Chase turns to me.
“Xandra?” he says, and there’s a slight waver to his voice as he uses my name. “What do you want to do?”
What do Iwantto do? That’s obvious.
I was lucky enough to scavenge a house that once belonged to a woman close enough to my size that I can borrow fresh clothes. The shower back at East Jersey was a tease. Chloe put me behind a frosted glass shower stall, keeping the chilled spray on long enough to rinse the tangles out of my hair and wash the dirt off of my face.
Four days later, and I still have some of that make-up on. That, plus I can’t shake the fact that Chase’s mouth was on my pussy, his dick inside of me, his body weighing me down right before he would’ve fucked me if Maverick hadn’t shown up when he did… the rain on my skin has just made all the sensations worse.
I need a real shower.
“Five minutes,” I promise. “In and out. Then I’ll get dressed and we can go.”
Without a word, Maverick turns toward the open bedroom door.
I take a step after him. “Where are you going?”
“You don’t need an audience, and I’ll feel better if I’m not closed-up in this house. I’m going outside.”
“Are you going ahead without us?”
Maverick pauses, turning so that I can look at his face—but he’s focusing on Chase.
“How many kills did you have in the Grave? Thirty-something since July, right? What about before that?”
“I don’t know. They just needed to die so I could keep my… keep the Grave safe. It wasn’t a competition.”
For Chase maybe. For me?
“If they would’ve let me gone after those fuckers after”—Hallie—“that night, I’d have smashed his record.”
For a moment, I think I fucked up. He laughed the other day, but reminding Chase of the flaming gone wrong that stole Hallie from him is probably the worst thing to do… and maybe it is, but though his eyes tighten at the corners, he lets out a short laugh.
“Yeah. She’s an ass-kicker, this one.”
I give him a small grin. “So are you.”
“That’s my point,” cuts in Maverick. “I’m not as fast as I was. I don’t recover as quickly as I used to. With three of us splitting the night watch, we can each rest a little more. Plus, nothing will stop me from taking care of business in New York. It might’ve been impossible on my own. With just Xandra, it still would be rough. Throw in another kid who understands why we need to stop the lurkers for once and for all if we can, and I’m not giving up the help. So, yeah. I’ll be there.”
“Five minutes,” I repeat.
He nods, and then he’s gone, leaving Chase and me alone in some forgotten woman’s bedroom.
I clear my throat. “Thanks, Chase. For sticking up for me.”
A small, sad smile tugs on his lips. “Anything for you.”
No. Anything forHallie.
But, like Rory’s jacket, I’m all he has left of his love—and with that thought, I finally understand why he’s so damn attached to me. It’s like my obsession with my brother’s jacket and my mother’s anklet.
He’s clinging to me because he can’t have Hallie.
And I’ll have to do what I can to keep my distance because I… I can’t be what he wants.
Because, no matter how he obviously wishes otherwise, I’mnotHallie.
CHAPTER 21
