Chapter 24: Skeptical

~ZEV~

Her lower jaw went a little slack. "You've been following me all day?"

"No!" Not the way she thought, anyway. His mouth flattened, and he sniffed again. Sasha watched him, a dozen different emotions chasing each other across her face. "Okay, how about this: You held hands with a guy yesterday and…" he sniffed up her arm to her shoulder. "He had his right arm around you, but only for a short time. And you were wet when he touched you."

She blinked. "How… how do you know that?"

"Because your shoulder smells like rain and his scent is mingled with it, but I know it's not on the other side because when I grabbed you earlier it was too faint."

"You can smell him on me? And my food—but I showered!"

Zev shrugged. "Life leaves traces, Sasha. And I'm good at finding them." He tried to crack a grin. But she was staring at him like she'd never seen him before. 

The car hit a rut in the road, and he had to turn his attention back to the Jeep for a moment, but his heart was pounding harder and his ears buzzing. She wasn't saying anything. And her scent was so tangled he couldn't tell what she was feeling. It seemed like she was feeling everything at once, and that wasn't possible.

Was it?

"Sash?" he asked quietly a few seconds later, chickening out on looking at her again. "I'm not lying to you."

"You can… smell me?" she asked, her voice faint.

He nodded grimly. "And hear you, and see better than you, and I'm stronger, and faster and harder to kill—" he broke off when her throat closed convulsively. It was instinct to look at her, and his heart dove to his feet when he found her, pushed away from him into the door, her hair rippling around her wide eyes and open mouth in time with the weaving and bumping of the car. 

"Zev… what are you?" 

He felt himself slump. "I told you, I'm a—"

"Stop with the government bullshit."

"It's not bullshit, Sash, they really—"

"I don't care what they did. I know you. I knew you," she corrected herself, which hit him like an arrow in the chest. "You weren't some robot. You weren't an animal."

"No, I'm not."

"You're real, and alive, and you used to love me." He snapped his head to look at her, but she rushed on before he said anything. "And you were gentle and… and you didn't try to kill people—"

"I would have if they'd tried to take you, even back then," he growled. "I wasn't as experienced. And I was still learning my senses, but—"

"Stop it, just stop!" She had her hands up like she was going to push him away, her eyes down and shaking her head. "This is crazy. You can't… you shouldn't…"

"Sash, no offence, but we've barely gotten started. If you can't handle this—"

"It's not about handling anything, Zev!" she spat, her eyes sparking. "It's about knowing what to believe. You were always different. I knew that. It's more than half of what I loved about you—"

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The past-tense she used wanted to slice him open from navel to throat, but he shoved it away. She didn't know. She couldn't know. When she did… when she did, that would be the real test.

"—so, I always figured you had some story, but this? This sounds like you're trying to give me a reason not to freak out about you following me like a stalker and almost killing someone! Two someones!" she shouted. 

He sighed. "Sash—"

"Stop calling me that! I only let people close to me call me that and you left!" she shrieked.

Zev hit the brakes on the Jeep so they were both thrown forward in their seats. Then he pulled up the parking brake and unclicked his seatbelt.

"What are you doing?" she breathed, her eyes truly frightened now. 

"Proving myself to you," he growled. "Get out."

It was a logger's road, not designed for comfortable travel. But enough of the trees had been cleared in this area that there was a thick grass verge on the sides, and some clear space around the road. The moonlight shone through the few trees that remained, turning everything silver. Even she would be able to see clearly here.

He shoved out of his door and started around the car to open hers.

She stared at him when he yanked the door open, but he didn't touch her, just stepped back, pulling the door and opening a hand towards the grass. She was shaky and uncertain, but she rubbed her hands on the thighs of her jeans, then scrambled out, keeping as much space between them as she could.

Once she was out and facing the grass, he closed the door and backed away so she'd relax a little. He hated seeing her look at him with so much fear. It mirrored his nightmares and made him afraid she'd always look that way when she saw him. 

As he backed off and she stopped pressing herself into the side of the car, he breathed a prayer to whoever was listening that this would work. That he wasn't going to break her mind. 

"Are you ready?" he asked, suddenly realizing his hands were shaking. He was more scared than he'd ever been in his life. If she rejected him after this…

"For what?"

"I won't hurt you."

"You keep saying that."

"Because I want you to know it's true."

Her expression was skeptical, but she shrugged. "Okay."

Zev held her gaze and took a deep breath. "Just… don't run."

She frowned. "From what?"

"You'll see."

Then he started taking off his clothes.

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