Page 27 of Loup Garou

“I don’t smell blood,” Myra whispered, moving in close to me. “You head into the center. We’ll check it out.”

The idea of any of my kids being hurt ignited my already short fuse. “No. I’ll help.”

“Lindsay.” Gina shook her head. “This isn’t up for debate. Take the food in and we’ll be in as soon as we know they’re safe. Call Jay’s cell phone. Let him know what we found. He knows these kids as well as any of us.”

My protests would only waste time. Nodding, I turned, allowing Gina to pile her bags of food onto the boxes of pizza I held. She did and I made my way towards the front entrance. I was just about to call upon my power to assist with opening the door when I spotted movement out of the corner of my eye. Unsure if it was supernatural or not, I didn’t want to risk exposure so I made sure to turn my body enough that they couldn’t see if my hand actually touched the door before using my magik.

I made my way in and headed straight for Myra’s office. Setting the food on the counter just outside her door, I freed my arms and lunged for the phone. The last thing I wanted to do was call a no-doubt drunk Jay and drag him away from whatever he was doing, unless he was beating up Exavier, but I didn’t have a choice. The kids in the neighborhood meant too much to me to risk them.

When Jay’s voice mail picked up, I sighed. “Jay, Gina wanted me to call. Something’s up at the center. Could be nothing though.”

The second I hung the phone up, music began to play. It sounded like it was coming from the back of the rec center, near one of my dancerooms. It was dark, haunting, and nothing I could remember using in any of my routines.

“What the—”

Confused as to why anyone would be back there, I headed in that direction. I didn’t sense evil so I wasn’t concerned about that. I was more worried the kids might have made their way into the center and gotten into things they shouldn’t have. The last thing I wanted was for one of them to get hurt.

Pushing open the door to the room I used for pole-dancing classes, I froze as the music seemed to surround me. “Hello?”

No one answered.

Uneasy, but unwilling to lose my mind over the fact that music was playing, I kept a careful watch on my surroundings as I walked to the stereo. A man began singing and I instantly recognized the voice. It was the one that always seemed to call to me on some bizarre level. It didn’t disappoint. No. His deep voice seemed to enter my body, carefully caressing me from the inside out. Before I knew it, I was swaying to the music.

“I thought you’d like this, my love.”

My blood ran cold as a hand fell upon my shoulder. “S-Stan?”

He pressed his mouth to my ear and his body to mine. “You missed me, didn’t you? I knew he was lying. I knew he wasn’t your boyfriend. You were too scared of him to speak out, weren’t you?”

“Stan?” My mind seemed be having issues wrapping around the idea that he’d not only gotten into a locked building but was directly behind me. “You’re wrong. He is who he said he was.”

Stan seized hold of my hair and tipped my head back. “Lies. I’ve been watching you. He just entered your life today. He means nothing to you. Nothing!”

“You’re hurting me.”

He wasn’t, but he seemed to be all about making me want him. Maybe he’d actually be concerned if he hurt me or not.

“You’ve left me no choice.” A cold steely blade pressed against my throat.

So much for my theory that he wouldn’t want to hurt me.

“Why are you lying to me, Lindsay? Don’t you want me too? Can’t you feel our connection? How we’re destined to be together?”

Think.

“Yes. I feel it and it scares me, Stan. The feelings are too intense,” I said, almost gagging on my own words.

He eased his grip on me and pulled the knife away from my throat. “I knew it.”

I turned to face him. He stood there, dressed in black from head to toe. His light brown hair was barely there. For some reason, he thought going the way of the buzz cut worked for him. It didn’t.

I let my gaze casually flicker over the twelve-inch bowie knife in his hand. The only vibe I got from Stan was that he wasn’t stable. At this point, I didn’t really care. The man had pushed me too far.

“I can get rid of him, Lindsay.” Stan’s eyes were glossy and his face paler than I remembered it being. “I can make it so that he never scares you again.”

As his words sank in, my hands clenched. He would not harm one hair on Exavier’s head. My power crackled around me, not giving a damn if I wanted to let it out or not. Good thing I didn’t care.

Stan looked around. “What’s that?”

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