Beautiful.

Feral.

Dangerous.

Untamable.

“Are you mad, Miss Charlotte?”

The name blurred but I said it to myself over and over. Let the sounds caress my mouth, slide over my tongue, slip through my lips. Reyes. Reyes. Reyes.

“Are you upset?”

Blue had come through the wall. I could see her in my periphery. She tugged at his arm, tried to pull him through the wall with her.

“I don’t understand,” I said, my disbelief so utterly complete. “I just saw him.” I turned to Rocket, anger rushing through me like a wildfire. “He’s not dead. I just saw him.”

Rocket’s eyes widened as he watched me. He pushed into a standing position.

“Charley,” Strawberry said, her tone scolding, “you need to stop that. You’re scaring Blue.”

“He’s not dead,” I said to Rocket.

“Not yet.” He shook his head. “Not yet, Miss Charlotte.”

I was in front of him at once, had the dirty collar of his shirt wrapped into my fist before I even thought to do it. To make sure he didn’t disappear on me like he was so fond of doing. “When?” I asked, knowing exactly what his answer would be.

He tried to talk, his mouth opening and closing like a goldfish, but I’d scared him.

I pulled him closer until our noses touched. “When?” I repeated.

“Not when. Not how. Only who. N-no breaking rules.”

I steadied my voice, pronounced each syllable carefully so he would understand every word that left my mouth. “I will rip your sister in two.”

“Days,” Rocket said as a tear fell over his lashes. He shook uncontrollably. “H-he only has a few days.”

“Why? What happens?” When he hesitated, I reached down without taking my eyes off him and curled my fingers into his sister’s overalls. She didn’t fight me. She kept her arms wrapped around her brother’s leg. But my point was taken.

“He gets sick,” he said, his lids fluttering as he left this realm and peeked into the supernatural world. “But it’s not real. It’s not human. You have no choice.”

“What? What do you mean I have no choice?”

“You – You have to kill him. It’s not your fault.”

Why would I kill Reyes? I wouldn’t. Period. But clearly something would set me on that path. “How do I stop it?” I asked, the words hissing through my teeth.

He came back to me, his gaze sharp and clear. “You don’t, Miss Charlotte. That’s breaking the rules.” When I dipped my head to regard him from underneath my lashes, he added, “No breaking rules.”

“Charley, I’m telling my brother,” Strawberry said. She was standing beside me, hands on hips, a comical glare on her face.

“Can it be done?” I asked him.

“It can be done, but you would have to break the rules. Something bad will happen.”

“Works for me.”

I shoved him against the wall, unable to control the fury that had taken hold of me, and stormed out. Back outside the gate, I climbed into Misery, gasping for air, my cheeks wet from emotion and regret. What had I done?

I swiped angrily at my cheeks and left Rocket’s with a thousand more questions than when I’d entered. I couldn’t lose him. I couldn’t lose Reyes. And I had absolutely no intention of killing him, so that pretty much settled that. But still, what could warrant such an extreme action?

I wasn’t sure I could face the plethora of women in my apartment just then. I had lost control. With Rocket. The gentlest soul I’d ever known. I threatened his little sister, a five-year-old who hid in dark corners and cowered in shadows to avoid people like me. Threatening her took some kind of balls. I should be proud of myself, bullying a mentally challenged man and five-year-old girl.

And according to Rocket, I was about to lose the only man I’d ever loved.

The best place for me, the only place where I could clear my thoughts and find answers I still needed, was in my office, so I headed that way.

I walked in to find the restaurant and bar teeming with patrons. Again. Not horridly unusual for a Saturday night, but just like the last couple of days, the room was filled to the brim with women, and there were a lot more off-duty cops than normal. No doubt the sudden influx of feminine mystique lured the hunters. Officer Taft was there, Strawberry’s big brother, and the last thing I wanted to tell him was that I’d just threatened two of the dearest people ever to exist right in front of his little sister. Strawberry may seem all that and then some, but my behavior was inexcusable. And worse, I had no idea what came over me. I’d become livid in seconds flat.

In trying to duck Taft, I walked right by a table with a familiar face. Jessica was there. Again. What the hell? It was too late to veer off my path now. She would know I was trying to avoid her. I had no choice but to walk by her table.

Jessica spotted me and smirked as I hurried past. This was so the wrong day to f**k with me. I paused mid-stride and backstepped until we were face-to-face.

“Oh, hey, Jess,” I said, plastering on a huge smile and sprinkling so much fake sugar in my voice, I’d have to change my name to Splenda.

She blinked in surprise, then regarded me with enough distaste to warrant a bitch-slap, but I refrained. “What do you want?” she asked, and her friends snickered right on cue. It was inspiring, really.

“I’ve just been so worried about you, what with the chlamydia you got in high school on top of the herpes. I wanted to make sure you were practicing safe sex.”