impending death dragged it out of me. You were talking about your mother, remember? You said she’d always been a bitch to you, but she was getting elderly and you wanted to be available in case she changed. I thought, how like you to be so loyal to someone who doesn’t deserve it. I’d fallen in love with you long before then, but that was the moment when I knew for sure.”
She released a shaky breath. “I love you too, but you sure don’t make it easy sometimes.”
“I will,” he said into her hair. “I swear it.”
She snorted. “Don’t make promises you can’t keep.”
“I’m keeping this one. Sometimes you’re too loyal for your own good, and sometimes I hold on to my promises for too long. I should never have asked you for more time. It was easy to risk my life when I was the only one involved. Then it became unbearable.”
“I understood.” Her fingers couldn’t stop roaming the expanse of his wide, tense back. “It made me frustrated and angry, but I got it. You’ve had other people depending on you, and you were right—you wouldn’t be the kind of man I would want to be with if you could abandon them so easily.”
“Fuck this fucking camera,” he muttered viciously. Shoving away, he stalked around the room like a caged animal, then rounded on her. “Go back to California.”
She shook her head, mouth grim. “That genie’s out of the bottle.”
His eyes flashed yellow fire. “It isn’t. You flew back under your own name. That leaves your new ID intact. We can get you out of the city, to another airport.”
“I’m not leaving.” God only knew what their watchers were gleaning from this furious confrontation. She walked toward him but stopped with her back to the camera, keeping her expression obscured, because God only knew what it revealed. “I meant what I said. The agreement we made has blown up in our faces.”
He slashed at the air with a hand. “That’s not acceptable!”
“I don’t recall asking for your permission.” She searched his expression as his anger boiled higher. “You said it wasn’t an accident.”
“It wasn’t!” he snarled.
The sick feeling returned to the pit of her stomach. “What happened?”
“I got T-boned,” he bit out. “Twice. First on one side, then on the other. If I hadn’t already started to swerve and accelerate, I would have been crushed. I threw the communication spell to contact you just before impact.”
She felt the blood leave her face again. “Who did it?”
“The two trucks are licensed to a local shipping company. We know they were stolen, but our seer said there’s a direct connection between the drivers and our quarry. She said he’s here everywhere she looks. The drivers disappeared. We collected what evidence we could find, swabbed the steering wheels, and now we’re searching through law enforcement databases to see if we can find a match.” His mouth tightened. “Milaya, you need to reconsider. You’re a corroborating witness.” His fists opened and closed while frustration twisted his features. “Right now my magic is more depleted than it has been in decades. I can’t protect you.”
“I didn’t ask you to. I thought you were dead.” At his expression, she rubbed her face and reached for patience. “I didn’t return without taking precautions. This time you’re going to have to trust me.”
* * *
Josiah stared at her in angry incredulity.
The time when he had pressed against her had been all too brief. Every raw, stressed cell in his body screamed for more contact. But as desperate as he was to touch her again, he had to confront this reckless, dangerous naïveté.
“You’ve gotten a couple of months’ training under your belt, so you think you can handle whatever might come your way?” he said harshly. “I never would have guessed you’d be that naïve.”
“I’m not!” Anger made her eyes flash with blue fire. “Give me some credit here.”
The door opened, and Frank and Rubio walked in warily.
Frank said, “Everything okay, chief?”
Josiah rounded on them, his expression savage. “I’m not finished.”
“Too bad, because I am,” Molly said. She looked at Frank. “I contacted you, and I’ve just spent several hours cooperating with you fine gentlemen and answering your questions.”
“Actually, that’s not quite true.” Frank raised his eyebrows and scratched at his chin with a thumbnail. “We still have a few questions you’ve refused to answer.”
“Is that so?” she snapped. “Tough shit. You don’t have cause to hold me. I’ve done nothing wrong other than leave my affairs