Obsidian Souls (Soul Series) (8 page)

             
The cabinets and fridge are stocked, so help yourself to whatever you want. Feel free to borrow any of the books in the living room. If you don’t see something there you like, I have another set of bookshelves in my room you can pick from. My cell is stored in your phone. Be back later.

Caden

             
Looking at my now charged phone, I found his name listed. After I stalked his place last night, he might have thought it was a good idea to give me his number.

             
After perusing his cabinets and fridge, I realized he had understated when he wrote stocked. He had everything. Every kind of spice you could imagine. He had seven different types of olive oils. Filet mignon, crab legs, whatever you wanted, he had it.

             
I made some Green Mountain hazelnut coffee and looked over my choices, and I decided a quick cheddar omelet would do the job quite nicely. His stove was another wonder. It was beautiful in stainless steel with a gas range and electric oven for baking. It even had a griddle portion in between the burners. 

             
After I ate, I checked out the wall of bookshelves. You could really tell a lot about someone by what they liked to read. Just look at their books. It could tell you their passions in life. Were they religious? Parenting books. Relationship books. Romance, horror, sci-fi? Self help books are always the most enlightening. Problem with his shelves was he had EVERYTHING! Except self help that is, but nothing surprising there. He probably wasn’t the type to admit to faults.

             
I was going to be good but he did say I could check out the books in his room. How could I not go look in there? There are a very small percentage of people that wouldn’t snoop after they got an open invitation to, but I still felt nervous going in anyway.

             
I listened to make sure he definitely wasn’t around. There is something very personal about being in a man’s room alone with him, and I wasn’t prepared for that type of situation. I pushed the door open slowly still somehow expecting to find him there. The air smelled like him. It was dark and masculine just like you would expect. The whole apartment was masculine but not like this. Heavy carved wood furniture that looked like it came from some distant exotic land. The bed had a navy paisley patterned silk duvet. The floors weren’t wood in here but plush dark carpeting that your feet sunk into. His bookshelves in here were smaller but equally diverse in subject matter.

             
He had a copy of Dante‘s Inferno. I’d always wanted to read it but never took the time. Now I had nothing but time. I brought it over to the couch with another cup of coffee and settled in for a while.

             
A few hours later, I was starting to get stir crazy. I wanted actual sunlight and to move around. As beautiful as this apartment was, it didn’t have a single window. It was driving me slightly insane. I needed to get out of here for a while, but I didn’t want to call him. I just didn’t know how to act around him. He was completely aggravating but completely sexy at the same time. What was wrong with me to find someone so arrogant so attractive? I just didn’t know how to process him in my brain. I’d never met a man so masculine in my life. We didn’t know each other at all, and yet he was the closest person to me right now, and more importantly, the only one that had any answers.

             
I figured I’d try the elevator and see if it worked like he said it would. It slid open and I jumped in it and pressed the button that had the squiggles. Someone had also put a yellow post it next to it that had “up” written in black marker. I pressed it and I was heading up towards some sunlight, hopefully. When I got to the bar, it was completely empty. I wished I had brought a book up. There was a nice booth, right under the window, which looked the perfect spot to cuddle up and finish reading.

             
I hadn’t even known it was snowing. I loved watching the pretty flakes covering the ground. You could see everything better by the full length, glass door. It made me forget all my problems for a couple of minutes. I even liked the sound of the plow trucks, with that loud hum they make as they sweep all the snow to the side. Everything is calmer when it snows, and life seems to slow down. I often wondered if this was more what life felt like before cars and mountains of technology sped everything up.

             
“Hey there! I’m Mike.”

             
I turned to see Caden’s man, the one from the alleyway the other night, heading toward me with a pleasant smile and a head full of blonde curly locks.

             
“Hi Mike, I’m Lexie.” Even though I didn’t know him, I felt at ease with him. He was just one of those people that had that certain something that made you instantly comfortable. My guess was he didn’t just happen upon me though, more like had been watching for me.

             
“Got some hot cocoa in the kitchen if you’re interested?”

             
“That sounds really good. I’ll help you make it,” I offered.

             
“Nah, you just relax. It will only take a minute.”

             
I curled back up on the booth by the window. They were older windows, probably original to the building, and you could feel the chill coming through when you put your face close. I tucked my knees up under my long borrowed sweater and wrapped my arms around them.

             
Mike brought over the cocoa and sat down on the other half of the booth to watch the snow with me. I reached down to take my cocoa and that’s when I saw them out of the corner of my eye. I turned my head quickly to just see a hint of the man ducking back into the alley diagonally across. The same one I had hidden in last night.

             
“You okay?” He leaned over and looked to where I was looking. “You saw him huh?”

             
“Yeah. How did you know?” I said it in the softest of voices but he heard it clearly.

             
“You don’t exactly have a poker face. Don’t worry, they won’t come in here.” I turned to him for reassurance and he read it because he answered without me having to ask. “They know they’d never make it out.” All of a sudden, Mike didn’t seem so sweet and nice. I saw hardness in him that I never would have believed was there, until now that is.

             
“Mike, what are you guys?”

             
“Caden will be back around five. He’ll explain it better.” He stood up and headed to the bar. “Right now, I think we could use a little kick to these cocoas.” He walked back over with some whiskey and put it on the table.

             
“In the cocoa?”

             
“It’s bloody fantastic!” And as quickly as that, the hard man was gone and the happy carefree boy was back.

             
Three hours later, with a nice warm fuzzy feeling thanks to three of Mike’s special cocoas, I was back down in Caden’s place. It struck me that he might have done that intentionally. I missed the windows, but I found on the TV remote that there were all different channels hooked up to surveillance cameras outside. I found one that was aimed at the same alley I had hid in last night and that the guy had ducked into and switched that off quickly. I put on a channel that looked like it was aimed directly in the front of the bar and pretended that was my window. It made me feel a little bit better.

             
I didn’t want to go back upstairs, knowing that those men were lingering, peeking in the windows. I’d rather stay down here for now. Hiding made me feel like a wimp, but I didn’t care at the moment. I just wanted to relax and cook myself a nice early dinner and pretend everything was normal. In my head, I was just visiting a new friend.

             
I had just finished making some penne vodka with shrimp when Caden strode in. His black leather jacket was damp from the snow, and he pushed his hand through his tawny hair to brush it out of his face. He looked underdressed for the weather, but if last night was any gauge, he didn’t seem to be affected by the cold.

             
There were no words spoken, just a silent acknowledgement of each other. He took off his jacket and threw it over the chair. The front of his shirt, still damp from the snow, clung to his torso showing off his nicely developed chest. It made me slightly nervous for no logical reason I could think of.

             
He walked into the kitchen stopped right behind me to peer over my shoulder at what I was making. I could feel the body heat pouring off him, almost as if he was touching me. I concentrated on keeping my breathing even. I didn’t want him to know how he was affecting me physically. This attraction I felt for him was completely embarrassing and I couldn’t even understand where it had come from. It normally took a while for feelings like this to emerge, but with him, I was as hormonal as a teenage girl. If I didn’t watch out, I’d be writing our initials inside of scribbled hearts.

             
“I made enough for you too, and Mike if he wants some.” My voice was slightly huskier sounding than I would have liked.

             
“Thanks, but I ate. Mike’s out with the guys.”

             
He stepped away and I could breathe easier. My body seemed to become more aware of him every time I saw him. Isn’t it normally supposed to go the other way around?

             
“I’ll be right back. I need to change my shirt.” He strode off down the hall. He just oozed masculinity, and I couldn’t seem to stop noticing. When he came back out, he was wearing a thread bare t-shirt and worn jeans that shouldn’t have looked as sexy as they did, but because he was built so perfectly, everything looked good on him.

             
“I’ve got to go handle some business. I’ll be back later tonight. Mike picked you up some stuff; he’s going to bring them down when he returns. Make sure you wear something dark.”

Chapter Ten

             
It was eleven forty-five p.m. as I sat staring at the clock on my phone. I pressed his name but hung up before it went through. Nope, I wasn’t calling. I’d sit here all night if need be. Maybe, he had nothing to show me, and he was just stalling. Maybe he was as crazy as Carl. How could I even really know? Yes, he hadn’t attacked me, but who knew what plans he was making. I didn’t know anything about him.

Where else could I go? I was afraid of Amanda’s connection to Carl through Mark, and I’d rather die than possibly bring this sort of trouble near my family. I didn’t feel like I had any choices. I was going to have to ride this out and see where it took me.

             
Pushing the troubling thoughts from my mind, I lounged on the couch in my new tight black jeans and a snug black sweater, as I flipped through the channels. I found a repeat of “Through the Wormhole” with Morgan Freeman that I’d never seen. I wonder what normal people were doing right now? They were probably sleeping already. In my regular life, on a week night, I would have been.

             
I missed the mundane day-to-day life already. It was surprising how much I missed the predictability of my life that I had taken for granted, and even sometimes resented. I was starting to think of those adrenaline junkies and wondered how they could stand it. It was like going on a roller coaster ride. It was thrilling at first, but too many back to back and you’re hanging over the garbage can, whining for your mother.

             
A shadow passed over me, and I looked up from my position to see Caden looming above. It was a bit startling.

             
“How do you move so quietly? It totally freaks me out. Can’t you make some more noise? It’s very unsettling. ”

             
I’m not sure how he managed to smile and look so sarcastic at the same time, but he did.

             
“You ready?”

             
“Am I?”

             
“No. Probably not.”

             
Well, at least we were being honest and straightforward tonight. I guess that’s a good start. He had changed as well, no longer in his faded jeans and t-shirt. He was now in black from head to toe.

             
“This might be intense for you,” he said, clearly trying to prepare me somewhat.

             
“I can’t imagine what you are going to be able to show me that is going to make me doubt my own humanity, but let’s go.”
             

             
I saw him looking me up and down, his eyes seeming to pause over certain areas, before saying, “I know it’s going to be cold for you, but we are going to have to take the bike. There aren’t any roads where we are going.”