Free Kick The Candle (Knight Games) by Genevieve Jack

for a reason.”
    Whether Rick realized it or not, he’d injured me. I knew I should ask him more about Mill Wheel and if what Gary said went on there was true, but I couldn’t get past the personal stuff. Gary’s abandonment had caused major issues in every aspect of my life, and he had the nerve to stare at me with that icy expression and say everything unfolded like it was supposed to? Fuck that. Fuck him.
    “You know what I wish? I wish I’d had a choice ! I wish I’d never made you my caretaker. Magic may bind me to you but make no mistake, Rick, if I had a choice I’d walk away right now. You had no right to fuck with my life like that.”
    He took a step back like I’d physically punched him. “I’ll fix this, mi cielo . I’ll find a way to prove to you—”
    “Save it. I wish I’d never met you. Just stay away from me. I can’t even look at you right now.”
    I pulled away, began walking home. He started after me. I stopped, glared at him until his feet halted at the force of my will. When I was sure he understood exactly how serious I was, I headed home.

Chapter 8
My Confidant

    B y the time I reached my house, it was after midnight, but there was no way I was going to be able to sleep. Poe, who must have been watching from a distance, met me at the door and flew in to perch on the banister.
    “He’s right, you know. The caretaker is not allowed to interfere with vampire activity if the human consents.”
    I placed a hand on my hip. “But if vampires can compel humans, how do we know what’s legitimate consent or not?”
    He fluffed his wings in response and turned away from me.
    “Exactly. Keep your beak shut if you don’t know what you’re talking about.”
    At that, he turned completely around, his back to me. Raven cold shoulder.
    My brain flipped Rick’s side of the story over in my head, searching for the seams, then mused over everything Julius and Gary had said. I needed to talk it through and not with a snarky familiar. I tried to call Michelle’s cell phone, but the call went straight to voicemail. If she’d been working tonight, I’d call the hospital, but Wednesdays were her day off, and I couldn’t call her home number without waking the baby. A best friend never, ever wakes another friend’s baby.
    I paced the floor. The whole situation made my skin crawl. If Julius was telling the truth, then I was literally in bed with the enemy. He had to be lying. Why would I believe a vampire over my caretaker? So then, why was I still thinking about this? On impulse, I grabbed my keys.
    “Not a good idea,” Poe said over his shoulder.
    I gave him the finger and slammed the door behind me.
     
    * * * * *
    L ogan’s apartment was on the top floor of a secured building ten minutes from Valentine’s. I stormed through the front door, still worked up over my argument with Rick. A white haired man in a uniform eyed me suspiciously from behind a large, circular desk in the atrium.
    “I’m here to see Logan Valentine,” I said.
    The old man frowned. “It’s after hours. Can’t call up.” His liver spotted jowls flapped with his objection.
    “Uh, it’s kind of an emergency.”
    With an adjustment of his bifocals, the guard looked me up and down. He gave a low, throaty laugh. “What kind of emergency brings a girl like you to a man’s house in the middle of the night?”
    “Hey! I don’t appreciate the conjecture.” I poked the tip of one finger into the desk in front of him. “We’re friends , practically family!”
    “Family, eh?” The man rubbed his stubbled cheek. “What’s your name?”
    “Grateful Knight.”
    The guard started typing, the glow of a computer screen coming to life beyond the counter. I couldn’t see what he was doing because the monitor was the type sunk into the desk, but the expression on the man’s face told me I was one bug he’d like to squash. I pulled out my phone. “If you won’t call up, I will,” I said.
    “Hold your horses, missy.