AllFreeNovel
Share Us
She squealed. “You’re the best.” And rushed toward me, grabbing me in a hug before planting a kiss on my cheek.
A memory rose with the motion. The scowl on Lazarus’s face as he strode back in to the party last night. He’d seen something he didn’t like…something that happened where Kat and Damon had disappeared to.
“You like him, right?” I asked as she pulled away. “Damon, I mean.”
She just gave a shrug. “He’s okay.”
Just okay.I narrowed in on her excitement. “So, not mind blowing?”
A low chuckle escaped her as she took a step away. “No, not mind blowing, Anna. That kind of romance doesn’t exist, except in books and movies. I’ll have my cell on me and the guard will be downstairs. Call if you need me, okay?”
I could only nod. Romance like that didn’t exist in her world…maybe it wouldn’t in mine?
Finley’s shadowed face filled my mind from last night. His desperation…his need. Maybe it was all just an illusion. I moved to the counter and grabbed a glass from the cabinet as she hurried for the elevator, pouring myself some wine. Maybe itwasnothing more than a fairytale, one that didn’t exist in this world.
Sweetness bloomed in my mouth as I drank and made my way to the window. Lights sparkled in the distance, but it wasn’t the stars I looked at now, it was the emptiness in the direction of his building, the space where stars didn’t glimmer. Instead, it was like a black hole, drawing me deeper and deeper…and deeper.
My phone gave abeep.
I lifted the cell higher, peering at the screen, secretly hoping it wasn’t Dad.
Unknown: tomorrow night at 11. The small cove on the north side of the island.
An image followed, a map with an X.
Tomorrow night this would all be over.
The contact would be found.
And I’d leave Finley and this place behind.
The thought of that hurt more than it should.
23
Finley
My phone let out abeep.
Call tracking information: Caller Unknown. Duration: 1.30 minutes. Message received: 2 in total.
I stared at the information as a sinking feeling swept me away. She'd received a call…from an unknown number, and it didn’t take a fucking genius to know who it was. But that had been four fucking hours ago and now it was close to midnight. I raked my fingers through my hair as my loyalties collided.
No matter how much I hated this…blood always won out.
There can be no middle…not for them…or for you.
I stared at the text, that weighted feeling pulling me down. Then I pushed up from the sofa, unable to stand the waiting any longer. Leale rose to pad alongside me as I strode toward the elevator, letting out a whine as I hit the button. But there was no ruffle of his ears this time and no careful command.
I just left him behind and rode the elevator down to the lower apartment, knowing Max would still be awake. The man survived on little to no sleep. He was always on always ready for war…always ready for my family. The pungent smell of coffee hit me as the doors opened. The drone of the TV was on, normal sounds of comfort, unlike my place where it was always quiet…and always cold.
“Fin?” Max called, and rose from the sofa, concern filling his gaze. “Everything okay?”
“I need Pav,” I said.
The crease in his brow deepened before he gave a slow nod. “Okay,want to tell me what’s going on?”
“No. I don’t.”
