Page 27

He sighed. “And you’ve been avoiding me all day. Why now? What do you want, Ella?”

“It’s more a question of what you want.”

“I want you. That’s it.”

“But what about the logistics? What about where we’re going to live, how often we see each other, what we tell our friends and family, or colleagues?”

His expression tightened. “You’re so fucking contrary. At one moment you’re pushing me away and telling me not to get in your space, the next we’re setting up home together?” He shook his head. “You’re the one who seems to have the problems with this, not me, so why don’t you work it out? If you don’t want me at your place in Tiburon, what do you want? Should I stay in the city and you can just join me at my hotel when you can’t do without the sex?”

“That’s not fair.”

“Life’s not fair, Ella. You know that.” He started walking again, his last comment thrown over his shoulder. “When you work out how I’ll fit into your life, let me know.”

She let him leave, her heart stuttering, her breath uneven. Didn’t he understand? Shenevermade long-term plans. She’d never had to. Someone barged into her, and she moved to the side of the hallway and continued toward the stairs.

He was waiting for her by the door, his head lowered, his gaze averted.

“I’m sorry, Ella. I keep forgetting that for you this is an extremely difficult transition.”

She stared at his blue-and-yellow tie until the pattern blurred into a swirl of dots.

After a long moment, he sighed and held open the door. “Shall we go up?”

She forced the words out of her mouth. “Will you come with me to my parents on the weekend?”

He hesitated, one hand braced against the frame. “If you want me to.”

“Yeah.” She swallowed hard. “You can use your charm to distract my mom from complaining about me.”

His smile made her feel loved, which was ridiculous. “I’d be more than happy to do that. Let’s go and check on Brad Dailey.”

* * *

As Vadim approachedBrad’s room, his Otherworld senses came to high alert and he studied each person in the hallway with all his unique abilities. Beside him, Ella reached for her weapon. Delia sat by the door, but she didn’t look up as they approached, her gaze seemingly fixed on some pleasant faraway memory. Vadim touched her shoulder.

“Delia?”

She didn’t respond. The kick of Otherworld magic hit him hard.

“Ms. Walsh, get out of the way.”

He didn’t wait for Ella’s indignant reply, just pushed in front of her and tried to force the door open. Dark magic shot up his arm, making him clench his teeth. If a human had touched the handle, the person would probably be dead now. He focused on the door and pushed the power back out, turning the spell on itself and blasting through it. Inside, someone was screaming like a wounded animal.

“Ella, call security!”

The room was in chaos, the bed halfway across the floor. Brad was no longer sedated or secured to the gurney. He stood on the windowsill, his scarred face free of bandages and contorted in agony.

Vadim held out his hand. “Mr. Dailey, calm down. Whatever is wrong, we can fix it.” As he spoke, he sent calming magic toward Brad, but he appeared to be impervious to it.

“I’m afreak!My grandfather couldn’t even look at me. I don’t want my parents to see me like this!”

“It’s not that bad. Your face can be altered again. We’ll find the best plastic surgeons in the world to work with you.”

He heard Ella and someone else approaching down the hallway and motioned for them to stay put at the door. He advanced toward Brad, still holding out his hand.

“Please get down, Brad.”

“You’re fucking lying! That SBLE doctor said plastic surgery wouldn’t work! That I’d be like this forever!”