Page 45 of Forever Touched

Sighing impatiently, I strode toward the still-open garage, muttering to myself, “Probably just a loose bolt. I still have time. Now where did I leave my—?”

A body materialized before me, and I jerked back with a curse. “I told you to—” Everett held out the wrench I needed. “Oh. Thanks.” I took it and hurried back to the car. “Look, I don’t need your help. I have to get to the club before Rocky does, or I won’t be able to hide Benjamin’s body. If someone finds it, I—”

“Loch contacted the SCA. It’s taken care of.”

I whirled around to gape at him. “Really? The body is gone? Including the head?”

He nodded, then held out his hand again. “And this must be yours. Loch found it in the woods this afternoon, covered in Ben’sblood.”

When I saw what he held, my jaw dropped. It was my knife, carefully positioned on a scrap of fabric to protect his skin.

Still recovering from my shock, I stupidly blurted, “I’m surprised you’re giving it back to me. Aren’t you worried I’ll stab you with it?”

His mouth twitched with what looked like amusement. “Do youwantto stab me with it?”

I shrugged. “Not right now.”

“Then I’m not worried.”

My own lips twitched with silent amusement. As I reached for the knife, he carefully wrapped it in the fabric and handed it to me.

“I . . . thank you.”

I tucked the knife into my pocket. As I did, a great weight lifted off my shoulders. Noticing that he was as soaked as me, all of Mistress’s warnings about staying away from him came back to me. But I suddenly didn’t care. He’d covered up the attack. He’d returned myknife. That meant more to me than he could ever know.

But after I’d all but thrown in his face that I’d rather be a blood whore than exclusively be with him, he shouldn’t want anything to do with me. Even after what the king had said about us, who would want a whore for a soulmate?

That awful feeling of beingexposedslid over me once more. Flustered, I turned to the car with my wrench in hand.

“Sorry about your friend,” I said, peering under the hood once more.

“I’m not.”

At his candid reply, a laugh burst from me. “Well, hewasa sleazebag. I would have stuck him in the heart, but he was kind of on top of me at the time, so I didn’t have a clear shot.”

Not wanting to dwell on the memory, I reached inside the carand began searching for loose bolts.

After a moment, Everett quietly growled, “I hope he rots in hell.”

I laughed again. “That’s dark.”

“Why didn’t you use magic to stop him?”

I froze, suddenly terrified that he’d figured out what I could do. What I’d done tohim. Forcing my tone to remain light, I quickly tossed back, “Guess I was too freaked out to remember.”

“You’re an Oracle, Star. Probably a powerful one if your father was at the battle six years ago. Defending yourself with magic should be instinctual for you. Unless you didn’t reallywantto defend yourself.”

A retort quickly sprang to my tongue. “OfcourseI did. Do you think I like being attacked in the woods and drained to within an inch of my life?” Annoyed, I savagely twisted the wrench to tighten a bolt. “If you must know, Itriedto use my magic. Benjamin just happened to get the best of me.”

When he fell silent again, panic flared in my chest. Was my response too flippant? Would he ask me questions about my dad and thatnightnext?

Needing to distract him, I said, “They think you’re the vampire in the gold mask who attacked me this morning, by the way. They also think you’re obsessed with me.”

“I don’t care who they think I am,” he replied. “And I’m not obsessed with you.”

I smirked at him over my shoulder. “Whatever you say, solemae.”

Before the word could finish leaving my mouth, I knew that I’d made a huge mistake.

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