Page 33 of Locke 2

“Over a year ago”

“A deal’s a deal.”

I shook my head. “Are you not listening to me? There’s a boy that disappeared from this town, Locke.”

“That has nothing to do with me.”

“It has everything to do with you!”

He was back to ice, his eyes chilling me as he retorted, “And because I disappeared once, too, you think I’ll feel tethered to this boy somehow?”

“You might not feel tethered to that boy, but you’re still tethered to the past. It’s why you hunt your abusers down, isn’t it? For your revenge.”

“Kali,” he said in warning. “I didn’t come here to play hero. I came here for you.”

“I’m not going to Blackwater!”

“We made a deal—”

“Fuck the deal, this is bigger than us! It’s bigger than you and your revenge. Are you so unfeeling that you can’t spare a single thought of a little boy trapped somewhere—”

“You don’t know that he’s trapped,” he cut in, moving to me again, his patience leaching out of him. “He’s got a drunk mom that fucked with the wrong people and now she’s fled town, and that’s unfortunate for him, but there’s nothing I can do about it, Kali. I’m not that kind of man you want me to be, but you knew that.”

I took a large step away from him, glowering. “But you are that man. It’s why you put these monsters in the ground, isn’t it? It’s why you freed your friend out of prison. Youdocare.”

“I care for what’s mine.”

“Me, you mean?”

“You,” he confirmed. “Only you. From the start.”

I slapped a hand to my chest. “What about whatIcare about?”

If he was as emotionless as he wanted everyone to believe, what I cared about would mean nothing to him. But I’d seen glimpses in him. I heard him chanting my name in a dark room. I felt his touches growing tender. I’d seen the desire and want in his gaze to know it wasn’t just about him.

It was why I had to agree to that damn deal. I wanted to run because the feelings he put in me terrified me. We had somehow connected in ways I didn’t realise would follow me through distance and time. I couldn’t shake the man, and now that he was here, I didn’t want to, and it terrified me all over again. Made the itch to run grow tenfold, but I bottled it down because it wasn’t about me, or us.

My words annoyed him. There was no magical breakthrough, just mere exhaustion. He looked like he wanted to strangle me. He took a step toward me, raising his hand like he just might. I stood my ground, peering up at him with defiant eyes. He brought his hand down and turned his back to me. I watched as he ran a hand through his hair, his body tensing, but the rage wasn’t there. Just defeat as his shoulders slumped. Thinking, he sighed long and slow.

Finally, he turned to me and said, “I can look into him, Kali.”

My heart jumped.

“Find him,” I demanded, adamantly.

“I’ll find him,” he returned, nodding. “But I’m taking you back to Blackwater—”

“No!” I took another large step away from him. “If you take me back to Blackwater, I’llhidefrom you again.”

He paused, his eyes narrowing on me. Yes, I had admitted it. I hadn’t run. I hid. Fine. I was willing to admit it, anything, for this.

“This is bigger than us,” I implored now. “Bigger than you. This is a boy that we can save.”

“You’re so certain he disappeared.”

“Because a man took him,” I said, voice cracking.

“How do you know that?” he questioned.

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