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Chapter Two
~ Avery ~
I stared in irritated shock as my husband stepped into our apartment—at least itlookedlike my husband. The bright white aura that had always surrounded him now burned a flickering light blue.
He stared right back at me, his eyes taking in the tableau. Me planted there, purse and suitcase beside me, clearly leaving. His lips parted slightly, his eyes darkening with hurt. Frankly, everything about him seemed darker than I’d ever seen.
His keys jangled as he dropped them to the floor.
“You going somewhere?” he asked.
I nodded, unable to find my words. “I thought I’d go stay at my mom’s for a few days.”
“Right when I was coming home?”
“I… I didn’t know.”
Why did he seem so different? Despite everything, he’d always had an easygoing manner. Now, he stalked toward me with a sizzling ripple of danger emanating toward me.
“How would I know?” I added, my own anger spiking. Letting go of my case and setting my purse atop it, I crossed my arms. “You’ve been radio silent. No calls or even texts. Then I find out you just disappeared. Not in a way that would trigger alarms. No you just packed up and left for God knows where for three days. What am I supposed to think?”
“Notwhatever you’re thinking,” he growled. “What is it?” He asked, closing in on me. I backed up, drawing in a shaky breath. My lungs filled with an unfamiliar spicy scent. Cloves…cinnamon…allspice? What the hell was going on?
This looked like my Jared, yet so many things were off about him.
“Were you thinking I left you?” he pushed.
I shook my head, my body heating up at our proximity. It made no sense! I was angry and upset with him. I shouldn’t crave the feeling of his silky hair under my fingers when I drove my hands into his hair. I shouldn’t be panting for the sensation of his big, hard body flush to mine.
“Did you think I was cheating?” he asked, his face so full of disbelief I knew he wasn’t lying.
“You didn’t call.”
He pulled his phone from his pocket and showed me the shattered screen before tossing it carelessly to the floor.
“You’ve been so distant,” I continued. Yes, his cell had been destroyed, but what about all the time before that?
“Do I seem distant now?” He pressed into me, every long inch making itself known. “Does this feel as if I want anyone else?”
It was a distraction. I wasn’t foolish enough not to recognize it. I scooted sideways to get away, but his hand smacked down beside my shoulder, his arms caging me in. I glanced down at the wall, my eyes going wide when I saw the way his palm had imprinted into the drywall.
My gaze whipped back to him. “Don’t hurt me.”
I couldn’t keep the tremble from my voice.
“I would never hurt you,” he vowed, his words a heartfelt whisper. I couldn’t stop my shaking as I stared at him…and thatblueaura surrounding him. Dark, near-black bruises covered his throat. What was going on?
“What happened to you?” Pulling back his collar, I stared at the marks and raised flesh that mottled the base of his neck and half of his shoulder.
“I don’t know. I woke up like this.”
“Woke up…where?” Horror tickled at the edges of my consciousness for the second time today. It couldn’t be. The visions weren’t real.
“In an alley,” Jared supplied. “I… I don’t really remember much else.”
“You were attacked,” I said, breathing into the truth filling me like a viscous tarry pollution. My hands trembled while I clutched his shirt and tried to stay upright, my legs shaking like melty gelatin. No. No, this wasn’t right.
“Yes.”
