Liam came up behind me and put one hand on the top of the door. “Thanks. See ya,” he said, nudging Pizza Guy out with the door. Once we heard him shuffle back to his car, which was several long minutes later, Liam turned his glare on me. “What were you doing?”
“Getting our dinner?”
That, apparently, was the wrong answer.
“What part of ‘in hiding’ don’t you understand?”
“The part where I hide from Pizza Guy?” Was he seriously yelling at me for getting our food? “What was I supposed to do there, Oh Wise One?”
“Hand him the money, take the boxes, and shut the door. There was no need for discussion.”
In a move of utmost maturity, I rolled my eyes. “Oh, for the love of all things shiny, not all of us can survive in the real world with glares and few well placed grunts. We have to rely on speech and social norms.”
He turned the normal Liam glare up a few notches so it appeared laser beams were about to shoot out of his eyes. I’ve spent my whole life dealing with bullies - when you look like an escapee from the circus freak show they’re pretty much a staple in your life - so he didn’t scare me… much.
“Come on, Liam.” I used my talking-to-a-two-year-old voice. “Use your words.”
“How about these words? You. Screwed. Up.”
I wanted to throw something, but since my arms were loaded with the food I fully intended on eating, I restrained myself. I did, however, growl and stomp my foot.
“What? You think Pizza Guy is a spy for the Alpha Pack? That Sarvarna and her army is going to descend on the motel while we sleep?”
A much more impressive growl escaped from Liam’s throat. “I told you not to talk to anyone.”
“You’re not the boss of me,” I said, borrowing a phrase from my seven year old sister.
Liam leaned forward, his nose hovering just inches from mine. I could feel the Dominance leaking off him, charging the air with feral energy. “Yes, I am.”
I rose up on my tip-toes, as if that would make me seem bigger and more intimidating. “No, you’re not.” I flashed my teeth, a sure sign Wolf Scout was in control. “I’m not going to come to heel like some whipped puppy just because you’ve got your panties in a bunch.” My hands flexed as if my claws were trying to make a reappearance. “He was just a guy delivering pizza. It’s no big deal.”
“And if you’re wrong?”
“Then I’ll get down on my knees and kiss your feet while begging for forgiveness.”
He pulled back, and the energy in the room calmed. “Food,” he said, holding out a hand. Since there was no cheese to hold the “double all the meat” on his pizza, I made sure to give the box a good shake as I passed it over.
Chapter 3
The knock at the door sounded like gunfire to my super-sensitive ears. My nostrils flared, trying to decipher who it could be, as Liam pulled back the edge of the curtain.
Hide! he mouthed, looking back at me in alarm.
We were still in the world’s oldest and dirtiest motel somewhere just past the the Colorado border. The beds were the kind with wood panels along the edges, blocking the obvious hiding spot. Where? I mouthed back. Not like it would matter where I hid if it was a member of the Alpha Pack, but my nose was telling me it was just a normal human. I could smell a manly smell - a mixture of Old Spice and natural eau de boy - along with coffee, fried food and sugar. There was no hint of a wolf scent underneath, nor the tickle of power other Shifters and Seers give off.
Liam looked around for a second before nodding at the paneled ceiling above the sink alcove. Lycan strength made it possible for me to hop onto the vanity, slide back the tile, and hoist my body up in a matter of seconds. I was just sliding the tile back home when the pounding on the door started up a second time.
“Can I help you, Officer?” Liam’s voice drifted through the ceiling where I was folded up like a burrito. There wasn’t a lot of space between the the little drop down ceiling and the actual roof. Added onto the burden of having roughly a three foot by four foot by one foot space to squeeze in my five foot eight inch frame into, I had to be careful where I put my weight. I’m thinking even the most clueless of police officers could find me if I came crashing down through the ceiling.
I fastidiously ignored the inch of dust and grime covering every inch of the crawlspace and the scampering noises.
“I’m following up on a tip we received this morning,” came the voice of a man who sounded to be older than dad age, but not quite grandfather age. “Mind if I come in?”
The door hissed against the carpet and the smell of coffee and donuts got stronger.
Seriously? The cop smells of coffee and donuts? I had to bite my lip to keep from laughing out loud.
“Are you here alone?” Cliché Cop asked.
“Yes, sir.”
“Were you last night?”
There was a pause and the sound of something rubbing together. It must have been Liam rubbing the back of head, a habit of his, because his smell momentarily intensified.
“I…ummm…” A gulp. “I had company last night.”
“I see.” The cop was moving around in the tiny motel room. I heard him slide open a drawer. Did he think I was hiding in the dresser? “Don’t suppose it was your sister or something like that.”
Liam made a sound which might have be a laugh, although it couldn’t have been since he didn’t know how. “No. Definitely not a sister.”
“A friend?”
“Just a girl I met in the bar last night.”
The cop was now standing directly below me. I made a conscious effort to breath more quietly, which of course made it sound like an elephant was panting for breath.
“Don’t suppose you got her name and number?”
“Beth. Or Elizabeth. Yeah, Elizabeth. That’s what she said her name was.” Liam sat down on the bed. “Listen, man, she told me she was nineteen. She said she went to college. I swear. I mean, I met her at a bar.”
The cop ignored Liam’s extremely well done panic attack. “Was this the girl you were with last night?”
The silence seemed to stretch on forever. Finally, Liam said, “No. I mean, that Elizabeth chick was a blonde and looked a little bit like this girl in the face, but she didn’t look this… weird.” My face flushed with embarrassment and hurt, which was just ridiculous. Of course Liam thought I was weird looking. I am weird looking. Somehow, though, hearing that didn’t help.