"I say if someone is trying to kill her, let them have her. As far as I can see, she's nothing but trouble."
That comment from Vallen didn't help her tears.
Pike's hysterical laughter didn't help either.
Someone started to come to her, but Conway's staff hitting the floor stopped him. Henry handed her a hankey that Benjamin handed him.
She tried to stop crying, but she had a lot to get out and her breakdown didn't seem to care that she had an audience.
Amidst the sounds of her tears, the meeting started back up.
After a few moments, Vallen cussed, and his chair hit the floor. "All of you are as crazy as she is."
"He's gone. Nigel, you can comfort her now. Benjamin, do you have another hanky?"
"I'm okay, Mr. Churchill. Please continue. You said that we need volunteers to form a watch?" Her voice ended on a sob.
Mr. Churchill winced. "Nevaeha, we can handle everything. You can be excused. Tell Silas to keep his eyes open. We want him driving you to and from school."
"And don't worry about teaching tomorrow. You need time to regroup, is all."
"Thank you, Mr. Herrmann. Benjamin, for the hanky and Nigel for the hug, I'll take a rain check."
"Sure, Nevaeha."
It was still dark outside. The sun was still a few hours from making an appearance.
Her feet knew the way home well.
She'd only taken about forty steps when she stopped. A shadow moved away from a storefront.
"I knew you were crazy enough to walk home by yourself. In the dark, when there's a killer after you."
"I thought you hoped that someone rid the world of me. Either way, I'm safe. The town is taking extra precautions to keep it that way."
"Yet I don't see any of them offering to walk you home."
She swiped at the last of her tears. "I wouldn't take you for the kind of guy who walks a girl home."
"I'm not. Are you going to walk or not?"
She was unsure what this meant. She couldn't feel anything off him, and she knew from the hum of the necklace at the base of her throat that the spell was still working. Her feet started moving again, and he fell into step at her side.
"Why do you walk when you don't have to?" He asked once the town was behind them and only darkness laid before them.
"Habit. I only got that power about two years ago and I've walked this path more times than I can count. Plus, I like it. A person can do a lot of thinking while walking home." She paused and took a look around. "He's gone. I can hear the crickets and the frogs. The wind."
"Who's gone?"
"Your friend. He's haunting me."
"You mean Pike?"
"Yes." She waited until they were walking again before she stole a quick glance at him. He was looking ahead, his face giving nothing away. His voice was calm. Calmer than she's ever heard it.
Nevaeha gripped her necklace. If it was still working, then why was he here?
When he glanced at the necklace she was clasping, she let go of it. "He's the reason I can't sleep."
"Whatever they want you to do to get rid of him, do it. He won't stop otherwise. His mother was killed by a witch before he could even remember. His father never taught him anything but to hate witches and to kill. And that hate has only grown out of control since a witch killed his father."
Her heart broke for that poor, small boy. "I don't think I can do it. He had a hard life. Maybe the next one won't be so hard."
She felt his eyes on her, so she looked his way.
"Then you're a fool."
She looked away. "You might be right."
"No might be about it. Who else is walking down an old dirt road at four am wearing a wispy white gown with crazy hair? I don't see anyone else out here."
Her hand when to her hair. Her band was missing, so she could imagine how wild it looked. A hair tie appeared in her hand, and she put her hair up into a loose bun. "Since I'm not out here by myself, what does that say about you?"
He said nothing, and since he was looking forward, she stole another glance at him. She didn't have his keen eyesight, so it was hard to see or even guess what it was he was thinking about.
He wore a black t-shirt and dark jeans. Even his tennis shoes were black. His deep brown hair had grown out and curled the tiniest bit at the ends.
When he caught her staring, she looked away and searched for something to say. "I met your niece. I adore her." She sighed. "I should warn you, she told me a little about your father. She's scared of him."
"Then she's smart."
"She fears you too."
She went on when he chose not to say anything to that. "I'm worried about her. The kind of fear she has comes with a price. It couldn't have been easy for her to grow up in that kind of environment."
She stopped walking again. Rylee wasn't the only one to grow up in that environment. "She has six hiding places. Four that no one knows the location of except for her. She has escape strategies and books on survival techniques."
Nevaeha waited for his eyes to be on her before she asked. "Did you have those things when you were her age, Vallen?"
"I didn't even know what a book was until I was twelve. That's when Cato taught me to read. We had to sneak around to do it. Before that, his mother had to sneak around to teach him." He started to walk again, so she did too.
"What was wrong with reading?"
"Because it was one more thing he could take away. It wasn't until I was fourteen, he decided it looked bad on him not to send me to school."
"Why didn't your mom sneak around to teach you?"
"By then, my mom was already broken. She didn't do anything without permission."
Her tears were back. Silent this time.
When they got to her driveway, she stopped. "Why are you here?"
"You're on his radar. He knows you're the one who took the Were, and he's ordered your death."
"By you?"
"He always gets what he wants."
"He'll have to get in line if he wants to kill me."
"If you were smart, you'd let this boy kill you. My father doesn't believe in easy, quick deaths."
"Does he have a sharp blade and believes in slashing until there's nothing left? I think I'll take my chances with him."
"If I were smart, I would kill you and save anyone else the trouble."
"My mother could see pieces of the future. I think she saw you killing me."
They stared at each other for a long time before she looked away. She looked at her dark house at the end of a long, dark driveway. "Could you stay? I'm so tired, I just need a little sleep. Can you do that? Can you keep him away just for a few hours?"
"I don't even know why I'm here."
"I don't know why you're here either, but I'm glad you are."
He gave a short, sharp laugh. "You need to find out what's the right medication you should be on."
When she started up the drive, he followed her.
He grunted when he saw her door and all her windows opened.
He was to the stairs before he stopped and went back to the entrance of the living room. "Who in the hell is that?"
"Silas. He's the sheriff. I'd tell you to not be so loud, but nothing wakes him."
She was already lying down when she heard his footsteps on the stairs. She was already asleep before he sat in the chair next to her bed.