Page 82 of From Hell

“Clothes?” she repeats, not quite understanding.

“No discussion. You’re staying at mine until this is over.” I open the car door for her.

“Wait, I never agreed—”

“Either you stay, or I stalk you. Your choice.”

She shoots me a glare. “Jaxon, you can’t just…” But I’m no longer listening, my focus is solely on the men heading toward us—Shepherd’s faction, those not so loyal to my father. They wouldn’t think twice about disposing of Laine once they got their hands on her.

Adrenaline spikes, becoming red at the corners of my vision.

“Get in the car.”

“Jaxon?”

“Now, Laine.” My tone suggests it’s not up for discussion. She shuts up and climbs in the car as soon as she realizes that.

When we pull up outside her cottage, I turn off the engine and look at her, offering her her keys. “Grab what you need. Essentials. And something nice to wear. You have ten minutes.”

She narrows her eyes. “I’m not staying with you. Charlie is here. He needs feeding.”

Rage spills over my rough edges. “Who the fuck is Charlie?”

She shoots me a look. “My dad’s dog.”

“It’s not safe to stay here. Ask your father to come get him.”

She folds her arms across her chest. “Why isn’t it safe? You still haven’t told me.”

I exhale, considering what to tell her. The Lucians are an extremely private following. Not many know about us and our beliefs. “The Foundation is a front for an undisclosed organization of medical practitioners.”

Laine laughs, but it dies off when she sees my face and the lack of humor there.

“We have Sanctuaries in every major city, and members in every corner of the world, using our collective resources to research and fund unregulated medical advancements. My father is Archkey of the London Sanctuary and one of its founders. I’m the heir to his seat. If anything or anyone threatens the stability of our work, the organization will remove them.”

“You mean me. The organization will remove me.”

“Your visit to Max was a mistake. It put you on my father’s radar. Your house isn’t safe.” Once my father finds out she’s still alive, if he hasn’t found out already, he’ll send Shepherd.

I don’t tell her that Addison knows who she is and that she’s back. Her turning up out of the blue at Henry’s wake, with no wig or contacts, was a blatant message to the men she’s hunting, the ones who killed her friend. The ones the Ripper is expected to clean up after like a fucking maid.

She ingests all this with the barest flicker of the muscle in her jaw. “And staying with you is?”

“It’s the last place anyone would look, trust me.”

And the last place Addison would dare show his fucking face.

31

LAINE

The maître d’ shows us to our table. I’m tense while Jaxon holds me, making me walk beside him. Countless chandeliers hang from a midnight ceiling like stars in a crystal-studded universe. We reach a secluded table nestled against a curved wall. Draped around it is a swath of jet-black velvet fabric dotted with crystals, cascading to the floor, hiding us from the rest of the room and creating a small world where only our table exists.

Romantic.

If only I weren’t here to murder someone.

Since the shooting range, I’ve been staying with Jaxon. He’s made it pretty clear he can’t protect me if I go home or go to work and that it would be better for us to work together if I stayed in his mansion. I’m unsure if I should be flattered that he doesn’t want me to leave his side or annoyed that he won’t let me. He still has my keys. Although he doesn’t know I took a spare set when I collected things from my house.