Wildfire

Chapter 29

29. Surprise

That night, my dreams were laced with déjà vu. I was standing back in the mouth of the alley, a cold, metal gun clasped in my steady hands.

Diego faced me but this time, instead betrayal glittering in his dark eyes, there was a flicker of excitement. As I raised the gun, he spread his arms wide.

"Don't miss," he murmured.

I didn't.

I woke up screaming and covered in sweat, my hair plastered to my forehead. Somebody was kneeling over me, one hand gripping my shoulder, and before I could think, I was jamming my knee up and using the momentum to propel myself up and over.

A heartbeat later, I realized the person sprawled beneath me was Charlie.

"Paige!" she whisper-yelled. "It's okay, Paige, it's me!"

"Oh god." My throat felt raw from screaming and my hands shook as I moved away from her, wrapping my arms around my knees and burying my face against my thighs. I couldn't help the tears that eased from the corners of my eyes; I was too tired, too unprepared to slide my mental walls back into place.

I just felt... raw.

Charlie wrapped her arms around me, pulling me against her. "Ssh," she murmured. "It's okay... it's okay..."

"I hate feeling like this," I sniffed. "I thought you were —"

"Him?"

"No, not Diego," I whispered. I pulled away from her slightly, a sudden chill stealing over me. "Just... somebody else."

I pushed myself up off the bed, padding over to the bathroom. I locked the door behind me, moving to stand in front of the mirror, and flicked on the faucet. The cold water trickled over my fingers and cupped my hands, watching as they slowly filled with liquid.

I splashed my face, dousing myself in water, and let the sting of the cold water wake me up a little. I stared at my reflection, at the purplish bags under my eyes, and exhaled slowly.

"He's not here," I whispered to myself.

(*)(*)(*)

Finding Diesel was easier than I expected.

She was leaning against somebody's car, not even trying to look inconspicuous in a bright pink t-shirt. She stared at me warily as I approached her, her brows lifting slightly as I offered her one of the coffee cups in my hand.

"You got me coffee?" she asked dubiously.

"It's regular. I didn't know what you liked." I shrugged awkwardly, already regretting my decision.

She took the cup from my hand and glanced down at the lid suspiciously. "Okay..."

I watched as she took a sip, cradling my own cup in my hands for warmth. Just looking at her t-shirt was making me feel ten times colder than I already was. Lupi physiology completely baffled me; I could understand people having higher-than-normal body temperatures due to high metabolism of hyperactive thyroids, but those people would still freeze to death in this kind of weather. Maybe it was a supernatural thing?

"I wanted to ask you something," I blurted out.

She lowered her cup, brow rising quizzically. "Shoot."

"You'd know if someone was following me, right?"

"I'm following you," she pointed out.

"Yes," I said impatiently, "but somebody else. Somebody more... human."