Chapter 3
Devlin
Watering the flowerbed next to the house with lighter fluid, I sing Light ‘em Up under my breath and dance my way around the perimeter back to the garage where I started.
Thank goodness I sprung for the third bottle.
Picking up the bag of groceries I raided from the dude’s fridge where it’s waiting on the sidewalk, I go to put them in his car when my foot slips on a patch of ice and I go down like a sack of bricks.
“Motherfucker!” The world's worst slip and slide ends in another crash and something knocking the wind out of me.
No good deed goes unpunished. But damn, they could have at least waited until I threw the match.
Dazed and cursing, I rub the growing knot on the back of my head and try to get my bearings.
The weight on top of me moves and I tense, reaching for the hunting knife strapped to my thigh.
I’ve barely wrapped my fingers around the hilt before icy, purple hair teases my chest like razor blades, and the brightest blue-green eyes I’ve ever seen steal the remaining breath from my lungs.
Pushing herself into a seated position, she lifts the nearly empty lighter fluid container and a cucumber that fell out of the ripped grocery bag. Raising an eyebrow, the corner of her lip twitches. “You know they sell lube around the corner, right?”
I frown, not understanding the sudden topic change. “Did… you want me to go get you some?”
She snorts. “Just saying, that’s how you wind up with awkward ER visits. It’s worth splurging on safe stuff.”
As her meaning dawns on me, I gape at her. “I’m not sure what you do to your groceries, but I wasn’t planning on fucking it.”
But it gives me some great ideas for the next person on my list.
Her smile is blinding as she fights back laughter, her eyes sparkling with such genuine joy that my heart skips a beat.
Suddenly, her smile falls and she sucks in a sharp breath.
“Oh shit, you’re hurt! I’m a dick.” Frigid fingers slide through my dark hair, the black and red strands stark against her pale hand as she gently cups the side of my head.
From the corner of my eye, a soft silver glow is swiftly followed by a warm rush spreading through my body, starting at the base of my skull.
Within seconds, all of the pain disappears, leaving a lingering, addictive sensation behind that has me sucking in a ragged, desperate breath.
“How do you feel?”
Like I can’t breathe. Confused. Like when you were rooting around in my soul to heal me, you stole a piece of it on your way out.
I rub the heel of my hand against the sudden ache in my chest, and she tracks the movement, frowning. I follow her gaze, realizing the black coat doesn’t completely hide all of the blood spatter staining it.
Oops.
Not like any of it’s mine, but she doesn’t need to know that.
“Concussed. Maybe you should pet me again.”
As she chuckles, I push myself up on my elbows, studying the frozen angel as a shiver wracks her body and she shakes out her hand with a small hiss before stuffing it in her pocket.
After a moment, her shoulders slump in relief.
Of course they do. Winters in the mountains are no joke and she’s freezing.
My stomach twists at the thought and I surge to my feet, lifting her up off the ground and discovering just how stiff her damp clothes are, mentally kicking myself for not noticing sooner.
“Why are you wet?” I demand.
Her lip twitches. “Had an exciting afternoon.”
I cock my head in confusion, but don’t have the time to riddle it out. Hypothermia is no joke; I made that mistake when I first ended up on the streets. I’m not sure this sweet thing really understands how dangerous walking around wet in winter can be.
Glancing back up at the house, I mull over my options.
I really shouldn’t linger at the scene of the crime any longer than I already have, but I’m sure there’s a dry shirt in there that escaped the carnage when I interrogated the douchebag.
As soon as the thought crosses my mind, I dismiss it.
The thought of her wearing that bastard’s clothes has a growl tearing from my throat as I set her down so I can take my coat off and yank off my shirt, holding it out to her.
“Here.”
She blinks in surprise. “Umm. Pretty sure you need that more than I do, your nipples are hard enough to cut glass.”
Panic briefly skitters across my skin at her casual words. I didn’t even stop to think. I’m never this careless. I must’ve hit my head harder than I realized.
The patches of black and bloodred scales on my upper body are on clear display. She’s going to flinch away in disgust and… I pause.
She’s… not running away from me. If I didn’t know better, I’d say she actually looks genuinely concerned that I’ll be cold if she takes my shirt.
Shaking the ridiculous thought from my head, I clear my throat. “I’ll be fine. You, though, are going to get sick walking around in wet clothes in these temperatures. You can’t just slap a coat over them and think it’ll be fine. What the hell were you thinking?”
She rolls her pretty eyes, but takes my offered shirt. “That someone needed my help and I wasn’t going to let them suffer simply because it’d inconvenience me a little to be cold.”
The pressure in my chest tightens to the point I can’t draw in a full breath. “But you could get sick. Or die.” The thought is so terrible, an ominous shiver runs down my spine, and I pray to whatever gods I haven’t made enemies of yet that it’s not a sense of foreboding.
She hits me with the full weight of her fiery gaze. “So could they. If I sat back and did nothing, I’d be just as bad as the monster that ripped him from his home and left him to suffer.”
I’m pretty sure my heart stops beating.
There’s no other way to describe it; my world shifts on its axis with her fierce declaration. She’s so confident in her place in the world that she practically molds it to her will, and I’m helpless to do anything other than get sucked into her vortex.
She’s just so… so perfect. Good, and kind, and sickeningly sweet. Why the fuck is nobody looking out for her? This world is far too cruel for her to be out here on her own. Abandoned. Alone.
Just like me.
I could take care of her. Once the errant thought crosses my mind, I’m helpless but to follow its logic. Clearly nobody else is. She needs me.
My purple-haired ray of sunshine zips her coat up to her chin and ducks her head inside, awkwardly changing while preserving her modesty. A wet slap rings out as her shirt and bra fall to the ground, and my heart starts beating again, racing to make up for lost time.
She sighs contentedly as she pops back out of her coat, adjusting it around her. “Okay, you win. That’s so much better.”
So why does it feel like I did the bare minimum and want to kick my own ass?
“I need to take care of something real quick, then I’ll give you a ride home.” It’s the least I can do. The car I’m stealing may be old, but I’m sure it has heat. If nothing else, it’ll save her from the harsh wind.
She bites her lip and hesitates before eventually shaking her head. “I’m actually headed to the lake.”
It’s like fate. “Me too!”
She cocks her head, surprised. “What for?”
Discreetly, I glance back at the duffle bag holding the dead body I stuffed into the trunk. “Feeding the fish. You?”
She narrows her eyes, clearly thinking I’m deranged and contemplating making a run for it, but eventually pulls something slowly out of her pocket. When she opens her palm, a flash of teal has my eyes widening in surprise.
“Can’t get him back to the arctic, but the lake should be cold enough until spring. Gives me time to figure out a long term solution for the little guy.”
Wait.
“You nearly froze to death to rescue a mutant octopus?”
Her jaw clenches. “Look, I know it sounds stupi-”
Fighting the insane desire to kiss her, I press a finger to her lips instead. “It’s not stupid.” It’s more proof that this beautiful woman in front of me is far too sweet for this shitty world we live in and must be protected at all costs. “Now get in the car.”
“Yeah… I’m not doing that,” she says with a snort of amusement.
Halfway to the car I pause, caught off guard. “Why not?”
“Because you’re a stranger?” She looks at me like I’m insane. Which, I mean, fair. But also… rude. “That’s like, how to stay alive as a woman 101. Don’t get into random dude’s cars.”
But I’m not a random dude. I’m your future husband.
“It’s cold out. You shouldn’t be walking.”
She rolls her eyes. “I walk to work every day, I’m used to it.”
I clench my fist, tucking it in my pocket so she doesn’t see how badly her words affect me. I know firsthand what it’s like to be out on the streets in the middle of winter. A sweet thing like her has no business suffering the way I once did.
“Just because you’re used to something, that doesn’t mean it’s right.”
She absorbs my words, genuinely considering them, and I respect her all the more for it.
“Isn’t that the damn truth?” With a sad smile, she scoops up her frozen clothes and offers a half-assed wave.
“Thanks again for the shirt. Try to be more careful on the ice, yeah? The mountains are notorious for hidden death traps.”
With that, she pivots on her heel and walks off like she hasn’t completely and utterly destroyed my plans by crashing into my world, as if she can saunter away and leave devastation in her wake without consequence. And as I watch her go, all I can think is that it feels wrong on a visceral level.
Because that purple-haired angel? Nothing’s going to stand in the way of making her mine.
After all, only suicidal idiots get between a serial killer and their obsession.