Devil Mine (Walk Through Shadows Book Two)

Chapter Seven

Balthazar was waiting on the landing one floor above Em's apartment when she got home. He stayed there as she unlocked the door and rushed inside. After listening for a minute and hearing rushing water through the walls, he crept down the stairs.

When he reached her door, he frowned. Her scent lingered in the air. Sweet jasmine and vanilla. Along the edges of the aroma was a jarring note of outrageously expensive musk.

"Dammit Em," he muttered, then worked the lock and slipped inside. Twenty minutes later, he was sitting on the end of her bed, in the dark, when she came out of the washroom. She walked by him without seeing him in the shadows. Perhaps she was distracted by her own thoughts. He kept quiet while she rifled through a drawer in her dresser, then pulled out an old t-shirt and shorts. As she dropped the towel onto a chair that was tucked between the dresser and closet door, he stood up. She pulled the clothes on, then ran her hands through her damp hair. "Em," he said softly.

She spun around and stepped back. Bottles on the dresser toppled over and her butt crashed into it. "What the fuck!"

"Sorry," he said, then took a step toward her with his hands splayed in front of him. "I didn't mean to scare you."

"Asshole!" She turned back to the dresser and pushed the bottles away from the edge. "Stop breaking into my apartment," she muttered. "If you really mean that you'll stop breaking in here."

"You're right." He took another step forward. "I just wanted to see if you're okay."

She turned back to him and threw her hand out in a wide wave. "You disappear for weeks without so much as fucking text—"

He walked right up to her, then lifted her chin up, so she was looking right into his eyes. The ring around his irises lit up with a bright green light. Her eyes went wide. "Remember."

The light in his eyes winked out as her head tipped back. He caught a hold of her as her knees went wobbly. Everything that happened between them over the last couple of days came rushing back to her.

A minute later, when her head came up her eyes were blazing with fury. "What did you do!" Her knees locked, she flattened her hands on his chest, and shoved. "What did you do to me?"

He grabbed her hands and held them to his chest. "I was trying to protect you," he said.

"From who?" She tugged at her hands. When that tactic didn't result in freeing her from his grasp, she went up on her toes to get closer to his face. "Is someone trying to kill me?"

He stared into her eyes for a second. "Not trying, but they will if necessary." She snorted. His expression didn't change.

Holy shit. He's serious.

"Please tell me what's going on," she whispered. "Why did you disappear? Why did you make me forget you were back? How did you make me forget?" She stopped to take a breath and tug at her hands again.

His eyes closed. Half truths weren't going to work. He was going to have to show her. Internally, he braced himself. He knew with her past it was unlikely that she would react well.

"Have you noticed anything different about me?" he asked softly.

"Like you being a creepy stalker?"

The corner of his mouth lifted in a lopsided smile. "Beyond that."

"I don't know. You're a little pale?"

He pulled her hands flat against his chest. "What do you feel?"

"What are you—?" Her gaze dropped to her hands. She pressed harder. Her head cocked to one side, as if she was listening for something. "I can't feel anything."