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I wasn’t sure, but it felt like Neo knew something that no one should. “I won’t,” I promised.
Neo took a step towards me, and I instinctively cowered away, the memory of Kane as hot as his breath in my ear had been. Neo swayed away from me again like he was trying to be as unintimidating as possible.
“Stay vigilant, Miss Vanguard.” It was the most emotive he’d been. He was practically begging me. “Even for the sake of fulfilling a contract with the Callahans, killing our own blood is a fucking mess.”
I nodded. “Thank you, Neo.”
He shook his head as he started to leave. “Thank me by making sure he can never touch you again.”
And then he was gone.
I waited for a few moments, scared of leaving in case Kane was hovering around. But then, I was also terrified that Kane would come back to look for me. It was a conundrum, and it wasn’t so much fight but flight that was battering on my ribcage.
Finally, I gave into it and let my feet carry me to my room. I forced a smile and slowed my pace for the few people I saw, then I was barricading myself behind my door, telling myself that it was safe. That, at the Callahan Estate, I was safe.
But no amount of reminding myself could make me feel clean again. I spent far too long in the shower, first just sitting under the scalding water and letting myself cry out all my feelings and then scrubbing at every piece of skin Kane had touched. When I finally walked back into my room, my skin still crawling and a bright shade of pink, I screamed in surprise to find a body waiting for me.
“Missus!” Marco said and all panic in me subsided.
Emotion overwhelmed me at the sight of not just a familiar face but a comforting one. I ran into his arms, and he wrapped me up unhesitatingly.
“Shh, ye’re all right now, missus,” he said, and I pulled away from him.
My mind was whirring. “What are you doing here, Marco?” I asked him.
He shrugged, pulling away from me and trying to play nonchalant. “I’m here early for the New Year’s festivities. God was worried he hadn’t seen you for a few hours, so I offered to break into your room to check on you.”
I frowned as I looked him over. “Why are you really here?”
“I told ye,” he said, sounding very defensive.
Pieces were falling into place.
Kieran O’Malley and my father having a meeting before we all started at Saint Benedicts.
Valen’s cryptic words about double duty the night Marco and I had gone shopping in Bieityn.
The way Marco had spoken when we arrived at the underground fight club.
I didn’t know if I was very clever or very stupid for coming to the conclusion I came to.
“Who owns your true allegiance, Marco?” I asked slowly, not sure I wanted the answer.
“What do ye mean?” he asked, trying to laugh it off.
“Who do you answer to, Marco?” I asked, putting as much of my new force and authority into my voice as I could. “Let’s not pussyfoot about this any longer than necessary, eh?” I suggested.
Marco swallowed. “It’s you, missus,” he admitted. “My allegiance is to you. First. The week before we started at Saint Bens, my da and yours had a meeting. They made a deal that makes me, for all intents and purposes, your Angel first. I made sure to become one of God’s Angels to help keep you safe. Lotta work that was, I’ll tell ye. Talk about a business expense. That shite was…” He petered off at my unimpressed raised eyebrow. He inclined his head. “I am loyal to my God, but my Goddess comes first.”
Well, that answered that question.
I took a deep breath. “Did Neo call you?”
He nodded once. “Aye. He did.”
“He said I couldn’t tell anyone.”
“Ye can tell me, Harlow. Ye can always tell me.”
