Page 203 of Safe Word

The words hit. I saw it in the drop of his shoulders – like a boy with his hand caught in a cookie jar.

He sighed, running a hand down his face. ‘We’ve both got a full plate now.’

That was it – the lid closed on the past. The door between us had creaked open, just enough for something new to step through.

He leaned in, resting his forearms on the counter and nodding at me.

‘Come on,’ he said, quieter. ‘Tell me everything so I know which bone to first break on him.’

THIRTY-SIX

‘I don’t know the address,’ I muttered into the phone, pacing in slow, tight circles near the window.

‘Where’s Paula?’ Vinnie’s voice crackled through the line, riddled with static. I pulled the phone away and glared at the screen. Signal bars were full.

‘In the kitchen,’ I said. ‘Why? Where are you?’

A long exhale. ‘Went to check the office. It’s intact. But… I got a surprise for you, and you’re not going to be happy.’

A chill coiled low in my gut. ‘Why?’ The question sounded more like a growl.

‘You’ll see. Send me your location.’

He hung up before I could press further.

With my molars threatening to pulverise, I flicked to the messenger app and dropped the pin, watching it flip on the screen.

For a moment, I stood there, phone slack in hand, weighing whether to head over to the office myself. But the thought of leaving Paula behind – even with her firecracker relatives – made something primal in me rear its head. She might’ve been safe here. But she was mine.

Even if they were packing heat and looked like they chewed glass for breakfast.

My furry little stalker brushed up against my ankle again. I looked down at it, squinting. The thing was ridiculous. A puffball with eyes too large for its damn skull, staring up at me like it knew all my secrets.

‘What?’ I muttered. Its ears perked. ‘You got a problem with me?’

It tilted its head – once to the left, then right – as if it were trying to decode me. Then it bounced on one leg. Twice. Switched to the other.

I narrowed my eyes. ‘Is there a reason you’re bullying me?’

Sighing, I crossed the room and dropped onto the sofa, hoping for five seconds of silence.

No such luck.

The demon launched itself onto my lap as if it owned the place and immediately started licking the back of my hand with wild devotion.

‘You’re disgusting,’ I muttered with a reluctant smirk, nudging the little gremlin off my lap and wiping my hand down my jeans. ‘Jesus, I feel like I’d snap you in half if I poked you with one finger. Do they even feed you?’

It stared up at me with bulbous, unblinking eyes as it flopped onto its back, exposing its preposterously pink belly.

The grin stayed.

I cursed it.

But I reached down anyway and scratched lightly with a single finger, careful not to crush the fluffer.

My gaze darted towards the hallway. Voices murmured from two doors down.

I stilled, breath shallow, tuning my ears even as shame coiled stupid in my gut. Eavesdropping on Paula felt like swallowing a bundle of barbed wire, every spine catching on guilt.