Page 37 of Bones

I was ending it in the house of a stranger.

In thebedof a stranger.

And that wasn’t even the craziest part.

When I’d taken off into the woods, it was about getting away from Ryan. At least, that was what I thought my brain had been telling me. It wasn’t until Deke found me that I realized it hadn’t been demanding I run from Ryan.

Okay, notonlythat.

It’d directed metoDeke.

Before he’d startled me with his jacket, I’d been pulled into a vision of a large hand cupping my chin inside a rustic cabin I’d never seen—not until Deke brought me tohiscabin. I knew it was a good touch and not him angrily gripping my chin like Ryan did because of the look on my face. I had no clue what the expression was, but the smile was small and happy and hopeful.

I never smiled like that.

That was all I got from my curse, and then it was silence. Actual silence.

Andthatwas the craziest part.

I used to beg, plead, and pray for the chaos in my head to stop—especially once the incessant stream ofruncommands had begun to drive me insane—but I couldn’t remember the last time my thoughts were truly quiet. I wasn’t sure they’d ever been. If my brain was a TV, it was constantly flicking stations. There were always snippets of random words or microsecond visions or nonsense I didn’t understand.

It was just my luck that it would finally stop right when I needed guidance and reassurance the most.

Because even thoughsomethinghad steered me to Deke, that didn’t mean I should let my guard down and blindly follow along. I’d put my trust in Ryan for six whole years. My curse had never warned me that he’d one day hit me or try to hand me over to a scary-looking man.

And Deke was bigger and scarier looking than Ryan and that mystery man combined. I’d never seen anyone who looked like him.Ever. No model or spandex-clad superhero in a movie came close. He had to be over six and a half feet of solid muscle, with a thick beard, unruly brown hair, and eyes so dark, they were nearly black—though not actually black like my freak eye. It made him insanely attractive but also insanely intimidating. If I slipped up and said something that weirded him out, he could do a lot more damage than Ryan’s backhand or fist.

Not that it seemed like Deke would hurt me. Other than a couple of times when his already rumbling voice became gruffer—and even then, it sounded more like concern rather than anger—he’d been surprisingly kind and generous. He’d shown far more patience with my inability to talk than I’d shown myself. It was like he routinely took care of random crazy women he found in the woods.

A thought that made my stomach churn and my chest ache for some reason.

But if my curse was right about something happening, it was something big. Bigger than me and my sinner pride. A vision wasn’t going to chime in to tell me what, so I would have to find my voice with Deke.

Even if that meant he would learn I was a freak.

Would it be so wrong to wait a few days? Just long enough to be sure he won’t call an insane asylum. Or worse…

An exorcist.

It’s not that I’m a coward. I’m being smart for once.

With that decision made, I should’ve considered a million other things.Plannedfor a million other things. He’d offered to let me stay for the night, but what would happen in the morning? How would I explain if he pushed to know why I was there? What would I say if he asked why I didn’t talk?

But the longer I lay there, the more I thought about Deke. And the more I thought about Deke, the more I felt…

Period.

The more I felt my body heat until I had to remove the hoodie.

The more I felt my heart race until I wondered if I was having a heart attack.

The more I felt that restless energy zip through my body, but not like I needed to run away.

I’d never experienced anything like it. Tension and fire and agitation that was somehow good. It grew stronger with each ticking second. The pull in my chest returned, like my heart was clawing at my chest. It ached.

Iached.

With a mind of its own, my hand moved from the bed to my stomach before sliding past the waistband of the sweatpants I wore.

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