Page 7 of Blood & Ice

“Threesomes?” Mav repeated, still clearly lost.

“You mentioned a threesome with the wolf and the tentacle creature.”

He looked at me. “Tally, that was a joke.”

I nodded. “I know, but… well, Jonathan asked to open our relationship for years, and I...” I felt my face flush and I ducked my chin. I never wanted to say the words aloud, let alone to Maverick, but he had to understand why this subject was so sensitive for me. “I thought about it. A lot. I knew that if we did have an open marriage, he would stay. So… well, that was what he did. With or without my agreement, actually. And I felt pathetic for years because of it—that I was so needy that I couldn’t just ask him for a divorce, even though I was miserable.”

“He was a mind-bending sex demon, Tally. You couldn’t have controlled your behavior if you wanted to. The only reason he couldn’t completely enslave your mind was your latent magic.”

I snorted, horrified when a tear fell. I had bigger things to cry about than this personal humiliation and yet, here I was—crying. God, it was just so… embarrassing.

“I know thatnow.But back then, I thought I was human, remember? And the feelings of self-hatred didn’t just go away… even when I realized I really had no choice in the matter.” I sighed, long and hard. Jonathan hadn’t just fed off me without my consent for years, he’d taken part of who I was. He’d takena powerful woman and he’d broken her down because it amused him. That bastard had given me so many complexes, I should have opened a housing association. He'd ruined me for people who were actually worth my time. “Do you know how much baggage I’m carrying around?” I asked, sighing as I shook my head. “Who would want to sign on for dealing with this shit for one lifetime, let alone how fucking long eternity turns out to be, since I’m now immortal.” I wasn’t even aware that I’d voiced the thought until it was out and then I felt my cheeks burn.

“I would.”

I looked up at him. “You would what?”

“I would sign on,” he answered, kissing one of my fingertips gently. “I already did, in fact.”

“To save my life.”

“You say that like it’s a small thing,” he said with a laugh. “I happen to care about your life a great deal.”

Fresh tears stung my eyes, completely against my will. “Stop doing that!”

“What?”

“Making me cry! It’s pissing me off!”

Maverick laughed and leaned in to clear away the tears with the pad of his thumb. “I’ll help you get rid of the evidence.”

“Not something you want to say out loud in a police station,” I said dryly, pointedly ignoring the pleased smile on his face.

“Ah, true. Want me to assume the position? So you can frisk me?”

I flicked him behind the ear and grinned at his small yelp. I wasn’t sure how he’d managed to completely upend my bad mood in a matter of minutes, but I was grateful for the fact that he was here. That he was allowed in on my secret. I couldn’t have done this without him.

“I’ll stop talking about threesomes,” Maverick said. “I’d never be able to share you with anyone else anyway, so it’s amoot point.”

“Thanks.”

He paused. “So, if I’m not the cause of your bad mood, what gives?”

This was the tricky part. I got up, retrieved some paper towels to dry the rest of the tears that had wet my cheeks, and then ordered him to sit opposite me.

“Something happened and I need your help to solve the problem. Just promise me you won’t lose it when I tell you what happened.”

“No promises,” he said, face darkening. “What’s happened?”

So, I told him. All of it. “In short, I think the headmistress has been watching a little too much Criminal Minds,” I finished.

It was a weak joke, and probably not worth a pity laugh. But Maverick didn’t visibly react. His face remained as stoic as ever, his eyes fixed in the middle-distance, contemplating something I couldn’t begin to guess. It was better than the anger I’d been expecting, but something about the calm, almost detached way he was reacting spooked me. It just wasn’t Maverick. Something was wrong.

Okay,everythingwas wrong with this scenario, but this was just a fresh drizzle of anxiety on my panic sundae. I wanted to ask what he was thinking about, but wasn’t sure if I’d like the answer.

“Everyone watches those shows and thinks they know how police work is done,” I continued when he said nothing. “It’s usually an oversimplification, if not an outright fabrication. DNA tests aren’t done in the blink of an eye. A lot of the job is paperwork, and plenty of cops go their entire lives without having to draw their weapons.”

Still nothing. Maverick’s mouth was moving, but no sound came out. There was no subtle stirring of energies around him, so I knew it wasn’t the words to a spell.

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