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Owen steps in front of me, his hands on my shoulders.
When his mouth moves, I shake my head, unable to hear him past the rising waves. My eyes roll toward the back of the shop, seeking the body that lies just past the shelves.
Owen cups my face, his palms blocking everything in my periphery, leaving only him.
He breathes in deeply, and my burning lungs follow suit, two balloons expanding until my head feels like it will float away. But the taste of pennies on my tongue and in my stomach won’t let me escape so easily.
With an encouraging nod, he blows his breath out, and it fans across my face, warm and still smelling of coffee from breakfast.
The air escapes my lungs, my body folding in on itself. Had I been playing on the beach with Aspen and Tris while Drake lay here gasping his last breath?
Hot tears burn my eyes and leave fiery trails down my cheeks. I promised to protect our new citizens, but who am I to stand against a nightmare?
Owen’s fingers slip into my hair at the back of my head, and he pulls me gently against his chest.
The next breath I take draws in Owen’s comforting scent. My childhood friend. My protector. Hand lifting, I clutch the soft material under my cheek and sob out the ocean inside me.
I barely knew Drake, but he’d been someone I spoke to while on deliveries, someone I sat across the table from and shared a meal within my house. How can that have been so recently, and now will never happen again? So much potential just snuffed out.
Tears fall for a friend I almost had. For the place within our town that he was building for himself. For the blossoming romance between him and Abony that was crushed before it bloomed.
When the waves stop crashing through my body, other sounds replace them. Familiar, hushed voices, nearly drowned out by the pound of rain on the rooftop.
Owen strokes my back, his body rocking slowly from side to side, a motion meant to soothe.
Unable to bear the comfort, I push back.
His arms tense for a moment before they loosen, allowing the distance, though his hands stay on me.
Outside the large display window, rain pelts the street and lightning flashes through the sky. The promised storm has come earlier than predicted, but the deluge isn’t enough to chase away the people huddled under the eaves, peering into the shop.
Can they smell death like Barron could? Does knowing a vampire died this time instead of a wolf shifter offer some kind of relief?
Word will spread soon that another body has been found, this one in the heart of Hartford Cove. There will be no hiding it this time.
I peer toward the sound of other voices. “What’s going on?”
“Dr. Lopez and Tris are back there, preparing to move the body.” Owen rubs my arms. “Haut and Ambros are dealing with the crime scene.”
My stomach lurches, my breakfast making a bid to revolt, but I choke it down. Death already hangs in the air. I won’t add the stench of bile.
Owen cups my elbows. “I don’t suppose I can convince you to leave?”
When I shake my head, he leads me over to the check-out counter and pulls a stool out for me to sit.
I stare out over the low bookshelves and tables, no longer finding comfort in this cozy space. The killer stole more than Drake’s life when he murdered him here. The safety these walls provided was also taken.
First the body outside my home, where my mother died, and now my almost-friend, killed in the one place in town where I felt most secure, in Barron’s bookshop.
The thoughts suffocate me, an inescapable curse.
Outside, I watch as Zane, Drake’s roommate, arrives. The dark clouds blocking out the sun must have been enough for him to step out during the day.
He pushes past Deputy Arden, who guardes the door.
As Zane enters the bookstore, his face crumples into a mask of grief and anger. “Where is he?”
Ros hurries forward from the back. “Zane, you shouldn’t be here.”
