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CALLI

“Callista,” Mum breathes, an almost-real smile pulling at her lips as she pushes from the stool in the kitchen.

That fake happiness falls almost instantly when she takes in my outfit, her lip peeling back in disgust.

“I rode on the back of Daemon’s bike, Mum. What did you expect me to be wearing? A summer dress and heels?”

“I thought a week away would have allowed you to relax. You look stressed.”

“Right, well, being banished from town and forced to live with a psycho for a week isn’t actually all that fun, just so you know.” I cringe at my own bitter words, but I can’t stop them from falling from my lips

“Did you at least get some studying done?” Mum asks hopefully.

“Yes,” I hiss, marching toward the fridge and pulling a can of Coke out, much to Mum’s horror.

“You shouldn’t be drinking that,” she chastises.

“I don’t think one can of Coke will frazzle my brain cells,” I mutter.

“Callista, I’m not sure I like this attitude on you,” she calls after me as I turn my back on her and hightail it out of the room.

“Yeah, well, that’s just tough,” I murmur under my breath as I head for my basement.

I should feel some kind of contentment being back in the only home I’ve ever known, I’m sure. But I don’t. I feel out of place, like a piece of furniture that doesn’t match the rest of the insanely expensive shit Mum likes to fill the house with.

It makes me realise that I’ve always felt this way to a point. I just never had somewhere else I felt more at home before. But being in that beach house with Daemon… it was just so… right. So easy and relaxed. I’ve never had that here. I’m always on edge, wondering if Mum or Dad are going to appear at some point and tell me that I’m not quite fitting their incredibly high and unachievable expectations.

I make my way down to my basement in the hope that my own space will make me feel better. But as I descend the stairs and push through the door, my scent might be right, but the place has been tidied within an inch of its life. It will have been Jocelyn, not Mum, and that makes me feel a little better, but still, there’s a huge part of me that just wanted to fall into the chaos of my life instead of this perfect, fake version.

With a sigh, I push forward, cracking open the can in my hand and walking toward the floor-to-ceiling windows.

My eyes scan the tree line that runs down the side of the house, searching for a branch that Daemon might use to look in on me.

He wasn’t lying about that being where he hides when he watches me. I saw the raw honesty in his eyes as he confessed, so I know his perch is out there somewhere.

Movement makes my heart jump into my throat, but then one of Dad’s soldiers emerges from behind the trees, scanning the area as if he’s in a freaking war zone.

“No,” I breathe, already knowing what the sight of him means.

I reach forward and grip the door handle. It’s pointless, but I still do it, even when Dad’s voice rings through the space. “They’re locked.”

I tug harder, my heart racing as adrenaline spikes through me.

“No,” I spit, wheeling around to face him. “You can’t do this to me.”

“Until I know it’s completely safe.”

“Then why am I here?” I ask, already beginning to sound like a mad woman.

“Because we missed you.” A bitter laugh falls from my lips before the truth finally emerges. “And your mum desperately wanted you here for her party.”

“Ah, of course. Now it all makes sense,” I mutter, walking to the corner of the room where the blind controls are and quickly lowering them, blocking out both the sun and Dad’s men who are patrolling the estate. The guards at the gates should have been a clue to how serious this all is.

“You should have just left me there. At least I wasn’t locked in a cage.”

“Callista, it’s not like that. It’s just—”

“Just what, Dad?” I ask, my hands landing on my hips as I glare at him.