But Maddox wasn’t going to admit feelings for me. He wasn’t going to acknowledge that he could feel the heat of my skin the same way I could feel the blistering intensity of his. Nor would he admit that his blood had pooled between his legs, which made his dick press firmly into my thigh.
No, we would both ignore that for now. Maybe forever.
Maddox stood and extended a hand down to me. “Get up. We’re going home.”
I grieved for the loss of the closeness we’d had a moment ago. Maddox was the kind of anchor that I needed. I wanted to curl into him and let him hold me tight so that my power couldn’t reach us.
That was a fool desire considering that my power came from within me. I would never be able to escape it like that. If I wanted peace, I would have to give up my arcana—and a foolish part of me wasn’t ready for that yet.
Speaking of fools…
“The killer, the one hunting me, isn’t from Lakesedge,” I said after Maddox helped me to my feet.
He lifted a brow curiously. “What makes you say that?”
“Just about everyone in town knows that Queen Beryl’s court is under Lake Onondaga. Hosting the hostage exchange there could have gotten him killed.”
Maddox’s lips twisted to the side. “Counterpoint: he did it because he knew that alien would give him a good distraction, so he could escape if he needed to.”
“Don’t call Beryl an alien to her face. She’s a fae queen.” I laughed. My mood quickly sobered. “The killer took a huge risk if that’s the case, though. How was he to know that Beryl would fixate on Cerri so quickly? We didn’t even expect that to happen. Cerri doesn’t have any history with Beryl, as far as anyone knows.
“The killer should have been the center of Beryl’s attention because he was the one who started the fight. He was the one to impose on Beryl’s territory.”
Beryl’s beef with Cerri had taken us all by surprise. It shouldn’t have gone down that way. The killer had gotten lucky.
“You’re telling me that no one knew about your friend’s history with the local alien queen?” Maddox pressed. “That woman seemed like the type to make all of her grudges known. Everyone far and wide likely knew that your friend pissed in her cornflakes.”
I rolled my eyes. The urge to shake him nearly bowled me over, but I held it together.
Pressing a finger to his chest, I said, “You need to learn to listen.No one knew. Not even Cerri.This isn’t an instance where Cerri accidentally insulted Beryl or something. You heard what Beryl said.”
Beryl killed Cerri’s family.
But I saw Cerri’s mom at the grocery store last week. And her dad was still running his vehicle service center. I had an appointment there next month. As far as I could tell, Cerri’s shifter family was safe and sound.
That meant that Beryl had killed someone else.
I shook myself free of my thoughts. I couldn’t afford to go digging through Cerri’s mysteries when I had my own to sift through.
“Are you ready to go knee deep into the supernatural community?” I asked Maddox.
He gave me a skeptical look, one brow raised. There were dark circles under his eyes. I could feel them weighing my own down. This was taking a lot out of us. If we didn’t stop this killer soon, then we would have a problem on our hands.
“So, you suddenly have the will to live?” Maddox asked, leaning in close.
I bit my lower lip. I’d been certain he hadn’t noticed anything earlier. Tearing my gaze away from his, I took in the pale blue spirits drifting around the graveyard. Barely half an hour ago, I’d been prepared to give up my life.
“I don’t want people to keep getting hurt because of me,” I said softly.
Maddox grunted. “If you give this man what he wants, he’ll keep hurting others. Giving in won’t change anything. Stopping him is the only way to make sure he can’t keep doing this.”
While Maddox was right, I didn’t know if I could do it. My power was growing in the most terrifying ways. That rabbit I’d pulled from the afterlife had been all too willing to do my bidding. If I pulled a person from the afterlife and shoved them into a body, would they be bound to my will, too?
I didn’t want the ability to do that. A power that dark belonged in no one’s hands.
But I had to remember that this man was the same as me: a Reaper. He would have the power to pluck a soul out of their afterlife, too. If I let him escape, he could do heinous things. I’d never forgive myself if I let that happen.
Not that I’d be in a position to forgive anyone if I let him kill me. There would be no afterlife for me. He would take my soul the same way he took the others.