Also, in the photograph, trees were around the cave. Over the centuries, they had grown on the barren land I’d seen.
So the same cave Thrax frequented now, he had been lying there over a thousand years ago.
Why?
I wouldn’t know unless he told me. And the chances of that happening was slim.
Dropping the phone, I rose to my feet.
Amelia stood up. “That’s it? You’re leaving?”
“Why? You want to chain me here?”
She scoffed. “I wish.” Then she walked to her desk, circling it and pulling open a drawer. When she looked up, she held my bag and my phone, setting them down with a flourish. “You can’t say I’m not the sweetest person you know. I even kept these for you.”
A dry chuckle slipped out as I picked them up, powering my phone back on. “Your thoughtfulness is bringing me to tears.”
The second I unlocked it, notifications erupted like an alarm—messages, missed calls, stacked one after the other. All from my mother. All from her neighbours.
When the storm of alerts finally died down, I lifted my gaze to Amelia and Merton, who stood silently behind the desk. “I know you already did your research. You know when I was born, where I school, who my family is.” Amelia’s brief eye-roll confirmed I was right. “You have my number and my email. So send me every tangible thing you know about the Soulless Man tonight.”
Merton looked at Amelia, confused and uncertain. She laid a hand on his, a silent reassurance passing between them.
“And you promise to give us feedback on anything you learn?” she pressed.
“Why would I do that?”
She glared in irritation. “You’re no fun. Bet they don’t invite you to parties.”
I gave her a lazy wave as I turned for the exit. “Yes, because they know I don’t like parties.”
The sky had dimmed further when I walked outside, cold biting into me as I pulled out my phone, texting Thrax.
Me
What are we having for dinner?
CHAPTER FORTY
SANORA
Bursting into the house, I closed the door behind me, a deep breath slipping out when my eyes caught Thrax at the kitchen counter, his broad shoulders moving with each swipe of the cloth across the surface.
“Tell me the truth.” I lifted my phone, narrowing my eyes at him. “You don’t even know how to use this, do you? You’re only carrying it around because you want to look trendy, to blend in with everyone else, right? Right?”
He looked up from the counter, his dark gaze raking over me in silence, tracing from the top of my head to the tips of my shoes as though checking for a missing limb. “I missed you, too.”
I bit down on my lip, pushing back the smile threatening to escape. “You never respond to my texts. I asked what we’re having for dinner and you didn’t reply.”
He opened his mouth, ready to either apologise or tell me his phone was upstairs, but his eyes dropped to the bag hanging from my shoulder and the phone in my hand. The same ones I’d taken to the station. “How did you get your phone back? And the bag?”
I pressed my lips together, hating the lie that was about to fall from my tongue. “From the station. It had fallen when I got drugged, and they’d kept them in case the owner came asking.” Immediately, Ichanged the subject because I was a bad liar and Thrax would see through me if another one came flying out of my mouth. “Is it dinner? What are we having?”
“Was that your text message?”
I nodded, crossing the living room with my brows pulling in. There was no scent of food in the air, nor was there anything on the fire. “What are we having?”
He tapped the counter he’d just cleaned. “Sit.”
