Page 61 of Fate's Unseen Shadow

“Him getting gunned down. Point-blank shot to the chest.” Slater took faster steps. “He’s dead. Just don’t know where.”

“Fuck.” They rounded the corner, and Damon could smell it. Not strong, but it was there. The other guys did as well, everyone slowing their walk a little bit. He’d checked the other end of the alley but not this direction.

“We need to wait,” Slater said, stopping ten feet from the dumpster.

“Who is going to call his mom?” The men looked at each other.

Damon closed his eyes, part of his mind going numb with the job he had to do. “I will. But let’s first confirm the body.” That last shred of hope would remain until the police confirmed what they knew. The kid was gone. Before Ella had come into his world, he’d processed the grief and sadness and moved on withhis life. Now, each case seemed to turn into a what-if situation where he was faced with the reality that he might not be able to save Ella in the end.

What if the next person he was searching for was Ella?

What if he couldn’t save her?

What if he found her only to lose her?

18

Ella sat on the steps leading up to her apartment in the dark, waiting for Damon. The boy was dead. They didn’t have to tell her that directly for her to know the worst had happened. She dropped her head to her knees, wishing she had an ounce of Damon’s strength. No wonder Damon was so protective. He dealt with this all the time. Until she’d entered Teddy’s apartment, murder and dead bodies were only on the nightly news.

Headlights slashed across the darkness, landing on her as Slater’s car pulled into a parking spot.

But Damon was out of the car before it stopped moving. “What in the hell do you think you’re doing?” he shouted, causing her to jump.

She stood, swiping off her bottom from sitting on the concrete. “I was waiting?—”

“To be murdered?”

“Well, that wasn’t in my plans for the night.” She crossed her arms against his anger.

Slater hopped out of the driver’s side as Damon stomped toward her. “We just got done pulling a body out of thedumpster,” Damon said, his voice even higher. “You know someone is out to kill you, and you think it’s perfectly fine to be sitting outside atmidnight?”

Slater cut off Damon when he started to step onto the curb. He smacked his hand on his chest, keeping Damon from advancing. His words were low and clipped, nothing Ella could hear but they held enough impact that Damon lifted his chin and looked away.

Xavier climbed from the back seat of the car and waited there, watching the scene.

Ella remained on the steps, giving Slater time to calm down Damon. He didn’t scare her. The opposite. Instead of fearing for herself, she felt nothing but sympathy for the man who’d been through so much trauma.

Slater said something else that made Damon move around his friend and come to the bottom of the stairs. “Ella, please come down here.” He sighed and ran his hand over his head. “I’m sorry I yelled.”

She walked down the stairs. “No one knows I’m here.”

“Maybe not, but that kid didn’t go looking for trouble. He stumbled out of that bar, drunk, in the wrong direction, and ended up dead. All I could think while pulling his body out of that dumpster was that it could’ve been you.”

She stopped on the step that made her even with him, giving him time to work through it. “I’m sorry you had to go through that.”

He looked away, the muscle in his jaw jumping. “You need to get some sleep. It’s late.”

“Weneed to get some sleep.”

He shook his head. “I need to be alone for a little bit.”

Holding onto his shoulders, Ella leaned into him, touching her lips to his cheek. “We’re still learning about each other, and I don’t know how you process things like this, but I don’t want youto be alone. I’m not as weak as you think I am.” She looked past him to Slater, still lingering on the sidewalk. “You can go home. I have him.”

Slater arched his eyebrows. “I see. Call one of us if you need to. Otherwise, I’ll see you early tomorrow, Damon.”

“That’s fine,” Damon replied although his focus remained on her.

Would he reject her?

---