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Callen’s lip curls.
“Clean-up and pizza don’t mix,” I say before he can argue. “Oh, and there’s one more thing…” I loosen my tie and pull it off.
Callen raises his eyebrows. “It’s a little early for bondage, don’t you think?”
“I’m sorry, Rose,” I say, approaching her with the tie, “but we need to blindfold you for the drive.”
“What?” she stammers. “But I—”
“Trust me,” I say, “it’s better that you don’t know where we’re heading.”
She crosses her arms. “Are you sure that’s necessary?”
“I’m afraid so.” I can’t be too careful after what happened tonight. “We’ll put it on in the car.”
“What about your job? Protecting the rich arsehole?” Rose asks. “I thought you were meant to be watching him all day.”
“Some things are more important than work,” I say.
“A road trip will be fun,” Seb says to lighten the mood. Pippy runs across the room to greet him, skipping past the corpse with half his head missing. She paws at Seb’s feet. “See? At least someone’s excited.”
“Drive safely,” Callen says. “And watch your back. We don’t know where the Killers Club is or what they want…”
CHAPTER21
IVY
Irun my finger over the windowsill to disturb a thick layer of dust and gaze at the uninterrupted starry view. They mustn’t come to their safe house often. Out of the bedroom window, a dense forest stretches as far as I can see. We’re in the middle of nowhere, nestled between hills, surrounded by woodlands and overgrown fields. No one will find us here.
Annoyingly, Freddie kept his word. I wore a blindfold for the entire journey. I tried to memorise the route and the road turns, but I lost track as the hours passed. This is not a routine mission. I’m stuck at an unknown location with the Dukes, the Killers Club doesn’t know where I am, and Callen is toying with me. When he returns, I’ll try to work out his next move. In the meantime, I can’t let Seb or Freddie suspect anything is wrong.
My thoughts stray to HQ and what’s happening there. Alaric and Stephanie will understand why I haven’t killed them yet, right? Tweedledee threw my plans off course, but he’s given me more time to collect information about the Dukes—as long as I can keep my secret and survive.
“Rose?” Seb calls from downstairs. “Are you okay up there?”
“I’ll be down in a sec,” I reply.
I bite down on my back teeth to stop them from chattering. An icy shower isn’t my favourite way to spend an evening, but I had to wash the blood away. Finding a jumper among the clothes Freddie bought, I pull it tighter around my body to try to warm up. The house hasn’t been heated for months, and there’s no electricity either. Freddie’s trying to rouse the dormant boiler, and Seb’s found candles to guide us around.
The safe house might be considered cozy if we hadn’t returned to medieval times. Daisy would have liked it. It’s a stone cottage and the opposite of the Dukes’ minimalist London home. It’s more like a family holiday rental than a gang hide-out. Each room has a fireplace, chintzy furniture, and trinkets everywhere. When we arrived, I spied a collection of teapots balanced atop the kitchen cupboards in the darkness.
It’s showtime, Ive.
The old floorboards wheeze under my feet as I grab the candle holder and use the flickering flame to illuminate the small landing. Three other bedrooms and a shared bathroom lead from it. I grimace at the unsightly emerald, green carpet with a diamond pattern. The seventies called and want it back.
I follow the wooden staircase toward Seb and Freddie’s voices. They’re talking in hushed, urgent tones. They’ve managed to find a torch, and Seb is shining it into a cupboard under the stairs.
“Sorry.” Seb grins apologetically when he sees me. The candlelight illuminates the sides of his face, bouncing off his perfect cheekbones.
“Fuck,” Freddie swears as Seb moves the torch. “Keep shining the light here!”
I peer inside. “Any luck?”
“Not yet,” Freddie groans, withdrawing from the cupboard and rubbing his hands together. “I’ll have to take a proper look in the morning. It’ll be candles for us tonight.”
“We’ve got blankets, too,” Seb says, noticing me shiver. “Come through to the living room. It’ll be warmer there.”
I follow him through. There are two sofas, a television that’s a metre wide at the back, and a funky cuckoo clock above the fireplace that stopped working long ago.
