Thinking about that terrified me, though. I didn’t know if I, alone, had the strength to face this prophecy. I wasn’t about to ask my friends to help me, either. This fight had nothing to do with them. They were better off staying out of this, especially Cerri. She had the most to lose by associating with me.
The address Ryder gave me led to a small craftsman house outside of Lakesedge. I couldn’t see Onondaga Lake from here, but the air held a hint of it. I drifted past the house and parked at the end of the street, so no one would see my car next to his. I would have some plausible deniability that way, not that Alvin would really listen to me if someone ratted me out. Still, I felt better walking up to the house.
Ryder’s car sat in the driveway, telling me that he’d arrived first. It was a sleek muscle car from the seventies that had been refurbished. I paused to admire it before turning back to the house.
Had Ryder been here this whole time? It was a nice house with a small garden out front. The flowers required maintenance, but I couldn’t envision Ryder on his knees in front of them. He seemed more like a wood-chopping kind of guy rather than a gardener. Did that mean he had a girlfriend after all?
Something about the idea of Ryder with another woman bothered me. I shifted my weight from one foot to the other and glanced back at the front door. Ryder didn’t mean anything to me. As hot as he was, I didn’t know him. We weren’t even friends.
My reaction to him was strange, but it meant nothing at the end of the day.
I jumped up the steps and knocked on the door. Waiting under the porch roof, I was hit with a wave of regret. Once more, I checked over my shoulder to see if anyone had followed me. Somewhere, in the distance, an ambulance siren wailed like Syracuse’s theme song. It left me uneasy.
The door creaked open before me. Ryder filled the doorframe, his relief blatant.
“I didn’t think you’d come,” he said.
I wanted to make a dirty joke but bit my tongue. Flirting with Ryder would get me in trouble. I couldn’t let this man become a part of my life. Not like that.
He stepped aside, so I could enter. I stared past him, at the living room, and hesitated. If I passed this threshold, that meant I was playing into the hands of the prophecy. Did I want to do that? I wanted Alvin to stop hurting this pack. I couldn’t do that alone. I wasn’t strong enough.
“Should I close the door?” Ryder asked, voice laced with impatience.
I sneered sarcastically and pushed past him. My heart thumped nervously. My curls lifted from the static in the air. I was surprised that the lights didn’t flicker when Ryder closed the door and stepped closer. Was that thunder I heard, or just my own heart?
He rocked on his heels and glanced about. His gaze hopped over everything. I sensed that he was avoiding looking directly at me, which really made me wonder what he wanted to ask of me. He didn’t blush or anything obvious like that. If anything, Ryder seemed hesitant.
Well, this was awkward.
I lifted my coffee to my lips and slurped loudly. Ryder finally looked at me. His shoulders fell in disappointment as he gazed longingly at my coffee.
“I abandoned mine when you took off.”
I shrugged. “That’s not my problem. You made that decision.”
He raked his hand through his hair and growled. “The witch didn’t bother telling me that you would be this prickly. What is your problem?”
I stiffened.The witch?I’d had my fill of witches. It took everything in me to make myself stay. Every part of me wanted to lurch out the door and run back to my car. I could put an end to this right here and now.
Yet I stayed. I stayed because I knew that things couldn’t go on as they were. Someone had to put a stop to Alvin’s behavior. He wasn’t the Alpha this pack needed anymore. He’d become someone else, and we couldn’t afford to let him stay in power. I hated that I was the only one willing to acknowledge it. Everyone else wrote off his behavior as stress from the prophecy. I knew that this wouldn’t end if I was out of the picture.
Alvin would keep hurting people for the sake of keeping a grip on his power. He would make sure that no one in his pack could fight against him.
That meant that I had to stay. I had to hear Ryder out.
It was the right thing, even if it felt wrong.
Hand fisted in his hair, Ryder fixed his bright gaze upon me. I swear, lightning flashed in those pale eyes of his. He licked his lips before speaking. Something low in my core tightened. I had to sit down and cross my legs.
“The witch said that the Barghest would be able to help me.”
I waited for more. When Ryder remained silent, I asked, “Well, did your witch tell you how I was supposed to help? I can’t really do much without more information.”
His jaw tightened. This man was going to grind his teeth to dust if he wasn’t careful. I wanted to get up and touch his chin to see if that might loosen some of the tension holding him. Instead, I set my coffee down and shoved my hands under my thighs. So long as I sat on them, I would know where they were at all times.
Being alone with Ryder made me uncomfortable. Not because he seemed untrustworthy or like he might hurt me. I’d gotten really good at telling when someone wanted to hurt me. Ryder seemed cold and distant, but not because he didn’t care. I got the sense that he hid something behind that cold exterior.
If what he kept hidden had to do with the help he needed from me, I was going to box his ears. I couldn’t do anything unless he explained what was going on.