about someone dying?”
“That would be quite literal. The cards don’t usually work that way.” She found herself arching into his touch. “It is about an ending though. It could be the end to a particular chapter in a person’s life. The end to a relationship. Big, important change.”
“Anything else?” His fingers kept up their careful work.
“The card symbolizes letting go of attachments. Severing the ties that you had in place.”
“So someone is severing ties with you…or with me. If you want to get all symbolic.”
“Yes.” Her voice was husky.
Joel edged nearer. “Or maybe we just have a crazy killer on our hands. Some guy who has been watching you way too much. He’s playing a game with you. He told Cinnamon that he wanted you to come and get him. The very fact that he left the card in the Square—don’t you see? He had to be there. Hiding in the shadows. He was watching you. Stalking you.” His words deepened. Roughened. “Then he left the Death card. To me, it’s not about symbols. It’s about that prick saying that he’s coming…and he’s coming to kill you.”
***
The night had certainly not gone as planned. The card in the Square had not been expected. Mostly because she didn’t think the man who’d left it had been in the Square when she’d been there. She thought he’d been there before her. That he’d left the card, knowing she’d take that escape route. Knowing that she’d find the card.
If that was the case, he was anticipating her movements.
Which meant he was far more clever and dangerous than she’d realized.
It also meant there wasn’t time to waste.
So at three a.m., she found herself standing in front of Joel’s door. When they’d returned to the property, he’d left her without a word. Not that she could blame him for his anger. She had manipulated him. She’d pushed him to treat Jimmy’s wound. She’d thought it would help Joel. Sometimes, the only way to confront a demon was to face him head on. But…
Not her call. Not her choice.
So she was going to do something that she rarely ever did.
Her hand lifted. She rapped gently on the door.
He could be sleeping. She should have considered that possibility before she’d crept all the way over to his place. He was probably exhausted, but adrenaline had kept her up so she’d assumed that he would also be—
The door flew open. “You do not want to be here right now.” A low, angry growl.
Her hand was still in the air. Curved in a little fist that hovered near his chest. The lights were on behind him, so she could easily see that he wore only a pair of faded jeans that clung loosely to his hips. His chest was bare. Muscled. Flexing. A faint gleam of sweat covered his shoulders and she wondered what he’d been doing—
“Thought the scars didn’t matter to you.” Deep and dark.
“What scars?” Chloe asked absently because she’d just been counting that wonderful six pack of his and— “Oh, right. Yes, what about them?” Her gaze flew up to meet his.
A muscle twitched in his ever-so-clenched jaw. “Leave, Chloe.” He started to shove the door closed.
“But I came to say I’m sorry, and I don’t say that very often.” She caught the edge of the door. “I apologize, Joel.” He’d apologized to her earlier, and now it was her turn. Tit for tat, as the saying went. A real partnership.
His head tilted. “Just what is it that you are apologizing for?”
“You didn’t want to work on Jimmy’s wound. I pushed you. In my defense, I thought I was helping, but you didn’t ask for my help, and I had no right to put you in that situation.”
He laughed, but the sound was far from humorous. “This may be the worst apology that I’ve ever heard.”
“Truly?” She tucked a lock of hair behind her ear. “I thought I was doing fairly well. All things considered.”
“Go to bed, Chloe.” His stare raked over her. Then his eyes squeezed shut. “I am not up for this right now.”
She looked down at herself. She’d pulled on shorts. A tank top. Hadn’t bothered with much else. But he was half-dressed as well, so why judge her? She dismissed that worry and decided to get to the heart of the matter as she looked back up at him. “Are you going to leave me?”
His eyes opened. “Is that why you apologized? You thought I had gotten so tired of being played