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Colton rolled to his back so Riley could lay her head on his chest. Caressing her back with slight flicks of his fingers, until her breath evened out. He glanced up when black script appeared in the air above them.
“What does it say?” Riley asked.
His forehead creased. “Raine says there has been an attack in the human world. The victim has ties to you.”
Riley sat up, but her fingers bunched against the carpet. “Who is it?”
Colton swore under his breath. “Dr. Henry.”
Riley sucked in her breath. “My psychiatrist? Why would anyone harm her?”
“We can’t be sure her attack is tied to you. Reapers and demons kill indiscriminately.”
Her muscles tensed beneath her skin. “How can you be sure it was a reaper or a demon?”
He wanted to reassure her, but there was no lying to one’s mate. “Because she was murdered and drained of blood.”
Riley got up quickly. “Was it at her office or home?”
“She was killed that her personal residence. You met with her at the office, that’s why we can’t be sure her death is tied to you,” he said., as he stood.
She clothed herself. “I need to know if I caused her death. I want to go to her home now.”
CHAPTER25
Riley and Colton coalesced in the kitchen’s foyer. The modern black and white tile was streaked with blood. The gray marble counters were shiny, reflecting the stainless-steel appliances. They expressed the clean organization of the homeowner. Even the rack that hung from the ceiling with pots and pans dangling from it were neatly placed. Few items sat on the reflective counter. A coffee maker and set of brass canisters added as an accent.
“Where is she?” Riley asked
Colton pointed to the island cabinet in the middle of the kitchen with a sizzling pan containing burnt meat. “She’s on the other side of the cooking station.”
Riley stepped around the table and chairs, making her way to the other side of the island. She turned off the element with the burning meat. “She was in the middle of cooking dinner.”
“That’s what Ferguson said. He tracked the reaper here, but he arrived too late. The doctor was already dead. He messaged Raine then went after the assailant.”
Riley glanced around the immaculate kitchen before kneeling beside Dr. Henry’s body. She gently closed the doctor’s eyelids, shivering from the cold feel of rice paper over milky pupils. “Did Ferguson catch the reaper who did this?”
“He is still chasing him, last I heard, but he said something felt off. Raine had Darwin check the doctors background due to Ferguson’s hunch. That’s what led to the connection to you.”
Riley stood, making her way to the open window above the sink. “I find it hard to believe a reaper stumbled on Dr. Henry on his own, but I am hoping that’s the case.” Her heart stuttered in her chest as she raised her arm to close the window.
Deruthel saluted her from across the small yard. “I will take all that you love, Riley.” He disappeared so quickly; Riley questioned whether he had been a figment of her imagination.
Colton put his hand on her back. “Are you okay?”
“You saw him, right?” she asked quietly.
“Unfortunately,” Colton replied.
“What did he mean? It sounded like I wronged him personally.”
“He’s a demon. I can’t say that sanity and his species go hand in hand.”
Her mind raced as she tried to think how she could have offended the demon. “He killed Dr. Henry. Ferguson was right. This was a set up. We have to check on my father. If the demons know about my psychiatrist, then they know about my father.”
Colton glanced around the yard. “It could be a trap.”
Riley grabbed his shirt. “I don’t care. We have to go now.”
