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"I'll be on the couch if you need me."
A strangled sob comes out as I nod, and then I pull the cover over all of me, trying to vanish from the misery the world holds ready. I've never felt so broken.
Waking up to a new day doesn't ease the burden from the night of tears. It's at least noon, but I feel as though I could spend weeks in bed. Frankie isn't answering my calls on top of everything else. Still no word on my mother.
I can feel her though. Her life is still there. The earth answers my daunting question everyday, letting me feel the air she breathes in, keeping my hope alive.
"So I've gone over everything, and according to my notes, Kane is one hell of a master of disguise. They all are," Gage grumbles as he tosses his pen and paper to the table.
"You were checking him out?" I ask, a crackled lilt to my voice.
"No, but I have a habit of documenting things. Nothing ever once stood out. Why keep a mortal witch alive when you have every opportunity to drain her clean without anyone stopping you?"
I cringe at his heartless release. Kane held my life in his hands for a month. I was his to do with as he wished. Fortunately for me, he apparently enjoys dragging out the game.
"We need to worry about my mother, not my devil-in-disguise lover. I don't ever want to hear his name again."
A knock at the door interrupts our conversation, and Gage motions for me to stay back as he goes to answer it. He's greeted with a vacant, empty porch. He cautiously pokes his head out, but pulls back, seeming confused.
Then he picks up a note that lies at the threshold. With tight lips, he brings it to me.
"It's for you."
I recognize Kane's handwriting immediately, and my heart pounds heavily in my chest as I stare at my name on the front of the envelope.
"I can't read it."
He pulls back the proffered note addressed to me, and then he opens it himself. His eyes scan the contents quickly, and then he releases a sigh.
"Alyssa, we need to speak. You've opened a door you should be prepared for. Thirty minutes. Meet me at the diner. It'll be neutral grounds where you can't touch me."
"Where I can't touch him? He can't be serious," I squeal out. "He's the enemy. He's the fucking dark night stalker that preys on my kind, damn it. He tasted my fucking... oh damn."
My mind flashes back to the first time he tasted my blood, and then last night jumps up, too. He knew I was a witch. He was sampling the goods before devouring me whole. I'm so fucking ignorant.
"I'll call Cade and the others. We'll need backup. Grab your clothes and get changed."
"You can't be serious," I gasp. "I can't see him. I'm barely keeping myself together as it is, Gage. I don't want to hear whatever evil falls through his lips."
He tenses as he steps toward the door.
"We need to know what he was after. Alyssa, whatever it is, I need you to stay calm. If you lose it at the diner, you'll be putting both of us at risk. I need to grab a shirt. Stay here until I get back."
Before I can argue, he vaporizes into the air and vanishes from sight. I can't see Kane. This can't be happening.
Chapter Eighteen
I walk into the diner with a begrudged and trembling motion. I've drunk all the chamomile tea I can stomach, along with some of my mother's relaxing medleys of potions, but trepidation still claims me.
Kane and his entourage are assembled in the oversized back booth. They all turn to stare at me and Gage as we approach with his own entourage following our lead.
Kane leans back, his eyes burning through me as his jaw clenches. I can see his hatred and disgust teeming in his deceptive greens that are masking the killer blues lurking in their depths.
"Well, We're here," Gage says while standing beside me, clutching my hand.
Kane's eyes flash down to our grip on each other, and a huff of disgust flows through his lips.
"You were the redhead that night, weren't you?" he growls.
