Craved by Stephanie Nelson Page B

that
color. It left me confused as to what it meant.
    Micah spared a glance at his watch and
then leaned closer to speak in my ear again. “We’ve got to meet
Anthony.” I nodded and once we told Aiden and Fiona that we’d only
be about an hour, we headed for the door. I quickly drank the rest
of my mojito and threw the cup away. I spared one more look toward
my best friend and Aiden but was distracted when I saw multiple
sets of blue eyes. They seemed to be in various spots all around
the club and my heart jackhammered against my ribcage.
    Micah was holding my hand, pulling me
towards the front door and I desperately hoped that whatever was
going on in Rush, Aiden would be strong enough to resist
it.
    Once we were outside, the bouncer dude
gave me an incredulous look. I was guessing that the witches that
went into Rush, didn’t come out.
    Micah had called almost every Anthony
he could find that lived in Hemlock. It wasn’t until the tenth one
that he found the Anthony from Amy Harper’s thoughts. We were
meeting him at a restaurant called Fannie’s Flapjacks. Hemlock was
mainly all otherworldly residents but some humans were allowed to
call it home after undergoing a lengthy interview process. Mainly,
they were families of witches or donors for vampires. It turned out
that Anthony was human and also Amy Harper’s brother.
    Micah turned down a side street and
then took another couple of turns before we saw a big sign
announcing Fannie’s Flapjacks was just ahead. The parking lot had a
few cars. That was good; we would have some privacy to speak with
Anthony. Micah had been unusually quiet on the short drive and I
didn’t see any reason to start up a conversation. What could I say?
It was awkward being around a guy who dumped me just as I was
beginning to fall in love with him. Everything about him was a
painful reminder to the time my heart was shattered. When Micah had
broken up with me it had crushed me. There weren’t any meds I could
take for the pain I felt. Time was the only thing that eventually
healed me.
    I heard the click of a door opening
and noticed Micah was getting out of the car. Tucking my thoughts
back into that dark corner of my mind, I followed suit. The air
felt thick and opaque like someone was breathing down my neck. For
a Friday night, this part of town wasn’t very active. Only the
sound of our feet on the worn parking lot broke the
silence.
    Micah held the door open for me and I
stepped inside Fannie’s Flapjacks. It looked like any normal mom
and pop restaurant. Horrid white paneling, fake wood laminate
tables, red vinyl chairs, and black and white tile floor. It looked
like whatever money Fannie made from her fabulous flapjacks wasn’t
being reinvested in upgrading her restaurant.
    A guy in his mid-twenties waved at us
from across the room. Assuming he was Anthony, we walked over to
his table. There were evident similarities between Amy and the guy,
but nothing that would warrant the conclusion that they were as
close as brother and sister.
    “Anthony Sindle?” Micah asked. I
looked at the man curiously, not expecting him to have a different
last name. Micah saw my confusion and said, “Different fathers.” I
gave Anthony a small smile and nodded my head.
    “Yes,” Anthony said with a nervous
look, motioning for us to take the seats in front of him. His hair
was strawberry blonde and neatly styled. His features were
ordinary, as was his clothing.
    “Mr. Sindle, I’m Micah; we talked on
the phone. This is Gwen Sparks or Hudson, she works as a consultant
with the FPD.”
    Anthony gave both of us a head nod and
then shifted his eyes around the room. There were only three other
people in the restaurant, not enough to trigger anxiety, but he was
nervous about something.
    “What can you tell us about your
sister’s attacker?” Micah asked and Anthony brought his eyes back
to the table. I could tell that the magic hadn’t chosen him like it
had his sister. He was one hundred