Page 41 of Fearless
She huddled against the headboard for a long time afterward, holding her phone, trying to figure out the time difference and even who to call. As if she had more than two options. It was a fourteen-hour difference, which made it afternoon in Washington D.C. Hadlee would be at work. A phone call from her was probably the last thing her friend would expect and perhaps even have time for. What was Kitty going to say, anyway: ‘Hey, can I borrow enough for airfare?’
The second she was off the phone with Hadlee, Garreth would be on the phone with Noah and before she could pack what few things she had to take with her, back his truck would come, barreling down the driveway. She’d have some explaining to do then, and, God, the last thing she wanted was to have to have to tell Noah everything she was thinking right now. Not that she wasn’t right; she knew she was. So, with knots twisting in her stomach, Kitty finally gave in to option number two.
Ethen O’Dowell answered his personal cellphone on the forth ring. “Hello?”
It was such a normal, utterly anti-climatic thing to say. She’d been so braced to have his first words to her be snarling and cruel. It took her almost five panicky heartbeats before she remembered that she’d left her cellphone with him when she’d run. This was a new phone, one given to her by Hadlee and Garreth. He didn’t know this number. He was probably wondering who the hell was calling him on the phone he reserved only for his Menagerie.
“Hello?” he said again, a touch impatiently.
She had to say something. If she didn’t, he would hang up, but her breathing wasn’t right. She could feel her chest moving up and down, but her lungs hurt as if she weren’t getting any air and when she opened her mouth, nothing came out.
Somehow, Ethen must have heard her panic. He’d always had a knack for hearing it, and knowing she was in trouble. “Well,” he said, impatience giving way to thin notes of triumph. “Just when I thought I might never hear from you again.”
A bitter bilious taste seeped into her mouth. “I need to come home.”
“Yes, you do.” She could almost hear his smile.
“We have to talk.” She felt sick.
“All right,” he agreed. “Where are you?”
“I’m in—”
“Oh, wait,” he interrupted with a low laugh. “I’m sorry, I just realized I don’t care.”
The connection went dead, snapping every tangling knot in Kitty’s stomach and sending them slicing through her as if they were knives.
She stared at her cellphone in shock. Never once in her wildest imaginings had she thought he would cut her off. As if he didn’t care; as if he’d never cared.
Pure panic, cold as ice, filled up the void where the broken knots had been. She dialed Ethen’s number again.
He answered immediately, his icy tone chilling her all over again with its lack of caring. “Do you need me to come and rescue you?”
“Yes,” she choked, but he hung up on her again.
Kitty was out of bed and pacing, her fingers shaking so badly she had to try twice before she could redial. “Please!” she cried, when she heard the click of him answering.
“Please, what?” Ethen snapped back, no longer smug. No longer triumphant. His voice was cold, every bit as cold as she was right now.
“P-please help m-me,” she stammered. Tears obscured everything, but she covered her eyes with her hand anyway. So she wouldn’t have to see. Hating herself.
“Why should I?”
She fought not to cry, and lost. “Because I don’t have anyone else.”
“Why,” he slowly repeated, “should I?”
She knew it wasn’t because he hadn’t heard her the first time. He simply wanted to hear her voice break while she admitted how pathetic she was. “I don’t have anyone else.”
She could hear his smile even in the silence that followed.
“Where are you?” he finally asked.
Expecting him to hang up again, she told him.
“What a naughty girl you are. You’re going to have to work extra hard if you want my forgiveness. Even so, I don’t think you’re going to get it for a very long time.” She heard the faint rustle as he shifted his phone, pinning it between his shoulder and his ear. “Give me your address.”
Kitty had to find a piece of mail, but eventually she obeyed.
