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Reluctantly, I pull back from Lorcan. “We’ll chat in the morning before I leave.”
“I’m not going to change my mind.”
“Maybe I’ll change mine.”
He chuckles. “About fighting me on it?”
With a tiny shrug and a playful grin, I let lightness take over. “I can be reasonable sometimes.”
“Looking forward to seeing that side of you.” He opens the door.
As I wander down the hall, the heat from Lorcan sears me. I’m not sure if he’s still at the door watching me, but it feels like it. When I get to my rooms, I peek over my shoulder. He isn’t there. Great, now I’m imagining things. Shaking my head, I see the spare bedroom door propped open, waiting for Carys. Either she’s still talking to Finn or their talking morphed into something else.
After I punch in the code to my room, I strip and collapse onto my bed, glad I’m not leaving with Carys until ten in the morning. I’m about to drift to sleep when I remember I haven’t checked my phone in hours. In the bathroom where I left it charging, a couple of messages are visible. At first, there’s nothing important. Then, I see it.
Sauce on the side.
It looks like a text from a wrong number about a food order. But reading it causes a thin sheen of sweat to prick at the back of my neck.
Sauce on the side is an SOS. I need to see my mother as soon as possible. I may not like Dai Qing, my new handler, but that message isn’t one she’d fake.
Tomorrow, I have to figure out how to ditch three bodyguards and Carys long enough to go check on my mother. Seems simple enough.
I awake with a start, drenched in sweat. When I look down at my hands, there’s blood, and I close them again. Popping them open, the blood is gone. With a huff, I throw back the covers and sit on the edge of the bed, rubbing my face. It’s still dark outside.
A few minutes later, I’ve showered, dressed, and I’m outside Lorcan’s office door, full of indecision. There’s a light under the frame, leaking into the hall. It’s possible he forgot to switch it off, or he didn’t go to sleep. The spare room is empty. Maybe no one is sleeping tonight.
Unlike normal, the blood on my hands when I woke up wasn’t my brother’s. I dreamed of my mother, drowning in a pool of blood, choking on it, sinking into it. Whatever is going on with her, I need to see her.
My house of cards might tumble down around me.
With my shoulders square, I knock on the office door. It clicks unlocked less than a second later. Across the room, Lorcan is sitting behind his desk, nursing another drink.
“Have you slept?” I shove my hands into the pockets of my coat.
“Not a wink.” He studies me, assessing. “And you?”
I shrug. “I wanted to let you know I’m heading out for a bit.”
He laughs. “Just like that, yeah? Just heading out.” He swishes the alcohol in his glass and moves around to perch on the edge of his desk. “No.”
Swallowing down the immediate indignation, I look away from him. “Last I knew, I was an employee, not a prisoner.”
He slants his head toward the clock on the wall. “Where could you possibly need to go at five in the morning?”
“Female issues. Gotta do a little bit of shopping.”
“Female issues.” He pronounces the words as though they’re preposterous. “Carys is here. We have other female staff. You can get what you need without leaving.”
“I need to go out. Quick trip to CVS.”
“Then I’ll come with you.”
My jaw tightens. “This lack of trust is getting old. Carys asked me to come back, work for her. Maybe I’ll do that.”
“You’re not going to CVS at five in the morning. You haven’t slept. I haven’t slept. I know what’s eating me. What’s got you in knots?” He shoves off the edge of the desk, draining his drink in the process, and wanders closer.
“My mother.”