AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“What about before that? Before you went to bed.”
His eyes narrowed again. “Why?”
“Just tell me,” I snapped.
“What happened at the market? Your eyes are red. Did someone hurt you?”
Magic buzzed under my skin, reminding me that I had the power to make him answer, but I didn’t want it to get that far. I prayed it didn’t have to. “Just answer the question.”
“I was at work. I grabbed Chinese on the way home, and then crashed on my couch. Now, tell me what the hell is going on. What the hell has gotten into you?”
I cleared my throat and dropped my gaze to his boots. “I went to see Matteo.”
“Are you nuts?” he shouted. His eyes flashed yellow, and his hands curled into fists at his sides. “That man is high as a kite ninety nine percent of the time. He could have killed you.”
“Well, he didn’t, and now I know for sure that I’m not the killer.”
He threw his hands up in exasperation. “Shado and I both told you that.”
“Yeah, you’ve told me a lot over the past few days,” I said, circling around him, heading for my desk. “But Matteo helped me recover some time. I didn't realize I was missing. I…knew I’d been drinking a lot, so I assumed I was just blacking out drunk, passing out, but…I was wrong.”
“Did you see the killer?” he asked, ignoring the venom hiding in my words.
I perched on my desk, watching for any fractures in his expression or out of place facial tics.“The first memory I got back was from the day Viktor died. Apparently, before you and I went to check on him, I was there at the cabin. I was angry about something, and we got into an argument. I started to hurt him, and Viktor knocked me out with a sleep spell. The fog started to roll in and just before the memory faded, I saw someone else entering the cabin. My guess is they killed him and teleported me back to my dorm just in time for you to wake me up.”
His face darkened, but I saw no sign that he knew more than he was letting on. “And the second memory?”
“That was Nadia. And I did see the killer. In fact, the killer made sure I saw them. I was passed out in the annex, and when I woke up, they were there.”
His nostrils flared. “Who was it?”
“You.”
The anger drained from his face and his expression became something akin to devastation. “What are you talking about? I didn’t kill anyone.”
My heart ached. I hadn’t seen him look so helpless in years. Not since we first started dating. No one could fake that expression, that vulnerability. That was my Jackson. The one I fell in love with. How could he be the same person that had done those things to Nadia? He couldn’t. If there was anything in this world I could be sure of it was Jackson Sinclair. He was a good man, through and through. There was no way the man who’d been so kind to me could be the killer.
His face turned green as he listened in silent horror to every detail I could remember. “I woke up in the annex and you were standing there right in front of me. I asked why you’d come, and you started acting strange. You called me Love, and then…I don’t know. It wasn’t right. You weren’t right. I asked you what you needed, and you used this dust to paralyze me…”
He didn’t interrupt me until I reached the part where he stabbed Nadia in the neck. “Please stop. I don’t want to hear any more.”
“Jack—”
“Jesus, Rebekah. Do you really think I’d do something like thatto you?
I bit my lower lip. “I just need to hear the words.”
“Look at me,” he said.
I lifted my eyes to his face. His lips were white with tension, his skin pale, and his nostrils flared. But it was his eyes that broke me. In all our time together, I’d never seen him afraid. I’d hurt him before. I’d seen him stressed a thousand times, but never scared.
“I didn’t do it. I didn’t kill Nadia,” he said. “I can’t change into anything but a wolf, and I would never—never—force you to do anything. I’d never cast a spell on you. I lo—”
“I know,” I said softly.
“No, you need to hear this.” He stepped closer, lifting his hands slowly and cautiously to rest on my arms. He had gloves on but still held me with a gentle touch, like he was afraid I’d bolt. “I love you, Rebekah Devereaux. I have loved you from the moment we met, and I will love you for the rest of my life. No matter if we’re together or not. No matter if you love me or not. I…willalwayslove you.”
Fresh tears poured over my cheeks. “Jackson—”
