Page 121 of My UnTrue Love
She wasn’t thinking exactly right. She knew that. Everything was still soaked in panic and adrenaline. Stress was making dots flash before her eyes, signaling that she was close to passing out. She needed her pills to regulate. She didn’t have her pills. She needed her pills. And a phone.
She needed to find a phone and call Bill. And Hank. And Bill. She wanted Bill.
He was going to be very upset, though. Maybe sheshouldn’tcall Bill. She didn’t want him to be upset. He had to go on stage tonight. But Clem didn’t want to keep secrets from her husband. She knew how much Bill valued honesty.
And he was bound to notice the bruises on her body.
And the hole in the bathroom wall.
And besides she needed him to hold her.
Somehow, Clem managed to get to her feet and staggered from the bathroom. Reaching the hall, she looked around. Or at least she tried to.
It was dark in the apartment. No lights were on and the window curtains were all tightly closed. Everything wassodark. It pressed down on her, reminding her of being trapped in that mine collapse, struggling to breathe. Her vision swam, as her stress levels redlined.
Oh God… She was going to faint.
No.
She took a deep breath. No fainting. She was going to get to Bill.
Forcing herself to keep going, she pushed off the doorway and into the oppressive darkness of the hallway. This apartment was most likely a mirror image of her and Bill’s. The light switch was almost certainly in the same place, just on the opposite wall. That made sense, right? She could reach it.
Keeping one hand on the wall, she slowly inched towards the living room, each step feeling like a mile. Beneath her fingers, pages rustled. Papers were taped to the walls in a blanket of notes. She couldn’t read any of them in the dark, but there were dozens and dozens. The apartment smelled musty and closed up. The papers seemed to be the only proof that anyone even lived there.
Trying to keep her terror at bay, she finally made it to the light switch. A sob of relief left her, as she flipped it on and light flooded the room. Leaning against the wall, trying to stay conscious, she looked around.
Reams and reams of practically illegible notes surrounded her.
The walls were covered in sheet music. It was as if her father’s notebook was made into wallpaper. Ideas were tacked up on top of each other, and side-by-side, and in any spare opening Luke could find. Scribbled over and rearranged in some order that only made sense to an artist. Like he was trying to capture the soaring orchestra he heard in his head, but it was just too big and free-flowing to contain on paper.
Luke was writing a symphony.
Clem’s gaze fell on the nearest page. Luke was writing agreatsymphony. He wasn’t quite there, yet. He didn’t have the musical training to complete the puzzle, but he had all the pieces. This concert being born, taped to the dusty walls around her, was going to be exceptional.
The silent music soothed her, slowing her heart rate. Her magic reacted to the unfinished song, filling her with the thrill of discovery. The dots that flickered in her vision faded some. She’dknownthat Luke had a true gift.
A noise came from the room on her left, causing her to jolt. A soft mournful sound that reminded her of Luke’s fiddle playing. Like something trapped inside was suffering and hopeless. Without stopping to think it through, she moved towards the door and tried to turn the knob. It didn’t open. Of course it didn’t.
Someone had installed a huge padlock on it. Enchanted with magic, it glowed with the kind of strength you only used when youreallywanted to keep something trapped.
It took a second for Clem’s mind to catch up. The door had to lead to the spare bedroom, according to the apartment’slayout. Why would anybody padlock their spare bedroom from the outside? Was someone being held in there?
Was it Luke?
Fresh panic filled her at the thought. Her eyes scanned around, quickly spotting a key. It was dangling from a nail that somebody had driven into the wall as a hook, like maybe they planned to come back and open the door. Eventually.
She snatched the key up and unfastened the huge lock, feeling the magical restraints vanish. “Luke?” She eased open the door. The room was pitch-black. “Are you in here?”
A beastly snarl greeted her.
Only itwasn’ta beast. Luke had transformed into his coyote. He didn’t seem to know who she was, as he circled in the shadows. Feral and dangerous, warning her away.
“Luke…” Clementine took a step into the room, unsure how to help him.
Bill had cautioned her that young coyotes could lose themselves in the wildness of their initial transformation. Looking at Luke, she knew that was a hundred percent true. His eyes glinted, as he crouched like an animal. Wary and hurt. His human half had gone into hibernation. Instincts drove him, now. He could attack her without meaning to.
But she couldn’t leave him all alone.
