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He made a sound somewhere between exasperation and disapproval. “Have you ever been cursed before?”
“No.”
He covered my palm before meeting my gaze again. “It always hurts.”
We were quiet for a while. He opened his mouth to speak again, then closed it. I could see the conflict in his face, the apology forming there, and a new sense of alarm began churning in my gut. Pulling my hand back, I scooted away from him, trying to put as much distance between us as I could.
I was right, he was stuck. But I didn’t need to be as well.
“You’re not going to let me go, are you?”
There was a flicker of pain in his eyes, and he glanced away.
“You’re a constable! You can’t do this.”
He closed his eyes and clenched his fists. “I know.”
My legs were shaky, but I stood, letting the bed form a barrier between us. “I demand you take me home right now.”
I wasn’t certain what I intended to do when I got home. Bess wouldn’t know the first thing about removing a runestone, but we would think of something. We always did. Graysons were good at solving problems. Surely someone in our social circle was powerful enough to reverse this stone. Or at least identify it. Maker knew the pawn shop was full of shady individuals on a daily basis, surely one of them could help.
Derrick’s voice was quiet. “Nora…”
“I have nothing to do with this.”
“I understand your position, I do,” Derrick said. “If I had a choice, I wouldn’t be involved either. But they are threatening my mother and I need time to see her safe.”
For an instant he looked so fragile it hurt. This strong, capable man who growled a pack of wolves out the door was pleading with me. Which was so unfair I wanted to scream, but I closed my eyes and counted to five, forcing myself to breathe until my heart steadied and I could speak without my voice trembling.
“Even if I wanted to help you, I can’t perform counseling on your cousin. At this point, I lack the objectivity to do them justice.”
Derrick shook his head. “None of the men outside that door care about your objectivity. They only care about delivering a counselor to Maureen, and you’re the one they picked.”
“No, I’m the one you picked.”
“I would apologize if I actually thought it would help,” he said through his teeth. He nodded at where I clutched my hand to my chest. “That runestone needs the help of another warlock. I know someone who can help, but I need you to play along until my mother is safe.”
My voice rose, “And now you’re blackmailing me?”
“You’re not leaving me much of a choice!”
I glared at him. “You’ve got all the choices here, Constable King.”
His fist came down hard on the bedside table, cracking the wood and stunning me into silence. For a fraught moment I feared I had broken that remarkable self-control, but then he breathed and straightened, meeting my gaze with an expression like granite.
“I am well aware that I will be out of a job once all this is over,” he said with deadly calm. “But I will not apologize for protecting my family. I don’t expect you to see the counseling through. I only need twenty-four hours for my friends to get my mother into hiding. Do you understand?”
I bristled. “How do I know you weren’t there when they threw this runestone at me? This could all be some act to try and win my trust.”
He shook his head. “Maker in Heaven. You are beyond paranoid.”
“Currently I’m being abducted. It’s not paranoia when you’re being held against your will, it’s good sense.”
Derrick rubbed his face and muttered something under his breath. Then he lowered his hand and glowered at me. “Whether you believe me or not doesn’t matter. We’re here now and my cousins aren’t going to let you go. Either you come with us, talk to Delilah, and get the family nod of approval to go, or you end up dead in the bay outside. So I suggest you take a deep breath and try not to bite the one hand in the room trying to help you. Understand?”
An involuntary shiver sped up my spine at the mention of the bay. The walls of the grungy room seemed somehow closer and for several seconds I fought to breathe.
I should have walked away the moment he mentioned the Leslies.
