Page 74 of Fall into Place

“So, um.” She swallowed hard. “So what happened next?”

“Oh.” He looked down, breaking the moment. “Turned out Konstantin’s big idea was to attack a nightclub.”

“The one in Prague?” Tess frowned.

“You know about it?” Callum raised his eyebrows, and she nodded. “Of course you do. Anyway, Konstantin meant it as a coming-out party of sorts. A statement to let humans know vampires exist, to be afraid. I was furious with him—this was why he dragged me back from Korea? To murder dozens of helpless humans for some harebrained show of force? I decided I had to stop him, to foil the plan somehow. Then Felix came to me with an idea.”

Tess narrowed her eyes. “Out of the blue?”

“Too convenient by half, wasn’t it?” Callum laughed, but the sound was dark and hollow. “Should have known it’d go sideways, but it seemed simple enough at the time. He suggested I start a small fire in the back of the club, set off the alarms to derail the attack and keep everyone safe. It made sense to me, so I went along and did it. Except…”

Tess already knew what happened next—she’d read at least a dozen articles about it in her Feudie days, looking for clues of vampire involvement.

“The club burned to the ground,” she said softly. “Did Konstantin die inside?”

“Konstantin, a few other vampires, half a dozen humans.” Callum grimaced. “Once they got the fire out, I stayed searching for him as long as I could, until dawn. Even afterward, I combed the city for days, desperate for any sign of him. For all he was a terrible man, for all the times I hated him…he still saved me, you know? He picked me and Octavia, gave us this whole other life.”

“Oh god,” Tess said, realizing. “So when you felt relieved about being here on the Isle, being out from under Konstantin’s thumb—you must have felt so guilty too.”

“And that was Felix’s plan all along.” Callum gritted. “With Konstantin dead, he could finally take over, claim all that power for himself. He blamed me for the catastrophe at the nightclub, made sure Konstantin’s whole crew stayed loyal to him. That’s how he started his clan. And he thought I’d feel too guilty about what I’d done to fight him.”

“Except you did.” Tess clenched her fists. “Nantale told me—you were the one who rallied this clan to follow her and fight back.”

“Couldn’t bloody well let him win, could I? Not after what he did.”

“And then you saw him with me in the orchard.” Tess exhaled heavily. “No wonder you were furious.”

“I thought it was the same bit again,” Callum mumbled, his words starting to slur again—Tess could see he was fading. “Using my emotions against me.”

“What emotions?” Tess asked.

Callum closed his eyes—he was clearly in pain. “I didn’t want you to leave.”

“But you didn’t try to stop me.” Tess shook her head, trying to make sense of what he was saying.

“ ’Course not. Your decision.”

He opened his eyes, and Tess was struck, not for the first time, by how extraordinarily handsome he was. She thought about Felix, how he’d pushed her from their first meeting to move into his castle. Callum had never pushed her once—never put the slightest pressure on her to do anything she didn’t want to do. Callum gazed at her with his striking gray eyes, and Tess felt so pulled to him, so close to him.

Was she afraid of him because of everything she’d read in Blood Feud? Or was she afraid because it was becoming impossible to ignore how she felt about him?

“You must be tired.” Tess cleared her throat. “I shouldn’t have made you talk so long. You should get some rest.”

“You’re not the boss of me.” He grinned through his exhaustion. “You can’t make me do anything.”

“Wanna bet?” She swallowed her emotions and smiled. “I’m making you go to sleep right now.”

“Will you stay?” he asked softly. “I don’t want to be alone.”

“Of course,” Tess said, her voice tender. “If you need anything, I’ll be right here in this chair, okay? I promise.”

He propped himself up slowly, sliding over to the far side of the bed.

“Don’t be thick.” His breath was labored. “You can’t sleep in a chair.”

“Oh.” Tess felt suddenly tense—she hadn’t shared a bed in years, not since Columbia. “No, no, um—that’s okay. I wouldn’t want to disturb you.”

He smiled sadly, like he could see right through her. “Still lying to me, love?”