Craving

by Sofia Grey

  Graham Ashton remains in a critical condition in hospital.

  A series of disjointed images smashed through my brain. Standing in a pool of blood. My mouth dry, I tried to move my tongue, to form words and speak. Kitten stared at me puzzled as everything happened in slow motion. I stood up, shoving at the sofa, pushing the newspaper out of Kitten’s hands. A shining knife reflecting the amber streetlights. She stared at me, her eyes wide. My fists clenched by my side, and I swayed, my lungs tight and parched for air. I staggered to the bed and searched for my jeans, my shirt, my boots.

  “I have to go.”

  “Angel, listen to me.” Kitten wrapped her arms around me from behind. “I know it’s a shock, but—”

  “That’s my knife.”

  A pause. I could practically hear the cogs turning in her brain. “You carry a butterfly knife?”

  “Yeah.” I gulped in some air. So much blood, it made me feel nauseous. “I did, but I lost it.”

  “It doesn’t mean it’s your knife.”

  I stood frozen, wearing just my boxers, with Kitten warm and reassuring at my back. I couldn’t do that. Not to Ash.

  Kitten was talking again, and I tried to listen past the whistling in my ears. “It says that Nanette is missing.”

  “She was fine when I left her.”

  “When—where did you see her?”

  “In bed, early Monday morning. Does it say when they think it happened?” I spoke without thinking, still scrabbling through the black-hole that served as my memory for Sunday night.

  Uh oh. Kitten’s arms left me abruptly. I slowly turned as her voice turned arctic. “You slept with her on Sunday night.”

  “I, uh, played poker at her house.”

  A brief flash of fury in those expressive amber eyes. “You left my bed on Sunday, and went straight to Nanette’s, then came back to mine.”

  It hadn’t been quite like that… or maybe it had. “I don’t remember sleeping with her.”

  “Well isn’t that convenient.”

  Ouch.

  She crossed her arms and glared at me, scorching me with a blast of rage. “Any other memory lapses, Dante? Anything else I might like to know?”

  9.4 Katherine

  I stared at Dante, unsure if I wanted to add another bruise to his collection. How much of a fool had I been? He’d run straight to Nanette’s waiting arms when I’d thrown him out of my father’s. Then left her—in bed—and slept with me. Why not push the humiliation levels even higher. “Go on then,” I demanded, my voice amazingly normal. “Anything else?” His friend has just been knifed, I reminded myself. But then again, he’d gone bed-hopping before that happened.

  Clutching a bundle of clothes, he sank onto the sofa and hung his head, rubbing the back of his neck. “God help me, Kitten. What if I attacked Ash?” He fixed shining eyes on me as I squirmed deeper into the bath towel, tugging it up to my neck. I wore it like a suit of armor.

  “He’s your friend,” I squeaked, taking an automatic step backward. “Did you?”

  “I don’t know. I don’t remember anything between the poker and waking up with Nan.”

  “It doesn’t mean you did it.”

  His voice hollow, eyes covered. “I saw blood. And a knife.” He spoke so softly, I barely heard him. He massaged his temples, still avoiding my gaze. “It was, I dunno, more like a dream than a memory. But, God. Not Ash.”

  There was a long silence. I sank onto the bed and watched him hunched on the sofa. Dark hair slid across his forehead. I knew it would feel like silk to my fingertips. Gabe’s spirit had called me the Lost Girl, but Dante looked so lost and lonely, I wanted to gather him in my arms and comfort him. My sensible side yelled at me to walk away.

  He dug out his cellphone and dialed a number, listened, and then made a frustrated noise. “Her phone’s switched off. Nan’s. I can’t even leave her a voicemail.”

  Silver eyes met mine in a soulful gaze. “That story might just be so much bullshit, you know.”

  A knock at the door was ignored, but Josh’s voice demanded our attention. “Dante? Katherine?”

  I swallowed and managed a reply. “Just a minute.” Grabbing my clothes, I shot back into the bathroom to dress. Moments later when I emerged, Dante had also pulled jeans on and was easing into his shirt. I itched to help him—he must be hurting after such a kicking last night—but I held back. The thought of him loving Nanette tore into me, and I walked to the door with my head held high. He wouldn’t hurt me like that again.

  “We need to talk.” Josh’s voice was calm, but his stiff jaw and furrowed brow told a different story. “Come in our room. There’s something you need to see on the news.”

  I went back to grab the room keycard, and Dante held out his hand to me, his eyes filled with longing. I shook my head. “I told you I’d call you,” I whispered. “Didn’t you believe me?”

  His lips tightened, and I couldn’t miss the pain skittering across his face. “I told you. I don’t remember it.”

  I blinked. This conversation was familiar… I trawled through my memory and recalled the day after the second séance, when Chaz had been trying to defend his actions.

  “You coming?” Josh called over his shoulder, and I shook myself before following him, Dante trailing behind me. There was no sign of Suki. Josh’s laptop sat on the table, open on the BBC News page and my stomach lurched when I read the headline. Behind me, Dante made a shocked noise. Even without turning, I knew he stood close.

  “We’ve already seen the story in the newspaper.” I worked hard to control the tremor in my voice.

  Josh raised one eyebrow. “You won’t have seen the update half an hour ago.” His dark eyes rested on Dante. “Watch this.”

  He clicked something, and a video clip fired up. I leaned closer to the screen, Dante followed. A smartly dressed female reporter stood in front of a taped off section of pavement. She spoke rapidly, her voice high and excited. “The violent knife attack on Graham Ashton takes a sordid turn with new information this morning. Two witnesses have come forward to describe a man running away from the scene, just after midnight. Tall with dark hair, he has a distinctive tattoo on each arm—a dragon and a snake.” Josh clicked again, and the screen paused, the reporter standing with her mouth open in mid-speech. We all stared at Dante’s gray face, the only color coming from the fresh grazes and bruises.

  He twisted his hands together, cracking his knuckles.

  “There’s more.” Josh sounded grim as he clicked with his mouse.

  The reporter continued, her delight obvious at the scoop she’d landed. “The same two witnesses heard screams moments later and saw a woman being dragged into the back of a white van. From her description, this is believed to be the missing Nanette Lewis, the girlfriend of the victim.” The reporter paused and glanced at her notepad. “The van was driven away at high speed.” She beamed into the camera while I felt a wave of nausea.

  A man lay fighting for his life, a girl was missing—and she was enjoying herself. Meanwhile, she chattered on. “I took the opportunity to talk to the victim’s sister, Julia Ashton. She expressed concern for Nanette’s safety as she was allegedly being stalked by an ex-boyfriend, known only by his gang-name Dante. It’s early days to be speculating, but it’s widely thought that Dante picked a fight with Graham Ashton and then kidnapped Nanette Lewis. Police are actively searching for Dante, real name unknown, and the public is warned he is likely to be dangerous.” She smirked into the camera some more.

  Josh stopped the video and squared up to Dante. Taller and more muscular, he looked as though he could be formidable in a fight, and I mentally applauded how brave he’d been the night before. Right now though, he didn’t look like an ally. “Tell me the truth, Dante.”

  I shivered at the hard tone in his voice.

  “Did you have anything to do with this?”

  9.5 Josh

  I ignored Katherine, sensing the fear pouring off her, and concentrated on Dante. He just stared a
t me with wide, shocked eyes. “I don’t know.”

  “Josh. Please!” Katherine sounded close to tears. “I think he’s been set up.”

  Without moving my head, I replied. “What makes you think that?”

  “Because he doesn’t remember anything about it.”

  I cocked my head slightly. “Well, Dante?”

  “I think it was my knife that was used on Ash.” His voice hitched on the name, his breathing erratic.

  Katherine circled round to his side, her face taut with fear. “That’s his friend you’re talking about. He wouldn’t do that. And Nanette—he wouldn’t hurt her. They’re lovers.”

  Dante made a strangled noise at Katherine’s impassioned cry. “I know you only have my word for it, but I left Nan’s place around five in the morning. She was asleep.” White lines bracketed his mouth as he spoke. “I rode to York, to see Gran, and then I came to find you. I swear, I didn’t hurt Nan. And since she was still in bed at five, they’re talking bullshit. There’s no way she was dragged into any van at midnight.”

  “Who were you playing poker with? Can’t you ask them?” Katherine again.

  “Three guys, never met them before. Friends of Nan.” His jaw tensed. “They ripped me off and planted fake notes on me. Which is why I was in trouble last night.” He swallowed, hard. “And I think they nicked my knife. If they attacked Ash, then Nan might be in danger.”

  His story had a ring of truth, and I spoke thoughtfully. “They might have made up the story about her being dragged into the van to incriminate you further.”

  Katherine leapt in. “I saw Dante with Nanette. She didn’t behave like someone in fear of a stalker—and I can produce witnesses. The other students at the séances.” Her eyes darted between myself and Dante. “I also overheard her telling Dante that she’d argued with Ash.”

  He grunted assent. “I remember feeling sick when we were playing cards. I think they slipped something into my drink.”

  I cast my mind back to the few times I’d seen Dante before now. I would have described him as non-violent, despite his hardcore appearance. He seemed more inclined to run from confrontation than get involved, and his protectiveness for Katherine was clear. And his concern for Suki, the efforts he’d made to contact Gabe—while making sure she stayed safe—all sounded in his favor.

  I struggled to believe his story about the arrangement he had with Alistair, but I found it difficult to accept he could be a cold-blooded thug. “I know firsthand how evidence—even compelling evidence—can be manufactured. It looks as though someone is trying very hard to place you at the scene of the crime.” I gestured to one of the chairs and watched as he gingerly took a seat, perching on the edge as though ready to flee. “Okay.” I sat at the table. “How are we going to fix this?”

  Chapter

  ~10~

  10.1 Dante

  Josh gazed at me while scratching his chin and yawning briefly. “Way I see it, you need somewhere to lie low while the police get to the bottom of this.”

  I shrugged. Being hunted as an attempted-murder suspect was just an added complication and one I had yet to think about.

  “How long do you have to make up the missing money for Alistair?” Before I could reply, he leaned forward and jabbed a finger at me. “I haven’t paid you yet.”

  Now I was completely lost.

  He must have seen the confusion on my face as he nodded at me. “For the séance at Suki’s. I hired you to get Gabriel out of Suki’s life, so it’s only fair that I pay you. How much do you still owe Alistair this month?”

  “I, ah, don’t know exactly.” I’d been so sideswiped when I heard about the dud notes, I hadn’t paid attention to the details. Another example of me not checking the small print—and the loan was academic now, in light of the new deal.

  Josh sniffed, an air of impatience settling around him. “So let’s say I’m paying you four grand for the job at Suki’s. Is that fair?”

  I almost choked. I definitely spluttered, causing Kitten to stare at me. “Four grand? You must be crazy, man. I wasn’t going to charge you anything.”

  He just grinned back.

  I groped for the right words, suddenly feeling very uncomfortable. “I can’t take your money, Josh. I really—”

  “I really don’t think you have much choice. How the hell will you raise it otherwise? You need to keep a low profile at the moment, and I can help with that too.” He tapped away at the laptop and pulled up a map of the Anglesey coastline, off the coast of North Wales. “We’ve bought a weekend cottage in a quiet village. You can housesit for a couple of weeks if you like.” His dark blue eyes were intense when he stared at me. “What do you say?”

  What could I say? I have to hand you over to Alistair in order to wipe out my debt forever. I wanted to find a reason to hate Josh, to make it easy on my conscience when I betrayed him, but it was hard not to like him. And why did Alistair want him, anyway? Distracted, I missed his next words. I looked up to see Kitten shaking her head, her hands raised in a clear no thanks gesture.

  Her eyes darted to me and back to Josh. I saw a fetching red blush steal across her cheeks as she spoke firmly. “You’ve got the wrong idea, Josh. There’s nothing between Dante and me. I’m heading down to Cornwall from here.”

  Huh? I narrowed my eyes at her, about to speak when Josh turned to me.

  “Look, I’ve got some calls to make, and then I need to get back to Suki’s house for the last of the moving vans. What are we going to do about Gabriel?”

  Kitten fiddled with one of her fingernails, worrying at a ragged edge and refusing to meet my eyes.

  My stomach slowly churned at the remote look on her face.

  “Dante?” Josh clicked his fingers in front of my face, and I dragged my concentration back from the unhappy girl opposite. “Do we need another séance in Suki’s house?”

  “Yeah.” I spoke firmly, grasping at a thin straw. “Another séance—and I’ll need Kitten’s help again.” She stiffened at my words and peeked up at me through her trailing fringe. “You will help, won’t you, baby? I really need you for this.”

  Josh paused, and then stared at us in turn. “Can you meet me back here later? Maybe we can do the second séance this afternoon and then head straight over to Rhosneigr. And Dante,” he hesitated a moment. “I was thinking we could leave your bike in my trailer and save you riding there. Go in the car with us.”

  I scrubbed tired hands over my face. “Look, Josh, I don’t know what to say. You’re bending over backwards to help, and you know fuck-all about me.” I crossed my arms and tried not to wince at the twinges of pain across my chest. “Why are you doing this?”

  His previously mobile face stilled, and anger flickered in the depths of his eyes. “You’re my best shot at getting rid of Gabriel.” He spat the name out. “I’ll do pretty much whatever it takes to protect Suki.” He pinched the bridge of his nose and exhaled noisily. “Be ready to go in two hours.” His voice softened when he looked at Kitten. Reaching out, he placed one hand on her sleeve. “You may as well come with us, Katherine,” he cajoled, and her lips curved slightly.

  “I don’t know. I need to think about it.” He nodded and withdrew his hand.

  Minutes later, Kitten marched back into our room and stomped into the bathroom, slamming the door behind her. I sighed and leaned on the door. “Kitten, can we talk, please? Baby?”

  I heard the toilet flush and then a tap running. I waited, shifting only when I heard the door lock releasing. She’d slicked her hair back and dragged the damp mass into a tight ponytail. Her cheekbones stood out, sharp and angry.

  “I have to go out as well, I need to try to get some stuff from my father’s. I don’t even have a change of underwear, let alone my passport or anything useful.”

  She didn’t look in the mood for a cuddle so I stuffed my hands into my pockets before they reached out. Her chin tilted up, she straightened her back, and glared at me.

  I nodded and tried a smile,
but it fell on icy ground. “So why don’t I come with you?”

  10.2 Katherine

  I stared at Dante and tried to contain my surprise at his suggestion. Before I caved in and said something I’d regret, I forced myself to think logically. “Why? I mean, why would you want to?”

  He sank onto the sofa with a little sigh. Unshaven and rumpled, he looked even more desirable than before. “Kitten, I’ve got a lot of shit going on at the moment. And I… I don’t want to be alone.” Silver eyes showed the vulnerability he tried so hard to hide.

  I swallowed hard, as I tried to regroup. “Shouldn’t you be thinking about Nanette, instead of trailing around behind me?” I was behaving like a bitch, and he visibly flinched.

  “I’m worried fucking sick about Nan. My oldest friend has been knifed and left for dead, and I’m the chief suspect—and I’m being threatened by someone you really don’t want to upset.” His eyes bored into me. “And if all that wasn’t bad enough, I’ve hurt you.”

  Despite the warning voice in my head, I stepped toward him. Hope flickered in his eyes but I kept myself stern. “Yes, you have. Why did you go back to Nanette?” It came out as a whisper.

  “I went for the card game. Nothing more.” His voice roughened. “I never wanted to hurt you.” He rubbed one hand across his forehead and sighed. “I’m sorry, Kitten.”

  Something inside me softened, and I took another tentative step in his direction. This time, I lifted my hand, hoping he’d take it.

  Hope flared on his face, and he reached out, lacing his warm fingers with mine.

  The skin contact made me feel weak at the knees. I took a deep breath and tried to think over the zinging of blood in my veins. I swear I felt more alive every time I touched Dante.