by Anya Nowlan
Thirty-Two
Naomi
Picking herself up from the floor, Naomi squared her shoulders, feeling a new sense of purpose and determination. It was tough to admit that her stubbornness might have just driven a wedge between her and Sawyer, but she knew a connection like theirs didn’t just go away.
I can make this right. We can make this right.
Running over to the living room window, she peered outside, hoping to catch a glimpse of Sawyer, but he was already out of sight, and she had no idea where he might have gone.
The city sprawled out in front of her as she sat down on the windowsill, conjuring up the image of her hometown, and the modest two-story house she had called a home. She would carry memories of that time, of her family still intact, with her always.
But it had taken some harsh words from Sawyer to make her realize that while she would and should cherish those memories, she couldn’t let the past control her life. If she did, that would mean Verin had won.
It would mean that the demon had more power over her life than she did. It would give that monster’s actions that night far-reaching influence over her choices, and that was something she just couldn’t let happen.
Not now, when she could imagine a future with Sawyer so clearly, she could almost reach out and touch it.
Naomi knew that scared young girl from that fateful night still lived inside her. And that part of her was stuck on revenge and fear, yearning for redemption, wishing for a confrontation with Verin where she came out on top.
But Naomi was a grown woman now, and it was time to put those fantasies aside. Especially when not doing so jeopardized the relationship between her and the only man that had reached her very soul.
Soul mates…
She rolled the words around in her head, well aware that for shifters, the concept was nothing unusual or extraordinary. For them, it was just how things worked. That was well and good when Naomi had thought she would never play a role in that kind of pairing.
But now that Sawyer had all but said he thought she was the one for him… Well, things had gone from abstract to concrete very fast. Yet, Naomi didn’t feel that fear that had kept her from getting serious with any of the men she had previously dated.
Instead, a powerful sense of peace took over. It was as if all she had been feeling had been justified. She wasn’t just swept up in the chemistry between her and Sawyer, or jumping into things. It was meant to be.
That was an oddly calming realization. Resting her forehead against the glass of the window, Naomi let her thoughts wander, going through the possibilities of what she would say when Sawyer returned.
Just seeing her still there would tell him a lot, but she felt it wasn’t enough. He had once said he didn’t want to play any games, and neither did Naomi. It was time to let him know how she felt, and that a future with him was more important to her than holding on to the past.
There was still a lot for them to overcome – the statue needed to be destroyed, and then there was the demon on their tail, not to even mention their personal issues. But Naomi wasn’t scared. They would work it out.
Together.
Hopping down from the windowsill, she walked around the apartment, trying to distract herself from waiting on Sawyer to get back. It had barely been twenty minutes since he had left, yet it had been enough time for her to realize what was really important.
She just hoped he didn’t come to a different conclusion than her. Naomi knew all too well how tempting it was to turn back to the comfort of shutting others out. You can’t get hurt if you never let anyone in, right?
Entrenched in her thoughts, Naomi almost jumped when the intercom buzzed. She hesitated for a moment before walking to the door, and pressing the button beside it.
“Yes?” she said into the speaker.
“I forgot my keys,” a familiar voice said, making her heart leap.
“Sawyer,” she let out a breath. “You’re back.”
“I am,” he replied evenly, giving her no clues about what could be going on in his head.
“Okay,” she muttered, holding down the button that would open the front door.
Through the speaker, she could hear a creak, and then the clank of metal once the door fell shut again. Naomi waited patiently at the door, waiting to hear the elevator ding open. If he was back so soon, that had to be a good sign.
Right?
All but bouncing on the balls of her feet, Naomi listened to the sound of footsteps coming down the hallway, with all the things she wanted to say to Sawyer swirling in her mind.
Unable to wait, she pulled the door open herself, only to come face to face with Sawyer. She smiled at him, her heart beating fast.
“I’m still here,” she announced.
“I can see that,” he replied, emotionless, and Naomi’s face fell.
Brushing past her, Sawyer stepped into the apartment, coming to a stop at the edge of the living room. He looked around, his back to her, almost as if he was searching for something.
“If you’re looking for my packed bags, you won’t find them,” Naomi offered. “I’m staying. And not because I need your help or because I want to use you against Verin. I heard what you said, Sawyer,” she added, taking a deep breath when he still wouldn’t turn around to face her. “I’m ready to move on. With you.”
The words hung in the air with no response from Sawyer, while Naomi felt her insides turn into one big knot.
“Please, say something,” she said quietly, moving closer.
When he finally turned toward her, there was a coldness in his gaze she had never seen before. Tears sprang to her eyes at the thought that maybe she had it all wrong. Maybe Sawyer had been wrong, maybe she wasn’t his mate…
And maybe he wanted nothing more to do with her.
No, a voice came from deep inside her. What we have is real. I’ve felt it.
Reaching out, she gently grabbed onto Sawyer’s forearm, hoping her touch would soften him somehow, would remind him of their connection. But when her fingers curled around his skin, she felt something… odd.
There was no spark, no skip in her heartbeat, no electricity between them. Even if Sawyer was still angry with her, that wasn’t something you could just turn off. Frowning, she studied him, the way he carried himself, the way he looked at her…
Snatching her hand back, Naomi took a step back, ice spreading through her veins when a terrible conclusion settled over her.
“You’re not Sawyer,” she said, her voice wavering.
A menacing smile spread over that familiar face, contorting Sawyer’s beautiful features in a foreign, ugly way.
“Right you are, sweet thing,” he said, winking at her.
“Verin,” Naomi ground out, taking another step back, her eyes darting all over her surroundings.
Was there something she could run to, reach for, use as a weapon? She knew there was no way she could really hurt Verin, but maybe she could buy some time until the real Sawyer came back?
Who knows when that will be…
“Ding-ding-ding,” the demon grinned, his eyes trained on her every move. “Now that your boyfriend isn’t here to disturb us, let’s get down to business, shall we?” he said, moving closer.
Naomi instinctively backed away, carefully maneuvering herself toward the door, but Verin’s arm snatched out with impressive speed, grabbing hold of her just above her elbow. His cold hand encircled her arm like a vise, tightening the more she tried to pull away from his grip.
“I know you took the statue,” Verin said. “Where is it?”
“I’ll scream,” Naomi warned, her heartbeat thundering in her ears.
“And I’ll snap the neck of anyone who comes to your aid,” he countered, baring his teeth at her. “You know I will. You’ve seen me kill before.”
“Fuck you,” Naomi snarled, the words slipping past her lips before she had the chance to think better of it.
“Do you really want to die over some hunk of r
ock?” Verin sighed, tilting his head at her. “Just tell me where it is and I’ll walk out of here, leaving you unharmed.”
“Yeah, right,” Naomi scoffed.
“I let you live once before, didn’t I?” he arched a brow at her.
Stunned for a moment, Naomi stared at Verin, imagining his real face beneath the disguise. So she had been right – the demon had chosen to let her escape that night.
“Why did you?” she couldn’t help but ask.
“I like having people out there who remember me,” he shrugged. “Tell me, did you dream of me? Did you imagine my face in the crowd? Did you replay that night in your mind, over and over?” he asked, a sick satisfaction echoing from his words.
“I’m never telling you where the statue is,” Naomi hissed, overcome by her anger. “And we know how to destroy it now. Whatever power you hoped to get from it will be gone.”
Verin’s grip around her arm tightened, until she could feel it in her very bones. Grimacing, she clamped her jaw, holding back her yelp of pain.
“We’ll see about that,” the demon snarled.
Thirty-Three
Sawyer
Sitting on a park bench, Sawyer felt the urge to go find the nearest bar and drown himself in whiskey until he couldn’t remember his own name, much less Naomi’s. But that wouldn’t solve anything.
Would she still be there when he went back? The ultimatum he had thrown at her had been harsh, he realized that now. But at that moment, it had felt like the only option. Just the thought of losing Naomi after he had just found her…
It had made him rash.
There was no way Sawyer could really know what it felt like to be in her shoes. Sure, she had lied, kept important information from him. But it was all born out of a desire to bring down an evil that had claimed the lives of her parents, and her best friend’s husband.
And that urge for a very personal kind of revenge was not alien to Sawyer. Wouldn’t he have given anything at one point to be a part of the investigation into Ted’s death? Deep down, he had known it would be a terrible idea to get involved. There was no way he could have remained professional, impartial, to do the job like it needed to be done…
But when the wound had still been fresh, it had been very difficult to care about all that.
And now, with some time to cool down and think about things more clearly, Sawyer felt more foolish than anything about storming out on Naomi like that.
And the bomb I dropped on her… he groaned internally.
That was definitely not how he had wanted to tell Naomi she was his mate. She deserved an explanation, a real conversation about what it all meant. And she deserved to know how deeply he had come to care about her.
I should have never left her alone… What if she does decide to leave? If she goes back to her house, Verin will find her in a heartbeat.
Cursing himself, Sawyer pushed himself off the bench, setting his sights on his apartment building. He had let himself be controlled by his emotions, and now he was the one that had put Naomi in danger.
It was hard to think clearly when it came to her. Choices that should have been easy became difficult, and the fact that his wolf tended to forcefully voice its opinion when she was around didn’t really help either.
Picking up the pace, Sawyer rushed through familiar side streets, the windows of his building already in view. He didn’t know exactly what he was going to say to Naomi once he got there, assuming she would even still be there.
They were both too stubborn for their own good, after all.
But he knew he couldn’t let his fear of her getting hurt screw up the best thing that had ever happened to him. Naomi had to be feeling that same bond between them that he did. And if they were meant to be, they would figure out a way to get through this.
Across the street from his building, Sawyer stopped to wait for the light to turn green, when his wolf suddenly perked up, first whining, then growling deep inside him. Head on a swivel, Sawyer frowned. What where his instincts trying to tell him?
Nose crinkling, he sifted through the myriad of scents around him, from the smell of car exhausts, perfumes of the people around him to different food aromas wafting in from nearby businesses. But amidst all that, there was one very particular scent that caught his attention, making his lip curl.
Verin.
The acrid, decaying smell was impossible to mistake for anything else. Ignoring the rush of cars, Sawyer shot out into the road, dodging the vehicles whipping past him and the angry honks that followed.
When he reached the other side, the growl in his throat was impossible to suppress. Keys already in hand, he opened the front door and pushed it aside, running to climb the stairs with long strides.
Verin’s scent only got stronger in the confined spaces of the building, and all Sawyer could do was get to the ninth floor as fast as possible, hoping against hope the demon hadn’t harmed her.
His animal side propelling him forward, Sawyer pushed out of the staircase, skidding to a halt in the hallway in record time. At the end of the hall, his apartment door was shut. But as he crept forward, he could hear two heartbeats inside.
At least she’s still alive.
Softening his steps, it took all he had not to go barging into the apartment. But he knew that Verin being in there with Naomi made every move dangerous. If Verin felt threatened, Sawyer had no doubt the demon would hurt Naomi or worse, just to distract him.
Reaching his door, Sawyer stood there a moment, struggling to keep his wolf in check. Pricking his hears, he focused, listening to the voices inside.
“Please, don’t,” he heard Naomi whimper, and that pushed him over the edge.
All caution got thrown to the wind as he burst through the door, teeth bared. In the living room, his eyes snapped to Naomi, sitting on the floor, holding her palm over her cheek. A nasty-looking deep purple bruise encircled one of her arms, making Sawyer’s wolf thrash and howl, begging to be let out.
A tall figure stood over Naomi, familiar somehow… Sawyer’s eyes widened when the man turned around, and he was suddenly looking at his own face.
“What the…” he muttered, hands balling into fists.
“Ah, look who joined the party,” Verin said lightly, reaching down to pull Naomi to her feet.
She gasped at the force he used to yank her up, her lips in a grim line. Locking eyes with Sawyer, an array of emotions slid over her face, too quickly for him to read.
“Sawyer,” she called out, but Verin grabbed her by the shoulders, shaking her.
“How do you like my new look?” Verin turned to Sawyer, taking one hand off Naomi to stroke his jaw. “I had quite a few faces to choose from, but then I thought… Wouldn’t it be fun if I beat Naomi here to death while looking like the guy she was shacking up with? That would just be… poetic,” he laughed.
“Let her go,” Sawyer demanded, stepping closer.
“I could do that,” Verin shrugged. “If you tell me where the statue is.”
“He won’t,” Naomi shook her head. “Don’t do it, Sawyer.”
Fully aware how important it was that Verin not get his hands on that statue, Sawyer hesitated. Naomi definitely didn’t want him to give it to the demon. But there was no way Sawyer could just stand by while Verin hurt his mate.
And when it came down to it, what Sawyer really needed was to stall, to wait for the right moment to go after Verin without putting Naomi’s life in danger in the process.
“It’s here,” he said, watching Naomi struggle against Verin’s grip, with tears in her eyes.
“Sawyer, no,” she urged him. “You can’t let him have it.”
“I can if it saves your life,” he replied. “Is that the deal?” he asked, turning to the demon, and trying to ignore the fact it was like looking into a mirror.
“Let’s say it is,” Verin replied. “Let’s be honest, you don’t really have a lot of bargaining power right now. Show me where it is or I crush her skull like a gra
pe.”
“Back there, in the spare room,” Sawyer said, gesturing toward the hallway leading away from the living room.
“Is he lying to me, huh?” Verin asked, grabbing the back of Naomi’s head.
“I’m not,” Sawyer interjected, having an increasingly harder time keeping his anger in check.
All he wanted to do was rip that face-stealing monster limb from limb for ever laying a hand on Naomi, but that wasn’t the smart call. Not right at that very moment, at least.
“You lead the way, then,” Verin replied, pointing his chin at the hallway. “Me and Naomi will be right behind you.”
Grinding his jaw, Sawyer walked past them, through the hallway and into the spare room. A bag of Naomi’s stuff still lay on the floor, clothes and toiletries sticking out of it. The large closet in the wall stood closed, the safe inside hidden.
Sawyer stepped aside as Verin and Naomi came into the room, the demon still keeping a tight grip on her.
“There’s a safe in the back of the closet,” Sawyer explained. “Now let Naomi go.”
He didn’t have any delusions about this ‘deal’ he and Verin had made. There was no reason for the demon to let either of them live once he got what he wanted. Naomi and Sawyer had given the guy enough trouble as it was, and Verin wasn’t one to hesitate when it came to violence.
“How do I know you’re not lying to me?” Verin narrowed his eyes at him.
“Because I know you’ll kill Naomi if I am,” Sawyer replied.
Grunting to himself, Verin looked from Sawyer to Naomi before using his free hand to pull the closet’s sliding doors aside. As the light streamed in through the window, the shape of the safe could be made out in the back corner.
Verin’s eyes lit up as he saw it, and he edged toward the open door, reaching for the safe with his free hand… Locking eyes with Naomi, Sawyer gave her a quick nod as he crept closer, hoping the demon was too distracted to notice.
This is it. Kill or be killed.
Thirty-Four