[Southern Arcana 1] Crux by Moira Rogers Read Free Book Online Page A

Kenzie.”
    “No problem.” A shiver danced up her spine, though she wasn’t sure if it was from the touch of his hand on hers or the warm tone of his voice around the nickname he’d given her.
    Oh, God. I’m so stupid .
    “She’s feeling better now, but we should get her started on this.” He saluted her with the milkshake and handed it to the dark-haired man who’d come in with Kat.
    The young woman gave Mackenzie a shaky smile.
    “Thank you.”
    “No problem. I hope you feel better.” Whatever’s really
    wrong with you.
    Nick patted the bar. “I’m sorry, Mackenzie, but I forgot that I already asked Joe to come in this afternoon. Is there any way you could come back for the rush tonight and help out?” She shrugged one shoulder. “Tips’ll be better, at any rate.”
    “Sure.” Mackenzie set the bottle of water on the counter.
    “Everything—everything’s okay, right?”
    Nick’s answer seemed easy. “Everything’s fine. Really.
    There’s not a problem.”
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    Crux
    “Okay.” She wiped her hands on a towel and tried to look calm. “I guess I’ll just go back on upstairs. If you need me early, let me know.”
    Nick nodded, and Jackson flashed her a smile. “I’ll see you later, Kenzie.”
    No, you won’t. The thought depressed her, but she kept the smile on her face as she walked through the front door and started around the side of the building. By the time her foot touched the first step, she knew her face was tight and exhausted, but she didn’t care.
    Something was going on. Something suspicious, something having to do with her. She wanted to trust Nick—
    and she wanted desperately to trust Jackson—but the circumstances were too odd to be ignored.
    She slipped into the apartment and leaned back against the door, eyeing the cheerful room with an almost tangible longing. To stretch out on the bed, to get a full night’s sleep somewhere safe—
    You don’t know it’s safe.
    She finally pushed herself off the door and trudged to her bag. Her anticipation of a few days of comfort had prompted her to unpack everything, and she dropped heavily to her knees and began to slowly gather her meager belongings.
    She’d take the chance and sleep for a couple hours, but as soon as the streets started to fill for the evening, she was going www.samhainpublishing.com 59

    Moira Rogers
    to run. She’d run all night if she had to, and come dawn she’d be on her way to another city, another cheap motel, another crappy job…
    Covering her face with her hands, Mackenzie gave in to exhaustion and sobbed.
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Chapter Five
    She’s going to run, Nick. I can feel it.
    His earlier words echoed in his head, haunting him as he leaned against a dumpster in the alley behind Nick’s bar.
    They’d screwed things up.
    No, correction. He’d screwed things up by failing to give Kat what few specifics he knew, or even suspected, of Mackenzie’s situation. She’d freaked out, and Mackenzie had realized something was wrong. But there wasn’t anything he could do about it now except fix it, and that meant catching her before she had a chance to skip town.
    The apartment door opened shortly after six. Mackenzie emerged, clearly dressed for concealment in that blasted sweatshirt and a baseball cap. Slung over her shoulder was the bag she’d brought with her the night before.
    He watched as she closed the door, locked it and slipped the key under the planter he’d pretended to pull one from the night before. When she turned to glance back at the apartment, he caught sight of her face. With no one nearby, she hadn’t bothered with her usual mask, and she looked tired and Moira Rogers
    hopeless. She reached out one hand to brush over the door and visibly steeled herself to slip down the stairs.
    He didn’t bother to hide himself. “Mackenzie.” She stopped on the second step from the bottom, her hand clenched around the railing. “Jackson.” She looked