One of the carefully wrapped slabs of meat in the front counter caught my eye then. It was a beautifully arranged full leg of lamb, complete with little decorative tufts of grass set up around it. It must have cost a fortune. I grabbed the end of the shank without hesitation, only wincing a little. I offered up a silent apology to the store owner, but his pricey merchandise was now going to double as a weapon.

  Armed, I dove for the door and barrelled into the freezer section again.

  The fight was still raging, and while Donovan was clearly taking a larger portion of the beating, since Roy was both stronger, and used to fighting with his abilities, one thing my boyfriend didn’t have was claws. My heart clenched at the sight of dozens of little slashing cuts through his clothing, thin streaks of blood staining the white cloth.

  Normally, the sight of two strong males fighting over me, even technically, would have had my inner Succubus purring with interest. But at the sight of Roy’s blood, I felt her focus with an intensity usually reserved for the bedroom, and she let loose a sound that I would have expected a lioness to make.

  For once, she and I were in total agreement. That ghoul was hurting our man. And we did not like it.

  Donovan made a slash at Roy’s ribs, and Roy managed to knock the blow wide, keeping his grip on Donovan’s arm as he twisted back and to the side. I’d seen enough. I didn’t want to watch Roy get hurt any more than he already was, so I charged in while Donovan’s attention was on the fight. I raised my makeshift weapon high over my head and clobbered the ghoul’s skull with the neatly trimmed lamb shank.

  The sound it made when meat struck bone was a kind of muffled thump, almost like punching a pillow. But the lamb shank was backed up by the power of a hungry, but furious Succubus, and it rocked him forward with a surprised bleat.

  Roy took his opening and slammed his mallet sized fist into Donovan’s jaw, snapping the ghoul’s face back in the other direction, hard enough that for a second, he looked like one of those bobble heads that used to be so popular.

  Donovan staggered back on unsteady legs, and I ran to put myself beside Roy, my chosen weapon a little tenderized, but still held high. The ghoul stared at us. Undead or not, the side of his face was already purpling in the shape of Roy’s knuckles.

  “What the hell are you people?” he rasped.

  Roy growled, a low basso warning.

  And that was when the door burst open for the second time that night.

  Taliyah stepped into the back room, her service weapon raised. She took one look around the room and swung the barrel towards Donovan. “Down on the ground. Now!”

  Donovan’s eyes narrowed. I saw him consider it. He saw Taliyah only as a middle-aged woman with a weapon he didn’t think would hurt him, and I could all but see the thought that he could burst past her to escape.

  Then Maverick stepped through to stand on her right and just behind her shoulder. His smile was more menacing than anything Donovan had managed, even with double the normal number of teeth. Dark red light swirled around Maverick’s hands like thick, bloody fog.

  “I’d do as she says, if I were you.” His voice was almost mild. Butter wouldn’t have melted in his mouth.

  Donovan stared, clearly taken aback. His gaze shot around the room, from me, to Roy, to Maverick and Taliyah. His complexion, already kind of ashen, paled. It was a little like watching a chihuahua realize that actually, no, he wasn’t the biggest dog in the room.

  He broke, sprinting back towards the apartment stairs.

  No one even managed to take as much as a step in pursuit before the air sort of crystalized.

  The ghoul’s feet stuck to the ground first, frost climbing up the tattered remains of his jeans. When he collapsed onto his knees, the palms he’d braced against the floor froze over. The ice climbed up and over his body, encasing him like armor, until it went all the way up his neck and stopped at his chin.

  Donovan’s eyes rolled wildly, trying to keep track of what was going on. “What the hell? What is this?”

  Taliyah scowled and shoved a lock of frost pale hair back behind her slightly pointed ear, and shoved her gun back into its holster with a little more aggression than I thought was strictly necessary.

  “This ought to be good.” She scowled, looking around at the destruction before looking back at Maverick. “At this rate, I’m going to need you to enchant more cells back at the precinct.”

  Maverick smiled, reaching for her hand like he was going to kiss it, and then thought better of it at the last second. “Anything for you, dearest. Though, I have to admit I’m disappointed. It was the absolute perfect opportunity, yet you didn’t say it.”

  Taliyah paused in stalking towards Donovan, who was locked in his ice prison. She raised a brow. “Say what?” Her voice was wary, as if she was already regretting asking.

  Maverick grinned, his teeth very white against the close cropped blackness of his beard. “Why, ‘Freeze’, of course.”

  Taliyah gave him the glower the comment deserved.

  It was a testament to our friendship that she didn’t shoot me when I laughed.

  Chapter Fifteen

  It took hours to get everything sorted.

  Maverick hauled Donovan away, once Taliyah unfroze him from the floor.

  And then she turned her displeasure on me which meant I had to go over everything with her from the first weird incident at Mrs. Petryka’s, right up until Donovan’s transformation, while Roy stood there with his arms crossed and his face like a thundercloud.

  Both of them were beyond mad at me and neither was hiding it. And I guessed I couldn’t blame them. Yes, I was definitely done with getting involved in things I shouldn’t have been involved in.

  It took almost an hour for Taliyah to lecture me, icily pointing out that I wasn’t a cop, and I wasn’t supposed to be investigating crimes, much less a murder. I figured it was probably best to let her get it all out rather than trying to point out that I hadn’t been investigating the murder, but the grave robberies. I didn’t want her to get annoyed enough to arrest me, and she had kind of raced to the rescue when Roy had called her.

  Though that still didn’t explain how Roy had known I was in trouble in the first place.

  Once Taliyah had chased us out of the butcher’s shop turned crime scene, I’d finally gotten the chance to ask him how he’d known I was in trouble as he walked me towards my car.

  Roy was quiet for a long time. It got to the point where I wasn’t sure if he was even going to answer my question at all, but apparently, he’d just been thinking it over and choosing his words carefully.

  “I felt it.”

  I waited, but he didn’t elaborate. “What do you mean, you felt it?”

  Roy took a deep breath. “I mean, I was tending the bar. I’d just made somebody a Manhattan, and all of a sudden there was this feeling of anger, and fear, and… a kind of echo of pain.” He made a frustrated sound in the back of his throat and shook his head, like he didn’t understand it any more than I did. “I don’t know how to explain it, Fifi, but I felt it, and I knew the emotions I was feeling weren’t my own.” He was quiet for another second and then shook his head even harder. “As strange as it sounds—the answer is: I just knew you were in trouble, and that you needed me and so I came.”

  I almost tripped. That feeling I had, when I was hiding from Donovan in the meat locker. When I’d wanted Roy there so badly, and it felt like my energy was flowing somewhere else. He’d actually felt that? He could sense me? Sense where I was?

  I guess we really were magically tied together.

  Roy stopped walking when I did, pivoting to face me. His expression was carefully blank.

  “I’m not sorry,” he said, in his usual blunt way. “I know it makes you uncomfortable. But if I hadn’t felt what I had, if I hadn’t known you were in trouble.” His jaw clenched, and his hands curled into fists at his side. “I don’t know what I would have done,” he finally gritted out.

  His hands were shaking.

  The realization hit me like a punch in the stomach. Big, confident, in control Roy, was scared for me. He was scared about what might have happened to me. And when I looked in his eyes, I could see why. He cared about me and for me—really, truly cared. And not the caring you feel because Fate tells you you should. This was different. It was a feeling that was welling up within him—something he could feel from the depth of his being. I could see as much in his eyes.

  Everything in me went soft then, like melted wax. I took a step forward, and then another, and finally just threw my arms around him and hugged him as tightly as I could. From the grunt of air that escaped him, it was pretty tight.

  What would I have done if Roy hadn’t come after me? I was holding my own against Donovan sort of. Maybe I might have gotten away from him. But I might not have. If it weren’t for a weird little twist of magic, I might not have even been standing here, hugging the man who had saved my life.

  Tears burned the corners of my eyes. I hadn’t cried the whole time Donovan was hunting me, but right here, while I was safe and in Roy’s arms, I could have bawled like a baby.

  It took me a couple shaky breaths, but I finally managed to get my voice to work. “Thank you for coming for me.”

  Roy’s arms came up around me, crushing me to his chest even tighter than I already was. He huffed against the top of my head, warm breath stirring the hair there. “Always.”

  ***

  A couple days later found me back in my office working on another mountain of paperwork. It felt like everything should have changed that night in the butcher’s shop with Donovan. I mean, I’d watched a man turn into a monster. Or a monster turn into a different monster. I could have died. I could have gotten eaten. Some weird, magical bond had brought Roy to my side when I’d needed him the most. Things should have been different, shouldn’t they have?

  But nothing had really changed. I’d taken a day off, but not even monsters and magical hijinks could hold back bureaucracy, I guessed.

  I’d tried to get some information out of Taliyah about what was going to happen with Donovan, but she’d just fixed me with a chilly glare and pretty pointedly told me to keep my nose out of it. The only information she had told me was that the butcher was safe and unharmed. I guessed that was fair. I just hoped we could be friends again because, as prickly as Taliyah was, I still liked her. I’d always liked her.

  I straightened my desk blotter and arranged my pens by color. Donovan would pay for his crimes. I was confident of that. It wasn’t really my business any longer, and I’d already wasted enough time on him. Hallowed Homes needed my attention now. There were plenty of people looking for their dream houses—people who didn’t have any intention of turning themselves into a cursed nightmare.

  I mean, I assumed as much anyway. Maybe that should have been one of the questions I asked new clients...

  After I’d started sorting my paperclips, I realized I couldn’t dawdle any longer. I was just really reluctant to go home. Angelo had, as predicted, been absolutely insufferable lately, and that was with me sanitizing the story of what had happened by at least sixty percent. I could never let him compare notes with Roy, or I’d acquire a nagging shadow and never get anything done again.

  I packed up my things and slipped out of my office and into the main room. Bea was still at her desk, looking pale and droopy. There were blue shadows under her eyes as she poked at her keyboard. I was pretty sure if she wasn’t wearing the little backpack she used when there was a chance that humans could walk into the office, that her shimmery dragonfly wings would be pressed flat against her back. Even her blonde curls had lost their bounce.

  Worry fluttered inside my chest, and I adjusted the strap of my bag on my shoulder. “Hey,” I said, softly. “You’re here late.”

  I thought I’d been pretty gentle, but Bea still jolted like I’d snuck up on her. She glanced at me, a smile coming to her face just a few seconds too late. “Yeah. I just wanted to finish up a few things. Stuff has been pretty hectic lately, and…” She swallowed. “You’re right. I think I’ll just head on home.”

  I took a step forward, reaching out instinctively. “You don’t have to, I just mean…” I let out a slow breath and tried again. “Bea, is there anything I can do to help?”

  Bea smiled, a little sadly. “No. Thank you, though. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

  What could I do but watch her scurry out, her head held low. It hurt. It hurt that one of my closest friends wouldn’t let me help her, wouldn’t tell me what was going on. I got it, that it was faerie stuff, and she couldn’t tell me everything. But not even a vent session over cocktails? When had we drifted apart so much? We used to be thick as thieves.

  I winced, rubbing my forehead. Scratch that, I knew exactly when. Even though I still believed that warning Taliyah about the Fae mess she was involved in had been the right thing to do, it had caused a lot of fallout, both personal and political. I hated the fact that helping Taliyah had made things so hard for Bea.

  She was the only Spring Fae in town, with no court to back her up in Haven Hollow. And thanks to my meddling, she was now caught in a really bad position between Autumn and Winter, with the Royals locked in a kind of cold war, (forgive the pun), over Taliyah refusing to marry Prince Reynard. Asking Bea to help Taliyah learn to control her magic had just made things worse, and Bea was stressed out all the time now.

  I’d just been trying to help. But that didn’t seem to be going well for me lately.

  I turned out the lights, locked up, and when I reached the parking lot, Roy was waiting for me, leaning against the side of his truck.

  My heart fluttered and dropped at the same time. I hadn’t gotten a chance to see him since the fiasco at the butcher’s shop. I wanted to rush over to him, and throw my arms around him and hold on tight. But I also felt uneasy, and not entirely sure I’d be welcome.

  He smiled at me. It was small and tired, but real. “Hey. Can we talk?”

  The words made my stomach plunge down to somewhere around my ankles. Those were never words that ended well for me in a relationship, not once. That it was Roy who was now saying them, well it sent me into a flashback to every bad break up I’d ever had.

  The reflex reaction that surged up in me was to blurt out that things weren’t working out and run for my car, to break up with him before he had the chance to stomp on my heart. But I owed Roy more than that, and if he was going to end things, then I had to at least hear him out.

  “Sure,” I said. My voice sounded weird and thin. “Here, or…?”

  He looked around the parking lot, brow furrowed. “No. Come back to my place? I’ll make you dinner.”

  My stomach growled at the offer, and a blush flooded my face. It had been a long time since my hastily scarfed sandwich that I’d eaten at my desk, and not feeding my inner demon always made me hungrier everywhere else. Something inside me relaxed a little at the offer, too.

  It seemed the obvious choice, to go to Roy’s. For one thing: he didn’t have an aggravating brother rattling around whenever he wasn’t off scoring some new conquest or other. For another, Roy’s place was surprisingly remote for still being inside Haven Hollow proper. On the surface, it made sense.

  But Roy’s house was his refuge. Sasquatch weren’t really big on sharing space with non family. They didn’t live in extremely remote wilderness locations for no reason, after all. Roy’s home was his own little slice of peace, where he could go and just be. If he was inviting me back there, then he probably wasn’t going to tell me that he didn’t want to see me anymore. Especially not with the offer of feeding me—food, that is.

  So, I followed him back in my own car, trying not to work myself up about anything that might be coming. When did Roy become so difficult to read? He was usually pretty straightforward, and he’d never had a problem speaking his mind. It was one of the things I liked about him. He didn’t play games.

  But he’d been quiet and kind of closed off in the parking lot. I hadn’t been able to tell what was going on inside his head. Was he angry? Upset?

  Maybe he did want to break up, but was trying to keep things friendly so I didn’t feel like I couldn’t come to him for Succubus feedings? I was fairly sure he wouldn’t want me to starve myself again. Oh, Hell, not pity. Anything but pity.

  It took me two tries to lock my door when I finally got to his house. My finger kept slipping off the button on my key. When I finally managed it, I turned to see Roy holding the door for me, and as I brushed past him, I caught a whiff of his scent. Woodsy, like clean pine and citrus, a little smoky, and something that was just Roy. Against my will, my shoulders relaxed. My inner Succubus caught the scent and started all but purring.

  I smacked her back down. We weren’t even sure if Roy still wanted to be with us. Maybe we shouldn’t try to climb him like a tree?

  Things were quiet as I got settled at the kitchen table. Roy puttered around for a bit, pulling together a simple dinner. He went with steak and eggs, of all things, but I was hungry enough not to care. It took a real effort not to fall on the offering like a starving wolf. And then we were quiet because we were putting food in our mouths.

  Eventually my nerves got to me. The butterflies tap dancing in my stomach made it impossible for me to eat any more of my dinner, so I put down my fork and cradled my water glass while Roy polished off his meal.

  The silence got to be too much for me, and I broke. “What did you want to talk about?”

  Roy wiped his face on a napkin before resting his arms on the table. He was quiet for a bit longer, and I recognized that he was picking out what he wanted to say.

  Finally, his intense dark eyes met mine. “Fifi, I want to be in your life.”

  I swallowed. My throat was so dry that it hurt. “I want that, too.”

  He nodded, like he’d actually needed that confirmed. “That’s good. But, here’s the thing. I want to be a part of your life. I don’t want to be someone that you feel you have to sneak around.”