“Rafa, what were you evendoinghere?!”
I look behind the Crown Victoria and toward his black SUV, which is half on the curb a block away. I notice that the driver’s side door is open like a barricade. He was probably behind it when he took his first shot against the elf. (Because that’s what Monster Hunters do. They shoot paranormals. Let’strynot to forget that part, right?)
My pointed question cuts him short. He scrubs the back of his neck, suddenly embarrassed. The words seem hard for him.
“I… didn’t like how I left things. I obviously misread stuff and acted like a total ass. So, I waited in my car outside your apartment, because I wanted to apologize—which I get is totally stalker-y, and it didn’t take long before I realized that. But then I saw you get thrown out the window—anduse magic to get back up and haul ass down the street.” He flashes a slight smile. “Pretty impressive, by the way. You definitely undersold what you could do.” His brow knits, his whole face tensing. “After you told me no, IknowI shouldn’t have stayed, and I’m sorry. Before the window and then the elf coming after you, I was about to leave, I swear…”
He lets out a frustrated huff, running out of words, before he looks back up from his boots, ashamed. Contrite.Vulnerable.
And yeah, he was being more than a bit stalker-y, which is not cool. But the truth is, he came to my rescue when I needed him.That’swhy he’s here. Because he’s a real hero, and that’s what real heroes do. And now helooks guilty about it. So for the second time this night, I’m wrestling with my own guilt for making the paranormal-killing Monster Hunter feel bad.
I sigh. Heavy. (And don’t even have to fake it.)
“Dude, whatever. You saved my life…”
“Still. You didn’t ask me to.” He frowns, sheepish. Like he broke some badass bro code or something.
I take a breath. Time to throw this hangdog a bone. He’s certainly not acting like he’s on to me. It actually seems like he might think I’m some kind of kick-butt wizard, which is not the worst thing in the world in terms of a cover, even if it’s not true. Either way, me being all standoffish isn’t going to help anything.
I put my hand on his upper arm (since his shoulder would literally be a stretch.) “Rafa, I’m glad I didn’t have to. For real.”
A shy expression of delight lights up his stoic, action-hero eyes. And I have to admit it—even though he was super pushy before (and shouldn’t have stayed outside my apartment!), I don’t hate the fact that this Instagram-worthy superhero seems to be into me.
And that immediately makes me think of Collin, since hehadbeen trying to play matchmaker between the two of us before. I’d been so shook that I didn’t even notice he was gone!
I look around as non-suspiciously as I can and immediately see him, casually leaning against the smashed-up car. Collin eyes Rafa appreciatively and gives me an encouraging grin, paired with a thumbs up.
Well, heck. Looks likehethinks I’m safe with this guy, and he’s supposed to know everything, right?
Rafa follows my gaze to the wreck. The steering column is still open, wires hanging out. “Not your car, huh?”
Oh, right! Crap! I stole a car tonight, didn’t I? I forgot that, too!
I wince. “Um, actually,no.”
That doesn’t faze him at all. “Didn’t think so. That was a big crash. No one out here to hear it this late at night, but there’ll be police. And now it’s covered with a bunch of your DNA.”
Double crap! There’s blood all over the steering wheel and everywhere. Myparanormalblood.
Rafa misreads the horror in my eyes. “I’m guessing you don’t have a spell forthat, huh? Don’t worry. The branch of my clan back East encountered the same problem once DNA testing became a thing. Luckily, we already had a way to get rid of evidence of paranormal activity and turns out, it works just as well on human genetic material. Hang on.”
He quickly returns to his SUV, grabbing something from the glove compartment, and comes back with what looks like one of those bug foggers. “Stand back.” He places it in the car, and pulls the soda can–like tab. The car immediately starts to fill with a thick mist that spills out of the driver’s side door and onto the street, where the fae fell.
He puts his hand on my shoulder, guiding me away like he did at the Lake Street house. “The chemical dissolves fingerprints, and even hair, which is why you don’t want to gettooclose to it.” His lips quirk, amused at his own joke.
I glance at his hand and he immediately removes it, wincing.
“Sorry,” he says.
But I bump his elbow gently to let him know we’re still cool. (I’m sure a real bro would actually punch him in the shoulder or something—you know,bromantically—but I don’t think I’ll be able to pull it off.) His expression brightens briefly in response, but then he looks around.
“We should go. Someone could come by any minute.”
“All right,” I say. My apartment is only ten blocks away. I could walk it, but because I’m wanting to keep things friendly (and Iamdead tired), I add, “Would you mind giving me a lift back to my apartment? I’d prefer not to have to hot-wire another car.”
Bigger smile. “No problem.”
Rafa rolls his black behemoth of an SUV off the curb, with me in the passenger seat. Collin appears behind him, in the back seat, next to the duster, shotgun, and scabbard placed where they were the last time. The Monster Hunter is back to being the strong, silent type—no questions asked. Not even why the hell an elf warrior would be throwing me out of windows and looking to stab me in the middle of the night.
