“I need to knoweverything.”
I sighed. “We’re going to have to go somewhere else for that. I don’t get off work for another hour.”
“The two of you are scaring people!” Vi shouted from the front. “You can clock out an hour early and take your doom ‘n gloom aura out of here.”
Vi let out a smalloof. I assumed that Ness elbowed her.
“What?” Vi whispered at the counter. “I’muncomfortable. I imagine everyone else is, too.”
Ness sighed. “Go ahead and take the afternoon off. We have you covered.”
I stole a glance at Maddox. He kept his expression carefully guarded. If he was glad to have me all to himself, he showed no sign. I waited for him to start hauling me off to his car so he could drag me back to the precinct interrogation room. When he didn’t move, I took off my apron and ran to the computer to clock out.
Much to my surprise, Maddox brought my coffee up to meet me at the door. I took it from him with only a little bit of suspicion. He was a cop, though. He wasn’t going to poison my drink while I wasn’t looking.
Almost immediately, I regretted leaving work. Outside, the drone of the dead wandering the city crashed upon me. My head throbbed in response. Spirits wailed in the middle of the street, where they’d likely been hit by drivers. Some shouted at buildings they’d fallen off of.
“Are you sure that boss of yours isn’t the killer?” Maddox asked as we walked.
I stopped in my tracks. He got a few steps ahead of me before turning. His expression was unreadable. Whatever he was thinking, it was trapped behind that blank mask he wore so often.
“Not a chance,” I said. “If you even think about accusing her of this, then I’ll personally see to it that you are haunted for the rest of your life.”
He snorted. “Too late. I’m already haunted.”
Taken aback, I didn’t know what to say. There was a story there, one that I wanted to get to the bottom of, but I knew I wouldn’t get anything out of him now. I had his name, though. The internet was a wonderful thing, full of information. I would look him up later.
For now, I had to make sure he understood that we weren’t looking at my friends like they were suspects.
“Everyone I know is a good person.” I explained what Vi and Ness were.
When Maddox asked about Cerri, the best I could offer was a shrug.
“We aren’t sure. I don’t think she really knows. Her arcana involves making potions, but no one knows why. She was born to shifter parents, but she has no animal form. She seems more like a witch than anything.”
Maddox grumbled under his breath.
“Excuse me?” I prodded.
“You keep interesting company for someone who says they’re innocent.” He eyed me. “Audra Miura confessed to murder when I met her. The woman you call ness is Vanessa Blackford, who was last seen with three missing people.”
I gave him a tight yet sad smile. “You just don’t understand. This is what it’s like being a supernatural. I’m not the only one followed by death.”
The grim twist of his lips and the unimpressed glare he leveled upon me said that wasn’t enough for him. This was a man of the law, devoted to justice. To Maddox, if there was a will, there was a way. He thought that he would be able to rise above the murder, above the violence of it all.
At an intersection, I punched the crosswalk button and turned away from Maddox while my mind churned. My coffee warmed my hand, so I tried my best to focus on that. It did little to ground me. My thoughts flew in every direction, from the ghost at the opposite corner to Ness’s recent death.
The crosswalk buzzed. Without thinking, I stepped forward.
A chill tiptoed up my spine. I shuddered. Death was nearby.
“Addie!” Maddox shouted.
Time slowed. I lifted my head, and the world came into focus. A bus bore down on me. I swallowed and tried to jump out of the way, but my body refused to move. Every muscle stiffened, ready for impact.
The bus driver would see me, though. He would stop. This bus wasn’t going to hit me full speed. Right?
The bus showed no signs of stopping. Time was speeding up. Every part of me rioted. I wanted to move. I knew I had to move, but my body wouldn’t respond.