Revealed

Chapter Three

I turned around, dread filling my veins as he slid an arm around my waist before I had any chance to react. I swallowed, trying to school my features.

"There was a queue," I explained, a feeble excuse at the best of times, and utterly useless to me at the moment now that I had been caught out. I'd lost my chance.

He nodded. "Yes, let's go."

"No, let's stop." I pulled myself away from him, though he maintained a hold on my arm. "I think we're done here. You go do what you do, I'll go home. You didn't see anything, I didn't see anything, and everything is fine. Nothing's happened."

"That's not happening. I'm not letting you go again. It's not safe for you."

"And being with you is?" Obviously he played a big part in whatever had been happening.

His arm was back around my waist. "Call me selfish," he brushed a kiss on my forehead and I couldn't decide if I liked it or not. "I'm not letting go, besides, I can take better care of you than you can yourself." I couldn't argue with him on that, he'd known me almost as long as I could remember being myself. Zander was part of me.

We were walking back to the car, the sun higher in the sky now, beating down on us, blinding me as it reflected off the cards.

"That's because you know more than me."

"Possibly." Definitely.

"If you would just tell me what the hell is really going on then-"

"I said that I would tell you when I can. I'm not ready yet." His voice was hard, aggressive.

"Hey, you don't get to talk to me like that."

He let go, walking a head of me to the car, walking so fast that I couldn't keep up. I rolled my eyes at his behaviour. It wasn't often that he lost his temper. For the most part, he was smooth and cool, in control in a calm, collected manner. He knew himself, and he knew what he was doing. Or at least, he always made it appear so.

Nevertheless, I followed after him, shedding my jacket and folding it over an arm, it wasn't usually this hot in England, with its typical rainy days, cloudy skies and abrasive winds. I'd been taking advantage of the heat wave, basking in the sun, even during my breaks at work. Now I had to endure the heat, sitting in a car with Zander for who know show long. Road trips were fun, if you knew where you were heading and it was a decision of your own free will.

Neither of those applied to me.

Slamming the car door behind him, Zander was still clearly in a foul mood. Funny, considering he was the one who had snapped at me. I had every right to ask questions, it was my family that was gone, my sister who was dead. I wasn't going to use it to throw back in his face. I wasn't about to disrespected Kate like that.

I turned the radio on as he drove, sick of the silence, needing something to engage my mind. I turned the air conditioning up some more, pulling my hair onto one shoulder. I shouldn't be stuck in a car when it was this nice outside. I shouldn't be stuck with a death and disappearance of my family, murders possibly on our trail, perhaps one sitting in the driver's seat.

The thought made everything seem serious again. This wasn't anything to do with mine and Zander's relationship, it didn't matter if we argued or not. It was about staying safe, keeping myself out of trouble, though I had a feeling that Zander was exactly the kind of trouble that I should have been avoiding.

"Are you done sulking?" I hadn't looked at him since we entered the car.

"Have you apologised?"