Chapter Four
Joran wouldn’t lie to himself. He didn’t exactly mind having Nicole’s soft, sweet body pressed against his back. The cuffs had been a bit of a surprise, but he was just glad she was safe. He still wasn’t sure just what the hell had been attacking her, but whatever it was, it wasn’t anything good. A Glycon variant most likely, which meant more trouble.
“So is this how you thank someone for saving you?” Joran asked from the back of the car as Nicole drove down the road with a frown on her face.
Her hands tightened on the steering wheel as she glanced at him in the mirror. Joran could see her resolve about arresting him was starting to slip the more they drove. To be fair, he had to admit him showing up at that exact moment looked more than a little suspicious, but there hadn’t been much choice.
Joran had just made his way to the forest edge when he saw the fog fill the air between them and heard the growl in the woods. If they hadn’t been watching Agatha so closely, he would have sworn she was personally summoning the fog.
“Joran Smith?” Nicole asked. She glanced at him in the mirror, still frowning.
He nodded, trying to hide the smile that always came about over the last name Rem had chosen. It wouldn’t have been his choice, but it didn’t bother him all that much, either.
“That’s an unusual first name for such a common last name,” Nicole said. Joran could hear the skepticism in her voice and knew she wasn’t totally buying that it wasn’t a fake name. “Are you with that group at the base of the mountain?”
Suspicion filtered into her voice, making it clear what Nicole thought of his people. Joining forces with Anassa had only put the hybrids in a more difficult situation, and there was no denying that they likely seemed like a strange bunch to the rest of the townspeople.
Joran shrugged. “My… family and I moved to town recently to get away from the bustle of the big city. We have our reasons.”
None of the hybrids shared a family resemblance, before even taking into account things like skin color, but Joran didn’t quite know how else to refer to the others. His hybrid brothers felt like a family to him, and it didn’t help that Rem had given each of them the most generic last names. If they lived and died together, how was that different from a family?
Nicole nodded. “That’s an usual family you’ve got up there from what I hear. I also understand that you’ve been adding townspeople to your group.”
The woman was sharp. Joran already knew this from their many nights together. It killed him not to just tell her everything, but this wasn’t the time or place. Being handcuffed in her police car didn’t exactly set the mood for an open exchange of strange truths. Not that he would have minded one of them being cuffed.
He kept quiet. It might be best to not arouse her suspicions with too much chitchat.
“Have we met in town?” Nicole asked after some time.
Joran shrugged. He figured it was best to keep things light until he confirmed he was out of any possible legal trouble. “It’s a small town,” he said simply.
Nicole looked at him for a moment longer before turning her eyes back to the road. They sat in silence once again.
“Mind telling me just why I’m being taken in?”
“How about assaulting a deputy?” Nicole raised a brow, but Joran could tell she was reaching.
Joran frowned slightly. “That’s what it seemed like I was doing?”
Nicole sighed, and her shoulders sagged slightly. “Likely not,” she said. “It seemed like an animal hit my car. Did you even see what kind of animal that was?”
This time Joran’s face tightened. “No.”
He’d not been able to make out much of anything in the fog, but the sound the creature made was unlike anything he’d ever heard. There was no telling just what Agatha was cooking up behind that blue dome with the new Glycon hybrids.
“So what exactly were you doing out there, then?” Nicole asked.
Joran shrugged. “Just out for a late-night jog. No law against that, right?”
Nicole frowned. “At this time of night? This far away from your place?”
He shrugged again, a small smile on his face. “I have stamina.”
The deputy quickly looked away, but it didn’t stop Joran from spotting the blush that spread across her face. Something warmed deep inside him.
Even then, dressed in the ugly khaki uniform and large hat, he could see just how beautiful she was, and he wanted her even more.
“And how do I know you didn’t set out those logs to trap some unsuspecting woman like myself there?” she asked.
Joran snorted. “Pretty sure I’d have to be an idiot to try and trap a woman as capable as you.”
This time when Nicole glanced at him in the mirror, he could see the briefest of smiles before she turned back to the road.
It hadn’t been the win he was necessarily looking for, but he would take it.
There was something so familiar about Joran. Likely because she’d been dreaming of the man nearly every night, and all the wonderful things she’d like to do to him.
Nicole could feel the blush spread even further. How had a man like that been walking around, and here she was spending her nights fantasizing about him? There was something almost scandalous about it.
She glanced in the mirror once again and found his blue eyes staring back at her, a small smile on his lips as if he knew just what she was thinking. It was unnerving just how connected she felt to this man she’d just met, not to mention the strange way being near him made her feel.
When he’d pushed her to the ground, she’d never been afraid. Lying there protected in his arms, she’d felt safer than she ever had.
It was unnerving. So much so that Nicole had acted on impulse when she slapped the cuffs on him. Her heart told her she could trust him, but her experience told her he had to be hiding something.
Something strange was going on, and she would bet that Joran knew more than he was letting on. That alone ought to be worth him sitting in the jail overnight. Maybe in the morning he would be willing to talk more.
Nicole stopped the car outside of the department and stepped outside. Warm, sweet air met her, and for a moment, she was reminded of the cold air she had run into before. Just thinking about it chilled her to the bone.
She sighed. Something might be up with Joran, but she doubted even he had the ability to control the weather. But one thing was certain, something was going on in Eagle Ridge, and she was damn well going to find out just what that was.
Not wanting to waste more time, Nicole stepped over to the back door and opened it. She reached in and wrapped a hand around hard, thick muscle.
Her mind rushed exactly where it shouldn’t. She shook her head and pushed those thoughts out of her mind.
Joran moved out of the car as if the cuffs he was wearing weren’t a hinderance at all. He stood tall in front of her, and for the first time, she could see his handsome face up close. The dark contours were no longer hidden in the shadows.
He smelled of pine and soap. The two made her think of a fresh spring day. Nicole found herself leaning toward him slightly, his bright blue eyes staring at her as she did so.
A bright blue halo of light rimmed his irises. She gasped and stepped back. Almost instantly it was gone, and all Nicole could do was shake her head. Clearly the night was getting to her.
“Let’s go,” she mumbled as she looped her hand back around his upper arm.
They moved quietly up the stairs and into the building. The front desk was empty, and Nicole frowned. There was supposed to be someone there at all times.
“Hey, Ed?” she called. She heard movement in the back where the breakroom was. Nicole turned to Joran. “Don’t move,” she said sternly.
Maybe not the best idea, but she figured if the man had wanted to run, he could have easily done so before. She was strong, but she’d felt his muscles. Joran was much stronger.
Nicole stepped toward the desk and peeked around the corner. “Ed?”
She found the man standing in the breakroom with headphones in as he popped a bag of popcorn in the microwave. In the long list of things not to do in a Sheriff’s Department, this had to be at the top of the list.
“Jesus, Ed.” Nicole sighed and shook her head. She glanced over at the now curious Joran, who seemed more amused than anything. This was the last thing the department needed getting around town. “Hey, Ed!” she shouted.
It was the wrong choice, and she knew it instantly. Startled by her shout, the idiot deputy used his buttery fingers to make a grab for his gun. The weapon slipped from his fingers, and she watched in slow motion as it dropped to the floor.
BANG!
The shot rang loudly in her ears, but it still took Nicole a moment to realize she hadn’t been hurt. She opened her eyes and looked around. Joran was standing in front of her, and they were easily twelve feet from the spot she had just been standing.
Nicole stared at his concerned face with surprise.
“Are you okay?” he asked quietly. His voice shook as he spoke.
Once again she spotted bright blue light behind his eyes. Only this time, she couldn’t blame it on the night playing tricks on her eyes.
Nicole watched, open-mouthed, as he turned to Ed.
“If you can’t handle your gun then maybe you shouldn’t have one,” Joran growled.
Ed’s face turned bright red as he picked up the weapon. “And who are you to say that exactly?” He snorted. “You’re just some asshole in cuffs.”
Nicole could see tempers were flaring, and there was no way in hell she was dealing with that after the night she’d had. Quickly, she stepped between the two men, her back firmly against Joran.
“I’ve got this, Ed. You figure out just what the hell you shot and how you’re going to explain it to Frank.”
All the color drained from the other deputy’s face, and she knew she’d found just the thing to defuse the situation.
Nicole turned to Joran. “Let’s go,” she said quietly.
His eyes remained fixed on the man behind her.
“Please,” Nicole said.
Joran’s gaze slid to hers before he nodded and turned around. Nicole led him to the back where they kept a couple cells, mostly as a drunk tank, but they had been known to house the occasional more serious criminal.
Nicole unlocked a door and nodded inside. Joran moved without comment. She could still sense the anger rolling off him and wondered if he might have beat the shit out of Ed if the cuffs hadn’t been on.
She placed her fingers on his wrists behind his back as she uncuffed him. “Thank you,” she said quietly.
Joran turned around and stared at her for a moment.
“I don’t know how you did that, especially cuffed, but thank you,” Nicole added.
She turned around and stepped out of the cell, closing the door behind her. She didn’t want to look at him. Something was growing between them, and she couldn’t let that happen. She needed to keep her wits about her if she was going to get to the bottom of things.
“There’s water and blankets under the bunk,” Nicole said, and glanced to the front. “You likely won’t hear from Ed, and Frank will come in a few hours.”
Joran chuckled. “You know, you could just let me go.”
He was sitting on the bed now, leaning back like he had all the time in the world. After everything that had happened, he could still look so calm and collected.
Nicole frowned. She had to make sure she didn’t let personal feelings interfere with her duty.
“What were you doing out there in the woods?”
Joran pressed his lips together hard and shook his head.
“Fine.” She sighed. “I need to get some sleep before I’m back on the clock. You can just sit in here and think about it until then. Maybe you’ll feel more like talking in the morning.”
Joran just smiled back at her. “Sweet dreams, Nicole.”
The soft way he said it only irritated her more.
In a huff, Nicole made her way to the front where Ed was sitting at his desk staring blankly at a piece of paper, likely trying to decide just how to tell Frank he’d fucked up.
He looked up at her. “I’m so sor—”
Nicole held up a hand. She was over the night. She grabbed the holding form from the file box and scribbled quickly on it.
“He’s back in a cell. I’m going home to sleep. I’ll be back in the morning to talk with him.” She stared directly at the pale man in front of her. “Do. Not. Fuck. With. Him.”
Ed nodded as she slapped the paper in front of him. “Of course, of course.”
“Try not to shoot anything else tonight.”
With that, she took her tired ass out the door and headed home.