20. Chapter 20
“Thank you for your cooperation, ma’am.” The state trooper nodded, taking notes on his little notepad. He’d let me change behind his car, and he bought the seizure story without further question.
Then again, there were witnesses that said the tow truck driver caused the entire crash. I was just happy that there were witnesses.
“Are you going to be in the area?” the trooper asked me.
“I don’t know how long, but for a bit.”
He leaned closer, and I felt the static in the air. It made the hair on my arms stand up and the back of my neck throb. What did Abiel do to me back there?
Did I even want to know?
I swallowed the thought down.
The trooper handed me his business card and put a respectful distance between us again. “That’s my number, if you remember anything else.”
The tension in the air lifted and made it easier to breathe. I hadn’t even realized there was a tight hand on my neck until Abiel let me go. I wasn’t even sure he realized it.
“Would you like a ride to the town where your truck was taken?”
“After everything today, I will respectfully decline.” I wasn’t getting inside another metal trap with a man.
He tipped his hat with respect and pointed me in the right direction. I walked across the service road to the farmer’s market road.
“Fuck my life,” I grumbled to myself.
Every step I took was followed by the grass turning less vibrant, flowers wilting, and dead leaves raining from above. He destroyed everything, even when he wasn’t trying to.
He’d destroy me, too.
The very thought made anger boil in my chest. By the time I was a mile down the road, I couldn’t hold it in anymore.
“Why did you do that?!” I yelled.
This time, under the canopy and the lowering sun, he appeared before me. I wished I could see his expression, but it didn’t matter. His disapproval crawled through my veins as my pulse raced. “He intended to harm you.”
“I don’t know if you noticed, but I kill things for a living. What did you think he could do to me?” Fucking shadow monsters.
I kicked a rock so I could take my frustration out on something tangible. Since hitting him wasn’t an option.
His head cocked to the side as if he were confused. “Your capability was never up for debate. I’m confident you could handle the human just fine.”
I laughed at his sure words, but I heard an edge of insanity in the sound. “Then what was the point of all that destruction? You killed people who didn’t deserve it.”
“What kind of man would I be if I allowed such a vile Neanderthal to touch a sacred dandelion?”
My brain short-circuited, and it took me two seconds too long to come up with a retort.
“You aren’t a man.” The words came out harsh, on the border of cruel, but I didn’t try to take it back.
We both needed to remember the truth.
So why did I feel like shit for saying it?
He shrugged and shook his head as if that was of no consequence.
“You make me want to scream.” I rolled my eyes. At least if it didn’t offend him, I didn’t need to feel guilty for saying something bitchy.
He chuckled, and even though he didn’t say it out loud, I could hear the commentary about how he’d already made me scream.
I wanted to blame him for encouraging the driver into being stupid, but the locked door already confirmed that’s what was going to happen, whether Abiel toyed with him or not.
The memory of that man’s hand almost touching me made the back of my neck throb and itch, like it was rejecting the memory. I scratched at the skin there when the feeling wouldn’t go away.
That tow truck driver was going to die today. I would have never let him walk away. I killed monsters, even if they wore human skin.
But I could not justify the senseless murder of the masses.
My nails dug deeper into my skin. It was hot, like an infection. Something wasn’t right.
Abiel pulled my fingers away. “Careful, Dandelion.”
When I brought my hand back, my fingers were coated in blood. “What did you do to me?”
“Marked you as mine.” He sounded so proud of himself.
“What?” I grabbed a mirror from my hip bag and practically broke my arm to see what he’d done.
But I couldn’t see anything other than blood.
It would have to wait until I got to a bathroom.
I found myself stuttering more than I was comfortable with, “I never agreed to be yours. I’m married. What is wrong with you?”
Who was I talking to?
Him?
Or myself?
He let out a deep, terrifying roar that rattled my bones. “That foolish, weak boy isn’t worthy of you.”
On the left, the apple orchard we were passing turned black, until it became nothing more than ash on the wind.
Fuck.
My heart pounded as I waited for screams and destruction to fill the air. Instead, it smelled like a fire that had already long ago burned out, accompanied by an eerie silence.
I stared at him for a few moments, holding my breath for his next move. It felt wrong when nothing else happened, so I kept walking to hide how unsure I was.
“Can you try to control yourself?” I meant it to be sarcastic, but it sounded like a plea.
“Not when you speak of that imbecile.” He snarled, and the pavement cracked under our feet.
“Fine.” I scoffed. It wasn’t like I wanted to talk about William either. If it kept him from destroying more of the ecosystem than maybe that was for the best. “Let’s focus on the important bits. You don’t get to claim me. In case you forgot, I came to kill you.”
I probably needed that reminder more than he did.
“You can’t kill a shadow.” His voice went back to that calm tone he usually had. Because speaking of his murder wasn’t triggering at all. The husband that was already out the door was worthy of a force of nature.
He didn’t make sense.
“And you claimed me first,” he said.
“Oh no.” I shook my finger at him. “I’m not taking responsibility for your bad behavior. I didn’t do shit to you.”
“You brought something back to life inside me that should have stayed dead.” His fingers brushed my hair out of my face. “You call that nothing?”
“Stop that.” My stomach jumped into my throat.
“I think I did the same to you.”
Everything inside me froze, and suddenly there wasn’t enough room inside of me for all my organs. Even my heart missed a beat. “Don’t know what you’re talking about.”
Probably the fact that I leaned into him, even as I pulled away.
That I hid it behind bluster and sarcasm, but I’d felt his absence when he was pretending he wasn’t attached to me.
I swallowed the rock in my throat.
“Liar,” he accused softly, but didn’t seem to be offended by my denial. “I’ll stay at your heel forever.”
“Now, who’s the liar?”
Everyone used the word forever.
No one ever meant it.