“It wouldn’t have been hard, really,” I told him, confused at his apology, at how genuine he had sounded. But I’d fallen for that genuineness before; I had trusted Mason and learned a hard lesson.
“I know,” he admitted. “I let myself think every day about finding you, only to convince myself that you’d slam the door in my face without ever hearing me out. I’m a coward, still, because I can admit that sometimes it was easier to let myself think that there was an outcome where you forgave me than to know the truth. That you never would, and I wouldn’t blame you.”
“And now?” I pressed.
“Now, I just want to stop having us avoid one another. Now, I want you ba—”
His mouth snapped shut, not letting that confession slip free. But I let myself have it pass by; if he confessed to wanting me back, I didn’t know what I would say to that.
“I don’t trust you,” I whispered. “That’s why I’ve been avoiding you. I’m comforted by you protecting me, and I’m grateful, but I don’t think I can trust you again.”
“I get that.” Mason nodded. “But I want to do everything in my power to prove to you that I’ve changed. Starting with confiding in you about this whole djinn thing.”
At that, I felt relief—good, I thought,get the attention off us.Nerves had wormed beneath my skin, demanding attention, demanding that I hide, escape the love I’d felt for the alpha—the love that I was scared was still there and had never left.
“My pack is looking to me for answers, and I have no idea what it all means, what’s going on. I can’t do anything but try to put out the fires the djinn start, and I have—I’ve got fucking Theo opposing me at every turn.” A shudder went through me at the mention of Theo, the shifter who had caused me the most distress. The most cruel, wicked one of them all. To know there was aggravation between Mason and Theo brought mesomepleasure, at least. “I’m scared that I won’t be able to do enough, that I won’tbeenough. When I was younger, being alpha was a macho thing, being the most important guy in the room. Now… there’s more pressure than ever.”
“Have you spoken to June?” I asked, avoiding talking about Theo or Mason’s status as alpha. They weren’t subjects I couldn’t yet touch.
“Not yet. She told me she wants to talk to me about some things she’s discovered.”
“It’s about the town’s museum,” I told him. “She’ll be able to tell you more, but she’s doing some research into the history of Honeycreek, and found out that the museum’s built right on an intercrossing of ley lines. That’s why there’s such a big shifter presence, and why—” I cut myself off from voicing my speculation about my own, new abilities. “Why… things about be happening.”
Mason frowned, shifting. “My grandmother used to tell me about old legends about a whole world of magic beneath the museum. My dad always chased her words away, telling her not to fill my head with silly stories, so I grew up doing the same, discarding her old tales. But I don’t know. I don’t know why the demons are so attracted to the town, or what is motivating them to keep attacking Honeycreek. I guess I have to take every possibility into consideration.”
“It’s worth looking into,” I pointed out. “June said she’ll keep me updated, but I’m sure she’ll pass on her information.”
“If you want to get involved, I wouldn’t say no.”
His words struck me, and I cringed, wondering if I could let myself be involved further. I needed to keep a safe distance, and mixing myself into this problem was the exact opposite of that.
“It’s up to you,” he said earnestly. “I have to get back to the station, but think about it, okay? Let me know if you want to help out.”
Before I could say anything else, he stood up, took his plate into the kitchen, and I was struck dumb when he ran the water to wash the dish. On his way out, he nodded at me. “Thanks for the sandwich.”
With that, he disappeared out the door with one last glance at the stairs.
Chapter 10 - Mason
“Are there any connections between the library and the bakery?” Jackson asked, his gaze narrowing on the Honeycreek map we have in front of us.
“Nope,” Theo answered, spinning around on the leather office chair, beat up and creaking, to face the map again. “We initially thought the bakery was a freak accident, but—”
“It still could be,” I pointed out. I couldn’t help but cling to some notion that djinn aren’t targeting my town, that normal fires can be analyzed better, and that I desperately didn’t want this all to be the cause of demon attacks. I didn’t want to have bigger issues on my hands to save my pack from.
“Get your head out of your ass,” Theo snapped.
“I hate to agree, but Theo’s right,” Jackson muttered. “We need to actually look at this from a demon attack point of view. That’s the only way we’re going to get to the bottom of it.”
“I’m not trying to be avoidant, I just…” I shrugged, folding my arms over my chest. “I have to protect everyone, and dealing with demons is a far fucking bigger problem than a faulty oven or broken light.” I sighed and slumped back in my chair.
We had a map pinned to the old corkboard in the fire station’s office, pins and string connecting a dozen locations across town where we’d put out fires. It was strange; Honeycreek felt so small some days, but looking at it on the map, faced with the reality that I couldn’t have my pack everywhere at once with the manpower we needed to have, it felt far too big.
“You have to face the pressure at some point,” Theo told me, throwing me a sympathetic look. I shot him a glare that silences him. Iwasfacing the pressure in every way thathe couldn’t even imagine. The pressure of these fires, Bryce’s return, pack politics and unrest at that return, and now the possibility of the town’s museum being built on top of old ley lines.
I wanted to ask June about it. I needed to know if the builder had known, if it had been strategically placed for a reason lost to time, or if it was never known in the first place.
“Okay, so where else has been hit?” I asked, dreading the answer.
