Renegade (35 page)

His arms tightened around me, but he didn’t say anything until we’ made a full turn. “I don’t know.”

“But you have an idea.” I knew he’d been thinking about this like I had. “We both know it’s weird he’s been out of that cell for this long and hasn’t really come for me.”

“He hasn’t exactly left you alone, either.”

I thought about tonight, the night at the gym, and even what happened after school in the chemistry lab. I thought about the werebats that seemed to fly around my house at night, colliding with the window like they were trying to get inside to eat me. Was he trying to scare me? Drive me out of my mind and then come for me? Did he think I would put up less of a fight?

“Riley said something to me that night you found that body in your car,” Sam began. We still moved in lazy circles. Our feet bumped together, and I was still tight in his embrace.

It seemed odd that this moment could still feel romantic when we were talking about death and kidnapping. I guess it didn’t matter what the topic was when I managed to steal a few precious moments alone with Sam.

“What?” I snuggled in a little closer against him.

“The other Princes in hell, they don’t know who the Soul Reaper is. They know Beelzebub found him, but he never told anyone who it was.”

“Maybe he didn’t have time,” I reasoned. “We locked him up right after I admitted who I was.”

He shook his head and his chin rubbed against the top of my head. “He’s been out. He might be here on Earth, but he could’ve sent word. Hecate knows too. Where has she been? She’s been way too quiet.”

I’d almost forgotten about Hecate. “You’re right.”

“I wish I wasn’t,” he murmured.

“You think he would tell the others who I was. The odds of me being killed would definitely be in his favor then.”

“I won’t let them hurt you,” he vowed. It was a sentence he repeated faithfully almost from the day we met. Back then it had been a phrase to hold on to, a promise that made me less afraid. It made whatever I looked over my shoulder for less frightening and more manageable. I’ve grown stronger since he first started saying those words to me. I now know I don’t need him to save me, that I could do that all on my own.

Yet the words still meant something.

They meant I wasn’t alone. They meant I never would be. And they gave me hope that when all the dust settled from this war that raged between me and hell, Sam would still be there—we would still have each other.

“I don’t think he wants me dead anymore, Sam,” I whispered. “If he did, they’d be coming for me.”

“He wants something.” Sam agreed. “He wants you.”

Why?
The unanswered question hung in the air. Neither of us asked it because we didn’t yet know the answer.

I tipped my head back and looked up, noting there was a molten gold lightning storm in Sam’s eyes. “Too bad for him. I’m already taken.”

His lips were possessive when they covered mine. He wasn’t rough or mean, but it was as if he wanted to embed some kind of territorial mark within me, that he wanted to leave no doubt to anyone exactly to whom I belonged. I kissed him back with equal passion. I didn’t mind being owned by him. If there was one place I belonged, it was in his arms. Being with him didn’t feel like binds or chains. It felt free.

He pushed the cardigan off my shoulders, sliding it over my arms until it fell away, and he tossed it on the bed. He reached up to unwind the scarf draped around my neck as my hands when to the zipper on his hoodie.

Then the door to the room opened.

Light from the hallway flooded the room and Sam and I pulled apart to see Kimber sweep into the room followed by Cole and Gemma.

We’re going to have to move to Switzerland to get some time alone,
Sam said through our Mindbond.

Apparently,
I replied.

“I’m sorry to interrupt your make-out session,” Kimber said, but it was without some of her usual snark. “But I wanted to tell you the cops are gone.”

She looked tired and pale. Her aura was subdued—even the black color that marked her as a witch seemed smaller—and I knew tonight’s events weighed on her. “Are you okay?”

Riley stepped into the room as I spoke, leaning against the wall and crossing his arms over his chest.

“Peachy,” she replied.

“How suspicious are the police?” Sam asked.

“They aren’t.” She sniffed.

“Not at all?” I asked.

“They were, but I took care of it.”

I glanced at Sam to see if he understood what she meant and I could tell by the look on his face he didn’t.

Riley snorted. “She used her magic to influence how they viewed tonight’s events.”

My eyes shot to Kimber. She turned around and glared at Riley. “Don’t think I didn’t see you snooping around out there, watching.”

Riley yawned.

“Kimber,” I began and she twirled back around, her hair falling over her shoulders.

“I did what I had to do, Heven.” She sighed. “I didn’t exactly lie. I just made sure none of us were going to be suspects.”

“Thanks, Kimber,” Cole said from behind her. “We appreciate you handling it.”

She turned to face him, completely ignoring Gemma. “Did that fog touch you? Where were you when it started spreading.”

“I wasn’t near the house when it all started. We didn’t know about it until the wind started howling and I thought it might be you. I got close enough to see that stuff being blown away and then those bats showed up.”

“I’m glad you didn’t get hurt,” she told him, pink blooming in her aura.

“I’m glad you’re okay, too.” Only when he said that did Kimber acknowledge Gemma’s presence, almost as if she wanted to be certain she heard that Cole had been concerned about her.

“I don’t think Beelzebub will be back tonight,” Gemma said, ignoring Kimber’s stare.

“Me either,” Sam agreed.

“Good. We can talk about all this doom and gloom stuff later. I’m exhausted and I want a shower,” Kimber said, walking toward the door. I wondered if all the magic she used had somehow drained her energy and that’s what made her so subdued. Then she stopped and said, “You guys remember where everything is, right?”

I nodded and so did Cole.

“I’ll see you in the morning.”

On her way past Riley, she stopped and looked at him. “You’re staying?”

I was surprised he was invited.

He glanced at her with an unreadable expression on his face. Then he smirked. “Depends. Are the sheets a high-quality thread count? I can’t possibly sleep on anything less than six fifty.”

She snorted and the colors in her aura actually brightened. “Like you know anything about thread count.”

“You’d be surprised the things I know,” he said slyly.

She rolled her eyes. “Come on, then. I’ll show you to your room. It has a shower. You should use it. You smell.”

They disappeared from the room. I could hear them bickering all the way down the hall.

“I’ll see you guys later,” Gemma said.

“I’ll walk you out,” Cole called and followed her from the room, pulling the door shut behind him.

“I didn’t think they would ever leave,” Sam said.

“Right?”

“Now where were we?” he asked, a smile pulling at his lips, and he grabbed hold of my scarf and slowly began towing me forward.

“Right about here.” I unzipped the hoodie and slid my hands beneath both his shirts.

He made a sound in the back of his throat as we proceeded to pick up exactly where we left off.

*     *     *

“The discovery of three more bodies during this last weekend of October have left the police more desperate than ever for any kind of lead that will shed some light onto the death epidemic that seems to be spreading over what was once considered a sleepy Maine town.”

The voice of the female newscaster was the first thing that Sam and I heard when we left the bedroom and wandered into Kimber’s sprawling upgraded kitchen. Her grim report had the warm feelings of spending the night in Sam’s arms evaporating into the chilly morning air.

As we turned the corner, I could see Kimber standing at the granite-topped island, cupping a latte in her hands and staring at the TV mounted on the wall. Behind her, Riley sat at the island, a huge bowl of cereal in front of him as well as a steaming cup of coffee.

“Late last night, police responded to a call from one of the upscale homes that bordered one of the many lakes in our area. What they thought would turn out to be a teenager’s Halloween prank ended in two body bags and added to a death count that just won’t stop rising.”

The picture on the screen cut to a shot of an ambulance with flashing lights pulling up to the entrance of the hospital, the back doors being opened, and two body bags being wheeled inside.

“The coroner’s office has not yet announced the identity of one of the bodies found, only telling Eyewitness News they would be using dental records to depend on a positive ID, which leads this reporter to believe the condition of one of the bodies was different than the others that have been found throughout the county as of late.”

I stopped at the counter next to Riley, my eyes glued to the TV. He glanced up and pushed the coffee in front of me. I lifted the brew to my lips, waiting for the reporter to continue.

“The identity of the second body found has already been released.”
She looked down at a card in her hand and then back at the screen. “
John Matthew Reynolds, known simply as Johnny to his friends, seems to have been the latest victim of whoever has been leaving a trail of death over the past few weeks. Marks on the body are consistent with the others found and police are determined now more than ever to put a stop to these horrific murders.”

I looked at Sam to see if he just realized the same thing I did, but he was still watching the report with a grim look on his face.

A picture of the DJ from last night flashed onto the screen. He was grinning in the picture and he was very young. Anger welled up inside me at the senseless loss of yet another life.