by Moira Byrne
"Fine. Pretend you weren't hovering over him like a soul-sucking demon. Because then we can move on and you can tell me what the hell this is?" Sophie shoved a hand into her pocket and pulled out a glittery pink vial, exactly like the one I had found at her place, and the ones I saw inside Heather's. "What did you give him?"
My eyes widened as I connected the dots. "She's been giving something to Edward?"
"Yeah, I can smell him all over this thing." She rounded on Heather with a snarl. "What does it do?"
"Ugh." Heather grimaced and took a step back. "Do you mind? It's not a big deal. It just gets rid of your scent. It's basically like super deodorant. You might want to buy one yourself."
Sophie ignored the insult completely as she plowed onward. "Did you ever stop to consider what he wanted this for? Did you?"
"I don't know. Body odor? What the hell do I care? I mean, seriously, just because you're an animal doesn't mean you have to smell like one. Have you ever heard of perfume?"
"Do you think I'm stupid? You said scent for a reason. It's specifically so a shifter can hide his scent, isn't it?"
Heather rolled her eyes. "Look, you angry bitch, I just took the guy's money."
"You—" Sophie clenched her hands so tight I was worried she would break the vial. A growl rumbled through her chest.
Heather took a step back, her eyes wide. "You need to leave or I'm calling the cops."
"You plan on telling them that you're selling potions to psychopaths on the side?" I asked, interjecting into the conversation with a reasonable tone.
Heather gave me a disgusted look. "You can get the hell out of here, too. I don't want your crappy gardening anyway. Oh, also, tell Maddox that I'll get someone competent to fix my trellis. He'd probably suck at it anyway."
"Then maybe you shouldn't have hired us, yeah?" I gathered up my things and nodded at Sophie. "Let's get out of here."
Sophie stayed close by my side as I walked to the gate at the side of the house that I'd used to bring in my tools earlier. I didn't want to go back into that house of gleaming white and pink horror.
If she was selling something to Edward, it wasn't smart of us to stay somewhere he might show up anyway. It wasn't worth the risk, even if we had beaten him the first time.
As soon as we were out of Heather's yard, Sophie ducked into some bushes and started to strip.
"What are you doing?" I asked incredulously.
She yanked her shirt over her head and looked up at me. I reminded myself of her rejection. I couldn't think about her like that anymore, it would only make this worse. I was just so happy to see her. It didn't help that she was randomly stripping, making it feel like some sort of fantasy come true.
"Aly has my car. I had to shift and run."
"Put your clothes back on."
"Do you have a suggestion on how to keep them in one piece when I shift?"
"I'm telling you that you don't need to shift. Look, I'm still—" the words stuck in my throat, but I forced them out, "I'm still your friend. Let me drive you. You know that bastard is out there."
Her hands gripped her balled up shirt so tight that her knuckles turned white, but she nodded. "Fine, but you can drop me off at your place. I'll run home from there."
I swallowed the lump in my throat. She didn't even trust me to go to her house now. That was a new source of hurt I hadn't felt yet. I gave her a hollow smile. "Yeah, sure."
Sophie put her shirt back on, to my relief and disappointment, and we hopped in my truck. As I drove to my place on the outskirts of town, the air was awkward, to say the least.
I stared straight ahead and so did she. I couldn't figure out how to break the strained silence between us. Sophie was the first to speak.
"She was creeping up behind you when I got there. Did you know that?"
It was such a relief that she started the conversation that I nearly smiled, but I had to remind myself that it meant nothing. Friends. We're simply friends, I repeated in my mind.
"I had a weird feeling, but I didn't even know she was out there. What was she planning?"
"No idea. But she was holding scissors and reaching for your hair."
"Scissors?" I touched a hand to the back of my head and shivered. "What the hell for?"
"Some sort of witchy shit, I'm sure."
I couldn't help but laugh at that one. "You're starting to sound like Alysse."
Sophie shrugged. "I really don't like Heather. She's awful to everyone."
"That's fair."
I flashed her a grin and for a moment, it almost felt like we were back to normal, but then she glanced away. Would I learn to stop getting my hopes up? I thought I was better than this.
"I saw you were finished at my place," she said.
"Yeah. Got it done this morning."
The tone of this conversation was all wrong. It felt like we were strangers discussing the weather.
"It looks nice."
"Thanks."
The rest of the drive was silent, neither of us daring to speak. When we pulled up to my place, she immediately hopped out with her bag.
I got out of my truck and looked at her as she stood by the side of the truck, her backpack in her hand, something uncertain in her expression.
"Alex," she said as met my eyes, "I'm not good at this."
My heart stopped. She'd already shoved me away and slammed the door. What did she want to do now, yank out my heart and stomp on it?
"You don't need to say anything," I said, hoping to avoid another goodbye talk.
"No, I do."
"Sophie—"
"Hear me out, Alex, please?" Her voice was soft, pleading.
My gut reaction was to walk away, but I saw something in her eyes as she looked at me over the hood of the truck. A vulnerability that I hadn't expected to ever find there.
I tilted my head in acceptance. She gave me a small smile. I cursed myself as my hope started to build once more.
"I suck at this. There's no other way to put it. I've been trying to figure out what to say and it all sounds so stupid in my head." She looked off into the trees away from my house. Away from me.
"Say what, Sophie?" I barely dared to breathe. I willed her to look at me; I needed to see what was in her eyes.
"It wasn't a mistake," she blurted out.
"Not a mistake?" My hope continued to swell, even as I begged it not to.
"No." She turned and met my eyes. Her expression was more open than I'd ever seen before. "I don't want what happened between us to be a one-time thing. I want there to be a you and me."
It was my hope's turn to beg. It wanted me to scoop her into my arms right then and there, to kiss her and tell her that we could be together forever. I resisted. I couldn't let myself get hurt again. Not this easily.
"What's changed, Sophie? What's to keep you from shoving me away again?"
"Everything, Alex. Everything has changed. I—" Suddenly she snapped her head to the side and lifted her nose in the air. Her eyes turned bright blue. "Edward."
I heard a low chuckle and slow clapping behind me. Filled with dread, I turned around to see the psycho who had given me a death stare at the grocery store. He was lounging on my front porch with a smirk. I knew that guy couldn't have just been pissed about potatoes.
"I only wanted a rematch with you, plant boy," Edward said, "but I know a deal when I see one. Two for the price of one, am I right? I even got a show to go along with it. How did I ever get so lucky?"
"Get the hell out of here," I warned, anger and fear swirling inside me in a potent combination. "I let you go once, but I won't do it again."
"Yeah, because you'll be dead before long." He snorted and looked over at Sophie with a smarmy grin. "Sophie, sweetheart, I've already forgiven you, so don't you worry."
"Fuck off," were the only words that she said before I heard the rip of clothing, then Sophie's cougar leapt in front of me, growling. One of her shoes was still in tattered shreds around her paw but she quickly
shook it off.
"You should've taken it slow, doll." Edward started to pull off his clothes in a sick imitation of a striptease. "I would've liked to watch."
My stomach churned. I had never met someone more reprehensible than him. I didn't have to be in his presence long to figure out what a nasty piece of work he was.
Edward paused in the middle of unbuttoning his pants and sniffed the air, then grinned. "I see you've met my friend. She was a good fuck, don't you think so, blondie?"
"I didn't touch her," I spat out, then mentally cursed myself for taking his bait.
"You can't lie to me. I smell her all over you. But Sophie, baby, don't worry about her. You fucked this sap here. I fucked the witch. We're even. But from now on, the only man between your legs will be me."
My entire body tensed at once, my teeth gritting together. "I should've killed you."
"You should've, pretty boy, but you didn't. Your mistake."
"I won't make it again."
"You'll be too busy screaming in agony to do much of anything."
With a taunting smile, he dropped his pants and shifted. Moving faster than I anticipated, he leapt through the air at me, completely ignoring Sophie. Sophie jumped at him, but it was too late. My world went black as Edward landed on top of me, slamming me to the ground.
I saw a flash of white as my head hit the ground and his weight crushed me. I tried to focus, to channel my magic, but everything felt so distant. This was it. I couldn't save us.
This was not how it was supposed to end. An excruciating pain blossomed on the side of my head as I heard an enraged snarl, then the darkness threatened to consume me.
I fought against it. Sophie needed me. Snarls and growls assaulted my ears as I forced my eyes open. My head throbbed in protest. I focused my bleary eyes on my body and saw no open wounds.
Sophie must have gotten Edward off me. Sophie. I had to get up. I had to get up. I used the tire, then the truck's hood, as I pulled myself up. My head was still racked with pain, but my eyes were starting to focus.
I saw Sophie and Edward facing off, both of them crouched low to the ground, tails whipping back and forth. There was blood splattered on Sophie, but more on Edward. Sophie's teeth were exposed in a fierce snarl. Her muzzle was stained with blood. A low growl continuously poured out of her.
She darted forward and raked her claws along his side, then twisted to the side before he could reach her. Then he plowed into her body in a move I didn't expect and pinned her to the ground.
"No!" I cried out.
I wouldn't let him win. I focused through the throbbing in my head to the vines crawling up the trellises around my house. My pain eased as I reached out to them. The vines shot down in cascading rivulets to snap around his leg, then jerked him back.
The cougar whipped his head around to snarl at me. The vines started to drag him to the front of my house, toward the trellis. He twisted and swiped at the vines, cutting them with his claws. But as soon as he cut one, another appeared—they were never-ending.
Thick bands shot down to lash around his body and hold him in place. He struggled uselessly. A cold smile crossed my face. I had him.
He gave a wild jerk and the trellis trembled. He dug his claws into the ground and heaved. The trellis collapsed in a flurry of broken wood and dirt, vines and all. With the tension from the trellis gone, he was able to pull partially out of the constriction.
Suddenly, Sophie plowed into him, and the two cats twisted and turned, wrapping the plants around the both of them. Snarls tore through the air. I had to release the plants so they didn't tie Sophie up with him. The moment the plants pulled away, the cougars leapt apart.
I'd been watching for my chance, and as soon as Sophie was away from Edward, my vines ensnared him once more, rapidly wrapping around him from one second to the next. He didn't have time to react and escape, and there was no trellis to pull down this time.
Around and around they went, twisting tighter, binding him in place. He could shift if he wanted but it wouldn't make a difference. He was in my domain now. I would make him pay for each moment he made Sophie fear or hurt.
In a heartbeat, he was completely covered except for his head and neck. He growled and snarled, but couldn't move. My heart thudded so loud I could hardly hear myself think. I didn't know how, but I would force him to shift and tell us if he shared Sophie's location with anyone else.
When I got what I wanted, I would make sure he never threatened her again. I was about to take a step forward when Sophie leapt through the air, cutting off my path.
She landed on Edward's back and dug her claws through the vines and into his body. Her jaws closed hard on the side of his neck. First, his growling grew quiet, then his body fell still.
Her mouth still tight on his throat, Sophie suddenly wrenched his neck. I heard a snap. I watched, waiting for him to move, to growl, to hiss, to do anything, but he was completely motionless.
Finally, she eased. As she jumped off his body, there was no longer a cougar in my vines, but a dead man. She landed, suddenly in her human form, naked. Her body was dripping red with her fresh wounds. Even still, a sob ripped itself from her throat as she looked at what she had done.
Edward's form was limp within the vines. I drew them away. There was no point in binding him there any longer. The naked, bloodied man on my porch wasn't a threat anymore.
I crouched down beside Sophie, too shocked to say anything. I would be lying if I said I hadn't intended to kill him, but for some reason, I didn't expect her to do it. She lifted her head, eyes blurred with tears.
"What did I do?" she whispered. "Alex, what did I do? I just killed a man. I'm a murderer."
I pulled her into my arms, ignoring her feeble attempts to squirm away, and she fell against me, shaking and sobbing. Her hands clutched my arms, gripping and releasing them as if she didn't know if she wanted to hold me or push me away.
"You didn't kill a man, Sophie. You killed a monster."
"But what—" She sobbed again. "But what's going to happen to my sister? I'm going to go to prison, Alex. They're going to lock me up. I'm a murderer."
"You're not going to prison, Sophie. I won't let that happen."
"But how? Once they see the body, they'll know I broke his neck. There's no hiding it."
"Shhh," I said. "Nobody will ever know for certain if he's dead or alive."
"But how . . ."
"Watch."
I touched a hand to the ground, quietly willing the roots around my property to burrow up from beneath the dirt. Sophie watched the roots intently as they snaked up my staircase and wrapped around Edward's lifeless body, then dragged it down into the earth.
The dirt boiled and parted and the roots took the body into the hole. Moments later, the vines moved to push the dirt back in place, smoothing over the disturbed earth. She stared at the ground where Edward's body disappeared, then let out a shuddering breath.
"Thank you," she whispered.
"It's better than he deserves. Remember that." I brushed the hair from her face with a sad smile. I had never seen her like this before—shaken, vulnerable. I wanted nothing more than to take care of her and I would do just that.
Her eyes widened in surprise as I picked her up and strode over the patch of dirt and into my house. I carried her naked body to my bedroom and set her on my bed as I went into the bathroom to heat up the shower. Her eyes tracked my every move.
I had cleaned her up the last time she fought too, but she'd been mostly unconscious. For some reason, I was nervous as she watched me. I grabbed a towel, then returned to the bedroom to put it over her shoulders as the water heated up. Her hand grabbed mine when I would have moved away.
"I can't believe it's over," she said.
"What's over?"
"Edward. Edward's over. He's gone." She looked down at our joined hands, lost in her thoughts.
"How hurt are you?" I asked.
She shook her head, still staring at our hands.<
br />
"Sophie."
"Alex, I'm fine. Really."
I raised my brows at her skeptically. "Don't pull an Alex and deny your wounds."
She almost smiled at that one.
"It looks bad, but it's not. Just some scratches. The worst part is that I still smell like him."
"How about that shower then?"
"Please," she murmured.
I picked her up, faintly surprised when she didn't protest my doting, and carried her to the bathroom. Steam poured out of the shower. I set her on her feet and moved to leave when her hand reached out and grabbed mine.
"Don't go," she said softly.
"I was going to give you privacy," I said.
"Stay."
Her eyes met mine and I saw heat in them as she dropped the towel to the floor behind her. She stepped forward and her fingers ran along the bottom of my shirt, a question in her gaze. I covered her hands with mine and held them still.
"Sophie, we can't," I forced myself to say. Part of me wanted to take her invitation, no questions asked. But I knew better, I wouldn't let myself entertain possibilities of what couldn't be.
"We can."
I searched her eyes and saw tentative hope. She meant what she said, but a part of me hesitated. It was the very part that had been skewered by those same eyes.
My thoughts moved to what she said before Edward showed up. As I was thinking, she saw my hesitation, and disappointment filled her expression. At least, until I pulled my shirt over my head.
Her eyes hungrily ran over my chest, then her hands followed her gaze. Her fingers lightly traced over the faint remnants of the injury I received the night of the rescue. From there, she brushed them over the lines of my muscles, light, almost tentative.
I shivered at the delicate touch—a touch that made my body respond instantly. I reached out and ran my hand along her arm. She looked up at me through her lashes and smiled. Steam swirled around her and started to bead on her skin.
My eyes ran over her body and I frowned when I saw a line of red along her side. She followed my gaze and when she met my eyes I was startled to see amusement.
