The thought terrified me. It made my role so much more real. That thing had been looking for me. I was positive of it. The Russells lived right next door. Mrs. Russell hadn’t been injured—she’d screamed when the dog had entered her house, but no harm had come to her. And the moment the dog’s eyes had landed on me, I’d seen its desire to destroy me.
Unable to stand in one place anymore, knowing that I was vulnerable where I was, I left Abel to guard the dog and jogged home.
It was quiet on my street. I’d been expecting the neighborhood to be full of cop cars, but apparently, no one had called them. Fine by me.
Mrs. Russell was still in her living room when I knocked on the door.
“Are you okay?” I asked after giving her a hug.
She nodded. “I think so. What was it?”
“A dog—and not a good one.”
Her lips trembled. “I was cooking. I didn’t expect smoke to come from the corner of the room instead of the pan. It mesmerized me—I couldn’t help but watch. And then the smoke took on a weird shape, and before I knew it, a dog was there. That’s when I screamed. But it didn’t seem to get startled by my scream—it was like it expected me to be frightened. Lizzie, it was horrible! It growled and sniffed at me, walking around me. I’m so glad you and that young man came when you did.”
“Me too,” I said, refraining from telling her that the dog had been searching for me. “I’m surprised no one called the cops after Abel shot the gun.”
“The neighbors would have—several of them came to check up on me, and I told them not to involve the police. The man with you had already taken care of the monster, and I knew you’d keep us all safe.”
I smiled at her, hoping her trust wasn’t misplaced. Even if it was at that moment, it wouldn’t be forever. I had a job to do, and I’d do my best to protect those I cared about. The fact that the neighbors had believed her showed me just how much they all thought of me. Talk about pressure.
Realizing I was still in a vulnerable position where other hounds were concerned, I promised Mrs. Russell that I’d check in with her later, then excused myself and went home. No sense inviting trouble before I could protect myself.
A few minutes after getting inside, I heard the horn as a train approached. I sat at the kitchen table, holding a cup of hot chocolate in my hands, unable to think about anything other than what had happened. The hot chocolate was cold when I finally started drinking it.
My front door opened and closed. I’d been expecting Abel to return. I sensed his magical print—the energy that swirled around him, begging to be released—as he stepped into the kitchen. He sighed as he leaned against the doorjamb.
“I’m sorry about that,” he said. “I really am. But until you get the amulet, you aren’t safe. I couldn’t risk anything happening to you.”
How did he know so much about all of this? “The dog isn’t dead, is it? Even after getting hit by a train and everything else you did to it?”
He shook his head, but didn’t respond otherwise. He looked exhausted—extremely exhausted—and my nurturing instincts kicked in.
“Would you like a cup of hot chocolate?”
He nodded, stepping farther into the room. I motioned to the chair opposite me and got up to make him a cup of the gods’ nectar. I placed it in front of him, then returned to my own seat, wrapping my fingers around my cup again. It didn’t matter that the cup was cold—the action itself was reassuring.
“I . . .” I shook my head. I didn’t know what I was supposed to say. A part of me ached to know—needed to know—why there was so much anger in his eyes and why he’d directed that anger toward me earlier. But it was too personal a question, and we didn’t know each other well enough yet. Instead, I continued drinking from my cup and did my best not to dwell on the tension in the room.
Chapter Seventeen
Abel sighed again, finishing his drink and setting the mug on the table. He leaned back in the chair, running a hand through his silver hair. “I’ve changed a great deal,” he said. “I’ve done things . . . that I’m not proud of.” His brilliant blue eyes locked onto mine. “I had to survive somehow.” He fiddled with his cup, now staring at it. “I needed money. The jobs are always plentiful. I accept them because I don’t have anything else to do.”
I raised an eyebrow. “McDonald’s is hiring.”
Abel half smiled. “Indeed. But my skill set doesn’t include cooking burgers. I tend to burn everything.” His face clouded over, and he glanced away. “Someday . . .” His voice got very soft. “Someday, I’ll tell you what was happening when you rescued me from that horrible place.”
My heart twisted a little. I liked the sound of that “someday.” It insinuated that he’d be around for a while.
As soon as that thought crossed my mind, I chastised myself. Was I thinking about getting involved with him? No. Out of the question. “Brooding” and “crazy-intense mood swings” weren’t on my list of must-haves.
Abel pushed his chair away from the table, then stood. “Call me if you see another dog. I’ll be here as soon as I can. I’m going over to your neighbors’—make sure they don’t need help.” He turned his gaze on me. “You’re safe here and in cars, since they don’t have corners. And you’re safe around most people. The hounds generally won’t approach you unless you’re alone. Be safe.”
He picked up my phone from where it lay on the table, then programmed his number into it and set it back down. “I’ll talk to you later.”
He turned and left the room. I heard my front door open and shut once more, and I was alone again.
It wasn’t until a couple of hours later that I remembered that Detective Cole had called. I’d been so distracted by what had happened and how Abel had handled it that I spent most of the morning staring out the window. I sent Detective Cole a quick text to apologize before hopping in the shower. He’d responded by the time I got out and was wondering if we could go out the following evening. I said yes, knowing I would most likely be safe with him.
***
Detective Cole arrived to pick me up for our date two minutes early. He came to the door with a smile, showing a dimple in his cheek I hadn’t noticed. I’m a sucker for dimples. Who isn’t? My eyes dropped to the box of chocolates in his hand.
Swoon.
As if the dimple wasn’t enough. I snatched the box away, holding it to my heart, my eyes closed.
“Hey! Those aren’t for you,” he said. “I got them for my grandmother, who is—”
“Too bad. She’ll never see them.” I still had my eyes shut, already feeling the heavenly bliss that would encapsulate my body if I ate even one piece of the divine stuff.
He laughed. “I take it you accept my gift?”
“Wholeheartedly.” I stepped away from him, a smile playing at the corners of my mouth. “Did you need anything else, or can I be alone with my chocolate for a couple of hours?”
He grinned. “If you want to see tonight’s dinner, you’ll put the chocolate down and come with me.”
I raised the back of my hand to my forehead. “Fine, but only if I must.” I set the box on the shelf near the door, locked up, and walked with him to the car.
He took me to the Chili’s near Walmart. The restaurant was pretty busy, but we were still seated fairly quickly.
“So,” Detective Cole said while digging into his appetizer, “what attracted you to becoming a Fire Impeder?”
I thought back to the class I’d taken at Katon University where my Fire 401 professor had talked about the specialized positions that Fire Aretes could hold. It had been intensely motivating to find out there was a profession that was perfect for people who didn’t really want to delve outside of their own brand of magic, but who wanted to focus more solidly and inwardly on it instead.
Detective Cole listened with interest as I explained all this. When I finished, I asked him how much experience he had with Aretes, and we talked about the cops on staff with him who were magical.
/> “Neither of them has had much time to develop their powers more than what they did in college,” he said.
“Not uncommon, unfortunately,” I said. “Life gets busy, and like any other talent or hobby, an Arete’s magic gets pushed to the side. Unless your profession deals with your abilities, of course.”
“Exactly. I used to think what a waste it was that all Aretes didn’t pursue magic . . . until I realized how difficult life as an adult was already.” He waited as the waitress brought out our food, then asked, “Why didn’t you want to learn the other branches of elemental magic?”
I shrugged. “My best friend, Nicole, and her husband, Austin, were already doing all that. It’s what they always wanted to do, and it’s what everybody expected of me. I’m really just a rebel at heart and didn’t want to do something just because it’s expected. Plus, I needed to go my own direction—forge my own path. Figure out my own destiny. All of that.”
Detective Cole nodded. “I can understand. Everyone in my family has been a doctor or a nurse or something else in the medical field. I’m the only one who didn’t want that.”
“Exactly. It feels good to be different.”
A little smirk played at the lines of Detective Cole’s face. “As if being an Arete isn’t different enough,” he said. “And not only that, but a Fire Arete.”
I shrugged. “Well, Katon University was full of Aretes. It wasn’t like there was any shortage of other elements there, and people who wanted to pursue their magic.”
“So, tell me about your family,” he said.
I finished off my appetizer and pulled my dinner plate nearer. “My mom and dad are great. They’re both still in Dallas. I’ve got an older brother—Chase—and a sister who’s a busy mom to five kids. She and her husband live in Boston. I have another brother who’s going to medical school in Texas.”
Detective Cole chuckled. “I was just about to ask where you stood in the family. Here we are, talking about Aretes, and I’d already forgotten you’re a Fourth.”
I laughed. “Yeah, it’s not a question I get very often.”
“Any younger siblings?”
“Not anymore. My mom did have another baby after I was born. He died when he was about a year old.”
“Sorry to hear that.”
The expression on his face showed he was genuinely sorry, and that warmed my heart a little.
“It’s okay. I was four when it happened, so I don’t remember much. But I have always mourned the younger sibling I didn’t get the chance to play with growing up.”
I leaned back as our server refilled our water. Once she was gone, I directed the conversation back to him. “You know, I don’t even know your first name. Do I keep calling you Detective Cole, or is there something you’d rather go by?”
“Just Cole is fine,” he said. “It’s what everyone calls me.”
“Okay. Cole. Tell me about yourself. What’s your family like?”
He shrugged. “Well, you already know they’re involved in the medical field. My dad is a nurse and my mom is a pediatrician. My older brother is a nephrologist. He’s my only sibling.”
“No sisters?” Kind of a no-brainer, given what he’d just told me, but the question spilled out of my mouth anyway.
Detective Cole didn’t tease me about it, though. “Nope. Always wanted a sister, of course, but I wasn’t ever blessed with the opportunity.”
I smiled to myself. I liked the way he viewed family. Mine was very important to me, and I’d grown up wanting a large one. The curse preventing people from having lots of kids played a major role in that—it had made me ache, knowing I’d probably not have more than a couple. But with the curse lifted, I planned to have as many as possible.
Detective Cole was talking about the academy and all the tests he’d gone through, and I forced my thoughts back to the conversation, not wanting my feelings about kids to embarrass me on our first date. I chuckled inwardly, thinking about the opening scene of the movie Baby Mama. Super hilarious, but I wasn’t about to make that mistake myself.
He told several funny stories about life as a detective, and I thoroughly enjoyed his company and how light and happy he made things seem. I’d been under a lot of stress lately and hadn’t had the opportunity to laugh for a while. It felt good.
We were just about to start eating dessert when his phone rang. He picked it up, glanced at it, sent me an apologetic smile, then answered. “Detective Cole.”
I only half listened to the conversation. I didn’t want to eavesdrop at all, but being at the same table made it difficult not to. Of course, half of what he said sounded like gibberish.
The “I’ll be there soon as possible” part, though, caught my full attention, and I set my fork down. He hung up, then waved at the waitress to bring the check. “I’m sorry, but we have to go,” he said to me. “They just found another body like the first—burned and everything.”
We left in a hurry, but before he could open the door for me, I stopped him. “I understand if I need to walk,” I said.
I wasn’t joking, but he smiled anyway. “I wouldn’t make you walk home, Lizzie,” he said. “In fact, I need you to come with me. I’m assuming you’ve already spoken to Eleanora, and I have a feeling she gave you information. With her experience, how could she not? I’m interested to see what your take will be on this next scene.”
“Where is it?” I asked as we got in the car and drove away from the restaurant.
“Not far from where we were eating.”
After a couple of minutes, he glanced at me. “They’ve apparently found two bodies in Lehi as well.” He pulled up at a nice redbrick house that had been taped off and said, “All of these crime scenes are older than the first one we found.”
“How much older?” I asked as we walked up the porch steps.
Detective Cole shook his head—he probably didn’t know yet.
The front door opened, and an officer stepped out and turned to the detective. “After conducting a complete search, we’ve found that our initial report to you about this place was off. It’s bad in there. Really bad.”
Chapter Eighteen
The cop glanced at me, and I showed him the ID already in my hand. Detective Cole did the same, and we entered the house.
He wasn’t kidding about it being bad. The stench that hit me the moment we stepped through the door was overwhelming. My eyes smarted and I gagged on the air, trying not to breathe too deeply. It wasn’t just the smell of rotted, burned flesh that filled the air, however. A dinner had been set out on the table in the formal dining room, and the plates were covered in rotten, moldy food. The pan in the middle of the table had maggots crawling in it. A hint of sewage was also on the air.
The victim was in the kitchen this time. It was another man, and he was still sitting at a small table, his hand clasped around a glass of water. A little bit of water remained in the cup, and I had to wonder if the glass had been full when the fire vampire had come.
Like the first body, this one was blackened and greasy-looking. It was also brittle and looked like even barely touching it would cause it to fall over or something to snap.
Unlike the last crime scene, this room had no sign of a struggle in it.
Detective Cole looked at me, a quizzical expression on his face. I shrugged, shaking my head.
The officer who opened the door for us put his hand on Detective Cole’s arm, stopping him from inspecting the body further. “This isn’t all of it.” His voice was quiet, his face white.
“Show us,” Detective Cole said.
The officer nodded, beckoning us to follow him down a hall and into one of the rooms at the back of the house. Two little bodies were on the floor in the middle of the room, a larger one curled around them protectively. All three had been burned.
I gasped, hands at my mouth. “Oh, horrible,” I said. “Horrible, horrible.” I blinked, trying to hold back the tears that prickled my eyes.
The men nodded, neither of
them saying anything, both staring at the scene in front of us. There was a crib in the corner. One of the bodies looked small enough to belong to a toddler, probably two years old. The other child could have been about five or six.
I couldn’t imagine the pain the mother had gone through. She’d obviously known something terrible was coming and had done her best to save her children.
This room, like the first crime scene, showed there’d been a struggle. The dresser had been knocked over from where it had been pushed in front of the bedroom door. The quilts and pillows were all over, feathers sprinkled across the carpet. My heart ached, thinking about this little family that had been destroyed.
Detective Cole cleared his throat. “Any ideas yet on what happened?”
The cop took a deep breath and said, “A little. We figure the intruder got to the dad first at the table and killed him before he knew someone had entered his house. The mother and the children must’ve heard something because they barricaded themselves in this room.” The police officer’s voice cracked, and he looked away.
I had to look away too. I didn’t want to think about the situation the mother had been in and the struggle she’d gone through to protect her family. I couldn’t handle it, and my heart didn’t want to take any of it in. Rather than start crying like a baby, I turned and left the room.
Detective Cole followed. I was nearly to the front door before he stopped me, his hand on my arm. He turned me, a tender expression on his face. “I’m sorry,” he said. “If I’d known it would be this bad, I wouldn’t have brought you.”
I shook my head. “It’s part of my job.”
He frowned. “Is it?”
“Yes. It was done by a magical creature, as you know. A creature that controls fire. And I’m a Fire Impeder—my job is to stop these things from happening.”
He looked like he wanted to ask me what I knew, but I glanced at the officers in the room who were listening and said, “Can we talk somewhere alone?”
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