Page 109 of The Devil's Trials

I don’t answer, though the jump in my pulse is telling enough, and the smirk on his face tells me he fucking knows it.

“Are you hungry?” he asks next.

I want to say no. Tell him to go away. Because there’s no chance of figuring out what’s going on in my head with him so close. There’s a table filling the space between him and me, but I still feel himeverywhere. My stomach grumbles anyway, threatening to make a liar out of me if I tell him no. I was on my way to get breakfast when Blake appeared, and I’m not sure how long ago that was.

“I guess,” I finally say. “What time is it, anyway?”

He checks his watch. “Eight thirty.”

I nod slowly, my anxiety climbing higher as I consider what happened when Harper woke up and I was gone. “How long have I been here? Harper is probably freaking out. I need to—”

“Take a breath,” Xander cuts in smoothly. “You’ve been here less than a day. Blake picked you up this morning, and Harper is heading back to Seattle to the safety of headquarters until she’s able to come here.”

I think his words are meant to make me feel better, but they don’t stop the tingling at the back of my neck or the sense of doom crowding mythoughts. I want to ask him if Harper is involved in my being here. If she accepted the position on his council. But the way my heartbeat is thumping in my throat makes it too hard to form the words.

“Come on.” He stands and offers me his hand. “I’ll make you dinner.”

My eyes drop to his outstretched hand, and I hesitate. I should stand and walk past him, but the urge to feel his touch takes control and has me sliding my hand into his as I get up from the chair.

We walk out of the bedroom and downstairs to the main floor. My stomach dips when I spot the front door, and Xander squeezes my hand, stealing my attention.

“I know you want to try running,” he murmurs, his thumb brushing over the back of my hand. “It’s in your best interest not to.”

I exhale through my nose. “My best interest or yours?” I throw at him. “And don’t you have more important things to do besides play house with your would-be soulmate?” I stop walking the second the words are out of my mouth, pulling my hand free from his.

Xander moves to stand in front of me, his face filled with an expression I can’t begin to decipher right now. “I wondered when that would come up again.”

I shake my head, wishing I could take back what I said as my heart thumps in my chest.

“You’d like to talk about it, then?”

“I really don’t.”

He cocks his head to the side, his eyes searching mine. “And yet, you brought it up unprompted.”

“I don’t want to talk about it, Xander,” I snap. “Let’s just go make dinner and pretend this whole situation isn’t fucked up.”

“If that’s what you want,” he offers.

I choke on a humorless laugh. “Don’t pretendanyof this is what Iwant. We’ve already established that I don’t want to be here.”

Xander nods but doesn’t say anything.

“People are going to wonder where I am. My dad, Noah. Someone will report my absence from training to the organization, and you’ll be the first suspect. It won’t take long before—”

“There’s a nationwide hunt for me?” he offers with a faint smirk.

I scowl at his blasé tone. “There are demon hunters in Canada too, you know.”

He shrugs. “They won’t find this place, Camille. No one will, which is precisely the point.”

Evidently he decides I’m not going to make a break for it, because he keeps walking, leaving me staring after him.

My stocking feet are quiet on the hardwood even as I stomp down the hall after him. I catch up as he reaches a set of double doors and opens them to a combined kitchen and dining room.

I scan the space, immediately noticing a guy standing at the restaurant-grade stove with his back to us. He’s stirring something in a massive pot, and whatever it is smells divine.

He turns, wiping his hands on the apron tied around his waist, and offers us a polite smile. “Good evening.” He walks around the kitchen island and comes toward us, his pale blue eyes focused on me. “You must be Camille.”

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