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“I’m coming with you.” Tallak got to his feet. “I don’t want you checking this shit out alone.”
She considered arguing with him, giving him a speech about how she was very much capable of handling any threats herself, but he had this determined set to his jaw. Tallak on a mission was an unstoppable force. She could fight with him about this for half an hour, and in the end, he’d simply follow her anyway.
With a sigh, she nodded, and she collected her supplies before they made their way outside. Even though she’d grabbed her car keys, Tallak unswervingly steered her toward the Tesla, muttering something about how it was a lot safer than her ten-year-old Honda. With a roll of her eyes, she relented and got into his car.
They drove in silence, for which she was quite grateful, as it allowed her to follow her own thoughts, to dissect and detangle the mess of feelings inside her.
She was running scared.
That moment, in the kitchen, she’d felt a shift. Not like two pieces clicking together, but more like tectonic plates clashing, their rumble rattling her bones…creating something new and powerful.
And it terrified her.
This thing between them…when had it stopped being a carefree diversion? When had she lost her footing and stumbled into a depth that pulled her under, toward a place where, next to joy and happiness, lurked the danger of being hurt all the more for how much she cared?
This demon, who’d once pushed all her buttons for the wrong reasons, had somehow started to chip away at her fortifications, threatening to make her fall for him.
And would that be so bad? a little voice inside her whispered. To have him, all of him, as yours, to be his completely, without reservations?
Her breath hitched, her chest too tight, the pain of wanting the same thing she feared tearing her apart.
I thought I was over this. Her hands clenched into fists. He shouldn’t have this power over me anymore. And yet, the legacy of Robert’s abuse ran deep, the claw marks he’d left in her soul festering even still, after all this time.
His final triumph, wasn’t it? To have broken her so thoroughly that she was too afraid to reach out and embrace happiness when it was right in front of her.
“You okay, love?”
Tallak’s question jolted her out of her dark thought spiral.
She cleared her throat. “Yes, of course. Why?”
“You’re crying.” He shot her a look.
She touched her face, and her fingers came away wet. “Oh.”
“What is it?” he asked softly.
You, she thought. You’re everything that’s great and perfect, and I want you so much it scares me. You scare me. Because you could be the best thing that’s ever happened to me, if only I could get out of my stupid head and go for it.
With a shuddering breath, she wiped her tears away. “Just thinking about Rose again,” she said, hating herself for how she lied to him. Rose was an ever-present concern in her mind, but she was not the reason for these tears. “I haven’t seen her since last night. I just hope she came home.”
“She’ll come around. Probably just needs some time to cool off.”
“I hope you’re right. I need to apologize to her when I see her again.” She sighed. “And then just hope she’ll forgive me.”
“She’ll be mad not to,” he said. “You’ve been nothing but kind to her, and you’ve been busting your ass trying to bond with her while giving her space. She’ll realize that.”
She glanced at him then, drank in his profile as he watched the road. He was so quietly confident, exuding strength and reassurance. Just looking at him unraveled some of the knots in her chest, made her breathe easier.
“We’re here.”
His words broke her stare, and she glanced at the residential neighborhood, the abandoned house with the murder site a few yards down the street. It would be harder to get in unnoticed during the day, but waiting until nightfall was not an option. She had to find out if there were other sigils—and where—the sooner the better.
“Let’s approach from the back,” she said. “See if there’s a way inside that isn’t as much on display as the front door.”
She grabbed her tool bag from the back seat, and they got out of the car, walking down the sidewalk toward the alley that snaked around the back of the house. Distantly, the sound of kids screeching in play reached them, and here and there a dog barked. It was Sunday around noon, and most people were home from work, children enjoying their weekend…really not the best time to be breaking into a recent crime scene. The only thing working in their favor was the heavy rain shower that had started a few minutes ago. It would chase pretty much everyone inside their houses, making it less likely that someone would see them both from their backyard.
Of course, it also meant Hazel was soaked through in less than a minute, her raincoat lying forgotten back at home. She glanced at Tallak, whose T-shirt was plastered to his skin, every line of muscle deliciously delineated.
