Stubborn bitch, I thought rather cruelly.
I couldn’t force Candi to do anything, though. Her will was her own. Though I was disappointed, I knew when a battle couldn’t be fought anymore. I wouldn’t push her boundaries the way that Alvin had pushed mine time and time again.
Ryder’s phone buzzed in his pocket. I lifted a brow, surprised that he had it turned on. For the longest time, he’d kept it off so that his brother wouldn’t be able to track him. What had changed?
After checking the number on the screen, Ryder quietly excused himself. Before leaving, he spared one last look back. The dark glare of warning that he gave Candi filled me with reassurance that he wouldn’t be far.
Yet, barely a moment after he stepped outside to answer the phone, he returned just to say that he had to leave. Kelsey’s car had broken down, and she needed help. I imagined Ryder was the only person she trusted right now, but I selfishly wanted Ryder all to myself.
He invited me to come along, but a stone sat heavy in the pit of my stomach. It warned me that I had to make the right decision moving forward, and for some reason that meant I had to stay. Though I didn’t know why.
With words like fate and purpose buzzing around my head lately, I wanted to trust my instincts. There had to be a reason for the way I was feeling. It wasn’t just guilt, though I had a plethora of that already.
“I’ll be fine,” I told Ryder when he refused to leave without me.
With one foot out the door, he gave me a pleading look. His beast swam in his eyes, filling them with light. I smiled, glad to know that his dragon wanted to protect me.
“What’s the worst she can do? Stab me?” I asked.
Ryder’s expression flattened, telling me that he did not find that funny in the least.
“Go on. I’ll be fine.”
Finally, Ryder closed the distance between us, cupped the back of my head, and pressed a kiss to my forehead. Had there not been a stone in my stomach, it would have fluttered with unexpected butterflies.
“Be safe,” he said, his lips brushing my skin.
I watched him leave and kept a leash on my hound so that she wouldn’t whimper now that he was out of sight. My hound grieved his absence, even though I told her we would see him in a little while.
Alone with Candi, I dragged a chair over and sat across from her. She groaned. Her eyes were red from crying, but her shoulders were stiff. I wasn’t going to get anything out of her, but I still had a bad feeling. If I left and something happened to her, I wouldn’t be able to forgive myself. Even if she was partially responsible for my torment, she still deserved to be safe. I couldn’t wait until that brought her as far away from me as possible.
Until then, there were questions that I still needed answers to.
“Does Alvin have any way to keep watch over the house while he’s gone?” I asked, peering around for cameras or more spell sigils.
Candi shook her head. “He doesn’t need any of that to know what I’m doing.”
Her words pulled my attention back to her. “Excuse me?”
A chill ran down my spine and filled my stomach. I leaned forward, lowering my head so that I could look up at Candi’s downcast face.
“What does that mean?” I asked.
She sat upright and gave me a tight smile. The barest shake of her head told me that she didn’t want to talk about it, but the chill in my gut wouldn’t subside.
I pressed my palm to my sternum and felt the cold ice wrapped around my heart. Was it trying to tell me something? Was it trying to protect me? Or was this chill something else entirely?
“Go home, Ness. You don’t have to stay. Accept the fact that there’s nothing I can do for you. I couldn’t help you in the past, and I certainly can’t help you now.”
That was a load of bullshit. Candi could do something. She clearly knew more than I did, but she didn’t want to risk her safety right now. I wished I could convince her that she would be safer if she chose to help us.
Hope swelled inside me. I could win her over. I could show her that we were doing the right thing. All I had to do was play the right card here.
“If I call Cerri, we can work on breaking whatever spells Alvin has over the house. Or you could leave. If he paid the witch to watch the house, then he won’t be able to watch you if you aren’t here.” That was the only explanation for her vague response that I could think of.
Alvin had been using spells and charms to do just about everything lately. Though it gave him power, it showed just how weak he really was.
Candi rolled her eyes, as if there was something I wasn’t getting. Did Alvin stop by frequently? Had he threatened her? She would never tell me. I couldn’t change her mind. And I doubted she wanted me to stay all day.
So, I sat back in my seat and said, “I’m taking that cake home with me, by the way.”
Candi’s brows furrowed in confusion for a moment. Then realization dawned on her, and she gave a solemn nod. “Sure. Why not?” Her tone remained flat and unaffected. “It’s the least I can do to make it up to you after stabbing you.”
I twisted my lips to the side. “You’re…you’re not sorry about that. Are you?”
“Why should I be?”
All right, that was my cue to leave. Maybe Candi was done fighting back, but I wasn’t going to stick around and risk my own neck for someone who might leave me to die if trouble came knocking. I wanted to try and give everyone a chance, but I needed to learn that some people didn’t want that. Still, at the door, I paused and looked back one last time.
That stone in the pit of my stomach grew heavier and heavier by the moment.