“Ah, I see.” Riley blinked, then nodded. “So what was it that Jaxon not-so-cleverly avoided revealing earlier?”
I averted my gaze, glancing away from Graham’s unmade bed to the familiar items on Graham’s desk: his laptop, a messy pile of textbooks, and another gaming system.
“Kitty.” Riley’s voice was deeper. Nearer.
I turned and found him right behind me, watching as if waiting to see what I’d do next. I felt weighed and measured and I wasn’t sure if I liked it, but something inRiley’s expression told me that no matter how I measured up, I’d be enough for him.
My stomach fluttered at his serious look, and I chewed on my lip until the tang of my caramel lip balm reminded me to stop. “Not long before we broke up the last time, I began to suspect that Graham might have cheated on me.”
Riley’s expression turned hard. “He cheated on you?”
“Hemighthave cheated,” I said. “I never confirmed it.”
“Why did you suspect it?”
I shrugged. “My magic had started feeling off around him, which is silly I know, but it wasn’t normal.”
“It’s not silly. You should trust your magic.” Riley’s jaw tightened. “That’s why you gave him that potion.”
My cheeks burned. “It was silly, but I wanted to know if that’s why my magic had felt off or if there was something else.” I rifled through Graham’s notebook, looking for his schedule. Graham was a meticulous planner. It was one reason we’d gotten along so well. He wasn’t a neat freak like I was, but he had too much going on between school, his job, his intramural sports teams, and his social life not to keep track of everything.
“Doyou still care for Graham?”
“No.” I shook my head. I’d been letting go of him for months now, evicting him from my heart a little more each time we broke up until getting back together was more of a habit than anything. “Who he might have cheated with doesn’t matter. I was more curious about discovering what was going on with my magic than anything, but I still feel like I owe it to him to figure out who killed him.”
“Maybe it does matter.” Riley’s serious eyes met mine. “Until we rule that other woman out as a suspect, there’s no saying she didn’t have something to do with Graham’s death.”
I sucked in a breath. “Crap… you think so too?”
“I like it when we’re on the same page.” He gave me a small smile. “Maybe it was your instincts telling you to figure out the truth.”
I snorted. “Not quite. Elaine mentioned the love potion as a way to get back with Graham, and I considered it for a bit. Sometimes it’s easier to listen to others than to make my own decisions. But eventually I chose a veritas potion instead to find out the truth about whathappened. And look where that got me. I trusted my gut, and I messed everything up.”
“There’s nothing wrong with making mistakes.” His dark eyes were soft and serious, as if he wanted to make sure I not just heard but understood every word. “But you should make them because it’s something you want to do, not because someone else talked you into it. Don’t let other people write your story for you, Kitty.”
Something in my chest pulled tight. Even if I wanted to, I couldn’t deny that he was right. I let others tell me what to do far too often because I was scared of making my own choices and being wrong. Was I really so incapable of standing up for myself and making my own decisions that even Riley—someone I’d just met—could tell?
“That’s easier said than done,” I muttered as I checked the rest of the desk, trying to hide the way my heart leapt at his words. It was so much easier to trust others when they knew what they wanted and what they had to offer. But even still, it felt good to be seen by someone finally.
“Don’t underestimate yourself.” Riley walked closer and put a hand on my arm, as if his touch alone couldanchor me to something other than my insecurities. “You are so much more than you give yourself credit for.”
His words were like a flicker of candlelight in the dark—warm, unexpected, and just the thing to pull me out of the shadows… if I could trust them.
But could I? How much of what he was saying was because he truly thought that and how much was the potion? I shook his hand off and moved away. “You’re just saying that because—” My fae power hummed inside me as I walked by a narrow bookshelf crammed between the desk and the wall.
“Kitty?”
I focused on the shelves, tapping into my power more. I held my hand in front of me and waited for… what? I didn’t even know. But something drew my magic here, and I might as well trust it even if I couldn’t always trust myself.
My gaze fell on a small book wedged between two textbooks, and I pulled it out. The book fell open, revealing Graham’s planner. “I found it.”
“Impressive.” Riley’s grin pulled at the corner of his mouth. “How did you know it was there?”
“My magic found it.” I stared at the book in wonder. “I didn’t know my balancing magic could do that. It always seemed so… useless before.”
“It sounds like you’ve been overlooking its real value,” he said, “but your magic was one of the first things I noticed about you.” He caught my gaze and held it, like it was a secret he didn’t want to part with.
I dropped my attention to the book and flipped it open, studying Graham’s schedule for yesterday to avoid his piercing gaze. Everything seemed normal until Graham had written “meet E” at 8:00, but he’d crossed it out and written “meet Eve” at half-past 5:00 instead.
