Raising Innocence: A Rylee Adamson Novel(2)

Shrugging, I lowered the sack of potatoes to the ground and took a deep breath. “Yeah, sure.”
The air between us was more than a little cool. She was still pissed at me. But I knew I’d made the right choice.
When I’d told her she had to go, she’d left immediately—she was never short on places to sleep—and had only just come back for the last of her things. We hadn’t talked in the last few weeks and I felt the strain between us as if it were a living thing strangling what was left of our friendship to death. It hurt me to know how little she thought of me, of our history together. Apparently, O’Shea had been right—she’d meant more to me than I had to her.
With a frown, she tossed her long brown hair over one shoulder. “Hurry up, I have a date tonight. I don’t want to be late.”
I untied the rope from around my waist, jerking at it when it got stuck. “Then maybe you shouldn’t have shown up in four-inch heels and a dress you’re going to have to peel off. Shit, you’re moving boxes, not stripping for me!”
Milly pouted, a move that helped her get her way with the male species, but didn’t work on me. “It’s the least you could do after picking that werewolf over me,” she said, placing a hand on her hip, green eyes narrowing.
A black, contorted muzzle peeked around the edge of my bedroom door and one large amber eye blinked up at me. “Hiya witchy.” He waved one paw at Milly. “Done peeing.”
I held my hand out to him, and all two hundred pounds of werewolf came bounding into my room, banging against Milly’s legs, which sent her sprawling to the floor, her spiked heels doing nothing to help her keep her balance. She screeched, I laughed, and Alex cringed against my legs. A weak, submissive werewolf, he was trapped between man and wolf, his body hunched and covered in black fur with silver tips; not to mention he had the mind of a two-year-old child.
But I had to admit he was one of the few good parts in my life, and seeing Milly sprawled out on the floor spluttering, I was glad once more I’d chosen him over her.
“It’s okay, buddy.” I patted his head. “Milly isn’t mad; she’s leaving.”
That’s where I was wrong. Milly pushed herself to her hands and knees, then used the door frame for support to stand. Her hands moved in a spell I recognized, the blackness surrounding her fingers—a tell I knew all too well.
I leapt toward her, slamming my hand over her mouth and tackling her to the floor. Being Immune had its perks, and this was one of them. The spell diffused against my skin, negating the effect she’d been going for.
“Oh, fuck no. You are not killing Alex over him knocking you down!”
She wrestled against me, but she never worked out, never thought about what would happen if she couldn’t use her magic.
Shimmying up, I sat on her chest, pinning her arms to the floor with my knees. She bucked and writhed, and I finally lifted my hand from her mouth.
“Get the fuck off me!” Tears clung to her lashes and while I could understand her being angry, I didn’t understand the crying.
“Milly, I wish you’d tell me what’s going on,” I said, not letting her up.
She flicked a finger and my bedroom lamp whipped at my head, catching me off guard. The ceramic base shattered against my skull, unbalancing me and giving her the edge she needed.
She scrambled away from me, crying, her makeup running down her face in long black streaks. Shit, now I felt bad. But I still couldn’t let her kill Alex.
“I thought you were my friend, Rylee. But you aren’t, you’re no better than your parents, turning your back on the people who depend on you.”
Fuck, now that was a low blow. I had to stop myself from physically cringing. “The friend I knew,” I said, advancing toward her, “wouldn’t try and kill Alex. Not for knocking her over. The friend I knew would tell me what was wrong with her. The friend I knew.” I was yelling now, and Alex was howling from behind me, “wouldn’t try to use my past against me!”
Milly cringed, then wiped her face, sniffling. “We aren’t the same people anymore.”
“You might not be.” I turned my back on her to close my bedroom door and keep Alex out of her line of fire. “But I am. I still go looking for kids. That’s what we swore we’d do. We took an oath.”
Her head hung so that her chin nearly touched her chest. “I know.”
“And you walked away from it like it was nothing!”
“I have other oaths—” She gulped back a sob and whatever else she was going to say, then shook her head.
Other oaths? To the coven? It didn’t really matter, not now. She’d made her choice.#p#分页标题#e#