“I’ve told you a million times,” she says through gritted teeth.
“Take me back,” I demand, folding my arms over my chest.
“There’s no going back. We barely escaped with our lives.”
“I had everything under control.”
She scoffs out a laugh. “You had tunnel vision. All you were worried about was Voraxis and having a dick-measuring contest with Callum.”
“I wasn’t—”
“Let me finish!” She exhales sharply. “All of your focus was on that. You were too blind to see the other guy pulling another one of those syringes out of his pocket.”
My eyes widen in surprise. “I had no idea.” I can’t believe I was so careless with my surroundings. “He makes me crazy! I don’t think logically when I’m around him.”
“Clearly,” she quips. Just as I’m about to respond, another voice sounds from the room over.
“Odeyssa, is that you?” Marcel’s concern is obvious in his tone and rushed footsteps. Immediately, my eyes dart to the staircase straight ahead. I would’ve made a break for it had it not been for Marcel making his entry from the dining area.
For some reason, I think it’s better to stand completely still, act like one of the other statues in the room, and he won’t see me. But of course, that doesn’t work. Actually, it does the exact opposite. His eyes instantly move from Odeyssa to me, then back to her.
“You’ve had me worried sick!” he exclaims. “And Kallie”—his attention pulls back to me—“where in the realm have you been?” My gulp is audible, paralyzed in place like I’ve forgotten how to speak.
“It’s a long story, Dad,” Odeyssa says.
“That’s rich, coming from you.”
“No,” I interrupt, not loving the way Odeyssa is getting berated right now. “It actually is a long story.” His eyebrows furrow, looking between us, trying to figure out if what we’re saying is the truth.
Bet he’s wishing he gave me some water right about now.
Marcel exhales deeply. “Lucky for you, my schedule just cleared.” He turns around, walking briskly about to round the corner. Odeyssa follows closely, no questions asked. But I have a lot of questions.
“Um, not so fast.” They both stop and turn to face me. Odeyssa gives me a wide-eyed look and nonchalantly shakes her head. “I’m going to be fully transparent in the fact that I don’t trust you,” I say bluntly.
Marcel’s shock could be from one of two things. One, he believes he’s a trustworthy guy. Or two, he’s not used to anyone standing up to him. “Have I done something to make you feelthat way?”
“Is there a reason I should feel this way?” I throw back, eyeing him cautiously, not wanting to show my hand.
“I’m going to be honest with you, Kallie. I’m not in the mood for all these games, so if you would follow me.”
“I don’t think I will. Not until you have some of your own serum.” He opens his mouth, about to direct his words at Odeyssa, but I stop them. “Yes, I know about it. Don’t blame her for exposing one of the many skeletons in your closet.”
He takes a moment, deciding whether or not it’s worth it.Come on, Marcel. Let me see what secrets are hiding away in there.“Under one condition,” he says.
“I’m listening.”
“You can’t ask anything too…personal.”
Odeyssa decides to chime in. “Don’t worry, Dad. We know all about your affairs.” His eyes blow so wide I’m surprised they’re still in his head.
“I’ll ask all the questions I need to. But lucky for you, the ones I deem to be ‘personal’ seem to have already been answered.”
He furrows his brows with either confusion or curiosity, maybe a mixture of the two, but either way, I don’t wait for a response. Instead, I take long strides, pushing past both of them, and round the corner myself, trying to find a room to do this in without listening ears from his staff.
“Just take it,” I demand, crossing my arms over my chest. Marcel seems less than thrilled to be doing this, and that only raises my suspicion. We ended up somewhere in the back of the castle, where they both ensured that nobody else has access to, which part of me believes, only because I’m staring at the only door in the room.
I’ve tried silently to reach Voraxis, but every message I sendhits the wall he put up, and it just adds to the gut-wrenching anxiety I have from everything else.
