Sera pretends to be an ordinary, human girl to hide from the evil shifters that hunt her. Secretly working to take down the bad guys, she becomes entangled in the lives of two men who are strangely obsessed with her. Her mysterious next door neighbor, Bryan, keeps climbing through her bedroom window to hang out, and Crew, the captain of the football team, pursues her relentlessly. Confused by her growing feelings for both of them, Sera doesn't suspect the real reason Bryan never leaves her side or why Crew won't take no for an answer, but she will find out when she learns why she’s being hunted.
Lihat lebih banyakI’m never surprised when I spot a bad guy. They always show up eventually. Seeing the man who died saving my life when I was a child? Well, that made me look twice. Literally.
I was on my way to second period at my new school, Sonoran Sunset High, when I noticed him from the corner of my eye. I did a double take, and my eyes locked onto him in disbelief.
It felt like I was dreaming. My head turned to follow him in slow motion as I was transported into my very first memory—my boarding school being attacked, everyone inside killed, and the building burned to the ground. I only made it out alive because a teacher, Mr. Finn, shoved me out the door and told me to run while he stayed to fight. I assumed he was killed along with everyone else. Seeing him alive in the very hallway I was walking down was more than a shock.
It took me a moment to snap out of my stupor. I needed answers about what had happened that day, about the monsters that attacked the school, where he had been all these years, who I was—the list of questions was too long. I needed answers about everything.
First, I had to verify it was him. I turned to chase after Mr. Finn and ran right into a brick wall of muscle.
My school books went flying. I tumbled toward the floor. I braced for impact, but a strong arm caught around my waist and hoisted me up like I weighed nothing. Then it held me there, midair, my head dangling toward the floor.
“Whoa there. Are you okay?” the wall of muscle asked in a deep and smooth voice as I hung from his arm like a wet towel on a clothesline.
“Put me down,” I said, legs and arms flailing as I struggled to right myself so I could find the man who should have been dead.
My current rescuer took two steps to the side while maneuvering me to be vertical, tossing me around like I was a backpack. Before I had my bearings, he had me on my feet and pinned against the wall.
“You want me to go down on you?” he asked, feigning surprise.
What the what? I didn’t have time for this.
“Nope,” I answered, pushing against his firm chest. He didn’t budge, but his rock-hard abs flexed against me. “Get off me.”
“Oh, you want me to get you off. You keep misspeaking.”
“I said what I said,” I gritted out with a clenched jaw, defying the direction this guy wanted to take things.
“You must be new here.” His voice rumbled in his chest, sending vibrations through mine, and I could feel him adjust his posture to get a better look at me. “What’s your name, dollface?”
I gave him another useless shove, then finally looked up to glare at the meddlesome Good Samaritan. He was disarmingly attractive, with a chiseled, tan face framed by dirty blonde hair. I met his gaze, and suddenly, everything but him faded away. His bright, blue-hazel eyes seemed to peer into my soul, keeping me frozen in place. An invasive feeling overcame me like he was sensing my insides with his own. Then, suddenly, it stopped, like I had just been released from being trapped in stone, only to find myself floating in outer space with nothing to ground me.
Unnerved, I grabbed the necklace I wore under my shirt. I felt the familiar weight of the ring that hung from it in my hand. I had worn the necklace for as long as I could remember. Didn’t even take it off to shower. I always wore shirts with high necks to make sure it didn’t fall out. I had to keep it hidden because it had weird, ancient-looking writing on it, and I assumed that it would incriminate me to anyone who came looking for me, but I couldn’t not wear it. It was the only thing I had from my past. I couldn’t risk needing to bug out and not having it.
“I…need to…to go,” I said, coming back to my senses.
“I’m Crew Hanes,” he said like he was talking to a child. “Where do you need to go, doll face?” he asked.
“I don’t know.” I struggled against him again. I needed to get out of his death grip.
“What’s your next class?”
“Get off me.” I considered kicking him.
“I’m sure I’ll find your schedule in this mess of papers on the floor.”
“Room E-234,” I blurted. This guy was relentless.
“Advanced Calculus? Really?” he said, smiling. “This is E-234.” He tilted his head to the side, pointing to the door next to us. “Lucky for you, that’s where I’m heading.”
“Look, guy, I need to go.”
“My name is Crew, and you’re already here,” he said.
A student trying to enter the room bumped into us, and Crew finally released me. He bent down and picked up the books I’d dropped, and I stood frozen, unable to act. The hallway was nearly empty, and the bell started ringing. Crew put his hand on my back to lead me into the classroom, and finally, the spell broke.
“I have to go.” I swiveled away from him, clutching my necklace.
“Oh. You have to go. I’ll save you a seat,” he said, assuming I meant the restroom.
I didn’t respond. I didn’t even care that he had my books. I had to find the man who had saved my life ten years ago. I ran through the whole building, searching for him. The classrooms had windows, so I could see into the rooms, but he wasn’t in any of them. All the hallways were empty except for a couple of girls ducking into their classrooms. I had missed him, or maybe I had imagined him. Honestly, it wouldn’t be the first time. It just hadn’t happened in a long time. I ran back to E-234, my head spinning.
I walked into the classroom, and the teacher waved me in. He was going down the aisles, writing students’ names on a seating chart. I looked around the room for a seat and saw Crew waving me over to the only empty one, right next to his.
He had put my books on top of the vacant desk. I made my way over and sat down, out of breath.
“I covered for you, don’t worry,” he whispered to me. “Mr. Wright doesn’t ask questions when it comes to girls and that time of the month.”
I glanced over with a scowl. I had never been so angry at someone. I wanted to smash his beautiful face into his desk. He had ruined my chance to find the one person in the world who could answer my questions about my past. If the person was, in fact, Mr. Finn, and he probably wasn’t. I mean, he wasn’t. Of course he wasn’t. He couldn’t be. But Crew had definitely stopped me from knowing for sure.
“How’d it go in there?” he asked.
“Don’t worry about it,” I mumbled, facing forward. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw him look at me with a puzzled expression. He clearly didn’t get turned down a lot.
“You’re feisty. I like that,” he said.
“I think the word you’re looking for is repulsed,” I said, looking at my books. Most of them had shoeprints, so I started wiping them.
The teacher, Mr. Wright, arrived next to my desk.
“Name?” he asked me.
“Sera Frey.”
He scribbled on his seating chart and moved to the next student.
“Finally,” Crew said. “I know your name.”
“I can’t imagine you care much about girls’ names.” I had known guys like him. I steered clear of them. Nothing but trouble.
“Usually, I don’t have to work so hard to get them.”
“Well, you can forget mine.” I continued wiping.
“What if I don’t want to?”
“Do it anyway,” I deadpanned.
Mr. Wright called for everyone’s attention and began the class.
“You’re going to be fun,” Crew whispered with a predatory smile.
“Alright, let’s start with how to throw a punch,” Bryan said after we stretched and warmed up. “It’s all about technique, not strength. Make a tight fist with the thumb curled on the outside of the fingers. You’re going to hit with the first two big knuckles. Never hit with the fingers. They’ll break.” He demonstrated, pointing out the knuckles with his other hand, and I copied him. “Good,” he continued. “Now, spread your feet apart, one foot in front, one in back. Press your feet into the ground, and keep the knees slightly bent and flexible.”He acted out his words as he spoke, and I did as he instructed. “Now, whatever foot is forward, the opposite hand will throw the punch. The entire body is involved. Start by pushing into the ground with the rear foot. Twist through the hip so that the entire weight of your body is in the punch. Then follow through, don’t stop the hand’s momentum.” He demonstrated and then motioned for me to try. I threw a few punches while he watched.“Okay
I changed into black exercise shorts and a green, high-necked tank top that matched my green eyes and kept my necklace hidden. I didn’t have to change into a sports bra since I was already wearing one. I only own sports bras. I never knew when I’d have to make a run for it, so I didn’t bother with clothes that could slow me down. I quickly threw my long, blonde hair into a low braid so it would stay out of my face and in place—I hated when a long, free ponytail whipped around and stung my eyes—then made my way downstairs.My current foster mom, Lucy, worked a lot, but she always left notes around the house, usually in the kitchen or on the front door. I hadn’t needed to leave her a note yet, since I hadn’t left the house other than going to school. This was the first time I was leaving the house to go somewhere besides school, so I found the pad, scribbled a note telling her where I’d be, stuck it on the kitchen counter, and went outside. Bryan was waiting on my porch in a white T-sh
“Let’s see if this works,” Bryan grumbled after school the next day as he tensely fiddled with the miniature trebuchet we were building for our physics class. “Just going to wedge this piece in here—”There was a snap of wood, and Bryan cursed.“Maybe I should handle the fragile woodworking for now,” I suggested, sitting across from him on my bedroom floor. “You’re wound a little tight today.”He let out what sounded like a growl, slid the project toward me, stood up, and stalked over to the other side of the room. He ran a hand through his dark brown hair.“Very tight,” I murmured. “You okay?” “I’m fine,” he snapped.Bryan had been acting weird and tense all day. Ever since he slipped into my bedroom before school and had his eyes on me like he was looking for injuries. “Clearly,” I said sarcastically. “Eat some candy. That usually calms you down.”Bryan went to my desk and took a handful from the economy-size bag of Skittles he had left there. He had brought over the candy to keep
“So, do you like swimming?” Crew prodded. “I bet you’d look good in a Brazilian bikini.”I looked up at Crew. “I’m not a big swimmer,” I said. That was true. I hadn’t gone swimming since that day. “I hate getting out of the pool and being all cold.” He smiled. “Even better.”I rolled my eyes.“Because then I would get to warm you up,” he said innocently.“No. I’d do it myself.”“That’s no fun.”“For who? Anyone I care about?”“Touché.”“Oh. You speak French?” I asked him something in French, not expecting him to understand, but he responded in French. Good French. Probably, definitely, better than mine. I only got to use it in French class, after all. He had probably lived in a place where they spoke French in one of his father’s military postings. Or maybe he had a private French tutor with his family money. But that didn’t matter. What mattered was that it had the intended effect. The subject was changed.We bantered back and forth until we finished our food. Then Crew slid out
The server walked up to our booth and served a mountain of food. Crew immediately dug in.“Anything else you need?” the server asked in a sugary-sweet voice as she batted her eyelashes at Crew.“Eat,” Crew urged me, ignoring her.“No, we’re good here,” I told the server. “Thank you.” She stared at Crew for another moment, then finally walked away. I picked up my utensils. “Okay, this waffle you ordered is delicious,” I said after one bite.“I knew you’d like it.”The way he was making love to his food, I doubted he cared whether I liked it or not.“So, what do you do for fun?” Crew asked after a few bites of syrupy goodness.“I spend my time doing homework,” I said between bites. “Gotta keep those grades up if I want to go to college. Pretty boring.” It was half-true. Researching was similar to homework, and most people would find it boring.“All work and no play makes a girl dull, and you are no dull girl. What else do you do?” “First of all, I disagree with your statement. Work
"I see you've trained your guard dog," Crew said when we met, his eyes on Bryan walking down the street. He turned his attention to me."He's my friend and a good guy, Crew, which are two things I can't say about you.""Did you forget that we had a study date?" he asked, ignoring my comment."Until you called my name, yes." I had no motivation to spare his feelings."Hmmm. I may have to better impress upon you the honor of being asked to study with me. I'm pretty important," he said."I think I perfectly comprehend the torture—I mean, honor—of hanging out with you." "This is why I like you. You're a challenge." His eyes had a predatory gleam."Boy, do I hate being right all the time," I mumbled to myself.A group of girls walking from the church to the school passed us. "Don't do it! He's a jerk! Just walk away!" one of the girls called out to me."One of your conquests?" I asked. "She seems unsatisfied."Crew chuckled, then reached for my hand. I backed away and gave him a look."J
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