Page 95

Tonight, the townhouse is under heavy security from the guards. I’d have preferred to keep this place and him hidden, but right now, we have no idea what we’re dealing with, and the safer Alex is, the better.

An hour later, Alex is adequately fed and hydrated and I’m lying next to him in the darkness of my bedroom, listening to his steady breathing for anything unusual. He scoots up next to me, an arm draping over my torso.

“Rowan?” he says quietly, like he’s afraid to wake me up.

“Yeah?”

“I liked what you called me.”

I frown, turning slightly to face him. “What babe? I thought you hated pet names.”

“I do,” he whispers, and I can almost make out his smile in the dark. “But I think I like them when they come from you.”

He leans over and plants a quick kiss on my lips and for the first time in a while, I feel like my heart has forgotten how to work and my brain has turned into mush. If I wasn’t screwed before, I’m definitely screwed now.

Oh, fuck.

Halle arrives early in the morning, barely waiting for the door to open before rushing past me to Alex. She wraps her arms around him, her voice breaking. “I was so scared.”

“I’m okay,” Alex assures her, his hand running gently down her back. I wince when I realise how tightly she’s holding him, but Alex doesn’t complain.

“Promise?” She asks.

“Yeah. Promise. Rowan was there.”

Something twists inside me. My heart, I realise. It’s been doing a lot of that since I admitted my feelings.

This morning, Alex looks better—less pale than last night—but the evidence of what happened to him is still glaring. His bruised wrists and the dark mark blooming on his cheek make it hard to look at him without wanting to march to Sying and end Kane’s miserable existence.

Halle pulls back and glances at me, her sharp eyes scanning. “I drew some cards for you. The Wheel of Fortune and The Chariot.”

I stare at her blankly. “I don’t know what that means.”

“She does that,” Alex says softly, a faint smile on his lips. He looks at Halle like she hung the stars in the sky. A strange, dark feeling springs up so fast inside mee, green and ugly.

Relax, Rowan.

“Tarot cards. It’s her thing,” Alex continues, pulling me back.

“Okay…” I trail, but she is already speaking.

“The Chariot was upright, but The Wheel of Fortune was reversed.”

“I still don’t—”

“It could mean some changes coming, but they don’t have to be bad,” Halle continues pointedly.

I glance at Alex, hoping he might translate, but all he does is shrug, clearly accustomed to cryptic fortunes.

“Thank you?” I try.

She nods. “And thank you for finding him.”

And then she pulls Alex into another too-tight hug that makes me involuntarily wince again. I fight the urge to tell her to let go. I don’t think either of them would be very happy with me.

“I can’t believe Kane would do this,” she whispers, her voice breaking. “I could kill him.”

You and me both, Halle.