was definitely curling up in a dark room and hiding under the covers until I figured out what the hell to do.
O’Brien nodded back and wrote something in her notebook. “Okay. Let’s start with when you arrived at the sanctuary yesterday. Walk me through what happened.”
I stared at the coffee table between us instead of trying to meet her intense gaze. “I wasn’t supposed to be working, but Geordie called me in to handle a delivery, and...”
She interrupted me occasionally to ask for more details, like Geordie’s full name and how long he’d worked there. I didn’t mind the delay. I didn’t want to think about what happened in the kitchen. I didn’t want to have to describe that. My heart pounded faster as I described everything leading up to it, though I slowed down a lot as it got closer. I curled up tighter on the couch, drawing my legs up and wrapping my arms around my knees, wanting to hide behind a cushion or something solid. I couldn’t forget that some of Bridger’s guys still lurked outside, trying to decide if I was a threat to their boss.
O’Brien studied me with her head tilted, weighing and measuring, and eventually she attempted a smile. “Why don’t we pause for a second? Maybe Mercy can make us some coffee.”
I didn’t want coffee. I wanted to hide. But I forced myself to nod and agree, all the while wondering where Dodge was.
Chapter 20
Dodge
He followed Todd through the kitchen to the back of the house and the external entrance to the storm cellar. Dodge didn’t like leaving Persephone there in the living room with the nosy detective, who would no doubt ask hard questions that would be difficult for the architect to answer. Not that he could have stood by while O’Brien caused Persephone distress.
Todd jerked his chin at the doors to the storm cellar. “Silas is down there. Evershaw gave him a few tranquilizers when we got back from the restaurant, so he’d be relaxed in case Deirdre needs to go down there and interact with him. He’s thinking that any spells she has to cast might not be... comfortable for Silas, and if they backfire, he could lose his mind entirely.”
Dodge turned around to go back to the living room to protect Persephone. “Then why the fuck do you want me down there? I can’t do shit about –“
“O’Brien has to talk to her alone,” Todd said, catching Dodge’s arm to keep him from storming back through the house. “You can’t be in there.”
“Fuck that,” he snapped. “She’s going to upset Persephone. There’s no reason.”
“Dude,” Todd said. He folded his arms over his chest and leveled a no-bullshit look at him. “You can’t interfere with the detective questioning Persephone. You’re not going to. O’Brien isn’t going to torture her, man. It’ll be an hour or two and then you can go back to following her around with puppy-dog eyes.”
Dodge growled and clenched his fists. “That isn’t –“
“You’re hard up,” the other man said. His eyes flashed gold for a moment, and a hint of darkness lingered in his expression – enough that Dodge’s wolf took notice. Todd hadn’t found his mate and instead had to watch as first Evershaw, then Henry, found theirs. Maybe Dodge, too. “Everyone can see it. But she’s human and she’s having a hell of a time with all of this. You need to prepare yourself for her walking away. If she’s your mate, it’s better that you figure it out and talk to her about it sooner rather than later. Don’t use this as another way to torture yourself.”
“I’m not torturing myself,” Dodge said. “She’s not interested. It’s fine. Just a little infatuation. It’ll pass.”
Todd’s eyebrows arched. “Bullshit. You can tell yourself that, you can tell her that, but everyone else sees the truth. Come up with a plan, Dodge. Figure out how to talk to her about this shit. Don’t use her to punish yourself for whatever you did in the past.”
Dodge tensed, eyes narrowed as he glared at the other man. Todd didn’t know what he was talking about. Dodge didn’t need to find new ways to punish himself for his previous life, for all the things he’d done or failed to do. His nightmares did the job well enough.
His silence must have spoken volumes. Todd’s lips thinned as he studied him, then the second-in-command nodded. “Go talk to Silas. Maybe he’ll give you some advice.”
Dodge growled but Todd had already moved past