and me, but I chose to perch on the counter just outside. It gave me an unobstructed view of the safe so I could watch every move Ellery made. While I
sure as hell didn’t want his memory touching me again, because the unsettling feeling it left behind was enough to give me the willies for a year. However, retracing his movements would not only cement each violation of my private life
but fuel the additional impetus to run his ass to the ground.
Although Kelsey’s death launched me from justice to revenge, the need to
stop Ellery was fast becoming an obsession. An obsession that bypassed the personal line any investigator worth their salt knew better than to cross. Which
was also why I couldn’t currently take Delacourt up on her offer to work for her.
In this case, I didn’t want, or need, anyone’s rules and regulations to hold me
back, because when I got my hands on Ellery, there wouldn’t be much left of him to turn over to the appropriate authorities. As dangerous as is was to go down that path, I couldn’t see any way that leaving him alive ended well. First,
though, I had to catch him, starting with the question that itched under my skin.
How had Ellery gotten into my safe?
“You ready?” Kayden’s question cut through my thoughts. He stood next to
me, arms folded, and leaning against the counter. He was careful to maintain space between us, the one I requested so I wouldn’t fall into the past and sink like a stone.
Ready to dive back into the slimy horror that was Ellery? Umm, no, not
really.
My fingers curled around the rough edge of the cool granite, instead of
grabbing ahold of Kayden like a security blanket. “Yeah, let’s get this show on
the road.”
This time, when I gave my ability a nudge, the slide happened between one
blink and the next. One second everything around me was normal, and in the next, it all took on a hazy, confusing edge. My heart rate skyrocketed. Without
Kayden’s touch, the speed of the switch shouldn’t be this easy. Half-formed fears
circled like birds of prey.
What if I couldn’t shut it off? Or worse, what if it stayed on all the time? Howwould I tell what was real and what wasn’t?
I shook my head and dislodged the worrisome questions. There was no time
for this shit right now.
Kayden caught my unease. “What’s wrong?”
I swallowed my anxiety, determined to see this through. “Nothing, just
adjusting.”
I forced my mind back under control and turned my attention to the entrance
between the bedroom and the bathroom, waiting for Ellery to darken the
doorway. Undecipherable memories encroached like a dense fog, swirling to fill
the small space. I tried to pick out details, but there was nothing there. A frustrated noise escaped, and I reached for Kayden’s hand.
When his fingers tightened on mine, the blurred images separated into
identifiable layers, which made it easier to pick out individual moments. There
was one tinted by a dull, sickly yellow that didn’t belong. Concentrating on it, I
watched Ellery appear in the bathroom’s entryway looking so smug, I wanted to
deck him. An unintentional growl of fury escaped.
“Steady.” Kayden’s calm voice reigned me in.
Ellery’s echo filled the normally spacious bathroom, the miasma of evil that
followed filling every corner. He rifled through the medicine cabinet on the far
end with casual deliberation. Then he pulled out drawers and rummaged through
