Page 151 of Midnight Curfew

I open my mouth and close it again, water pooling in my eyes.

Finally, I can’t hold it back anymore. “I don’t want anyone else to touch him!”

My fists are balled, every limb tight, as the realization that I’m falling for him hits me.

I’ve never felt this. Ever.

I can’t touch him again.

I can never forgive what he did to Liv, and I can never let the Ameses into our lives in any real way.

I can’t touch him again.

He should sleep with someone else. So should I.

But I backtrack, murmuring, “Don’t kill him.” I shake my head, my eyes on the floor and the bronze crucifix looming overhead. “Don’t kill him.”

I didn’t mean to say it.

Retreating, I leave the church and crash in my classroom till six.

22

Callum

Send him my way…

Hours later, and his words still play in my head. I think Dallas fucking Jaeger has had enough to eat.

My footfalls pound the treadmill, the stock exchanges playing on all four monitors in our home gym. Shanghai and Tokyo closed while Dallas and I were in the Ministry office, and I try to concentrate on the Nasdaq, but everything hurts.

He went too hard last night, and I don’t know why I let him.

But he wanted me to be a piece of meat, and I needed the reminder that that’s all I am to him. I could see it in his eyes when we were facing each other. It got too intimate, and I felt it, too. I’m glad we’re on the same page about one thing.

Glancing at the time on the treadmill, I read 8:09 a.m. Where the hell is Sophia? I could’ve slept longer, but I’d texted Barnes last night to grab her early. It doesn’t take that long to get back from the Bay.

I should’ve gone to get her myself. I don’t need the driver today, and making him come in just for that feels stupid.

But with the curfew, it’s not wise for me to venture over there alone. If they decided to kill me, my body would never be found. I’m not sure they wouldn’t do it, so that’s reason enough to give them a wide berth on their own turf right now.

There are many stories about the Jaeger family, but a St. Carmen doctor is still missing after fifteen years, disappearing around the same time one of Dallas’s siblings went missing for eighteen hours. And that’s the story I believe.

Some versions say it was Iron who was taken, some say it was Liv, but we all know what happened to Robert Stanton, even if we can’t prove it.

The police don’t really want to solve the case anyway. The Jaegers did them a service, as they see it.

They’re more than capable of ridding themselves of problems, if they’re pushed far enough. Best not to dangle myself from a hook in their backyard.

“Morning!” a cheerful voice sings.

Looking up, I watch Sophia leap over the treadmill, all smiles.

Taking my towel, I wipe the sweat off my face and the back of my neck. “How was your night?”

It occurs to me too late that I’m shirtless and Dallas left marks on my neck and chest.

“It was nice.” She steps from one foot to the other, shifting her weight. “They had a big breakfast. There was Mr. and Mrs. Jaeger.” She starts listing off the family on her fingers. “The police officer—Army—and another one with all these tattoos. I forget his name.”