29. Mallory #3
His gaze was locked straight ahead, and I followed to see what captured his attention, a part of me afraid it would be my attacker, but what I saw wasn’t better.
The back door hung open.
Uh, that wasn’t good.
A cold, hollow feeling spread through my chest, settling in my stomach like ice water.
“I guess that’s how we know he got in,” Maddox muttered.
My mom was going to freak out. “That door was locked. I know it was. I checked it before Mom left. And the alarm was definitely set. It should have gone off the second he opened it.” Mom had the system installed when we moved in.
Maddox’s attention homed in on the kitchen beyond the doorway. “If something happens, if anyone else is in there, you fucking run. You don’t wait for me. You don’t try to help. You run to the Jeep, and you drive away. Keys are in the ignition.”
“Maddox—”
His gaze whirled to mine. “Promise me.”
I hesitated before whispering, “I promise.”
A lie. I had no intention of leaving him with a potential killer on the loose despite Maddox having a gun.
Maddox moved ahead of me, one hand holding the weapon low but ready. I stayed pressed almost to his back, feeling the heat radiating off him. Jade shifted in my hoodie, and I gave her a quick, reassuring pet as we walked into the kitchen. Everything looked the same. And yet…
The house didn’t feel like mine anymore.
It felt…wrong.
Violated in a way that made my skin crawl and my stomach turn.
Maddox couldn’t be the only one with a weapon. What if he needed my help? I’d left my knife buried in that jackass’s shoulder, and I’d feel better if I had something to defend myself besides my skills and quick thinking.
I slipped away from Maddox long enough to yank open the drawer, the one where Mom kept the knives, and grab the first one my fingers touched.
“Hales,” Maddox hissed, his head swiveling toward me. “What are you doing?”
I gave him a look, but it didn’t have the same effect as his. “Protecting you.”
His eyes dropped to the knife and then back to my face. “I don’t know if I’m more afraid you’re going to hurt yourself or me with that thing.”
I almost laughed, the sound catching in my throat and dying before it could emerge. If only he knew what I could really do with this blade, he’d be more afraid of me than whoever had broken into my house.
We kept moving, checking each room. The basement door was still locked and required a key to enter, so unless the intruder was Houdini, he wasn’t down there.
With every step, my chest pulled tighter, my breaths thinning like there wasn’t enough air left in the house.
Maddox veered toward the front door, checking the lock with his free hand; the door still had the deadbolt engaged.
His brow furrowed, but he moved to the staircase, taking the steps slowly, his body angled.
My eyes stayed glued to the dark hallway as we reached the top, remembering how I’d heard my attacker roaming around in my mom’s room right before I jumped out the window.
“My door…” I whispered. It was wide-open, soft light spilling into the hallway. “I think he came out the window after me.” It was the only explanation that made sense and solved how he’d been able to grab me so fast after my escape.
Maddox whirled around the corner, gun lifted into my bedroom as he stood, taking up the entire doorway with his body. I couldn’t see around him, but I read his body language, and he seemed disappointed. He wanted to find the attacker.
Lowering the gun, he stepped into my room, and I trailed in behind him. Everything looked the same at first glance. The window was still open, curtains dancing slightly in the breeze. And the black fucking rose still lay on my pillow.
It wasn’t that he left something behind that unnerved me; it was that he knew. A black rose. That couldn’t be a coincidence. How had he known? Who the hell was this guy?
Maddox picked up the rose, turning the stem between his fingers. He would immediately believe it was my stalker who had left the rose, but I knew better. I went to my bed, setting Jade on top. She shook out her fur, circling once, and settled into the rumpled blanket as if nothing had happened.
The burglar wasn’t inside the house, so I prayed that meant he was gone.
Relief.
Exhaustion.
Too many things hit me at once.
Maddox peered out the window, checking the ground below. His gaze eventually turned back to me, zeroing in on my hands. “Let me see that.” He gave a single nod, indicating the knife.
I handed it over without thinking, the night’s events catching up to me.
Tucking his gun back into his waistband, he twisted the blade over, examining it. “How did you get this knife?”
I could tell by the look on his face that something was wrong.
I’d messed up. Big time. And all my lies were about to come crashing down on top of me.
The prickles crawling over the back of my neck warned that I was about to be exposed.
I’d been so damn careful. The idea that something so simple as a knife could be my downfall…
Fuck.