Knowing that the sound of the suitcase wheels rolling across the marble floors would alert him, I’d been prepared to lug the heavy thing out to the garage. I had to double-check his whereabouts, or else all my plans would fall apart. I didn’t expect him to flip out and start throwing stuff—or worse—if he caught me leaving, but there was no real certainty with Jay.
He had a temper, that was for damn sure. He’d never raised more than his voice. Somehow, that didn’t make me feel safer. This gut feeling told me I was always skirting some edge withhim, millimeters away from tumbling into an unknown I didn’t want to experience.
So, I snuck down the hall to his office and found the door ajar. The lights were off and Jay wasn’t there. Even stranger, his shirt and pants were on the floor.
I checked the shower in the guest room next, assuming he wanted to clean up after…after. Wanted privacy. Space. He wanted so much space the man could be a moon.
The real moon was full tonight, beams of white-gold light breaking through the sheer curtains in the guest room. The stars were a stark contrast to the black of night, celestial diamonds spilling out over the horizon.
I would miss the view of those stars from the back porch more than I would ever miss Jay.
Somehow, I knew that was where I would find him. Sitting on the back porch, whiskey in hand. He didn’t like to be outside. Didn’t care for stargazing or feeling his feet in the grass. He grew up poor—it was the most I knew about his history—and the outdoors reminded him of that.
And yet, there was this invisible thread that drew him out in a way he never seemed to enjoy. Those days when he resisted it were the days I worried he might escalate into violence. Tension coiled so tightly I could see it in his muscles, feel it like an electric crackle in the air around him.
Only when he stepped outside, into the soothing balm of night, would that energy discharge.
It was an opportunity. I should take it. Leaving Jay was hard enough without confronting him. If I did, he would either find a way to gaslight me into believing his behavior wasn’t that bad or…I didn’t know. Maybe this would be what finally turned him into the man I was afraid he could become.
I only made it a few steps before turning back. After giving him half a year of my life, it seemed wrong to end things this abruptly. Almost dishonest, really.
Don’t give in now, Tara. What he did was a betrayal. He didn’t deserve an explanation. If he couldn’t figure out what he did wrong, then I pitied the next woman he charmed into this luxurious prison.
Still, my feet didn’t budge.
One more look.
I needed one last look at the man I thought was my future. A reminder of why I was going my own way.
The kitchen was empty and dark as I crept through to the back door. It opened with the softest squeak of hinges and I held my breath, waiting to hear the shifting of fabric as Jay rose to shoo me away. He never did like me interrupting his time out here.
But I didn’t hear fabric because there was none. Down the hill and half-hidden in the long shadow of an oak tree, Jay stood naked in the moonlight. Sweat glistened down the carved muscles of his shoulders. He hunched forward, spitting curses in a guttural voice.
What the hell was I witnessing? Was he injured? Or maybe on drugs? Given his business associations, I knew he had access to them if he wanted them.
“Fuck you! Just get it over with, demon.”
He collapsed onto his hands and knees, a horrible, inhuman keening noise in his throat. Something was wrong.
Something was very wrong.
At first I couldn’t grasp what was happening. It was gradual, a ripple over skin, a tightening of muscles. Even when I did see it, I didn’t understand what I was looking at.
A scream clawed up my chest, getting stuck halfway in my throat as my lungs shriveled with terror. I slid my feet back intothe kitchen as slowly and soundlessly as I could. I didn’t close the kitchen door. The risk of drawing his attention was too great.
Whatever was out there in the moonlight, it wasn’t Jay anymore.
Dark fur shimmered and danced as the massive beast shook his coat out. I could hear him huffing breath, panting as he recovered from—whatever the fuck just happened to him.
I wasn’t going to define it. I couldn’t because that would mean it was real. Things like that didn’t exist. They didn’t happen.
Get out of here. Get your suitcase and leave right fucking now.
I obeyed that panicked voice, racing down the hall and back to the bedroom as fast as I dared. With two frantic pulls I had the suitcase off the bed. My shoulder nearly dislocated when I heaved it and ran to the garage door. Only after tossing the suitcase into the trunk of my Prius and prying open the driver’s door did I realize I hadn’t even put on shoes.
Shoes were replaceable. My life was not. I smashed the garage door opener over and over, urging it to hurry. I didn’t know if Jay had seen me. Didn’t know if that thing was chasing me. I wasn’t slowing down to find out.
I didn’t take my foot off the accelerator until I was past our gravel driveway and turning onto the largest county road between us and Victoria. I hesitated at the turn, chewing my lip and trying to decide where to go.