“No. Theodore knows about Bess, and my old superiors, but they’re all retired now.” She shook her head. “I had to be in on this, can’t you understand that? I can’t just stand back while this bloodsucker goes around killing Magickal-Normal crossover people like you and me. And Bess.”
That sent an icy chill down his spine. “Wait, what? I’m a Normal who knows about magic, yeah, but—”
“And my first husband was a Normal.” She cocked an eyebrow and folded her arms. “What? You didn’t get to that part of my personnel file? It’s not that uncommon. There aren’t that many Magickals out there. Some people look down on it, but if we didn’t marry humans, we’d be as inbred as European royalty.”
He shook his head. “This is beside the point. You should have told me. I don’t care how fucking private you are—I had every right to know about this. It was my decision to make whether I wanted you on my case, my decision whether or not your family ties to these crimes would jeopardize the investigation.”
“It’s my case, too.” She unfolded her arms and jabbed a finger in his direction, an angry flush racing up her face. “It was my case first.”
“So? What do you want, a cookie? You didn’t manage to solve it, so it’s my case now. You’re just on loan, remember?” He knew he wasn’t being fair, but the fact that she couldn’t even admit she was in the wrong enraged him even more. He jerked to his feet, towering over her. “It doesn’t matter how much older or more experienced than me you are, you should have treated me like an adult and let me make the best choice for my case.”
She flinched as if he’d slapped her, and he wanted to take the words back, but he felt too angry and betrayed himself to back down now. Her mouth worked for a moment, and her voice came out a strained whisper. “It wasn’t about you. I would have made the same choice with anyone. Sleeping with you didn’t change anything.”
The words were a blow to the chest, especially after he’d opened up to her that morning. He felt gut-punched, hurt, and that just pissed him off even more.
“Right.” His voice dropped to a low hiss. “Of course not, because I’m just a quick fuck for you. What did you call it? Food followed by anal sex. Message received. My mistake. It’s so nice to know you would have deceived anyone to get what you wanted.” He leaned closer to her, until there were mere inches between their faces. “It’s professional courtesy to let someone know before you fuck over their investigation. Even if we weren’t sleeping together, I had a right to know about this.” He slapped the rest of the pictures down on the desk in front of her.
Her gaze dropped to the photos and her face went deathly pale. Swaying on her feet, she put one hand on the back of a chair to steady herself. She swallowed hard, then clamped her free hand over her mouth.
“Selina?” He looked down and saw a close-up of Bess’s dead face. But Selina had seen all these before, hadn’t she? She’d probably been there in person.
Spinning on a heel, Selina walked over to the trash can in the corner, bent forward, and vomited. He watched her back heave as another spasm racked her, and she hit her knees.
He was around the desk in a split second, kneeling beside her. She didn’t resist when he drew her against his chest. He rocked her lightly, his chest tight. He didn’t know why her reaction was so violent, but he couldn’t stand aside and watch her suffer. Maybe that made him weak or a fool, but that was how it was. It didn’t matter how angry he was with her. “Shh. Selina, shh.”
“I just—” Her muscles locked, and he leaned forward with her, held back her shirt and necklace so she didn’t get puke on them. A rough sob broke out of her, and she threw up twice more, until there was nothing left in her stomach and she dry-heaved. She was shaking when she slumped back against him.
A soft knock sounded on the door. Jack looked up to see Peyton standing there. He had a leather jacket slung over one arm. “I was on my way out and I heard ... Is she okay?”
“She’s fine.” Selina’s voice was a gritty rasp, and she swiped her arm against her mouth.
Jack added, “Food poisoning. She’s going home.”
The wolf nodded as if that made perfect sense, though Jack was damn sure Peyton had heard them yelling and that was what had brought him running. He reached over and picked up Selina’s bag. “I’ll take you home.”
“I’ll drive myself, thanks.” She hauled herself out of Jack’s arms and rose to her feet, weaving a little unsteadily.
Peyton retained his hold on her messenger bag. “Fine. I’ll follow you and make sure you get home safely.” He lifted a hand to ward off any protests. “Then I’ll go straight to the pack for lockdown, I promise.”
“Fine.” She didn’t look at the pictures or at Jack as she marched out the door.
Jack stood slowly, met Peyton’s gaze. “Take care of her.”
“I will.”
Because he couldn’t. Because she didn’t want him to. He could feel her retreating behind those walls of hers, locking him out. It was two steps forward and five steps back with her, and he just didn’t have the energy left to deal with it today. If she needed to retreat and lick her wounds, that was her prerogative. He couldn’t force her. It was a lesson he should have learned with his wife. If a woman didn’t want to stay with him, he couldn’t make her. At least this one hadn’t chosen death as a better option.
That evening, Selina stood in front of Jack’s front door. She lifted her fist to knock, hesitated, let her hand drop. Grim parked himself beside her, leaning against her in support. He barked once to encourage her. Pain in the ass he might be, but he was loyal to the core, and she could use the bolster to her courage right now. Selina took a deep breath, raised her hand again, and stumbled back a step when the door flew open.
Jack frowned down at Grim but reached out to ruffle the dog’s furry head. “I thought I heard a mutt on the porch.”
“Hi,” Selina squeaked.
His blue gaze rose to meet hers, his expression inscrutable. If he was surprised to see her, he didn’t show it. His dark hair was rumpled as if he’d run his fingers through it multiple times, and while he still wore the clothes from the office, his tie and jacket were gone, his shirt was untucked, and his feet were bare. “Hello. You’re supposed to be home recovering from food poisoning. Did you need something?”
“I don’t know.” Pressure had built and built inside her since she’d left him, after she’d upchucked in his office and he’d lied to protect her pride from Peyton. It had been ... kind, when she didn’t really deserve it.
Still, she couldn’t get the image of her cousin out of her head. It had always been there, lingering in the background for thirty long fucking years, but seeing the pictures again made it feel as though the image was seared into her retinas. That night played in a loop in her head. Getting the call that there’d been another one. Realizing that she knew the address and having to call Holmes to let him know before she raced out the door. It had been the longest ten-minute drive of her life to get to Bess’s house. Some part of her had hoped, prayed that someone else had died, not her baby cousin. Her aunt had been the one to find the body, and the venom she’d spat had been nothing compared to the horror that froze Selina inside when there was no more denying the devastating truth. Those staring, blank eyes had made her vomit then, too. She’d come back and done her job, but the violent reaction had been as beyond her control then as it had been today.
Jack watched her, waiting. Then he silently stepped back and held the door open for her. “You might as well have some coffee while you’re here.”