Detached

by Elicia Hyder

  “Is there anything that can prevent detaching?” I asked.

  His head tilted in question.

  “I could really use some peaceful sleep.”

  “Elias had a purple stone once that prevented detaching. He wore it set in a silver ring on his middle finger.”

  “I’ve seen pictures of a ring with a purple stone.”

  “If you can find it, you can wear it when you sleep. Someday, you should be able to control detaching without the stone, but that’s why Elias had it. He never really mastered his abilities.”

  “Shocker.”

  More screeches, closer this time. “You should go back to your body,” Orion said.

  “They’re almost here.”

  “Yes. Nightly, these days. They’ve tasted blood in Sapphire Lake, and they know there’s a weakness in the Boundary.”

  I handed him the dagger.

  He put up a hand to stop me. “It’s a gift. I won’t ask if you know how to handle a knife. I know you do. A shadow blade will work in either realm, on any adversary, human or spirit.”

  “Even nightwalkers?”

  “Yes, but if you ever get close enough to a nightwalker to use it, you’ll already be dead.”

  “Good to know.”

  He pulled up his pant leg and unfastened the knife holster around his calf. “Like with ergane, the blade is visible in your world even if you’re detached, so keep it covered if you can.”

  “Thank you, Orion.” After I accepted it, I started toward the door.

  “Saphera?”

  I stopped and lifted my brow in question.

  “In the spirit of the newfound trust in our relationship, I feel it only right to confess something to you.” His eyes fell just enough for me to notice before they quickly snapped back up to mine. “When you hear the news . . . it was me.”

  Then he stepped out of sight.

  Chapter Seventeen

  Bess got home at a quarter past midnight. After a light workout, I’d showered and was letting my hair air dry as I flipped through the television stations. There was a new documentary online: Who Killed Ryder Stone?

  I opted for The Witcher instead.

  If only hunting monsters was so straightforward.

  “Yo,” Bess said, dropping her keys on the table by the door.

  I lifted a hand. “How was work?”

  “Good.” She paused in the hallway. “You all right?”

  “Yeah. Why?”

  She jerked her thumb over her shoulder, toward the door. “There are cops in front of the building again.”

  “There are?” I checked my phone. Nothing.

  “Two of them across from the driveway.”

  I got up and walked barefoot to the door. “I’ll be back.” As I opened the door, a marked squad car drove past, and Essex pulled into my driveway.

  He parked and got out as I reached the bottom of the stairs. In the moonlight, his face was grim.

  I stopped. “What’s wrong?”

  He took a deep breath, staring at the concrete. “The kid is dead.”

  “What?”

  “The third child from the heroin poisoning.”

  I covered my mouth. “Oh my god.”

  Essex looked away. “They don’t know what happened, but the machines keeping her alive—” His voice cracked, and he coughed to cover the emotion that choked him.

  My hands fell to my sides in disbelief. “The machines shorted out.”

  His eyes snapped back to mine. “How did you know that?”

  Because Orion had basically told me.

  Ignoring the question, I walked out in front of my garage and turned to look at my roof. Of course, I couldn’t see anything or anyone up there, but I glared and shook my head nonetheless. Tears I wouldn’t dare let spill burned the corners of my eyes.

  “Nyx?” Essex asked.

  Hugging the slouchy sweatshirt around me, I walked back to him.

  “How did you know that?” he asked again.

  “Lucky guess.”

  “Bullshit.” His voice echoed off the building.

  I flinched.

  “How did you know about the machines? And how did you know about Norina Grumley?”

  I stared at the ground, my mind racing.

  “What are you not telling me?”

  I opened my mouth, hesitated, and shut it.

  He closed the space between us. “Narcotics called a little while ago. They’re digging into Teek, so they reviewed the body-cam footage from his arrest.”

  My stomach clenched. “Teek has nothing to do with all this.”

  “And I’m sure they’ll prove that, but my question is, why did you turn off your in-car cameras when he was still in your back seat?”

  Shit.

  I looked down at the camera lens on his chest.

  “It’s off,” he said, as if reading my mind.

  “Are they investigating me?”

  “No. They’re waiting on a valid reason for why you shut it off.”

  “Is that why you’re here?”

  “Not officially.”

  “I didn’t shut it off, I swear.” And it was the honest-to-god truth. Elias had, but that would only raise more questions than it answered.

  “Then I’ll get IT to check the in-car setup.”

  I nodded as dread overwhelmed me. IT wouldn’t find a damn thing wrong with my car cameras.

  “But you’re not off the hook that easy.” Essex bent so we were eye level. “Why do you know so much about this case?”

  I looked away. Across the street, a loud and drunken “Whiskey in the Jar” was blaring from the stage speakers.

  He touched my side. “Look, you and I both know something’s going on here. I can’t help you if you don’t tell me what that something is.”

  When I met his eyes again, he was standing so close. My heart thumped in my chest. I wanted to tell him. I hated having secrets between us. Hated all the uncertainty. Hated feeling so damn alone with him right here.

  “Please talk to me,” he urged gently, quietly. He put his hands on my hips. “Please.”

  My eyes fell to his lips, and without thinking, I stretched on my toes and kissed him. Stunned, he froze, and I realized what I’d done.

  Horrified, I jerked back.

  Only once before had I ever seen Essex so stunned. He’d literally been shot with a Taser in training.

  What the hell did I just do?

  Essex blinked a few times until his gaze sobered.

  I wanted to crawl under the concrete and die. “Essex, I’m sorry. Fuck, I shouldn’t have done that.”

  With a slight nod, he took a deep breath. “You’re right.” He fisted the front of my sweatshirt and pulled me back to him. “I should have.”

  His mouth collided with mine with all the unleashed force from three years of carefully bridled restraint. One hand slipped behind my neck as the other held my waist just off his weapons belt.

  My arms melted around his shoulders, and I whimpered with relief as his tongue dragged deliciously across mine. Like it was exactly where it should have been all this time. Searing desire burned through me, and I scraped my teeth across his bottom lip.

  It wasn’t until my hands were on his chest, on the hard body armor beneath his black uniform, that I realized there was no way in hell this could happen.

  He was on duty.

  He was my boss.

  And he was Essex.

  I broke the kiss and released him, touching my fingers to my bottom lip. He raked his hand back through his dark hair, fear as clear in his eyes as it felt in my heart.

  I backed toward the stairs. “I’m sorry.” Then I took the steps two at a time to my front door and went inside without pausing to look back.

  On the verge of hyperventilating, I slammed the door behind me and flattened my back against it. I heard a car door open and close outside, and I pressed my eyes shut.

  Bess stuck her head out of the hallway bathroom. “Is it a standoff? Are
we under siege?”

  I forced a smile. “Everything’s fine. They’re gone.”

  “Everything is clearly not fine.” She came out in her pajamas. “What happened?”

  I walked to the kitchen. “Remember the three kids from the drug ordeal?”

  “Yeah.”

  “They’re all dead.”

  Bess gasped. “No.”

  “That’s why the cops were here.”

  “They were so little.”

  “I know.” I slumped over the bar.

  She touched my shoulder. “I’m sorry, Nyx. Did you know them?”

  “No.” I raked a hand back through my hair as I straightened. “That’s not all that happened.”

  When I turned, she was staring expectantly.

  “I just kissed my boss.”

  Kissed was a stretch. I’d barely stopped short of humping him like Karma in front of my garage.

  “Like, for the first time?” she asked with one eyebrow cocked.

  “Of course.”

  “Oh boy. So which thing are you so upset about?”

  “Both.” My stomach was twisted in knots.

  “OK,” Bess said cautiously. “We can figure this out.” Walking past me, she opened the refrigerator, retrieved two beers, and handed one to me. “You got a bottle opener?”

  “The drawer by the stove.”

  She found it and opened our beers. After she passed me mine, I drained half of it before putting it down.

  “What the hell am I going to do?”

  Bess eyed the bottle. “Develop a drinking problem, apparently.”

  I groaned and cradled my forehead in my palm.

  “Was it a good kiss?” she asked, leaning against the counter across from me.

  It was the best kiss I’d had in years. Maybe ever if I was really being honest.

  “It doesn’t matter. He’s my boss.”

  “Your smoking-hot boss, who is clearly crazy about you. I’m not sure I’m seeing the problem here.”

  “What would happen at your job if you hooked up with your boss?”

  She paused and laughed with her beer halfway to her mouth. “I’d bathe in disinfectant before I checked myself into Sterling Heights. You’ve met my boss. We are not talking about that creep.”

  Fair enough.

  I folded my arms on the countertop and laid my head facedown on top of them. “Shit. I have to spend twelve hours in a car with him tomorrow.”

  “Why?”

  “I’m only allowed to ride along this week.” I picked my head up and pointed to the staples in my head. My eyes widened with a thought. “Maybe I do have brain damage.”

  “The only evidence of brain damage is the fact that it’s taken you this long to cram your tongue down that man’s throat. I mean, have you seen him, Nyx?”

  I took a few more deep gulps of beer, letting the fizz burn the back of my throat.

  “Seriously, what’s the worst that could happen?” she asked.

  I let out a small burp. “I could be forced off my team and moved to day shift.” Which was a much bigger problem than I could explain to her.

  “That might suck, but you wouldn’t be fired, right?”

  I didn’t think so, but I honestly didn’t know. I hadn’t read the section in our handbook about fraternization too closely. Until now, I’d never needed it. “I’m not sure.”

  She put a hand on my shoulder. “So let’s have some perspective here. Worse things have absolutely happened today.”

  Bess was right. But instead of making me feel better, the thought of those kids dying made me feel infinitely worse—and furious. I couldn’t wait to pummel Orion’s crotch again.

  I looked at the clock. It was at least six hours until sunrise.

  “Did they ever find out how the drug got to the school?” she asked.

  “Yeah. We took the woman into custody this afternoon.”

  “Well, thank goodness for that.”

  I wrapped both hands around the cold bottle. “It’s not over, I’m afraid. The drug is still out there.”

  “Maybe that will keep you busy and distracted from jumping your boss’s bones in the car tomorrow.” She snickered quietly.

  I glared at her.

  “If you do, think you can snap a photo with your body camera? I’d love to see that man shirtless.”

  My body camera. I may have temporarily dodged the cameras question, but I needed to come up with an answer fast. I got up. “Excuse me.”

  “What? I mention him shirtless, and you need some alone time?” she asked as I walked into my bedroom.

  I grabbed my work phone charging on the nightstand. I expected there to be a missed call or a text from Essex.

  There wasn’t.

  I pulled up our chat history and typed out a reason. Turning my car cameras off must have been an accident.

  Guilt came surging back, so I deleted the lie and laid the phone down. I sat on the edge of my bed and put my head in my hands.

  I had to make a choice: either be honest with Essex or walk away. There was no middle of the road. No other option.

  This wasn’t just about worrying he’d think I was nuts. Telling Essex the truth would commit him to my lie. Rogue gods aside, I couldn’t risk many humans finding out about me. It wasn’t safe. Not only for me, but anyone I cared about.

  Elias had named my brother Ransom after all. Who knows? Maybe this light-bulb moment was why.

  I also couldn’t involve Essex in something so dangerous without his full knowledge. And there was no way we could ever be together in a relationship built on a lie.

  Walking away would be a kindness. Something I should have considered before inhaling his face in my driveway.

  Closing my eyes, I could still feel the pressure of his lips on mine. Both sides of that kiss had been anything but casual. The attraction was too intense. The friendship far too deep.

  And no matter my inner conflict, I knew the truth in my heart: walking away was no longer possible—for either of us.

  For better or worse, I had to tell Essex the truth.

  Chapter Eighteen

  Ransom showed up with fast-food breakfast and coffee at six fifteen a.m. Judging by the time and his black dress pants and button-up shirt, he’d come straight from the hotel. A backpack strap was slung over one shoulder.

  He held up the food bag. “I brought a peace offering. I’m sorry I stormed out the other day.”

  “I’m sorry I stole your destiny.”

  At that, thankfully, he chuckled.

  I pulled open the door, and he walked inside and handed me a cup of coffee. “It’s decaf. Figured you’d be sleeping soon.”

  “Thanks.”

  He looked down the hall. “Is your roommate home?”

  “Sleeping, so keep it down. And ground rule: you cannot date my roommate. I have enough drama these days as it is.”

  He put the food on the table and his backpack on the floor. “But she’s cute. And spunky.”

  “And off-limits.” I sat beside him, where I’d placed my brown leather journal in anticipation of our conversation.

  “But you stole my destiny.” He pulled a wrapped biscuit out of the bag and handed it to me.

  “Trust me, if I could give it back, I would.” When I unfolded the greasy wrapping, the smell of sausage overpowered my sleepy senses. “Thank you for breakfast.”

  “You’re welcome. You on duty tonight?”

  “Unfortunately.”

  “Why?”

  “I’ve kinda complicated the shit out of some things at work.”

  “You finally screwed your boss.”

  I flinched. “I didn’t screw anybody.”

  “Lies.”

  “I only kissed him.”

  Ransom laughed really hard.

  “Shut up.”

  “Aren’t you supposed to do that before you interview for a promotion?”

  “You’re such an ass.”

  “I know.” His laughter finally faded.
“If it’s any consolation, you’ll probably be more of an asset to them if you stay home and sleep.”

  “You think so?”

  He nodded.

  I picked up my coffee. “What made you change your mind?”

  “Paps. That old man can lay on one hell of a guilt trip when he wants to. He’s been glued to the news since they found those kids yesterday.”

  “I bet.”

  Ransom’s face fell. “They were the same age as Milly.”

  “I thought the same thing.”

  “They all died, didn’t they?”

  I nodded. “A man from the Boundary named Orion shorted out the life support on the last one. She died sometime last night.”

  “Was it hypnox?”

  “Yes.”

  He swore under his breath.

  “Have you heard from Mal?” I took a bite of my biscuit.

  “No. You?”

  I shook my head and swallowed. “I wonder if she even knows Elias is dead.”

  He picked up his coffee. “She probably felt the universe shake along with all the other demons from hell.”

  We both chuckled.

  “If she doesn’t know already, she’ll find out today. Narcotics is questioning her about the hypnox.”

  “Damn. Even though you cut her out of your life, she still manages to make shit difficult for you, huh?”

  “Yeah.” I rolled my eyes.

  “I’ll bet she shows up when she finds out.” He curled both tattooed hands around his coffee cup. “She’ll want to use you the way she used Elias.”

  “Yeah, but whoever she visits first will tell us if she really knew who your father was.”

  Ransom nodded but didn’t comment. “Do you think Mal has anything to do with the hypnox now?”

  I leaned back to doublecheck that there was no movement on Bess’s side of the condo. There wasn’t. Still, I kept my voice low. “No. Hypnox only grows when the spirit blood of someone like Elias is spilled in the Boundary.”

  “So someone like you.” There was a bite to his statement.

  “Yes,” I said sadly.

  “This makes you a target now too, doesn’t it?”

  “Possibly. Orion thinks someone might be hunting scions.”

  “You trust this Orion guy?”

  I leaned my head on my hand. “Trust is a dangerous game.”