face and as I started to back out, she threw her arms around my neck and hugged me to her.
“Oh, Carson,” she cried.
I whispered soothing reassurances to her as she cried. I felt Leah turn her head and nuzzle my neck. Then I felt her soft lips brush my skin with a feather-light kiss. And then I felt her tongue.
“Leah, what are you doing?” I asked, trying to keep my calm.
A little hum sounded in the back of her throat and she began to lick and suck at my neck. Her arms tightened around me, holding me to her with a surprising amount of strength. And then I felt the nip of her teeth. They were blunt, but still, I knew what she was trying to do.
“Leah! Stop!” I reached behind my neck and grabbed her wrists and pulled as hard as I could to dislodge them from around me. When I pulled away from her, she leaned forward, following me, biting and licking.
“But I need it, Carson. I’m so thirsty,” she whimpered.
When I got away from her, I looked down into her face and it was like she’d been taken over by someone else. Without her glasses, which she must’ve lost in the woods, I could see that her lids were heavy and a sensuous smile played upon her lips. She squirmed like she couldn’t sit still, almost writhing in her seat.
I slapped her lightly, which only made her smile deepen and a lusty look come into her eyes. “Snap out of this, Leah. You have to fight it!” She laughed huskily. “This is important,” I spat, shaking her shoulders. “Leah!”
With that, she seemed to sober somewhat and I took advantage of the moment. “I can’t take you home like this. You’ll have to stay at my house until I can figure out what to do.”
And that did the rest. “But what about my parents? And what if Ryan calls?”
“Tough. He’ll just have to wait,” I said coldly, slamming the door for emphasis.
I went around to the driver side and climbed in. Leah had begun to cry again. “Leah,” I snapped. “Enough!”
Her sobs dribbled off to the occasional sniffle, but at least I could hear myself think.
I drove to my house and parked in the driveway. Once Leah was in my room in the bed, I went to the living room and called the Kirbys. I told them that I’d checked one of my favorite spots on the way home and found her and that she was safe and was going to stay the night with me.
When Mr. Kirby asked to talk to her, I whispered conspiratorially, “That’s probably not a good idea right now. She’s pretty torn up about all this. Can she just stay here tonight and call you tomorrow?”
“But, it’s Christmas Eve and my daughter—”
I heard Mrs. Kirby’s voice interrupt him in the background just before Mr. Kirby covered the phone. When he came back on the line, he was more amenable. And though I could tell he wasn’t pleased about it, Mr. Kirby agreed to my suggestion.
I had completely forgotten that it was Christmas Eve, but unfortunately, that didn’t change anything. Right now, the main thing was that everyone was safe for the night and that I had a little time to figure out what to do next.
When I went back in to check on Leah, she was asleep. Her face was beet red and she was laying spread eagle with the covers thrown off, like she was hot. She muttered and tossed, but didn’t wake up so I closed the door behind me and went to get a pillow and blanket for the couch.
Of course Derek was the first thing to pop into my head when I pulled the pillow down from the top of the linen closet. His scent assailed me, that dark, woodsy smell. He was the last one who used the pillow and blanket. I felt a stab of pain as the gash in my heart started bleeding again.
Purposely, I began thinking about Leah and my sister and what to do about my current dilemma. I made up the couch and then went into the kitchen for a soda. Lying on the bar was the sweater that Derek had bought me and a piece of paper was sticking out beneath it.
It read:
Carson,
I’m so sorry that I brought Fahl into your life. Maybe he would’ve found you anyway. I don’t know. I did it for my brother, but now I know some