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Getting to my feet, I took ahold of him and pulled him close. “You find life precious. You stick to your morals even in the face of your own death. You’ve put yourself between me and certain death so many times. See yourself through my lens, Maddox. See how amazing you are.”
Behind me, Perse remained silent. I could feel her gaze on us. That woman was not a ghost. I no longer believed that she could be a spirit, especially when I banned my arcana from the house. Had she been a ghost, she would be locked out—which kind of made me wish I’d learned this sigil ages ago.
“Love is worth fighting for,” Perse and I said in unison.
It was a strange occurrence, but I accepted it all the same.
Maddox lowered his head, leaning in close. His growl sank into my skin and caressed my core. I let my head fall back, giving him access to my throat. I wanted him to kiss it up and down, to leave a trail of his warmth all over my body before shoving me back onto the bed.
His hands skimmed my waist. Rough fingertips grazed the sliver of skin left bare between the waistband of my leggings and the hem of my shirt. The touch made my breath hitch. It shuddered out of me when Maddox suddenly backed away.
I grasped at the empty air now between us. Maddox shook his head, mumbled something about needing to think, then rushed down the stairs. I followed him all the way to the front door before remembering the sigil blocking Hel from entering. If I stepped outside, Hel could kidnap my soul again. We would be back to square one.
At least she couldn’t take Maddox’s soul. It was safe and sound in here with me for now.
I cursed under my breath and crossed my arms over my chest. I had to sit back and wait for him to get whatever this was out of his system.
Maddox
Around Addie,the ceaseless hunger turned into lust. I wanted nothing more than to shove her onto the bed and take her as gently and roughly as I could. My blood simmered just thinking about it. Clearly, she wanted the same.
What would happen if I gave in and then fate decided to tear us apart? I didn’t want to have my heart ripped to pieces all over again. More importantly, I refused to let fate do that to Addie. She deserved peace, not the tumultuous strife of my damn beast.
The creature growled in response to my thoughts as I prowled through the woods outside the city. Here, Syracuse smelled a lot better. The city itself reeked, but there was a green freshness beyond the urban confines.
I’d come out here to see if I could run away from my thoughts. If I exhausted myself, maybe then my mind would finally empty itself. For a while, it worked. The thud of my paws hitting the earth and the thunder of my heart pumping inside my ribcage kept my mind off the problems at hand.
I didn’t hate being a wolf shifter. If anything, it’d sharpened my senses and improved my dexterity, both things that came in handy at work. It’d been a while since I’d been able to close a case, though. These things would be useful if I had the time to do my job. I loved being a detective, but justice came in other packages these days.
I padded up to a shallow pool of water and lowered my head to drink. Before I could touch the water, I caught sight of my reflection. This form didn’t look like any other shifter I’d seen so far.
Sure, a wolf looked back at me from the wavering surface of the water, but it wasn’t the water’s distortion that left me unsettled. My eyes burned bright, a shade of blue that was otherworldly even in the water’s reflection. The monstrosity didn’t stop there. The tips of my ears wavered like they weren’t fully corporeal. Where there should have been tufts of fur at the tips of my long ears, a glimmer of blue flame flickered. My teeth were longer and sharper than most shifters’. Only the dragons had teeth as sharp as mine.
Maybe some would call me beautiful, but I knew that I was gazing upon a monster. I licked my chops without thinking. Hunger grasped my gut and squeezed it to the point of pain. A scent on the air distracted me—meat.
One thought filled my mind while I ran: feed.
It wasn’t until I’d destroyed someone’s picnic that I realized what I’d done. And, I still wasn’t satisfied. The rotisserie chicken I’d stolen wasn’t enough. I stood and slipped into the woods once more to hunt for fresh meat. First, it was a rabbit. Then I found a coop of chickens. Finally, I set my sights on a buck.
The sight of the creature’s broad horns sent a pang of worry down my spine. I was easily as big as the deer, but it would be able to do some damage before I brought it down. It would be worth it, though…
No. It wouldn’t.
Nothing would ever be enough.
Addie would have to come to terms with that at some point. If she didn’t, then I would become a larger threat than Vince had been.
