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He stared at the knife in my hand.

“That’s like, super aggressive,” he said.

“Yeah, no shit.”

I marched up the stairs. They followed.

He took in my living room with a slow, mellow sweep. His eyes found the salt and nails on the floor. He nodded, like he was having a conversation with the salt itself.

“You’re protecting yourself. That’s good. That’s really good, actually.” He looked at me. “She’s right, by the way. She told me everything. So you can skip the part where you pretend you don’t know what I’m talking about. It’ll save us some time.”

My pulse was a snare drum. “Why are you here, Kai?”

“Because she was a mess and she wanted to talk to you, and I wasn’t going to let her drive,” he said, like it was obvious. “And because…” he hesitated, his sandy feet flexing on the rug. “Because I’ve known about Damian for a long time, man. And I figured if he’s finally doing something about it, then there’s no point in me sitting on it, either.”

Callie slumped into the sofa and leaned against the arm. I kept my eyes on Kai. “Sitting on what?”

“I’m not…I haven’t been…” He scrubbed his hand down his face, clumsily. “I’m not into it. The shit they’re doing. I do the bare minimum . I just do what I have to do so they don’t look at me too hard. Same as Damian. Everything past that, I’m just watching out for her.” He nodded at Callie, who was now hugging her knees, watching him like she’d never seen him before.

“I keep telling them she’s right on schedule. Buying her time.”

Callie let out one loud sob. “You bought her mother flowers.”

“Shit, Callie, I’m sorry. Aurora put the order in. She put my name on the card. I just play along because I’m… I’m a…”

For a moment, I thought he was going to cry too.

I wanted to believe him. Just like every woman wants to believe the man who tells her he’s different, that he’s the exception. I’d stood in the exact spot I stood now and told Callie, Priya, and Jess to never fall for a word their consorts said.

“How can I possibly trust you?”

Kai nodded slowly, like I’d made a very reasonable point.

“Yeah,” he said. “You’d be an idiot to trust me. I wouldn’t.” He lowered himself onto the arm of the sofa. “So call Damian.”

I thought about my phone, still on the nightstand, but I didn’t move yet. The situation felt so shaky, my feet moving across the floor might tip it over the edge. I watched Kai. His arms hung slack at his sides in an appeasing posture, like a cat among birds it had decided not to eat. It didn’t make me feel safe, but it told me I could get to my phone.

“Don’t either of you move,” I said, then I went into the bedroom and grabbed my phone, leaving the door open so I could still see them.

I called Damian.

He answered on the third ring, instantly awake. “Hey, are you okay?”

“I need you to come over. Right now.” I kept my voice flat so it wouldn’t shake. “Kai and Callie are in my apartment. Callie told him everything.”

I heard him move, like he was quickly pulling himself from bed.

“He’s there right now?”

“Yes.”

“Are you safe?”

I looked through the doorway. Callie was crying into her knees. Kai was sitting very still on the arm of the sofa with his hands where I could see them, watching me make the call.

“I don’t know,” I said. “Just come.”

I sat in the kitchen and waited for Damian to arrive, listening to Callie sob from the living room.