She stiffened.
“Excuse us,” she murmured, too quickly, and turned away, tugging me with her. Tyler laughed, and Xanthy walked faster.
We moved through the crowd, her friends watching with wide expectant eyes, likely whispering already. My blood roared in my ears, and the sound made me feel momentarily deaf.
When we were far enough away, I leaned down, my voice low against her ear. “What did that man do to you?”
Her lips pressed tight. She shook her head slightly, her pale eyes glassy. “Not here. Please, Shiloh.”
She is begging for protection, yet blocking me out. Holy fuck, women were a mystery.
I let it go for now. But the splinter was driven deeper. Tyler had laid his poison in the open, and I’d seen the way it cracked her armor.
I knew before the night was over, I’d have to become the light she wanted, hide the darkness, and go toe-to-toe with the villain.
That was if and when she decided she wanted her Prince Charming to save her.
Tyler drifted back into our circle like smoke.
A fucking snake.
His movements were too practiced. He had a glass of whiskey in his hand, and his smirk curled as if no one else in the room mattered to him.
“Hell of a turnout,” he said, his voice booming just enough to draw attention from everyone nearby. “I almost didn’t make it. Family tragedy kept me longer than I’d planned.”
He took a slow sip, savoring it. “My sister, Carmen, died in the woods, and wolves ate her face off…”
Or carved in precise detail to look like it.
“Whole damn ordeal. She always loved the fanatics. Funeral, lawyers, and everyone weeping for the little saint. You know how it is.”
He shrugged. Shrugged. Like he was talking about a flat tire, not a sweet woman’s death.
“Truth be told,” he went on, his eyes flickering between us, “The whole thing was a nuisance. Lost so much work over it. Time I’ll never get back.”
My gut tightened. I didn’t know Carmen, at least not her life. I knew her body and how hard to press before it broke, but I didn’t know her story. The way he said it, her own brother, like her death was nothing but an inconvenience…it made the hair at my neck bristle.
Xanthy’s fingers curled tighter in mine, her polished nails digging into my skin. Her face had gone pale, and her lips pressed thin.
I leaned down, my voice low. “You okay, baby girl?”
She didn’t answer, just gave the slightest shake of her head.
Tyler chuckled, swirling around the ice in his glass.
“Ah, but life goes on, right? Always does. People die, the rest of us drink, and keep moving.” His eyes met mine, glinting. “No use dwelling on the dead and gone. Isn’t that right, Doctor? You have to put the sheet over their head and move the fuck on.”
I want to put a sheet over your head.
I held his stare, my jaw tight. “Grieving a life lost is part of the process. Taking that away would be selfish.”
For a flicker of a second, his smile faltered. Then it was back, all smooth and practiced.
Xanthy tugged at my arm.
“Let’s go, Shiloh,” she whispered, much too soft for anyone else to hear.
I let her lead me away, but I didn’t stop watching him. Tyler tipped his glass in a mock toast, his eyes glued to me.
