Daniel turned his head away. "What about your brother?"
"I don't want to kiss him" I said, and pecked my lips along Daniel's jaw.
"He's here, you know." Daniel swallowed air. "I can taste him."
"Okay, let's put that on our 'Top Ten Things Not to Say While Making Out' list. Super senses are cool and all, but kinda not romantic. Besides, Jude's probably just picking up April's corsage for the dance... Oh, crap."
Daniel stiffened. "What is it?"
"I'm supposed to go to the dance with Pete tonight. We're sharing a car with April and Jude."
"No." Daniel let go of me. "You can't go out tonight. You have to cancel."
"You know I can't do that. Pete's probably already spent a ton of money. He's a nice guy. I can't just bail--"
"Pete's not as nice as you think," Daniel grumbled.
I laughed. "Are you jealous? Pete's just a friend--"
Daniel grabbed me by the hips. "Of course I'm jealous, Gracie. You just told me that you love me but you are going out with another guy. But this is more important than my jealousy. If I'm staying here, then you have to stay in. I've got enough to keep my eye on. I can't have you out there. Not tonight."
"What's with tonight?"
He looked down. "The full moon."
"The full moon?" I looked at the little crescent carved in his necklace. "You're afraid of the--"
"Even with this moonstone necklace, the wolf is hard to control under the light of the full moon. It's when the wolf has the most draw on the emotions." He bit his lip. "I try my hardest to never go into wolf form. Even though I can control my actions now, it scares me to give the wolf that much leeway. I've only gone wolf twice since I've been back. The last was when I was looking for James. The moon was waning, so I felt safer letting the wolf have a little freedom. But the first time ... it was the last full moon.
That time scared me. I'd turned and was miles from my place on Markham before I realized it." Daniel looked at me. "Do you remember the last full moon?"
"No." Where had the last month gone?
"It was the day I first saw you again." Daniel dropped his hands from my hips, but he didn't step away. "Your dad had asked me to stay away from you and Jude until we figured things out, but I couldn't. I think he knew I wouldn't be able to, either; he was just doing the fatherly thing." Daniel studied the back of his hands. "I've always liked you, Grace. I don't know if you knew that?"
My heart fluttered. "Really?"
"Ever since the day you marched home with that three-legged runt of a puppy, I knew that there was no one else quite like you. Gabriel told me to find someone who loved me--and I hoped if there was anyone in this world who could, it would be you.
"So when I saw your name in that art class, I was so curious. ... I remembered you as this spunky, unbelievably caring, totally bossy kid, and I couldn't help teasing you a bit. But then when I looked at you and saw how beautiful and amazing and strong you had become--it was like something woke up inside of me."
He stepped back now. As if he needed to put distance between us. "I'd never felt that way before. I didn't know I was capable of feeling that way ... but the wolf felt it, too. And when the full moon came out, it told me to go find you. It told me I couldn't stay away. I even tried locking myself in my room, but that didn't work. Like I said, I was almost to your house before I came to my senses. I had more control, but I still couldn't leave--not until I saw you again."
I gasped. "I saw you. You were that dog, that wolf, that sat under the walnut tree. The one that was watching me."
I don't know why that surprised me--that I'd seen him as a wolf. I guess I'd pictured some kind of grotesque mix of man and beast. But that dog had been beautiful, large--larger, I realized now, than any dog I'd ever seen before--and sleek, majestic. Like the sculpture of the wolf with Gabriel in the Garden of Angels.
"So you're afraid that now that you know--and the wolf knows--that I'm the one, the wolf will come for me?" I smiled, trying to lighten the mood. "At least I know I'll have one free night to myself a month."
"Three," Daniel said. "You'll have three nights to worry about."
"Huh?"
"The moon is technically full for three nights. I came looking for you on the third night of the last full moon. Tonight is the first of this month."
"Three nights to myself then? All the better, I guess. New relationships can be so time-consuming." I shrugged and tried to laugh.
Daniel didn't. "I wish making you lonely was the only thing I had to worry about. If I'm staying here, if we're going to be together, then I have other things to take care of tonight. That's why you need to stay in. Please, Gracie. Don't go to the dance, or dinner, or anywhere with Pete and your group. I can't be distracted tonight. I need you to be safe." "I can't just cancel."
"I've never been more serious, Grace. Please, do this for me." He engulfed me in his arms, pressing me to him with such urgency. "Promise me you'll stay out of harm's way." He kissed me then like he had under the walnut tree--like his life depended on it.
"Okay," I said, and sank into his arms.
Chapter Twenty-five the other one
BEFORE THE DANCE
What is it about promises? They should just be outlawed. Seriously, I'm going to hell for this one, I thought as April slipped one last bobby pin into my upswept hair.
"You look amazing," she said.
I'd tried to keep my promise to Daniel. I really did. I'd called April first thing when I got home. I thought I could soften the blow on Pete if I convinced her to call him for me and tell him I had the chicken pox or something equally contagious. But no, that had been a mistake.
"Don't do this to me!" April yelped over the line. I could hear the din of the Apple Valley Mall behind her. She'd just left Nails 18 and was fumbling with the phone, trying not to ruin her manicure. "I will never forgive you," she said, more than half meaning it. "Do you have any idea what this means to me? You will ruin my entire life if you don't go."
April's used-to-be-absent mother was keeping her on a tighter and tighter leash as more and more days passed without the police finding Jessica Day. She would only let Jude come over for "studying," and she'd agreed to the dance only if April shared a car with Pete and me. April was to go straight to dinner, then to the dance, and then back home, with absolutely no unplanned stops in between.
"But I'm sick. I can't go."
"No, you're not. You just told me that was your excuse for Pete." Crap.
"Please, please, please. You have to do this for me. I'll just die if I don't go to the dance with Jude."
I laughed. "Well, if it's a life-and-death situation ..." "Thank you, Grace. You will never regret this!" I really hoped I wouldn't.
It was just dinner, the dance, with no unplanned stops in between. Daniel wouldn't know I wasn't locked up in my room for the night. He wouldn't be distracted. I wouldn't be in danger.
Seriously, why did I never learn?
April strategically situated a lone, curling tendril down the side of my cheek. "Pete is going to flip when he sees you."
I hope not, I thought, but smiled and thanked her anyway.
April had almost gagged when she came over early and saw the hairspray-mates-with-mousse mess I'd made out of my hair. I don't know why my hands shook so much-- it's not like I was nervous for my date with Pete.
"You look like a 1980s beauty queen," she'd said, and sat me back down at the bathroom vanity.