Reckless

Chapter 8 Part 1

Present Day

Character POV: Roxanne

The sun has set by the time I arrive home. I quickly lock my mustang and race up the stairs, leaving the door open behind me. Honestly, if a human dirtbag comes in the house right now, that's the least of my concerns. I can take care of that without a second thought. It is amazingly quick and easy to snap a human's neck now, just a single flare of power and thought and the deed is done.

"David!" I shout, scanning every room as I pass it. Each room that comes back empty only multiplies the fear that I already came in here feeling. If my heart keeps going this fast, it's going to jump right out of my chest, I swear. It's hard for me to keep the panic out of my voice each time I call out is name. Eventually, I stop caring if I sound pathetic or feel weak again. "DAVID!?!" I scream, hands knotting in my hair as I turn in a circle, desperate to find any signs of him.

"Roxanne, what the fuck?" David asks as he steps out of the bathroom, hurriedly fixing a towel around his waist, hair still full of soap suds. The moment he sees me, his skin pales and he rushes towards me. "What is it? What's wrong?" He asks, forgetting all of the anger and irritation he felt just moments ago.

A strangled sob escapes my lips, sounding so weak that it almost makes me cave in on myself. I rush towards him, giving him a firm hug and holding him tight with shaking arms, closing my eyes to focus on the moment. He is here, he is alive, he is okay. All of the horrible outcomes that my mind was generating were fake. None of it happened. I open my eyes again, pushing him away as I give him the once over. Not a mark on him. I sigh heavily with relief, my legs buckling under me as I slide to the ground. David follows me down, hands still on my shoulders to try and steady me as his blue eyes focus on me.

"Roxanne, what is going on?" He asks me again, his voice low as he scans my face, reaching up with a hand to brush stray strands of my blonde hair out of my face. "Whatever it is, you can talk to me about it. What's going on? I'm right here. Talk to me." He smiles at me gently then, and it breaks whatever restraint I still had inside of me.

"I'm sorry," I sputter, tears sliding down my cheeks as I double over at the waist, hands over my eyes. "I'm so sorry, there are so many things that I should have told you, and now it might be too late. There are so many lies I told you, but I need you to trust me right now. Just please, remember all the times I told you the truth and trust me, because if you don't, bad things are going to happen, and I won't be able to stop it. . ." I'm shaking all over, but I force myself to look up at him, wiping my tears away as he still holds onto me, trying to reel me back in like he's tried to do many times before. He's always failed then, but it's sweet of him to always think that the present time will be different.

I water dripping off of him and onto the floor, pooling on it. He doesn't seem to notice as he asks me lowly, "Is it Ariadne?" All he knows about her is what I have told him, that she was an ex of mine and that she was dangerous. I never elaborated how, and he never asked. Something in the back of my head wonders how she even came to his mind right now, that there's no way he could have just pulled her name out of the air, but that's not important right now. He says lowly, "I can take care of myself against her and whomever else comes at us, Roxy. I promise you that it'll be okay."

He's so fucking stupid. That stupid "I'm a man so I am untouchable" bullshit, toxic masculinity, or whatever it is. It's going to make this so much worse and get him killed. I get so irritated with him that I shove him back and stand to my feet, needing to move so I pace around the space. David gradually rises to his feet, hand fixed on the towel to keep it from slipping as if I haven't seen what's under it a thousand times, as if modesty is what matters at a time like this.

I stop pacing as I whirl on him and hiss, "No, she'll kill you." He snorts in disbelief, which prompts me to say, "She's already killed a lot of people to send a message to me. I've been investigating those murders for. . . work." More lies, but if I don't try to keep a human out of witch business, Analize might just kill him and save Ariadne the trouble. His eyes grow wide as he begins to believe what I am saying.

He stalls, skin paling as he sputters, "Your ex is a murderer?"

"No, a serial killer. Being a murderer would be too mundane for Ariadne to bother," I mutter.

"And this never came up in conversation before?!?" He shouts, his eyes full of rage and fear. Good. He should be afraid. It's about time that he realizes the gravity of the situation. He shakes his head, blowing out a breath as he calms himself down and refocuses on the issue at hand. "I'm not leaving you alone to deal with her," he states.

"She will kill you without thinking twice," I snarl.

From my right, faux-Ariadne appears, leaning against the wall, arms crossed as she looks him up and down, a smirk on her face. "Oh, definitely," she asserts, winking at me. I ignore her as my mind begins to race, trying to find a way out for him so I can deal with Ariadne myself.

"You have to go," I say finally, seeing that as the only way. Ariadne won't go out of her way to go after him if Analize and I are her targets, as she has made clear with all of the bodies she left as messages. He opens his mouth to argue, but I don't give him the chance. "No, you need to leave. It's not safe here. She might already know about you being here, but if she doesn't, you need to leave now before she does. I'll find you when it's over, I promise." I hope that he can see the truth in it. I will come back for him, to make sure that he is okay and to set things right. I just need him to trust me.