&nbs
p; Something pinged around that beautiful brain because his forehead hadn’t lost its deep furrow and he still wouldn’t meet my eyes. “Did you do this?”
Wow.
Something molten burned in my gut, spreading to my fingers, leaving them tingling.
“I’m going to give you a moment to retract that question.” I kept my voice low and minus the string of profanity I wanted to insert.
He threw up his arms. “What am I supposed to think? Not twenty-four hours after you join the team, my inside contact is dead.”
I stood and let out a long exhale. That yoga looked good right now. It might save me from throwing something at his face.
“And how would I have contacted this person? Carrier pigeon? I don’t have any information, nor any actual names. I must be pretty damn good to have murdered someone from inside my fancy cage here. Especially since you kidnapped me! I didn’t come looking for you. I have an ego but orchestrating what you are suggesting would be a damn miracle.”
I stormed out of the room and right out the front door. Fuck them and fuck this job. I didn’t need his money or his super hot body or his suspicion.
I walked down the long driveway to a wrought-iron gate twice my height. It remained shut. A call box sat just inside the bars.
I lifted the phone and yelled into the receiver. “Let me out or I swear I will climb over this gate, break my arm, and then sue your ass when I make it home.”
A buzz was my only response, and the gate slowly opened. I dropped the receiver and squeezed out before the gates were all the way parted.
The driveway continued, flanked on either side by rolling lawns. A forest dotted off in the distance. I didn’t know how I would get home, but it was all I wanted right now.
A black sedan crawled up behind me, and I stepped off the gravel driveway to glare at the occupant, no doubt Fin, who couldn’t bother to walk the four hundred yards to speak to me.
A guard rolled down the driver’s side window and waved to the back. “I’ve been ordered to take you home.”
Good.
“Thank you,” I told him and climbed into the car.
Nothing had changed for me. I was still going after the Black Mage. Unfortunately though, I no longer had a powerful Fae on my side.
I shrugged. I’d been alone half my life now.
What else was new?
Chapter Twelve
I didn’t have many regrets in my life. I’d learned when I made a mistake it was best to acknowledge it, learn from it, and move on. And yet, I couldn’t get Fin out of my mind. Or the few measly hours I thought I might finally exact revenge for my parents’ murder.
For a brief, perfect moment, I’d felt hope. Something the Black Mage stripped me of as a child.
Back in my apartment, a hut compared to Fin’s sprawling estate, I needed to come to terms with my decision to leave. Even worse, my bag with all my Black Mage notes was still there.
A few days ago, I’d wanted to start over; now I had my chance.
After I cleaned, I fell straight into bed. In the morning, everything seemed clear: I needed to rebuild my missing notes.
I cleaned off my desk, tossing a couple Coke cans and a few sandwich wrappers in the bin. With a clean slate, I could recreate what I’d compiled in the files in my bag.
I placed a blank composition book in the center of my desk, a black ball-point pen beside it, but all I could do was stare at them.
Starting over sounded simple enough, but the act of doing it made me want to puke. If I pulled on my big girl panties and asked Fin to give me my stuff, I might not have to.
That idea also made me want to puke.