I closed my eyes, a queasiness rising from the pit of my stomach. “You killed him.” This was his life. I knew that. Going to the police was rarely their option. It opened the door to many questions and threats to the business. They dealt with matters on their own and in their own way. Usually through violence and money.
Harris looked back at me, his eyes neutral. He wasn’t remorseful or sad. I understood why. He could be no other way in his world, or it would break him. Make him weak, which he could not afford. “It’s the only other way to break a spell or curse. Kill the one who made it.”
There were very few curses and spells that outlived the creator. Therefore, it was reasonable for Harris to assume that killing the warlock would break this spell. A chill racked through me, and I sought out my orc’s warmth. I moved closer to Harris, tossing a leg over his thigh and resting my forehead on his chest. “I thought you had people who could do that.”
“I do. I haven’t had to put my hands on people since I took over. However, that asshole came directly after me and mine. I had to make him pay on my own.”
Was it wrong that his words turned me on? I wasn’t the type who expected her guy to kill for her. Or so I thought. Harris was dangerous. I could never forget that. But I knew one thing: he loved me and never had or would physically harm me. “I suppose he didn’t say anything about the shadow creature? Did he admit to being a part of having that being follow me and threaten you?”
Harris ran his hand up and down my back slowly as he often did to comfort me. “No, despite us asking. He seemed confused by the question, but also scared, but not in a way that we detected he was lying. He genuinely seemed not to know what we were talking about, but the idea scared him.”
“Well, that shadow creature scared me, so I get it. I hate that we couldn’t get any answers and that he had to die.”
Although the spell was broken and we could go back to our normal lives, I felt even more unsettled. This wasn’t the end. And more immediately, I still had a shadow creature waiting somewhere to get access to me. I didn’t know what he wanted either, other than Harris dead. But we needed answers, and if the warlock didn’t give them, I might have to go to the very source I was trying to avoid.
Into the realms.
Chapter Eleven
Harris
The next morning, I woke up alone. I didn’t like that. With everything happening, I needed to know where Camilla was. Yes, I realize that’s stalkerish and mildly controlling. Fine, a lot controlling, but could you blame me? I finally admitted to her that I loved her, and she had to understand how precious that made her to me.
I could respect her bathroom privacy, but she wasn’t in there, the door was open, and I didn’t hear any noise. I grabbed some pajama bottoms, not bothering with anything else. I then raced to the other rooms on the floor, not finding her. Now that the curse was lifted, there was no distance limitation, and she could be anywhere. Uncomfortable tightness in my chest made me move faster. I knew it wasn’t realistic to think she’d remainjoined at the hip with me, but I did expect her to talk to me first. She was smarter than that.
I batted away the unsettling feeling that she could leave now that she was free. I’d put a lot on her in the last several days. It hadn’t even been a week, and I’d told her everything about my stalking, she was here when I killed someone, and I’d told her I loved her. I was impressed that she didn’t seem to back away from me after learning what I did to the warlock. Not to mention her ability to handle my dark side. I’d asked Paulo to hold her until I regrouped, but it turned out to be a good idea to have her see all sides of me. She could handle me, and that pleased me more than I could express. Sam was right about my waiting too long. Perhaps I should have approached her after I took control of the business. I’d underestimated her ability to handle the life. To handle me.
I’d told her I would never let her go. Was that too much? I mean, it was the truth, but maybe I shouldn’t have said it out loud. But she should know she was mine forever. I told her that was a non-negotiable, and she seemed fine with that. Or maybe she was too scared to disagree. No, she wanted to be with me. Didn’t she?
When I descended the stairs to the main level, I found a female guard in the kitchen drinking water. I didn’t mind them moving around freely, especially with the shadow creature issue, but at that moment, I found it irritating that she was not my Camilla. “Where is she?” I growled, feeling slightly more panicked than I wanted to appear.
The guard looked at me with wide eyes, standing straighter. She pointed toward the deck. “She’s on the beach.”
I immediately raced to the deck, slid the glass door to the side, and went down the stairs and onto the beach, where I found Camilla sitting on a large beach towel under an umbrella. She was wearing a white knit cover-up over a patterned two-pieceswimsuit, and I sighed in relief that she looked relaxed instead of packed and ready to leave.
She looked up at me with an amused look on her face. “I don’t think that’s beachwear.”
I sat down beside her, suddenly feeling mildly silly for being so panicky. This wasn’t a good look. “I was eager to catch the sun.”
“Suuree,” she said with a snort.
I refused to be embarrassed and shrugged. “You can’t leave without letting me know.”
She tapped my thigh with a patient smile. “I’ll leave a note next time, so you don’t run out of the house barely clothed again.”
I gave her a curt nod, looking away. We sat quietly, watching the ocean waters with only the sound of a few birds. My property was private, so we wouldn’t have too many people walking this far down on the beach. Not that they would see us anyway under the ward. It was just the two of us, in our own private bubble, enjoying the shared silence. Enjoying the nearness of each other. I wanted this with her for as long as I could have it. Again and again.
“I feel bad, Harris,” Camilla began, breaking the silence.
“About the warlock? Don’t. He wasn’t a good man. If he weren’t so efficient, I would have cut ties with him a long time ago.”
“It’s not that, although that makes me feel a little less bad on that account. But I meant I feel bad about exposing you to this shadow creature. If the warlock doesn’t know anything about it, then maybe it’s here because of me. I’m putting you in danger by being around me.”
“We don’t know if the warlock was really lying. And it could be another enemy of mine. I’m not an innocent, Camilla.”
“But it seems to just want you out of the way. So, you could be safe if I weren’t here. Or at the very least, we’d learn who it’s really after if we separated.”
Irritation crowded my mind, filling my chest like a vice. “No. If you are trying to leave me, figure out a different way.”
