Page 48

"You scared me," I breathe, feeling myself deflate; some of the fear I was about to face, one of the many reasons the house has a heartbeat, dissipates.

"You need to stick to business involving the company only."

"What?!"

"Anything you do involving this estate is expressly forbidden. Only involve yourself where you're paid to do so."

He's referring to the unusual transactions I discovered. I could stay out of them, but the problem is, I already decided I’m going to show Kyrin.

“Okay," I reply.

"Good girl."

His gravelly tone rakes through my gray matter, causing me to mewl.

You can't keep doing this. He's clearly deranged. He won't even leave the shadows long enough for you to see him.

"Why did you say that I had to live here?" I ask, feeling emboldened by my loss of fear, even if it's slight.

"Excuse me?" His tone implies he's daring me to repeat myself.

"Kyrin mentioned that one of your stipulations for my working for you was that I had to live here."

"Not you, specifically. Anyone."

"There were others before me?"

"There were."

"What happened to them?"

"That's Valdrich business."

When his presence recedes, I whimper. "Please, don't leave me in the dark."

In a flash, he's pressing into me again, his hard body calling a reaction from mine that I can't even begin to help.

His hand reaches around and plugs in the night light beside me.

When he pulls back, his lips drop down, teasing my ear. I feel the stubble of a short beard tickle my ear. "You ought to get used to the darkness if you're going to survive, calamity. I know you were bred there, same as me."

"What?" I breathe, trying to turn my face to see him.

His right hand slinks around, gripping my chin and keeping my face forward.

The window before me doesn't reveal a reflection of him that I can make out.

"You have demons just like the rest of us. It's why the estate wants you. It's why we want you."

"We?” I breathe.

But he's gone, vanished from the kitchen like he never was.

I turn, staring at the space devoid of him behind me, inhaling the last vestiges of his scent that keep me in a drug-induced haze.

It's the first time I've faced the truth: each of them wants me, but now I’m wondering what that means for me and my future here.

Surely, I can't be with all of them. That's not how life works. You have to choose.