Page 131 of Kick the Candle (Knight Games 2)
I rushed toward the door, knocked lightly. There was no answer. I tried the knob. Locked. He never locked his door. I knocked again. "Rick?"
Nothing.
With a deep breath, I took a step back, and then another, until I was back at my Jeep. After seeing what he'd done to the key chain, maybe he legitimately needed his space. Besides, before I broached this subject with Rick again, I had to be sure exactly what I wanted to say. After years of failed relationships and suffering from the blonde paradox, I'd sworn the next time I said I love you it would mean forever.
And a night like tonight was not the right time to start forever.
ning
"Silas?" I dropped to my knees in the snow and pressed both hands over the wound, trying to stop the blood flow. "Shit."
Flapping wings turned my attention skyward. Rick. His beast landed on the bank behind me, his gossamer wings blowing up powder. The only gentle feature on the beast was his face. Dog like with large black eyes and a leather-like snout, he lowered his head next to me.
"Don't change back, Rick. I need your help getting Silas to your place. He was possessed. If we can heal him, he might be able to give us more information about how this happened."
The beast snorted his acquiescence.
I sheathed Nightshade and gathered the werewolf into my arms. Lifting that kind of weight would have been impossible before I was the witch, but super-strength came with the job. I still had physical limitations, but my abilities hovered around Olympic athlete rather than couch potato nurse.
With some effort, I climbed onto Rick's back, cradling Silas in one arm and gripping a tuft of hair with the other. Three running steps and he was airborne, flying low over the treetops until his stone cottage came into view. Conscious of my tentative grasp, the beast landed in the front yard. I dismounted and carried Silas inside, laying him gently on the sofa.
A moment later, a naked Rick followed through the still open door and came to my side. "How did this happen, mi cielo? What were you doing in the woods without me?"
"I was investigating that woman's house, the drowning victim I thought you left for me last week. Her cottage is teeming with nekomata, including the one who bought my house from my father."
"Bought your house? You cannot sell your house. There could be horrific consequences."
I widened my eyes sarcastically. "No kidding." I should have told him what was going on before, but he was MIA and then I was injured. "Get me a balm for this wound and I'll explain."
He left for the kitchen and came back a moment later with a gooey concoction of herbs and a roll of gauze. As I ladled the stuff on Silas, I explained about the detective calling me to check out Avery's house and how that had turned out.
"Who is this Avery person?" Rick asked.
"The woman who died in the ER last week. She coughed up a nightmare when she died. I thought you sent her."
"I did no such thing, mi cielo. I left town after our argument about Gary's turning to obtain a magical object that I thought could help our situation. I did not return until Poe came to get me."
"But your kitchen floor was wet when Poe and I came by."
Rick thought for a moment. "The snow. The night I left, I'd tracked it in with me. I left quickly and didn't clean up after myself."
"Oh. But if you didn't find her, who did? No one has access to the lake except you and...Oh, the nekomata! You didn't leave the woman for me to find, they did. They were sending me a calling card."
Rick rested his hands on his hips, calling attention to his naked flesh in a way that caused my blood to heat even though my arousal was completely inappropriate to the situation. I closed my eyes, took a deep breath, and turned my attention back to Silas's wounds.
"Why? If the Nekomata want to obtain the book, they should be avoiding your wrath until the solstice."
"I don't know." I felt for Silas's pulse. He was breathing but his heartbeat was weak. "It's clear the nightmares want me dead. They used Silas to lure me to Red Grove Lake and tried to kill me. I don't think there were ever finfolk in those waters. It was a trap."
"Finfolk?" Rick shook his head. "Not in these waters. You are lucky to be alive. Werewolves are deadly."
"I had Nightshade drawn, trying to find the finfolk. Otherwise, it might be me on the couch."
Back and forth, I paced in front of the television I'd never seen Rick use even once, rubbing the palms of my hands together. "Let's say the nekomata and nightmares are working together. They must be since the nekomata have overtaken Avery's home. The nekomata wanted a place close to the book to case the area, so they made a pact with the nightmares to possess Avery and cause her death, thus leaving the house for their purposes."
"Sounds plausible."
"Part of me thinks they tried to kill me because my father pushed back the closing, but Silas requested that I investigate Avery's house before I talked to my father."
