Grave Dance(54)

“Or it might.” It was probably aimed at me, after al , and I was part fae. I hadn’t told Tamara and Hol y that little detail yet, so I kept that thought quiet. Caleb gave me a look that said he wouldn’t budge, and I sighed. “So now what?”

“We need to cal the police,” Hol y said.

I agreed. Caleb didn’t. Majority vote won and Hol y phoned in the cal .

“You probably need to find a way to fix that,” Tamara said, pointing to the far wal of the room.

I twisted to see what she meant and the blood drained from my face. In the air where we’d fought the ravens, smal , pinprick-sized wisps of Aetheric energy twisted.

I’d ripped holes in reality. Again.





Chapter 14

There were seven smal holes—not nearly as many as spel ed disks, so apparently only the ravens I’d destroyed had caused tears. I couldn’t close the rips in reality, so Caleb worked on glamouring over the holes while we waited for the police to arrive. My friends shot curious gazes my way, but none demanded an explanation. Yet.

I excused myself, gathered PC and my purse from the guest room, and then retreated to the stairs so I could dress before the cops arrived. I grabbed one of the charmed disks before I left. I had no doubt the police had their very best people working to unravel the spel s on the disk, but the feet, the constructs, and the spel s on my friends were linked, and once the police confiscated everything, I wouldn’t get another look at the disks. I needed a lead in this case. Now more than ever. Dropping the disk in my purse, I took the steps two at a time. It wasn’t until I’d reached the top and my free hand was hovering over the doorknob that I remembered my apartment wouldn’t be empty.

Falin is on the other side of this door. And aside from when he’d been unconscious and when we’d fought side by side against the ravens, I hadn’t seen him in a month. Now I couldn’t decide if the prospect of being alone with him excited, terrified, or agitated me, but my fingers shook as I grabbed for the doorknob. Get hold of yourself, Alex.

Taking a deep breath, I pushed the door open, not sure what I would find.

Not finding anything wasn’t what I was expecting.

Not finding anything wasn’t what I was expecting.

I looked around. The room was empty. What felt like a bag of rocks dropped in the bottom of my stomach, and I sagged against the doorframe. He left.

PC wiggled in my arms, and I set him down without moving a foot more into my empty apartment. PC, oblivious, pranced across the room and checked his food bowl. A couple of bites of kibble were left in the bottom and he happily—and noisily—chomped away at the early morning snack.

I stood there looking around a moment longer. Then I pushed away from the doorframe and forced my back straight.

So he left. So what? It wasn’t like he hadn’t done it before.

I shoved the door closed harder than needed and dropped my purse by the side of the bed—which Falin had apparently stripped before leaving. I glanced around, but I didn’t spot the bedding anywhere. Great.

I headed for my dresser, pul ing my shirt over my head as I walked. Then the bathroom door opened.

I jumped, whirling around at the sound and pul ing my shirt flat against my chest in one movement. Falin stepped out of the bathroom, his ice blue gaze meeting mine.

“Alexis.” My name, my real name, was a whisper around a smile as he stepped forward. Then his gaze moved down, taking in my half-dressed state. His eyebrows lifted and the smile turned rakish.

I gulped and looked away. “I, uh . . .” I’d thought he’d left, but there real y wasn’t a reason to say that. “The police are on their way,” I final y said, and then turned my back on him so I could dig through my clothes hamper one-handed. The hamper was currently fil ed with clean but unfolded clothes

—the dirty clothes were in the pile beside it.

I felt the heat of his body warm the air behind my bare back before his hands landed on my shoulders. His skin was pleasantly warm against mine, and I felt the urge to was pleasantly warm against mine, and I felt the urge to lean back against his body and take the comfort I’d find in his arms.

But I didn’t.

He’d left without a word and appeared just as suddenly.

On top of that, he was the Winter Queen’s assassin— and her lover. Besides, I didn’t do relationships. I stepped away from him.

“I have to get dressed,” I said, clutching the change of clothes I’d grabbed and heading for the bathroom.

“Alex . . .” But he trailed off, not fol owing my name with anything.

I stopped halfway to the bathroom and turned back around. “What happened to my sheets?”