Page 45 of Grim Tidings

Beads of water drip down her forehead, over the swells of her cheeks, down her full lips. I stare at her mouth long enough to watch the way it changes with her smile. Her lips are so red they look like candy apples.

She paddles around me. Her foot brushes against my thigh. “Those Guardian instincts are no joke, huh?”

It’s not the first time she’s used my designation against me, and it’s an uncomfortable reminder that Darcy is playing her own games. She’s tossing out information about her assignment like stale crusts in the water, waiting for me to paddle over like a sad little duck.

Well, I’m done being her entertainment. I turn and swim toward a small ladder on the left-hand side of the dock. My jeans feel like cement around my thighs, my shirt clinging to my chest like a second skin.

I don’t know what I was thinking.

She’s dead, I remind myself. She doesn’t need you to save her.

Darcy laughs and I push my body harder, cutting through the water until my muscles burn. There’s a life at stake, and she’s fucking with me. Crossing items off an arbitrary list to keep me busy. Rattling my instincts on purpose.

My hands grip the ladder rail so hard the metal bends.

Behind me, Darcy goes quiet.

“It was just a joke, Gabriel.”

“Very funny,” I snap, pulling myself back onto the dock. Water sluices off my body in a sheet. I shake my hair like a dog, trying to shake some sense into myself at the same time.

Darcy follows me, the ladder creaking beneath her weight.

“So, what? You can dish it out but not take it?” She steps up onto the dock, curling her hands around her dark hair and squeezing. Water drips down her forearms, over the curve of her elbows. “Don’t pretend you didn’t pick this one on purpose, Gabriel. You were giddy the whole drive here.”

“I don’t get giddy.”

“You were wiggling in your seat like an overactive toddler.” She shakes her hands out and water flies in every direction. There’s a leaf stuck just beneath her collarbone. A badge of honor the river left with her.

I can’t think of an appropriate comeback when she’s standing there like that. In nothing but her underwear, I can see every freckle. The way her stomach hollows with every shaky inhale. The tight press of her nipples against the delicate fabric of her bra.

Darcy has me exactly where she wants me. Distracted and dis-armed.

I clear my throat. “I want what you owe me.”

“Let me dry off first.” She curls her arms around herself, glancing at the empty dock with a frown. “You didn’t happen to bring a towel, did you?”

I snap my fingers, and a burst of magic explodes from my body with a little too much force, grateful for the outlet. My clothes and hair immediately dry.

Darcy frowns at me, still shivering. “Oh.”

I bend down to retrieve my shirt and jacket. “Just use your magic.”

“My magic doesn’t work like that.”

“Like what?”

She gestures with her hands, another fierce shiver racking her body. I hesitate. She shouldn’t be able to feel the cold.

“My magic relies on circumstances,” she explains, her voice tight and her teeth clenched around each word. “I can do small things …”

I think of the flame at the tip of her middle finger, extended in my direction.

“But I can’t summon the bulk of my power unless someone is—” She shoots me a look. “Well, I can’t access most of my magic unless someone is dying.”

“You used your magic that first night.”

“Not exactly.” She saws her teeth over her bottom lip. “Maybe it’s different for other Reapers, but mine just … happens, I guess. When you kissed me, my magic must have reacted to yours.”