AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Nothing that tells me where she is. It’s a lot of stories, a lot of legends, a lot of seeing her from a distance a time or two. For someone as well-known as she is, no one seems to actually know shit.”
Ah, there was that guilt again.
He was getting involved because I hadn’t figured out what we needed to know, because I had no idea what to do next.
Damn, that was depressing. Somehow, even my night with Troy hadn’t quite washed that away.
Grant reached a foot out and pressed it against my shoulder. “Knock it off.”
“Knock what off?”
“Pouting.”
I sighed. “If I hadn’t—”
“If you hadn’t nothing. Lilith is fucking shit up, not you.”
“But you wouldn’t be involved if it wasn’t for me.”
“Sure I would. It would just be when the whole world was torn apart, and I have to say, I prefer being proactive here.” He curled his lips into a smile, then crooked his finger.
I would have followed his demand happily, but he didn’t give me the chance. Something tugged me forward the few steps between us, until I stood between his knees and he caught my chin. “You’ve got to stop blaming yourself for shit that you can’t control.”
I opened my mouth, ready to tell him I was supposed to be able to control it. That was basically what Gran had said, wasn’t it? That I was the only person who could do anything about this.
Except, as usual, Grant knew what I was going to say before I could get it out. He leaned in and danced his lips across mine in a sweet kiss, one that made it impossible to think about anything else.
I reached out and grasped his side, clutching him, wanting to get even closer, to use his heat to distract myself from everything.
Except he pulled in a sharp, pained breath that broke the kiss.
A frown touched my expression before I took the bottom of his shirt and lifted it.
There, on his side, was a black-and-blue bruise spanning from hip to ribs.
Again, I was reminded just how dangerous the things we were dealing with were, and worse? I couldn’t seem to help. No matter how much I learned about myself, how much power I showed, I couldn’t use it in any real way that would help the men I cared for.
Frustration chipped away at me, the same one that had had me yelling at a stranger in the coffee shop, the same one that had me up at night instead of asleep.
I stared at the bruise, fear gripping my chest, unable to look away.
“It’s fine,” Grant said. “Just a bruise.”
“A bruise this big? Are you sure you don’t some sort of serious internal bleeding?”
He took my hands in his, letting his shirt fall back down. “I’m sure. It looks worse than it is.”
But…that wasn’t true. It was obvious, each time I saw the men, that this was wearing on them.
Troy didn’t smile enough, Kase was wasting away from addiction, Grant had injuries all over him, and Hunter?
Maybe he wasn’t even alive. Maybe he’d chased leads until one had ended him, and all because I couldn’t do anything.
Which was when I decided I’d damn well dosomething, no matter how dangerous it was.
