Chapter 9 #2
Riley caught up to me near the bottom, snagging my hand to stop me. “Seriously, Kitty. Just give me a moment.” He brushed his thumb against my cheek, the touch extra soft but no less electric.
I sucked in a breath and turned to face him, but I took a step back and he dropped his hand to his side.
His touch was addictive, and I couldn’t let things get out of hand again.
“I don’t want you to say anything you’re going to regret,” I whispered.
Because no matter what he said right now, it was going to hurt.
One of his eyebrows shot up. “Regret? Why would I regret something?”
“Because—”
“Almost as soon as I started looking for a wife, I decided you were the woman for me.” Mr. Collins’s voice drifted to us through the mirror.
I froze. Oh no. We’d stumbled upon something we shouldn’t have.
“Is that…?” Riley stepped closer and pressed his ear against the back of the mirror, standing so close that his heat along my back was all I could think about.
“Before I let my feelings get away from me,” Mr. Collins continued, “I should tell you why I decided to marry. First, I believe it’s my responsibility as the leader of my congregation to set a good example, especially in marriage.
Second, I am sure that having a wife will make me happy.
And third, although I probably should have stated it first as it’s the most important, Lady Catherine De Bourgh told me to ‘choose an active, gentle woman who isn’t full of herself. ’”
“I wonder what poor sap had to sit through that disaster of a confession.” Riley’s whisper in my ear made my stomach flip.
“And that’s why you chose me, a half-witch, half-fae to propose to?” an all-too-familiar voice said.
My mouth fell open. Was this what Mom had meant before when she mentioned a second wedding? She’d known that Mr. Collins was going to propose to Lizzy. The two weren’t even dating, yet somehow Lizzy had charmed him. Meanwhile, I couldn’t even be sure that Graham had never cheated on me.
“When we get married, it would definitely work out in your favor,” he said.
“Not only would being with a full-blooded fae like me raise your status, which I know your family thinks is important, but you’d also get to be closer to Lady Catherine.
Plus, I’ve got enough financial security that money would never be a concern for you again. ”
“You’re rushing things, Mr. Collins,” Lizzy’s voice was loud now. “I haven’t agreed to marry you, and while I appreciate the offer, my answer is no.”
I backed up a step, running into Riley’s hard chest. “We shouldn’t be listening to this,” I whispered.
“There’s nowhere for us to go, remember? The door is locked.”
With me this close, his voice rumbled in his chest, sending delicious shivers through me.
“I’ve recently learned it's common for women to tease a man to build suspense, so with that in mind, I won’t take your rejection to heart."
Riley choked on a laugh and buried his head against my shoulder to muffle the sound.
“I don’t play those games with guys. When I say I’m not interested in you, I mean it,” Lizzy said. “A marriage between us would be a huge mistake. You wouldn’t make me happy, and I definitely wouldn’t make you happy.”
“If you are nervous about what Lady Catherine might think of you, don’t worry. She’s very generous and accepting, and you don’t need to be intimidated by her status. In fact, the next time I see her, I’ll tell her how wonderful you are.”
Lizzy sighed. “You don’t need to tell Lady Catherine anything about me. All you need to do is believe me that when I say no, I mean no.”
“Since I can’t see any logical reason for you to turn me down, I have to assume you’re teasing me,” Mr. Collins said. “Honestly, with my position, connections, and everything else, this marriage would be nothing but a win for you, so you rejecting me makes no sense.”
“Poor Lizzy,” Riley murmured to me. “She deserves better than that.”
A twinge went through me at his words even as his warmth bled into my back.
I leaned on my tiptoe to whisper in Riley’s ear. “I can’t make her go through any more of this.” I couldn’t resist a smile at his slight shiver, but I turned and shoved the mirror aside before he could say anything.
Mr. Collins’s mouth fell open as he took in my Sally costume, then grew even wider as Riley came out behind me in his pinstriped suit.
“Sorry if I interrupted.” I widened my eyes innocently—a move I’d learned from Lydia. “We got turned around upstairs and ended up in this passage.”
“You didn’t interrupt anything.” Lizzy darted to my side and locked her arm around mine. “Mr. Collins was just leaving.”
Poor Mr. Collins. He opened and closed his mouth a few times, his gaze jumping between the three of us. Clearly, he hadn’t expected an audience for his proposal.
“Right. Of course.” He bobbed his head toward Lizzy. “Thank you for your time.”
Once we were alone, Lizzy glanced between us, Riley in his Jack Skellington costume and me in my Sally one.
“Fancy seeing you here, Bennet.” Riley stuck his hands in his pockets and squinted at her.
My stomach twisted at the nickname. Riley never called me anything special.
“I could say the same to you. I thought you were working tonight, so what are you doing here?” Lizzy looked between us again but thankfully refrained from including “in matching costumes with my little sister” like she clearly wanted to.
“I am working. Kitty and I are gathering information.”
Lizzy’s eyes widened, and she turned to me. “Is this about what happened to your boyfriend?”
“Ex-boyfriend,” I reminded her with a glance at Riley, then flushed because that wasn’t important right now. “But yes, we’re looking into Graham’s death.” Not in the mood for one of her famous Lizzy interrogations, I added, “I don’t have a lot of time to talk now though. I need to find Jaxon.”
“I get it,” she said.
“You get it?” I blinked at her. “I thought you’d try to tell me not to or insist on helping or something.”
She laughed. “I’ve got my hands full tonight, and you’re more than capable of taking care of this on your own.
” She gave me a rueful grin. “Besides, I can’t very well tell you not to get involved when I did the same thing a while back.
But”—she turned a serious gaze on Riley—“you better not get my little sister into any trouble.”
“Would I do that?” He held a hand over his heart.
“In a wing beat.” Lizzy shook a finger at him. “Now go follow your lead or whatever you need to do. I need to convince Mom to leave this party before she embarrasses anyone else in the family.”
She headed toward the door, but a broad figure stepped into the opening, blocking her way. “Elizabeth.”
“Darcy.” Her voice caught.
“I was hoping to find you tonight,” he said.
Riley turned to me and mouthed, “Another one?”
I shot him a warning look and subtly shook my head.
“What for?” Lizzy asked.
“Would you like to dance?”
“Oh,” Lizzy said. “Um, okay.”
He held out his arm, and she took it, shooting me a slightly panicked look over her shoulder before he led her from the room.
I shrugged helplessly, and a second later the door swung shut.
Riley let out a low whistle. “Well, that was something.”
But talking about Lizzy’s almost-engagement with Collins and her dance with Darcy was the last thing I wanted to do with Riley.
“Let’s see if we can find Jaxon.” I pulled my hood back on and slipped out of the annex. Back in the main room, I found a girl who had taken an art history class with Jaxon and me last semester. I tapped her on the shoulder.
She turned around and took in our Jack and Sally costumes. “Wicked.”
“Uh, thanks.” I didn’t bother letting her know who I was. “Have you seen Jaxon anywhere?”
She leaned against the wall. “I think he left a few minutes ago. If you hurry, you can probably catch him.”
“Thanks,” I called back, already turning toward the front door.
I slipped outside, grateful for the magic in my costume as I breathed in the crisp October air.
On the porch, I scanned the lawn for any sign of Jaxon.
The same skeletons were still dancing to “Thriller”—though one had collapsed into a pile of bones—and all but two of the floating jack-o’-lanterns glided over the yard.
The last two were snoring on the ground.
The magic of the night was wearing off, and it was time to come back to reality. Laughter echoed from the house behind us, but that was the last thing I felt like doing.
“Maybe I should text him.” I got out my phone and shot a quick message to Jaxon.
Are you still at the party?
Already home for the night. What’s up?
Was he telling the truth? Could he have made it home that quickly, or had the girl been mistaken in how long he’d been gone?
I really need to talk to you. Can we meet tomorrow?
Once I sent it, I headed down the street and Riley fell into step beside me. In the distance, the church bell tolled eleven times. As we passed a house with gravestones decorating their front yard, my phone buzzed again.
Tomorrow is pretty crazy.
But I have time at the Halloween Bonfire Bash. You going?
I showed Riley the messages. “This is perfect. I’ll meet him tomorrow and get some answers.”
“That’s not perfect.” Riley scowled, his words low and almost like a growl. “It could be dangerous. He clearly lied about seeing Graham on the day he died, which means he could’ve killed him. His new time frame falls right in the poison’s window of efficacy.”
“Either way, we have to talk to him.”
Riley grimaced. “So what’s your plan then?”
I chewed on the inside of my cheek as I stared down at the screen. “The Halloween Bonfire Bash is one of the biggest events the town puts on in the fall. It’s the perfect opportunity to talk to him in a public setting without arousing suspicion.”
An owl hooted in a tree nearby.
“I don’t like it,” Riley muttered.
“What happened to wanting to get the details for your story?” I arched an eyebrow at him.
He leveled me with a glare. “No story is worth putting you in danger.”
I shivered at his protective tone, then shook my head. In just a few more days, Riley would go back to acting like normal… whatever normal was for him.
The thought sent a pang through me, but it was for the best. Spending the last few days with Riley had proved that I was in very real danger of falling for him, and that meant my heart was at risk.
Because once the potion wore off, I’d be left on my own.
The best I could hope for was clearing my name, with or without Riley’s help, and moving on with my life.
Tomorrow I’d confront Jaxon and hopefully get to the bottom of this case once and for all.