by Gloria Craw
“That’s Greenvale,” he said, nodding toward some lights in the distance. “It’s the nearest town to my place and the Ledges. That’s where Ian is staying. There’s no hotel, but my friend Stacy agreed to put him up. I suppose she’d put you up, too. But her place is small, and you’d have an hour commute up the hill each day. There’s also a chance you’d fall into a ravine trying to negotiate the road during a snowstorm.”
There was an exit ahead. He turned his blinker on. “Speak now or forever hold your peace,” he said.
I’d been honest when I told him I didn’t like him, but I really didn’t want an hour commute in bad weather to get to the Truss. Maybe if I stayed away from him as much as possible it would be okay.
“Well, Spencer wouldn’t like it if I change plans,” I said.
“There is that. He’d probably come for my head, but I’d take his off first.”
He was joking…probably. “I don’t want to be the reason for that,” I said. “We’ll try it. If I can’t stand you, I reevaluate.”
“Sounds good.”
He took the exit, turned right, and gunned the gas.
My hands tightened into fists. “You’re going too fast,” I said in a squeaky voice. “You told me the roads get slick with slush.”
“They do, backseat driver, but I have to get a running start or we won’t make it up the first incline.”
The engine roared and my stomach churned. I had to swallow hard to keep my airplane peanuts from coming up. When the road narrowed and started to get curvy, I got light-headed.
Trying to divert my attention, I watched the tall evergreens get increasingly thick as we climbed. But then they disappeared on the left side of the road and there was nothing to stop us from driving off and rolling down the steep hillside.
In my mind, I watched a cartoon version of Theron’s Land Rover, with me in it, flipping end over end down the mountainside.
When the back wheels slipped, Theron made a growling noise and shifted something.
“We’re going to die, aren’t we?” I asked.
“Relax,” he replied. “I drive this road all the time. I know what I’m doing. Besides, if we drive off the hill we won’t stay dead. We might break every bone in our bodies and be in a coma for a few months, but we’d heal.”
“That doesn’t make me feel much better,” I replied through my teeth.
When the road straightened out a bit, he said, “Spencer told me to give you the layout of the Ledges. So here goes. The lodge is a five-level building just off the main road. The bottom level is mainly shops. There are two restaurants and a spa there, too. Six big conference rooms take up the second floor. Above that are the guest rooms. Additionally, twenty private cabins are spread around the property. It’s a members-only resort with security staff on site. They’re all plainclothes, but don’t be fooled. Half of them are former military.”
“Why so much security?”
“Because the people who stay there are either famous or very wealthy. Usually both. Those things breed curiosity, stalkers, and sometimes violence. The guests are willing to pay a high price for privacy and safety. ”
“How did my alter ego, Ali McCain from Arizona, score a ski pass to a private resort overnight?” I asked.
“Spencer and Katherine have friends in high places.”
“It’s hard to believe the rich and famous travel this terrifying road, risking their lives just for time away from the public.”
“They don’t. They helicopter in. You’ll drive, but you have to go through a search at the security gate. You might get lucky. They do pat-downs sometimes.”
I rolled my eyes. Unfortunately, it was too dark for him to see. “What will they be looking for?”
“Cameras mostly. They want to keep the paparazzi out. They’ll try to take your phone but Spencer said your joining will get you around that.”
“Thoughtmaking my way through the gate will be easy.”
Theron negotiated a sharp curve in the road, and I squeezed my eyes closed. “I’ve always wondered how that works,” he said.
“Don’t worry, I’ll show you before I go.”
“Why does that sound so unpleasant?”
“Because it will be.”
By the time he slowed and turned into an opening between the trees, my fingernails had dug indentations in the skin of my palms.
He stopped the Land Rover in front of a rustic-looking cabin. It appeared surprisingly cozy. Smoke came from the chimney, and a lamp was shining in the window.
“Welcome to Hotel Falco,” he said. “Continental breakfast included, as long as you consider cold cereal continental.”
I opened my door, stepped down, slid on the packed snow, and landed on my butt.
“Ooh, that hurt,” Theron said, glancing my way.
“Thanks for the compassion,” I replied, pulling myself up by the door handle.
He looked at my shoes. “Vans? You might as well be barefoot. I hope you packed some boots.”
I brushed snow off my backside and gingerly made my way to the back of the car to get my stuff.
For the first time, I saw a hint of sympathy in Theron’s expression. “Go inside,” he said. “You’ll freeze solid before you can haul your things up the stairs. I’ll get it all.”
My toes were numb and my tailbone hurt, so I didn’t argue.
Letting myself in the door, I checked out the space.
My first impression was that it was really small. My second impression was that it was cute. Little old lady cute. There were homespun rugs on the floor, checkered curtains at the windows, and two wooden rocking chairs flanking a fireplace.
The charm of the place was marred by the piles of things stacked in each of the four corners. There were tools and electronic odds and ends in one corner. Snowshoes, cross-country skis, canteens, and backpacks in the second. The TV and about a million books took up the third. And an art easel on top of a canvas drop cloth was set up in the fourth.
The most impressive part of the room was a huge fireplace with happy little flames dancing inside.
After taking my shoes off, I hung my coat on a hook behind the door and went to sit near the warmth.
I was nearly thawed out by the time Theron came in carrying my suitcase. He shook snow from his spiky hair, stamped his feet, and hung his coat. “I put your board on the porch,” he said. “The overhang will keep it dry until tomorrow.”
“I’d say thanks, but you’re shaking snow all over my Louis Vuitton luggage.”
He looked down at the disaster that held my clothes. “Louis Vuitton doesn’t do duct tape. Come on, I’ll show you your room.”
I followed him down a dark hallway. He stopped halfway to the end and pushed a door open. “This is it,” he said. “Make yourself at home.”
It was a tiny room with a twin bed against one wall and a dresser against the other. There were shelves with knickknacks on them all over the room, and the bed had been made up with a beautiful red-and-white quilt. It was the kind that had been patched and stitched by hand and would cost hundreds of dollars to buy. There wasn’t a lot of walking space, but it was super cute.
“This place is adorable,” I said. “I mean you could do an episode of Hoarders with all that stuff in the living room, but the bare bones are really great.”
His gaze softened. “My grandparents built it. It was one of their vacation spots. My grandma called it her Snow White cottage.”
“I can see why,” I replied, smiling.
I’d been right about a little old lady decorating the place.
“What’s in those?” I asked, pointing to two boxes next to the bed.
“I’m not sure. Katherine had them expressed into town today.”
I stepped in and laid my backpack on the dresser.
“The bathroom is across from you,” he said. “The towels are under the sink. There’s food in the refrigerator if you’re hungry.”
“Thanks,” I replied, like a good guest shoul
d.
“Okay then. It was sort of nice meeting you, Jillian Laurel.”
He’d called me by my dewing name. “Jillian Laurel doesn’t exist,” I said sharply. “I’m still Alison McKye.”
He looked thoughtful. “Are you telling that to me or to yourself?”
I honestly didn’t know how to respond.
He turned his back to me and walked out. The impression that I’d seen him before came back, only stronger. I quickly ran through my memories but still couldn’t find a match to anyone that looked like him.
I closed the door, thinking I was just overly tired and imagining things.
Chapter Ten
Ten hours later, I was ripped from a nice dream by Theron knocking on the door. When I didn’t answer immediately, he knocked louder.
“Go away,” I said. “The sun isn’t even up.”
“What?” he asked. “I can’t hear you.”
Realizing my voice was muffled by blankets, I pushed them off my face. All I could see was my own mess of hair.
“I said go away,” I repeated.
“No. I’m going to give you ten seconds. Then I’m going to throw your phone into a snowbank. You left it in the bathroom and it keeps ringing. The train whistle’s driving me crazy.”
He was probably kidding about the snowbank, but after some of our less-than-friendly interactions, I couldn’t be sure.
Bracing myself for the cold, I threw the covers off and ran to the door. I opened it to see Theron wearing an exasperated expression on his face and a flannel shirt. It was red-and-black checked.
“Where’s your beard?” I asked.
“What are you talking about?”
“You look like a mountain man. Except they have beards. Tangled ones, with food in them.”
His lips tipped up in a predatory smile. “You like insults first thing in the morning?” he asked. “That’s my favorite game.” He pointed to my hair. “What kind of animal is living on your head, because it looks like it’s trying to eat your face.”
“I’m hurt,” I replied, pretending to pout.
I reached for the phone in his hand, but he evaded me and held it high. “Ask nicely, Amazon.”
I started jumping for it, but Theron was tall enough to keep it away. Not many were. “You woke me up to give it to me,” I replied. “Hand it over so I can hate you from under the covers where it’s warm.”
He raised an eyebrow. “My mountain man flannel is warm. What you’re wearing is not. I can stand here for hours.”
I stopped jumping and put my hands on my hips. I was freezing. “Please,” I said with false sweetness.
He dropped the phone into my hand. “That’s better.”
“Just so you know”—I growled—“I’m not some animal you can train to do tricks.”
He chuckled all the way down the hall.
I ran for the bed, crawled in, and checked my messages. Mom had called three times. Figuring she’d worked herself into a frenzy of worry, I called her back. I expected her to be waiting anxiously with her phone nearby. Surprisingly, she didn’t answer at all. I left a message telling her I was fine and that I’d call later that night.
After a good yawn and stretch, I sent a request to FaceTime Ian. I’d promised to contact him, but I almost hoped he was still asleep. The kiss, electric shock when our palms touched, and my reaction afterward left me feeling awkward.
He was up. His image flashed onto my screen. “Good morning, Ian. You look like a god.”
He laughed and ran a hand through his hair. I could see he’d just had a shower. The light gold color of his hair was a shade darker and wet around his ears. I had a serious weakness for that look.
“You remember the proper way to greet people,” he replied. “I’ll have you cured of all Lillian’s ways in no time.”
“It helps that I’m a quick learner,” I replied. “I thought you might be sleeping.”
His image bounced around while he pulled a T-shirt over his head.
“I’m going out to breakfast with Theron’s friend in a few minutes. Since I’m staying in her house, she wants to get to know me better.”
“I’m surprised Theron has any friends,” I grumbled.
“Why do you say that?”
“Because he’s rude, insensitive, sarcastic, a morning person, and he dresses like a lumberjack.”
Ian chuckled. “The isolation and suspension must be getting to him. I’ll come punch him for you if you want.”
“Thanks for the offer, but I can punch him myself.”
“Just be patient. You’ll charm him with your weirdness like you did me.”
I smiled at the backhanded compliment. “What’s Stacy like?” I asked.
“She’s…hard to explain. She definitely likes cats, though.”
He turned his phone in a slow three-sixty. Everything from the walls to the bedding had some kind of cat print on it.
When Ian reappeared, I said, “That’s horrible.”
“I’m sort of afraid to sleep in here. They might come to life and eat me piece by piece or something. How are you doing? Are you feeling better about your secret mission?”
“Not really. When I have the time, I’m going to be pissed at you and your parents. None of you said anything about my father being from the Falco clan. Imagine the shock when Theron told me we’re related.”
Ian was quiet for a moment. “We wanted to give you some time to deal with everything else that’s happened,” he said. “Telling you Sebastian killed your Falco grandparents seemed like a little too much for you to process.”
Suddenly, I couldn’t swallow. Learning that Sebastian had spilled more of my family’s blood stole my breath. This time he’d taken lives from another clan.
I made myself drag some oxygen in and said, “Theron told me they were dead, not that they’d been murdered.”
His eyes softened as he looked at me. I could see a pang of guilt in them and how much he hadn’t wanted to cause me pain. “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you before,” he said.
“Well, tell me everything now.”
“Sebastian thought your father’s family might be hiding you. He made sure they weren’t.”
All I could think was that he’d killed them because of me. Then I imagined something even worse. “He tortured them first, didn’t he?” I asked.
Ian wouldn’t answer that question, which was answer enough.
“Ah…I feel sick,” I said.
“Crap. Stacy is knocking at the door. I have to go, but I want you to find Theron. Ask him what happened. He can give you details I can’t.”
“I changed my mind,” I replied. “I don’t want to know anything more, and I definitely don’t want to be around Theron.”
“Do it for me, Alison,” he pleaded. “You shouldn’t be alone right now. If you don’t want to ask him about your grandparents, ask him to repeat the conversation we had earlier. I updated him on a few things.”
I could see some wisdom in what he was saying. At least if I fell into a catatonic state from an overload of grief, which wasn’t completely out of the question, Theron would be able to monitor my vital signs.
“Okay,” I said. “I’ll find him.”
“Promise me.”
“I promise.”
Numb to the cold this time, I went looking for Theron. He was sorting through the hiking stuff in one of the corners. He glanced up at me and then scowled. “A T-shirt and shorts in Vegas may be fine, but they won’t work here. Go put some warmer clothes on. I don’t want to look at your goose bumps anyway.”
I ignored him and sat down at the table. Folding my arms on top of it, I hid my face. “Don’t look at me then,” I said.
“I’m serious. The heat in this place barely works well enough to keep the pipes from freezing. You’ll catch pneumonia.”
“I don’t care. I’m going to sit here and you’re supposed to be in the general area while I do it. I promised Ian.”
There was a moment of hesitat
ion, then I heard his footsteps cross the floor. A heavy blanket fell over my shoulders. “At least wrap up in this.”
Because I’d started to feel the cold again, I pulled it tight around myself and rested my head in my arms.
“What’s wrong?” he asked.
I tipped my head so I could stare at him with one eye. “I’m going to be perfectly honest, so prepare yourself.”
“Okay,” he replied.
“I hate destiny.”
If previous experience was anything to go by, speaking ill of destiny was blasphemous. I expected Theron to look shocked or angry…especially because we weren’t friends, but he didn’t react at all.
“We have that in common,” he replied.
I watched him sit down, trying to determine if he was being serious or mocking me.
“So tell me,” he said. “Why do you hate destiny?”
“For a lot of reasons. The biggest one right now is that Sebastian Truss killed every Laurel but me and then turned to the Falco clan and killed some of them, too. And he did it because he wanted to find me. It’s my fault people from your clan are dead. I suppose that explains why you hate me.”
He looked shocked that I’d suggested it. “I don’t blame you for what happened to your grandparents,” he said.
I sniffed. “Really?”
“Really. And look on the bright side, you still have me, your amazing cousin.”
“You’re like my third cousin five times removed or something.”
“It still counts.”
I smiled a little. “I don’t like destiny for a lot of other reasons, too.”
“Do you want to tell Uncle Theron about it?” he teased.
“I thought you were my cousin.”
“I’m offering to listen, take it or leave it.”
“Okay, here’s another one,” I said. “Three years ago, I was a pretty normal kid, living a pretty normal life. Then I meet some guy who tells me I’m a different species and some other guy is hunting for me. He says I better hide so my family doesn’t end up dead. Then I meet these people who explain what I am and what I can do. Great, right? No, because I’m not really dewing, my mind doesn’t work like theirs. But I’m not human either. It’s like I’m hanging in space swinging from two worlds. Destiny turned me into a freak.”