I’m going to get someone killed while I’m trying to decide which truth to believe.” Neither man answered, because it was hard to argue with the truth.

Desperation and determination goaded me into a decision. I met Wolf’s gaze and

held it. “Find out what that bastard did to me.”

Wolf’s eyes searched mine. Whatever he was looking for he found because

he looked to the man behind me. “Take her to the house. I’ll meet up as soon as

I’m finished here.”

“We’ll see you there.” Kayden unwrapped his arm and took my hand. I

curled my fingers with his as we headed out.

“Cyn?” Wolf called.

I stopped and turned back.

“Be very certain you want to do this.”

I stalled at his ominous warning. “You’ll answer my questions before you

start?”

He gave me a solemn nod.

“Okay,” I tightened my hold on Kayden’s hand. “We’ll be waiting.”

THE SAFE HOUSE turned out to be a 1970s ranch-style home that sat on a couple

of acres of what was considered horse property in the east valley. As unimposing

as the exterior appeared, the interior contained all the amenities of a business hotel—comfortable, but bland and uniform. Kayden came out of a back bedroom

where he’d taken my duffle bag and gave me a critical once over. “Why don’t you go lay down until Wolf gets here?”

Now that I had committed to hosting a psychic free-for-all inside my head, I

was having second thoughts. And third. And fourth. Sleep was out of the

question. I rubbed my arms, even though I wasn’t cold. “I’d rather just wait until

Wolf gets here.”

“Fine.” He walked into the kitchen, leaving me in the living room to pace the beige carpet. The sounds of cupboards opening and closing emerged from the kitchen. They were soon followed by the dull clunk of a pan hitting a stovetop.

Curious, I went to the kitchen’s entryway. “What are you doing?”

He didn’t turn from the stove. “What does it look like?”

“Cooking?”

This time, he did turn, just to give me a mock salute. “Give the woman a prize.” He returned to his prep.

I leaned against the edge of the wall. “Why?”

His voice rose over the whir of the can opener. “When did you eat last?”

I opened my mouth, only to close it when I couldn’t really remember.

He dumped the contents into the pan and glanced up from the stove. “Yeah,

that’s what I thought. We have thirty minutes to burn, might as well eat something. Hope you like chili.”

“Chili works.”

I watched him cook and realized this was the first patch of peace we had since he barged into my cabin. There was no one shooting at us, no one chasing

us, it was just me and him. The craziness would start all over once Wolf arrived.

I wasn’t sure I would get a better chance to actually talk to him, because Kelsey

had been right. My ignoring him for months had been the coward’s way of dealing with things.

Life, especially considering the last few days, was too damn short. Before Flash’s death, Kayden and I had danced around the possibilities. Maybe it was time to find out if he would really be there before I hit the ground. Better yet, would he want to be there? Was I just reaching for something to fill the hole of Kelsey’s death? Then there was the real question haunting me. If Ellery hadn’t been hunting me, would he have ever come back for me?

“Out with it, Cyn.”

Startled out of my thoughts, I looked up. “Out with what?”

“Whatever it is that has you looking for the nearest escape.” He pulled out two bowls and started dishing up. “I like chasing as much as the next man, but

really, I’m not in the mood right now.” He handed me a bowl.

I took it and went to the table. “You don’t chase.”

“I chased you.”

“That’s not how I remember it.” I pulled a chair out from the table, sat, and

then waited for him to join me.

He didn’t say anything until he was settled across from me. He opened his mouth to say something, but grimaced and shook his head. He picked up a spoon

a stirred his chili.

When he stayed quiet, I prompted, “What?”