up hope. As for my sister, I can’t apologize for her because I don’t understand what’s wrong with her. Because we weren’t all that close to begin with, I just can’t offer you any insight. I don’t know what causes a person to change their personality a hundred and eighty degrees seemingly overnight, but I really hope the police can find her and she can answer some questions.”
The parents across from me nod, faces drawn in grief and despair. We spend a few more minutes chatting about what the police have done so far, and I offer my future help if they want it. While I don’t want to get involved at all, it would look suspicious if I wasn’t helpful.
After another round of condolences, I tell them that I need to get back to work, and they thank me for my time. I toss my half-full cup of coffee in the trash, hitch my backpack up higher on my shoulder, and step outside where it has thankfully stopped spitting rain for the moment.
Turning left to head west, I make it no more than two steps before someone is fisting the back of my jacket and jerking me to a halt.
My hand reaches for my whip, but that wrist is caught in a hold like a vice grip, and I am slung around to face an enraged Carrick Byrne.
I brace, not for physical violence but for a tirade of curses and chastisements, as well as a few insults to my intellect I know I’m going to get.
Instead, in a voice that is so cold a shiver moves up my spine, he says, “Let’s go.”
Then his hand is at my elbow, and he’s walking me with determination back to his condo where I’m not so sure he’s not going to kill me.
CHAPTER 10
Finley
Admittedly, I’m scared.
We enter the lobby, the doorman’s eyes widening with surprise when he sees how Carrick is marching me forward. Lucien is there, not looking worried or relieved but guarded.
Carrick merely snarls. “I’ll deal with you later. Leave.”
Lucien nods and heads for the door. I don’t dare look over my shoulder, just let Carrick propel me right into the elevator, where he keeps my elbow firmly in his grip, despite the fact I have nowhere to run.
Never once in all the times Carrick has been mad at or frustrated by me has he held it in like this. I’ve never encountered such frigid silence, and within those vibes, I can feel the underlying fury emanating from him. I’m so attuned to it I feel nauseated.
Only once do I attempt to apologize. “Carrick, I—”
“Shut up,” he growls so sinisterly that my mouth snaps closed, and I grind down on my teeth to keep them from chattering.
When the elevator doors whoosh open, Zaid is there pacing. He whirls around, his expression filled with worry. He opens his mouth to say something, but Carrick cuts him off.
“Get out.” It’s said quietly, which is worse than the way he growled at Lucien.
Without hesitation or question, without any concern Carrick might kill me, Zaid enters the elevators, and the doors close.
The second we’re alone, Carrick gives me a slight push forward toward the short end of the free-standing fireplace, releasing his grip on me. I whirl, only to find him right there in front of me.
My inclination is to back up, but that’s immediately halted by him fisting the front of my shirt in an iron grip and hauling me up to my tiptoes.
He dips his head and lets his full fury release.
Carrick doesn’t yell. No, he thunders. “How could you be so fucking stupid as to leave this place alone? I don’t know how many times I need to impress upon you the danger you face, but, apparently, your skull is obviously thicker than concrete because it’s not penetrating. You not only put yourself in danger, but you also put the fucking planet in danger, which speaks to your inherent selfishness, which is only outmatched by your stupidity.”
“I am not stupid,” I yell back, the constant stream of insults too much for me to take.
I note the red in Carrick’s pupils and it’s not the hazy film I’d seen before, but it turns fiery. To my surprise, Carrick actually shakes me hard enough to rattle my head. Putting his face even closer to mine, he snarls, “You are, without a doubt, the most idiotic person I’ve ever encountered in my almost five thousand years of living.”
Okay, that’s overboard. Surely, he’s met someone