on his laptop and tapping into Katrina’s records for what felt like the thousandth time, Gage mumbles, “Where the hell is she?” as he paces a hole in the floor of his cottage. Since his return home, he’s been keeping an eye on her bank records, credit cards, and cell phone activity. Nothing! For weeks now, he keeps coming up empty. It’s like she’s dropped off the face of the earth. He is one of the best trackers in the business, it isn’t often someone can give him the slip. “How could an untrained, wealthy little Daddy’s girl just disappear without a trace unless she has some training I’m not aware of? Did I miss something or just underestimate her? I don’t know, but I will find her and find out if there’s more to little Miss Jameson than meets the eye.”
All this pacing and second-guessing is driving him crazy. He needs to forget about Katrina and clear his head or he’ll never get any sleep. Stepping out the backdoor of his cottage, Gage looks around at the woods that back up to his property, closing his eyes and drawing a deep breath into his lungs. The scent of pine and ancient oaks is so strong he can almost taste it. The dew-lined foliage and fresh crisp air has his heightened senses singing. Removing his sneakers and shirt, he drops them to the ground and unbuckles his belt. Stripping off his jeans and shorts, he stands naked in the darkness, envisioning the panther. In the moonlight, the edges of his being grow less solid…less…defined...just, less. The pain of transformation begins as his bones shift and reform, muscles and sinews stretch and elongate, and his face grows long and ferociously feline. His eyes brighten and change into large, intelligent green orbs. Dark hair sprouts all over his body and spreads along his neck, shoulders, back, belly, legs, and arms. As his spine shifts, Gage drops down on all fours, no longer a man, no longer human, but a predator… a beast… a mighty panther…and heads out into night to run and be free. Free to hunt, free to stalk, and to satisfy the wildness within.
Blocking her cell phone number from caller ID, Katrina dials her mother’s number. The phone rings once, twice, and is immediately answered on the second ring. “Hello?”
“Hi Mom.”
“Oh my god Katrina, where are you? Are you okay? Are you safe?”
“Slow down, Mom. Yes, I’m fine. I’m safe.”
“I’ve been so worried. I didn’t know whether you were in an accident or lying dead somewhere on the side of the road. We called every hospital and jail we could think of. I didn’t know if you were abducted or if you just took off. I’ve been calling all over the place trying to find you and your father’s even reported you missing to the local authorities They tracked your phone and found it on the side of the road.”
“I’m so sorry I made you worry, Mom! I never wanted to upset you. It’s just that after that last party at your house, I couldn’t handle it anymore. I had to get out of there and get away from Dad. I know you love him, but I can’t and won’t live my life for him anymore. I want to make my own decisions without the constant scrutiny and worry over what Dad will think or say. He’s a hard man, Mom. He’s selfish, demanding, unfeeling, insincere, and a phony. He only cares about his next campaign and portraying his image of the perfect fam
ily man to the world. I’m tired of feeling as if I’m not good enough for him unless I’m following his program and doing everything he wants me to, when he wants me to. You may be willing to live your life like that, but I’m not. Not anymore.”
“Katrina sweetheart, I understand what you’re saying. I really wish you would come home, but I understand if you need some time to find yourself and get out from under your father’s thumb. But please, tell me where you are. Tell me what I can do for you.”
“Look Mom, I promise to keep in touch with you, but right now, I don’t trust Dad to let me go and not come after me. So for now, I’m going to keep my whereabouts a secret, along with my phone number. I promise I’ll call you often, though.”
“Katrina, please! Let me know where you are or at least how I can get in touch with you.”
“I can’t right now, Mom. As for what you can do for me, please just call off the authorities and don’t let Dad know anything.”
“Katrina, if I call off the authorities I cannot keep the fact that I’ve heard from you a secret from him. I will not tell him anything else other than you are fine and want time to get yourself together, to decide what you want out of your life.”
“Thanks Mom. I have to go for now, just know Max and I are safe and we both love you.”
“I love you too, Katrina. Call me soon, okay?”
“Okay. Good night, Mom.”
“Good night, Katrina.”
Exhausted enough to finally sleep, Gage exits the woods and returns to his cottage. Willing himself to change, he begins the painful process of turning back from beast to man again. Picking up his clothes, he enters the house and heads to the bathroom to wash away the evidence of his night’s hunting activities.
As soon as his head hits the pillow, Gage quickly falls off to sleep. Entering the first stage of sleep, memories of the night’s follies drift through his mind. He could almost feel the crisp night air ruffling the fur on his back as he tore through the landscape at top speed. The scents and sounds of other living creatures in the woods, and those same creatures fleeing from the predator they sense nearby. The metallic taste of warm, sticky fluid dripping through his long sharp teeth as he brought down and fed on his prey.
Suddenly, the dream changes from one of pleasure to one of pain. The sound of brisk movements and muffled voices catches his attention. Straining his ears to make sense of what is going on around him. The voices are unfamiliar and the words indecipherable. He tries opening his eyes to look around but can’t. His eyes are covered with something that prevents him from opening them and he is trapped in darkness behind his lids.
His lips are dry and cracked and his throat parched. Needing a drink, he tries in vain to get up, but his body won’t move. His torso, head, arms, and legs are tethered to the bed where he lay. He is trapped, helpless.
Realizing he has no idea where he is or what is happening to him, Gage panics. How did he get here? Better yet, how was he going to get out? His voice is horse, a mere whisper that no one responds to. Helpless and unable to think clearly, his mind in a thick fog, his body buried in quicksand. Finally, after what seems like a lifetime, someone removes something from over his eyes. Painfully opening them, he begins blinking wildly as his eyes try to adjust to the light.
Looking around, he finds he is in a bright, white, sterile room. The strong smell of disinfectant and illness fills the air. There is medical equipment flashing and beeping all around, much of it plugged into his body with tubes and sensors.
Shadowed figures drift in and out at the corners of his vision, while disjointed fingers and hands are touching him. Still finding it difficult to focus, he notices rapid movements from the shadows, just before his vision becomes flooded with a florescent green fluid that swims all around him. All of his senses are flooded with that strange green color moving and sliding like the inside of a lava lamp. He feels snow-blind.
Out of nowhere, his right arm feels increasingly cold, like it was thrust into a frozen snow bank and he finds himself crying out in agony. His entire body is in excruciating pain, taking his breath away. Struggling to catch his breath, his body temperature cools and he begins to shiver violently as his blood feels as if it is being swapped out with water from an arctic pool. Just when he thinks he will turn into a block of ice, his body quickly changes again and begins to warm up. At first, the heat comes as a welcome relief, but his body is warming much too quickly and within minutes, his insides ignite as if they are on fire. Flames are licking at and scorching through his organs, his skin. He feels as if he has been cast into the flames of hell, and the more he cries out, the more the demons are laughing at him. Making the agonizing pain even worse is the fact that he is still tied down, tethered on his back on a bed. He can’t move a muscle. He has to lie completely still while his body is burning. Every muscle, bone, and sinew is uncontrollably expanding, then contracting, pulling and stretching beyond their limits. He feels as if his blood is boiling. He wants to die, but just before his silent prayers for death can be answered, the face of an angel floods his vision, her mouth opening to say something…
Gage awakens with a start, sits straight up in bed, gasping to fill his lungs with air as he hyperventilates. Placing his head between his knees, he calms his breathing so his breath can come in regular intervals. He raises his head and is greeted with a pounding headache. Slowly he stands on shaky legs. Sliding his hands along the furniture and walls for support, he shuffles into the shower stall, running cool water, and bracing himself against the cold tiled shower walls for support.
After standing under the stream of water for fifteen minutes, Gage begins to feel better, more human. Shutting off the water, he exits the shower, grabs a towel, and rubs it through his wet head of hair. He makes his way to the kitchen still nude, pulls out a glass from the cupboard, pours a stiff drink and swallows it down in one large gulp. After pouring a second and a third, he slams the now empty glass down on the table and runs his fingers through his damp hair. “What the hell is wrong with me? Where does this strange dream come from? The doctor said it was a case of night terrors, but it seems too real for that. And why is Katrina Jameson in my dream? I could see if I was dreaming about fucking her, I mean shit, who wouldn’t tap that, but I’m not having sex dreams about her, she’s plaguing my worst nightmares.”
Carrying a half full glass with him, Gage returns to the bedroom, opens the night stand drawer, takes out a prescription bottle, tosses two pills into his mouth, and follows them down with a swig of whiskey.
Chapter Ten
“Hey Tony, is Bre around?” Kat asks.
“No, she has an art class this afternoon. She’ll be home in a couple hours, but you’re more than welcome to hang out with me.”
“I’d love to. So…what are you up to?”
Grabbing her by the hand, he leads her out the back door. “Follow me little girl, I’ll show you what I’m up to,” Tony says with a devilish grin.
“Why are you leading me to the garage?”
“Come on, I want you to check out my latest toy. Here she is, a 1965 Cobra! I’m just finishing the rebuild on her so I can take her out to the track and race her Friday night.”
“That’s awesome, Tony. I didn’t know you were into racing. So is this Mustang Sally?”
“Very funny, Kat.”
“Hey, I couldn’t resist. What is it with guys and cars? You always refer to them as her. Every girlfriend knows they come second to her man’s car, but do you have to rub it in by referring to them as her?”
“Aw Kat…are you jealous? I don’t have a girlfriend right now, but if you’d like to volunteer for the job, I promise to put you first and rename my car, Bob,” he says jokingly.
“Hmmm, an offer like that I’ll have to give some serious thought,” she smiles. But right now, I am so not girlfriend material. Don’t forget, I just ran away from home…I’m going through my bad girl stage.”
“Oh, well that sounds promising. I like bad girls.”
Giving her a sexy smile, Tony leans into Kat and whispers in her ear, “I’m feeling pretty dirty myself. I’ll wash your back if you wash mine?”
Damn, Tony’s not a little boy any more, and I would so love to take him up on his offer right now. “Stop tempting me, Tony.”
“Hmm, I like that you’re tempted, maybe if I kiss you right here,” he peppers feathery kisses down her jaw line and her neck. A breathy moan escapes her lips, which is all the encouragement Tony needs to continue. Stopping at her plunging neckline, he flicks out his tongue and runs it over the top of her breasts. “Oh, I can do more than just tempt you, Kat.”
“Mmm, that feels so good. Oh god! We’ve got to stop this. You’re my best friend’s little brother and the kind of thoughts I’m having about you right now breaks the best friends’ code.”
“Screw the code.”
Her body still humming, Kat tries to douse the flames between them by taking a step back and changing the subject. “You were telling me about racing. I didn’t know you were into cars and racing. You know Derrick was into racing anything he could get his hands on?”
“Yeah, I remember.”
“Well, when he died, he left everything to me. That includes the ’68 Camaro Super Sport he used to race.”
“You’re kidding? That car was in primo condition and fast as shit. I’ve always wanted to take her out for a ride. Guess you got rid of her, huh?”
The Tower (The Tarot Series Book 1) Page 5