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That I loved her.
I didn’t want to run her off the road, however, so I followed at a slow pace, keeping far enough back she wouldn’t realize I was there. When she stopped and got out, I’d beg her to let me explain.
She took the coastal road and pulled into the small strip mall on the edge of town. Since she was parking on the right side of the lot, I slowly passed the open area and pulled in on the opposite side, taking a spot far from her vehicle, beneath some trees with limbs extending outover the lot and among a cluster of other trucks to mask mine.
I got out, keeping low while I watched her leave her car. She held a white envelope. She didn’t look my way, but I remained hunched down beside a black truck, peering over the hood. An ice lord had distinctive coloring, even in a town catering to monsters. Other than a few aliens, I was the only blue guy living in or around Mystic Harbor.
When Melly rounded the far end of the strip mall as if she was going to enter one of the buildings from a back entrance, I bolted after her, slinking to the end of the building and watching as she strode through the pretty garden behind Eerie Editions. I’d read about the place online. They encouraged guests to purchase a drink or snack from their small coffee shop inside and sit in the garden to savor their beverage while reading.
A wooden box had been placed beneath a broad oak tree on the far edge of the garden, close by the dense woods that stretched at least five or so acres toward the shore.
Melly stooped down in front of the box. After peering around, she opened it and placed the envelope inside. She straightened and backed away, pausing beside a bench to look every which way again.
I remained in the shadow of the building; confident she didn’t see me.
There was no one around, not even inside the garden, though the bookstore didn’t open until noon on weekdays.
With a frown, she walked back the way she’d come. Iwaited, leaning against the building, letting the shade hide me.
She was walking past me when she came to an abrupt stop. Turning, she squinted toward me. “Elrik?”
“Can I explain?” I said.
31
MELLY
Leave it to an ice lord inspector to go incognito—or close to it.
“Did you follow me?” I asked in a shriller voice than I liked. I’d been swiping away furious tears since I saw him kissing a blue-skinned woman inside his office. By the time I’d reached the mini mall, I’d come up with a plan for both the blackmailer and him.
“I did.”
Not even hiding it.
“I assume that’s your ex.”
I nodded.
“Lovely. Why bother to follow me? I’d think you’d be back in your office making plans with . . . with whatever her name is.”
“Her name doesn’t matter.” He bumped off the side of the building and stalked right up to me, such a formidable presence that I stumbled backward. When I tripped over something, he grabbed my arm, holding meupright. He tugged me back into the shade of the building.
“What were you doing in the garden?” he asked in a deadly tone that might’ve intimidated a lesser woman. But a new Melly had stepped into wimpy Melly’s shoes, and she wasn’t having anything to do with a cheater.
I tugged away from him. “It’s none of your business.”
“I love you. Of course it’s my business.”
His words thrilled through me, and for a moment, I froze. “You don’t love me. If you did, you wouldn’t have kissed her.”
“Brittney kissed me, not the other way around.”
“That’s the most clichéd thing I’ve ever heard.” I lifted my voice, mimicking his. “Her lips were on mine. I couldn’t stop it from happening. It meant nothing.”
“It meant everything, because you seeing it caused you pain.”
If I wasn’t standing very close to him, I might not have heard his voice crack.
