Page 67 of Cursed by Death

Detective Rowans was definitely special and different from all the rest. I wasn’t sure exactly what it was about him though that made him so special to me but I didn’t want to question it for fear of it disappearing on me.

I had found that the more you questioned things the more complicated they got. And I had enough complications in my lifeas it already was. Any more and I might lose my damn mind for once and for all.

My phone lit up when I plugged it in and I wasn’t surprised to see that I had missed calls and text messages.

I opened the text string I had going with the Detective, choosing him because he was currently occupying my mind and taking up my thoughts.

Admittedly, I was concerned about my friendship with the Detective. The case he’d been working on, Thomas’s death, had brought him to me and gave him a reason to be in my life. Now that the case had been solved he didn’t really have a reason to spend time with me or come around here anymore.

And that thought made me incredibly sad. I had allowed him into my life and gotten attached to him in a very short period of time. I wasn’t quite ready to lose that, to lose him.

Are you okay? Rally called. He said you’ve run off to the underground again. Let me know when you’re home safe or if you need me to come rescue you.

A small laugh escaped me. And wasn’t that just typical of him. He had a serious savior complex that I continued to unintentionally feed into. Not that I ever really needed saving. I was quite capable of saving myself, thank you very much.

It still felt nice that he wanted to try though.

No one had tried since the twins at Harmond House.

I texted him back a quick reply.

I’m home and safe. The hunters were with me so there was nothing to worry about.

Get some sleep. We can talk tomorrow.

But I didn’t actually want to talk to him tomorrow. Not if it meant he was going to say goodbye to me and good riddance. I’d never be ready for that conversation.

I made sure my phone was on silent and left it there on top of the dresser.

It never occurred to me that maybe I should text Rally, too, to let him know that I had made it home safe. I assumed Fox would have told him the moment I returned home. Or, maybe even Ginger would have let him know that.

I thought about taking a shower to wash the night off of my skin but I was too tired and I didn’t want to sleep with wet hair. It was always harder for me to actually fall asleep with my hair wet and I was too tired and lacking the patience for all of that at the moment.

I stripped out of my clothes and changed into a silky white nightie that was probably too sexy for just Fox and I being alone here. Though, I didn’t really have any unsexy things to actually sleep in. I didn’t think I even had an oversized t-shirt to wear to bed.

I climbed in between the sheets and under the covers. An overwhelming sense of exhaustion hit me the moment my head touched the pillow.

I’d sat down with my father and we’d both been able to have a mostly civilized conversation without killing each other. And I’d walked away having said what I’d needed to say to him. It hadn’t done me any good but I’d gotten to say what I needed to say to his face, no less.

I should have felt good about that, maybe even a little relieved.

So, why was I now filled with a sense of dread and foreboding?

Probably because I wasn’t stupid. Even though he’d let me walk away from him I knew I’d only been given a short reprieve.

He might have been my father but he was still a demon first and foremost. He never took no for an answer.

And he’d make a deal with the devil if it meant he’d get what he wanted.

He didn’t know me well, or, at all really. But he’d learn. And what he’d learn was that I, too, would make a deal with the devil as well if it meant I could live the rest of my life without him being in it.

But he would learn. Probably the hard way. Just like he’d forced me to learn.

After all, I was his daughter. Maybe we had more in common than I would have thought.

Chapter 35

My eyes flew open. I was suddenly wide awake, but I did not move.

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