“Ugh, what now?” she groaned under her breath. Sage was barking at the door, and then Kenzie heard the knock. Sighing in frustration, she sat up, threw on her glasses, and sauntered to the door. She almost slammed it shut when she saw who was behind it. Unfortunately, she didn’t get that chance because Isaiah shoved his way in.
“What the hell?” she demanded as the vampire scoured the room as though looking for something.
“Is he here?”
“Who?”
“The werewolf.”
“No, Isaiah. Does it look like he’s here? Geez I’m exhausted and want to go to sleep. What do you want?”
Isaiah extended his index finger and looked at Kenzie sharply. “I was making sure that mutt wasn’t in here.”
“Seriously? You’re going to lecture me on associating with a werewolf at this time of night? After we just saw a huge witch and fairy brawl? Can’t this wait?”
“No, because I didn’t know if he was in here or not.”
“Why would he be?”
“No reason.”
“Oh, are you serious? Jillian told you something, didn’t she?”
“What do you mean?”
“Don’t give me that! Jillian told you I was attracted to him and needed to get laid!”
“Maybe not in so many words.”
“Okay, you’re both sick and I’m beyond pissed right now. It’s no one’s business what I do or don’t do with my woo life, and it sure as hell isn’t your place to tell me who I can and can’t have it with!”
Isaiah held his hands up, his expression one of discontent. “Quit bitching at me. I was just looking out for you. Even if Jillian hadn’t said anything, I would have investigated to be safe. I couldn’t believe I saw you with a werewolf earlier tonight.”
“That werewolf isn’t what you think. In fact, he’s a lot like you.”
“That’s the best joke I’ve heard in decades. Maybe I should become a comedian and take it on the road.”
“Oh, shut up. Hayden didn’t want to be a werewolf any more than you wanted to be a vampire. The difference was that he was born with it. He had to fight it even as a little kid.”
“Look at you, defending that mongrel. Kenzie, werewolves can’t be trusted. History can’t be changed. The past can’t be altered.”
“But the present and future can be. You can change your attitude right now about him. Oh, and by the way, you two seemed to agree with each other pretty quick earlier when you wanted to get down to business with those fairies. Oh, and when you were both worried about me being carried by that psycho Ace.”
“I don’t care that he agreed with me on anything. The fact is, werewolves are dangerous and can’t be trusted.”
“You seem to forget that you gave me the exact same speech about vampires when I met you, and then about witches in Barnacle Bay. Turns out there are good and bad witches and vampires, just like there are good and bad people. Why can’t the same apply to werewolves?”
Isaiah just glowered. “Have you taken leave of your senses? He could have killed you. Were you there during his transformation?”
“Yeah, I was. What of it?”
“Kenzie, when werewolves transform, they can’t control themselves. Sometimes their body goes too far and the result is fatal.”
“You’re saying he could have killed me when he transformed. Isaiah, I’m willing to take that risk. Hayden warned me beforehand, and I didn’t even know why. And guess what? I’m just fine. Besides, there’s no need to argue about this. Hayden isn’t interested.”
“Jillian mentioned there was someone you were infatuated with here that gave you the cold shoulder.”
“Not that it’s any of your business. So don’t worry about me. But Hayden and I will stay friends regardless. And I don’t need your permission for that.”
Isaiah finally surrendered, but Kenzie could tell that he was reluctant to do so. But she didn’t care. Right now, all she wanted to do was go back to sleep and not have to wake up until she was fully rested. Of course, she couldn’t do that until after Isaiah had informed her that he was also staying at the hotel, but he would be returning to Bridgeport the next day. Kenzie was relieved he didn’t plan to stay for the rest of the convention.
Was this what she did with Jillian sometimes when it came to looking out for her? No wonder she was so smothered; Kenzie was feeling that herself.
Too lethargic to think about it any longer, she finally fell into a deep, uninterrupted, grateful sleep.
********************
Kenzie slept peacefully that night, and she enjoyed the rest of her vacation with no other catastrophes. There were only a couple of days left for spring break, and she was leaving a day early to be sure she got enough rest at home before returning to school.
To commemorate her friendship with Paige, Kenzie also broke down and bought a witch teddy bear and gnome. She’d sure purchased quite the souvenir collection.
The one thing she didn’t see again, however, was a certain werewolf who seemed to have vanished. Kenzie didn’t know where Hayden had gone. She hadn’t seen him since the night of the zombie attacks. But she tried not to dwell on that as she enjoyed the rest of her vacation.
It was on the last day as she was packing, wearing her jacket since the weather had cooled off, that Kenzie heard a knock on her door. She knew it wasn’t Paige, as she still had one more day to manage her booth. She and Kenzie had swapped phone numbers and emails to stay in touch.
The person on the other side of the door couldn’t be Isaiah either, as he’d already left. So who was it?
Kenzie opened the door and saw a pair of familiar mint green eyes staring back at her.
“Hayden,” she managed to croak.
“Kenzie,” he replied back. “Can I come in?”
“There’s no spell on this hotel.”
“I know. But I’m wondering why there isn’t considering a lot of humans are sure to visit now.”
“I don’t know. But yeah come on in.”
“Thanks.”
Hayden entered the room and Sage wagged her tail in greeting. Kenzie closed the door behind her and took everything in: Hayden standing in her hotel room, her suitcases half packed, Sage’s welcoming gesture. It looked like such a serene and friendly atmosphere, despite her feeling silly in her very bright and non-matching attire. Why did she have the feeling it was all about to come crashing down?
“Kenzie,” Hayden began finally, “I’m sorry about the other night.”
“Which part?”
“All of it. I transformed in front of you, then I put you in danger with zombies by actually letting you come with us to stop them, and before all that, I didn’t really treat you very good.”
“Uh, okay...”
“And I’m even more sorry because I know I’m about to hurt you again.”
Kenzie’s heart stuttered. She had an idea of what Hayden was about to say. She’d already heard it before. But she still wasn’t prepared for it.
“Don’t get the wrong idea, Kenzie. I do like you and I appreciate that you accept everything about me. But this isn’t the kind of life you deserve. You don’t deserve to be tangled up in this supernatural web of peril and deceit. You don’t deserve someone who uncontrollably transforms every full moon, even though you say that doesn’t matter to you. You deserve better than me, and I know you can do better.”
Kenzie tried to force the tears that were threatening to spill back into her head. Her prediction had been correct, but that didn’t make it any easier to hear.
This wasn’t news to Kenzie. She was no stranger to rejection. She just wished it wouldn’t hurt so much.
“Hey,” Hayden said gently as he got closer. Kenzie hadn’t realized that she’d failed to contain her tears until Hayden’s fingers brushed one away. “Don’t cry. Trust me, I’m not worth it.”
How ridiculously pathetic. Kenzie was crying over a guy who’d blatantly told her from the beginning that he wasn’t interested in her. Yet it still confused her as to why he didn’t say that – he only said she didn’t want to get involved with him. But who was he to tell her what she wanted? How did he know what she wanted?
“Hayden,” she managed to say, “You told me I didn’t want to get involved with you. But shouldn’t it be my decision what I want? How do you know what I want?”
“If you’d known the whole truth, you wouldn’t have wanted to get involved.”
“But now I know everything. And I still know what I want.”
“Kenzie, you don’t know everything. You don’t know the kind of shit my brother and I are always dealing with just trying not to kill each other. You don’t know how many times a werewolf has transformed too close to someone they deeply cared about and the result was fatal. I don’t want that for you.”
Kenzie bit her lip. Hadn’t Isaiah just told her that last night? Still, she didn’t care. What was life without risks? Dating a werewolf would be less dangerous than some of the tight spots she’d been in because of cases.
But she wasn’t going to argue her point. There was no reason to. Hayden had made his decision and she was mature enough to respect it.
“Kenzie, I have to admit, I’ve never met anyone like you,” he continued. “I’m intrigued with why you like wolves so much, and that you find me so fascinating. But we have to face reality. You’re a beauty and I’m a beast, but this isn’t a fairy tale with a happy ending. Still, I’d love it if we could be friends.”
“How is classifying me as a friend any different?”
“It’s not. It’s just that I don’t see you as the way you want me to.”
There it was. Now he admitted he wasn’t interested. That made it a little easier to swallow than him trying to convince her of what she wanted. He’d said he liked her, but obviously that affection only existed on a friendship level.
“I understand. All right, Hayden. We’ll be friends. I won’t pursue you like some love-sick teenager. I’m not a predator and you’re not my prey.”
“Nice analogy.”
“I thought so.”
The two did manage a parting friendly hug, and that was it. Hayden then left Kenzie to pack (after giving her his contact information, and after Kenzie thanked him for helping save her last night) and head home. As she drove, Kenzie replayed the week’s events in her mind. Spring break had started out wonderfully, but had quickly spiraled downward. It picked back up slightly but now it was down again.
Sage whimpered next to Kenzie. She knew her owner was hurting. Kenzie was reminded of what the fortune teller had told her – she’d have hardships in her future but she’d overcome them. But she hadn’t specified how. Finding out her crush was a werewolf who wasn’t interested in her definitely counted as a hardship. And the fact that he was playing hard to get, for some unfathomable reason, somehow made him even more desirable. Logan had come onto her, but she hadn’t been interested until then. Hayden was different. He was perfect, everything Kenzie wanted.
And he wasn’t interested.
But Kenzie couldn’t dwell on what couldn’t be changed. She knew in her heart that Hayden was right. It would be dangerous if they were together, and if he wasn’t interested, then that was his prerogative.
Maybe someday she’d meet her prince and have the happy ending Hayden had talked about. If not with him, then maybe someone she hadn’t even met. But she’d cross that bridge when the time came. Right now, she had to focus on her life on her own and not with someone else. For now, that would have to suffice.
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