Shapeshifted (Edie Spence 3)

My mom had asked me that at every job I’d ever had as a nurse, ever. “Gah. ” I rolled my eyes for comic effect, and grinned at her. “Okay. Yeah. He is. ”

My mother chuckled in triumph. “Tell me about him. ”

“Okay. ”

We hung out until she faded, talking about small things under Peter’s watchful eye. When she wanted to take a nap again, I left. Peter even gave me a hug. I tried to be genuine when I gave him one back.

By the end of my return trip home it was raining in earnest. I ran from the station to my door, and once I got inside I started to gear up. I put on my belt with a silver buckle, and a silver cuff that Asher’d given me for Christmas what felt like a lifetime ago. I took the silver cross down off my wall again and plunked it in my bag. I wasn’t sure how to get to the Reina’s. I pulled out my phone and prepared to text Asher.

There was a knock at my door. Maybe he’d saved me the hassle of a text, heh. I walked up to my front door and looked through the peephole outside.

As soon as I saw who was there, I began latching all the lock chains I’d installed.

“Edie!” Ti protested, from the far side, hearing me work. The Ti of last night hadn’t been able to speak to me, right?

“Ti—where were you last night?” I asked through the closed door. Though the better question to ask might have been who he’d been.

“Edie, come on. Let me in. ” He hit the door, and it made me jump.

“Why’re you here?” I yelled through the door.

“I found your badge. In my pocket. ” There was a long pause. “Why was it there?”

“Just stay on that side of the doorway, okay?”

Silver wasn’t any good against zombies. Nothing was, except for guns and knives, and I couldn’t imagine hacking Ti up. Plus the most dangerous thing I had in my house was a steak knife.

I opened the door slowly and peered through the chains. He loomed on the other side.

“Do me a favor and try to look harmless, could you?” I asked him. He deflated, taking a step back. “Thanks. ”

“Edie, what’s going on here?” Honest confusion played on his face.

I stepped forward and peered out and up at him. “You really don’t know?”

“No. And I don’t like feeling like that. ”

“You’re not going to like what I have to tell you then. ” I looked to the side, where my neighbor’s front door was closed. “Last night, I saw you with a butcher knife. You’d been cutting bones out of Dren. For a while now, it seems. A month or so. ”

Ti blinked. I waited for him to tell me I was lying. If he did, then I’d slam the door in his face. My hands tensed, waiting.

“Go on. ”

“I was rescuing him. From where he was trapped. Being tortured. By you, as it turns out. And then you were going to come after us, and somehow you changed your mind. I think you remembered me. You could have hurt me but you didn’t—so maybe you knew who I was. Even if you can’t remember it happening now. ”

Ti ran his fingers through his short hair. “Why would I hurt you? And why would I torture Dren?”

“You really don’t remember anything?”

He shook his head slowly.

“What’s the last thing you do remember?”

“Yesterday. I did some construction work for the guy I’m working for now. It’s what I do in the day, while he works on getting me back my soul. ” He stared down at his hands. “I remember from sunup to sundown, but not after that. ”

“Do you sleep at night?” We’d never done any sleeping when we slept together, when he was with me.

“No. I don’t need to. ” I watched him think about the gaps in time. “I don’t remember what I’ve done any night … for a while now. ”

“Is the magician you’re with named Maldonado?”

Ti’s brow furrowed deeper. “How did you know?”

I sighed. “Hang on. ” I closed the door and undid all the locks. “You’re sure it happens around sundown?”

“Yes. Whatever it is. ”

I let him into my apartment and closed the door before I went on. “I saw you with a butcher knife. You’d been filleting Dren. ” I sat down on my couch.

He stood there for a moment, processing. “You’re sure?”

I nodded quickly. “There was a chance that you were going to debone me. That’s why I had my badge out. I hoped it still had some magic left in it. And I think you remembered me—you didn’t raise the knife. ”

It was clear from the look on his face that he couldn’t believe it. “I would never hurt you, Edie. ”

Well, that’s debatable. I kept my witticisms to myself.

Ti looked at his hands like they had blood on them. “How could I have been so blind?”