When Carlos turned down a side hall, I didn’t question it; I’d been watching my feet on the way to the lobby.  He turned again, and I absently followed until he stopped.  I looked up, realizing I’d been watching my feet again, and saw where we were.  An exercise room.  The food in my stomach soured.

“No.”

He was too quick, though.  He moved around me to close the door and stand in front of it.

“Yes.”

I narrowed my eyes at him and almost got mad.  But I didn’t.  It was too much effort.  Besides, my anger was reserved now.  For Blake and his kind.

“I don’t feel like it.”

“Just five minutes.”

“No.”

He studied me for a moment then stepped away from the door.  His gaze didn’t waver as he advanced.  There was something predatory in his moves that had me taking a step back.

“No,” I said again.

He seemed not to hear as he slowly stalked me.  He would step forward.  I would step back.  Until there wasn’t anywhere else for me to go.

“I don’t want to spar.”

He didn’t stop until we stood toe to toe.  Then he tilted his head to the side.

“I know.”

If he understood, why had he just broken my personal bubble? I stared at him, trying to guess what he meant to do.  Did he really think he could make me fight?

After taking a moment to study my face, he slowly lifted his hands.  My pulse leapt when they settled on my shoulders.  His gaze didn’t waver from mine as his thumbs moved on my skin.  Just tiny circles.  It wasn’t aggressive, but it gave me an idea of what he was thinking.  And that made me angry.

“Back off, Carlos.”

“No.”

His hands started to move, tracing down until his thumbs rested on my collarbones.

My arms were up between his, breaking the contact before he could move further.

“Got a problem?” he said calmly.

His words gave away his intention, but it didn’t change my answer.

“Yeah.  You.”

“I’m not your problem, Isabelle.”

His calm tone worked its way under my skin, and before I knew I’d fisted my hand, I jabbed him in the right shoulder.  The image of Ethan’s bruised shoulder flashed in my mind.  My stomach pitched and tears threatened until Carlos spoke.

“You don’t need to baby me, Isabelle.”

Like I’d babied Ethan?

“Shut up and finish what you started.”

I gave him twenty minutes instead of five.

He didn’t comment when I finally stepped back.  Nor did he say anything as he followed me down the hall.  Ethan would have been making little comments, trying to tease me into a better mood.  Guilt hit me with that thought.

I used my keycard to open the door to our room, then quickly grabbed my bag and shut myself in the bathroom.  Staring at my reflection, I let the tears fall.  I’d hit Carlos repeatedly in the right shoulder, just like I had Ethan.  What was wrong with me?  Why did I have to be that way?

Turning away from my reflection, I started the shower.  I let the warm water wash away my tears.  After a good cry, I felt a little better.

When I reemerged, my skin was pink from the long, hot shower; and a billow of steam followed me out despite my use of the bathroom fan.  My clean leggings had been a bugger to tug on.

Carlos sat at the end of my bed.  The TV was off.  He wasn’t reading anything, just sitting there.  Apparently waiting for me.  My stomach gave a little jump.  It hadn’t done that in days.

“Sorry.  Was I hogging the bathroom?” I said as I pulled the towel from my head.

“No.”

His gaze traced over my face and wet, tangled hair, then drifted down to my tank top and further still to my legs.  Once he reached my toes, he let his gaze travel the same path back up.

“Get a good look?”

“For now.”

My gut clenched.  He stood and moved close.  A thread of panic wormed its way into my heart.

“Two thirty seven.  Don’t be late,” he said, then turned and walked out the door.

I stayed where I was for a moment.  So many thoughts wanted to surface, but I wasn’t ready for any of them.  I needed to keep things simple.  Simple tasks, simple thoughts.  I went to the bathroom and picked up my hairbrush.  On autopilot, I ran it through the wet strands.

Before the clock showed five to the hour, I was out the door.  Though I didn’t want to go, I wasn’t ready for the implied “or else” of Carlos’ words if I didn’t show up.

The room wasn’t hard to find; it was at the other end of our hallway and had the door propped open.  The heat coming from the room explained why.  Too many bodies in too small of a space.  Someone had even opened the room’s window.  It didn’t help much.  My cheeks flushed as soon as I stepped in.

Carlos leaned against the wall near the door.  He turned and studied me for a moment.

Bethi stood from her place on the bed and walked toward me.  When she reached me, she grabbed my hand and tugged me into the hall.

“How are you doing?” she said quietly.

“Fine.”  It was such an automatic answer.  Why did I bother saying it?  She studied me for a minute, and I could see she knew it was a lie.

“You’re still bouncing between numb and angry.  Numb might seem like it’s better, but it’s not.  Not for you.  You need to be angry, Isabelle.  Very angry.”

“Why?”  I wanted to slap myself for asking.

“Because they aren’t done yet.”

Her vivid blue eyes seemed violet in the light of the hall as she earnestly watched for my reaction to her words.  I noticed the dark circles under her eyes and the redness.

“You can sleep by me tonight if you want.”  I didn’t know where these words kept coming from.

She smiled at me.  It started small and grew into something that made me want to grin back.

“Not sure how Luke would feel about room sharing.  Can you picture Luke spooning with Carlos?”

“Bethi!”

Luke’s voice made my lips twitch.

“Luke’s smaller than Carlos.  He knows he’d be the spooned, not the spooner,” I said.

“If you don’t go out there, I will,” I heard Luke say.

A second later, Carlos emerged from the room.

“Hey, Carlos,” Bethi said with good cheer.

“Hello, Bethi.  I think Luke would like you to join us again.”

“I’m sure he would.  So, can we share a room tonight?”

“Yes.”

Poor Luke.  I realized my lips were curving into a smile.  What was wrong with me?  Nothing.  It was Bethi.  She was over the top.  I found it hard not to like her.  She reminded me of Ethan.  That thought sent a spear of sorrow through my chest.

“Let’s get inside and get this over with before my skin starts to crawl,” I said, brushing past both of them to step into the room once more.

Bethi was only a step or two behind me.

“All right.  We all know what needs to happen.  We need to outline a plan and execute it,” Bethi said, moving to sit beside Luke, who looked slightly annoyed.

“Hold up,” I said.  “Can you recap for me?”  My brain was fried, and I had no idea what needed to happen.

“Sure.  We need to stop Blake from coming after us or, at least, make it really hard for him.  When I started having the dreams of our past lives, I ran.  I was terrified the Urbat would find me.  They had destroyed me in so many ways in so many lives, I was sure there was nowhere safe from them.

“Then, I realized something.  In this life, they couldn’t just come for me directly.  They had to be careful.  Why?  Because humans outnumber them.  For all the strength the Urbat and werewolves have, it is nothing compared to the collective strength of humanity.  We need to use the Urbat’s fear of exposure to our advantage.

“By exposing the two races publicly, the Urbat won’t be able to move as freely.”

“Correct.  They will be hunted,” Winifred said, “and so will we.”

Bethi turned to face Winifred.  “What other option do we have?”

“I’m not refuting your plan, only stating the truth.  Our lives will be in greater danger afterward.”