Unsung

Chapter Seventy-Seven

"Everyone was attacked?" Garrick asked from the passenger seat of my car as we sped away from the hospital. "By guys in Fox masks?"

I nodded. It was almost too weird to acknowledge out loud.

"So, Ted's after all of us now," Garrick continued, sounding stupefied.

I made a face.

"We're not seriously going to call this guy Ted, are we?" I said, the idea bothering me more than the fact that someone was after us.

"I agree, Ted's not ideal. But what are we supposed to call him? Darth Vadar's already taken."

I laughed at his joke, but what I really wanted to do was wrap my arms around his neck and confess how much I liked him. And how he was pretty much the only person I'd ever met that was just as weird as me, in exactly the same weird way. Even Chuck and Fergus, who I counted my equals when it came to all things geekdom, rarely ever saw eye to eye with me.

Finding Garrick was like finding my other half. My soulmate.

"Garrick..." I began, thinking that maybe it was time to tell him how I felt. But before I could get anything out, I flashed back to him sitting over me, hands wrapped around my neck, and my smile faded.

Garrick must have seen the change in me, because he turned his body my way, wincing at the movement.

"Are we okay?" he asked me tentatively.

I hesitated. I was having a difficult enough time getting things sorted out in my own head, how was I supposed to explain how I was feeling to him? This guy I liked. My very possible soulmate. I didn't want to say the wrong thing, but I also couldn't act like nothing had happened. And he deserved an answer.

"What happened in class..." I began, choosing my words carefully. "It really freaked me out."

Garrick let out the breath he'd been holding and closed his eyes like each of the words were a kick to the gut.

"I knew it," he said, barely louder than a whisper. "Kida, I'm so sorry—"

"And I know that," I said, cutting in before he could say anything else. "That's what I was going to tell you back there before the foxes showed up. What happened in class wasn't your fault. I pushed you to do what you did. I gave you permission. I mean, I even put your hands around my neck."

Garrick winced at my choice of words and looked away ashamed.

"And even though all of that's true, it doesn't change the fact that seeing you like that...well, it scared me. Before, I never could've pictured you hurting me. In any way. Ever," I said, feeling nervous to admit it. Keeping my eyes trained on the road ahead of me, I added sadly, "Now I can."

I snuck a glance over at him and saw that he looked crushed. His eyes were glassy and he was biting the inside of his cheek like it was all that was keeping him from completely falling apart.

It nearly broke my heart.

As we stopped at a red light, I slowly reached my hand over and gripped his softly. He looked down at it in disbelief, like he wasn't sure that what he was seeing was real. When he lifted his head, I stared him straight in the eye.

"We're okay," I assured him. Then I let go of his hand and placed it back on the wheel as the light turned green. "I just need a little time."

He nodded, taking in the info, swallowing hard. "I'll give you anything you need."

Hearing him say that almost made me take it all back. Lie and tell him that I was already over it. Pull him to me and give him the first kiss I'd been thinking about ever since I met him.

But I couldn't.

So I swallowed hard and said the only thing I could think of.

"We could call him the Skulk King," I offered, the idea coming to me unenthusiastically. "A skulk is a group of foxes. It's obvious the foxes work for him. Thus, Skulk King."

Garrick looked over at me, his face full of more emotion than was called for in the moment.

"It's perfect," he answered. "You just named our big bad, Kida."

I smiled briefly before another voice interrupted our conversation.

"You have arrived at your destination," the GPS on my phone announced suddenly, changing the subject completely.

"Have you been to McKayla's house before?" Garrick asked, changing the subject to something less emotional.

"Nope," I said, as we both leaned forward to peer out of my windshield at the enormous house we'd just pulled up to. Dumbfounded by what I was seeing, I added, "I had no idea she was so..."

"Loaded?" Garrick finished, whistling loudly.

"Yeah," I admitted. "I mean, I always assumed her family did okay. She goes to one of the best private schools in the county. But we never really talked about it."

"And as you know, rich people rarely like to flaunt their wealth," Garrick said sarcastically, his voice taking on an aristocratic flair. "It's simply garish and unbecoming."

I rolled my eyes at him.

"Or maybe that's just not who she is," I argued, turning off my car and unbuckling my seatbelt. "You know, we're not always a product of where we grew up."

Once the words had left my lips, I wished I hadn't said them at all. I glanced over at Garrick, ready to apologize for my poor choice of wording, but he'd already pushed his door open and was getting out.

"I wouldn't have minded growing up here," he said, ignoring my comment and admiring the three-story white contemporary home looming in front of us.

It had to have been at least four times the size of my own house, and I'd never thought of ours as being small before. Floor to ceiling windows made the structure a voyeur's dream, since anyone from the street could easily see inside. While there appeared to be blinds affixed to some of the windows, a warm glow shone from just about everywhere, reminding me of a pumpkin at Halloween time—if it were a multi-million dollar pumpkin and Martha Stewart had carved it.

"I can't believe McKayla lives here," I breathed, in awe.

"Surprise,surprise, the princess has a castle," a voice cut through the darkness, causingboth of us to jump.