Page 979 of One More Kiss

“Which means he likely hasn’t gotten everything he wants from you yet.” His gaze drifts to the window overlooking a parking garage.

“Why do you say that?”

He turns back to me. “You saw him again in Salem, right?”

“Right.”

“Then he’s still following you. We should start there. Head back to Salem and see if we can draw him out.”

“You’re going to go with me to Salem?” I’m honestly surprised. Even though I came here for help, I didn’t actually expect to get it. At least, not in that capacity. Besides, standing in the same room with him is hard. Traveling? Close quarters? How the hell am I supposed to survive?

“Do you want my help?”

“Yes,” I reply quickly. “I do.”

He continues to stare at me as if studying my expression. “You said you found a way to expand your magic.”

“More like access more of it,” I tell him. “It’s still taking some time, though. After what I did in that alleyway, after Bella was killed—” I trail off and close my eyes. I’d killed a man that night. Wasn’t my first time—war has many casualties—but he was already bound.

And I’d popped every blood vessel in his body with my magic. He’d died a horrible death for killing my friend, and while I would do it again, the barbaric nature of what I’d done will never leave me.

“If that’s the case, why do you need me? Why not just kill him?”

I don’t mention the nightmares. The paralyzing fear I have when I wake from them because doing so would show a vulnerable side of me I no longer feel comfortable sharing. Not with anyone…even my oldest friend.

“Because I don’t know if he’s traveling alone, and I don’t feel like dying anytime soon.”

A muscle in Drex’s strong jaw twitches. “We can leave for Salem tomorrow.” Then, he moves past me and toward the bed where he retrieves a pillow and blanket. “I’ll sleep on the couch, and you can have the bed.”

“Oh, no, I can stay somewhere else.”

“You’ll stay here because, if I’m going to help you, I need you to stay alive.”

“I—”

“He could have followed you here, right? So stay put. I promise to stay on my half of the room, and we’ll go on pretending that we never meant anything to each other. Sound good?”

I swallow hard. “You don’t need to take the couch. I can take it. It’s your apartment.”

“No. Thanks.” He tosses his pillow to the couch then stretches out and covers himself with a blanket. He’s so tall his feet hang over the arm of it. If I didn’t feel so bad for putting him out, I might have laughed. “Turn off the lights when you’re ready for bed. With the windows blocked, it will stay dark until we turn them back on.”

“Okay.” My voice is soft, my tone unsure. Spending the night with him wasn’t part of the plan. I was going to hire him, find a hotel, and go from there.

What if I have another nightmare? Another terrifying moment where it feels like my skin is on fire?

“I hear your heart,” Drex comments. “You came here, remember? It’s not like I’m going to fucking stab you in your sleep.”

“I know you won’t.”

“Then what the hell is it? Your heart is beating so damned loud it’s all I can focus on.”

“I’m not used to sleeping in the same room with someone.”

“Get used to it,” he replies. “Because until we find out what’s happening, we’re roommates.”

* * *

Morning comes quickly.Though sleep was not something I got any of. Drex tossed and turned all night, too, making it near-impossible to not feel guilty for stealing his bed. Especially when I didn’t even use it.

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