Page 29

He thrust his fingers through his chestnut hair. His knuckles were split, still healing, and his battered and bruised face darkened. “Yeah, of course.”

Willow noticed as well. “Jasmine won’t say anything to anyone about what she sees or hears here. This is just between us, yeah?”

He nodded, and that muscle in his jaw jumped. He was clenching his teeth again. He did that a lot around me, as if he were constantly biting something back, holding something in.

Willow’s phone rang and she quickly answered. “What’s up?”

Warrick’s voice filled the room, Violet’s wail right after. She’d hit speaker. “Dove, Vi’s messed all through the bed, and I can’t find the clean stuff. There’s…fuck, there’s shit everywhere, and I’m trying to fill her little tub, but every time I put her down, she cries harder.”

Wills looked up at us. “Is Relic at the clubhouse? Can he help you?”

Relic was also good with Vi. She liked him.

“He’s on patrol.”

“I’ve got this,” I said to Wills, because I could tell she was feeling torn. “We’ll be fine.” Just Ren and me, alone, that won’t be awkward at all. I inwardly cringed, thinking about our conversation in the field and what I’d implied. And let’s not forget the fact that I’d liked a photo of his bare abs on his girlfriend’s Nightscape page.

“You sure?” Her gaze was on Ren.

“I’m fine, Wills. Jaz will sort it out,” he said, not looking at me.

He walked her to the door and opened it. Willow stopped, and she studied his face. “You’re looking a bit better. Your healing’s kicked in.”

“I’ve had worse. Stop fussing.”

Her mouth twisted to the side. “I’m still gonna kick Rome’s ass when I see him next.”

I froze, and Ren stiffened, his shoulders squaring. “No, you’re going to say nothing and leave it alone.”

She grumbled. “Fine, but I’m pissed off with him.”

“I challenged him, not the other way around. And he was just as fucked up; he just heals faster.”

I’d lied to Ren, implied Rome and me were an item, then he went to the clubhouse and challenged him?

Wills nodded, but she still didn’t look happy. She finally said goodbye to both of us and left. Ren shut the door, and his shoulders were stiff as hell as he turned to face me. There were several questions on the tip of my tongue. Why did you fight Rome? Was top of the list. I swallowed it down, though. I was here for a reason, and that needed to be my main focus.

“So what happens now?” he said, pretending that entire conversation didn’t happen in front of me, like the one we’d had in the field was a figment of my imagination.

“You tell me what’s been going on and I fix it,” I said, doing the same.

I listened while he explained how spirits came and went through the funeral home. “There’s always someone here, but in the distance, you know, and it’s never bothered me, well, not until…” He rubbed his hands on his jean-covered thighs. “But lately, they’re closer.”

“You feel more than one?”

“I’m not sure. You can’t see them?”

I shook my head. “Right now I’m blocking them.” It was as if someone were calling, and I could choose to pick up the call or not. “I can feel them, though. There’s definitely more than one.” I felt them around Ren all the time. I’d assumed he didn’t. But I couldn’t decide how much of a risk they were to Ren or to me until I let them reach me again, which meant I’d have to take some extra safety measures. “So you’re more aware of…a presence around you?”

“Yeah, they’ve touched me, a cold hand on my skin, bumping up against me. Then last night…” He lifted his arm, showing me a burn in the outline of a hand. “This happened.”

Seriously not good. I schooled my features so I didn’t freak him out. They were getting desperate.

He cleared his throat. “Is there a chance they could…” He clenched his fists. “Do more?”

Like possess him? That’s what he was asking. I kept all traces of the alarm I was feeling off my face. He was worried enough as it was. I saw the question in his eyes, the question he didn’t want to ask, and we both knew the answer, whether he would admit it to himself or not. He knew who was haunting him, just like I did. “Wills inked you with the same rune as the hounds?”

He nodded.