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He drives a hand through his disheveled hair, then motions for me to walk ahead toward the terrace.
“You didn’t fuck my fear of heights out of me.”
“Yet,” he says, challenge darkening his tone as he sends me a wink. “All right. We’ll take the easy way.”
Sometimes, the descent down is harder and scarier than the climb up.
As he takes my hand in his and leads me into the depths of the house, we abandon all the torn open fear in the maddening echo of that dark room.
The hallways are lit by the dim glow of sconces as we navigate our way to the other side of the house. I’m thankful for the near dark that conceals my bruised skin and tousled appearance, even as I try to comb my fingers through my tangled hair.
A sense of something unfinished pulls at the back of my mind, leaving a hollow pang in my chest. So I tighten my hold on Kallum’s hand, shoving all thoughts of Devyn and the case aside as we arrive in the large kitchen area.
There’s a spread of serving platters with appetizers on the marble counters. Kallum grabs a bottle of red wine and uncorks the pourer before he takes a swig.
He offers me the bottle. “I stay my claim that the Liptons have decent taste in wine.”
I point toward a serving tray of bottled waters. “I’ll hydrate, thanks,” I say, my words trailing off as I look back at the bottle in his hand.
I didn’t notice it the first time we were here, but the wine looks homemade. Accepting the bottle, I turn it around and read the handmade label. “What type of wine was found at Landry’s mansion?”
Kallum braces the heels of his palms on the edge of the counter and leans back. “I’m not sure,” he says, but I know he’s following the logic.
I set the bottle aside and send a reply text to Hernandez to meet us inside. “I wonder where the Liptons keep their wine collection.” At his heavy silence, I look up. “It’s at least a lead for Hernandez to follow.”
Kallum pushes off the counter. “No, you’re right. You didn’t say you were leaving tonight.”
I catch the flash of anger before he masks his expression. “As long as we’re still here, this is our job.”
He turns abruptly and captures my neck, shocking my breath in my lungs. “I’m in this town for you, sweetness. I’m not here to solve cases, catch killers, or save lost priestesses.”
“You’ve mentioned as much before,” I say, a tremor of derision leaking into my voice. “The feds want Devyn locked away, to punish her unjustly for a murder she didn’t commit. They’re looking at her for Alister, a scene you orchestrated.”
“She tried to frame me first,” he rebounds, his voice pitched below the thumping music. He inches his hand higher and swipes his thumb across my jawline. “There’s a merciful way to solve this conundrum, but you’ve made it clear I can’t kill the priestess.”
I try to pull away, but he backs me against the counter, placing his mouth next to my ear as he tightens his hold. “But if I find her, I promise you, Halen, if she so much as breathes a threat in your direction, I’ll be forced to break that promise.”
I angle my head to find his eyes, and as his gaze locks with mine, his tongue drags across the inside seam of his lips. “Deep down in the dark little oubliette of your mind, you know the truth,” he whispers. “You can’t say it, but that’s why you have me, to be the villain and do what’s necessary.”
I swallow the forming ache in my throat as silence fuels the tension between us, the press of Kallum’s desire at battle with my will. He believes I hold the power, he’s told me this repeatedly, but for the first time, he’s furious over it.
And suddenly, I’m staring into the intense eyes of the same cunning devil I met at Briar, the one who issues ultimatums.
I pull in a steadying breath. “You know I won’t let that happen.”
“We’ll see, sweetness,” he whispers against my ear and pushes his hand between my thighs, intimately touching the sigil and sending a current of renewed heat to make me inhale a sharp breath, effectively earning the response he wants from my body.
Before either of us are given the chance to say more, Hernandez appears in the arched doorway. Touching the back of his neck, he clears his throat, further disrupting the heated moment.
Kallum’s gaze flits over my face searchingly, his jaw clenched until a muscle flexes. “Halen thinks there’s a secret wine cellar with mysteries hidden somewhere in this house,” he says to the agent.
“Then she’d be right.” Hernandez removes his earpiece, letting it drape around his neck where he covers the feed with his hand. “The team found something in the basement.”
My gaze collides with Kallum’s, and his resulting, despondent smile is devastating on his beautiful face.
I question whether I’ll be able to walk away if I see what’s in that basement, and Kallum knows this. I’m seconds from doing just that, walking away completely, when he says, “Fuck it. There’s no satisfaction in an open ending, is there?”
He turns and brushes past Hernandez, the music suddenly too loud, the bass hitting my chest to mask the rampant pounding of my heart as I watch him leave.
