Chasing Secrets - Jessica Sorensen Page 0,34

this for long enough. Let’s get this plan in motion.” He strides down the hallway, I guess expecting me to follow.

I start to, but when I pass East, I pause as he whispers, “Remind him to keep an eye out for the creature following us, because I’m still not convinced it was an ice demon.”

Me neither. It’d be better if it was. But ice demons tend not to leave tracks and whatever was following us across that snowy hills left a few tracks here and there. And for the most part, ice demons are harmless, at least to powerful creatures like East and Arrow. My sensors, though, told me a different story, that whatever was out there wanted to harm us.

Harlynn

It’s been awkwardly quiet since the guys stepped out of the room to, as they put it, “discuss something.” The vagueness kind of annoyed me and I’ll admit, I tried to eavesdrop, but I couldn’t hear anything. So instead, I’m sitting here on the bed, waiting for them to return while Maxton stares out a window that’s way too frosted with ice for him to be able to see anything. So what he’s looking at is beyond me.

Finally, I can’t take it anymore.

I stand to my feet, stride over to him, and cross my arms. “Dude, what’re you looking at?”

His gaze flits to me. “The window.”

“Oh, yeah, duh.” I smack the heel of my hand against my head. “Wow, I couldn’t tell.”

The corners of his almost turn upward. “You must be a real ditz.”

“Hey,” I protest, but a laugh tickles my throat. “I am not.” Then I reach forward and pinch his side.

I don’t know why I do it. Sure, I do this sort of stuff with Asher, East, and Arrow. But I barely know Maxton.

Although he knows a lot about me.

When he jolts, I worry I may have crossed a line.

“Why the heck did you do that?” he asks, rubbing the spot where I pinched him.

I shrug. “Because you were teasing me.”

“That’s what you do to creatures when they tease you?”

I shrug again. “Sometimes. But shouldn’t you know that already since you know so much about me?”

He eyes me over. “Maybe I already did know that about you. I’m just not used to you, or any other creature, doing it to me.” With that, he returns his attention to the window, tension flowing from off of him.

Okay, yeah, I definitely crossed a line. “Sorry,” I tell him.

His gaze slides to me, and his brows pull together. “For what?”

“For touching you without your permission. It’s clearly bothering you so I’m sorry.”

“That’s not what’s bothering me,” he mumbles, his eyes sweeping across me before darting back to the window.

So what’s bothering him then? And better yet, what in the worlds is he looking at?

Maybe he can see something out there...

I lean in front of him to get a better look. The movement startles him, and he jumps, his head smacking against mine. As pain splinters through my head, I stumble and fall straight onto his lap, causing him to tense up even more.

We both groan in pain, me clutching my head and him grasping onto my side. I half expect him to shove me off his lap, but instead he holds onto me while sweeping my hair out of my face so he can look me in the eye.

“Are you okay?” he asks, his eyes roving across my face.

I bob my head up and down as I lower my hand from my head. “Yeah, I’m good. It’s just a little head bump. No biggie.” I’ll smile so he knows I mean it.

He frowns, not the reaction I was expecting. “I’m sorry I’m so jumpy. I’m just not used to creatures being so close to me.”

And suddenly, many of the things he’s done make sense.

“Were you by yourself a lot?” I ask. When he tenses, I quickly add, “You don’t have to answer that if you don’t want to.”

He studies me with hesitancy. “It’s not that I don’t want to talk about it. It’s just that I’m not used to talking about it—or talking about anything really.” He stares at me for a beat before looking at the window again. “But to answer your question, yes I was by myself a lot. And during the times I wasn’t, I was mostly around my father.” He pauses then mutters, “I preferred the isolation.”

“That’s understandable,” I say. “Asher’s told me a little bit about your father and he sounds absolutely awful.”

“He is,” he utters