Free Deceiver's Bond: Book Two of A Clairvoyant's Complicated Life by Katherine Bayless

before adding, “Or demons?”
    “No. That, I would have remembered.”
    No doubt.
    I rubbed my hand across my mouth and nodded. “Atlanta’s a big place. Might not have anything to do with what’s in the news.”
    “Hope so. From what I understand, the murders weren’t pretty.”
    I grimaced. “I’ll take your word for it.” I tossed my cell phone into my purse. “I have a couple more things to do before I head back to my apartment. Mind giving me a hand before you go?”
    Cataloging the remaining kitchen items and bagging up all of Nick’s clothes didn’t take long. I still needed to deal with the downstairs office, but I wanted to head home before it got dark.
    As we loaded my car with the belongings I intended to keep, Vince told me, in his intractable voice, he planned to follow me back to my apartment. I nodded numbly, too perplexed by his mixed signals to know what to think. If he was going to dump me, I wished he’d just be done with it.
    We stepped into the warmth of my loft apartment just before six. Vince and I each carried a box up from my car, both of which we placed on the floor to the right of the door.
    “Thanks. Just leave them there. I’ll deal with them later.” After setting my purse down so Red could climb out, I asked, “You hungry?”
    “Sure. I could eat.”
    Vince followed me toward the kitchen. Now that I was home, it was safe to remove my gloves. I threw them on the granite counter where they’d be out of the way.
    Vince relaxed at the table, leaning back in his chair with a forearm resting on the table’s edge and one leg crossed over his opposite knee. He watched me as I filled a pot with water and hefted it to the largest burner on the cooktop.
    “So, what have you been doing the past few weeks?” I asked.
    He shrugged. “The first week or so I took it easy on my shoulder, hung around the house. After it healed up some, I was able to get a few chores done that I’ve been putting off.”
    I took the chair across from him while I waited for the water to boil. “I thought you’d gone back to work.”
    “Nope. After an injury like this, the brass are pretty finicky about making us take the time to heal up.” He casually drummed his fingertips on my farmhouse table. “When I go back on Monday, I’ll be on desk duty until I get a clean bill of health.”
    I gave him the once over, hesitating before asking, “Then why didn’t you call me?”
    He looked surprised. “I did.”
    “Yeah. Twice. And only to return my calls. You sounded so distracted I figured you were on a new case or something.”
    I tried to read his expression. If he hadn’t been occupied by a new case, then why had he been avoiding me? Because that’s exactly what he’d been doing. For the past few weeks, I’d suspected as much, but hadn’t been brave enough to admit it to myself until now.
    “I’m sorry for not calling more. I just …” He took my hand in his, frowning and looking down at our intertwined fingers. “After what happened, I needed to get my head around things.”
    “Around my magic, you mean. I know it freaks you out.”
    “No.” He squeezed my hand, echoing his determined reply. “It has nothing to do with you. It’s me.”
    Right. The whole ‘ it’s me’ excuse .
    Heart sinking, I nearly snatched my hand out of his grasp. It wasn’t easy, but I made an effort to sit still and plaster an inquisitive yet considerate look on my face. “I don’t understand.”
    Finally, under my unrelenting gaze, he spoke, “I was there and I failed to protect you. I let that … thing take you away.” He released my hand to sit back in his seat and ran his fingers through his hair. “It’s my job, for Christ’s sake.”
    Really? That’s what this is about?
    “It was my choice to bargain with it.” I stabbed the center of my chest with my finger. “ Mine . I couldn’t bear to see you and Jack and Red suffer Brian’s fate. You have no reason to beat yourself up about it. There