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“You’d say that if you had a leg cut off and were spurting blood everywhere,” he grumbled.
His concern was so very evident in both his eyes and his expression, and my heart did a dangerous sort of flip-flop. The sort that said I was getting in far deeper than was wise with this man. No matter how much he cared for me, no matter how much he wanted to explore where this relationship of ours might go, the fact was, it would only ever have one outcome. Heartbreak.
He’d already said he would never marry someone like me, and there would never be enough magic in the world to change me from a witch to a wolf. Of course, that hadn’t stopped people from trying in the past, and that was generally where the myths of wolfmen—beings who were neither human nor wolf, but a deranged and thankfully short-lived version of both—came from.
If I were the sensible type, I’d stop this thing in its tracks. Maybe not right here and now, because this was neither the right time nor place. But certainly in the next day or so. It would hurt, of that I had no doubt, but not as much as it might six months, or a year, or even more down the track.
Unfortunately, I’d never really been the sensible type. Not when it came to matters of the heart.
“The sooner we catch the soucouyant,” I said, somewhat surprised my voice came out so even given the errant direction of my thoughts, “the better everyone is going to be.”
His gaze had narrowed, and I had a vague suspicion he knew exactly what I’d been thinking. Which was stupid. Werewolves might have heightened senses, but they weren’t telepathic. I returned my gaze to Monty. “What do I need to do?”
“Right now? Relax. I’ll set up a protection circle and then guide you through the process.” He grabbed his pack from Aiden’s truck and then walked down the track for a few meters.
Aiden caught my hand and tugged me into his arms. I rested my head against his chest, listening to the steady beat of his heart and feeling far safer than I ever had in my entire life.
Which was a rather sad statement about my life.
He didn’t say anything, not for several minutes. Then he kissed the top of my head and said, “You need to stop worrying about the future and just enjoy the present.”
He may not be telepathic, but he had guessed my thoughts. I obviously needed to work some more on containing my emotions. “Easier said than done, Aiden.”
“I know. But the future you fear may never happen.”
Part of me wondered which future he was referring to, but in the end, it didn’t really matter. Both were equally troubling. Both would lead to heartbreak of one kind or another.
“As much as I’m enjoying this moment,” I said, “haven’t you got a job to do? I’d hate for you to be accused of dereliction of duty because of me.”
He laughed, the sound vibrating delightfully through his chest. “I don’t think anyone would dare accuse us of that after the last few days.”
“Tonight especially—it’s been rather eventful.”
He snorted. “For you, maybe. Not so much for us.”
“Being called to another skinning is hardly uneventful.”
“The victim had been dead for several hours and we didn’t come under attack. So yeah, compared to this, it was.”
I frowned and pulled back from his embrace. “Several hours? So he’d been killed during the day rather than at night, like the other victims?”
“Technically, Alice wasn’t killed at night.” He frowned. “Why?”
I hesitated. “It just seems out of character.”
“Give how little we know about either skin walkers or soucouyants, isn’t it a little early to be saying what is and isn’t out of character?”
“Well, yes, but that doesn’t mean I’m wrong.”
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“I’m not saying you are, but Monty didn’t appear to think there was a problem—”
“Monty’s a witch, not a psychic, and neither of us actually know what we’re dealing with—especially when it comes to the skinning victims.” I hesitated. “If I’m being honest, I’m still not convinced we’re dealing with a skin walker. But until we can get confirmation from Canberra, we’re both just guessing.”
A smile tugged at his lips but didn’t fully bloom. “If there’s one thing I’ve learned over the last few months, it’s to trust your guesses. What do you want to do?”
I hesitated again. “Right now? Nothing. But I wouldn’t mind going back to Greenhill and having a look over the murder scene.”
