Forsaken by Keary Taylor Page B

heart racing.
    Cole, I have to see you
again, please come as soon as you can.
     
    All my love.
     
    I felt sick to my stomach, the nerves
setting it on edge. At the same time my pulse raced. This only made
me feel all the more sick. Whoever this woman was, I unfortunately
knew what she was talking about. I remembered the crazed longing I
felt to have Cole touch me again. Cole’s words were compelling and
had been for me- mind boggling. Apparently Cole hadn’t just gained
this skill when he was granted a pair of wings and black irises. It
was a well-practiced ability.
    I was so absorbed in my own thoughts
that I did not even notice how Austin had come in and was looking
over my shoulder.
    “ Whoa, Cole huh? What
about Alex?”
    I jumped about two feet in the air
when I heard Austin speak.
    “ Geeze, Austin!” I
screamed at him as I put a hand over my heart, feeling it racing.
“What are you doing?”
    “ Sorry,” he chuckled and
he bent down to pick a box up. “I thought it might be that order
Rita was talking to me about last night. So who’s Cole?”
    “ None of your business,
that’s who,” I snapped at him.
    “ Man, Jess, calm down,” he
said, his expression a little offended. “I was just teasing you. I
know that’s not your hand writing.”
    I looked back down at the letter. It
was folded in half so Austin had only seen the last half of it. He
wouldn’t have seen the part about this woman’s father, James, the
engagement, or the very old date.
    “ Sorry, for flipping out
on you,” I said as I put the letter back in the envelope and
stashing both of them back in my purse and then under the counter.
“Cole is, um… an old acquaintance.” There, that was at least some
of the truth. Cole was old, though acquaintance wasn’t the right
word for Cole. I wasn’t sure what to refer to him as. My
stalker?
    “ Is everything okay?” he
asked as he started putting some books on a shelf. “You seem a
little freaked out.”
    “ There’s kind of a lot
going on right now,” I said, not sure why I was talking to Austin.
“I’m kind of not sure how to deal with it all.”
    “ Are you and Alex still
fighting?”
    His question jarred me a little. I had
almost forgotten the night he had come to the house and I had
spilled my guts to him. I mostly remembered the other part of the
night, the part where Alex and I had gotten nearly naked and went
swimming.
    “ Oh, uh, not as bad. I
just… I haven’t been able to find him since yesterday. That’s kind
of weird for Alex.”
    “ Why is that so weird?” he
asked, his expression almost mocking as he continued to stock a
shelf.
    “ Are you forgetting that
we live together?” I asked as I raised an eyebrow at him. That
reminder ought to put a damper on his ego. I felt a little bad, but
he just didn’t get it.
    “ Right,” he said quietly
and wouldn’t look at me for a few moments.
    I turned my attention to the inventory
book and started checking some things, trying to look busy. “Then
my sister showed up yesterday morning too.”
    “ I didn’t realize you had
a sister,” he said, his attitude suddenly perking up. I could only
roll my eyes at him. “Actually, I don’t think I’ve ever heard you
talk about your family.”
    “ Exactly,” I said as my
eyes fixed on a blank spot on the paper before me, not really
seeing anything. “I haven’t seen her in about five
years.”
    “ Well why not?”
    “ I kind of left home when
I was sixteen.” Why was I telling him this?
    “ I bet it was good to see
her though,” he said. I was glad he didn’t press on the last
statement I had made.
    “ She ran away from home.
Her boyfriend beat her unconscious. She came to me to
hide.”
    “ Dang,” he said as he
paused and looked at me. “Is she okay?”
    “ She’s bruised but I think
she’ll be alright.”
    “ No wonder you’re all
worked up,” he said as he broke down the now empty box.
    “ I just wish that was all
I was dealing with,” I said