Page 75 of Awakened
Even Sera was astounded by his behavior as she turned to look at him. Kathleen gaped at him as Danielle froze in the middle of standing up. Doug, Jack, and Mike all turned to look at him.
"Liam," she said soothingly.
The set of his chin, and the twitching muscle in his cheek let her know that he would not tolerate this. She recalled his words in the bathroom, and she knew, without a doubt, that he would attempt to kill everyone here before she ever removed an article of clothing. She would not allow that to happen. Besides, she didn't want to play. The idea of seeing Liam stripping was more upsetting to her than having to remove her own clothes. A spark of anger shot through her as she thought about Kathleen and Danielle looking upon what was hers.
"I don't want to play," she told them. "Why don't we play rummy, or something else?"
Kathleen stared at her, and then back up at Liam. "Fine, can I talk to you for a minute, Sera?"
She knew Kathleen almost as well as she knew herself, and she knew that what Kathleen had to say was important. Her mind instantly shot to Mike. If there was any way that she might be able to help her friend from being hurt, then she was going to do it.
"Yeah, sure."
"Good. Come on Danielle."
She squeezed Liam's hands reassuringly. They eased upon her waist, and finally released her. She cast him a small smile before following Kathleen out of the kitchen. She didn't head to the living room, but veered sharply to the left. Sera lifted an eyebrow, but followed her down the hall. Kathleen swung the door to Sera's room open and stepped inside. She waited for both of them to enter before closing it.
"What's going on?" Kathleen demanded instantly.
"What are you talking about?" Sera inquired.
Kathleen planted her hands firmly on her hips. "I mean, what is going on?"
"Kathleen..."
"No!" she cut off abruptly. "Okay, you don't want to play strip poker, I understand that. I've known you for three years now, and I know that's not your kind of game, but what just happened in there?"
Sera's mouth dropped further with every higher pitched word that Kathleen shouted. "What are you talking about?" she asked.
Kathleen's nostrils flared as she inhaled harshly. "What am I talking about?" she sputtered in disbelief. "What am I talking about?"
"Kathleen, calm down."
Kathleen took a deep breath and closed her eyes before opening them again. "Sera, he's so possessive of you! He's so... oh I don't know. You didn't see the look in his eyes. For a second I thought they were red!"
Sera's heart leapt into her throat but she managed to keep her face completely impassive. "That's crazy, and I have no idea what you're talking about."
Sera worried that Kathleen was going to start screeching again. Danielle headed her off. "I thought I saw the same thing, but it was only the candlelight. However, I think that I know what Kathleen is talking about."
Sera cast her a glance. "And what would that be?" she asked.
"Has he hit you?" Kathleen demanded.
"What?" Sera was so aghast that the word barely squeaked past her throat.
"Has he hit you?" she almost screamed.
"Kathleen calm down, please," Sera said.
"Don't tell me to calm down!"
Danielle turned to her. "You need to calm down," she said calmly.
For a moment Sera was afraid that Kathleen's head was actually going to explode off her shoulders. Then, she took a deep breath, closed her eyes, and seemed to gain some control of herself. "I'm calm," she said. Her clear blue eyes landing upon Sera again. "Has he hit you?"
"Of course not."
"Sera, I am not kidding here. You're my best friend and I love you. I don't want to see you hurt."
