Page 9

Chapter 9

Dex

H e’d caught her looking at him and the blush on her cheeks made her freckles stand out even more. His sharp grin at her reaction surprised even him.

That’s what she got for nearly making him choke on his own pizza.

Dex wanted to ask her a million questions. Like why the hell she was so afraid of the light that she’d get into his space like that.

At first, he’d been pissed. Dex had assumed she was afraid of him. Challenging her would have proved what he couldn’t smell. But she’d wrapped the darkness around them like they were wings as soon as his shadow had touched her.

It had been surprisingly intimate.

That wasn’t something he was ready to ask her about, so he’d settled on the obvious.

“My eye?” Her hand went to her hair, checking to make sure it still covered the left side of her face.

Instantly, he regretted the question.

The way her voice had nearly broke when she’d told him it was ugly had made his stomach drop.

It wasn’t a feeling he was used to and here she was, making him experience it multiple times in one night.

“My mother is a witch,” she whispered, but the words sounded lifeless and rote even if they were true.

There was something else she didn’t want him to know, but Dex didn’t press. A scar like that on a paranormal with access to magic was rare. Whatever had happened, it had been brutal.

Seeing that eye for the first time…it had stolen the breath from his fucking lungs.

The sharp contrast of the purple next to her blue one reminded him of every fucking time he’d looked in the mirror and seen the dichotomy of what he was – some freak whose father couldn’t even stand what he’d created.

And here was that same rare trait in a female witch with very little magic. Maybe that was why she could fight? Weaker paranormals were always in danger since they couldn’t pass as human.

Except she could, thanks to whatever she had on her that was fucking with his senses.

She stared down at her plate, and he didn’t know how to fix this.

I know it’s ugly.

Dex reached out and brushed the thick curls away from her face. Every time he saw that vibrant purple, his heart stopped.

It was bad just how much he wanted to trace that scar with his bare fingers. Dex pulled away slowly, surprised she didn’t try to shy away from him. Nova let him look at the vertical mark on her face that bisected her left eye, making the vibrant purple even more fascinating.

Whatever had scratched her face from her eyebrow down to her cheek had done something strange, because she didn’t have that milky film that he’d seen on others who’d lost their eyesight. No, it looked like her magic had settled there instead, protecting her.

Despite the way the scar marred her perfect skin, it didn’t make her any less beautiful.

“I like it,” he finally told her. “I think it suits you.”

“Hooray, I’m cured.” Nova rolled her eyes and put another piece of mutilated pizza in her mouth. “A lifetime of looking in the mirror suddenly wiped away as if it didn’t exist, thanks to a boy.”

Dex gritted his teeth and grabbed his beer just for an excuse to look away from her.

He’d felt the truth of that statement like a slap to the face.

How many times had he stared in the mirror and thought how fucking monstrous he looked? How many times had he punched the glass just so he didn’t have to see the reflection of what he truly was?

“Well, regardless of what you think, it’s still beautiful.” Dex didn’t look at her when he said it.

How many times had he wished for someone to see what he truly was and say those words to him?

Nova dropped the pizza onto the plate and drained the rest of her beer. “I have to go.”

She was up and out of the booth before he’d even set his drink down.

Fuck, she was fast.

But Dex was faster.

He dropped money on the table and then followed her outside.

Why?

He knew what she was now. There was no reason to keep talking to her.

And yet, he couldn’t stop himself even if he tried.

“Please don’t follow me. It’s creepy.” She pulled the black cap over her hair and walked across the street without stopping to look both ways. The jacket went on next and she pulled up the collar, so it covered the bottom half of her face once more.

He jogged to catch up with her. “Why are you running away from me?”

“Because you’re a stalker.”

Dex chuckled. “Maybe a little, but we were having a meal and then you bounced without even a goodbye.”

“It’s getting late,” she told him, heading toward the pier. “I should get some sleep.”

Dex stopped then, realizing she was right. It was well past midnight and he hadn’t made it back to the bar yet.

He needed to get there before it closed.

Fuck.

Hopefully, nothing had happened, but his absence would no doubt be reported by someone who couldn’t mind their fucking business.

Nova stopped in the middle of the empty street to look back at him. She quirked her right eyebrow up. “Really? That’s what worked?”

He grinned at her and slid his hands into his pockets. “We don’t know each other well enough for me to keep you up all night.”

That blush across her cheeks would ruin him one day, he just knew it.

Nova considered him, the darkness tightening around her. Dex enjoyed the way it slid across her clothes like water.

She really was beautiful.

“Okay then,” she finally said.

He watched her turn and go, knowing this was what had to be done.

Complicating his life was the last thing he needed, and she would no doubt do exactly that.

Nova was a witch and that was it. There was no threat to the Corp, and if she got picked up by one of the covens then that was her business.

Dex gritted his teeth as her retreating form started to disappear into the thickening shadows the further away she got.

What if someone came after her again?

He was moving before he could second-guess himself.

Dex was by her side a second later, using the speed he usually kept hidden. “Give me your phone.”

“No.”

It was impressive that she didn’t even hesitate. For whatever reason, Nova wasn’t afraid of him.

He smirked. “Come on, it’s just for emergencies.”

Nova stopped walking and turned toward him. Her eyes stayed on his collar, refusing to look directly at him. He’d noticed she avoided his gaze every chance she got, ever since she’d seen his face.

Dex couldn’t help himself. He tipped her chin up with the tip of his finger, so she was forced to look into his eyes. “Am I really that hideous?”

“No.” The word was breathless, and it sent a shiver down his spine.

Immediately, he let go and took a step back.

Fuck.

His palms started to sweat.

The magic that kept her scent hidden was fucking with his senses and she was wearing something to silence her footsteps, but this close he could hear her heart was pounding.

Dex cleared his throat and tried to regain his bearings. “Then why can’t you stand to look at my face?”

He really shouldn’t have asked her that question. Not after hearing the whispered no that told him too much – that gave him ideas and thoughts he couldn’t afford to have.

This witch was going to get him killed if he wasn’t careful.

Nova gave him a look that practically demanded to know if he really wanted her to respond.

“Well?” Looked like he was ready to die then.

Nova held his gaze like it was her fucking job and for the first time in his life, he felt like the one who should back away.

“You’re too pretty to be real,” she finally said. “I’ve never seen anything or anyone quite as beautiful as you and it’s…difficult—to look at.”

His heart fucking stopped right then and there.

What. The. Fuck.

What had he just gotten himself into?

He hesitated for just a second.

Then Dex held out his hand and waited, wondering if she would give in this time.

Relief suffused his body when she set her phone in his hand.

Shit, she was intense for a witch.

His fingers tapped in his number, and then he texted himself from her phone before setting up the camera. Dex posed for the picture. When the click told him it was done, he didn’t even bother looking at it before handing it back to her.

“I’d rather not find your body mangled in the streets,” he told her. “If you need anything, just reach out.”

The way she took the phone from him…her fingers were careful not to touch him – not even his gloves. She was afraid of something, but he couldn’t figure out what it was, not when she said and did the shit she did.

“If you need someone to bail your ass out of jail, don’t call me.” Nova slipped her phone in her pocket and gave him a little half-smile that shouldn’t have been as hot as it was. “Enjoy the rest of your night, Dex.”

This time he let her disappear into the shadows before heading back to the bar.

For both their sakes, he hoped he never saw her again.