Page 17 of Immortal Unveiled

6

It didn’t take long to get to a small wine bar with a happy hour sign outside and plenty of seating inside. After the waiter placed their drinks in front of them—a glass of red wine for Kim and a Scotch for Manus—Manus looked at his companion.

“Did you really wanna talk, or did you just say that to distract me so I wouldn’t beat up that ungrateful little shit?”

Kim took a sip from her drink as if she needed a moment to come up with an answer. “He should have thanked you for your help.”

Manus took a swig from his whiskey. Just as he’d thought. She’d only wanted to get him out of the police station. But then why hadn’t she tried to ditch him on their way to the bar?

“But that’s not why I asked you for a drink.”

He lifted his eyes to meet her gaze.

“I don’t like drinking alone, and today, after what I found out from the detective handling my mother’s case, I need a drink.”

“What did you find out?” Manus asked even though he already knew. He’d listened to most of the conversation she’d had with Detective Emmerson, standing only a few feet away, cloaked in invisibility.

Kim hesitated for a moment, then took another sip from her glass as if it lent her courage. “You were right. It was a burglar. They found him, dead.”

“Dead?”

She nodded as if to herself. “Some lowlife with a long rap sheet. They found the bracelet my mother always wore on him. And her address.” She looked down into her lap.

“I’m so sorry.”

She lifted her head and looked at him. “I owe you an apology.”

It was the last thing he’d expected her to say. “You owe me nothing.”

“No, I do. You tried to tell me that my mother’s death wasn’t the result of something supernatural. And I called you an idiot because of it. That was ungrateful, when all you did was try to help me.” She reached for his hand and squeezed it. “I’m sorry.”

The warmth of her hand flooded his entire body. Simultaneously, he felt like a jerk. He was the one who should be apologizing to her. He was the one who’d lied to her. “There’s no need—”

“I’m normally not such a bitch.”

He put his hand over hers. “Please, you weren’t. And you had every right to react the way you did. You’ve been through a lot.”

Kim gave him a weak smile. “It’s been hard. I haven’t even begun to grieve yet. I think I held on to a supernatural explanation for so long because I didn’t want to grieve. I didn’t want to accept that she’s gone, you know?”

“Grief is an important step in getting your life back,” Manus said and slowly withdrew his second hand, giving Kim a chance to remove hers, but she continued clutching his.

“My life will never be the same again.” She huffed softly. “I was engaged before all this happened.”

Somehow, he’d forgotten about that fact, which had been mentioned in her file. “Was?”

She took a long gulp, emptying her glass. “Yeah. I drove him away with all that supernatural stuff. He didn’t believe any of it and begged me to stop. But I couldn’t.”

“Surely, now that you know what really happened, you can make another go of the relationship.” It was hard to get those words past his lips, but it was the right thing to say. If Kim was back with her fiancé, a man who didn’t believe in the supernatural, she had no reason to ever doubt the version of events Manus had cooked up and the police had served her up—even if pushing her back into the arms of another man felt wrong.

“With Todd?” She shook her head. “No. If anything, everything that’s happened has prevented me from making the biggest mistake in my life. Mom knew it, too. She knew it better than I did.”

“Knew what?”

“That I wasn’t crazy about Todd.” She lifted her glass toward the bar and caught the waiter’s attention. Another one, she mouthed, before turning back to Manus. “Don’t you think you should be crazy in love with the person you intend to marry? I mean absolutely crazy, no-holds-barred in love and lust, and not just feel comfortable with someone like you feel comfortable in an old sweater?”

The tightness around his heart that he’d felt when Kim had started mentioning her fiancé suddenly eased. Manus smiled. “I certainly wouldn’t want to be any woman’s old sweater.”

Kim chuckled unexpectedly. “You’re not sweater material.”