“Oh, shut up. I said I wouldn’t. Just remember this whenever you’re tempted to get revenge for your asshole brother. I’m a dragon. So is Brody. Get froggy again and the last thing you’ll see is my flames.”
Bethany shut up. She closed her eyes as I descended toward the park far below. Her breath hitched in sobs, and I almost felt sorry for her.Almost. If she’d had her way, I’d be dead now. Or running. Still, had she not stalked me, I’d never have met Brody. My fate. My love.
I landed on the grass where I’d taken off just a short time ago. I set Bethany down, and watched her collapse, crying, her face buried in the turf. Shifting back to two legs, I nudged her with my toe.
“Look at me.”
Her skin deathly pale, yet bright crimson where she’d been weeping, she turned her face upward to stare up with wet eyes.
“Remember what I am. And no one would believe you if you said you met a dragon.”
With that, I turned and left her.
***
I pressed an ice pack against Body’s lump, now turning a violent purple shade, and sat next to him. He offered me a wan smile, then held the cold pack as he leaned both elbows on the kitchen table. In my absence, Skinner helped himself to my coffee. He drank it while leaning against the counter.
“Did you kill her?” he asked.
I shook my head. “No.”
“So where is she?”
Probably still lying in the park, too scared to move.“Look, dude, she chased me. I stopped, hit her a couple of times. Then she took off.”
“So where’s her gun?” He sipped, his keen gaze sharp on my face, no doubt sensing my lie.
“I didn’t see it.”
“Officers say they heard gunshots coming from down that way.” He gestured toward the park. “Did she shoot at you?”
“No. I popped her in the nose, smacked her, she got to crying.”That much is true.“I left her and came here.”
“So where is she?”
“Probably on her way back to California.” I glowered. “You might alert the state patrols to watch for her. She stole a car, didn’t she?”
“So we suspect.”
Brody’s free hand stroked my thigh in support. “Did you send cops to search the park?” he asked.
“They’re there now.” Skinner’s gaze didn’t leave my face. “Tell me the truth, Lindsey.”
“I did.”I wish I was a better liar. And didn’t have to lie to him. He’s a good guy.
“You told me some of the truth,” he replied. “Not all.”
“That’s all I can say, Skinner,” I said. “I scared the crap out of Bethany, then left her. I didn’t want to kill her, not if there was another way.”
“Why didn’t you hold her for us?”
“It’s between Bethany and me.”
“Ah.”
He sipped his coffee, watching my face over the rim. He only took that fierce stare from me when a pair of cops entered my kitchen. One had a gun, carried it by its trigger guard with a pen.
“We found this, Detective,” the officer said. “In the park down the street. No one else.”
