Chapter 24 Chapter 24
Entering her apartment, she put the heavy grocery bags down and sighed in relief. “Finally,” she breathed, leaning against the door with closed eyes.
“Yes, finally,” a dark voice growled right in front of her, causing her to open her eyes. Maxwell looked more than just a little pissed. “You can’t even go grocery shopping without getting in trouble.”
“How did you know? Because of the bond?” she said, swallowing when he put his hand on the door next to her shoulder, his face close to hers. Her eyes were captured by his, red swirling through his iris.
“Yes, of course. I always know when you get yourself into danger. The problem is, if I don’t know where you are, I can’t protect you.” The light in the hallway dimmed. His fingers moved to her neck, where he felt her nervous pulse under her skin. “You keep forgetting that your life isn’t yours anymore.”
“It isn’t yours either, demon. We’re sharing it,” she corrected, not hiding her anger. He ignored her words, his fingers touching her wrist, encasing it. He glanced at the glowing star on it, his eyes clouding with an indescribable emotion.
“If you aren’t more careful from now on, we’ll have to try a different approach. What if I always stayed by your side to keep an eye on you? Would you prefer that?” he said lowly, the suggestive tone of his voice catching her off guard. Glancing in his blue eyes, she swallowed, her gaze moving to the silver chain and down to his lips.
They curled into a confident smirk when he noted her look. He took her reaction as an invitation to lean in, resting his forehead against hers, enthralling her with his gorgeous eyes. “You’re fun to mess with, human,” he said in a velvety tone that made her knees weak. His breath ghosted over her lips, but he didn’t kiss her.
“Damn demon,” she huffed, putting her hands on his chest to get distance between them. To her surprise, he moved away immediately and allowed her to pass him, but she still felt his amused gaze on the back of her head when she entered the kitchen to put the groceries away.
She didn’t understand him—he was an enigma to her. Intimidating in one second and then acting like a tease the next. What did he want to achieve with his suggestive comments? He couldn’t possibly be attracted to her; she was human after all. She wasn’t sure what to make of his behavior.
A traitorous part of her wanted to pull him in and kiss him, while a more cautious part kept reminding her he was dangerous and far stronger than her. Even so, she had to admit she was relieved he never hit her like her ex-boyfriend. Uriel had been despicable, and it had taken her too long to escape him.
—
Before Valerie had a chance to leave the house and resume her investigation the next morning, she received a call from Thorne. She sat at the kitchen table, nursing a steaming cup of coffee, but when she took the call, she got up to walk into the living room. Maxwell occupied the sofa, watching her with one eye open.
“Hello, Thorne,” she said, smiling. “Anything new?”
“Yes, and it’s bad news. Yesterday, another woman was reported missing to the police. She never reached her home after leaving a party in Manhattan… I’m sure we are dealing with the very same culprit here. Do you want to look into it?” Thorne asked.
“That’s horrible. I hoped we would get a chance to prevent more crimes,” she whispered bitterly, biting her lower lip when the crushing feeling of failure overcame her. “Will you send me the location and the time it happened? I’ll visit the area later. Are there still no suspects?”
“I’ll send the police report to you,” he answered. “And no, nobody has been found yet. It’s strange for someone to avoid being found like this…”
“Yeah, I’m thinking the same,” she answered, ending the call and waiting for his message. It arrived a minute later, and she curiously opened it. The incident happened around ten PM, and when she read the location's name, dread washed over her. She sank to the ground, clutching her smartphone in horror.
“How? Why?” she breathed.
“What is it?” Maxwell asked, kneeling in front of her and holding her shoulders. His grip brought her back to reality, and she glanced into his eyes.
“Another woman disappeared without a trace and… and it happened in the same place I visited yesterday, only hours after I left,” she said, knowing that the feeling of being stalked yesterday hadn’t just been her imagination. It had been real.
“What?” he snapped, his grip on her shoulders tightening slightly. His anger manifested in the form of glowing light originating from his body, illuminating the room with its unnatural shine. “I thought you were grocery shopping. Did you go back to Manhattan all alone?”
“I did,” she whispered.
“Don’t you see the obvious? Are you that blind?” he hissed through his teeth. “You share many similarities with the other women who vanished; you could have been the next victim. How can you be so reckless as to go there alone?”
Her eyes became wet with tears when she realized that he was right. She had believed she was untouchable and safe from whoever terrorized Manhattan. And why? Because she had a demon on her side? Because she was a journalist, seeing herself as the hunter and not the hunted?
It was ridiculous, and she was embarrassed to admit it, but she had made a mistake that could have cost them everything.
“I’m sorry, Maxwell. I’m so sorry,” she sniffled, a tear rolling down her cheek. Guilt gnawed at her heart since her actions had endangered her and his life.
“I told you before, stop this. I always feel like shit when you’re in distress,” he muttered. Clearing her throat, she wiped her face with her sleeve, removing the tears.