3

3

Claire was too keyed up from the kiss to even think about falling asleep or using the guestroom. Instead, she occupied herself with her phone until she figured enough time had passed that Bodie would be asleep in his own room. She didn’t want to be rude, but there was no reason for her to spend the night here.

Before leaving, she used the Uber app to order a ride. Even in their backwater, there were a few drivers available, and she was relieved for it though she didn’t really want to get into a car again. It wasn’t like she could walk twenty miles on foot, and since she couldn’t shift into a wolf to run them either, she was stuck with that option.

She waited until the app alerted her that the driver was almost there before tiptoeing out of his house. She thought about leaving a thank-you note or something, but she decided it was better to cut and run. The less time he had to think about her, the better. She still cringed at the idea of him recognizing her as Gracie’s little sister or recalling the crush she’d had on him.

It was a small humiliation, but on top of the other ones she’d endured, she really didn’t want to have to go through that as well. She remembered how quickly he’d pushed her away when she accidentally fell on him that one time, and it had burned the memory of his rejection deep into her mind. She’d done her best to steer clear from him after that, though she’d never been actively pursuing him before.

She’d always been on the shy side even before her accident, and that, along with the need to pull away from people and hide as much as possible now, had contributed to making her feel awkward and unsure how to interact with everyone.

She stammered hello to the driver as she got into the back of his car. She eyed him carefully, always alert. It was bad enough riding in the car, but she didn’t want to risk succumbing to her anxiety and be at the mercy of someone who wouldn’t treat her well, or who might even take advantage of her. Fortunately, this man had multiple good ratings, and he’d been driving for a long time, so she was less concerned.

He seemed to understand and respect that she didn’t want to talk, so he just confirmed her address, and off they went. When he dropped her at her house a half-hour later, she was relieved the night was over as she thanked him before going inside.

She was slightly surprised to hear her parents moving around in their office as she walked down the hall. She froze outside it for a moment, tempted to turn the door handle, but she didn’t bother. She knew from previous experience it was probably locked, and they would make a fuss if she tried to enter.

It was the one place in the whole house that they didn’t allow her to go. She’d understand that if she were a little kid who might risk destroying their projects, since they both worked from home, but it was kind of insulting that as an adult, they still considered her a risk to their jobs or whatever reason they had for keeping her out of that area.

Instead, she went to the kitchen and made herself a snack. As she turned away from the fridge with a handful of sandwich makings, she let out a startled gasp to find Martina standing a few feet away from her. “Geez, Mom, you scared me to death.”

Martina gave her concerned look. Her father stepped into the kitchen a moment later, standing behind her mother. She smiled at him. “You look tired, Dad.”

Thomas shrugged a shoulder. “Work never ends.”

“I know that feeling.”

Her mother was frowning. “Where have you been? It’s almost four a.m.”

Claire could’ve reminded her she was an adult and owed her no accounting, but it seemed like such a moderate request, and she had no reason to need to assert her independence to that level. She just shrugged and said, “Saul asked me to work some overtime.”

Martina scowled. “That’s ridiculous. You were there well past eight hours. You shouldn’t let him take advantage of you, baby.” She came closer, putting an arm around Claire’s shoulders and giving her a side hug. “He will never find someone who works as hard as you do to replace you.”

“I’m sure he wouldn’t, but I don’t mind.” She imagined Saul could easily replace her, but she didn’t argue with her mother. “Overtime is nice and lets me contribute more to my savings faster. The sooner I can get the stem cell transplant, the happier I’ll be.”

Thomas shook his head, and Martina clicked her tongue. “I wish you’d let go of that dream, honey. Who is to say it would even work?”

She started to feel vaguely defensive, but she struggled to keep her tone calm. “Both the clinics in Germany and Mexico have around an eighty percent success rate using the body’s own stem cells to regenerate tissue. It might not fully correct the problem, but at least I won’t feel like Quasimodo anymore.”

Martina shook her head. “You’re still a beautiful girl, and the scars don’t change that. I wish you’d spend less time thinking about them.”

She softened for a moment, smiling at her mom even as she recalled Bodie saying something similar to her earlier in the evening. That had sent a shiver down her spine, and it was entirely different than the reaction she had to her mom’s soft and soothing words.

A second later, Martina had to go and ruin it, though she doubted her mother meant to. “Besides, Gracie was absolutely gorgeous, and that didn’t do her any good.” Her mother’s mouth tightened. “All it did was catch the attention of a shifter, and he killed her.”

Claire took a deep breath, struggling to maintain her patience. She knew from experience that there was no point arguing with her mom about her stance that Owen had killed Gracie. It had been an accident, but even her first-hand account, given to her mother more than once, hadn’t managed to change her parents’ opinions of the incident over the years. In fact, their hatred of shifters had only deepened, which she found troublesome, but she didn’t want to argue with them. “I think I’ll head to bed now.”

“We were heading to bed ourselves in a few minutes. There’s something else we need to take care of first,” said her dad in his deep baritone.

She hugged her mom and hugged Thomas, waving to both as she took her half-assembled sandwich upstairs with her. It was easier just to finish making it in her room, because when they were in that mood, there was no reasoning with them. She wasn’t up to listening to them rant about all the horrors and evils of the shifters, and how the humans would be pushed out if the shifters reached too many in number.

It was senseless to her, but she understood her parents clung to that rhetoric in their grief. It was what they needed to get past it, and though she didn’t understand it, she wasn’t going to try to change their views either. She already knew it was futile to do so, and she could only hope that as more time passed, they might eventually mellow out, though she wasn’t certain that could happen. They’d have to let go of their anger and accept Gracie’s death had been an accident for that to happen, and she wasn’t certain Martina and Thomas were capable anymore, if they’d ever been able to do so to start with.