Lexia (The Deadwood Hunter Series) (6 page)

“What are you doing?”

“Walking,” he laughed.

“You live this way?”

“Could do,” he said, flashing a wicked grin.

“I don’t need walking home, I can protect myself.” That comment earned her a snort so Lexia picked up her pace deciding to ignore him.

After a few minutes of silence he said, “So your parents don’t mind you walking home alone?”

“Parent and no, I’m not a child.”

“Just you and your mom?”

“No, just me and my dad. How about you?” Lexia didn’t like been questioned.

“Just me. I was just kind of passing through.”

“Passing through, so when do you leave?”

“So keen to get rid of me, Lex, I’m hurt.” Lincoln put on his best puppy dog expression.

Lexia laughed; how was it he managed to cut straight through all her defenses? He might look harmless with his sweet smile and charming words but Lexia could feel the power rolling of him.

“So Lexia, are you in your last year of school?”

“Yep, finish in two weeks.”

“You’re eighteen then? What are your plans?”

“Nineteen and yes, I have plans.” She smiled sweetly daring him to bite.

He didn’t, but smiled back with a glint in his eyes “I’m twenty-three and I have no plans as of yet. I could tell you were dying to know.”

Lexia stopped walking as they reach the end of her drive. She turned to face him trying to keep the smile from her face. “This is me. I started school a year late. Dad and I travelled a lot when I was young. I could tell you were dying to know.” She couldn’t keep the smile off her face as she used his own words. Walking away she said, “Bye.”

“Wait.... I should walk you to your door.”

“Goodbye, Lincoln.” Lexia didn’t look back, just kept striding down the dark driveway with a huge grin on her face; she couldn’t help it that he made her heart pound and blood boil with excitement.

“How about a goodnight kiss,” he whispered in her ear.

Lexia let out a gasp then twisted around elbowing him in gut; Lincoln doubled over with a grunt.

“Bloody hell, love! That hurt,” he said with a smile, holding his side.

“Shouldn’t sneak up on a girl, then.” Lexia felt a little guilty, she’d just reacted on instinct and then he’d not fought back. It surprised her, deep down she’d thought he was up to no good.

“Won’t make that mistake again and you certainly don’t need walking to your door, but how about that kiss?”

“See you around, Linc.” She walked away quickly before she did something stupid, like giving him his kiss.

A few steps away from Lincoln, Lexia’s phone rang; she jumped in surprise. The number was unknown. She turned, smiling at Lincoln and waving ‘bye’ then walked a few long strides before answering her phone.

“Hello?”

“Hi, Lex, it’s Dan, just wanted to make sure you got home okay?”

“Yes, just walking down the driveway and I’m perfectly capable of making it home alone.”

He laughed in return and started to ask her questions about her shift. Lexia relaxed, talking easily to him. She was shocked Dan had even thought to make sure she was home okay and she enjoyed talking to him but he was more a friend than anything else. Dan didn’t make her have feelings like she had with Lincoln; he was too safe, too predictable. She smiled at the thought of how opposite Lincoln was to Dan.

Lincoln had said bye to Lexia and turned to leave. He didn’t know what he was doing openly flirting with her; using all his manly charm to cut through the thick wall of defence she had around herself. She was supposed to be the enemy and here he was thinking of ways he could get her into bed instead of how to kill her.

Her phone rang seconds after she’d turned away with a glint in her eye from his request of a kiss. He found himself turning back around, but she smiled and waved him off so he carried on until his keen hearing picked up the sound of a male voice on the phone. Lincoln slowed his paces listening in; from what he could hear some guy was making sure she’d made it home but they carried on talking and after a little while he heard Lexia laugh. He felt suddenly jealous, he wanted to make her laugh like that. Lincoln took a step forward into the trees then stopped. What was he doing? He’d only just met this girl and he had only bad intentions in stall for her.

Lincoln turned to leave, confused by Lexia’s ability to get under his skin, to affect him in a way no other woman had before but then she laughed again, flirting with the boy on the phone and causing Lincoln to pause, his skin bristling in anger.
Get a grip, Linc, she’s the enemy.

Lexia stood talking to Dan for a while on her porch and laughing at his jokes. She was completely focused on his carefree voice that she’d forgotten all the madness in her life. For just a moment she was like every other girl laughing with a friend; life was easy, simple.

When Lexia hung up she was laughing hard at Dan’s persistent to bring her a coffee on Monday, she’d surprised herself by flirting with him. Distracted, she went to open the door and never noticed the tingle of power in the air, the way her hairs had all stuck up on end.

She saw the flash of sharp claws sailing toward her too late, pain burst through her skin as the panther’s claws connected with her shoulders, piercing her skin. His mouth closed around her neck, his sharp teeth sinking into her flesh, and she let out a strangled cry. Lexia fell to the wooden floor of the porch with an “oomph”, the air leaving her lungs.

She tensed, waiting for him to bite further into her neck, waiting for the moment he’d end her life but he let go. Her instincts kicked in immediately and she rolled up her legs flipping back over whilst flinging the cat away. He hissed and leapt at her again but she was ready this time and as he neared her body she spun to the side bringing her leg around and slamming it into his side. The panther fell back sliding across the floor slightly but he jumped back up and prowled toward her with a gleam in his eyes.

Lexia had her knife strapped to her leg but for some reason she couldn’t bring herself to cut his beautiful, black velvet fur. What was wrong with her? This panther was obviously not friendly and yet she had an almost uncontrollable urge to not hurt him.

He leapt again and she didn’t move as quick this time earning a nice slash across her side. Crin seeped from the wound but she ignored the pain and went for the cat, knocking him to the floor. She barrelled a kick into his side whilst he was still on the floor and he lay momentarily stunned. She used that time to dash into the house and close the door. He landed on the porch and let out a low, deadly growl that made goose bumps break out across her skin before he turned and disappeared into the dark night.

“Fuck,” she muttered to herself in the dark as her side and neck stabbed in pain. She could feel blood trickling down her shoulder collecting in the crease of her breast. Walking quietly into the kitchen and switching on the light, Lexia found more medical supplies and started to patch herself up; she’d not been hurt this badly before and wondered how fast she’d heal.

Chapter 8

When Lexia woke the next morning she hurt everywhere; the wound on her stomach had closed but dark purple bruises covered most of her side. This was easily hidden but the nasty holes on her neck still stood out, a stark contrast to her milky skin. Each hole from the panther’s sharp teeth had nearly closed but the skin on her neck was dappled red and purple.

Not only did Lexia feel sore and bruised from her fight but she felt mentally bruised. Too much had happened over the last week and everything was finally catching up to her. When she finally dragged herself out of bed, Lexia took great care in wrapping a scarf around her neck; she couldn’t risk her dad seeing the marks.

But when Lexia entered the kitchen in search of food, he was nowhere in sight. No note lay on the table to inform her when she would see him again and Lexia tried hard to not let this hurt her but that little voice in her head wouldn’t be quiet. Something was wrong; they’d always been close and ever since she’d fallen in front of his car that afternoon, he’d been distant.
Does he know I’ve changed? How can he?

Lexia knew she had to find more information on the supernatural world. She wasn’t sure what was real or fiction on the internet but it was all she had right now. Her Saturday flew by in a blur of words and images; the wolf man could be a werewolf or even a shape-shifter. On the TV werewolves had only ever changed during the full moon and when she had been attacked it wasn’t even fully dark.

From what she found on shape-shifters, they could either turn into any form they imprinted from or they could only turn into one animal. She found so much information about different legends and myths, but what was real and what was make believe?

Lexia jumped at the sound of banging. For a second she felt like hiding, but when the banging grew louder she jumped off her bed and hurried down the stairs.

She opened the door to find Alice, tears streaming down her face.

“Oh my god, Alice, what’s wrong?”

“Alec dumped me!” she sobbed.

“Oh babe, come here.” Alice barrelled into Lexia squeezing her tight; she winced as Alice pressed against her side.

“He said he just wasn’t feeling it anymore... I gave up my virginity for that guy, I hate him!” Alice’s voice turned into huge, heaving sobs.

“Come on, let’s go upstairs.”

Lexia left Alice crying under her covers and went in search of junk food. As she stretched to reach the top shelf, pain stabbed in her side.

“Ouch!” When Lexia lifted her top she found the claw marks torn open and bleeding.

“Shit,” she mumbled and headed for the first aid kit.
I really need to replace this stuff before Dad notices.

By the time Lexia returned upstairs Alice had stopped crying and sat on her bed, the covers up to her chin. Lexia’s laptop sat open next to her.

“Took you long enough,” Alice moaned.

“Sorry, Dad had hidden the junk food.”

“What’s this you’ve been looking at?” she said, reaching for the laptop.

Lexia dashed out and snatched it away before Alice’s fingers had even brushed it. “Nothing,” she said, snapping it shut.

“Jeez, Lex, chill.”

“How about you sleep over and we can have a girly night? And look what I found in my dad’s liquor cabinet!” Lexia said, waving a bottle of whiskey in front of Alice’s face.

“He’ll kill you when he finds out you’ve taken that!”

“So what? You’re worth it,” she smiled.

“Well, when you put it like, give me the bottle! Let’s get wasted! Where is Mike anyway?”

“No idea, he was gone when I woke up.”

“You two still fighting?”

“Mmm but let’s not talk about me... what do you want to watch?”

“No lovey dovey crap! Too depressing; give me blood and gore!” she laughed.

“Blood and gore coming up!”

Two movies and half a bottle of whiskey later, Lexia and Alice were feeling pretty drunk; they were giggling and stumbling around Lexia’s bedroom when her dad walked in. Thankfully Lexia still had a few brain cells left and managed to hide the bottle of whiskey she had in her hand.

“Dad, hi!” His brows creased for a second then he noticed Alice.

“Hey Mike,” Alice said with a small wave.

“What are you girls up to?”

“Oh, Lex here is cheering me up, you see my ass of a boyfriend dumped me and I was just so sad and well, if it wasn’t for Lex...” Alice broke off into huge pretend sobs.

“Babe,” Lexia whispered, then glared at her dad.

“Oh erm, well, Alice, I... Well...” Mike turned and almost ran from the room, slamming the door behind him.

Lexia looked back over at Alice who was laughing. “Alice!”

“What? Did you want to get busted for drinking? Dads can’t handle tears,” she giggled.

Lexia took another swig of whiskey then burst out laughing, too. “Here, drink up you crazy woman.”

They finished off the bottle and eventually passed out. When Lexia woke next, the night was pitch black. She turned her head and looked out the window which they’d never closed before falling asleep. From her position on the floor Lexia could see the moon, bright and full in the clear night sky. She moaned quietly as her head pounded.
What woke me?

Lexia lay there in silence listening to the world around her and then shot up. The night was quiet, too quiet. She swayed on her feet and waited for the world to right itself then staggered over to the window.

And there he was; the reason why the night had grown deadly quiet and the reason why she’d woken. “Hello, pretty panther,” she whispered.

The cat looked up and slowly started to prowl towards the house. His golden cat eyes glowed in the dark, the bright full moon reflected off his soft fur.

“I’m not coming out, drank too much, I wouldn’t be much of a fighter and there’d be no fun in that, huh?”

He stopped and growled then twisted sharply around. Lexia gasped as he leapt onto the shed roof, his light paws barely made a sound on the tin. He moved so fast and nimbly and Lexia’s numb brain thought about how she should be frightened by this cat’s power and speed but all she could think about was how beautiful he was; the way his lean, muscled body moved with such grace and those eyes, the way he looked at her... “What are you?”

He cocked his head then sprawled out on the shed roof; his paws hung over the edge and his tail wrapped around his back legs. He looked up one last time then let out a roar. Lexia jumped. “Ssh!”

The panther laid his head between his paws then closed his eyes. Lexia sat looking at him for a while then whispered, “Good night, pretty panther,” before falling back to sleep, her head resting on the window sill.

When Lexia woke in the morning, her head felt fine and she quietly went through her drawers for some running clothes, then slipped out of the house, careful not to wake anyone. Looking at her watch she realized it was only 6am, the sun hadn’t quite risen past the tree line and morning dew still covered the ground.

She paused as she walked past the shed and wondered if she’d dreamt seeing the panther last night; he wasn’t there anymore.