The Glass Man Read online

  Without thinking, I took the wooden box and set it on the bed. “My mother used to sing this song to me when I was little.” I tipped up the hinged lid, and the haunting melody played. “It’s all I have left of her.” She’d also told me never to let it out of my sight.

  I touched the antique gold necklace and ring inside and listened to the music until tears threatened. The concern in Garret’s eyes brought me back from my mental wandering. My stomach lurched. Really? Did I just spill my guts to a complete stranger? Fuck.

  I bundled the old shirt around the music box again and shoved it into my pack. After securing the latch, I clutched it to my chest. “Don’t tell anyone you saw this.” If anything had happened to it, I’d have been screwed. I shuddered at the thought.

  “Oh, yeah, I won’t tell nobody. It’s real beautiful. Lost my mom a ways back too. Sang like a frog with a cold, but I miss the smell of her, like wildflowers and rain.”

  “I’m sorry.”

  “So, you gonna hang around for a bit?” Garret cracked the solemn face that had been forming and let out the excited young boy again. “You’re not so bad for a girl.”

  “Uh—thanks, I guess.” I chuckled. “And no. I’ll work a bit and then be on my way.”

  “What’s the rush? Don’t like hangin’ around with the riff raff?”

  “Stop bothering the lady,” Rourke barked from where he lounged against the wall chewing on his gum and fanning the cards in and out. “Nosy little puke.”

  “Shut it, Rourke,” I said.

  He gave me that nasty grin again.

  My fingers curled into a fist.

  Garret pushed himself up to his feet. A scarlet hue crept along his face. “Sorry ’bout that. Before Gran died, she used to tell me I needed to work on my rattle mouth.”

  I put my hand on his arm. “You’re a nice kid. Don’t apologize for that.”

  “I’ll leave you be, then.” He padded off, giving Rourke a wide berth as he went.

  Watching him walk away from me tugged on my heart. Some long dormant instinct in me wanted to grab him up, pull him into my bed and wrap my arms around him. The need had nothing to do with sex and everything to do with comfort and protecting him from the slimeball on the floor. I took a step forward before I came to my senses. Pure lunacy. I didn’t even know the kid. Liam could take care of it in the morning. So why didn’t the knot in my stomach believe it? No, I’d watch from a distance, intervene if I had to and nothing more.

  Rourke’s mischievous eyes followed Garret to his cot and rolled toward me. The hairs on the back of my neck prickled. I turned my back on him—not usually something I did to a predator. Sometimes I hated that I was a light sleeper, but not that night. If I hurt him, it would be his own damn fault.

  After peeling off my long-sleeved T-shirt, leaving my black tank and jeans on, I crawled under the scratchy grey blanket and settled my pack in beside me. Thoughts of Liam kept slipping into my head: those tight abs, the sexy ‘v’ of muscle disappearing into his snug jeans, those dark chocolate eyes. I smacked myself in the forehead and thought of swimming in the cold river, instead. The sooner I left, the better. Maybe I’d work for a day and leave before nightfall.

  Although sleep sucked at me, I fought to keep my eyes open. My hunter would find me where my mind played while I slept. I couldn’t stay awake for a second night, so I gave up the fight.

  While my eyes drifted shut, I concentrated on a place where I’d slept up in the Muskokas near my old hometown and hoped it would confuse him. The sign for Bracebridge I’d passed earlier that day sped through my memory’s vision, as did the blades of tall grass surrounding me where I’d bedded down beside a reed-lined pond. A chorus of crickets sang a sweet lullaby. A fingernail moon faded the trees to silver arrowheads stabbing at the purple sky. The musky smell of the wetlands on the far side of the thicket of trees hung in the air, and an owl who-who-whoed above me. The dampness from my dew-soaked clothing made me shiver. Replaying the thoughts over and over, I slipped into an uneasy sleep.

  5

  I opened my eyes to a room aglow with candlelight. A clear image hovered above me. I stared into my own brilliant blue eyes, eddies of gold and aqua dancing around the pupil. My wavy golden hair spread over a red pillow like a spray of sunlight, and the rest of my body lay concealed beneath a thin red satin sheet. A mirror was fixed to the ceiling.

  What the … My eyes! My hair!

  “You kept me waiting again,” my hunter said in the petulant tone he used whenever I pissed him off. If the man had a name, I didn’t know it. Nor did I know what he wanted from me. I just called him the Glass Man—partly because of his ice blue eyes. Cold and pitiless, they were portholes to his malignant core—to his dark, soulless center. Mostly it was because his flesh did nothing to conceal his madness. It swirled inside him, smoke trapped in glass, looking for a way to escape.

  My pulse took off running. I turned slowly, like a little girl who’d discovered a monster had crawled into bed with her—afraid to look, but compelled to. He lounged beside me in a clingy pair of grey boxers.

  This is just a dream.

  His arctic blue eyes never left me. His head rested on his crooked arm. The hypnotic irises had faint hints of silver in constant motion. His black hair fell in waves around his face and had the metallic purple sheen of a grackle’s wing. His unnatural beauty drew me in like a seagull to a shiny penny. In certain lights, his skin shimmered like the inside of an oyster shell.

  “What have you done to your beautiful goldilocks now?” He faked a pout. “Tsk, tsk. Such a pity. You look almost ordinary with that flat brown you’ve been wandering around with. Why would you waste your energy trying to make yourself look more like them?”

  Travelling as a tall blonde tended to attract the kind of attention I didn’t want.

  The weight of his eyes melted me into the bed, and the urge to flee tensed my muscles. When I tried to sit up, the cool silk let me know I was naked. I clutched the soft sheet to my throat. The caress of the fabric against my skin sent another shiver through me. The sea of white candles flickering around the room made the scene far too intimate for my comfort.

  I forced my calm voice out. “What do you want?”

  He shrugged and gave a wicked grin. “I want to talk to you.”

  “And that requires me to be naked?”

  “I had the idea last night. Can’t believe I never thought of it before.” He spoke through a long sigh. “Remove the clothes, and either you stay here with me until you wake up, or I get to look upon your wonderland again.” He raised a dark sculpted eyebrow and flashed a Cheshire cat grin. “Either way, I win.”

  “You’re insane.”

  “Possibly.” His eyes smoldered as his fingers walked playfully toward me.

  Even in my dreams, his nearness made my skin ripple in goose flesh. His presence ate the light in my soul and cast a cruel, frigid shadow over me. I fought to control my breathing.

  His fingers reached my bare shoulder. Delicious heat spread through me from head to toe. I shoved him away and shimmied to the edge of the bed. Half of me wanted to rub myself all over him, and the rest of me wanted to retch. How could I even want to touch him?

  Before I could decide what to do, he grabbed me around the wrists and pulled me against the side of the mattress, face to face with him. I ended up kneeling on the floor while he sprawled across the bed on his stomach.

  “So tell me, princess, have you figured out what you are yet?”

  With a grunt, I tugged against his hold. “I told you not to call me that.”

  “I’ll take that as a no. Any new ideas?” He played his soft, moist lips over my fingers while I did my best to ignore the throbbing in my nether regions.

  “I won’t play this game with you.”

  He rolled his eyes and expelled a deep sigh. “You know … Lila … you can be such a killjoy sometimes.”

  I should have known he knew my name. “Nice to know something can wipe off that nasty grin.
And I told you, I’m human.”

  “Human?” He laughed a twittering bird-like sound. “You no more belong to the race of thick-skulled barbarians than I do. Hair of spun gold, the eyes of otherworldly brilliance, the golden honey skin of a Goddess.” He uttered a bitter laugh. “I truly don’t know why you waste your gifts on them. Speaking of which, why haven’t you used them in the last few weeks?”

  My mouth dried into a desert. Shit. “How do you know I haven’t used them?”

  I caught a flash of rage in his eyes before they went back to their perpetual amusement. “The rag mags haven’t reported any children mysteriously finding their way out of burning, smoke-filled buildings without knowing how, or guns misfiring by the thousands, or murderers waiting patiently by their victims for the authorities to come and take them away.” He faked a laugh. “Why do you bother with them?”

  “Nice try. Most magazines have gone out of business.” A thought flashed through my head like a lightning strike. My neutral face cracked. “You can feel it when I use power. Any power. That’s how you’re finding me, isn’t it? Fuck!”

  I leaned away from him, but he yanked me against the bed. My shoulders burned. The shadows in his eyes pulsated, the effect extending into the room. I thought I could hear dying cries, and the room chilled with a malevolent darkness. My breath came out in white puffs. My power weakened in his presence as if he absorbed my energy.

  “You can’t hide from me much longer.” His hair stood on end, carried up by an unseen wind.

  Cold terror crawled along the curves of my spine.

  “I’ve let you run about all these years because I enjoyed the chase and our little interludes, but very soon I will need you by my side. And,” he punctuated each word with a tightening of his grip, “You—will—come.”

  I grunted through the pain and willed myself to wake up, but it didn’t work. Most nights he kept me inside the dream until he finished his little game.

  “Why do you need me by your side?” I had no idea whether or not the shock showed on my face. The whole time I thought he’d kill me at some point during his little cat and mouse game. Maybe he still would, but he wanted something from me first. Death or slavery? I couldn’t decide which one frightened me more.

  The devil grin returned. “Because I say so.”

  I licked my dry lips. “You found me the day after I ran from my mother’s house. Why didn’t you just take me when you had the chance? You didn’t have to kill them like that.” A sob pushed the words out, but I swallowed it down before it could follow.

  “Tell me who your father is.”

  I couldn’t tell him what I didn’t know. “Why didn’t you just kill me then?”

  He growled and turned away, giving a dark laugh and casting an amused stare at me again. “Tell me where you are, and I’ll answer every question you have.”

  “You can see where I am!”

  He pulled my arms down against the mattress, pinned them with his elbows and pressed his lips against my cheek. A breathy sound fell from me before I could catch it.

  His sweet exhale raced across my skin, an arctic wind against my warmth. “Normally your little charades are convincing, but you’re slipping.”

  My heart faltered, and I closed my eyes. What did he mean? I could picture the pond, the smells, the dew. Fuck. “It’s a full moon tonight, not a fingernail moon.”

  “Give the lovely lady a prize.” His lips slipped lower in search of mine. With every ounce of strength I possessed, I gave one good yank and broke free of his grip.

  Walls sprung up around us, dark red, no door—as usual in my dreams. I backed into a corner and did my best to cover all my bits and pieces, but I didn’t have enough hands.

  God, get it together, Lila. Wake up!

  The air prickled my skin as he strode to me, moaning his approval. “As perfect as I remember.” He snickered the way men do when they think they’re about to get some. “How do you manage to keep such a tight body yet still have soft feminine curves? Good genes, maybe. Mmm, you are a delight fit for a king.”

  “What’s that supposed to mean?” I spun and searched the wall for an escape. He pressed his bare chest along my back. A bewildering rush of electricity surged through me. My knees trembled.

  His fingers played up and down my uncovered arms, drew me into an embrace as he kissed my shoulder. “I can’t stop thinking about the first time you gave yourself to me.”

  I braced my hands against the wall and shoved. He stumbled away. I staggered back to the side of the bed. “I wasn’t myself that day. You—you did something to me.”

  With his arms spread wide, he took tiny steps toward me. The candles beside the bed sent light licking up his six-pack and coaxed subtle colors to his skin. His eyes pulsed with blue fire. I’d never seen him from a distance without a shirt on, and even through my fury, through my terror, the sight of him drove all sane thought from my mind, replacing it with hunger.

  “You were so eager, practically insatiable.”

  “Shut your mouth.” I cleared my throat to cover a building scream. My body shouldn’t react to such a malignancy, no matter how appealing his packaging might be.

  Before I could move, he slammed me onto the bed.

  “Get off me!” I beat at him. “Get off!”

  He gripped my wrists and pressed them above my head. Moaning, he settled his body down on mine. “You were sixteen when I found you in that little motel just outside of Jacksonville. Don’t you remember?”

  “You killed the cleaning lady for her key.” Panic stole the wind from me.

  He sat up enough for me to see a sickly, benign smile. “Oh, yes. Pudgy Randine. A true southern belle. She screamed very nicely for me.”

  I’d never stayed in a motel again after seeing her insides melted and leaked out all over the room. “You didn’t have to kill her.”

  “Now, now. You know what they say about those who live in glass houses.”

  “I’ve never murdered anyone!”

  He sniggered. “Randall Gainer, three years ago. I seem to recall his face exploding when the gun he was using mysteriously bent itself into a pretzel.” He kissed along my jaw while I jittered beneath him.

  I held my body rigid as it filled with fire. “He tried to kill me.” My voice ratcheted up. “I never meant—”

  “Oh, please. Humans are nothing but a scar on the face of the Goddess. I keep hoping more will fall victim to your gift, but you’ve proven a disappointment so far. We’ll have to change that, now won’t we?” He traced my lips with his tongue.

  I shook my head. “Stop it!”

  His mouth covered mine. My every cell answered his call as if my body had burst apart and remade itself in an instant. It coaxed a wicked sort of ecstasy into me, slipping across the razor’s edge between pleasure and pain. Instincts took over, my desires using my body as a puppet to sate its hunger. No. This is wrong. He killed them! I melted into the kiss, exploring him with my tongue, tangling my fingers into the silk of his hair. Oh God, what am I doing? His touch transcended my skin and caressed me everywhere at once, filling me with intoxicating power.

  I broke away, panting. “No.”

  His whisper came next to my ear. “You know you want to.”

  I did. God help me, but I did. “Get. Off. Me.” Every word rose in volume. Each time he fondled me, each time I enjoyed it, I betrayed them, all of the ones he killed to get to me.

  A flash of memory made me cry out. Hot, so hot. Hands, sweating, skin on skin. A rush of power burning through my flesh, and need, such need, I couldn’t hold back.

  “I can’t tell you how exciting it was to deflower a force such as you.” He moaned. “I always suspected you were a screamer. We destroyed the room that night. I’d like to know how you explained that when you checked out.”

  I didn’t check out. I ran for two weeks straight.

  When he shimmied out of his shorts, I struggled to free myself. I tried to talk myself into calm, but my body wouldn’t
listen.

  Only a dream.

  Not really here.

  His warmth, the tingle from his fingers, the reactions in my body all seemed so real they made me want to give in to him. The brush of his skin must have conjured some ancient magic. No! He murdered my family and so many others—all to get to me.

  The thought of enjoying his nearness made my stomach lurch.

  Reason broke through his spell over me. My power flared. I couldn’t use it against him, but I could use it for other purposes. I held on to it for a moment, warring with the part of me that wanted a taste of pleasure for once.

  I let the power go.

  An echo of my mother’s last frantic words rushed through my thoughts. The man who comes tells only lies. Run, Lilabear. Run!

  A deafening crack boomed around us. In a flash of light more brilliant than lightning, the dream broke, and I tumbled from the cot, wheezing on the dirt floor in the shed. The sound of blood rushing through my veins roared in my ears.

  Lies. He tells only lies.

  Rubbing at my eyes, I took deep breaths and climbed onto the cot again. At first I thought the ground shook, but after a moment, I realized it was only me.

  I’d given myself to him once, and the darkest part of me had enjoyed it. I hugged my knees and rocked back and forth.

  6

  Faint pink light seeped in through cracks in the shack walls and under the door. Dawn. Did I use my power? Or only in the dream? The guys in the shed continued to sleep, and Sebastian did, in fact, snore like a chainsaw as Garret had said. A blinding flash of light and a thunderous crack should have roused them. Maybe they were heavy sleepers? I pressed palms to my forehead to contain the ache growing under the quandary. Logic emerged through the haze. They should have been awake, but they weren’t, so the surge must have been contained to the dream.

  The sight of Garret, balled up under his blanket, added to the war in my head. On one hand, I wanted to stay and protect him, and on the other, if I stayed, I could put him in worse danger than even the likes of Rourke. I wouldn’t take the chance. If I did use my power, even a small amount, and the Glass Man could use it to find me, then I had to leave.