When she finds herself back in Sioux Falls on a job, a twist of fate puts Evelyn Marshall in the path of the Winchesters and Bobby Singer. With nowhere left to run, the dark secrets in her past and the creatures who've hunted her are about to catch...
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The creature wasn't there to kill me. At least, I didn't think that was his intention, although Castiel stared with such intensity that it was the definition of if looks could kill. I didn't lower the knife. He hadn't told me why he was there, and I needed to be ready to defend myself.
"I'm confused," he said.
"About why you're in the wrong room?" I asked. "Me too."
We stared each other down in tense silence, my fingers flexing around the hilt of the blade while my other hand worked to keep the towel in place. Castiel didn't move toward me. Either he was afraid of me, or he was afraid of frightening me. Whatever the reason, I was grateful. I didn't have the power to take down an angel. Castiel was a trained soldier of heaven. I was just some mutt from England who'd run from more fights than she'd won.
A hunter, but not one of the greats.
"Did Sam and Dean want something?"
"No."
Silence again.
This was unbearable.
"You're really not much of a conversationalist," I said. "Anyone ever told you that?"
"It's been mentioned."
"You should work on that."
"That has also been mentioned," the angel confessed.
"Well, if there's nothing important to talk about..." I gestured towards the door. "There's the exit."
Castiel turned and observed the door. I knew he didn't need to use them. Castiel could teleport himself wherever he wanted to be. Still, the meaning was clear. I wanted him to go. Well, I didn't. I just didn't want to make things messier than they were already. More than that, I wanted Castiel to have a clean break from me. There was every chance that things would go sideways. When they did, it would be better for him if he didn't feel anything for me.
You couldn't grieve someone you hated.
"Why are you so determined to avoid me?" Castiel asked.
"It's sort of what I do," I said. "Lone wolf. Well, dog. I'm better on my own, and that's why we don't have anything to discuss or think about. And there's a lot going on right now. Like, a lot. I don't have the time or the energy to worry about something else."
"And that's why you asked Sam to be your boyfriend?"
"To play my boyfriend," I reiterated. "Not be. Play."
Surely, he was smart enough to understand the difference. Yes, Sam was a nice guy. In another life and under other circumstances, I might've hit on him. Not that I thought we were in the same league. I could see him being popular with the ladies at school while I'd have been some weird outsider who sat on their own at lunch. Even so, it didn't mean that I wanted to be mixed up with any of them.
