Page 42 of Vengeful Queen (Violent Kingdom)

Will looks like he’s about to say more, but reconsiders. “I’ll see you, Avery.”

He quickly kisses my cheek and then walks away. Nathan ushers me into the smoothie place with a flourish, still staring daggers after Will as he walks down the sidewalk toward his car.

“He didn’t do anything wrong,” I tell Nathan, exhaustion pressing down onto my shoulders. My belly aches. It might never stop aching. “You don’t have to puff your feathers in front of him.”

“Puff my feathers?” Nathan mocks. “I’m sure that guy has something to do with...” He pauses. “You know. All that.”

Yeah. All that.

“I’m sure he doesn’t.”

“I think he’s following you.”

“Oh, come on.” I step up to the counter, my muscles protesting. “Stop talking shit about Will and buy me a smoothie, Nathan.”

“You don’t think it’s odd that he just appears out of thin air theonetime you step out of the house?”

I side-eye him, frustration rising in my chest. “He’s the one who introduced me to this place,” I snap. “He comes here every day for a fucking protein shake before the gym. If anything, he probably thinks I’m trying to bump into him.”

Nathan presses his lips together and doesn’t say another word about Will.

Will didn’t do anything wrong. Why would he have? All he did was bring me a phone. And I wasn’t lying about the protein shake thing. He’s near obsessed with his workout routine, and has been since I met him.

San Francisco is a sprawling city, but Will seems to have it all under his thumb. He’s there, sitting on a bench outside the little cafe where Nathan takes me to buy a muffin. He’s there at church three days later, lighting a candle as I come out of the confession box.

Three’s the magic number, isn’t it? It is for me, anyway. Because after the third time we “bump into” each other, I’m not so sure Nathan is overreacting. After church is finished, I scurry out to Nathan’s car, without making my usual pitstop at our family’s mausoleum.

“You look like you’ve seen a ghost,” Nathan remarks, sliding into the driver's seat as I fasten my seatbelt.

“I think I have,” I murmur, watching from behind my dark sunglasses as Will makes his way down the steep church steps, scanning for me. “Three times isn’t a coincidence, is it.”

Nathan starts the range rover, and it purrs to life. “Nope.”

I sigh. “Can I use your phone?”

He hands it over without a word, pulling out of the parking lot and onto the highway before Will sees us. Nathan doesn’t need to say anything. His eyes already confirm that he knows what’s ailing me.

One phone call later, and I hand the phone back to Nathan, settling into the plush leather upholstery as he drives way too fast out of Colma and through the patchwork of cemeteries dotting the landscape. As kids, we used to hold our breath every time our parents drove us through the valley of dead toward the family mausoleum, and every time, I would win. I doubt I’d be able to hold my breath for very long these days.

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

AVERY

When I get back to my house, Elliot McRae is waiting by the front door, dressed in slacks and a white button-down shirt. He looks different than he does in my nightmares–in those, he appears in snippets, wearing SWAT combat gear, a rifle in his hands as he peers down at me. I blink that memory away. I don’t need to rehash my macabre dreams right now.

Nathan stops his car in front of the entryway so I can get out, pulling away to park in the garage once I’ve closed the door.

“Avery,” Elliot greets me.

“Thanks for coming out here, Detective,” I say.

“No problem,” Elliot says, concern etching his face. “How are you doing?”

God. Could people ask that question a few more times? Maybe if they ask me again and again, I’ll finally whip out a magic wand and make the last few months disappear. It’s pointless to talk about it. But this time, at least, there’s something that’s not pointless to mention.

I have the feeling someone’s watching me from the massive windows of my house. I hate that. But for the moment, I’m alone with Elliot.

“Kind of suffocated, actually.” A breeze kicks up and whips my hair across my face, but I push it back, so I can meet Elliot’s eyes. “My family won’t let me go out unaccompanied. It’s one of them and a bodyguard at all times.”

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