Page 28 of Tragic Ink
“Was his own damned fault. He should have come out and surrendered when the police told him to. Instead, he ignored their warnings and shut himself in that house. If not for him, she could have gotten medical attention in time. He let her die and then let himself get shot when they stormed the house. None of that is onyou.”
His voice was firm and almost angry now. Aelwyn used to talk to me about it the same way. They wanted to assure me. But my own guilt was so much bigger than their ability to convince me I wasn’t toblame.
“I know that,” I said, but we both knew I didn’t. Notreally.
Rhys sighed. Finally, he spoke again, changing the subject. “So you know for a fact Walter couldn’t have activated thathound.”
“Yes.”
“Hmm.”
“What?” I studied his face as a shadow passed over hisfeatures.
“That means someone else knows about your gift and how to activate the magic. Is that possible to do on someone else’sink?”
“I’ve never tried, so I’m not sure. What are youthinking?”
“I just... Conall showing up tonight was weird. I want to check on that anonymous call. Verify it reallyhappened.”
“You think Deputy Conall is the one doingthis?”
“I don’t know. But he seems all too eager to point fingers at you for Aelwyn. Besides, we don’t exactly have a long list of possiblesuspects.”
I hesitated and then said, “Well, there’sone.”
“Who?”
“Ada.”
“Ada Daryn?” His eyes narrowed. “What makes you think she would dothis?”
“She’s been blackmailing me into giving enchanted tattoos,” Iadmitted.
“Gwen, what the... Why didn’t you sayanything?”
He didn’t sound nearly as surprised as I’d expected. I cocked my head. “Something tells me there’s not much totell.”
His mouth tightened, and he set the pen and paper aside. “I’ve seen her coming and going from yourplace.”
“You’ve seen her?” I repeated, my eyes widening. “Have you been watchingme?”
“I’m your Protector, Gwen. I have to keep an eye. But since... I’ve kept my distance for a while now. I knew you didn’t want me to come around, so I stayed out of sight. But I had a job to do, and I wasn’t going to let anything happen to you just because we weren’t—” He broke off, and my temperflared.
“Because we weren’t speaking,” I finished for him. “You mean because you rejectedme?”
He winced. “Don’t say it likethat.”
“How else should I say it? That’s what happened, Rhys.” I waited for the hot fury that usually rose when I thought about his rejection. But this time, all I felt was sadness. His apologies were getting to me, and I could feel myself edging closer to giving in to his pretty words. But the fear of being hurt twice hadn’t gone awayentirely.
“Gwen.” Rhys grabbed my hand and squeezed. I turned to meet his eyes, and my stomach flipped just like it always did when his gaze turned so intense. “I hate that I did that to you. I never should have let it go this long. But theoath—”
“I know,” I said. “You already explained. I just... it’s a lot to let go of.” Too much, maybe. But I didn’t saythat.
He nodded and then pressed a kiss to my lips. His mouth was warm, a solid comfort after everything that had happened tonight. I kissed him back lightly, expecting him to stop it just like he had in the truck. And I couldn’t blame him. We did have a killer to catch. Besides that, I wasn’t sure what this was yet. I’d wanted it for so long, but now that I had it, I had no idea how to process it against the years of thinking he didn’t wantme.
But he slid closer, reaching for me and pulling me swiftly into his lap, his tongue exploring my mouth and leaving my skin prickling where his fingerstrailed.
“Rhys...” I whispered against hismouth.
