She felt her heart racing in her chest now, and this time, it wasn’t from arousal. It was from horror. Terror.
She could feel herself shaking her head, feel the knowledge burning into her soul as surely as the mating heat burned through her body.
“Turning back, Ms. Hawkins?”
She turned with a gasp at the sound of Dog’s rough voice.
Eyes widening, she watched as he stepped from the doorway of one of the offices. Dressed in black leather, his silver and black hair framing his savage features, he looked like a demon come to collect souls.
Was her soul the one he had chosen? Or merely her life?
“You were supposed to meet me outside,” she said, feeling the fear as it rose inside her with a vengeance.
“So I was.” His brow arched with curious amusement. “And you were supposed to actually step outside that door thirty-five seconds ago. You’re late.”
“So I am.” She stepped back as he moved a step forward.
What had she done? She had known even as she stepped from that elevator that she was making a mistake. That she should have never agreed to this meeting. Now she could feel that certainty to the very marrow of her bones.
She should have never allowed herself to be drawn away from Cabal so effectively. She should have fought this out with him rather than trying to solve things the same way she had done all her life. Her way. Silently. Stubbornly.
Douglas had once told her that her stubbornness was going to cause him to kill her. Maybe, in a way, he had always been right.
“So much fear.” Dog scoffed mockingly as he watched her, his head tilted to the side as one thumb rested just inside the pocket of his snug leather pants. “You should have thought of the wisdom of this meeting before arranging it perhaps.”
No shit.
“I’m considering it now,” she retorted. “Let me pass, Dog.”
“Going to run back to your little Bengal then?” He grinned as he asked the question. “Tell me, Cassa, have you figured it out yet?”
Had she figured it out? She had a lot of suspicions and a lot of questions. But she had a feeling that Dog didn’t have as many answers as he thought he had.
“What’s there to figure out?” she questioned him instead. “Cabal will kill both of us if I leave here with you.”
“Well, he’d kill one of us anyway.” His lips quirked in a rueful smile. “Somehow, I doubt you’d be so lucky as to escape that easily though.”
Somehow, she guessed he was right.
“We’re not leaving the inn,” he finally told her as he glanced up the hall before turning back to her. “I have no desire to end my existence quite yet, despite repeated attempts by others to hurry it along.”
Cassa swallowed tightly as she stared back at him and wished to hell she had stayed in her room.
“What was I supposed to have figured out by now?” She returned to his previous question.
He shook his head slowly. “Mordecai seemed pretty confident that you were smarter than you’re letting on,” he sighed. “Tell me, Cassa, haven’t you figured out yet why the killer drew you here? Why your Bengal refuses to allow you to be a part of what he’s involved in?”
“Dog.”
Cassa started, swinging around as Cabal stepped into the back hallway.
Talk about being caught between a rock and a hard place.
Her gaze swung between the two men as the eerie sense of danger began to wrap around her.
“What was I supposed to figure out?” she asked the Coyote as she ignored her mate. Ignored the man she loved and tried to ignore the suspicion that was beginning to make her sick inside.
“Drop this, Dog,” Cabal warned quietly. “It’s gone far enough.”