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My teeth grind as I push down thoughts of strangling everyone who taught her to feel ashamed for wanting this. She needs to understand how deep my need for her runs.

“You’re in my world now, Zaiya. You’re stuck here. And as long as you remain in my town, you belong to me.”

Her chin lifts. Brave little thing.

“What if I don’t want to belong to you?”

“I’m the only one who can protect you here. You’ll learn to let me in.”

I reach for her again, but she flinches.

Then she looks at me, those gray eyes of hers full of thought as always, weighing every word before she gives it away.

“I’m sorry for your loss, Edwin.”

She slips past me and exits the room. I don’t know whether she means the loss of my father or the loss of her.

Either way, when the door shuts behind her, my blood heats until my skin burns with it.

She leaves me standing alone while muffled voices right outside make my solitude even more pathetic.

Anger climbs my throat, hot and bitter. She walked away like I’m nothing more than a man to pity.

I made her visible. And now men like Patrick think they can reach for her.

She’ll learn soon enough. The only way to escape the orbit of the Serpentium Order is death.

CHAPTER 16

ZAIYA

The smell of food is getting to me. Hours have passed since the funeral ended, but people still linger at the church. Every resident brought a dish. They spoke softly at first, and then the stories came, and the laughter. It became a party for a dead man, complete with children running around the cemetery shrieking.

Paper plates continue to pile upside down in the trash next to me while I replay Edwin’s kiss. I can still feel the pressure of his mouth, still taste the wrongness of how fast it happened, and the thought sends heat rushing up and down my body. I try to bury the memory somewhere deep in my mind, but the basement doors keep opening and closing, and each time they do, my stomach twists like I’ve been caught doing something I shouldn’t.

Staying close to the Boltons was the plan. I told myself that was where I’d be the safest. But the longer I sit here, the more I want to run.

When only a handful of people remain, dusk has already stained the basement windows purple. The elderly folks linger over stories as if everyone will wait for them. Evelyn moves from one table to the next, wiping up crumbs and bits of casserole with a tired smile that never disappears.

Helping makes me feel less useless. I gather trash. Carry empty dishes into the kitchen. Straighten napkins no one will use. It does nothing to push the thought of Edwin away.

I wanted to comfort him. Losing his father must be unimaginably difficult, even though he tries to hide it. He wants me as a distraction from his grief, but his obsession worries me.

Frank gets pulled into another conversation before he can leave. Evelyn disappears into the kitchen again, carrying a tray of coffee mugs.

I can’t stay here any longer.

My nerves are scraped thin. I’m still not used to being around so many people, and the longer I remain in this basement, the more it seems like every glance lands on me. My skin feels too tight for my body.

So I slip upstairs and out through the church doors without announcing myself. It’s hard to believe the air is cooler and less stuffy out here.

The parking lot is nearly empty now. Cicadas sing from the trees in long, rising waves, losing volume as the crickets come out to take over. The sun has sunk low enough that only the last violet light hangs over the cloudy horizon.

Peace opens a hole inside me, leaving too much room for thoughts. My kidnapper is out there. Asher’s killer. And I’m supposed to trust Edwin and his Order to fix everything while I sit still and wait.

I drift into the cemetery where I’ve miraculously found answers before. The carved stones draw me in, some monuments looking more like sculptures. Grief shaped into beauty.

I trace names with my eyes and think about Asher.