Page 73 of Devour the Dark

“Possibly. It would require calling the shadow back to me, but if he’s in trouble, I don’t want to leave him powerless.”

Her gaze goes unfocused again, and then she grumbles. “I have nothing. I’m just going to follow in his footsteps and hope I catch something. You’re more than welcome to stay. I don’t want to drag you on a goose chase.”

“I’m coming. If he’s run into a trap, he’s going to need both of us.”

“I bet Vane never imagined a day when he’d need to be rescued by two girls. I’m never going to let him forget it. As soon as he’s safe, of course.”

She starts off across the ballroom toward the arched doorway where Malachi just disappeared.

CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

WENDY

“James,”I say.

He sits on the bench at the end of the bed and puts his face in his hands.

I go to him, threading my arm through his, leaning my head against his shoulder. I do feel unguarded around James. Everything about him is softer, easier. I guess if I did want to share two men, they are the perfect balance. One hard, one soft. One gentle, one dangerous.

I do want them both. More than I realized. If forced to pick between the two, I would refuse. I’d heave myself into the ocean. To choose between them would be like picking between the sun or the moon.

“I know he makes it difficult to love him,” I say.

James’s shoulders shake with a half-hearted laugh. He pulls back and glances over at me. “I suppose if he were easy to love, it wouldn’t be as much fun. Everyone would do it.”

“Well, I suspect everyonedoesdo it, we’re just the lucky two to be delusional enough to try it for real.”

He nods. “Delusional or addicted to torture.”

We sit like that, arms linked, for several minutes, contemplating the predicament.

“He’s afraid,” I say finally, maybe guessing, maybe intuiting. Roc is hard to read, even though he pretends he’s not. “I’m afraid too. I’ve been pushing him.”

James props his hook on his thigh. “I don’t know what he has to be afraid of. He’s a mythological monster that eats people. It’s you and I who should be afraid.”

I thread my fingers with his. “It’s not the violence he’s afraid of.”

James sighs. “Yes, I know.”

“The question is, how do we pull him out? How do we help him?

“We can only be there for him when he needs us. Show him we aren’t going anywhere and then?—”

The door handle rattles. My heart thumps in my chest. Has he returned already? I hope he’s in a better place. Maybe we can talk through all of the things he’s worried?—

The door pushes open.

A shadowed figure fills up the doorway.

I know right away it’s not Roc. Too short. Not stocky enough.

But then he steps into the light and…

“Crocodile?” James says, his voice catching.

He steps in, looks around, and spots his abandoned blade sitting on a nearby dresser. He grabs it and slips the sheath into his back pocket. Then, “Come with me.”

“Where?”

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