Another laugh as she headed for the door. “Everett, Malachi, and I have had your number since day one. We just didn’t communicate that very well. See you soon.” She kissed her fingers and blew a kiss at me before heading out the door after her brother.
~~~
I sat at my island and stared at my screen, the words blurring together. It was almost midnight, and it was far too silent.
I hated it here. I thought I would love a more peaceful place. A place like the woods where everything was fresh and smelled good and there was no noise, but I absolutely hated this. I wanted to move back to the city where noise was constant. The world was too eerie without noise.
I released a breath and looked over to Lucy who was laying at my feet, asleep.
Yeah, good idea. “Lus?”
Her ear twitched but she didn’t bother opening her eyes.
“Wanna head to bed?”
She inhaled deeply and huffed out, her ears folding back.
I couldn’t help but smile. “There’s a big brand-new bed waiting for us.” Almost brand new. Definitely broken in.
After a few seconds, she grumbled and shoved herself to a stand like a 110-year-old lady might get out of a chair.
“Such a drama queen,” I cooed, sliding from my stool and heading for my bedroom.
I still felt sore from the events of the day, but mostly just exhausted. Physically, mentally, emotionally. And I honestly was dreading the whole ‘gun lesson’ with Everett.
He was going to be cruel and cold and silent, judging me for not being smart enough to hold the gun right. I just didn’t have it in me to deal with all of that, let alone the irrationality of my own heart.
But I didn’t really have a choice.
And part of me liked that.
I never should have moved to The Springs. I should have just stayed in Denver, took my punishment, dealt with my parents, and lived my ‘silver-spoon’ life because this life? It was just plain exhausting.
I shoved open my door and immediately froze, Lucy jumping in front of me, snarling viciously at the man who stood at my bedroom window, his back to us.
My heart skipped a beat, Evelyn’s words about needing a gun biting me in the ass as the man held his hands behind his back, his cane gripped in one.
I had a dog. Her teeth beat his cane any day.
I swallowed, taking him in. I knew he knew that I was there. Despite the dog, I had a feeling he would have sensed me anyway. I recognized that cane too, his hair, pushed back, much like Everett’s was, with enough gel to hold it in place, but notenough to cause it to glisten. It had to have been longer than Everett’s, certainly longer on the sides. Where Everett’s was shorter on the sides and longer on top, Azrael’s seemed to be long everywhere. Long enough to layer perfectly when pushed back and curl ever so slightly at the nape of his neck. “Azrael,” I said softly, my tone not as hard as I wanted it to be.
To be honest, the way the others had protected me from him that day in my apartment really set the tone on who he was.
Somebody never to be messed with. Someone never to double cross or second guess.“He escaped the asylum,”Everett had said.
Escaped.
The asylum.
And now he was in my house, to what?
“Don’t worry, rose, I’m not here to kill you.” He turned his head just enough for me to see the edge of his mask, the way a few strands of his hair fell over the top of it, the glow of the moon giving him an eerie halo. “You and the pup would have been dead long ago if I wanted you dead.”
I remained where I was, glancing down the hall, wondering if Everett and Evelyn were watching the cameras at this exact moment.
God, I hoped they were, which was more annoying than it was reassuring.
“I’ll be long gone before they get here,” Azrael answered, pulling my attention back.
