Page 122 of Fall into Place

“Are you ready?” Tess whispered to Joni, who nodded almost imperceptibly.

They crossed inside the suite, and Tess dove for Fern’s ankles. Joni grabbed at Octavia’s wrist and pulled her out of the suite as Fern crashed to the ground, breaking her hold on Flora. Flora ran out of the suite, and Tess got up and ran after her, screaming Callum’s name. He looked up and ran too, and before the others could figure out what was happening, Flora threw up her hands and the glass doors of the cabana suite slammed shut.

“What’s going on?” Octavia looked at Joni. “What’s happening?”

Konstantin slammed his hand against the glass—it cracked, but didn’t shatter, and the cracks shimmered icy blue.

“What’s the meaning of this?!” he demanded. He slammed the glass again and again, but Flora’s portal held.

“Portal magic, bitch,” Flora muttered, a grin spreading across her face.

“So what?” Felix sneered. “You’re going to keep us trapped in a hotel room? That’s your master plan? How long is that supposed to hold up?”

“Oh, it shouldn’t be long now,” Tess smiled. “Right, Octavia?”

Octavia looked at the hotel suite and gasped. “The sun.”

Callum looked from Octavia to Tess. “What are you talking about?”

“The cabana suite is one of our most beautiful rooms, but not very well suited to vampires,” Tess explained. “Because it has glass walls facing east and west. So if you forget to draw the blackout curtains before sunrise…”

“You die,” Callum murmured with wonder, putting it together. They all looked to the east, where the sky was already turning lavender and pink.

“Draw the curtains!” Konstantin bellowed. The others in the room started looking desperately around, but there were no curtains to be found. In fact, there were no linens at all.

“Yeahhhh, so, funny story.” Joni smiled, leaning on Octavia so she didn’t have to put weight on her ankle. “Tess had her bellhop friend Willie take down the curtains, along with every single linen in this room. They’re all in a big cart in the basement right now. Does that help you?”

“No, that doesn’t really help them,” Flora said dryly, “since this bitchin’ portal means they can’t even get to the bathroom or a closet, let alone the basement.”

“It is a bitchin’ portal,” Tess affirmed.

“Thanks, babe.” Flora threw Tess a smile.

Callum walked over to Tess, his eyes wide. “Is this really happening? Konstantin…it’s over?”

Tess took his hands, and god it felt good just to touch him again, to feel the particular curves of his palms, his fingers. Callum drew Tess into his arms, and they hugged each other hard.

“It’s over,” she whispered. “He’ll never hurt you again.”

“We should get you guys inside,” Joni said. “It’s almost dawn.”

“Callum, you’re not going to do this.” Konstantin’s voice was low, but his face blazed with fury. “You owe me everything you’ve ever had. I gave you life.”

Callum turned to Konstantin, his posture just as strong.

“You gave me life,” he said, “but you didn’t give me choices. I’m choosing this.”

Then Callum took Tess’s hand and led her away from the suite.

Felix banged on the glass and screamed Tess’s name, but she didn’t even bother to turn to look at him. He seemed far away from her now—like the hope he’d once represented, and the terror he’d come to instill, like all of it was part of her past.

Tess, Joni, Callum, and Octavia walked into the hotel, and Tess hit the button for the penthouse. It was empty anyway, so Taylor had reserved it for Tess, Joni, and Flora to recuperate after the long night was over (presuming they lived through it). They walked into the beautiful room and closed the curtains to keep Callum and Octavia safe. Octavia fussed over Joni, taking her into the bathroom to wrap her ankle with a towel to stabilize it before she could get to a doctor—which gave Callum and Tess their first moment alone since his return.

“Hi,” he said, taking her into his arms and kissing her. “I missed you.”

“I bet I missed you more.” She smiled. “Though in fairness, being surrounded by people dressed up as you probably didn’t help.”

“Excuse me?” He peered at her, and she laughed.