Free Keep Me Safe by Maya Banks

must have been like before her curse took her down a path she couldn’t return from.
    â€œWhat I pick up on are people’s true natures. While you may entertain violent thoughts—revenge, retribution, even murder—that isn’t the true essence of who and what you are. I guess you could say my gift reveals the true heart of a person. Some people are inherently evil. Others are inherently good no matter if they deviate from their true nature in certain circumstances. But I have a way of seeing through a façade to the very soul of people and while our actions and words may speak differently, the soul is unchangeable. It remains constant. Some people are able to fight their true nature while others give in more readily to the darkness inside them. Even embrace it.”
    Listening to her calmly explain away such an unbelievable gift as casually as someone might discuss the weather was mind-boggling to him. It wasn’t as if he didn’t believe or have faith in her gift. He just hadn’t realized the true extent of her abilities. He’d ignorantly assumed that it was a simple black-and-white matter where she touched something belonging to the victim and was able to trace the path back to them. He’d never once considered that her capabilities went so much deeper and were so profound—almost spiritual in a sense. Because only God was supposed to know the true heart and soul of a person. Only God could judge intent.
    Caleb could well understand now why she’d led such a solitary existence. A reclusive who didn’t surround herself with people. How would she ever be able to protect herself from anyone? If people knew the extent of her gift she would be in constant danger. People would kill to silence the truth about themselves. It was no wonder what little he’d been able to discover about her was sketchy at best.
    He’d once thought her selfish, back when he was frantically trying to locate her in order to save Tori. He’d deemed her selfish for purposely disappearing from the public eye and refusing to help others desperate to recover a loved one.
    God, what an ass he’d been. Now that he knew what it cost her each time she traced a line back to the victim, he couldn’t imagine why she’d done it for as long as she had.
    But now that he was assured that his touch wasn’t harmful to her, he carefully pulled her into his arms, watching for any sign that this wasn’t something she wanted. But he met with no resistance. She melted into his embrace and even buried her face in his chest, her head tucked snugly under his chin.
    Her breaths were coming in ragged spurts and her chest heaved against him. He yanked her back in a hurry, worried he’d caused her yet another anxiety attack, but what he saw filled him with more dismay than if she had been suffering one.
    She was crying. Heaving, heart-wrenching, completely silent sobs. Tears rolled down her cheeks, leaving damp trails in their wake. It was as if the final barrier had come down and something so simple as him offering a comforting hug had completely unraveled her.
    â€œI’m not even sure I’m sane anymore. I feel . . . ​broken,” she said around the tears that seemed to be streaming faster the more she spoke. “I’m not sure anyone can help me or if they even should . The person stalking me is a complete sociopath. He thinks nothing of killing anyone he feels is an obstacle to his end goal. Anyone I’m around is in danger. And I can’t let your sister go through hell again. Not because of me.”
    â€œDo you forget she escaped hell because of you?” he asked softly.
    She went silent, allowing his question to go unanswered, but she could hardly refute his statement of truth.
    â€œAnd what is his end goal, Ramie? You said that he would kill anyone posing an obstacle to it.” Even though Caleb had a very good idea, he wanted confirmation