When Tanis and I arrived at school, Logan waited at the gate as promised. He greeted me with a smile, taking my bag without saying anything. Tanis waved and disappeared. Logan and I walked extremely close to each other as we headed to class, our hands brushing.
“I need to stop by my locker,” I told him.
He nodded and gestured for me to lead the way. We had been together constantly at school for the past two days, but I rarely used my locker, and he had no idea where it was.
When we reached it, I stretched out my arm to dial my combination. I paused at Logan’s quiet question— “What’s that?”
I glanced around, wondering what he meant. “What?”
“That.” He touched my wrist where the sleeve of my shirt had slid up my forearm. I stared at him, not sure what to say. “Did Andrei do that to you? When he grabbed you the other day?”
“Yeah,” I admitted. His eyes narrowed. I ducked my head to avoid his gaze, and concentrated on pulling my sleeve back over the bruise.
“I’m glad you’re rid of him, Raena. He was a jerk.”
“I know. I’m glad, too.” I reached up again, spun the lock, opened the door…and froze. A note hung suspended from my locker shelf. It was from Andrei. I glanced around, confused. Nothing else seemed to be out of the ordinary, but now the day had taken on a surreal quality. How had he known which locker was mine? How had he gotten into it?
My hand shaking, I reached into my locker and pulled the note from the shelf.
“What’s going on?” Logan asked.
“Look,” I whispered. I held the note out so we could both read it.
Rae,
I tried to work things out with you, but you refused. I don’t think you realize how big of a mistake you’re making here. I WILL be with you, and you WILL be with me. That’s the way it’s meant to be. We need to talk. Today. I’ll be waiting for you after school. Andrei.
I heard a roaring in my ears, and my vision began to cloud. My knees began to buckle, but Logan’s strong hands grasped my shoulders, steadying me. He took the note and crumpled it. “Rae, I’ve got to get you out of here. Let’s go.”
He started to guide me back to the parking lot, but I protested. “Logan, we have to go to class.”
“No. I have to get you out of here now! We need to go somewhere he can’t find you. I have to protect you.”
Logan put his arm around my shoulders, steering me out to the parking lot to his car. He opened the passenger door and helped me into the car, ordering me to put my seatbelt on. He rushed around the car, yanked open the driver’s side door, and jumped in. He’d barely shut the door before he turned the ignition and threw the car into gear.
“Where do you want to go?” he asked as we peeled out of the parking lot. I thought he was just trying to make conversation to calm us both down.
“Well, I could use some coffee,” I told him.
“Okay. Do you want to go to the coffee shop in the Village?”
“No!” I yelled, startling him.
He glanced at me, eyes wide, and then turned his attention back to driving. “Okay, okay. Sorry, not the Village.”
Still breathless, I said, “Andrei works there.”
“Well, we don’t want to go there, then.” Logan glared out at the road, perking up a little. “I know the perfect place.”
“Where?”
“You’ll see,” he responded cryptically.
****
Logan
My head spun at the implications of the note Andrei had left in Rae’s locker. He had threatened her. There was no other way the note could be construed. The fact that he had somehow known which locker was hers and had gotten into it without knowing the combination, suggested he had the ability to carry out the threat.
I wanted nothing more than to take Rae and run as far away as possible. I didn’t want to worry her family though. Hopefully Andrei didn’t have a way to track us. The most important thing now was to get her away from the school. Andrei could find her there. He could find her at home, also, but that would have to be dealt with later. I had to keep her safe for the time being. I just had to take things one step at a time, handling the present while trying to come up with a plan for later.