Page 100 of Fallen Hero

“The world feels—” She stopped when she remembered we had company. “Nothing’s wrong. I’m just procrastinating because every time I talk to Tom, one way or another, he pisses me off. I’m in a good mood. I don’t feel like getting into an argument with him.”

“Almost done,” I reminded her.

“Right.” She picked up her phone. “Almost done.”

Almost fucking done.

Then what?

The phantom ache in my heart intensified. I was short on time, without a plan. I didn’t have a move ready. No movement meant Calli walked out of my life. Asking her to come back to California with me was risky, maybe too risky. What if she said yes, then in a few months the lies started, tiny mistruths, secrets—deception came in many forms.

What if she didn’t want to come home with me? I didn’t know if I could absorb that blow. She wanted out to find her peace, find normal. My life was anything but.

Maybe when she got to where she was going, I could visit her. Visiting someone wasn’t committing. It wasn’t sharing a life. It wasn’t expectation and betrayal. We could share a few days here and there, then go our separate ways. No harm, no foul.

Jesus, did someone turn on the heater?

I couldn’t take my eyes off Calista. But worse, I couldn’t get the band of fear around my chest to loosen.

I didn’t know this woman. I didn’t trust her. But for some godforsaken reason, my heart thought otherwise.

But the heart lied.

I had to let her walk away.

I wouldn’t survive a betrayal from Calli.

Chapter Twenty-Three

I couldn’t place the exact feeling hammering in my chest. The prospect of speaking to Tom was never particularly pleasant. He had a way about him—that way being invoking anger and annoyance. Speaking to him was like walking through a minefield of lies and manipulation. He could teach a master class on gaslighting.

Oh, wait, he did.

But that wasn’t what had my pulse thumping. It was Mason, the way he’d reminded me that I was almost done. He’d meant to calm my nerves. However, his reminder had done the opposite. This was it. One phone call to Tom, and it’d be over. I’d have no reason to stay here.

I wasn’t naive. I knew that just because we’d slept together didn’t mean anything had changed.

We were two ships passing in the night or whatever that dumb idiom was. We’d crossed paths. We’d shared a few nights. I’d given him my virginity. He’d broken a personal promise to himself. I’d waxed poetic about Stevie Nicks. Nothing more.

Then why did my heart feel like it was breaking?

The call connecting pulled my derailed thoughts back to my current problem—Tom.

“Yes,” Tom answered, sounding wide awake, which made me wonder where in the world he was.

Not that it mattered, but I found it interesting he never answered the phone sounding groggy. Did they teach that skill at the Farm, or was Tom a vampire and never slept? He’d sucked all the life out of others over the years, so I was going with the latter.

“I have your location.” I cut straight to it.

There was no sense in drawing this out. Not only because I didn’t make it a habit of speaking to Tom longer than necessary, but if my heart was going to be torn from my chest, it was better to make it quick so I could break down later in private.

“Good.”

My situation was far from good. I quickly rattled off the information he’d hired me to find.

Now it was done.

All over.