“And what did he say?” Daniel asked, his voice holding something close to hope mixed with curiosity.
“He said he was murdered, and the man who murdered him is now after me.”
Daniel was quiet for a long time, long enough that I was about to ask him if he was okay when he said, “Damn. I’m glad I asked for someone to watch your house.”
I looked in the side mirror and saw a police car following us. My heart sank. Since I’d become Karma, I’d been nothing but trouble to those around me. But I had to take the bad with the good. I wouldn’t have rekindled my friendships with my friends or learned what I now knew about them and their powers, either.
If I hadn't become Karma I would probably still be in Springfield and drinking myself into an early grave. My heart would have remained forever broken, my ability to trust would have been crushed, and I would have pulled away from the world. I can almost see it in my mind, exactly how life would have gone. My divorce with Rick would have been long and messy and painful, and whatever job I ended up getting would have just been a means to an end. I would have been lost.
Becoming Karma and reuniting with my chosen family in Mystic Hollow grounded me, centered me in a way I didn't even know I was lacking. It made me see things in a new light, everything from my old life to my current self. If I hadn't become Karma that never would have happened.
In my driveway, Daniel turned off the truck, making everything quiet, which was the only thing that pulled me from my thoughts. “Please be careful,” he said. “I know you have powers but this… That murder was strange, to say the least.” He shuddered. “I don’t believe it was done by a human.”
That wasn’t good news. I grabbed his hand. “I’ll be careful. I promise.” Squeezing his fingers, I waited for him to explain, but he shook his head.
“I’ll explain everything when I know more.”
After seriously considering pressing a kiss to his cheek, I gave it up and slid out of the truck. He didn’t open my door this time, which was understandable. I only turned back once to say, "You be careful, too."
He gave me a nod in response and when Daniel pulled out of my driveway, the officer pulled in. I waved, ignoring the guilt that meant another cop had to sit in my driveway all night. I tried to reframe it in my mind, he would have been bored or in danger otherwise, right? I wasn't convinced that this murder was going to come after me immediately, so that meant that being here made the officer safe and he wasn't just sitting at the station so it had to be more entertaining, right? Maybe that was naive, but I thought one murder a night was probably all the killer was capable of.
Besides, my brother was inside. So even if I wasn’t in danger, I was glad to know he’d be extra safe.
Henry looked up when I locked the door. “Hey,” I said. “How’s it going?”
He grinned and took off his headset, moving away from where he'd been reading something at the kitchen table. “Good timing. I was about to take a break.” He followed me into the kitchen watching intensely as I set the kettle to boil and got out the stuff for tea. "Want some?" I asked, waggling my mug at him.
He nodded his head so I reached for a second mug and tea bag. I knew he could tell that something was up, and he was just waiting for me to come out with it. I wasn't sure that I wanted to though, I mean what if it put him in danger? But what if not knowing put him in danger, too? I decided knowing was better than not knowing.
“I had a rough night,” I said, not really knowing how to tell him that yet another person I'm tangentially connected to has died.
“Oh?” Henry cocked his head, the dark brown strands that looked black most of the time brushing over his forehead almost hiding his furrowed brow. “Can I help you?”
I turned so I was facing him fully and reached up to tousle his hair. As soon as I removed my hand from his hair he straightened it back out with a slight smile and went to sit at the table. A lot of people thought Henry didn’t like to be touched, but he did. Just only by a few trusted people. As a kid, he would cringe from the hugs and kisses from relatives, which always annoyed them. But he seemed to enjoy the small things I did, like tousling his hair, or giving him little hugs and kisses. I was always careful not to give long hugs though, those he didn’t enjoy.
Gosh, it was nice to be home and back with him. I hadn’t even realized just how much I missed all the little things that made him my Henry.
I cleared my throat, trying to hide my sappy thoughts as I said, “Just make sure you’re being safe. Don’t go outside at night right now, lock everything up. Someone is murdering people in town, and I don’t want it to be you.”
I didn’t want to freak him out, but he had to know the danger. After I set a mug of tea in front of him, Henry grabbed my hand. “Are you really okay?”
Giving him a half hug, I chuckled. “I’m fine. We have an officer watching the house just to be safe.” It was time to change the subject. “What are you playing?” I released him from the hug and moved to sit on the other side of the table with my own mug, letting the heat warm my hands and chase away the nerves of the evening.
It was a pretty safe bet that he was playing something, he just changed the subject matter and team from time to time, though I had a feeling Alice would always be a staple now. “I’ve been playing this sandbox game for a while that was recently updated, and me and some friends are crushing the game.” He grinned before taking a sip of the tea and burning his mouth. I couldn't help but shake my head as he waved a hand over his tongue.
I eyed him over the rim of the mug as I took a sip. He seemed genuinely relaxed and happy, which I loved to see but I needed to make sure of one thing first. When I put the mug back down I asked, “You’re not gambling are you?” My stomach was tight as I waited for his response. The last thing I needed to worry about right now was my brother getting in trouble with vampires and sirens again.
He shook his head hard, his hair flying all over. “No, not since I got in trouble. Not even a little. It’s just me and five geniuses crushing this game.”
I relaxed. My brother was a good man. He’d just made a misstep. “Good to hear.” After finishing my tea and giving him a kiss on the cheek, I took off for bed. I was beyond exhausted. I just hoped there wasn't a ghost waiting for me in my bedroom or something.
Chapter Fourteen
Emma
“Come on,” Beth said over my phone’s speaker. “We heard about the murder. Meet us at Deva’s for breakfast.” Did she have to be so peppy this early in the morning?
Yeah, of course she did. Beth was always peppy. While I felt like a pile of day-old porridge.
