Davis shook his head. “I didn’t want to risk it.”
“Then how?”
“I paid some pizza delivery kid in town fifty bucks to deliver it and keep his mouth shut. He didn’t know her and had no idea of the significance of the doll, so he had no trouble crossing the protection line.”
“Devious.”
Davis shrugged. “I have my moments.”
“I think it’s time to step up the schedule. We haven’t much time. All five sacrifices must be completed by the winter solstice,” Charles mused.
“What is it you want?”
Charles considered for a moment, his eyes narrowing. “Send my daughter the package.”
Theo climbed out of Olivia’s car and glanced up at her house. It was a jolt to see it. He’d dreamed of this place for years, and he still couldn’t quite get used to the fact that it was real.
He watched Olivia climb out of the car and lock it. Sometimes he wondered if this wasn’t all some elaborate dream, or maybe he really was dead, maybe he’d died in that barn when the beam had fallen on him. Maybe this was his afterlife, stuck in a never-ending hallucination. He shook his head; what a morose thought.
Olivia looked up, her clear gaze catching his and holding it. The wind whipped through her long, dark hair and it tumbled over her shoulder in a riot of loose curls.
Olivia caught Theo staring at her intently. Jeez, the guy needed to learn how to lighten up. She rounded the car, casually glancing back to the edge of where her protection wards held. There had been a brief moment as they drove over the line when she wondered if it would allow Theo to pass. She had to admit that despite everything she still had some doubts about him, about his true intentions toward her. Although one thing was now certain; he didn’t intend her any harm, otherwise he’d never have been able to cross the protective line. She released the breath she hadn’t realized she’d been holding, and the knot inside her relaxed.
Pulling out her keys when she reached the front door, she paused, looking toward the woods. She wondered exactly where Brody’s body had been discovered. The woods stretched for miles around the lake. Just because his body was discovered in the woods, didn’t mean it was close to her property.
“Are you alright?” Theo asked.
“Yeah,” she muttered. “Yeah, I’m fine.” Her hands trembled and she fumbled with the keys, unable to unlock the door.
“Olivia.” Theo’s voice was a low whisper as he stepped close enough for her to feel the heat and presence of him at her back.
“Sometimes, I just wish…”
“What?” he rumbled quietly. “What is it you wish?”
She sighed. “That I’d never come back.”
She unlocked the door and stepped through.
Theo threw an uneasy glance toward the woods before following. After hanging their jackets in the hallway, she led him into the library, where the fire burst into flame as it always did. Her stomach clenched as she cast an uneasy glance in Theo’s direction. Shit, she’d forgotten it did that. He simply stared at the fireplace and then back at her, his dark eyes unreadable.
“I banked the fire before I left. The gust of wind from when I opened the door must have made the embers flare up.” She gave a nervous laugh.
He chose not to question her explanation, and when he turned his back on her to study the room, she threw an annoyed glare at the hiccuping fire as it danced merrily in the hearth.
“Stop it,” she mouthed at the flames, and the fire dimmed sulkily. “I’m going to go and put the kettle on. Make yourself comfortable.”
Theo merely nodded absently as he continued to study the rows and rows of books. Fascinated. He’d never seen so many books in one place. By the time Olivia had walked back in with a mug of tea in one hand and a coffee in the other, he had moved on to the photos on the mantelpiece.
He took one of the mugs from her. “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.”
“Is this your mother?” He indicated one of the framed photos. “You look very much like her.”
“Yes.” She tilted her head as she studied the picture.
“The detail is…” He shook his head, unable to find the right word. “The artist is very talented.”
