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“You want to grab some rope from the shed and tie him up?”
She dropped the wallet on to his belly and bustled away. I rested my head in my hands and contemplated getting some painkillers. But that would mean moving and I really wasn’t up to that just yet.
Delilah trussed the troll tighter than a turkey on Christmas day, then stepped back to contemplate her handy work. “Should hold him a little while. ” She cocked her head sideways. “The cops are coming. ”
“Good. ” I sighed and sat up straighter. “Are you hanging around to be questioned?”
“I’d prefer not to. ” She hesitated, nose wrinkling. “Unless you want me to?”
I shook my head. “I don’t think there’s much need. Thanks for your help, Delilah. ”
She waved it away. “Anytime, love, anytime. ”
I smiled as she bustled away. She might be bloody annoying at times, but god, she always came through when I needed her.
The wail of police sirens began to bite through the air. I stayed where I was and kept an eye on the troll. His fingers were beginning to twitch, so he wasn’t that far off regaining consciousness.
The police siren came to a halt outside my place and, two seconds later, someone knocked on the front door and a gruff voice said, “Police. ”
“Come through,” I yelled, then pushed carefully to my feet. The night did a three-sixty around me, and it was only my grip on the shovel that kept me upright.
Footsteps echoed on the wooden floorboards. One pair, not the two I’d expected. Tension slithered around me. Maybe it hadn’t been so smart to offer the invite without actually knowing if it was the police. . .
I gripped the shovel a little tighter, tension knotting my belly. The footsteps came through the kitchen, then a tall, slender figure was silhouetted in the doorway.
It wasn’t one of the boys in blue.
It was Kaij.
Chapter Six
For several heartbeats, neither of us moved, our gazes locked, blue eyes clashing with green. And yet something stirred deep within, something that I’d thought long dead. Anger, bitterness, hurt—all that was there. So too was sorrow for all that we’d lost, for all that we could have been. What surprised me was the ache—an ache of a heart not quite as dead to this man’s presence as I’d thought.
The sharp planes of his face had always given him a remote sort of beauty, but age had filled out his features, and the creases around his eyes and full mouth softened the remoteness and hinted at a nature that was light and easy going. It wasn’t a lie, although it was hard to remember the sunnier days after the bitter way we’d parted.
“What are you doing here, Kaij?” My voice was even, surprising given I’d expected it to be anything but.
His expression was closed. “You called the police, did you not?”
His voice flowed across my senses like the whisper of the wind on a clear summer day—warm, rich, and inviting. Don’t go there, I told myself fiercely. Just don’t.
“Last I knew, you were with the preternatural boys, not the police. ”
“I still am. ” His gaze moved past me. “That the intruder?”
“Hell, no. ” There was an edge in my voice that hinted at anger more than sarcasm. Obviously, I wasn’t quite as in control as I’d thought. “It’s just a rather large garden ornament. ”
“Given your taste in ornaments, I wouldn’t actually be surprised. ” He paused, his cool gaze meeting mine again. “Is he the only one?”
“Yes. And he was more than enough, thank you very much. ”
He crossed his arms, and leaned against the wall of the house. A casual looking pose that wasn’t. “What did he want?”
“You know, I really didn’t take the time to ask him. Especially given he seemed intent on making as big a mess of me as he did my house. ”
“An aim he partially succeeded in, from the look of it. ” His gaze skimmed my body, and I had to resist the urge to pull down the hem of my nightshirt. “You really don’t look so good. I think you need-”
“What I need,” I cut in. “Is to know why you’re here. ”
Both in my house, and in Berren itself.
He knew what I was asking—I saw the flash of it in his eyes. But all he said was, “I heard the call over the radio, and recognized the address. ”
“And decided to race to my rescue?” I snorted softly. “A little late for that sort of thing, isn’t it?”
The surge of his emotion was so sharp and cold it felt like an ice shard being thrust into my flesh. “The past is dead—buried,” he snapped. “Leave it there, Harri. ”
The past was definitely buried, but how could I possibly leave it when I visited her as often as I could?
“I’m here because I was nearby,” he continued. “I needed to talk to you about the siren on the beach, anyway. ”
“I can’t tell you much about her. ” I grabbed the banister and climbed the steps. Every movement hurt.
He stepped back, but didn’t offer me any help. Didn’t even comment. Tears stung my eyes and I blinked them away angrily. Damn it, it shouldn’t be this hard. Not after nearly ten years.
I made it into the kitchen as two more cops entered the house. “The intruder is contained out in the yard,” Kaij said. He was so close behind me that his breath washed warmth across the back of my neck and sent shivers down my spine. “Call an ambulance. ”
I half-turned. “I don’t need-”
“Yeah, yeah, you don’t need help,” Kaij said, expression almost as contemptuous his voice. “Heard that song many times before, and still not believing it. ”
“And yet when I needed help the most, you walked away. ” It was out before I could stop it and I almost instantly regretted it. Not because I’d said it, but because we weren’t alone. I shouldn’t be hanging out our dirty washing for others to see.
Kaij went still, but it was the stillness of a snake about to strike. Tension crawled through me. He’d never been a violent man, but I had the sudden suspicion he was fighting the urge to lash out, either physically or verbally.
Well, fuck him, an inner voice snarled. He deserves it for leaving you as he did.
I flexed my fingers, but somehow managed not to say what I was thinking. It wouldn’t have helped the situation, and it certainly wouldn’t have made me feel any better. Not for long, anyway.
The two police officers walked out into the yard. I pulled out a kitchen chair and dropped more than sat.
Kaij walked across to the cupboard that held my medical kit, pulled it out, then opened it on the table. In silence, he washed down the wound on the top of my head, his touch gentle and body too close. It took all my strength to be still, to not run.
Eventually, he said, “this is going to need stitches. ”
“If it does, I’ll go to hospital and get them. Until then, let’s get on with the questioning. ” I leaned back in the chair, which was as far away from him as I could get without physically getting up. “What did you want to know?”
“Why you were at the beach, for a start. ” He tossed the bloody cloth in the nearby bin, then leaned against the counter and again crossed his arms. “You once said you’d never go back to that area. ”
“And I haven’t. I was there on a job. ”
“So you and Ceri got the agency up and running?”
“Yes. ” I didn’t bother telling him it was a recent thing—and that it had only happened because of Ceri’s accident.
“Did you know Mona? Was she one of your mother’s friends?”
“No, and no. ” I rubbed my forehead a little gingerly. It was beginning to feel like there were a dozen tiny men armed with pickaxes inside. The last thing I needed was a question and answer session—especially when the man doing the questioning was my ex.
“And yet you obviously know it was Mona who washed up. ”
“I do now, but at t
he time I didn’t. ” I reached for the kit and got out a couple of painkillers. Kaig filled a glass with water and handed it across without comment. “How did she die?”
He raised an eyebrow. “I dare say you could probably tell me, given Ceri’s contacts. ”
“Probably, but we prefer not to use them unless absolutely necessary. ” I shrugged. “If you came here looking for answers about Mona, I’m afraid I can’t help you much. ”
“Considering one of the men who answered her song was Lyle Phillecky, I seriously doubt that. ”
I guess I should have seen that coming. I swallowed the painkillers, then said, “My uncle doesn’t actually regale me with tales of his time with Mona, you know. ”
“But you were attempting to find her for him, weren’t you?”
For a heartbeat I considered lying, but one glance at his set features and that thought went out the window. He’d be well within his rights to drag me to Preternatural’s headquarters to question me more formally, and I wasn’t really up for that.
“Yeah, he did. Unfortunately, the killer found her before I could. ”
“And he has no idea who’d want to kill her?”
I cocked an eyebrow. “Why don’t you ask him that yourself?”
“I would, but your uncle has been decidedly slippery to track down. Tell him to ring me, or we’ll get a warrant out and arrest him. ”
“You can’t do that. He’s not a suspect—” I hesitated, “is he?”
He just smiled. It wasn’t an altogether pleasant smile. “I cannot answer the latter and, as for the former, you’d be surprised. ”
“No, I wouldn’t. ” Not when it came to what he’d do to inconvenience one of my relatives, anyway. “Is that it, then?”
His being here seemed pretty pointless if it was, but maybe all he’d actually wanted was for me to pass the message on to Lyle.
“For now, it seems it is. ” He pushed away from the counter. “But I suspect there’s a whole lot you’re not telling me, Harri. ”