I pressed my lips together and swallowed. “Is it really a good idea to bring them in on this?” I found myself asking out of the blue.
He frowned. “What’s your point?”
“That Fagan is after them. Though he’s been meticulous in murdering in exactly 24-hour blocks, I really doubt he is going to pass up an opportunity to capture a witch for later. Is there anyone else we can call on?”
Max didn’t answer. In fact, it took a long time for him to cast his searching gaze over mine before he pared back his lips. “I guess you’re changing already, huh?” he commented softly.
I shook my head. “Sorry?” A part of me understood what he was suggesting. Finally, somehow, I was growing a sense of responsibility. But he didn’t push it, and neither did I. I really didn’t want to get into another argument with Max right now. I just wanted, funnily enough, not to die.
“Your concern for the witches is touching, but trust me – they have absolutely no intention of losing another one of their kind to Fagan. Mark my words, they’re going to want revenge.”
I gave a muddled half-frown, half-smile at that. “Do you really think vigilante justice is a good idea? I thought you were pushing for the police to solve this?”
Max looked directly at me. “We can’t let a man like Fagan wander the streets. But yes, you’re right – I don’t agree with vigilante justice. But you’ll find the witches can measure their hands. Plus, they won’t want the bad karma of killing a soul. And, hopefully, they’re going to appreciate that if they hand him over to the police, they’ll be able to bring down the man behind him.”
I ticked my head to the side. My eyes narrowed as I suddenly remembered something I hadn’t told Max. “The Lonely King,” I commented, words quick.
Max’s eyebrows crumpled down – I could practically hear them like old levers shifting with thumps. “Sorry?” There was a quick, flighty quality to his words.
I swallowed, undone by his reaction. “The Lonely King,” I said again. “I suddenly remembered that Fagan mentioned him. Who is he? I think Fagan was somehow working for him – collecting hearts for him.”
Max appeared to take several seconds to absorb that fact. He dropped his gaze, locked his dark eyes on the floor between us. He also drew his phone out of his pocket, typed something on the screen, and finally faced me. “Yeah, guys like the Lonely King. But…” he trailed off and shook his head.
I pushed further out of bed, finally rising to a seated position. “The Lonely King what?”
“He’s going to be hard to take down. We need to concentrate on Fagan for now.” He leveled his gaze at me once more. “You sure you don’t remember any more details?” Usually, when Max questioned me, he did so with the point of a verbal sword against my throat. Now? He was gentle, kind. And god did I like the gentle, kind Max.
It drew me a little further out of bed as I pushed the covers down. “I don’t think so. Not at the moment. I’m not holding anything back,” I said quickly, voice stuttering.
Max looked right at me then nodded. “I know. But if anything jogs your memory—”
It was my turn to nod firmly. “I’ll let you know. God knows I’d like to live through this,” I said in a strangled tone.
Still looking right at me, Max put a hand into his pocket and smiled.
Bam. There you go again – that perfect smile. The kind of smile that would set any girl’s insides pulsing and charging with nervous tingles. The kind of nervous tingles that were more than powerful enough to finally see me push up out of bed. I stood there, bare feet on the floor as I looked past Max to the window then back to Max. “So what are we waiting for? Isn’t it time to go see the witches?”
Max nodded, smiled, then shrugged towards the door. “Though you might want to put some pants on first,” he commented as he shifted towards the door, gaze ticking toward my butt for half a second.
A blush charged up my cheeks as I smacked a hand on my bum. I realized that underneath the open back flaps of the medical gown, I was in my underwear.
Oh god.
I’d never live this down.
… If I was given the time, that was.
Chapter 6
I dressed, and we checked out of the hospital. Though at first, the nurse wanted to keep me in for more observations, Max somehow managed to convince her to let me go.
It wasn’t just his looks – it was his tone. As he spoke to the nurse, I could hear little crackles and charges of magic reverberating through his voice. It seemed to lull the nurse until she let me out.
I didn’t mention it until we were out of the hospital and back in one of Max’s many cars. I turned to him as I got into the passenger seat. “What was that? You… compelled that nurse, didn’t you? You used magic on her.”
He didn’t face me until he turned on the ignition, shoved the gearbox into reverse, and started backing out of a parking spot. His gaze ticked towards me in the rear vision mirror. “Starting to learn how to identify magic, ha?”
I didn’t want to – but I blushed. I did not, however, drop it. “You compelled her, right? How did you do that? Isn’t that… I dunno, kind of wrong?” Speaking as someone who was pretty comfortable bridging the gap between right and wrong, it took a pretty
