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“West doesn’t know the truth about you. He thinks every newcomer to Fairhaven is a problem, which is ironic given his own history.”
Kane was being obstinate. I had to get through to him. “Eventually, The Corporation will find out about me, and once they do, they’ll try to add me to their roster. And when I refuse, they’ll try to persuade me by threatening the lives of anyone I care about.” And if they couldn’t persuade me, they’d stick me in an enchanted jar or kill me.
“So what’s the answer? You let The Corporation dictate your life choices now and evermore?”
I cut a quick glance at him. “Nobody says evermore in this century.”
“Don’t deflect, Lorelei.”
“I never should’ve come to Fairhaven. It was a mistake.”
“But where will you ever find another working moat? You can’t possibly give that up.” He tried to engage me with a charming smile. That luscious mouth would be the death of me if I let it. I had to resist.
“Plenty of abandoned castles in Europe,” I said, forcing my attention away from the deadly mouth. “I can pick one up in France for a song.”
“If that were true, you would’ve already done it.”
“No, I wouldn’t have. I wanted to come home.”
Home. Fairhaven wasn’t where I’d been born and raised, but it was the closest to home I’d felt since Pops died.
“You’re broke, Lorelei, and nobody in their right mind would buy this heap from you in its current state or rent it for that matter.”
“They might now that it has the working moat.”
“I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but you’re the only person in this century interested in owning one.”
“I’ll enter the crossroads like the Pandora gods. Go to another realm where they won’t find me.”
“And likely end up in more danger in a realm where you don’t belong,” he pointed out.
“Don’t you see? I don’t belong anywhere.” One human foot in this world and one deified foot in the world of nightmares. I was an anomaly that shouldn’t exist.
“You can’t run and hide,” he insisted. “You’re too valuable. They’ll chase you to the bowels of the earth and beyond.”
Now it was my turn to laugh. “You’re one to talk. You ran away and hid from hell. You’re still hiding.”
His face darkened. “It seems we both have a history of escapism. Maybe it’s time we stop.”
I tilted my head for a better look at him. “What do you mean?”
He clasped my hands in his, and I didn’t shrink from his touch. “It seems we both feel the need to protect those who can’t protect themselves. Why not join forces and do it together?”
“I thought you didn’t want to join any of your parts with mine.”
He sucked in a breath. “Oh, quite the contrary. It’s more torture than I’ve ever endured.”
Knowing what I knew about his past, that was saying something. “What changed your mind?”
“You did,” he said simply. “When I learned your trueidentity, I feared that my involvement with you would return me to the demon I was.”
“I’m a goddess of nightmares, Kane. Those aren’t reality.”
“But you can make them so. And what are nightmares but our deepest, darkest fears? The primary tools I used for torment and torture.” He touched my chin. “But I see you, Lorelei, and I know my concerns were misguided. You and I are alike, yes, but not only in the ways of darkness. Also, in the ways of light.”
I slipped my hands away. “And this is exactly why I need to go. You’ve done well here. If I stay, I’m going to destroy what you’ve built and the demon you’ve become. My grandfather warned me I’d be a magnet for trouble. That my presence was too dangerous.”
“You, Lorelei Clay—Melinoe—won’t destroy anything. Aite will. The Corporation and its minions will. But not you.”
