On Pins and Needles: Sierra Fox, Book 3 by Yolanda Sfetsos

my hand lightly and released it. “You’ll never be a problem. I also never look at helping you as having you dump things on me. I want to help in any way I can. There have been instances where I’ve failed you and I don’t ever want something like that to happen again.” He looked away for a moment. “The only saving grace is that I know you’re capable of taking care of yourself. But I’ll always be here to help, so let’s get on with checking out that file.”
    “The coast is clear,” Papan called from the kitchen.
    He’d probably gone down to the lower floor of my split-level house and inspected the rooms too. One couldn’t be too careful. From my experience with the bad guys, they liked to hide in the shadows, and invading my house was no big deal to them.  
    “Thanks, Oren.” This time I squeezed his cold fingers. I really did appreciate him being around and always willing to lend a helping hand. When he’d first thrown himself into my life and told me what our true connection was, I’d resented him. But the walls I’d carefully constructed to protect myself had slowly crumbled. We’d been through too much during the last few months.
    “You’re always welcome.”
    “I’ll be back in a second,” I said to him, and headed for the stairs leading up to my bedroom. I might have had another shower after breakfast at Papan’s place, but I didn’t like the idea of spending all day in yesterday’s clothes.
    As soon as I stepped into my room—which, together with the attached bathroom, was the only thing on the second story—I headed for the large window. It was a habit I’d developed since peering out one night to find I was being watched by a naked, feral man.  
    A few cars travelled up and down the street and the neighbor across the road happened to be picking up the newspaper from his doorstep. Everything looked and felt normal. Something my life wasn’t.  
    When things felt this calm, I couldn’t help holding my breath and waiting for the other shoe to drop. Of course, that’s when I remembered the Obscurus were still after me, my ex refused to leave me alone, a former werewolf hunter was still stalking my new boyfriend—it felt so good to call him that—and my half-sister had poltergeists attached to her.  
    I shook off all uncomfortable thoughts and headed for my dresser so I could grab some clean undergarments. I also grabbed a black pair of skinny jeans, a tank top and a gray sweatshirt. It took me less than ten minutes to get changed, run a brush through my knotty curls to turn them into long waves, and head downstairs barefooted. I felt a little naked without my silver dagger.
    Halfway down I remembered my laptop was still upstairs and quickly raced back up to get it and the USB drive. I couldn’t help wondering about the demon, Saul, and recall Lavie’s brief argument about him with her aunt. I’d learned from my fellow hunters that there was a fine line between prey and predator. Sometimes the terms even seemed interchangeable.  
    After all, Oren called himself a witch hunter and had once told me the best way to catch a witch was to be one.
    I raced downstairs again to find the two men sitting at the kitchen table. Papan was sipping a mug of coffee—I could smell it from here—and Oren a cup of tea. He never drank anything but tea. When the former made a move to stand and head for the coffee machine, I pressed my hand down on his firm shoulder.
    “It’s okay, I’ll get it.”
    Papan nodded and took the laptop from me, then placed it on the table in front of him. “I’ll switch it on for the old man,” he said with a chuckle.
    Oren didn’t bite, just kept sipping at his tea.
    “Here’s the info,” I said, putting the USB drive in Papan’s hand. As our fingers touched, a zing flowed between us and Papan looked up to meet my gaze. It looked like he’d felt the spark too.  
    Wow, I’ve never experienced such an intense connection with anyone. Being with Papan made