Page 144 of Black Castle

Her breath catches. “Grandma?”

Carla lies by the couch, eerily still. Sleeping or—

“Don’t worry.” A deep voice cuts through the silence.

Her stomach drops.

Zev.

He sits perched on a stool in the kitchen, stirring something in a cup, gaze eerily calm.

“She’ll be up before you know it.”

He said he would be back in three hours. It has barely been an hour since she left the house.

Vivienne’s pulse thunders. “What did you—”

“Here’s the real question though.” He stands, taking his time crossing the room, his presence suffocating. “Where have you been? What did you go there for?”

He stands before her, his presence looming, gaze sharp enough to slice through her flesh. “And who were you with?”

“I—I didn’t—”

His lips curve into a smirk. He leans in, inhaling the scent clinging to her skin.

Then his jaw clenches. He leans back, setting his mug on the coffee table with gentle precision.

“You were with another man.” It isn’t a question. “And you don’t just smell like him, you reek of sex.”

Her body trembles. She doesn’t know what to say. Doesn’t know how to lie convincingly.

“You had only one job.” His words slice like a blade, the intensity of his suppressed rage sending a shiver down her spine. “Don’t fucking let another man touch. It was literally so fucking simple.”

He drags in a sharp breath, his muscles taut as he slips his hands into his pockets, a vein sprain across his jaw.

“Another man fucked you, ladybird.” There’s a gentle quiver in his voice, not of vulnerability, but of lethality. “I’m not very excited about that. And do you know what happens when something doesn’t excite me?”

A flash of something dark and deadly flashes in his eyes.

“I do bad, really, really bad things.”

Then he turns, walking toward the exit, the door slamming shut behind him.

She rushes to the kitchen at the same time the sound of an engine roars up the street. The black car stops right in front of him. A soldier steps out immediately, pulling open the door for him, and he slips in, leaving behind the fear he has so carefully wrapped her in.

Chapter Forty-four

The Omniscient

Thirty minutes later Vivienne is still pacing her room, her phone clutched in a white-knuckled grip, teeth gnawing at the raw skin of her fingernails.

Her heart jackhammers, her head swims, and a cold sweat clings to her back. Every call she makes to Ian redirects to voicemail. Every failed attempt feeds her terror. How will she reach him? How does she tell him to run? How will she save him from that monster on a rampage?

Zev.

His name slithers into her thoughts. She has been so fixated on the prey that she forgot to track the predator. If she can locate Zev, she can figure out how much time Ian has left…if he has any at all.

With a swipe of her thumb, she dials.

---