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This was not good. It was taking all my control to stay calm as I walked next to my father. Just like humans, our heartbeats reacted to emotions, and there was no part of me that wanted him to know how much I did not want him anywhere near Kali.
We were nearly back to Impulse, and I could tell even from down the street that Gia had cleared everyone out. There were no lights shining out of the windows. Which meant Amaros had stopped here before coming to the beach to look for me.
“She’s beautiful.” Amaros glanced at me, a proud smile on his face. “I was beginning to wonder if you’d ever use the necklace.”
“Of course I would,” I replied, keeping my voice steady. “It’s what you asked of me.”
My stomach was violently churning with every word I spoke. I needed to get Kali far away from him as soon as I could. None of this would end well. To Amaros, humans were beneath him. To be used for whatever vampires wanted. A meal. Sex. Forced labor. Kali would be no different.
I pulled the door open, letting him go first before entering Impulse. I spotted Viggo at the bar, swallowing a drink that I was sure wasn’t his first one of the night. While Amaros greeted Gia, he shot me a look of apology. Not that it was his fault. He would have given me a warning if he’d been able to. Which meant our father had traveled back with my brothers. The question was: why did he come all the way out here?
“I hear you have a Clover here,” Amaros stated, releasing Gia from a hug.
My heart skipped, despite how much I was attempting to control it. Viggo pushed off the bar, his usual grin on his face.
“Yeah, in the back room,” he said, nodding toward the hall. “We’ve been waiting for the hawthorn to leave his system.”
I calmed down slightly at that. He didn’t mean Kali. He was talking about Tim. Of course he was. Fuck me, I was on edge. Gia pushed a full shot glass of whiskey toward me, and I grabbed it, tipping back my head and swallowing it in one gulp. I was going to need at least five more to calm the nerves ripping through me.
But they only got worse when the doors opened, and Pax entered with Kali. Her eyes searched the room, her gaze stopping on my father for a moment before landing on me.
Her face revealed absolutely nothing. No fear. Or hate. Even though I knew how much she loathed Amaros, just like all humans did. Her eyes held no depth right now. It was like she just shut everything off. The last time I’d seen that look on her face was the first night I’d met her and she pretended to be a vampire. That time, she had cracked when Viggo appeared and her fear betrayed her.
I really hoped she could hold it together longer than that. If Amaros smelled fear on her, he’d feed on it.
“Take me back there. I want to talk to him,” Amaros ordered, his eyes lingering on Kali in a way that made heat prickle my skin. I didn’t even notice that my hands curled into fists until Viggo nudged me in the shoulder.
“Kali, go upstairs?—”
“No, I want her to join us.” My father cut me off with a cruel grin. “She is yours, isn’t she, Zan?”
“Yes,” I answered with no hesitation.
He nodded. “Then we have no reason to worry. None of our secrets will get out.”
Kali’s face twitched, her eyes darting back to me, full of burning questions. I barely looked at her, not wanting her to push for answers. I already knew one thing.
By the end of the night, she was going to be right back to fucking hating me again.
Viggo led the way, and our dad followed while I moved toward Kali, who hadn’t moved from the entrance. She was completely still as I approached, and from the way her jaw stayed clenched, I didn’t need to remind her that anything she said would be overheard.
“Where are we going?” she asked, tensing when I put my hand on her lower back.
“To talk to the Clover.”
Her steps faltered at my answer, and I pushed her gently to keep her moving. She glanced ahead to see if Amaros was looking, and when she saw his back to us, she turned her face to me. My pulse stuttered at the blatant terror deep in her eyes. It wasn’t the emotion that shocked me—it was the fact that she was opening up to me about it, even in silence. She trusted me. Maybe only slightly. But still, it was something. And it was about to be shattered. I knew my father well enough that I could guess how the conversation would go tonight.
“Zan,” she muttered under her breath. “I want to go upstairs.”
“No,” I said curtly. Amaros was listening to every word. Right now, I had to be nearly as cautious as Kali. Which was something I wasn’t used to. Before I met her, there was never a reason to lie to my father about anything important. But with her, it was different.
We entered the room, and I could tell even by looking at the back of his head that Amaros was not happy. Kali froze in the doorway, and I pushed her inside the room far enough to close the door behind us.
“Let me guess,” Amaros drawled, glancing at the twins. “Pax put him in here.”
“No, I did,” I spoke up firmly, not letting my brother take the fall for this.
Amaros turned around, surprise covering his features. Pax was the son who wore his emotions on his sleeve. The one who had empathy for humans. Seeing Tim unhurt with a chain only around his ankle would have been something Pax normally would have done. But I’d done it. For Kali. Though I was going to leave that part out.
