You know how sometimes a person tells you something and a lightbulb comes on? Then suddenly you see a truth that had been staring you right in the face?
This was not one of those moments.
I didn’t feel the truth in his words. I never pushed people away because I was afraid of hurting them. I was afraid of them hurting me. So where he’d come up with this story?
It’s bullshit.
On the other hand, Jack seemed to know things—impossible things. Was it possible that I had killed Randall merely by wishing it?
“Yes. It’s fucking possible.” Jack emerged from the warehouse. “And it’s time you start accepting what you are.”
My breath hitched. Jack looked deadlier and more sexually addictive than ever before. His beautiful gaze was fierce, unwavering. His rigid posture exuded authority. Even his lips seemed more sensual. Whatever this place was, it gave him power.
I swallowed down a dry lump stuck in my throat. “I know there’s a lot about you I can’t explain, Jack, but that doesn’t mean you’re right about me. Or telling the truth.” Maybe he was the devil, sent to tempt me into his own personal hell.
“No. Not the devil.”
“But you want to suck me into a world only you see.”
“Dammit, woman,” he growled. “I am through with these games.”
I will show you, said the same deep voice I’d heard back at the police station in Tampa.
Suddenly, Jack’s strong hand was wrapped around my neck. “I told you I was not a nice man. And since you refuse to accept what you are, you are of no use to me. Except to bring the pleasure of watching you die.” He smiled down, his blue eyes filling with sadistic delight. He was enjoying this, just like Randall had.
He lifted me like a ragdoll and brought us nose to nose. “Maybe I’ll give you a good fuck, like Randall was going to. I know you’ve been thinking about getting my big cock inside you. Isn’t that right, Dorothy?”
The terror inside me began shifting. I wasn’t going to let him do this. I wasn’t weak. Not anymore.
Jack grabbed my breast with his free hand. “Mmmm… I’ve always wanted to strangle a woman while I fuck her. Sounds fun.”
Suddenly, he dropped me and doubled over, pressing his hands to his eyes.
I stumbled and righted myself, hacking for air, the skin on my neck burning. Meanwhile, Jack didn’t make a sound. He just…fell over.
I was too occupied with breathing to care, but when I glanced at his motionless frame on the asphalt, blood poured from his eyes.
“Motherfucker!” I walked over and kicked his side.
He didn’t move.
“Jack?” I bent down and touched his neck. No pulse. “Jack?” I checked again. Dead. He’s dead. Had I done this?
“Ohmygod.” He wanted me to kill him. He wanted to show me he was right.
I began to bawl. Not out of sadness, but as a release. This was insane. This wasn’t happening to me.
But it was.
I didn’t know what else to do, so I dragged Jack’s heavy body, one inch at a time, into the warehouse. He’d come back from the dead before. I prayed he’d do it again.
Or maybe I didn’t.
I didn’t know what to think anymore, but when I watched him die, I felt no connection to the action.
So what happened?
Jack said I wielded death. So was death some sort of force that had its own will, and I simply made it do things?
I sat down on the cold concrete floor next to Jack and placed his black coat over his face. I couldn’t stand looking at him like this. He was a beautiful man, exquisite even, like a statue of some ancient god come to life. To see blood where his blue eyes used to be was horrific.
“Well, well, well. You are quite the predictable creature, King,” said a shrill female voice. “I knew he’d come here.”
I looked up to find that blonde woman from Tampa standing in the open doorway, which I had closed and locked. She wore a long black leather coat and had a red satchel over her shoulder.
I hopped to my feet, unsure of what to expect.
She walked over to Jack and pushed his limp leg with her spiked red heel. “Dead, but not forgotten, old friend.”
I stared, feeling the fine hairs on the back of my neck rise. Jack was right. This woman was different from him. More evil—if that was even possible.
“Who’d he piss off this time?” she asked.
I didn’t reply. Why should I? She could read my thoughts if she really wanted to know what had happened.
“What do you want?” I growled.
“Well, obviously, I’ve been looking for this sorry fucker. Nice touch warding her house, by the way,” she said to Jack. “You always did know how to protect your things.” She sighed. “People, not so much.”
I blinked at her.
“So how long ago did this happen?” she asked.
Again, I said nothing.
“Fine. Doesn’t matter. I can wait until he pops back.” She looked down at him again. “And then you and I have a score to settle, asshole.”
“Who are you?” I asked.
She smiled slyly. “Let’s just say I am a collector. Like our friend King here. And my, my, my, aren’t you a rare find.” Her eyes washed up and down my body. “Fresh and spanking new, too.”
“I don’t know what you mean. And why do you call him King?”
“He hasn’t told you who he his yet?”
“He can’t remember.” I wasn’t sure why I told her that. Maybe I just wanted to see what she knew.
She burst out laughing, cackling into the air above her. “Well, isn’t that rich? And so like the bastard.”
“What was done to him?” I asked.
“Who knows?” She sighed and shook her head. “Look, Jeni. I won’t lie. I’d planned to kill him—for real this time. No take-backs. But it wouldn’t be any fun if he didn’t know why.”
“Of course,” I said sarcastically.
“But now, I have a proposal.” She reached into her red purse and pulled out a silver cuff. It looked rough, like it had been molded in a primitive fashion. The edges were bumpy, and the surface had pits. “I will let you live so you can continue to look after that sweet father of yours.”
The way she said “sweet” gave me the impression that she hated anything related to the word.
“What do you want from me?” I asked.
“When Prince Charming here wakes up, I want you to place this on him.”
I glanced down at the cuff. “Why don’t you do it?”
“I doubt he’ll allow me.”
“And if he did? What would happen?” I asked.
“It creates a barrier. Nothing can hold power over the person who wears it.”
She just happened to be walking around with that? “So if Jack puts this on, he’ll be free of whatever’s keeping him from remembering.”
“You’re smarter than you look, little Seer.”
Jealous?
She narrowed her mascara-caked eyes. “Watch it, girl, or I’ll cut out your tongue.”
I didn’t doubt it for a second, and I bet she’d enjoy it, too. “Exactly what do you want him to remember?” I knew she wouldn’t give me an honest answer, but I wanted to see what she’d say.