Chapter Five
Skylar
“That’s not going to happen,” Elias said.
“You fucking owe me,” I snapped.
“I saved your ass just now,” he replied.
“My best friend is dead and I can’t even mourn her, thanks to you,” I said through gritted teeth. It didn’t feel right crying again. I needed a real cry. The full on screaming, heaving kind of cry that Lola deserved. This asshole stripped me of being able to even let myself go there.
“I’m sorry about your friend,” he said.
“No, you’re not.” I glared at him, not taking my eyes off his. He did look a little sorry. Or maybe that was in my head. Tastes of his magic seeped out, my senses firing again.
Despite my efforts, I could feel his magic sputtering and flaring like an out of control fire. It was like an explosion waiting to happen. I could sense how unstable and powerful it was. What I couldn’t sense was any sign of remorse. Not that I had the ability to know for sure but like I said, my instincts were usually spot on.
It didn’t matter right now, though. Feeling his magic was just making me more stressed. I took a deep breath in and closed that part of me, eliminating the feel of his magic and the residue that was floating around me. It wasn’t going to help bring my friend back.
“I meant what I said. I will help you find the true killer,” he said. “It’s the least I can do.”
“That’s for damn sure,” I spat. “This whole thing would be so much easier if you just came clean and told the truth.”
I narrowed my eyes. “Your magic is illegal, isn’t it? Is that what this is about? Your abuse of power?”
“You need to stop asking me questions before I wipe your memory completely,” he said.
I took a step back, fear prickling the back of my neck. “You can’t really do that. Can you?”
He shrugged. “Want to find out?”
I’d heard of dangerous magic that existed in the darkest corners of the world. It was said to be stronger than anything else but it was considered too unstable to wield. It was the kind of magic that bordered on myth. The stuff that made up children’s stories and horror movies. The kind of magic we all hoped didn’t actually exist.
The problem was that I saw it with my own eyes. And I could feel it pulsing through him, filling the room with an energy unlike anything I’d ever felt. Even if he prevented me from talking about it, I knew he was far more dangerous than any of the creatures I’d hunted.
I’d faced vampires, mages, and shifters and brought them all down. Usually with only minor injuries. None of the monsters I’d hunted scared me the way this male did.
“Why would you even help me at all?” I asked, ignoring the million other questions circling in my head.
“Would you rather I not?”
“Maybe,” I replied.
“You’re smarter than I thought you were,” he said. “But I’m a man of my word and I’m going to help you.”
I swallowed hard. He’s not a man. That’s for damn sure.
“You’re the hunter. Where should we start?” He glanced around the mess. “What do you think they were after?”
I shook my head. “I have no idea. I didn’t even know Lola was from the High Moon pack, let alone that she was a princess.”
“Well, now you know,” he said.
I walked past him toward the door and then closed it, locking it before turning back to my living room.
“You think that’ll keep out the bad guys?” he asked.
“No, I think you’ll keep out the bad guys. That lock will keep the druggies next door from walking in. Besides, I don’t think they’re coming back. Who returns to the scene of the crime?”