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I leapt in with a blocking arm. The impact of the man’s blow reverberated through my muscles all the way to the bone. I swung at him with the knife, but he rammed his fist at me at the same moment. The weapon jolted from my grasp.
Shit.
Slade dropped to the ground and snatched up the knife. At the same moment, the man jerked a blade of his own from his front pocket. He heaved me aside and leapt down, aiming the knife right at Slade’s heart—
But Slade was faster. He stabbed up with a swipe of his arm and lanced his attacker right through the throat.
Blood splattered down over him. I slammed into the man’s side in time to heave him off Slade rather than leaving him to collapse onto my friend.
The body slumped with a gurgle and a few twitches. Slade scrambled away from it, but that guy wasn’t going anywhere now.
We both stared down at the dead man. An ache wrapped around my gut, both horror and a sick sort of relief. Because it hadn’t been me.Ihadn’t dealt out any death… not this time.
I hated that feeling, but I couldn’t stop it from rising up.
“Fuck,” Slade muttered, swiping his hand across his mouth and then staring down at his blood-drenched shirt. “Fucking hell.”
My sense of urgency returned, twice as intense as before. If anyone found us now, we were totally screwed.
“Come on,” I said, making myself yank the knife out of the man’s throat. It was mine, and I didn’t want anyone being able to use the murder weapon to track us down. “We’ve got to get out of here. You can grab one of the spare shirts from the trunk.”
Slade shook his head, but he backed away, his face tightening. “Two in one day. I didn’t want to.”
My stomach flipped over. I reached over to squeeze his shoulder, ignoring my automatic uneasiness at the close contact. “I know.” Did I ever. “You had to.” I sucked in a breath. “It looks like this investigation has gotten a whole lot more dangerous.”
CHAPTERFOUR
Madelyn
My first bite of the cookie melted in my mouth, all buttery, chocolatey goodness. I nearly moaned. “Okay, this is one hell of a cookie.”
Across the patio table from me, Beckett chuckled. “That was my reaction the first time, too,” he said. “I went back in and bought a dozen more for the road.”
“Tempting…” I wasn’t exaggerating. The chocolate chip cookie may have been one of the best I’d ever eaten. I hadn’t even been aware of this small, hole-in-the-wall café at the other end of the city from the university, but now it was going on my list of local hot spots. “So how long can you stay today? When you texted me, you said this could only be a quick get-together.”
He shot me one of the brightly assured smiles that always sent a flood of warmth through me. Exactly what I needed after the chaos of the past few days—and exactly why I’d taken him up on his invite.
“I wish it could have been a longer outing,” he said. “Unfortunately, I’ve got a meeting I can’t miss later this afternoon. But I’m yours for the next hour. I figured it was worth seeing if you had a little free time in your schedule.”
I took a sip of my perfectly bittersweet green tea latte and admitted, “Honestly, I needed the break. I just finished writing up a lab report that required a lot of number-crunching, and that kind of stuff fries my brain after a while.”
“I have to think medical science is a pretty stressful course of study in general. They don’t want slackers ending up manning the hospitals.”
“Oh, it’s challenging, but I don’t mind. I know that every assignment is getting me closer to actually being admitted into medical school and learning how to do the work that’s most important to me.”
And the most stressful parts of recent weeks had nothing to do with my schoolwork. But I couldn’t tell Beckett about the extracurricular activities I’d unexpectedly gotten wrapped up in—especially with the murderous turn the Vigil’s investigations had just taken—even though the confidence radiating from his smoothly handsome face and sharp gray eyes made me want to confide in him. I couldn’t shake the feeling that he’d somehow know exactly how to fix things, as ridiculous as that sounded.
Since I’d bumped into him outside a coffee shop weeks ago, he’d been a bright spot in my life totally separate from the chaos with the Vigil. Maybe it was better being able to just relax with someone without getting into all that turmoil.
Beckett’s expression softened at my comment. “You’re very driven. I admire that a lot. I’ve met very few people who are both ambitious and have the willpower to follow through on their goals. It’s a rare combination.”
He’d made similar comments before, and like before, I felt abruptly awkward. It was such a huge compliment, and I wasn’t sure I’d truly earned it.
“Thanks,” I said, groping for words, and found myself teasing him when I couldn’t come up with anything genuine that didn’t sound painfully earnest. “Is that why you’re so nice to me—because I’m such a rare person?”
Beckett’s eyes glinted slyly in return. “I figure it’s a smart move to get on the good side of a brilliant doctor-to-be. If I ever get sick or injured, I’ll be totally covered.” Then his voice turned more serious again. “But really, you aren’t like most of the people I spend time around.Iappreciate getting a break from my own business interests to spend with you.” He arched an eyebrow, his sandy blond hair turning gold in the sunlight, and reached across the tabletop to grab my hand. “Maybe I should be asking what you get out of hanging out withme.”
I had the sense he didn’t expect an answer—that he’d have been fine with me just laughing the question off. But I was so startled that he’d even imply that I might be the bigger catch between the two of us that an honest answer tumbled out of me before I could think better of it.
