Page 60 of Fall into Place

“Why?” He frowned. “You have the pig’s blood, don’t you?”

“I mean, with my cut. Should I really be here…with you?”

“You think I can’t control myself?” He raised an eyebrow. “Just because a certain book describes me as ‘a creature of voracious and insatiable appetites’?”

“Wow, you’re already on chapter eight?”

“You know exactly where some arbitrary line is from?” He peered at her. “How many times have you read these books?”

“That’s a really famous passage.” Tess blushed. “It’s Callum’s first—I mean your first—I mean—”

“The first sex scene in the book? Yeah, I noticed. Do you mind pouring the pig’s blood into one of those bowls by the fireplace?”

He nodded toward a sideboard filled with celadon bowls and teacups, all glazed a vivid dusky blue and inlaid with a pattern that reminded Tess of ocean waves.

“These are beautiful,” Tess remarked.

“Glamoured them after a set Octavia found in Busan.”

Tess filled a bowl with pig’s blood, and he laid his hands on it, his eyes glowing fiery amber. The bowl started steaming, and Tess saw the blood had morphed into a hearty soup; it smelled delicious.

“Soondae guk—blood sausage soup,” he explained, then lifted the bowl to his mouth and drank. “Glamour works a lot better when you have fresh blood. Thanks for that.”

“I live to be a good babysitter.” Tess grinned.

“God, that bit. You really don’t have to stay.”

“I have a feeling Nantale’s protection is contingent on obeying her orders,” Tess pointed out. “But anyway, we have a lot to discuss—if you’re up for it, I mean.”

“Do we?” Callum looked at Tess with interest.

“We still haven’t talked about the portal we saw in the meadow.”

He leaned back against a pile of pillows. “What did you make of it? Did it remind you of anything from your books?”

“I was obviously wrong about desire being what summons it.” Tess sighed. “It appeared in the middle of the fight. Neither of us was thinking about conjuring a portal to New York. Or at least, I wasn’t. Were you?”

“My thoughts were somewhere along the lines of ‘Ow, fuck, my leg, ow, that fucking cunt.’ Sorry.”

“Thank you for apologizing. As a meek and proper lady I’d never heard the word ‘cunt’ until just now and I’m very offended,” Tess deadpanned, and Callum chuckled softly.

“Delicate little flower, that’s you,” he teased, and her cheeks warmed.

“So if it wasn’t desire—uh, I mean, if it wasn’t, you know, a strong will to create a portal, why do you think the light appeared?” she asked. “Just dumb luck?”

“I have no idea.” Callum tilted his head, considering something. “But I know someone who might.”

—

Octavia’s rooms were just down the hall from Callum’s, but it still took them several minutes to get there, Callum walking with a cane to support his injured leg. From her brief encounter with Octavia, Tess expected her rooms to be sleek and organized, but they were just the opposite: a riot of colors, fabulous dresses and furs strewn everywhere, mammoth reproductions of striking modernist paintings hung on walls already covered in patterned wallpaper, extravagant oversized furniture upholstered in velvet and silk.

“Wow,” Tess said.

“My sister.” Callum’s tone was terse—Tess noticed he seemed more tense the second they walked into the room. He pointed toward a massive drafting desk made of iron and glass, covered in notes and drawings. There were books piled around it, most of them ancient-looking and leather-bound, written in languages Tess couldn’t identify, let alone read.

“What is all this?” Tess asked, walking over to the desk. There was a stack of faded watercolor paintings atop one of the piles: an old-fashioned sewing machine, an icy blue tunnel, a large gold pendant in the shape of a medieval cross set with a glowing ruby.

“Octavia was…a bit obsessed with finding a way off the Isle,” Callum explained. “She’d hole up for weeks researching, then get demoralized and abandon the whole endeavor. She’d try to make the most of living on the Isle, but that never lasted long. The longer we were here, the more time she spent in this room, looking through…all of this.”