Hunter's Attraction

The Day After

Despite Aiden and Sirena’s protests, Lily decided she wanted to go to school the next day. Aiden agreed, but only if he could drive her, as she wasn’t able to do so at the moment.

“This is so unfair,” Lily pouted, glaring down at her right leg encased in a brace. She also had a brace wrapped around her left knee, and both wrists and forearms were bandaged. Last time I go anywhere without arm guards. Her ribs, while not broken, fractured, or sprained, were very sore.

“What’s ‘so unfair?’” Aiden mimicked, a smile playing on his lips.

“You get rapid healing, but me… just eagle eyes.”

“You heal fast, too,” he said, glancing at her.

“Not as fast as you,” Lily complained.

“You’ll be in braces for a week, max,” Aiden reassured her. “A normal human would be in a hard cast.”

“You get a paper-cut, and your body heals it within seconds.”

“I have 20/20 vision,” Aiden replied, “but your eyesight is… well, eagle-like.”

“This isn’t making me feel better.”

“I can turn this car around, and you can spend the rest of the day in bed.”

“No,” Lily shot back. “I have an ECON quiz. I can’t miss it.”

“I’m sure your professor—”

“Drive,” Lily ordered.

“Yes, ma’am.”

***

Jean-Pierre paced by the college entrance, waiting for Lily. “Güey,” Julian looked at him in annoyance, “come on. Class started five minutes ago.”

“No one told you to wait with me,” JP replied, a faint smile betraying his annoyance.

“No, I want to see this,” Julian grinned, “that way, I can rub it in Isabel’s face later.”

“Seriously?”

“It’s fun for me. Mira,” Julian motioned with his head. Jean-Pierre turned to see Lily hobbling out of the front seat of a Toyota. Aiden was in the driver’s seat. Jean-Pierre caught Aiden’s eye, and Aiden gave him a harsh glare. He then watched as Aiden said something to Lily. Her expression changed to something more serious, and she shrugged. A moment later, she waved goodbye to her brother. Jean-Pierre could only think how cute she looked as she wobbled thirty feet from the curb to the college entrance. She looked at him expectantly with her large, chocolate-brown eyes. His heart raced as he returned her gaze, the connection feeling electric. “Well,” Julian interrupted the two, “as riveting as this conversation is, I’m gonna go. Adiós.” Julian left the two staring at each other in silence, the air thick with unspoken words.

I wanted to say something, JP thought as he took in the dark specks that gave her eyes their chocolate color. “Um,” he cleared his throat, trying to shake off the sudden nerves. She smells so good.

“You’re blocking the door,” Lily said, breaking the spell.

“Uh…yeah…sorry,” he moved out of the way before deciding to hold the door open for her, their hands nearly brushing.

“Thank you,” Lily smiled gratefully, and Jean-Pierre felt his cheeks warm.

He remembered what he wanted to say. “You told your brother about me…about my past,” he accused, his voice softer than he intended. Lily continued limping. “Why?”

“It was an accident.”

“An accident?” JP repeated in disbelief, his heart sinking. “How does one accidentally bring up drugs?”

“Well, when one gets attacked by a mob of drugged werewolves, one finds it easy to talk about drugs in the conversation. I wasn’t tattling on you to my big brother,” Lily finished with an eye-roll.

“Well, I don’t need or want him digging into my past.”

“Kind of his job when your past ends up in our neighborhood.”

“You think the attack was my fault?”

“I don’t know,” Lily gave him a hard look, “but I find it quite coincidental that the very same drug you used to…sell…ends up being what my attackers were doped up on.”

Jean-Pierre frowned, the tension palpable between them. “This had nothing to do with me.”

“Can we finish this another time? I have a quiz I don’t want to be late for.”

“Fine,” he replied, but as she walked away, he couldn't shake the feeling that their conversation was far from over.

***

Thanks to her economics professor for ending early and her next class being on the opposite side of campus, Lily managed to dodge JP for the rest of the morning.. The long trek was a challenge, but she made it there and back. Now, sitting on a bench, she waited for Sirena.

“So,” a voice startled her as someone plopped down beside her. “You’re the one who simultaneously kicked ass and saved my nephew’s life.”

Lily turned to study the girl next to her. She was a shade lighter than JP, with eyes that glinted in a lighter hue of brown. Her hair fell in tight, curly locks that reached just past her shoulders—so dark it nearly appeared black. “I’m Trixie,” the woman said, extending a hand. “We met briefly over the weekend.”

“Lily,” she replied, shaking Trixie’s hand just as a car honked nearby. Turning, she saw Sirena waving her over, with Lena smiling from the backseat and Monte’s head poking out the window, barking a friendly greeting. “Sorry,” Lily said, feeling an uneasy weight in her stomach at Trixie’s presence. Thank goodness Sirena arrived when she did.

“Hey,” Sirena greeted as Lily climbed into the car. “Who was that? A friend?”

“No,” Lily said, fastening her seatbelt. “Her name is Trixie. She’s JP’s aunt.”

“Really?” Sirena raised an eyebrow. “You seem troubled.”

“Just a feeling, that’s all,” Lily shrugged, trying to shake off the unease. “So, where are we heading?”

“Someone surrendered a ball python to the shelter,” Sirena replied as she pulled away from the curb.

“I thought Silena’s was a dog shelter with the occasional cat. That’s what it says on the website and the pamphlet.”

“Yeah, I don’t think people care much about that. Plus, there was no one to turn away. The snake was in a pillowcase inside a box when I got there this morning.”

“Oh,” Lily said, her eyebrows lifting in surprise.

“Yeah. Hopefully, I have an enclosure in the basement.”

“Does he have a name?”

“Steve,” Sirena replied, a hint of amusement in her voice.

Lily chuckled, imagining a ball python slithering around with that name. For now, though, the thought of Trixie lingered, her unsettling presence still fresh in Lily’s mind.

***

Trixie held her phone to her ear, her voice low and tense. “I made contact. (…) Don’t yell at me; I’m doing this for you. (…) Yes, there’s definitely a child, but I didn’t get a good look at him or her. Oh, I’ve gotta go; JP is here.” She hung up and turned, a bright smile replacing her earlier tension. “Hey, JP!” she called out. “How was class?”