I see the knife on the floor.
He left me with the weapon because he expects so little of me.
When he’s standing in the doorway, that’s when I move to grab it.
By the time he turns around, it’s already in my hand. A kitchen knife, nothing more, smaller even than a steak knife, but it’s something.
His gaze goes from it, to me, and I will myself to stay steady on my feet despite the fact I feel dizzy and nauseous after standing and moving so suddenly.
“You take me to Sullen now, or you’re going to have to hurt me.”
He cocks his head. “Is this foreplay? Because if I had known all this time you like it so rough, I would have really fucked you up.”
I clench my teeth but don’t speak.
Everything is a weapon.Even silence.
He smiles, lifting his hands then, as if to show me he means no harm. “Oh, come on, Karia. You know I wouldn’t hurt you.”
I don’t know anything anymore.
“Come on,” he says again softly, sounding more like the boy I used to trust. “I’ll show you. I don’t want to hurt you. I don’t want any of this. I came all this way to save you. And I have so many things to tell you. After you hear me out, then you decide what you want, okay?” He speaks to me as if I’m a child and I loathe him for it.
But I don’t even know where I am, even if I can assume. I don’t know how I got here. Whose blood was in the hall. Who the man was that attacked me. The one Sullen murdered. I don’t know if I’ve woken up in a trap of my own making, of Sullen’s,Cosmo’s.
Duplicity.
Nothing makes sense and I desperately want at least one good answer.
“Karia,” Cosmo whispers, bursting through my thoughts. “I promise I won’t kill him, and I won’t hurt you. Just… Come to me, okay?” He extends his hand.
I think about swiping the blade across it.
I think about stabbing him how Sullen stabbed my attacker.
But I swallow down my nerves.
And I take a step closer.
And I reach for Cosmo’s hand.
Chapter 24
Karia
“You said you had so many things to tell me, so talk.” I grip the knife tighter, my palm and fingers clammy around the handle as I follow Cosmo down a darkened hallway. I made him promise to take me to see Sullen before anything else, and I can only hope he’s keeping his promise. “Where is Sanford?” I ask as an afterthought, wanting to keep track of everyone in this house, which must be Haunt Muren.
Cosmo glances over his shoulder, his face illuminated by a dim electric sconce on the wall, green eyes vivid in the darkness. He glances at the knife by my side, a hint of a smile on his plush lips before he sighs, turning away from me and leading us further down the corridor.
It smells of cranberries in here, something almost like Christmas, and it is frigid. I shiver in my pajamas but I don’t say a word as I watch the muscles in Cosmo’s back shift while he walks.
“Sanford Rule has information we need, but he’ll have to die, and soon.” He speaks casually, like this shouldn’t surprise me. Likeheis not surprised. “And before we can continue, I wouldlike to make a request. Can youpleasestop getting yourself drugged?” His tone is soft and he doesn’t look at me, but I feel my face flush hot.
I swallow tightly, flicking my gaze past him, peering down the darkened hallway. There is a set of stairs, the first few visible in the gloom. I wonder where they lead. What sort of room Cosmo has put Sullen in, and how. Between the two of them, Sullen is bigger. Unless Cosmo somehow druggedhim.
I curl my fingers tighter around the knife. “Blaming the victim, why am I not surprised?” I try to keep my tone even as we come to the bottom of the stairs, but when Cosmo steps aside to allow me to lookup,I feel his gaze on the side of my face. He is too close to me, and when he speaks, his breath caresses my cheek.
“I don’t ever blame you for anything, Karia.”
