Free The Heat by Heather Killough-Walden Page A

please.”
    Tabitha stood and Lily could hear her leave the room.
    The room…. Where am I? Lily rolled over slowly and stared up at the ceiling. It was charcoal gray. Her gaze slid from the ceiling to the walls and then to the dresser against one side, and then to the bed…. She turned on her side and glanced up at the stainless steel headboard and bed posts, the black sheets and pillow cases.
    This was…. Daniel’s room, wasn’t it? She couldn’t quite remember. Her head was so fuzzy. What was wrong with her?
    “Here you go, girl.” Tabitha set a glass of water on the bedside table.
    “Tabby, where am I?” Lily asked as she tried to sit up. A strange, languid weakness licked at her limbs, begging her to lay back down. She acquiesced and relaxed; the bed felt too good. It was like she’d taken two Xanax and chased them down with a beer.
    “We’re at my brother’s place,” Tabitha said. “Just rest and take it slowly, Lily. The more rest you get, the better.”
    “Why?” Lily asked, again trying to focus on her friend. Slowly, the fuzziness around her friend’s familiar face was smoothed out.
    “Um….” Tabitha seemed to pause in answering, as if not sure what to say.
    And then a memory flashed through Lily’s mind like a camera bulb in a dark room.
    Hand cuffs. A knife.
    Lily blinked. She felt the blood drain from her face. “Tabitha, why am I here?” she asked. Her tone had dropped into absolute seriousness.
    Her friend sighed. “Okay Lily, I’m gonna spill and I need you to promise me that you won’t flip out and do something stupid.”
    Another memory flashed before Lily’s eyes. Daniel’s face. His staggering kiss. And fangs?
    Lily found the strength to sit up, this time ignoring her body’s drowsiness. The flashes were coming faster now. She barely heard Tabitha’s words.
    “Remember that dream you had in high school where you saw Daniel turn into a wolf?”
    Lily nodded distractedly. In her mind, Daniel was cuffing her to the bed. Her gaze slid to the bed posts. There were the scratches. It had really happened.
    “It wasn’t a dream, Lily. What you were seeing really happened. Daniel is a werewolf and you saw him in his true form. You saw him like that in your dream because you’re meant to be his mate.”
    Lily’s gaze dropped to her wrists. They were red and bruising. And then she saw something shimmer on her right arm. She turned it over and stared down at the strange but beautiful marking that graced her inner forearm.
    “Lily, are you listening to me?”
    “He cut me,” Lily said it without thinking. She could remember it quite clearly now. “He cut himself and then he cut me…. But there’s no cut here.” Just this mark .
    “Shit.” Tabitha stood and sat beside Lily on the bed. Gently, she turned Lily’s head so that she was looking at her again. “Lily, please hear what I am saying. I will explain everything to you, if you only give me the chance. Please stay with me here.” Tabitha’s tone was commanding and calm, as if she desperately needed Lily to acknowledge her right now.
    Lily recognized that kind of desperation. She’d heard it enough times. She gazed into her friend’s eyes and nodded.
    “Good. Now just listen carefully, and don’t do anythin’ stupid, okay?”
    Lily shook as a chill coursed through her body. “All right.”
    “Daniel is a werewolf. He was born that way. The trait is passed down to the males in our families. And you are most likely supposed to be his mate, Lily. You dreamt about him in high school in his true form. Only Dormants dream about wolves in their true form.”
    Lily’s gaze narrowed. She pulled back from Tabitha, suddenly much more alert as the last of the strange drowsiness left her body and the fuzziness slipped from her mind. “What?” she asked. “What the hell are you saying?”
    Tabitha took a deep, calming breath and cocked her head to one side. “How long have we been friends, Lily?”
    “Forever.” Lily