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I would not lose her. To that world.
To herself.
I recited that like a vow as I stepped into the house that smelled of cinnamon and baby powder.
A home.
I’d get one with Calliope.
This would not be our end.
This would not be her end.
Despite how much it felt like it was.
Kip arrived within less than fifteen minutes. Not surprising if you were just going by the size of the town. But Kip had a family. And he dropped everything, hearing Calliope was in trouble. Itwas a testament to how much those men loved Calliope but also proof that they had been expecting this, waiting for it.
Nora had been in the kitchen when I arrived, offering me refreshments though it was obvious she was confused about the reason for my visit. She had a baby strapped to her and a toddler at her ankles. Rowan had hoisted the little girl up with a delighted scream, murmured something to his wife, then she’d nodded and left the kitchen with the children. I wasn’t sure what Rowan had told her, but I didn’t have the mental capacity to think about that.
My priority was Calliope. And these were two fucking badass men who loved her, who had training. According to Calliope, they could do something. At the very least, they could arm me to the teeth and give me a fucking plan.
What I didn’t expect was the exact opposite.
“What do you mean we can’t help her?” I ground out, my hands fisted on my knees, fury bubbling up inside me with nowhere to go but toward the two men in front of me.
The two men trained in battlefield warfare, who had experience with things I had never even dreamed of. All things that could be of use to Calliope.
And things they were refusing to utilize.
“I mean, we’ve called in whatever favors we have to track her phone, her vehicle, but she’s too smart for that.” Rowan’s mouth formed a stern line.
“She’s not going to let us help,” Kip added quietly. For once, there was no smile on the man’s usually jovial face.
He had the same expression Rowan wore. Dread. Fear. Resignation.
“I don’t give a fuck if she is going to let us or not.” I ran my hands through my hair, wanting to yank it out from the roots. “We are going to ensure that whoever the fuck she’s going up against isn’t going to kill her. Because she seemed convincedthat was a definite possibility the last time we spoke.” I hurled the words at the two men.
The last time. Fuck if it was going to be the last time I spoke to Calliope.
“I love you.”
Never had the words I longed to hear from her been so sour in the air. Because they were not spoken in surrender to us, to me, but in goodbye.
Both men winced when I mentioned Calliope’s death but quickly reapplied their masks. They were professionals.
“She can handle herself,” Kip proclaimed resolutely.
“You’re fuckingkiddingme!” I erupted, unable to keep my calm in front of two men I respected. Right then, I wanted to beat them into fucking pulp, even though they had years more training than me. At that stage, I felt I could take them.
“You’re going to leave her alone?” I spat the words, heavy with judgment. “She’s yoursister.”
“I’m well fucking aware.” Rowan’s nostrils flared, his quiet voice brimming with menace. “And I have a lifetime of experience and worry when it comes to Calliope. I have faith she’ll come home.”
His words sounded resolute, heavy with certainty, but I saw the doubt shadowing his eyes.
“Faith,” I scoffed. “I’m not pinning anything on faith when it comes to her.”
“You have no choice.” Kip clapped me on the shoulder, and it took everything in me not to throw a punch at him for touching me. “Trust me when I say both of us would move heaven and earth to be able to do something right now. But it’s not heaven or earth Calliope is facing right now. It’s a dangerous fucking underworld we weren’t aware she was tangled in until you told us.” His jaw flexed as I saw how much he cared about her and how powerless he also felt.