Bells met his gaze. ‘Maybe because Remi is my friend and she held back. Maybe because she wasn’t playingthestring. Maybe because I See death all the time, so She chose to spare me.’
The Tène purred on her increased pulse and she patted it anxiously.
‘You, little one, are much more dangerous than you appear. The sense of it swathes around you like a scentless perfume. No wonder your father guards you so closely.’
‘We all guard one another,’ Bells said.
A moment of sensitivity went through Callum’s eyes. ‘Yes,’ he said softly. ‘It reminds me of my family.’
Bells tried not to perk up so obviously. ‘Your family? Who are they?’
There was a flash of hope in Callum’s eyes, as if he’d wanted, craved, to finally speak of this. It was gone just as quickly. ‘How about some room service? I’ll tell you everything I know about Fedelm. You know I met a Pythia a few times? Not as crazy as she was painted out to be, and a gold mine of gossip. Funny too. Hot chocolate and sandwiches sound good?’
‘Are you bribing me with chocolate?’
‘That depends.’ His smile flashed. ‘Is it working?’ His look was a deal in the dark, a mutual secret-sharing, but it wasn’t a dangerous one.
Her family worried for her so much but Callum was so devil-may-care and so experienced, his charm and ease eased her, too.
Bells smiled slightly. ‘Yeah. But I have one condition …’
CHAPTER SIXTY-TWO
Nicole
WHEN KYAN, NICOLE, AND HER FATHER GOTBACK TO THEhotel, they reached the lift at the same time as Remi and Dylan.
‘How did it go? Did you get it?’ Nicole asked once the doors closed.
The torc was well hidden in Kyan’s jacket, but she couldn’t smother her awareness of it. Sharp adrenaline and a subtle breathlessness had tapped in her pulse all the way here, but Remi’s grin singed away some of that fear.
‘Oh, yeah,’ her friend said, patting her own bag.
Inside it, then, was arealpiece of the Dagda’s harp.
‘Thankfully, there were only humans working there and they didn’t have any supernatural guards or wards,’ Dylan said. ‘Probably because they don’t know what they’ve got. And probably a good thing.’
A look passed between him and Remi.
‘I got … a little mesmerised,’ she said.
‘For ten extremely stressful minutes,’ Dylan added.
‘But don’t worry, I didn’t touch it this time.’ Remi held up a gloved hand, feathers fanning out around the suede wrist. Her eyes glittered with excitement. ‘What about you?’
Dylan seemed to notice their tense energy then, but Nicole made herself smile. ‘Got it.’
Remi frowned, glancing at the three of them, but thankfully didn’t ask. As the lift reached their floor, Remi headed to her room. ‘I’m just going to call Mum and let her know all is well. I’ll meet you in there in a few.’ She pointed at them in warning. ‘No exciting news without me.’
Nicole found herself smiling as they entered and found Bells and Callum inside, the pair on opposite couches. The fire was crackling and a decent pile of her mother’s books sat on the table beside the end of a midnight snack: some part-finished sandwich and the decadent sugar and cocoa scent of hot chocolate. Their mother’s portrait sat secure in its case against the couch.
‘Bells! You’re still up?’ Nicole said in surprise. ‘Did you—’
She didn’t get to ask if Bells had a vision because Callum took one look at them, and was on his feet faster than Nicole had ever seen anyone move.
The next moment, he had their father by the throat and slammed against the wall.
The collision shuddered the panelled wood.
